24-11-2004 10:02									#301
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Flurry of Spartan posts in the Embassy:

quote: Posted by Googlie in the Embassy To: Board Members and Officers of Morgan Corporation The Spartan Federation would be pleased to extend for another five years the Treaty of Friendship and Commerce with the Morgan Corporation. There is, however, one change that we must insit on, and that is the revocation of Mr. Moneypenny's privileges on board the SCC Hunter. We have explained the reasons for this in the SCC Hunter logs

and the Hunter logs entry:

quote: Posted by Googlie in the Embassy As the terms of our Treaty are currently under consideration for renewal, we would like to revoke the status of Mr. Moneypenny as an observor aboard the SCC Hunter. We have found - for those six years he has been on board - that our exploration style has been somewhat cramped, as we have avoided going where sensitive cartographical information known to us already might be revealed. This has resulted in less than optimal operating efficiency for the Hunter. **Captain Primus Pilus shakes Mr Moneypenny's hand and wishes him godspeed**

And a response to their query re the PK's commlink:

quote: Posted by Googlie in teh Embassy TO: Mr Mead, CDO, Morgan Corporation We do indeed possess the commlink for Commissioner Lal We would be happy to sell it to you for 40 ec's. If this is acceptable, we would prefer to receive payment in a short timeframe - 1 or 2 years would be our preference - as we have a need for energy credits in the near future (4 years out would be about as far as we'd want to go, but that'd be less than optimal)

	26-11-2004 09:07									#302
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This, in the Embassy, in response to our revoking Mr. Moneypenny's observer staus on the Hunter:

quote: Posted ny Mead in the Embassy We are pleased that you wish to continue the treaty. We understand the concerns that you have and regret any inconvience our observer may have caused your travels. Nonetheless, we are disappointed by Mr. Moneypenny's removal from the ship. There was some apprehension over whether he had to 'walk the plank.' Please note, as noted in our discussions earlier, a portion of the the money sent to Sparta was for Mr. Moneypenny's passage. As fair and equitable measure of the loss of value of the cartographic data, we seek to reduce the amount 'Morgan Bonus' sent to Sparta by one third. We do not wish to present this to you a 'fait accompli'. As always, we seek open and free discussions with you. In summary, with the removal of Mr. Moneypenny we plan on reducing the 'Morgan Bonus' profit sharing by one third. That is we plan as follows: If the Morgan Bonus is 10 (Morgan earns 10 more from commerce with Sparta than Sparta earns from commerce with Morgan) then half of the 'Morgan Bonus' is 5. We would then forward 2/3 of this half to Sparta - which is 3ecs rather than the 5ecs. Please let me know your thoughts and comments.

	26-11-2004 11:11									#303
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I posted this in the Embassy:

quote: Posted by Googlie in teh Embassy Dear Mr. Mead: While we recognize that there is a loss to the Ciorporation (cessassion of cartographical information transference), we had believed that the consideration that the Corporation had been tendering to pay for Mr Moneypenny's passage had been applying the profit-sharing formula based on gross differential, and not inefficiency-adjusted differential. Thus we had expected that the adjustment from 2149 onwards would have been to 1/2 of the dfferential net of inefficiency penalties. However, here is a suggestion that might bridge the gap: We will reduce the price to the Corporation for the Peacekeepers' commlink to 30 ec's (from our asking price of 40), in return for which the Corporation will contine to share 1/2 of the income differential, but adjusted to allow you to deduct the cost of inefficiency (which we estimate, at this time, to be 1 ec) In a static universe, over the next five years, this would balance out to the same as your proposal. However, as we expand, and as we see more paired bases between our factions, we would like to see our profit share being 1/2 of the increased income, not 1/3rd (The same effect would be achieved in leaving the commlink price at 40 ec's, accepting your 1/3rd proposal, but freezing its application to the ten currently paired bases, and sharing at the 50% level for all additional bases. Given the shorter timeframe we are asking for the payment for the commlink, this would actually be more beneficial to the Spartan Federation, but we are prepared to accept the earlier alternative (30 plus 1/2 of all) in the interests of solidarity. Plus, it's an easier formula!!) Lieutenant-Colonel Googlie

