Iron Stars - defeocri

Commissar Defeocri, a member of the off-world division of the people's labor board has done nothing but the same bland paperwork for the last several years now. Pelasgon was crumbling around him, and the lights in his office dying one by one were reminiscent of the stars around this planet likewise fading into silence. There was however recently a moment of new creation, a second geopolitical big bang, and as the era of The Healing dawned, just four years after The Scream, the CBSS found itself as one, a stellar union, and two, a small polity surrounded by hungry neighbors. the CBSS however, is not without its own tools, one thing they all need to operate however, is money. For this, Commissar Defeocri is suited well. There is a small knock on the door of his back-room office, only slightly bigger than a supply closet- and feeling every bit like one with the boxes of actual paper files around him

Defeocri quickly checks that his shirt is properly tucked in, straights his jacket and stand up "yes? I'm here, please come in"

There is a gentle creak as the poorly oiled hinges open. A puffy and red faced messenger hands over a letter. The chairman's seal is affixed to it, the red inky blot having run slightly. It must have been dispatched almost as soon as the seal was fixed- an urgent matter undoubtedly. He salutes, and runs off- other duties needing attending to. The message is short- but handwritten on actual paper from the Chairman's own desk. A statement as much as an official order.

01:45

Commissar Oioolif, 

A member of the People's Commissariat such as yourself has many uses to the glorious Communist Brotherhood of Stellar States. One such use awaits you now. On my orders, a shuttle is standing by to bring you to Vadhat, one of the first planets to join our glorious stellar union. 

Their governor is on the space platform there, fearing for his life after an assassination attempt- thwarted by one of our own agents. 

We need you to meet him, and then travel down to the settlements on the surface. Speak with the people. See what they need, what products and resources they lack and what they are good at.  

This communist dream needs to have its resources properly allocated, to produce what all CBSS brothers and sisters needs

Defeocri hearth is full with pride and inspiration, to receive a letter from the Chairman himself... it's the opportunity he has been waiting for! He holster his gun, readies his compad, wears his commissar hat and heads to the meeting point. (edited)

The compad next to you on the desk pings once, showing a shuttle is waiting for you on the roof of the building. A stipend of 1500 credits has also been permitted for your use for any adventuring equipment you feel is necessary to bring to Vadhat with you.

Ooc: TL4 backpack 50cr, TL4 binoculars 200cr, Lazarus packx3 90cr, rationsx10 50cr, large monoblade 80cr, low light Gogles 200cr, type A cell 10cr, translator torc 200cr, survival kit 60cr= 940cr

05:04

Defeocri uses 940cr to buy adventuring gear and meticulously documents all his expenses. Prepares his Commissar official uniforms and proceeds to board the shuttle.

(lazarus patches are no longer available, as all the TL4 pharms are effectively used up. We do have a frontier medicine section in the iron stars book that might give you some replacements )

05:06

(but everything else looks great)

(Got it, thank you for your patience, I'll check what the replacements are)

1 Medpack instead of lazarus for additional 10cr, so its 940cr the amount used before the adventure.

(perfect . Works for me!)

05:18

The shuttle crew is hardy looking, and weather beaten. The shuttle is blocky, but otherwise looks sturdy and like it has a chance of surviving the routine jump. Nose art has been added- certainly out of regulation but who has time to police such things. It is a woman wearing a CBSS combat uniform, hair covering half her face. An outstretched hand sends whips of lightning toward the nose of the ship. "Electric Zasha" is painted underneath in the neatest handwriting the pair of crew members could manage

Comrade Commisar Defecei Oioolif introduces himself to the crew and is ready to travel. He will try to small talk and get all the possible info about Vadhat and its Governor.

the governor had tried a series of economic policies that benefited the common people very little, and caused widespread environmental damage- to the point that a ferocious storm destroyed the space elevator they had spent a generation building. Rebels have risen up and although the movement is not strong- they were organized enough to drive him off world to rule from the safety of the orbital platform.

