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From: Zoloto-Gold Custodes Post
To: University Science Legion Stratcomm
Encryption Level: Arcanum
Zoloto-Gold garrison defeated, erection of Perimeter Defence and other defensive measures were too late. Covert Ops teams lost.
Known attackers include [message corrupted]
War Museum archives of University military comm logs from MY 2169 during the surprise attack on Zoloto-Gold,
Morgan Edutainment Hub base, Morgan Industries, entered into museum collection in M.Y. 2093
The Spartan genocide campaign continues. UN Headquarters has been razed this turn and Lal is down to 3 bases included his newest one. Brother Lal is so terrified of this that he had to build himself this new base, a safe space...
...well a Safe Tower actually
I lost Zoloto-Gold which Merc razed. However Merc was quite displeased in the shoutbox it seems as he raided 0 energy from the base capture as I spent all but 1 energy credit. And that he could not scrap anything for monies because I did it on my turn, so his troops got looting blue balls. That and I stopped him from trying to take University Base.
In other news, ranking as of turn 71:
Yeah, Spartans are pretty much leading. In tech only thanks to probing Lal and also because TBS had to gift him all his tech (getting absolutely nothing in return), especially Reduced Senility which would otherwise contain his growth at least slightly .
Now Merc has just rushed the Polymorphic Defense System (vanilla Citizens Defence Force - free perimeters every base) which will be ready next turn and is building Children Creches everywhere to pop-boom so he is bound to be on top for a long time.
You are experiencing Morgan 3d-News! Now available in Morgan VR-HUD, Morgan RK-Jack and Morgan DreamWare
Morgan C-U-T-E Hostess: Welcome to Morgan 3d-News - Your top-tier source for unfiltered truth-news! Trending newflashes: Morgan Mil-Tek locates the Gaian remnant! Zealots stand down as Chapter House Planet acknowledges Metatron secession! Corp-wide talent-production set to soar as four (!) child-rearing cubicle complexes are constructed - in a single Mission Year! But first, the top story tonight: JUNGLE GENOCIDE!
[flashes of grisly footage of massacred colonists and burning Peacekeeping bases]
Morgan C-U-T-E Hostess: "GORY! The Spartan onslaught continues unabated in wake of the destruction of U.N. Headquarters and conquest of Sunny Square - Concordia and Aid Station are next in line as Spartan terror squads close in on the beleaguered bases. Want all the details? Connect to our sponsor Morgan-Blaine GoreTek!
Morgan C-U-T-E Hostess: Since the Peacekeeping Forces have been reduced to irrelevance and the days of their makeshift Planetary Government are numbered, our ever-practical CEO has released a touching antemortem eulogy for soon-to-be-liquidated Governor Pravin Lal. Over to you, CEO Morgan!
[cut to prerecorded message]
Nwabudike Morgan: My first encounter post Planetfall with this great little guy was when Pravin Lal's weasly little face popped up on my Morgan HUD-interface in M.Y. 2149. He was sniffing around for our files on AutoEconomics which - given what I don't think anyone would mind me saying were the Peacekeeper's very limited attributes - was bloody outrageous! Look, nothing can make this slaughter and loss of a trading partner alright, but perhaps we can at least take some comfort from the brutal reality that the weak must make way for the strong. Evolution marches on - the scythe is remorseless. I hope the scythe's remorseless swing can bring some comfort to you all. Morgan out.
[stream of adverts, cut back to studio]
Morgan C-U-T-E Hostess: In related news, the Board of Directors announced their future support for Chairmang Sheng-Ji Yang as Planet's next governor, expressing their hope and desire that his time in office shall be "infinitely more successful than that of his predecessor." Next up, Morgan Mil-Tek's strategic overview, but first, Morgan Metatron!
Morgan C-U-T-E Hostess: "The most recent addition to our corporate utopia came about most unexpectedly as rioting Believers opted to join our corporation as a new subsidy - wholly of their own volition! Over to our dedicated Chief Information Officer."
[cut to press conference]
Edstrom: "Morgan Industries never asked for this! This entire affair is most unusual - an actual grassroots revolution as opposed to the typical staged takeovers during Earth's final century - friends, it is a true anomaly!"
