"Very well. I'll run through a recap. The plans we've put forewards so far, are the colonisation of Witchita, we propose to construct large barge like cities, which will be anchored in place at vaiour points around the globe. This will provide a workforce, a source of income for the system, next we would begin construction of plasma refineries, around the gas giant of Topeka. Thirdly, the final stage would be to begin basic production, using the nearby asteroid fields as a source of iron and other precious metals, as our surveyors have found. This done the system will have an export, and can begin to produce revenue for those with thier hands on the reigns. The Outer Project will be given a moon, colby perhaps, to settle on, or set up station around in your... Slum, city... I am assured you have a sizable population and can be relied upon to 'aquire' neccacary supplies."
As she runs through the comunal plan, the hologram upon the table spins and blurrs, the poor ensign seated in the corner trying his best to keep up with his Commanders words, depicting each stage in a fairly detailed state.
[22:29:00 | Edited 22:29:52] Corey (Gheis): Just because I'm an admin doesn't mean I can't appreciate an attractive woman.
Jonathan spoke no words as Admiral Orias detailed her plans, a few quick glances revealing the ensign's red face as he scrambled to catch up.
He chuckled to himself. Memories...
"I see..." - he finally muttered as the presentation ended and the Admiral stared intently at him - "As you may well know, the Project does not have the raw manpower necessary for full scale colonization of a planet the size of Wichita. However, and as you may also well know, if I recall correctly, we DO have more than enough accomplished traders to bring whatever supplies are necessary for the completion of this project, given, of course, that you are willing to abide to a few select conditions: Firstly, as you stated, Colby will be kept under our control, to use as we deem necessary. Secondly, Slum City will be moved towards the Turtle Creek Nebula and shall be given a 10K sphere of restricted air space. Thirdly, all profit from the exports shall be split three-ways, equally, among our three groups, provided we all participate in the actual work. And lastly, The Project dem... I mean, requests that it shall be given an equal position of power inside Kansas, be it in terms of authority or decision-making. In return, I will yank my uncle's crown from his head and put him back on his medication" - as he talked, Jonathan scribbled away on one of his many notebooks - "There is, however, another point I'd like to discuss. In order to maintain equality in power, I assume we'll be given vote in whatever decisions concern Kansas. Nonetheless, I'd like to know what kind of system do you have in mind in order to decide whatever may be necessary."
<span style="color:#000000">The awful plight of he who cannot draw to save his own life.</span>
As Daniels listened to the Admiral and Jonathan he waited for them to finish.
Regarding the Turtle Creek Nebula, I presume you are aware of the fact that within the Nebula lies an ancient Nomad Jump gate? This poses a series of possibilities and threats, to this day we've not seen a lot of activity near the jump gate and our first recon probes went dark. We have no real evidence if it is possible for entities to jump to Kansas from the other side, extra reconnaissance will reveal this. Until that result comes back we have to remain cautious of the jump gate. Therefore, I suggest you'd refrain from moving Slum City closer to the Nebula, what if something were to jump through and that something is hostile?
He took a sip from his drink and focused his attention on the hologram of Wichita and pointed at the planet.
As you know, mister Cook, the floating cities we are going to construct will be placed upon Wichita. Cerberus has already established an outpost there some time ago. The planet is habitable and proves no real threats, nothing we cannot handle. If we start this project I will divert most of our resources here, as we are talking my Captain is already improving the defense grid, for mutual benefit. If we are to combine our strength, intelligence, diplomatic skills and resources we need to trust each other for one hundred percent. This means that we will grant access to our outpost, an outpost with quite the history. And now you leave me wondering, mister Cook, why would you want a 10k air restriction around Slum city if Cerberus accepts you with open arms? Call me old fashioned, but when an air restriction is raised within an Alliance the trust within the alliance is not optimal.