The objective is to get their agreement to the PK's commlink signed sealed and delivered during their current turn (as the key to getting Lal to trade us HEC seems to be selling him Morgan's commlink) If we can get a gross 50 for the doubledeal of the commlinks, plus still get 1/2 of the revenue differential - even adjusted for inefficiency - then we will still have a decent energy credits stream

	26-11-2004 12:02									#304
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You forgot to quote this from Mead Googlie:

quote: Although we did appreciate the the cartographic information provided by the observer, what we may miss more is the colorful and entertaining commentary from the Captain of the ship. We were planning on making the screenshots and Captain's Logs into a historical screenshow. The work and thought that went into the Logs were of very good quality.

And I whole-heartedly agree - those logs almost makes me wish we had kept Mr. Moneypenny

EDIT: I assume by the way, that we dropped him off with the Hive scout unit. If we conquer some Hive bases in the future, I suggest we should run in to Mr. Moneypenny, maybe in a prison camp, or perhaps running a successful business venture

	26-11-2004 18:20									#305
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quote: Originally posted by Snoddasmannen You forgot to quote this from Mead Googlie:

I was just being modest

quote: EDIT: I assume by the way, that we dropped him off with the Hive scout unit. If we conquer some Hive bases in the future, I suggest we should run in to Mr. Moneypenny, maybe in a prison camp, or perhaps running a successful business venture

LOL - I like it

	28-11-2004 06:38									#306
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This posted in the Embassy (to clarify, following a series of Mead questions (not copied here)

PK's commlink price reduced to 25 ec's, but firmly tied in to a continuance of the 50:50 revenue sharing

quote: Posted by Googlie in the Embassy Dear Mr. Mead: Proposed Treaty Extension and transmittal of Peacekeepers' commlink To clarify: The last five years: As Treatied factions, we have ten bases that are paired with ten Morgan bases, and they each generate 1 energy credit for Morgan and 0 for Sparta You have been sending 1/2 of this (5 ec's) per year to us, and had (we believe - correct me if I am wrong) justified it internally as a combination of Sparta sharing in your faction bonus (enhanced revenues thru Treaties and Pacts) and the "fee" for having Mr Moneypenny aboard the SCC Hunter in exchange for which we share with you in our "faction bonus" - a faster track to Doc: Flex and no drone problems with military units away from home - by way of sharing in the exploration data from the SCC Hunter. We never saw that as a trade off (revenue from Morgan to us in exchange for mapping information from Sparta to you), as, frankly, there is no monetary benefit to Sparta to having a Treaty with the Morgan faction, whereas there is no income to Morgan (from Sparta's paired bases) without a treaty with Sparta. We saw, therefore, the 50% revenue sharing as being payment to Sparta for entering into a Treaty with Morgan, and not as a result of our sharing exploartion data with Morgan. (If you recall the initial discussions, we asked for an additional payment, per year, for hosting Mr. Moneypenny and sharing exploration data, but agreed to waive this after your representative pointed out that the 10 ec's income for the paired bases wouild not necessarily result in Morgan actually receiving 10 ec's, depending on your Social Engineering settings (ie, there might be inefficiencies resulting in, say only 8 or 9 ec's per year accruing to Morgan) but that you would still share in 50% of the gross revenue accruing as a result of the Treaty. The next five years: We have said that we are unwilling to continue with the information-sharing component of the deal, as we feel that it inhibits where we send the SCC Hunter. You have responded that you would therefore propose reducing the revenue-sharing component from 1/2 to 1/3rd, and separately have asked what Sparta might require in order to transmit the Peacekeepers' commlink to Morgan. Our suggestion, originally, was 40 ec's for the Commlink (as a standalone deal). Separately, we proposed that if the reduction from 1/2 to 1/3rd applied only to the currently ten paired bases (thus dropping our revenue sharing from 5 ec's to 3 ec's per year, as you pointed out) we wouild like future paired bases' revenues to be shared on a 50:50 basis. For ease of calculation, we proposed a variant - maintain the revenue-sharing for all bases at 50%, - ie you get 10 ec's per year from the Treaty with Sparta, and Sparta gets nothing, so Morgan sends Sparta revenue-sharing payments of 5 ec's per year - (but use the net revenue Morgan received, adjusted for inefficiency loss - i.e. of you are running at, say -12% economy as a result of your SE settings, you would only enjoy 88% of those 10 ec's, equalling 9, when rounded) and we would drop our asking price for the Commlink to 30 ec's (this would have the same effect over a five year period, as the 2 restored ec's per year for 5 years equate to the 10 ec's lower price for the commlink) Reducing the Commlink price to 25 ec;s - let alone to 23 - imbalances that equation. (But that, oc course, is based on our intial valuation of the Commlink's worth at 40 ec's). But in an endeavour to be good neighbours and Treaty parters, we would accept that deal, if bundled with the revenue-sharing continuance at 50% of realized gross Morgan revenue differential. (to re-iterate: currrently Morgan receives 10 ec's as a result of the Treaty, and Sparta receives zilch, so 5 ec's per year would be transmitted. If Sparta grew to 15 bases, and Morgan has 15 paired bases, then the Morgan revenue differential would be 15 ec's per year, and we would expect alternating yearly transfers of 7 and 8 ec's) And this could be for a ten year term if Morgan so wishes (although we would equally be comfortable with a five year continuance of our treaty. So to summarize our proposal: Morgam sends Sparta 25 ec's (preferably over 1 or 2 years, but no longer than 4) Morgan continues to transfer 1/2 of the revenue differential Morgan receives as a result of the Treaty with Sparta Sparta sends the Peacekeeper Commlink to Morgan The arrangement is reviewed again in 2159 Does this sound like a plan?

