Yeah - I second that. My faction was in the middle of a war so last week was a busy time. I'll take a bye week thanks.
CG predictions...
- Thread starter CMDR Serra
- Start date
Current CGs have such a low turn out that 2 single users can flip the leading faction to the other side with one 512 cutter run each. lol...
The difference in totals is <1000 tons...
The difference in totals is <1000 tons...
The Torvals are an extremely powerful Imperial family and supporters of a "traditionalist" Empire. As you'd expect under that sort of patronage model, lots of influence throughout Imperial society - powerful Senators, control of major corporations, places in Imperial Intelligence and the military, etc. Of the four Imperial Powerplay characters, Senator Zemina Torval has generally been the least prominent.
Caine-Massey is a long-standing (since the 2200s) Federal mining and haulage corporation which is best known for its range of cargo containers. The Codex lists it as extremely expansionist ... despite its longevity this is essentially its first direct appearance in the plot (it got a passing mention earlier threatening to withdraw political donations over the Proactive Detection Bureau, which suggests it's not connected to Federal Intelligence or the Vice-President but is as you'd expect generally embedded in the Federal political system)
It's not clear that either is in it for anything other than "more money and influence for us personally". Neither side in this one appears connected to the so-called "Club conspiracy" Torval has some record of opposing its members, but probably only because the Club wants all the money, and Torval wants all the money, and they can't both have it.
Torval probably is up to something with her acquisitions and bids for non-Imperial mining contracts, but it's very hard to tell what at this stage.
And now it's <1000 tons the other way. This could be interesting.
Possibilities:
If ALD is dead, or is weak enough the Empire might lose stability and enter civil war with BoyVal and Aisling. It would make sense to a) secure her legacy (which she has done) and b) look outside the empire (at least a little).
This contract is insurance in case the empire (or parts of it) turn against her in the senate for reasons (such as Serene Harbour and her son).
I suppose the only clues would be timings- when did Torval divest from Mastopolos, and when did ALD go silent?
And Torval doesn't like either of the other Duvals very much. Aisling is far too far away from her traditionalism; Hadrian is politically closer but there's the whole coup thing. So if ALD goes even if the Empire agrees quickly on a successor, it's not going to be a positive development for her.
ALD hasn't been seen in public since Harold's funeral, so about 15 months now.
The Torval-Mastopolos split was August to October, but presumably had been planned internally before that.
Torval was always the most switched on Senator business wise- and money people normally see which way the weather changes long before anyone else.
My guess is the Empire is set for internal strife and Torval is positioning herself (and her kids) to be indispensable but also have insurance (via this).
Seems to be trending towards Torval losing this.
Caine-Massey are certainly obtaining a bit more of a lead in tonnage, and currently have a higher number of supporters too.
That said ... at this time in a typical CG I'd expect about 10% of the total work to be done. So multiply out and you'd expect a winning margin of about 20,000 tonnes on the current trend.
It'd just take one extra Torval supporter who has been quietly filling up their FC in the early stages to reverse that lead, so - while the numerical position suggests that it might be more likely that that extra supporter is Caine-Massey's - I think it's too early to call it for them so far.
Incidentally, Torval is technically offering a marginally superior reward here - both sides are offering discounted mining gear on the same scale, but the Pride of Bitterwood stocks a much greater variety of mining gear than Smith Port does. Best you'd get at Smith Port is money off the sub-surface launcher at 380k, while the PoB stocks [1] 2A refineries at just over 1M and 7C Prospectors at 1.7M. I don't expect this difference to be critical to the final outcome, though ...
[1] Actually, I was surprised how little mining gear the PoB actually has - no refineries above size 2, no turreted mining weapons, no A-rated prospectors, no collector limpets at all. For a mining-themed megaship it's a bit disappointing.
USA time zone was very fed focused on the CGs they got a lead of 6 cutter loads after it...
I'm going to start measuring weight in terms of cutter loads (For me that's 752t). Roughly I weigh 1.11% of 1% of a cutter load.
Sirius Gov Enters the Alioth System
14 JAN 3308Prime Minister Edmund Mahon has invited Sirius Corporation to establish a permanent presence within the Alliance.
The Alliance Tribune’s political correspondent Vanya Driscoll reported:
“Sirius Corporation’s new role as a strategic defence partner has expanded swiftly, with a Sirius faction established in the Alioth system to represent the megacorp. In addition, several megaships have arrived in other Allied systems to provide support.”
“The Alliance Defence Force and some government departments now have official advisors from Sirius Corporation on their staff. Prime Minister Mahon announced that these developments will streamline joint operations with the Sirius Navy, and in turn provide effective countermeasures against Thargoid aggression.”
“But Councillor Nakato Kaine claims that the presence of Sirius Gov is illegal as it was not ratified by the Assembly. She has pointed out that since the defence pact makes this a classified military matter, any civil action to reverse Mahon’s executive decision has been deliberately blocked.”
Can't see this all ending well for Mahon....
We welcome the new Prime Minister Li Yong Rui, all those years of supplying Pilots Federation CMDRs with ships and equipment 15% below galactic average price have finally paid off.
So about a carrier load...
Has the PoB stopped selling the long range lasers?
It was never issued them only the 3 other Mega ships not all mega ships got them...
No tech broker so no class 1 augmented mining laser.
Superpowers Plan to Replace Aegis
18 JAN 3308
The Alliance, Empire and Federation have accepted the Baumann Report’s recommendation to permanently shut down Aegis.The independent inquiry’s findings on the organisation’s failings will result in Aegis being immediately shut down. However, Chief Administrator Carter Armstrong has cautioned that “full demobilisation of staff, ships and resources might take several months”.
Senator Denton Patreus has successfully obtained senatorial approval for an increased military budget, to allow the Imperial Navy to directly take on the role played by Aegis.
Fleet Admiral Tayo Maikori likewise confirmed that the Federal Congress has ordered the creation of a new naval strike force. On his own authority he has also commissioned an investigation into Salvation, following Ram Tah’s testimony regarding the nature of the anti-xeno superweapon.
Admiral Nikolas Glass, who was recently appointed to the Council of Admirals, stated that the Alliance Defence Force and Sirius Navy will work in conjunction to fulfil Aegis’s purpose.
Xenological research laboratories set up by Professor Alba Tesreau will now transfer their work to specialist departments in the Holloway Bioscience Institute, Imperial Science Academy and Olympus Village University. In 3304 the Thargoids made targeted strikes against Aegis’s labs, but all three institutions have made assurances that the new locations will have the highest security.
3 Cargo CGs to set up secret research bases. 1 for each faction.
Hopefully not with the same targets as the last two....
