Bay 12 Games Forum

Would the shareholders of the Glowing Manta be interested in putting together a bid for exclusivity? I'm pretty sure we can win out against the current competition if we don't cheap out.

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I'm thinking something like each person who contributed to the bid*  gets an equal share/a vote** in decision making on how/if we trade, rent, or share the charts with other entities. Any profits/goods from such deals are split equally among us.
I'd also like free use of the chart for the Manta, in perpetuity. And/Or free use extended to any ship that remains 100% wholly owned by the chart shareholders?

*(maybe include a minimum bid, but I'd hope we'd all commit if we are serious about winning.)
**(Not sure if we'd ever need it, but perhaps include a tie breaker?)

Just spitballing/getting ahead of myself , but I think it isn't a bad idea? I'd prefer to know before the day is out if something to that nature is agreeable/each of your preferences.

Sak-47 "Ruby" Multirole Jet: (1) NUKE9.13
FIC Field Agent Communications & Training: (1) NUKE9.13
   -Using Advantage Credit: (1) NUKE9.13

The undersigned agree to share-based joint ownership of a trading vessel to be named "Glowing Manta", which shall initially traverse the NearEastlands route.
Each investor receives shares equal to the number of Sovereigns they contribute. 10 shares are available. Each share entitles the holder to 1/10th of the goods delivered by the Glowing Manta upon returning to harbour. Each share also requires the holder to pay 1/10th of any costs incurred in the regular operation of the vessel (eg repairs), failure to pay resulting in shares being seized and auctioned, with proceeds paid out to remaining shareholders.
Any changes to the Glowing Manta's operations require a majority of shares to agree. Any changes to this contract require all shares to agree.

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Signed,
-Radiant Trading for 2s
-Wares-To-Sell Corp for 3s
-Corsairs Incorporated for 3s
-Fairchild Enterprises 2s

The undersigned agree to share-based joint ownership of a trading vessel to be named "Audacious Crustaceous", which shall initially traverse the NearEastlands route.
Each investor receives shares equal to the number of Sovereigns they contribute. 10 shares are available. Each share entitles the holder to 1/10th of the goods delivered by the Audacious Crustaceous upon returning to harbour. Each share also requires the holder to pay 1/10th of any costs incurred in the regular operation of the vessel (eg repairs), failure to pay resulting in shares being seized and auctioned, with proceeds paid out to remaining shareholders.
Any changes to the Audaceous Crustaceous's operations require a majority of shares to agree. Any changes to this contract require all shares to agree.

Additionally, Happy Crab LLC reserves the right to buy-out the shares of fellow members for 1.1s per share while the ship is in port, with at least one turn of warning before the buy-out.

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Signed,
-Happy Crab LLC for 3s
-Monkey Corp for 2s
-Radiant Trading for 1s
-

Sak-47 "Ruby" Multirole Jet:
Plane go fast. But what if... plane go faster? What if plane had MORE POWER!?

The Sakonet-47 "Ruby" is the answer. It's the answer to a lot of things, actually. Though optimal at intercepting enemy aircraft, Rubies are also able to attack ground targets, and even act as loitering scouts thanks to a very high endurance.
Moreso a plane built around an engine than a plane with an engine attached, the single G-C turbojet (fed by a scoop intake, powered by a GGPRO-HP) provides extreme thrust, up to speeds which propeller aircraft cannot handle. Indeed, the wings are short and swept, optimised for supersonic performance. Ideally, only takeoff and landing should involve subsonic speeds.
For armament, it has four 23mm autocannons (like its predecessor), as well as a hardpoint on each wing (which can each either mount one large-ish bomb, or two medium-ish bombs).
The radar unit in the nosecone is built with GRADAR techniques, giving greatly enhanced detection ability. The radio likewise has been tuned up with Wave Alloy components- nothing spectacular, but enough to let the pilot stay in contact at longer ranges.
A pressurised cockpit allows the Ruby to fly higher (and faster) than older fighters. Pilot comfort/safety at high acceleration is taken into account with the seating, and there's space to store a snack and a flask of coffee, which is important.
The Sak-47 can stay in the air for a long time, as fuel consumption is obviously relatively modest for its prodigious performance. Indeed, pilot stamina is a greater limiting factor than fuel (hence the refreshments).

FIC Field Agent Communications & Training:
The Federal Intelligence Center is a big institution. How big? That's classified information, I'm afraid. How classified? Literally nobody is allowed to know. What's that? No, of course not- we totally could figure out how big it is, we definitely haven't lost track of how many subdivisions and sub-subdivisions are involved.

