NationStates Jolt Archive

The Daiamid Council was rumorous and noisy as ever. Delegates and councelors from the many Kiithid were all trying to hear the latest newsfacts through the mouths of their collegues, resulting in hundreds of conversations, effectively creating the sound of a huge beehive in the assembly hall of the Daiamid. However, when a hammer struck a metal plating, designed to enforce the sound a few times in strength, the talk of politicians fell silent swiftly.

Minutes later, the Daiamid had been informed of the topic for this meeting. New assets would be evolved in the vicinity of Jupiter, and the Daiamid needed to know about it. It had been a project conceived by Council herself and then contracted out to Kiithid Nabaal and S'Jet. Now, two of their representatives stood in the centre of their huge amphitheatre to present the current status of their projects.

"Ladies and gentlemen from the Kiithid...for generations has the Corporation had a strong presence in the trading routes throughout the Sol system. Not only do we regulate all trade-related activity from earth to the Kharak and Caelum system and vice versa, we also have a firm grasp on several routes in the system itself. Of course, Wazzu spacelines are still the biggest transporter from earth to other Sol planets, but the total activity represented by TVC conglomerates amounts to a market share that places us in the top 10 of Sol transport entities.

To enforce this position, Kiithid Nabaal and S'Jet have been ordered to construct a spacestation to be placed in orbit above Jupiter. The various components of the station are constructed at the Stratos and Sajuuk shipyards as we speak. This station will serve as a trade hub, a place where merchants from varous trade routes can meet and store their goods, or close trading deals."

With a friendly nod, the S'Jet speaker gave the word to his Nabaal collegue.

"The station, which is unnamed as of yet, will be a joint venture between Kiith Nabaal and S'Jet, obtaining funds from the various conglomerates under the wings of these families. Council will own a total of 25,5 per cent of all stock at all times. All other shares are freely tradeable on the international stock market. Naturally, we will allow other Kiithid to initially purchase stock at reduced prices. Within three months, all components should be both completed and dragged to the appropriate site through hyperspace. We have commisioned a small fleet of mining frigates from Kiith Somtaaw for that purpose.

We are looking to establish a colony on a moon or something similar near Jupiter. Would this succeed, then we would have the perfect location to construct living spaces for the employees of the station, as well as storage spaces. In that case, the colony would become a place similar to the Hermes Facility existing here on earth, with the station serving as a large docking point for vessels wishing to trade or store goods in the colony. However, we are still looking for the optimal place to establish this colony. Council has already been notified of our plans, and has confirmed that if we succeed in establishing both a colony and space station, that one of the fleets will be permanently assigned to the location for defense.

And remember: this is also a very beneficial investment for the future. As soon as the Craftworld is completed, that sector of space will see a huge increase of commercial activity, and this station will benefit from that in a very high degree!"

Finishing up their presentation, both representatives returned to their regular places, under the applause of the other Kiithid politicians present.

Will the trading post be open to traders of all nations?
~A Knootian trader on the Mars-Earth routes.

Too any nation able and willing to pay our import duties and fees.

~ Daiamid Council information centre

Cerio IntP officials, as well as several smaller trading companies, were sort of confused. Obviously, trading with a Vortex Corp outpost in the Jovian System could be good for them. On the other hand, it was competition. But then, their philosophy had always been that competition just strengthens them.

So, in the end, their view on the TVC decision was a rather positive one.

Two months later

The construction of the station proved easier than expected. With a construction, defence en droid fleet being near the Jovian system for construction of the Craftworld, all shortages of material and labor could be solved by temporarily assigning those workers to the Jovian station. Still unnamed, the components of the station had been finished in and around both TVC shipyards, and now they were being dragged through hyperspace day after day. Early after the initial press release, TVC research institutions belonging to Kiith S’Jet had verified that the station would have the optimal position when placed near Ganymede, with a colony being established on the moon itself.