	28-11-2004 07:10									#307
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Great post!

One observation:

quote: For ease of calculation, we proposed a variant - maintain the revenue-sharing for all bases at 50%, - ie you get 10 ec's per year from the Treaty with Sparta, and Sparta gets nothing, so Morgan sends Sparta revenue-sharing payments of 5 ec's per year - (but use the net revenue Morgan received, adjusted for inefficiency loss - i.e. of you are running at, say -12% economy as a result of your SE settings, you would only enjoy 88% of those 10 ec's, equalling 9, when rounded)

I assumed that when we were speaking about inefficiency, we were not talking about inefficiency generated by unbalanced energy allocations in the Social Engineering screen, but rather about inefficient "red" energy caused by a low SE Effic rating and distance from your HQ. Was I wrong?

I was thinking the following for example: if the Morganite/s would be producing in total 100 energy in their ten bases that are trading with us, and 20 energy would be lost due to inefficiency, we'd assume that 80% of their total energy, and for ease of calculation derived from that 80% from our commerce, is "efficient". That would mean they'd get 8 efficient energy from our ten energy commerce, and that we'd get half from it: 4 energy.

	28-11-2004 07:16									#308
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Btw, I've been thinking.

Since we know Morganite has met Zak, we know they have:
1) their explorers out, meaning they could soon meet the Angels.
2) now have potential access to about all techs we have.

This means we could have a potential competitor soon in selling all those techs to the Angels/Gaians at the lowest price. But to prevent such cutthroat competition and being forced to sell all our stuff at bargain prices, I'm wondering if we couldn't propose the Morganites a mutual to-third-party tech trading deal for technology we both have trading rights on.
After all, it's in both our advantage to for example sell EthCalc to the Angels for 200 credits, and then share that profit in half, than competing with each other to offer the Angels the lowest price, and get only 50 ec out of the deal for example.

