On Colonization (IC)

[David Lunking]

My Esteemed Colleagues,

 

 

To begin, I would like to reiterate our rather short timeline of 6 months before we must reduce to emergency rations. This is an unfortunate fact, and the unavoidable nature of our current dilemma. However, in resolving this situation, we must not lose sight of our moral and ethical obligations to ourselves, our people, and the rest of the world.

 

While we work to secure power and energy through other channels, we still require material resources to build our future and make our reunified world prosper. And unless we are extremely lucky and find an asteroid floating in the AEther of the tween, we will need to mine and colonize new territory.

 

Fortunately for us, we have the benefit of thousands of years of colonial history to teach us what not to do. I do not promise that we will be perfect, or that we will not misstep, but I believe we have means, motivation, and will to expand in a moral and ethical manner.

 

Achieving this will require cooperation amongst all of us to find new locations with sufficient resources, deal with/incorporate/preserve the people, and harvest the resources we need while preserving both the environment and the lifestyle of the natives. I suggest the following plan:

1. Sim as Secretary of Sciences and one of the best tween walkers in the world finds new places suitable for colonization
2. Archibald 2 as Secretary of State negotiates protectorate terms that meet the needs of the natives and our concern for their well-being and culture, as well as our mineral goals
3. Bethany as Secretary of Society plays the PR game aboard the Daedalus, and works to catalog and preserve the culture of the locations we find.
4. Winter as Secretary of Security deals with collecting minerals and materials, refining, and then returning the land to habitability.

I leave the use of these resources to a separate discussion.

I would now like to open the field for discussion as to the structure of this plan, and the requirements of each portion. To facilitate brainstorming:

1. What criteria will we use to choose sites for colonies? What do we do with places we discover that unsuitable for us?
2. What terms are we willing to offer to native peoples for harvesting their lands? Improvements? Technology? What do they want and how can we deliver it?
3. How can we preserve a culture while simultaneously changing it forever?
4. How can we efficiently deliver the highest value goods to the Daedalus, as we must direct gate all goods and materials?

Suggestions?

 

 

 

Justice Charles Winter

Secretary of Security

Daedalus Sovereignty

[Shaun Pal Smith]

I concur with Dr. Winter's assessment of our situation.  In fact, I would like to add a few other practical reasons that we need to look towards expansion. 

For Daedalus Security, we currently have no where to retreat to, nor any ground based defenses to protect us if another TL 7 thread were to come after us. 

ALL of the other TL 7 threads have at least 2 threads under their thumb and we currently have 0.  This puts us at a severe disadvantage in the economic resources game. 

Finally, expansion doesn't need to be by conquest.  It can be by trading technology and other goods, perhaps by manipulation, cajoling or reason. 

As for the categorization of what we are looking for:

1. A TL 7, HT High location that is not currently using the full capacity of their thread.  (This would be someone we could trade with and have them come under our influence based on common interest).

2. A thread with 0 and I mean 0, gates.  It can be of any TL and HT, we'd prefer TL7 HT High, but if it only allows for clubs to be used, that's okay, because there would be no practical way to attack the thread.  This would be a fall back point that we could run to.

3. A combination of threads with resources that we could use and refine.  Specifically, places like LA, where they are willing to build our products and give us a % of the profits for our designs. 

However, to be able to do this, we need a credible threat that we can both use as threat and as promise to keep our vessels safe.  Part of Colonialism is the ability to protect our friends and allies, and if LA is any example, we haven't done such a good job of that so far.  Speaking of which I recommend that we come to LA's assistance.  I have assurances from Mr. Brunnell that they would be interested and willing to resume our old relationship if we could help them re-establish their government.

-Devin Archibald

[Tom Bethards]

My Esteemed Fellow Drs.,

You make some excellent points.  I would, of course, vastly prefer military alliances to conquest, not only on humanitarian grounds, but because they tend to be easier to maintain.  But if it does come down to an occupation, I would like to ensure that:

    1.  The locals are fairly compensated (I believe this has been covered, but I feel it needs to be stressed).

    2.  There is at least some attempt at home rule (I believe we also have agreement on this, but again I would like to be sure).

On L.A, I absolutely agree that it needs to be stabilized, and I will help in whatever way I can.  Is there anybody in UFP or Paracentury who can deal with us in good faith?  Having Mr. Brunnel on board is good, but we will need all the friends we can get in this effort.

-Narasimba Naharaj

[Shaun Pal Smith]

LA has currently be divided into 4 armed camps.

1. the old power brokers living on a small island off the coast (this is what is left of the old LA leadership). They currently have control of the LA Navy
2. the communists - at one point backed by TL 7 Russia, but clearly not still gaining momentum. 
3. Survivalists - for the most part, white guys with guns telling everyone to go fuck themselves
4. the church - what's left of the catholic church and it's followers, I believe mostly outside of city centers.

[David Lunking]

Command of the LA Navy would go a long way towards providing security for any Pacific colonies we might develop. A few ships, a port/harbor or lagoon, and suddenly we might triple our available workforce. Might be a good way to entice some troublemakers to leave or convert to another cause.