Now, a Corporate flotilla occupied the space where the station would be constructed, as well as the route from that site to the moon surface. Several Ion and Torpedo frigates were assigned to this duty, as well as two carriers carrying strike craft wings. Under their guard, hyperspace gates opened almost every hour, spewing out mining vessels that had been chartered to drag the station components to Ganymede. Huge droids, launched and controlled from Hive Frigates, welded the components together and performed countless other duties to complete the station in time. On every ship, the logo of either Kiith S’Jet or Nabaal could be seen.

Some six weeks ago, construction of the colony on Ganymede itself had also commenced. In the intitial phase, very precise placement of explosives had blasted large chunks out of the moon surface, where the future colony would be constructed. Now, a constant stream of dropships was coming down from merchant carriers above the moon, carrying droids, materials, personnel and engineers alike to the construction site. To all Kiithsmen and –women involved, the objectives of this project had been made very clear. The base and station needed to be completed fast, but everything had to be of the highest quality and functionality that could be achieved. The station would serve as a large dock. Here, trading vessels would be able to arrive and depart at will. Ships would be able to be repaired, loaded and unloaded, as well as decommisioned when necessary. The colony itself would have a broader range of functions. There, storage centres would be able to keep inventories of goods brought down with dropships from the station. Merchants and travellers would be able to spend the night there, and there would also be a medium sized scientific research centre in the colony, a special request from Kiith S’Jet. The military defence of the station would be twofold. Inside the colony, a small security force would keep the peace. Secondly, a panzergroup of the fleet would defend the base and station from space assaults, being stationed partially on the station and partially in the docks of the colony itself.

This method of doing business was carefully thought out. By forcing all traders to dock their ships and store their weapons at the space station, it would be able to serve as a customs office. This would ensure that the colony on Ganymede would be safe and an efficient place to do business.

Well done.

OOC: Tag

OOC: Me and Siri had decided OOCly that the big transporters in NS were, well, me and Siri. But I guess Knootian traders are mostly active on the Earth-Mars routes.
Well, cannot stay behind. OOCly figure lots of Knootian traders there. :wink:

OOC: Well, first of all you forgot Wazzu, who is, in my opinion, the single largest transporter. Secondly, you forgot the logistical hub I already have, The Hermes Facility, where over 20 nations have assets concerning storage and transport.

OOC: ah, well, it doesn't have to be a penis contest about who is the largest transporter. As long as you don't unilaterally claim to be the biggest its fine with me. And you didn't do that.

I measure it more in ships numbers/size then in number of spacestations. Every nation wants to build its own trading station here so I expect the sol system to be littered with them. Especially earth orbit.
Rotterdam could be a place where goods are transferred into space, being a major port already.

EDIT: I had a little talk with DA, one of the largest is probably exaggerated compared to Wazzu. But Knootoss is still a "big" player in space then. :wink:

Kiira Manaan looked out of the window to moon in front of her. While pondering if the term ‘window’ still applied to the transparant blast proof material that she was looking through, she felt both proud and nervous at the same time. For over a decade now, she had served the Corporation to the best of her abilities. She was blessed not only to be good at her job, but also liking what she did. Somehow, strategy, tactics and the naval way of life seemed to be things she never got tired of. Her record of performance was almost flawless, with a whole bunch of paperwork added to it, containing numerous recommendations and certificates of outstanding behaviour. On the academy, she had been a model student, and she had preserved that ambitious attitude throughout her professional career.

The fact that this way of life had left her without any friends was something that she did not often think about. The navy was her family, and family was all she needed. She was now an admiral in the navy, in charge of the 4th Corporate Fleet. And commander of all TVC assets in the Jovian System. Soon, the colony and station beneath her would house several millions of souls and become a centre of commercial activity. And she would be the one leading it. Not alone, of course. As the Corporate system demanded, the colony would be leaded by both a civilian and a soldier, effectively mimicing the consul system of the ancient Romans. Nevertheless, this new position was everything she had ever hoped for.