"These issues as they are, are why this meeting was called. We're here to 'hammer out' the problems, as they say. Mister Cook, we can promise you the restriction you request to civillian ships, as I'm sure you'll see this is fair, considering we will be contributing to an active policing force. As to the matter of voting, it's something we've touched on. Each faction will put forewards thier leader to a kind of ruling board or admirality, each will bring matters or plans they wish to execute, and a vote will ensue, a majority vote if we have our way. Your... Uncle? Was quite adamant on a Veto vote but this would cause far more problems. Colby will be yours, so long as nothing you do there will negatively affect this alliance, unless agreed upon by the forementioned council. This is a give and take relationship Mister Cook, would these terms be agreeable?"
[22:29:00 | Edited 22:29:52] Corey (Gheis): Just because I'm an admin doesn't mean I can't appreciate an attractive woman.
Jonathan listened intently as the two officers responded to his previous comment. He was rusty, of that there was no doubt.
"Well, let's adress all this, shall we... Mister Daniels, I'm sorry you misread my intentions. I do not intend for the restriction to be applied to members of this Alliance. What I meant is that The Project reserves the right to restrict the movement of any third parties around our home Barge, exception being given if they are guests of the Corona, Cerberus or The Project. And that touches point two: I am well aware of that gate. I've... stumbled upon it and, realizing the immense threat it could be (considering I've had a couple of encounters with the jellies when wandering the Omicrons), set forth to reconstruct our Barge as soon as possible. Why? Well, I thought, what deters any nosy outsiders wanting to mess with things they don't understand better than a gigantic hunk of metal armed to the teeth with hot plasma? I understand you may have concerns regarding our security, and, in last analysis, I have to recognize your superiority in terms of Nomad knowledge, but I feel like we could serve both as a first line of defence AND protection against unwanted snoopers. Just my two cents. That, of course, added to the fact that... I'll be honest, we're more than happy to be a part of this, but most of the people aboard Slum City DO like their... personal space. In war or peace, our pilots will fly alongside yours, to glory and honour. However, in terms of lodging, I'm afraid I'll have to ask for some space. And our scanners have picked up what look like trace amounts of Iridium, so, there is that"
This long speech was followed by an almost equally long period of silence as Jonathan rearranged some of his papers, scribbling down a few notes. After a while, he faced the table again.
"As for you, Admiral, I'm afraid I'll have to prolong the suffering. I appreciate you being trusting enough to call for a majority vote, but..." - Jonathan rubbed his eyes, exhaling loudly as if suffering from a particularly severe migraine - "Please, do not take this the wrong way, I beg of you. I'm afraid I'll have to call for a veto choice, solely based, though, on the fact that my Uncle would be paranoid enough to try something... rash, if majority vote would pass. You must understand, he comes from very... shifty origins. Hell, it took me twenty years to get him to even talk to me about business without first checking me for wires. This is what I propose... Emergency veto vote. The majority of decisions will be treated as a majority vote but, if by any extraordinary circumstance, a decision might leave one side underhanded, any of the three groups represented here retains the right to call for a veto, considering they can defend their opinion properly. That way, we can keep the boring details running smoothly, and reserve dramatic action for when it is actually needed"
Jonathan was once more silent. He nodded.
<span style="color:#000000">The awful plight of he who cannot draw to save his own life.</span>
"Very well mister cook, I won't pretend you haven't made some valid points, but how exactly would you stage a veto vote? How would you organise the matter that no organisation can simply call for a veto because they don't quite like what's happening? Or because of personal grudges? A veto vote is well and good, but sometimes the good of the majority comes before the good of the few. For example, say one of the larger Nomad Morphs emerges from this gate, I won't claim to know much about them. My ship and I have encountered them only once, and where forced to, 'slug it out', as my Second in Command likes to refer to it, we managed to destroy the organism, easily the size of our carrier, but not without taking imense amounts of damage. If one should set its sights on your Barge, and threatens the rest of the system there after, would your organisation understand the need to sacrifice your vessel to stop the inocent masses from being wiped out?"
[22:29:00 | Edited 22:29:52] Corey (Gheis): Just because I'm an admin doesn't mean I can't appreciate an attractive woman.
Daniels smiled as Jonathan gave his answer, it was a relief to know he interpreted it wrong. While Jonathan talked Daniels made some notes altogether with the occasional "Hmm" and nod.