--
"A talent is formed in stillness, a character in the world's torrent."
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[David Lunking]

By what technological means would we like to protect our holdings? Long term pipe dreams of fleets of transformable mecha aside, adapting and updating our horde drones ('Rats and Bats') and pairing them with defensive emplacements may provide the simplest and most readily scaled solution. These would function best in a TL7 environment, while some lesser functionality could be found in a TL6 execution. The real issue is how do we defend a TL5 or lower environment, as those virtually necessitate direct human control. Without the ability to readily build TL7 generators, we are at a strong disadvantage should some faction attack with a strong military or magical force.

 

Alternately, we could only focus on TL6 or TL7 locales, but I am loathe to pass up a gold mine should we find one simply because it is TL5.

 

Thoughts? I can have the Hypertech Research Group design and test small, efficient versions of drones. Separate models for land, sea, and air should keep initial material investments to a minimum, although lasers might be easier on our materials supply than traditional munitions.

 

Also, Rats, Bats and... dolphins?

[Gordon Olmstead-Dean]

I love this discussion...I did think I'd throw in a few things that are common knowledge, but...might not be readily apparent in game.  I'm throwing these in mostly because I think cast may have been in a poor position to convey them well...

3. Survivalists - for the most part, white guys with guns telling everyone to go fuck themselves

The Southland Republic is actually most of the middle-class anglo population, and some upper class anglos.  Most of them own property that is just "barely getting by" by their standards (a frame house, a truck a small farm, or suburban house, or apartment with running water and an old fridge).  But they have "untold wealth" by Latino standards, and have banned together to protect it:  "Armed HOAs" is probably a better model than "Survivalists"

http://collegian.threadsofdamocles.org/more-about-joomla/43-salem/107-the-crisis-in-los-angeles-part-4-the-hills

 

4. the church - what's left of the catholic church and it's followers, I believe mostly outside of city centers.

 They're actually the most numerous of the Latino factions, but are politically less powerful than the Socialists because they started with less guns.  That's rapidly changing.  

The Socialists and Catholics (FNAC)  have roughly equivalent militias.  The Socialist Militia is the Civil Guard, the Catholic Militia is the Assault Guards.  Both now have legal standing within the state as Citizen Militias - the legal equivalent of an official State Militia.

The Catholics actually heavily urbanized.  Think of them as controlling roughly half of the Barrios.  The Latinos reach into the country where they heavily nationalized a lot of UFP farms, but they are still opposed by the Southland Republic on many towns and farms.

http://collegian.threadsofdamocles.org/component/content/article/104

[Gordon Olmstead-Dean]

Command of the LA Navy would go a long way towards providing security for any Pacific colonies we might develop. A few ships, a port/harbor or lagoon, and suddenly we might triple our available workforce. Might be a good way to entice some troublemakers to leave or convert to another cause.

The fallout from last year's BGAs on this kind of got eclipsed by reunification, so I should recap how things fell out.

It was the intention, if the California Republic voted to secede from the Union and form a new state of Admiral Carlos Nitta to scuttle the big fleet elements (carriers and cruisers) leaving California the smaller ships for self defense.  He felt this was a pragmatic course.  As long as California agreed it was a state, the military was in a position to, if necessary intervene and restore civil order.  When that changed, the ships would legally come under the control of the new President of California, or Nitta would have to fight him.   Obviously Nitta didn't want to destroy the state.  But he also didn't want to hand an unstable new Socialist Republic a crack TL5 Fleet capable of major conquest.  He ALSO didn't want to hand it to the Anglos to go repress the Latinos and beat them down.  So his solution was to sink the big ships that were capable of waging foreign war, and leave California a defense fleet.

The PCs supported Admiral Morgan to carry out a Mutiny and relieve Nitta of Command.  Morgan mutinied in the name of the Republic of California, and Nitta stepped down peacefully.

It was expected but nowhere formally agreed that Morgan would run the ships into LA, and flag them for the California Republic.  However that would have meant Morgan (a Right Wing George Bush Conservative) handing a major war fleet over to Paul Aguirre ( a far left of Obama French-style Socialist).  That wasn't likely.

Instead Morgan ran them into the Port of Santa Catalina.  California was breaking up at that time, and the Provisional Constitution allowed for the recognition of "semi-autonomous enclaves" to prevent an immediate Civil War, making California a Confederation.

Morgan handed the ships over to the new Santa Catalina Republic.  Santa Catalina is the California equivalent of Taiwan.  Where all the rich people took their property when the Communists took over.  

Aguirre didn't like that, but he didn't have any ships to fight with.  So he could call foul and keep Santa Catalina out of the California Confederation, or he could shrug and accept them into the Confederation.  This means roughly that the fleet is available for national defense (in the event of an attack by a big outside power) and could be sent on missions if the Socialists AND the Conservatives agree they're a good idea.  That was better than losing it. so Aguirre agreed.

Morgan is currently Grand Admiral of the Republic of Santa Catalina, which is a recognized and legal part of the Republic of California.  However it's clear that in November he will resign as Admiral and run in the first full elections on Santa Catalina, probably becoming "President for Life" of Santa Catalina.  He's wildly popular as the "savior" of Santa Catalina (because nobody is going to attack a small Island that has a major battle fleet), and is certain to be elected.  Most people believe his ultimate goal is to reassert Conservative Control of the mainland and become President of California either by a strong-arm election or a military coup.