The Ganymede colony was somewhat strange in a political sense of speaking. Council had ordered it. The S’Jet and Nabaal were building it, and a Manaan and Riif would lead it. However, everything seemed to run very smooth. Probably because this venture would become very profitable for every single Kiith, Kiira thought. Turning around, she walked back to her desk, resuming her studies of the station and colony blueprints lying there.
Just like the Sajuuk and Stratos shipyards, this new station would be of the Aurora class; being roughly round in shape, with docks and gun batteries sticking out of it on many locations. The shape was effective, easy to build and easily defended.

The colony itself would be different from the colonies in the Caelum and Kharak systems. Those colonies were huge domes, with the landscapes in them thoroughly terraformed to meet the desires of the inhabitants. But since the S’Jet and Nabaal constructors of the Ganymede colony wanted to try out numerous new techniques, this one would be different.
The colony would consist of three cilinders, constructed in the huge shafts that had been blasted into the moon surface. Ranging dozens of floors deep into the ground, the cilinders would be connected by countless tunnels and passageways, both above and beneath the surface. Constructing the colony largely inside the moon, instead of on the surface, made a lot of things easier. Defence of the colony, sustaining an acceptable atmosphere, maintenance, all those things were more simple in this case.

The top five floors of each cilindre would be located above the surface. Here, dozens of smaller docks would be able to receive the shuttles with passengers, workers and traders coming from the station. From there, they could use elevators, smaller craft and transport tubes to travel through the hollow insides of the cilinders, in order to reach the appropriate floors. Near each cilindre, another shaft was blasted into the ground. There, well-armored and highly defended storage spaces would be created. Cargo would be loaded in from the top. These three storage spaces could be accessed from both the cilindre cities and from the surface, allowing for swift throughput. So essentially, the colony would consist of six large shafts. On top of that, four defence centres would make sure attacks could be deflected, and a military base would allow naval craft to dock on the planet surface. Both the defence batteries and the naval base would contain AAS gun batteries as well as weaponry designed to deflect ground assaults from the moon surface. Kiira was very content with the design of the colony. It could be easily defended and acces was easy. As completion came nearer every single day, Kiira looked forward to a bright future.

http://www.digikitten.com/playhousev2/files/Vortex/1.jpg

White = City cilinders
Green = Storage areas
Red = Naval base and defence centres

Several weeks later

Things were going well. Each cilindre was between 64 and 71 per cent complete, according to the status updates from this morning. Essentially, the method of construction used was very simple. Like giant rings, each floor was constructed in two parts, half a circle each. This was done at the Sajuuk and Stratos shipyards, where the appropriate facilities were present. Then, these components were dragged to Ganymede and lowered into the shafts. Using engines similar to those of hoverdynes, magnetic feels made sure that each ring would fit exactly into their designated spaces. After such had been done, assembly crews, assisted by Somtaaw mining droids, would connect the rings with the rest of the cilinder and install all interior objects required. Soon after, the next ring would be brought in through hyperspace and lowered into place.

Kiira was standing inside the military command centre, located in the middle of the three cilindric shafts. Looking through a window, she could see the huge Tier7 gun batteries being installed. The Tier7 batteries could engage both space and ground based enemies, and were elected the primary weapon of the Ganymede colony. Earlier today, the first turrets had been completed and calibrated, and now their barrels were pointing to the skies, ready to engage any foe.

But other news was even more pleasant. The lowest levels of the colony had been fully completed, from the rings assembly all the way up to interior designing. The first colonists would come in tomorrow, and dock their vessels on the station above the colony, which was now only a few weeks removed from completion. Then, they would take shuttles to the surface and settle in their new homes. Kiira had been down there this morning, and had found it quite a comfortable environment. Every now and then, the huge cilindres contained parks, and on the whole, the entire colony would be quite 'green'. Not a bad place to live, if she would say for herself...

Congratulations on your trading complex. The first Moontian trading vessels will be arriving within the next few months.

How much are the fees for foreign vessels? And these are nicely written posts TVC.

The fees start at 3,5% of total cargo value. For frequent traders, this will eventually become a lower percentage, as the Colony officials note that you provide a steady income and frequent visits to the colony.

~Daiamid Council information centre

Bump

"Perseus, this is flight control, you're leaving your projected flight vector. Return immediately!"

