***INCOMING TRANSMISSION - SECURITY LEVEL ALHPA***
Cmdr Mekoides
Greetings councilors. I see we have some fresh faces among us. I'll trust that anyone picked for the council would have the sense to review our past communications. If not, you'd better catch up fast. Time is pressing and I don't intend to waste any by retreading old ground. On to new business, then.
Progress has been slow but steady. We've explored the nearby star systems and found only a couple low to mid quality habitable worlds. We've had our initial colony ship pass them by in search of better targets, but at this time are considering establishing colonies and sending out additional ships to explore. We've also found some promising worlds that will require further technological advancement to utilize.
We've managed to ascertain the identities of our galactic neighbors. The exploratory forces represent a number of major powers that we're already familiar with. We've color coded the galactic map to indicate the areas controlled by these powers. Our immediate neighbors are the Drath to the west, the Korx to the northwest, and the Thalans to the east. We have yet to contact any of the major powers, but from what we can tell an uneasy neutrality-of-relations exists for the time being. Given that and the sheer distance between us, I'd say we have
some time yet before we need to establish a military deterrent, let alone consider any acts of aggression.
As for the minor races native to this region of space, I'm sorry to report that we just don't have any good intel on them. Due to the dark energy and their unusual nature, we can't even pinpoint them on the galactic map. We're in the dark until we can establish contact and perhaps deploy agents amongst them. I will note the possibility of swaying them to our cause, as they harbor none of the historical grudges, conflicts, or prejudices of the races we have past contact with.
With that, I'll send over the requested data before yielding to Dr. Malar.
The Quarterly Report. Not much to look at right now, but we'll keep track of developments as they occur.
Our local galactic map. I've had it modified to indicate the PQ and environmental status of nearby worlds as well as the locations of our ships. You'll see that we've just completed our second colony ship. We're thinking to colonize the planets with PQ 6 and 7, while continuing to produce colony ships. An alternative would be to have the NW colony ship continue on to the nearby systems while the second ship moves to colonize the PQ 7 world. That would allow us to continue exploration and expand our borders, then claim the nearby planets a little later.
The current galactic map. You'll see our neighbors expanding their domains. It looks like the Thalans may have secured a galactic resource on their SE. The arrows indicate the proposed directions of our exploratory ships. The Kushana (flagship) going NE to explore near Thalan space, while our colony ships continue west and northwest to establish our claims against the Drath and Korx.
And finally, our base of operations. Not much, but it's what we have. Our laboratory facilities have cut research time since our first communication, and with a factory online we can now produce a colony ship every 6 weeks.
Dr. Markus Malar
Well, I'm glad my work is of such interest to the council. There are . . . no easy answers here. Dark energy fluctuations slow our efforts considerably - yes, I'd definitely point out to the council that we can expect a slow research program. So any alarmism at the rate of our progress should be tempered by the knowledge that everyone in the region should be experiencing the same setbacks. We have, however, made good progress on our Planetary Improvement research, and expect measurable results in 5 weeks. After that, we have a few avenues of particular promise. In no particular order, my team is most interested in the following:
Planetary Improvements->Xeno Economics
If we want to get anywhere here, we need to develop news ways to move money and goods. Success here should yield about 10% improvement to our general economy, and allow development of Advanced Market Centers to further improve our commercial colonies.
This would take about another 17 weeks at our current rate of research.
Interstellar Navigation
This region of space is . . . big. Our ships move at a crawl compared to the distances we need to cover. This technology would improve ship speeds by roughly 1 parsec per week. It would also allow construction of Navigation Centers, which can support ships built on the planet housing them and increase speed by a further 1 parsec per week.
This would take 16 weeks.
Interstellar Warfare->War Rooms
These technologies are essential to our efforts here. By themselves they are valuable, but they are also the gateway to our being able to defend ourselves. Int. War. would allow us to increase military production about 10%. Establishing our War Rooms could increase our military production a further 10%, and also increase the likelihood of scientific breakthroughs by allowing our brightest minds greater opportunities.
Int. War. Should take 5 weeks, with War Rooms needing another 12.
My suggested course would be Int. War.->Xeno Econ->Int. Nav.->War Rooms.
Here is a brief overview of currently accessible research.
Cmdr Mekoides: Thank you, Doctor. Lastly we'll hear some remarks from Nute Gunray, Viceroy of the Federation Trade and Finance Administration.
Viceroy Nute Gunray
Thank you, councilors. It is an honor to address you. I would like to emphasize the importance of developing a strong economic base and capitalizing on our expertise in trade. We are already running a slight deficit and a robust economy is required to fuel continued expansion. I'd like to establish trade with our closest neighbors as soon as possible. I also urge that research into Xeno Economics be given a high priority. Without it, we have no access to economy improving structures.
Also of importance are unique structures that we are prepared to establish.
Restaurant of Eternity: Our influence would be magnified greatly (20%) if we were able to bring travelers of all races to such a destination in our space.
Galactic Bazaar: Of more importance is the Bazaar. By establishing the Bazaar in our space, we would enjoy a tremendous advantage in trading negotiations (+50% perceived value of our goods). I would recommend the Bazaar be established with all due haste - before conducting technological trade if possible.
I present a report of our current economic situation.
Our social spending is current set to zero because there are no projects in the works. Focus is on completing research and producing colony ships. As you can see, we need additional colonies providing income and general economic improvement.
Thank you for your time.
Cmdr Mekoides: That is all for now, councilors.
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