I see, maybe we should keep a restriction of third parties all over Kansas in the first few months to ensure total safety. Those months will be the time we are at our most vulnerable and must remain ever vigilant. I like the idea of arming your Barge with as much guns that it can mount, but then again, it is a sitting duck. We've encountered Nomad Morphs with a lot of similarities to our own Bomber craft. They have the ability to mount a "Singularity Cannon", a weapon that unleashes terrible destruction on any target. If you really want to put your Barge that close to the Jump gate I offer our help to make sure the Barge will not float out there alone.
He turned his pencil in his hands while he was quickly glancing at this other notes.
Ah yes, the space around Slum City. Of course, everyone has that one thing one needs, in your case this is the personal space, if I'm not mistaken. That is no problem with me, just like Colby, you have it all to yourselves. However, we still want to have a part of our own resources pin pointed in the Omicrons. As you know, The Order has been crippled and we cannot abandon our allies in their time of need. On that note we are going to continue researching Nomad related projects. Seeing that it is and will always remain a great threat to Humanity.
Jonathan smiled to himself as he heard the other two representatives. Taking a few final notes before speaking, he made sure to straighten his tie again, an almost omnipresent ritual.
"First things first: do not assume this veto vote comes from any kind of grudge. If my life has taught me anything, is that something that works well when crysis isn't knocking on our door (such as a majority vote) tends to malfunction when swift and decisive action needs to be taken. Action before reason, as they may say. I don't mean to use the power of veto to further personal intentions. For what it's worth, you have my word that we only intend to use the veto when something so dramatic it risks our existence is at stake, and then, only if a majority vote would lead us down a badly-thought-of way. Now that THAT'S out of the way..." - Jonathan breathed in deeply and took a sip of cofee from a mug he had drawn as the others spoke - "Good stuff... Secondly, no one mentioned sacrifices. Do you assume we are incapable of defending ourselves? Do you believe that if any of those damn jelly monsters decides to step inside our system, we wouldn't be able to give it hell? Make no mistake, Miss Orias and Mister Daniels, we may seem like a bunch of lowlives from the outside, but every last one of us living at Slum City are more than capable of handling ourselves, even against completely overwhelming odds. If I might point so, Admiral, I believe the Corona can atest to that, personally. Even if one of those big ones steps right aside our Barge, you can rest assured WE won't be the ones coming out the wrong end. As for you, Mister Daniels... Our business has led us to all the corners of Sirius. That includes the deep Omicrons. I've had the distinct... experience, of watching what you call a "Singularity Cannon" rip apart an unshielded cruiser with one shot. Again, I reassure you we won't even give them a chance at a clean shot. We would not ask to be placed in such a dangerous place if we weren't certain we could handle it. Otherwise, we'd stay at Colby, do you not believe?" - another pause, another sip - "As for your last point, I could not agree more. We at the Project have our business to conduct, as I'm sure you at Cerberus and Corona have as well. We must unite to make this work, but to request that individuality be removed from the equation is moronic, at best. We're all entitled to our own, private dealings"
<span style="color:#000000">The awful plight of he who cannot draw to save his own life.</span>
"Very well, I have no objections to you basing yourself in the Nebula, and I'm sure once you're settled on Colby... You might find it comftable enough to devote your attentions to." Waving her hand towards the Ensign, she returns to her seat, the Projector fading as it's deactivated. "So, we have a plan, and we will be using a Majority Vote in general, unless there is an emergency. Is there anything else you Gentlement would like to mention before we conclude our buisness?"
[22:29:00 | Edited 22:29:52] Corey (Gheis): Just because I'm an admin doesn't mean I can't appreciate an attractive woman.
Well, there is one thing I'd like to discuss further.... We have the space and ideas necessary to construct the floating cities, but have we already contacted Bretonia and potential other organizations that need to evacuate planets and stations? Have we already thought about the ships we can use for the evacuation process? We should invest into some guards, pirates keep getting more and more frisky.
He stares out into space for some seconds after which he continues.
I happen to know a certain Captain of a Luxury Liner. I could ask him if he could differ from his usual routes to get the refugees and transport them to Whichita. Any other suggestions on how we can achieve this as fast as possible. The Royalists will push towards Leeds very soon I think....