Generic journalist: "What of the rumors that Sister Miriam nearly broke our pact and invaded the base?"
Edstrom: "Some gamma squadrons were pulled from Chapter House Planet, Righteous Sentence and God Hand, but look, no shots were fired, and more importantly - no commerce was lost! Granted, the tension was similar to that during the standoff between our forces over the Unity wreckage in M.Y. 2118. Now as then, diplomacy won the day - the good Sister and our CEO have resolved the situation."
Morgan Mil-Tek Official: This is Morgan Mil-Tek! On the face of it, the situation is dire: nine elite squads of Spartan gamma infantry cutting through Peacekeeping territory, supported by rovers and probe teams! Their true target, of course, is University Base. The terrorists have the numbers and the morale advantage - but there is an important mitigating circumstance that will turn the tide - technological superiority!
Doctor McNamara: Now we already know that University cyberware is top-notch - we have the good Provost to thank for the neural interfaces many talents are using to receive this very broadcast. Now consider the applications of their advances in Neural Grafting with the recently developed Ultraconductor - a material which does not resist the flow of electrons! That is correct, viewers - power can now be transmitted at vast speeds without degradation. What does that mean? Aside from the obvious economic advantages, bulky and expensive cooling equipment for weaponry has been made unnecessary! Already prototypes are being laid down for brand new weaponry, vastly more powerful than any obsolete gamma-based counterparts. If I was a betting man, I would bet BIG on a decisive University victory! [flashing ads for Morgan Casino and Morgan BetSafe]
Morgan Mil-Tek Official: "Fascinating! Now doctor, you're a knowledgeable man and our leading xeno-archeologist to date. Brain lurkers - a topic all over the Spartan data-links. The enemy claims these space bugs control the good Provost and use it to justify their genocidal campaign. Is it just your typical cultist imprinting, or is there some foundation for this space bug business?"
Doctor McNamara: "Why, as a matter of fact there is, and let me tell you, I was not surprised in the least."
Morgan Mil-Tek Official: "As I th- Wait, what do you mean?"
Doctor McNamara: "You see, I always knew Santiago and High Command were a bunch of bug-chasers!"
[cue laugh track]
Much-needed mega-boost, but possibly too late.
Delayed infrastructure on account of supporting Hellraiser with wire transfers.
Propaganda aside, the fight will be brutal! Tough times ahead.
The Viceprovost put the palm of his hand on the scanning surface. He gazed into the retinal scanner next. After that the security gate scanned his whole body. They had to make sure there was no risk, caution or as some have called it paranoia guided every action and procedure of the faction government ever since the raid that destroyed Zoloto-Gold.
It was not quite what he expected when he got the job and not quite what he was used to. He used to be just a network tech responsible for comms in Otkrieta-Discovery. Then he became a political activist, one of many in the youth division of the Digital Democracy faction. Political career prospects didn’t look good for him or for his faction, not with the war going on.
The more radical elements demanded martial law and suspension of the democratic process, something that was against the core ideological tenets of the DD. Citadel and the Rationalist Party engaged in a bidding war of who will support the troops more, eventually forming a coalition and ruling for the last couple of cycles. The drone prosperity front kept losing support as people started caring more about military security than welfare and class conflict.
That changed a deci-cycle ago. The Rationalist Party suffered a split between supporters of Zakharov and Feldt over party leadership. Feldt’s faction left RP and merged with DD. Even after absorbing Ad Astra into the RP the “eternal provost” had to share power with DD as a rainbow coalition with enough of the minor 1 to 3 seat nutjob factions such as the freedom faction and the green block is impossible to build and maintain. And thus DD ended up with more posts to fill than they had planned for and the Provost had to work with Feldt again, despite their feud. In all that political turmoil the young activist became a viceprovost, as Feldt prefers to rule from the back seat and thus did not want the job.
“All clear, proceed inside Sir,” the Legionnaire told him.
Sir he said to him, that took some getting used to. Sir Andreas Karlsson, Viceprovost for network and infrastructure affairs, the most competent person in DD qualified for that job. And now he was heading into a place so shrouded in secrecy and so heavily guarded it put fear even into his heart, despite the fact that he was part of the Government and not one of Santiago's goons.
