EREWHON turns - part 3 - Page 5

September 28, 1999, 00:04

I was considering L. Zods offers before the latest combat reports were relayed to me. Yet again the bloated CEOs robo-thugs sank a coastal guard, cruising through the fungus, hidden and obviosly trying to avoid conflict, a mere 12 miles away from the Hive coastline this time.
Where is not the slightest willingness on the side inflicting casualties to stop that behavior. I need to think about all this in more dephth before making any commitments.

Chairman Flomeise out

Capt Dizle · September 28, 1999, 08:30

Lord Zod deplores this latest escalation of the conflict and humbly asks for each side to cease hostilities.

Lord Zod asks for a two year truce so that the parties may consider peace plans being offered by the Planetary Governor.

Aredhran · September 28, 1999, 13:33

The snake-tongued Chairman claims his innocence in all war acts, but while he's supposedly watching my small navy destroy his spies, his own ships are massing at the haven entrance of one of my cities, and another one shelled thousands of acres of forest until only smoldering ashes remained.

I am willing to call an end to this useless conflict as my economy suffers from the lack of trade with my closest neighbor, but I will not yield to ridiculous demands for compensation of an act I did not commit.

CEO Aredhran

Animus · September 29, 1999, 10:20

Greetings Chairman Meister Flo,

On behalf on Lord Zod and myself, congratulations on your brilliant leadership over the Hive citizenry. Your faction's burgeoning population and the completion of more Special Projects than any other are just two examples of the Hive's excellence on Planet. Your success is the envy of all faction leaders.

However, over the past several years Lord Zod and I have become increasingly concerned with the new direction the Hive nation has taken. Specifically, we speak of the escalation of tensions between the Hive and Aredhran Industries. We fear the path of violence and warfare is unbecoming of Planet's premier nation. We expect more.

Your recent activities indicate not only a change in Hive paradigm, they are a threat to world peace. A war between two of Planet's enlightened factions would provide Col. Santiago and Sister Miriam with an opportunity to pursue their imperialist agendas.

That said, we respectfully request you make an absolute effort to end any and all activities that may result in additional conflict with CEO Aredhran. We ask that you refrain from conducting military and espionage operations in the sea lanes off the coast of Aredhran Industries.

To show that Lord Zod and I understand the Hive's desire for adventure (its wanderlust if you will) we are offering the following alternative to the Hive people. In place of your present course of action against CEO
Aredhran, we direct your attention to the land south of the Hive nation.

There lies a vast and open expanse of land, resources, and adventure- all for the taking. For your information, Col. Santiago and her band of squatters are not a recognized nation by the international community, and as a result have no legitimate claim to the land.
In the event you are not already aware, the international government offers wonderful opportunities to assist in the civilized development of the Southern continent. We would be more than willing to provide such support in the form of financial loans and military assistance if you agree to cease
your activities against CEO Aredhran. On the other hand, you can expect no cooperation and no support of any kind from myself and Lord Zod if you continue your present course of action.

Please understand, Lord Zod and I are not acting as agents on behalf of CEO Aredhran. Instead, we are two peaceful faction leaders struggling to maintain peace on Planet.

Consider our offer.

We eagerly await your reply.

Governor Animus
Lord Zod

Animus · September 30, 1999, 00:32

CEO Aredhran,

Lord Zod and I would like to have a few words with you as well.

It is clear to all that this conflict is not one-sided. Chairman Flo should not and will not bear complete responsibility for them.

Provided the Chairman complies with our request and withdraws his units from your coastline, we expect there will be no retaliatory strikes on Hive units or improvements on your behalf. Furthermore, you will cease to infiltrate Hive units.

Lord Zod and I are willing to impose economic sanctions if you do not comply.

We trust you will use your better judgment to bring about peace between yourself and Chairman Flo.

Governor Animus
Lord Zod

Animus · September 30, 1999, 00:40

turn sent to zod

Capt Dizle · September 30, 1999, 10:52

Turn complete.

September 30, 1999, 13:59

2194 to Aredhran

Governor Animus, thanks for all that buttering up. I feel all sticky now, and will test our experimental plasma-shower.

Lord Zod, as a personal favor, I just offered a 5-year truce to the CEO to allow for peaceful negotiations. Note: my Hive does not recognize the Industrial Behemoth Morgan (IBM) as a legismate country. Sparta, for instance, does much more to turn this planet into a habitable place than the ever-exploiting IBM.