	28-11-2004 07:18									#309
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Ah

I wonder if you should post a clarification? (I had assumed when you first mentioned it that you were referring to SE choice penalties based on slider allocations)

On second thoughts - as our current counter-proposal is based on gross reveues, let's hold that concession in our pockets for the time being?

	29-11-2004 07:00									#310
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They have replied with a couinter-proposal:

quote: Posted by Mead in the Embassy I'm thinking about your offer and I think I understand it, but what about this to keep it easy for me. We adjust the payments to 40% of the revenue differential. Assuming we kept the same ten paired bases then Sparta would get 4 ECs per turn rather than 5 ECs per year. Sparta sends PK commlink. We increase the payment for the PK commlink to 30 EC and pay it over the next two years (15 EC per year). We revisit treaty terms after ten years from now. I think it works out the same as your proposal but it's easier for me to work with.

As it is virtually the same, I accepted on behalf of the Junta - with one proviso: we must receive the first tranche of the PK commlink payment this turn

quote: Posted by Googlie in the Embassy We accept your counter proposal, but we wouild like to see the commlink price - of 30 ec's - paid this year and next (ie in 2149 and 2150, straddling the year in which the Corporation receives the commlink, rather than that year and the one following) So the 2149 payment from Morgan Corporation to the Spartan Federation would be 19 ec's pre-accepted (15 for 1/2 the commlink cost plus 4 for the commerce income sharing), and Sparta will, in 2149, send the commlink to Morgan pre-accepted. In 2150, when the Corporation has received the commlink from the Federation, the balance of the 15 ec's will be payable (plus 2150 revenue sharing of 4 ec's)

	30-11-2004 18:52									#312
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Morgan will research AdapEcon next turn.
Shall we repeat our inquiry towards the possibility of a leapfrog towards IntInt?

	30-11-2004 19:58									#313
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I think that would be a good idea. They need it anyway (plus Adap Econ) for Planetary Economics, which I;m sure is on their critical path (Hybrid Forests, the Economic Victory as well as the Ascetic Virtues SP which lets them grow those bases to size 6 without Hab Complexes - will put their research thru the roof with 2 or 3 specialist scientists per base

Do we offer them Ecol Eng as an inducement? (Their trannie and probe are prolly heading right back to Univ land to get either that or Env Econ from Zak even as we type)

	30-11-2004 20:11									#314
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Just looking at their nexus - and garrisons - they have 2 longstriders not in any base (only probes in bases - 2 of them - are scout, not rover, chassis)

Their trannie operates out of Morgan Mussels, which from their base map is a west coast base (and isn't in the base)

I'd say they have a serious case of Zak-rape going on right now

Also, they seem to have lost a lot more units than we have. We've contained our losses to just Rolling Thunder. They've lost 5 scouts, 2 defensive probes (1 of them to us) and a synth-armoured Rover. They must be having severe mindworm troubles.(it's a pity we couldn't capture an IoD or 2 and release its cargo on Morgan land - turning them loose in the wild)

	30-11-2004 21:05									#315
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quote: Originally posted by Maniac Morgan will research AdapEcon next turn. Shall we repeat our inquiry towards the possibility of a leapfrog towards IntInt?

We're also making the assumption that they won't be pissed off at us for the infiltration and loss of their defensive probe at Vander Eudaimonics

It costs them 18 minerals to build a scout probe. Per the table, that's worth 52 ec's. If we gave them a 52 ec credit against future payments, I'd see them as being willing to partner with us on Int Int (but obviously we'd need to give them something of value for it - maybe Doc Init or Ecol Eng - or a future tech)