"We can't help it. Our engines are failing...somehow our pilot's neural links are failing....we don't have control!"

"Roger that Perseus. Attention all vessels in sector 13-Theta...engage evasive maneuvres and leave the sector now! We have a drifter. Repeat: leave the vicinity!"

The flight control crews in the Destroyer that had been assigned as control centre fell silent, as many of them stood up from their seats. Monitored and shown by one of the many probes in the area, they could clearly see disaster unfolding. The Perseus, a Paktu frigate chartered to bring materials to the colony, drifted around out of control. Other vessels, military and civilian ones, all tried to turn around and leave as fast as possible. Fighters and corvettes speeded away from the scene, followed by the slower frigates and freighters.

But, there was one stationary object near the Perseus. An Assembly platform, where droids and S'Jet engineers were employed, tried to fire up it's thrusters to get out of the frigate trajectory, yet their attempt was futile. In a crash that twisted the stomachs of the witnesses, both the Perseus and the assembly platform destroyed, as the frigate literally bored into the platform. Seconds later, salvage corvettes speeded to the scene, trying to save as many lives as possible. Directly after them, Interceptors followed and started to blow up chunks of metal, to prevent them from hitting other vessels....

--

After reading the report about the incident, Kiira dropped the paper on her desk. Rubbing her temples, she stared at a small painting hanging on the wall across the room. It depicted the Riif farmlands back on Earth, and somehow, looking at it always filled her mind with peaceful thoughts. She found this to be very strange, as the Manaan Kiith tended to have very little interest for rural areas and farming activity...

Twenty-three people had lost their lives today. Five were on voard of the platform, which luckily was largely droid controlled. The others were all crewmen of the Persues. And as acting military commander, it was up to Kiira to write not only the incident report, but also the letters to the relatives of the three soldiers that had been on board the frigate. She would have to write that these two man and one woman had died as heroes...it had been a tradition of all armies of all times to do so. But in this case, three warriors had simply died because their vessel carried neural links that were so old, that the pilot could not manage to give the vessel the proper commands in time. What was the heroism in such a death?, she wondered.

The day had started so well, with the news that the Ganymede colony was almost connected with the Maglev network of the moon. This net, that connected the Konanian colony with the Der Angstian one, would also reach the VC Ganymede colony soon. Earlier, this had caused quite the excitement amongs Kiira and her staff. But now, everything seemed gray and depressing...

Report to the Daiamid Council

Section: summary of project status

{Primary cylinder} - Completed

{Secondary cylinder} - Completed

{Tertiary cylinder} - Completed

{Naval command centre} - Functioning

{Colonial Military defences} - Functioning

{Orbital station} - 89% Complete, partially functioning

{Defence forces} - 7th Fleet present, 45th Infantry regiment present, 86nd Battlemech battalion present

{Stationary orbital defence forces} - Ion platforms, Gun platforms, deployment 76% complete

{Progress of colonization} - Instream of colonists and growth of trade both running as expected

{Timescale project summary}
Construction site modification time: 5 Years.
Segment construction time: 8,7 Years.
Segment transportation time: 2 Years.
Segment assembly time: 11 Months.

-EnD-

The first ship selected for trade duty towards Ganymede, already seen as a shakedown cruise for new crewmembers, was the Flaming Arrow, the ship first sent to explore Dionne. It will be carrying a shipment of 500 tons of various meats, including Nereidan krill, and Tritonite seal; not to mention the small trade delegation. Shps have been rostered to deliver goods to the station on a weekly basis, starting with the month of food. Soya products appear to be the basis of the next few shipments.

Like any other would, the Moontian ship docked in one of the hangars of the orbital station. The crew and captain were welcomed by a customs officer and several station personnel. As the crewman that had no further duties on the ship were informed about the various possibilities that the station and the colonies below ordered, the captain was required to fill in some electronical forms, including the confirmation of the trade fee that Ganymede Colony demanded. After the necessary paperwork, the cargo from the ship was swiftly reloaded into waiting dropships, taking the food to the storage centres on the planet below, followed by a shuttle carrying the new visitors.