14:37

(as far as world information itself, the world anvil would ahve the map and most complete workup)

(Just read the world anvil, I'm amazed of the amount of time you have invested)

16:54

Defeocri is ready to travel

(we have 2 days of downtime on the way. There is a handout at the top of the roll20 with what you can do during travel time , and then we'll arrive at out destination)

17:37

(also, thank you so much, that means a lot)

During downtime, Defeocri will start learning Taros language

(so we're at 2/30 for Taros) The shuttle arrives in the Vadhat system, and is cleared to approach the platform after passing the system defense picket of two frigates. They are blocky, armored designs, each proud survivors of the Battle of Benavides- in no small part due to their captains and crews. A docking bay on the star platform begins to flash- allowing the shuttle to land. An honor guard of 5 CBSS soldiers are waiting there for you, led by a junior officer- making the full compliment of 6

(I am reading Warhammer 40k Eisenhorn, so I only have that idea of investigators and Commissars, and they are kind of assholish)

Defeocri salutes in an official manner "Prosperity for the Brotherhood!" Then directs himself to the junior officer "I am Commissar Ouoolif and I'm reporting direct to the Chairman, please direct me to the Governor so we can proceed with his orders"

(In real life Commissar's had a different job than they do in 40k to most degrees and more importantly are still people. Sometimes a kind hand is just as important when youre dealing with civil situations)

Defeocri salutes in an official manner "Prosperity for the Brotherhood!" Then directs himself to the junior officer "I am Commissar Ouoolif and I'm reporting direct to the Chairman, please direct me to the Governor so we can proceed with his orders"

@Hiram Abiff (got it, please ignore the last then and I'll rewrite it)

The junior office salutes, replacing his cap, and the honor guard forms up around you leading out inside the space station. The Vadhat orbital is old. It's class designation is Peerless, though judging by the unkempt state of the interior corridors and the lack of maintaining crews you see, it seems peerless in filth and malfunction only. You're brought to the station's core, where six guards in a mix of powered assault suits, and more riot-trooper looking combat field uniforms salute, and stand aside. One opens the door for you, and from looking in you can see an elderly man in a CBSS uniform sitting behind a desk filled with yellowed papers, and compads of equally old models.

Defeocri stands in front of the man and salutes "Prosperity to the brotherhood!" Then introduces himself "Comrade Governor, My name is Defeocri Oioolif, the chairman informed me of the assassination attempt against your life and sent me to aid the economic effort you are leading" he then remains standing

17:17

Defeocri will make his best effort to be charismatic and amicable to the governor and his guards.

"Please sit. You'll be standing a long time if we have the full conversation we're meant to have" the man says, moving one of the chairs out with his foot from under the desk. "You're correct, there was an attempt on my life, and I only narrowly made it to safety. The people of Vadhat are unhappy, and I am doing my best to repair the world that was broken before the CBSS inherited it. Our own communist revolution occurred around the same time as your own, long before the two planets ever united"

Defeocri accepts the invitation and takes a sit "thank you Governor, I'm glad you escaped the attempt in one piece. Do you have any idea who lead the attempt against you and their demands? Are they against local policies or the CBSS?"

"I would think against me, rather than the CBSS as a whole. The last act of the world government before my own appointment was a popular vote on inclusion in the CBSS, and the people voted in favor by a wide margin. It wouldn't make sense for them to turn on that decision after only a couple years- people are more politically patient than that I think this is strictly against local policies. I think especially the collapse of the space elevator. Before we get too far into the weeds on that, the elevator cannot be rebuilt especially now post-scream. The technology simply doesn't exist anymore"

22:51

"But it's fall represents a shift in the planet's collective consciousness. THe people despair at seeing the work of generations that survived even the Scream, undone so handily after by mother nature "

Defeocri takes a few seconds to consider what the Governor just said... he was expecting finger pointing and excuses, he must be really scared! Politicians dont accept easy when troubles escape their control...

23:01

"Comrade Governor, I think I'm starting to understand, we need to find a way to make people happy with other goods now that the Space Elevator cant be rebuilt, do they have a leader? Have they tried to parley with you?"