So I'd suggest something along the lines of:

quote: Suggested proposal to Morgan We regret the loss of your probe defender at Vander Eudaimonics - had we known in advance that Red River Resort was probe-defenceless, we would have infiltrated at that site. However, what's done is done. By way of reparations we would like to offer you a 52 ec credit against future payments (the rush-build cost of a 1-1-1 probe defender) And we would also like to propose the following: As the Corporation will have researched Adaptive Economics in 2150, how do you feel about next researching Intellectual Integrity (a key building block for you towards Hybrid Forests, Economic Victory and the Ascetic Virtues) and trading it to us (If you recall, when we entered into the Ethical Calculus arrangement, we indicated that the Citizens' Defense Force was a high priority for us for our inevitable war against the Hive) We would be willing to trade Doctrine Initiative for Intellectual Integrity (Doc Init is currently a technology known only to Sparta) or Ecological Engineering. (But of corse, with your recent infiltration of the University, you will know tbat Ecol Eng's blueprints can be extracted from the Provost by a competent covert operations team) We await your response with interest

	30-11-2004 21:48									#316
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In order to be able to research IntInt next, they have to:

a) switch to SocPsych next. We then give them SocPsych & DocLoy and then they can switch to IntInt and research it.

or of course

b) switch to whatever tech next. Then we give them DocLoy, and they change research, losing half their research points.

In any case, in order for them to be able to research IntInt, we might already have to give them two techs (SocPsych & DocLoy). Would those two alone not already be sufficient payment for IntInt and our destruction of their attorney (if they they mention this of course)?

	01-12-2004 00:53									#317
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quote: Originally posted by Maniac In any case, in order for them to be able to research IntInt, we might already have to give them two techs (SocPsych & DocLoy). Would those two alone not already be sufficient payment for IntInt and our destruction of their attorney (if they they mention this of course)?

Maybe we should suggest it and get the ball rolling. Getting one level 1 and one level 2 tech seems better than a single level 3 tech, so we could even suggest a small sum of credits to go in our favour, just to get the ball rolling, and hope we wind up with the deal you suggested.

It think it is rather important that we get IntInt before the Gaians/Angels do, even if it means fattening up the already chubby Morgans.

And hey, aren't the extra police powers kinda' neat for us to have as well? Do people use them in MP games?

	01-12-2004 08:57									#318
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I posted this in the Embassy to get the ball rolling:

quote: Posted by Googlie in the Embassy Dear Mr. Mead: We are currently researching Intellectual Integrity, as we have alluded to in prior communications, However, given that somehow we have managed to become the technology leaders on Chiron, our research rate is, perforce, pathetic. The Corporation will imminently finish its research into Adaptive Ecomomics. Might the Corporation be willing to work with the Federaion towards both our factions acquiring Intellectual Integrity? This would likely require the Corporation to commence researching Social Psych after completing Adaptive Economics, and our sending to the Corporation the 2 technologies of Social Psych and Doctrine: Loyalty, whereupon you could change to Intellectual Integrity and pass to us upon completion. This would then - for us - complete the research that we have deemed to be on our critical path (opening the way for us to complete the Citizens' Defense Force which you recall from our Ethical Calculus deal was a crucial component in our strategy development) and clear the way for a more detailed joint approach to researching Synthetic Fossil Fuels and Doctrine: Air Power to be followed by Neural Grafting and Mind Machine Interface. Is there interest on the part of the Corporation? Lieutenant-Colonel Googlie

	02-12-2004 20:00									#319
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How about (before their turn) posting this in the Embassy:

quote: Proposed posting to the Embassy, Captains' Log thread Captain Primus Pilus stroked his beard thougthfully as he pondered the transcript of the secure commlink message from Lt. Col Maniac. "Poor bastards," he muttered under his breath. "I wonder if Mr. Moneypenny was among them" "Sir?" asked his Exec, Lieutenant Adams. "Morgan Eudaimonics" came the gruff reply. "Lost their Defense Attorneys when Googlie's covert operations team went to work. Moneypenny had talked so proudly of them. A compromise, he said. Fitted with flak jackets, and doubling as police as well as psi-controllers, to save the disgruntlement that Morganites get when they see military in their bases - or even worse, away from them. But armed only with truncheons and their own wits. "Moneypenny said that a new class, with synthmetal body armour, had been developed, but they weren't yet in service at Eudaimonics." "Would they have survived the attempted infiltration if they'd had that body armour then?" asked his Exec. "No," Pilus replied. "Googlie never does anything by half measure. That'd have been an Elite team he'd sent, all fired up with this new notion of the Fundamental right of the Spartan Federation to act as the only Global superpower. They wouldn't have stood a chance." The exec grunted in sympathy. He'd come to quite like Mr. Moneypenny, arguing as they had done in the short Chiron evenings, over the relative merits of Wealth versus Power. He knew that Moneypenny had been an integral part of the Morgan covert operations structure himself, and, like his Captain, just hoped that he'd somehow survived the infiltration casualties. "I just hope that this doesn't degenrate into a vendetta with them," said the Exec. "I hope not, too," the Captain replied. "But I think that both our factions have too much to offer each other for it to degenerate to that. Either Morgan will send their 'Gators our way - and the Lt. Col is surely prepared for that - or, as Moneypenny said, they'll soon be Planetary Governor anyway, so will have infiltration on everyone without needing to expend probe units trying." "But lets get the maps out and see where we fit into this new Modo Doctrine the Lt Colonel talks about" They turned on their heels, and went below, to the Hunter's command room.

	02-12-2004 20:10									#320
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Makes us look soooo innocent in this killing. And has the "Modo Doctrine" included. I just love it.

	03-12-2004 02:53									#321
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Brilliant piece of story-telling
We can only hope that the Morgans will take better to this than the Gaians took our roleplaying there

	03-12-2004 09:32									#322
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Posted it!!

	05-12-2004 10:16									#323
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Morgan has responded:

quote: Posted by Mead in the Embassy Where do we go from here - after the Spartan Probe The title says it all. The Corporation is shocked, saddened, and disappointed. Not only were we probed during the Treaty, but one of our valuable probe units was killed in the process. We never saw it coming. What should we do now? We have several questions. How much will we be compensated for the loss of the Probe? How will we given given assuarances that future unfriendly acts will not be conducted against the Corporation? How will we be granted the benefit of a return infiltration of the Junta? How can we continue an association with the Junta unless we have clear promises from the Junta that no Junta units will approach our borders (to be within striking distance of our cites or territory) without prior notice to the Corporation. How can we continue association with the Junta without a clear promise from the Junta that no hostile military actions be taken agains the Corporation. How can we continue any association with the Junta without a clear promise from the Junta that no probe actions be carried out that are directed against or are detrimental to the Corporation? We profited from our assocition with the Junta and we had hoped that the Junta profited from association with the Corporation. We had hoped to continue to mutually profit from association with the Junta. I still do. Picking up the pieces, in a hope to continue the relationship, I propose: Payment of Probe (I am not sure but I am told this Probe cost 50ECs) for the loss of the Defensive Probe. This can be withheld from future payments to Sparta. Return infiltration of Sparta by a Corporation unit. Until such time that can be accomplished we could enter into a Pact to ensure both Sparta have equal infiltration. Obtain clear Spartan promise of no future Probe (or military) action during the remaining 9 years of the treaty. Mead CDO, Morgan Corp. PS I like being open to negotiation, but there are those who find it difficult for us to continue sharing profits with you, and funneling money to you when we see it so clearly used against us. There are those within the Corporation who state that your Probe action, with the resulting loss of life, has breached the treaty between us. I hope that the Treaty can be salvaged. There are those who say we now owe you nothing and that anything else we share or send to you will only be used against us. I hope that we can continue the work that was so beneficial before. I agree that the actions of the Junta have harmed the Corporation and that there are damages that should be compensated, but I feel that the Corporationa and the Junta mutually benefit from working together. Without the mutual cooperation I believe we both will fail. Please let me know if I am wrong in hoping.