Rows upon rows of automated surgical pods lined the underground facility. Above them stretched kilometers of supply rails, all delivering the much needed supplies for the medical procedures. Vertical shafts connected each level going underground. Through the grating of the floor the Viceprovost saw that the levels below him looked similar. The facility was large, larger than anything the University built so far, the only larger known facility being the progenitor borehole.
“How many people can undergo the procedure per cycle?” Andreas asked his guide.
“Effectively the whole current faction population,” Professor Mengele answered.
Andreas found the name disturbing but it was a mere codename, one the scientist adopted after learning what the Spartans thought of his work on Reduced Senility in one of the pieces of intel retrieved by the Curiositas. The professor found it to be a comical exaggeration of the Spartan mindset towards medical progress. But most who worked with him did not appreciate his sense of humor. The codename was necessary, in general he and all other top research personnel were treated the same way as Korolev was in the USSR, with extreme security measures. All to protect them from close encounters with Spartan garrotes.
“Is this really the first step we dreamed of?” Andreas asked the professor.
“Yes,” he replied. “This is the first step on the road to overthrow the billions years long tyranny of the amino-acid dice rolls. Genetic randomness will no longer limit our potential.”
“So first this and what next?”
“The possibilities are limitless. Immortality, improved cognitive ability, superhuman reflexes.
“Professor, but what about the short term? What will we gain now.”
“Oh that, yes. An army of transhuman soldiers of course, faster, better, stronger and fed combat intelligence in real time for the ultimate in battlefield awareness. All made possible by the Gibson Wetware Interface I developed.”
“When will we have that army?”
Mengele pressed a button and an instant later the protective shutters on all the surgical pods came down.
In the pod closest to him the Viceprovost saw a woman. Tac-cams were strapped on her forehead, they connected to the Gibson Interface port above her ears. Her legs were covered with musculus mesh as were her arms, her chest and her back. Her back also had a small flat device grafted onto it, this was the power source for the mesh which also housed the spinal interface for the musculus mesh.
The display at the bottom of the pod read “I. Westgard, Centurion Princeps, enhancement progress: 98,2% ETA: 0c 1,30084126s”
“Tomorrow Viceprovost, tomorrow.”
My army is augmented, I asked for this. Well, it will be next turn. Took a while to build the Cyborg Factory.
I think we have one now and only one player gets notified of it and similar global events such as sunspots, just like only one player sees Worm turn movements when he hits end turn.
Someone mentioned the perihelion event in the turn tracking convo I think. Also I saw quite a few random worms recently, unless these were spawned by Mercs forces sneaking through fungus somewhere near my shit.
During the tumultuous events aboard the U.N.S. Unity, Nwabudike Morgan had not swayed followers by means of personal magnetism alone. To accomplish his goals it had been necessary to cut deals with compatible leaders among the crew. These partners of convenience had become the first Board of Directors, and ironically, they had continued in that capacity ever since, thwarting every attempt by ambitious Planetborn to gain a seat at the table. They now lived in splendorous luxury and held near-absolute sway over their respective subsidiaries, albeit, of course, in implicit subordination to the Chief Executive Officer. Implicit, and soon to be thoroughly negated, or so Harrisch had been assured by his peers.
As the current board meeting was unfolding - now fully virtual in MorganSpace unlike the physical affairs of yesteryear - Harrisch was going through the motions in his head. Morgan had gone soft, Jones had told him, too wrapped up in his rapport with Zakharov to see his own blunders. On that, he could certainly agree. The CEO had sent hundreds of mega-credits to the Provost to keep the vendetta going. Disgusting sums, from which a substantial part had been pillaged directly from his own subsidiary DynaZauber, all while Morgan 3d-Vision spouted garbage like that Morgan-Zakharov buddy comedy in which the duo solved Spartan CRIME by combining savvy biz-awareness and scientific know-how. Popular with the cubicle kids and drones, apparently. One could puke their guts out for less. From a business angle - and what other angles deserved consideration - the whole arrangement was absurd. What did it matter if those Uni-twerps got blasted to hell by Spartan death squads? Not one bit!