23:05

(I understand that utopian communism was achieved thanks to AI, but still is hard to think of a politician accepting that he cant take care of his business)

"They have not sent anything to my office in an official capacity, aside from bomb scares- and as I said, we've gone from strong letters to vehicle concealed explosives. I tihnk you are on to something though. As far as communism here, we don't have the advancing pre-scream computing centers Pelasgon does anymore, that's a fried ruin in Phoshporia now. What we do have is our own much smaller psychic precog-conclave, and they direct where allocations go. They work hand in hand with local ministers and town leaders to make sure things get handed out. Aside from that, as you said- We need to find a way to make the people happy with the supply we do have, and possibly alleviate it by leading some programs to explore, prospect, and develop more. I even floated the idea once of trying to recycle some of the space elevator materials into other things, since they're already processed, and I think that is where the conflict got heated. I wouldn't suggest that for a while"

Defeocri nods in agreement.... "Understood, the elevator will remain as it is, even if it only works to commemorate a past generation, at least until we can make a better memorial... now, instead of making them happy with what they have here, what do you think of we find out what they really do need and what we can offer? We need to help people focus and stay busy with new goals, so they can put the elevator effort in the past, what do you think?" (edited)

“I think that sounds like exactly why you’ve come, and the right thing to go to solve this problem”

(I imagine the planets production and resources are just a compad report away, right?)

(on the resource document there is a trade report sheet. One of the protected but viewable tabs is trade data. I believe Vadhat is on there. Anytihng theyre selling is something they have in enough abundance to export offworld, but 0% of the in game planets have been fully surveyed, so the trade report if one exists for a planet isnt the final word on what might be out there) (edited)

"Comrade Governor, do you think is possible to summon the agent that saved you from the attempt?"

"She is on the surface now, her name is Zasha, and is investigating who might have been responsible for it ultimately"

18:28

(shes another PC )

18:28

(but you're free to drop a message in her channel too)

@Nekosmash (wow! I will)

"Last we heard from her she was going off grid for a bit to look into some of the places dissidents are thought to frequent. She has not been back in contact with us yet"

(I think I'm kinda screwing up with the role playing here, IRL I'm a broker so somehow I'm having a hard time not thinking in Excel)

(how so? let me PM you)

"I'm sure I can find her... now about the citizens, according to the planet income reports, in theory if we export minerals and import technology, life quality in general would improve, but you dont need a Commissar to do that a simple computer can figure that out! What do you think your people need? Besides the elevator that we know won't happen now"

"Tools, both for the industry here and for astronautic industries have been in demand for some time. There might be morespecialized needs in the countryside that won't need monthly imports of goods to satisfy more than a one time deal- but getting out there is troublesome"

"What's the trouble about traveling to the countryside?"

"The roads aren't maintained, and the locals distrust anyone who comes from the cities"

"I can deal with that, it's part of my job description! But still, we need to start here and as soon as possible... If possible i would like to have accommodation in the surface so I can start knowing the environment and people"

"Of course. There's a space capable grav-flyer and a crew in the lower hangar. They're yours for the duration of your stay here, please- I will be looking forward to your report Commissar"

Defeocri stands up and in a polite manner thanks the governor for his time, feedback and attentions, then he excuses himself to inspect the grav-flyer and crew.

Defeocri will make his best effort to make a positive impression with the crew assigned to him, he will try to get as much information as possible about corruption, discomfort and what they know about the population.

The crew don’t seem to have any other information. They are specialists attached to the governors office and their position affords them some protection against the widespread issues on Vadhat, especially ones related to a lack of resource

How many and what jobs are the crew?

The crew for the flyer is 3 people, a pilot, co pilot/navigator, and a crew chief/loadmaster for the cargo and any people that need to be taken aboard. This is the minimum number needed to safely fly the airframe.

(that was the answer to the question you just asked, I didnt move it forward beyond that because I didn;t know if it fit into where you were going with things. Was waiting to see how you played it out)

(Got it, I usually slow down during weekends, have 2 kids and they require a lot of attention)

23:07

Defeocri introduces himself to the crew and tries to make a good impression "Captain, if the ship and you all are available, I would like to start my investigation going to Furrous"

"Of course, we're prepared to take you down to the surface. Climb aboard and we'll make an approach to the airport." The crew bay pops open, and air vents to begin pressurizing for the trip down to the planet. A radio set is handed off to you so you can communicate with the crew on the way down if you want to

"Captain, can you please tell me the ETA to Furrous?"

"atmospheric entry and descending the rest of the way is about twenty minutes to be done safely, Comrade Commissar"

"Quite a fast travel, I'm ready!"

05:08

(I haven't contacted Zasha since I haven't seen any update on her channel)

(she's a healthcare worker so is sort of in and out, but if you decide to leave one they'll have it ready for when they're back)

(post here when returning)