	05-12-2004 10:36									#324
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I propose we send the following initial response:

To Morgan Corporation:

The Junta is considering your communication, but as an intitial response we point out the following:

With the benefit of hindsight (or infiltration) we would have been better off landing at Red Fungus Resort. The Corporation would never have known of our infiltration (the mere act of infiltration does not trigger the automatic Vendetta clause), so the only unfriendly act was the destruction of the probe defender at Eudaimonics.

(We believe that if your 'Gator boats investigated one of our coastal bases, and found it without a probe defender, you would have taken exactly the same action against the Federation (with us running Fundy the destroy and infiltrate option would probably not have been viable for the Corporation to attempt)

While we (obviously) did not ask the Corporation for permission to infiltrate, we did give advance notification before the turn reached Morgan (see the logs of the SCC Hunter)

We would like to maintain friendly relations with the Corporation, and the Junta will discuss the subjects of reparations for the relatives of the deceased defense attorney, a mutual infiltration treaty - or a Pact - as well as supporting a Morgan bid for Planetary Governor and other such joint initiatives.

My recommendations to the Junta will be Morgan-friendly, but much, however, will hinge on whether the Corporation will support the Federation's drive for the CDF, which we believe is crucial to ridding Planet of the Hive menace.

(and as an aside, in the interest of frankness, there are those within the Junta who would see the cessation of technology payments as a "causus bellus" - leading to Vendetta. I think that they can be convinced that peace, technology trading and commerce are preferable to war and destruction)

We will reply more formally after the junta has deliberated.

	05-12-2004 10:59									#325
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Gor a PM from Mead:

quote: PM to Googlie from Mead What's Happening Googlie: Can you tell me what's happening? I think we can do some real good work together but I am not sure what your intentions are. Please let me know what you want to do. Mead

To which I replied:

quote: reply PM from Googlie to Mead RE: What's Happening I've just posted your message (from the Embassy) in our Forum, together with my suggested reply. With the benefit of hindsight, we'd have been better off infiltrating at Red Fungus Resort - then you'd never have known (but we believed that you would have probe defenders in all your coastal bases) We'll prolly offer reparations (we calculate them at 52 ec's) but I can't see the Junta agreeing to parallel infiltration. (If one of your 'Gators had found a Sparta base without a probe defender, you'd have infiltrated us without our knowing, and tell me honestly - would you have asked permission in advance? Would you have told us of your success? Would you have then allowed us to probe you? I doubt it) I can prolly convince the Junta to support a Morgan run for Governorship (you and Yang would now be the 2 candidates, as you have overtaken Lal) after Yang gets all the commlinks. We'd like to stay friends and trading partners. I think we can agree not to stealtech or show hostile intent for the duration of our current treaty - but Morgan assisting us to get the CDF would be huge for future good relations between us (We see the Hive as being a major threat in this game. The Gaians are pooh-poohing our fears, but they don't share the long border with Yang that we do, and their victories have been with a marauding mindworm against Hive colony pods. (They might change their tune when those legions of Impact rovers call on the nearest Gaian base). So getting perimeter defenses up and running for us is crucial. I still think that we can - together - control this game so that the outcome rests with just our two competing philosophies - and it'd make a fine endgame with Morgan going for a transcendence or an economic victory while we try to go the world domination or supreme leader route (with maybe a sniffing chance at transcendence). But that's just my opinion. There are others who believe that a Gaian-Sparta axis makes more sense, while yet a third believes that we should change to POLICE and Pact with the devil. Anyway, the Junta will be discussing events and we'll get back formally thru the Embassy, but I'm hoping that we can get to "business as usual" with the only difference being that we have you infiltrated for a few turns before you get infiltration on us. Googlie

	05-12-2004 13:06									#326
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I'm happy with the way they took it. I think they are more frightened than angry. They know we can mess up their plans, and that we could also help them win, and now they get this, which is some indication that we are going the wrong way.

Your reply to Meads PM will calm them down, which could be either good or bad

They don't have much in the way of counter-threats, but they do threaten to suspend license payments. That would be really bad, and could easily spiral out of control. If we need them for cooperation in the future (I think we do) we should make sure they are properly compensated for the loss of their probe, but no more than that. No pact or free infiltration imo.