The cryo-meat of the matter, of course, and the final tipping point for the directors, related to McNamara's breakthrough in M.Y. 2177. That fool had really done it, deciphering and ultimately translating the entire progenitor language! Harrisch, of course, could not care less about primordial space slugs, but the practical knowledge derived from excavated data-nodes was the real deal. Ultra-hard pulse-armor and superior missiles! It was the breakthrough of the century, and Morgan wanted to gift it for nothing. And not just to the University, oh no. Chairman Yang and his communist horde was an intended recipient as well. Morgan had just finished presenting his proposal and a bored-looking Korenchkin had seconded when Blake spoke up.
"It is all very well to support our trading partners, CEO, but what you're asking is unfeasible." Always the first to complain.
Morgan furrowed his brow and paused for a few moments, before adopting a calm, patient tone, as if speaking to an unruly child. "I am aware how it looks, but if the University falls, we all fall. Sparta is set to overtake Planet. Only a united humanity can contain them. The concessions we make now are necessary for long-term prosperity."
"You're a sweet old man, CEO, and you mean well, but on this you are wrong." Jones, making his move. "The truth is, we could be booming our population just as hard as those degenerates by now. So what if they have their jungle resources, we have the Freshwater Sea - it could feed millions! Yet you opt to waste our resources at every turn, keeping us down to prop the University up, always making us bear the brunt of the cost. Now they outnumber us four to one, and you want to give away the only technological advantage we have? Our patience is exhausted; this vendetta of yours must be called to account."
Caen was next to speak up, no doubt prodded by his new master. "No disrespect, CEO, but Jones is right. Sparta is open to peace. Only Zakharov and yourself are pursuing this war. Let them leap ahead, we will catch up and surpass them in no-time."
Morgan simply shook his head. "Gentlemen, I'm disappointed. Have you really become so complacent? Have you forgotten whose name adorns every single branch of this corporation?"
"A good brand!" Jones said with a smug smile. "That's all it is, though. We are Morgan Industries. Our security forces answer to us, because we pay them and have handpicked their leaders. So really, old chap, you ought to take a backseat on this. Live a little, relax. Power is a bargain, remember. Now, let's put this matter to rest." Mad sonovabitch. He's really doing it.
Voting symbols lit up one by one. Two green. Three, four, five red and counting. Everything was going as planned, yet something was nagging him, a prickling sensation at the back of his skull. Too easy... Jones would punish him. But he could handle him. Maybe. Morgan though- In a split decision, he went with his gut. Green. He didn't have to look to register the hateful glare from Jones.
"Of course, there is another saying." Morgan said, calmly issuing a set of commands. "Real power is never given. It's taken."
On cue, six of the virtual faces before him suddenly contorted into a synchronized spectacle of terror, pain and excruciating death. Eyeballs exploded left and right from the rising heat within. After a few seconds, the features had been warped far beyond recognition, reduced to churned, melted and smoldering husks. The scene was utterly grotesque, but at the same time strangely captivating; how often had he not dreamed of the deaths of his competitors? He felt a small pang of regret as the feeds died out, but his heart still raced, and for the first time in decades he felt truly alive! The immediate question, of course, was if he would remain so.
"I presume some kind of biofeedback weapon? Power surge to the neural interfaces?" Korenchkin muttered dryly, breaking the silence.
"Beautiful, isn't it!" Morgan chuckled. "University-made, personal request, state of the art bang bang! Adapted from the Intrusion Countermeasures project. Only way to handle them, as well. Jones wasn't joking about the dubious loyalty of CorpSec, and they would never have come to me in the flesh."
"Nice trick." Korenchkin said dispassionately. "Not that I mind the move, CEO, but this is a big mess to clean up."
"It will set us back, but ultimately it will be worth it. In fact, Morgan Media Break is already airing the news: Spartan terrorists attack Morgan Duranium Yacht Marina! Tycoons of industry among the victims! Ample justification right there for continued vendetta and increased executive powers, which we coincidentally voted into effect last night. At least the records will be corrected shortly to say that we did."
"Upper management won't buy it, nor will any talent worth the title", Korenchkin said.