Today would be difficult. Kiira paced through the hallways of the colony, hardly taking notice of the fact the the painters and interior designers had finished this section earlier this morning, with the floors having a pattern perfectly mimicing the structure of marble, and the ceiling and walls colored in warm shades. As she was heading for the briefing room she had reserved yesterday, she thought of how her collegue would react to what she was about to tell him. Corporate colonies were all governed by two consuls, one with a military background, and the other being a politician. Receiving direct orders from the Daiamid Council and Council herself, they were responsible for the daily control over the colonial assets. In this particular case, Kiira’s collegue was Coren Riif, a brilliant politician that had specifically requested this position. Kiira liked and respected him both as a person and as a leader, but as all the Riif did, he had a strong preference for diplomacy and neutrality, and an even stronger distaste for military affairs.

Walking into the room, she found Coren already having sat down. On the other side of the room stood seven men and women, each dressed in black and dark grey. They were staring at Coren with a somewhat uneasy attitude, and Coren was staring back at them with an inquisitive look on his face. Had Kiira not been as stressed as she was, she would have probably found the scene quite funny. Instead, she formally greeted Coren, nodded to the seven others, and took her place next to a holographic projector. Deciding that it was better to get it over with, she slided a datapad into the thing and started her presentation, which was completely aimed at Coren.

“Coren, thank you for coming here today. You must be wondering why you are here, and who these people are. To prevent needless delay, I’ll get right to the point. They are Nemesi, part of a highly classified organization under the direct custody of Council. The Black Wolves are military special forces, the Shadow Agents are our intelligence officers, and the Battlemages take care of matters with an esotheric touch. The Nemesi are a group of highly trained individuals existing for only one purpose: liquidation. Years ago, Council decided that taking out key figures to break your opposition, was to be preferred over open conflict. To state it simply: such thing would be illegal, but cause much less victims. The Black Wolves are part of our defence forces, and can only act in official conflicts. Shadow Agents can’t take out head figures in the opposition, because the result would be a huge manhunt that could uncover parts of our intelligence networks. And the battlemages won’t lower themselves to what is mere murder in their eyes. So we created the Nemesi. Each of them can operate any vehicle or craft in Corporate service, plus many more outside it. they speak multiple languages, know the customs, norms and values of different cultures, and they are all prepared to succeed or die trying. Needless to say that their paychecks contain substantial amounts. They are an organization with only a minimum number of ties to the Corporation. If ever they would be discovered, it would be extremely difficult to trace them back to us.

The Ganymede colony will be one of their bases of operation. The Jovian system has so much traffic, both in ships and communication, that staying hidden is extremely easy, especially in a colony with several million souls. Earlier, several light and medium battlemechs have been delivered to the colony in secret. They have been purchased abroad, and were then modified to make them completely unrecognizable. Not a single component in them will point to the Corporation. The same goes for the other vehicles, weapons and pieces of equipment that will arrive soon. Everything will be stored behind closed doors, and when they are not on a mission, the Nemesi on this station will have normal jobs in Corporate service, for instance with Administration, Maintenance or Catering. Council herself now has ordered me to tell you of their existence and presence here, since you are a leader of this colony. According to our own codes of conduct, you should be told all this. I have orders to let you swear an oath of secrecy, or to relief you of your command and send you back to Uthar….”

After her last words, Kiira looked Coren in the eye, searching for a reaction. However, his face was a mask of neutrality, not a single emotion being visible on it. Then, he suddenly smiled in grim fashion, and made his reply.

“I admit I do not like the shedding of blood. However, I think the motives behind this organization are just. It is indeed better to make a swift, clean kill, than to send in a platoon of marines and blast anything that moves to pieces. You can rest assured. I will take the oath and assist these ‘Nemesi’ whenever they need my help. Gentlemen, ladies, I thank you for revealing your faces to me, it must have been quite the challenge if you expected that I would not support your activities. If you will now excuse the two of us, we can work out the exact protocols and procedures for your presence here. Dismissed.”

As the seven men and women nodded in approval, they turned around and left the room, leaving Kiira and Coren behind.