So to keep them happy, I suggest we send them the cash right away if we have it, and if not that we let them dock it straight from the licensing fees for a period of years. I prefer the first one since it emphasizes the "business as usual" approach.

	05-12-2004 14:00									#327
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Remember that they did see it coming. They were producing those defense attorneys, right? Good you didn't point it out though - calling the bluff might make them angry and scared. Because they are scared already, that's obvious.

	05-12-2004 22:20									#328
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A PM reply from Mead:

quote: PM from Mead to Googlie Googlie There is a lot of hurt on our side and not much in the way of trust. The plan you offer may go a long way towards healing wounded feelings. As I understand it, you offer to compensate 52 ECs for the lost probe (we would withold these funds from the current and future payments until the loss is made up), promise to take no action military or probe against or harmful to the Corporation until at least 2161, and support (vote for) Morgan in its run for Governorship. If this is what you intend then please post it in the embassy. Mead

They're milking this for all its worth. (Let's face it, if we had infiltrated at Red Fungus Resort, they'd never have been any the wiser.

I suggest:

We offer the 52 ec's credit, non-aggression for a decade (it'll take us at least that long to deal with Zak and the ensuing inevitable war with Lal) and governor voting support (plus, during that decade they'll be churning out defensive units, to the detriment of their colony pod expansion and base infrastructure)

but

They agree to make Int Int their next research goal and deliver it to us as soon as researched (we'll send them Soc Psych and Doc Loyalty - that'll slow their research rate from its current every 4 years to somewhat longer, so we can't specify a delivery date)

So there's something in it for both of us.

	06-12-2004 08:02									#329
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

Reply from us:

I toughened it slightly, making it a tad more threatening:

quote: Posted by Googlie in the Embassy The Junta has met and these are the results of our deliberations While we understand the Corporation's annoyance at the loss of a valuable unit, we draw the Corporation's attention to our Spartan Battle Manual, ( which we believe has a Corporation counterpart - the Morgan Business Manual) page 130, which reads (our italics): Probe teams cannot attack other units directly, but they can battle one another to the death. Probe Team combat is based on the morale of the combatants. Probe Teams can attack other teams even in squares containing other units. Since Probe Teams have no "official" existence, destroying another faction's Probe Teams does not violate a treaty or pact. Accordingly we offer the Corporation one of 2 alternatives: 1) In the spirit of the Manual, continue as if nothing has happened or 2) The Sparta Federation will: > offer the Corporation a 50 ec credit against treaty payment obligations, to recognize the loss of the Defense Attorney, > guarantee not to initiate any hostile action for the ten year duration of this current treaty, > transfer the technologies of Social Psych and Doctrine: Loyalty to the Corporation > in exchange for which the Corporation will deliver to the Federation as soon as possible the technology of Intellectual Integrity. With either of those alternatives, The Federation will sympathetically consider a request - backed by suitable inducements - to support a vote for Morgan as Planetary Governor (Of course, a third option - vendetta - is always an alternative open to the Corporation) We look forward to learning of your choice in this matter Lieutenant-Colonel Googlie

	06-12-2004 08:08									#330
	Tired of ads?

I've just opened the 2150 turn to have a look at things.

They have taken 27 ec's credit:

quote: extracted from the Embassy post by jtsisyoda Enclosed in the turn (2150) you will find 0 ECs, but 27 ECs credit toward attorney fees. This is 40% of the Morgan Bonus ECs we received in trade with you, plus 8 for the installment of ET and GS trade, plus 15 ec's as the second half of the PK commlink price.

They also have changed their research to Social Psych, so it certainly l;ooks like they have chosen option 2 (but nothing - yet - in the Embassy re the actual proposals, just the revenue update)

Also, they have changed production at nearly all their bases to probeteams!!

I'll post some screenies later.