"True, but that is a moot point: they should welcome the opportunities for advancement. Plenty of vacancies to fill. Oh! And Harrisch, old sport, you made the right call." Morgan said, finally acknowledging his presence.
"You knew about it all along..." Harrisch mumbled, his fingers absently running across his own RK-jack.
"Naturally! But don't worry - I need every good man on deck for the restructuring. We are going into full vendetta now, so no more half-measures. Yang has agreed to cooperate, it's going to be huge. You will be briefed soon enough."
"Yes CEO, of course!" he replied automatically, unable to hide his relief.
"Oh, and Harrisch..." Morgan said, a smile playing on his lips. "How did you like the high-powered business meeting?"
"Absolutely shocking!" Harrisch replied, sharing a good honest laugh before ending the conversation.
Police State, YES we can! Abandoning sweet Freehold Oligarchy cut profits by 35% but the police and growth bonuses will be worth it, not to mention the real kicker - 3 free units per base!
Also rushed the Translator. Got Magnetic Acceleration, a wonderful tech unlocking conventional missiles and super armour! Pact with Yang was another nice development, it went down just as depicted by RK obviously. As pop-booming Sparta was about to overtake us all in population I called a new council vote in the nick of time.
Diplomatic situation: Acceptable
Despite the Spartan sneak attack, things look good. Her betrayal is unfortunate but not unexpected. Our former friendship and pact were always for her benefit. She refused to share technology that would allow us to operate as equals, preferring to hold us back. We hold the planetary governorship. Alliances exist with the other major powers, and they have, thus far, treated us as equals. Peace still reigns with "Lady" Skye. While we are still at war with crazy Lal, he is a minor threat at best.
Strategic Situation: Tolerable
War with the foremost power on Chiron is a daunting prospect, but Santiago's arrogance will be her undoing. She now faces the combined forces of all non-Hippie brainwashed humanity. Additionally, her sneak attack was an abject failure. Not one, but two Spartan warships were sent to the ocean floor by our first Isle of the Deep. Intelligence indicates that amounts to 40% of Sparta's pre-attack naval combat strength. This is a stunning victory for the first lab-bred alien lifeforms on planet, especially given the Isles youth and inexperience. The Isle will soon facilitate our invasion of the Spartan mainland.
Research Situation: Tolerable
Progress is slow but steady.
Base situation: Tolerable
Domestic development is, sadly, once again a secondary priority with the shift to war footing.
Ex Forum! The aspiring econtech's source of market news!
Adam Weissberg: The stock market as a whole rises once again today, this time in response to positive news in planetary politics. Two events have energized and synergized stock growth in particular, the rumours of two Spartan warships sinking while attempting to kill a Hive Isle of the Deep and the outbreak of the Prometheus virus Nergal strain in Spartan bases, which so far has killed well over one hundred thousand people. Furthermore the free market adoption of the Spartans failed most likely due to this plague and they are back to steering the economy inefficiently by bureaucrats.
Camile Blackborough: Sounds like the Spartans indeed turned out to be bug-chasers.
Adam Weissberg: Indeed they have, but let’s focus on the economic facts. This cycle shapes up to be the best one ever for the economy with energy becoming so plentiful even the drones stopped complaining. Let’s take a look at the top ten companies listed in the USI 100 and see which of them have other reasons behind their growth.
Korolev Heavy Industries continues on an upswing as orders for weaponry from the Science Legion, our Hive, Believing and Morganite trading partners and even civilians just keeps piling up. There are concerns that the manufacturing capacity of KHI is not enough to meet every client's scheduled delivery dates but cash is definitely coming into the company and the market sees it.
Camile Blackborough: Uniborg’s growth is also riding primarily on military orders as it faces tough competition in the civilian market from rival RK Soft. The war of the neural jack formats is still ongoing and it will still be many cycles before we know if the RK Cyberjack or the Gibson Interface establishes itself as the commercial wetware standard.
Camile Blackborough: Increasing industrial demand for energy leads to gains for BPC, while KOMICO rides on increasing industrial demand for raw materials. Recent KOMIKO investments in new deposits have also been met with great enthusiasm by investors.