Anyway. FIC Field Agents are the footsoldiers of our internal security apparatus. These aren't the expert secret agents in charge of infiltrating capitalist regimes, they're more closely related to police officers. The differences between a Field Agent and a regular police officer are primarily that a Field Agent reports directly to the FIC, rather than a local police department (although they can cooperate with local forces as needed), and that they are trained and equipped to a higher standard.
A typical Field Agent is armed with a Nebolshoy pistol, wears a distinctive charcoal uniform with red braiding and elbow pockets (for some reason), obviously has sunglasses, and carries a recently-developed portable GRadio:

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Rugged, simple, and easy to make in factories, the GRadio uses the Wave Alloy receiver and transmitter to create the next tier of communications on the field and off. From communicating with your squad, to using it at home to catch radio channels with crystal clear sound, they are standardized and reliable to a fault, able to take some hard bumps, muddy wet conditions, and keep working off a pair of batteries for a long time.

Their training covers a variety of skills, both physical (shooting, grappling, general fitness, driving) and intellectual (federal laws, investigating/interrogating, squad tactics, community interaction (ask questions first, shoot later)). They are not required to be experts in any of these areas, but are expected to be at least more competent than the average local police officer. They are obviously also conditioned to be extremely loyal to the Federation, and compensated well enough to not take too many bribes.
An obvious downside to Field Agents versus local police is quantity- but Field Agents are not required to engage in mundane, day-to-day policing. They are primarily deployed in squads to high-value/high-risk locations (or as escorts for high-value/high-risk individuals), with a few attached to local police departments to act as FIC liasons (and keep an eye out for extreme corruption or modest disloyalty).

-Police, but higher quality, lower quantity.
-Portable GRadios to improve coordination.
-Intended to be passive espionage defence.

No.4 Smoke Grenade:
We have smoke shells, we have grenades. Why don't we have smoke grenades?

A No.4 Smoke Grenade is what it says on the tin. Has the trigger mechanism of the No.3, but instead of exploding, it releases a billowing cloud of dense white smoke. A non-lethal way to create a distraction, disorient enemy forces, or obscure a retreat.
For optimal distractioning, the No.4 can be fitted with an extra-long timer, lasting up to several hours (allowing one to be planted ahead of time, ready to draw attention at the right moment).

Objekt-19 - The Cosmic Pioneer
Space. The final frontier. Definitely the final one. There's absolutely no way that we will ever have to deal with some sort of... alternative dimensional frontier.

Objekt-19 is somewhat larger than Objekt-17/18, but this is a minor difference. There are two major differences.
First, Objekt-19 has much larger tanks of liquid hydrogen installed. Upon reaching a 25km altitude, the hydrogen is slowly released into the engine, supplementing the atmospheric gases forced into the ramjet. This continues for longer than Objekt-18, with the flow gradually increasing until reaching an altitude of 40km. At this point, the atmosphere has grown so thin that the ram barely contributes to the reaction mass- so it is shut. Six metal triangles emerge from slots around the ram, extending until they join together in a six-sided 'cone' that completely shuts off the intake. This changes the engine from a ramjet into a thermal rocket- although mechanically not much has changed.
Second, Objekt-19 is not just a dumb rocket. As it is intended to reach altitudes of at least 100km, slight deviations in course could result in it landing kilometers away from its target landing zone. Thus, a more advanced guidance system (incorporating some Gavrilium Waffle circuits) is configured to maintain/adjust the heading on the fly. It is aided in this endeavour by RCS (using hydrocarbon fuel and an oxidizer to produce thrust) that allow Objekt-19 to manoeuvre even in a vacuum (where the stubby wings are useless).
Objekt-19 also has a larger sensor suite that records data as it flies. The recordings are stored in a reinforced section with its own parachute, which detaches briefly before the main body's parachutes activate. This ensures that even if the main body's parachutes fail, the flight data can be recovered.

Various flight paths are to be attempted, both to test the guidance system's efficacy, and to provide real world data on the optimal burn/trajectory to get vehicles into space. Oh, and there is a test to see if we could have Objekt-19 hit a target a thousand kilometers away with any degree of accuracy. The target for this long-range test is an empty stretch of ocean where our fleet will be performing a routine exercise, conveniently providing cover to keep prying eyes away, and to retrieve the recording section (it has an inflatable ring to make it buoyant).
Why is this long-range test important? Well... hypothetically, if we wanted to strike at key centres of industry and military facilities in the North, this sort of thing could be useful. To be clear, there are no plans to do so. The long-range test is just one of many. Only a few high-level figures are aware of its ramifications- but it is enough to ensure that the top brass remain happy to fund our space program for years to come. Undoubtedly, if we were to actually build such... 'intercontinental ballistic missiles', to coin a phrase, it would be very difficult to keep rumours of their existence from drifting into Northern ears. But we should be able to keep a single test of this top-secret project under wraps, for now.