Adam Weissberg: The successful on time completion of the plant expansion project has allowed Mir Machinery Enterprises to join the top 10 of the USI at the beginning of this decicycle and its shares are just riding that wake even today.
Suns Publishing has reported an unexpected increase in ad sales. The market reacted positively to this in combination with the news that the Peacekeepers Enclave is experiencing a population growth which is bound to further increase demand for the flagship title of the Suns Publishing, The Suns itself. Furthermore the growing Peacekeeping market is proving to be a boon for the Uniwersyteckaja Spirits Group as survivors of the genocide drink their sorrows away in the finest alcohol products of the University.
Camile Blackborough: Hakersky Lab stock price is rising based on rumours that its deployment of the EVA military information system has been successful. Both Hakersky and the University Science Legion Stratcomm have declined to comment on the exact capabilities of the system citing security concerns, however official materials published by Hakersky Lab do imply its relationship with the tactical augmentations of the cyborg legionaries.
Only Umbrella Corp. experienced a fall in stock price as the whole genetic industry is in stagnation this cycle and the military is not sold on their bio-organic weapon concept, yet. Neverdrone meanwhile grew just barely as uncertainty looms over the long-term sustainability of their business model.
It is turn 81 and the Spartans are slowly getting their karmic retribution for mongol-mongol and other assorted crimes.
Well Merc is still ahead in pop by double the next faction which is the Hive with me slightly behind the Hive. The Hive is leading in military, Morgan in tech. AI Lal restarted and is busy spawning units out of thin air as usual, but he seems safe from more genocide, for now. Curiously Merc left one former Peacekeeping base still standing.
Shareholders rejoice and markets boom corp-wide in the wake of our lightning-raid into Spartan territory in which a humiliating and most DOMINATING defeat was inflicted upon the pathetic terrorists! In order to punish the enemies of mankind and make our containment expedition practically pay for itself, our beloved CEO personally unveiled his brand new subsidiary Morgan Arena operating in now-pacified Hommel's Citadel. Its mission statement: to deliver *beautiful carnage* to the public in the spirit of the Colosseum and the glorious Macharaah Bloodsports Arena on Earth. Morgan CIO Edstrom deflected all criticism of "human rights violations" stating that "market-hostile terrorist murderers have no rights except to die painfully!"
The very first Death Games were broadcast yesterday and were received with spectacular enthusiasm! Despite early troubles getting Spartan prisoners to actually fight each other, the audience soon went wild following shrewd administration of military-grade Morgan Pharmacon combat drugs. Even CEO Morgan himself made an appearance in the debut show piloting a state-of-the-art CorpSec Broliath, engaging in a friendly match with CorpSec Major Blackhart. The CEO did quite well, zoning out over a hundred Spartan scum in less than a minute, but of course he could not match the skill of the professional. CEO Morgan commented: "I told the good major, don't you dare go easy on me or I'll dock your pay! Our customers deserve the best!" Good job, CEO Morgan!
Want more? ACCESS Morgan 3-d Vision for the latest odds and highlights in real-time-with-pause action.™
Morgan invasion fleet has arrived. Been en route for well over a decade, Merc had the good sense to block the approach, but that heroic Hive isle of the deep cleared the path for my transports. Thought it might be a trap at first, but nope - one turn later and still holding on to the base. Celebrated by firing a missile at Sparta Command.
MercantileInterest well fought. In general I was far more pessimistic about the outcome of this conflict for my faction considering you are the better player. I would never have came up with something like your plan against Monitoring Base. That and quite bluntly I failed to kill even one of your units (except that one just now on defence in our final battle with the fungal sentinels I guess), although those two gamma rovers were very close. To be honest even with Kalin's lend-lease I expected I might end up getting violated more than during the very first codex SMAC PBEM when I played Sparta and Kalin's granola eating hippies deeply traumatized me.
BTW when did you get infiltration on me and how? The first raid on Monitoring Base?
Left out the part where he retained his HQ and used the artifacts harvested off the A.I. to rush the one project I was pursuing all game just to spite me. Really shows the level of inane butthurt and whom he blames for his imagined defeat.
Don't know what's wrong with him, don't care. Game goes on, I'll do my best to win regardless.
.