October 1, 1999, 20:31

Good news from the RL front. Dreifels, a CMN, found a way to eliminate the editor bug on my system. This means i'm spankin' clean from now on. Even able to kick off new games as a CMN (can you believe the emberassment: I CMN'ed Weizen without ever realizing that the editor was accessible to all players. I think they did not know it either

)
Unfortunately, the cure is *not* effective for games suffering from it already. The only way, as of now, to fix those would be a recreation of the game, square by square, and a restart as a new scenario. I feel not guilty enough to offer this for erehwon. We don't have a problem here anyways, methinks. There might be a cure out there, well hidden. Still experimenting with some dummie games here.
So, enough posting, now i can take on Vel's diplomacy challenge without fear of screwing up the game files

edited for the stupid emberassed smiley.
[This message has been edited by Meister Flo (edited October 01, 1999).]

Aredhran · October 2, 1999, 05:09

Flo, out of curiosity I'd be interested to know what was causing the bug, and how you and Dreifels fixed it.

Too bad it doesn't fix existing games. About Weizen, I only realized the SE could be activated very near to the end, since I never looked at the score sheet to see the CHEATED! flag.

Turn will be sent soon.

Aredhran

Animus · October 2, 1999, 15:23

2195 (?) sent to Zod. The turn seemed very familiar so there is a slight chance that we played this one already.

-david

Capt Dizle · October 2, 1999, 16:23

It is MY 2194. When I attempted to un-zip it, I was asked if I wanted to replace 2194 received on 9-29.

Somebody goofed. David, if you re-played the turn you should have gotten a re-load message.

I will notify MoSe and let him chase down the problem.

Animus · October 2, 1999, 20:04

This is a copy of my letter I sent to everyone. No new information here.

Ok, here's what happened.

Aredhran sent me the turn 2193 sometime before 2pm this afternoon. Along with the gamefile, he commented that the turn seemed familiar to him and he wasn't certain if it was already played. Furthermore, he also noted that he did not generate a reload warning. He basically left it to me to find out if it was the right file.

I played the turn, at work, and also thought the set-up was familiar. Since I play some of my turns at home and some on my work computer, I was uncertain if no reload warning meant that the file was new or old. That is what prompted me to comment on Apolyton. I basically tried to pass the buck to Michael which seems to have further complicated things.

To add to the confusion, when I sent off the turn I told Michael and Mario that the file was 2195 but was incorrectly named 2194. That was a mistake on my behalf. The file that Michael (gaians) should have received this afternoon was 2194, not 2195. Again, it was my mistake. (It's not easy being the PKs you know.)

So, Michael and Mario, the file I sent WAS the correct one that I received and played from Aredhran.

Back to the original problem, was the file that Aredhran the right one or not? Well, after testing the turn on my home computer this evening it turns out the file sent by Aredhran WAS a repeat. That is, I generated a nastygram.

That leaves us with the following:

Aredhran finds the right file (2194) and sends it to me, or Michael just plays 2194 again and we get back on with the game.

Sorry that I compounded the confusion.

-david

MariOne · October 2, 1999, 21:30

- as far as I know, you can't alter the MY inside a game, unless you use the scenario editor.
- I receive files from animus (old MY) to Lord Zod (beginning of round, increment MY)
- labeled 2193, contained 2193
- labeled 2194, contained 2194
- zipfile 2195, contained a turn labeled 2194, which was indeed 2194 again.
It seem that animus received his 2193 again instead of his 2194 (I trust you, I can't check midround turns), where Lord Zod received 2194 (but which did he play?).

Between Lord Zod and Aredhran, someone opened his old turn, or sent the old next palyer's turn. If you keepo your lasdt round messages in mailbox, you could check if your last in coming or outgoing messages contain a 2193 instead of 2194 attachment.
If we can't track it back, we just go on from there, you'd have just played a round twice. Be sure that the MY and the savefile names match.

MoSe

Capt Dizle · October 3, 1999, 21:36

Lord Zod is sending a team of scientists to Aredhran Industries to determine if the CEO's time travel experiments are responsible for the recent disruption in the space/time continumm.

[i didn't spell that correctly, did I?]

MariOne · October 5, 1999, 18:26

[no, you didn't

]

Animus · October 9, 1999, 14:18

The elusive MY 2195 was received and sent to Zod. We're finally back on track.

Governor Animus announces the liberation of The Voice of God from the tyrant, Sister Miram.

-david

October 10, 1999, 13:36

2195 to Aredhran.
Bit slow this weekend, intense partying evident in my efficiency rating

Aredhran · October 11, 1999, 16:36

Morgan Industries, MY 2195
From the desk of CEO Aredhran

Dear Faction Leaders,

It is my wish to make public the fact that the Chairman's tongue is as forked as a snake's. Of course you'll be wondering if this is only some war propaganda on my part, but let me assure you that it is not. I speak nothing but the truth, and I can back it with hard facts as proof.

First, let me explain what happens. Under the benevolent influence of Sir Governor Animus and Lord Zod the peaceful, peace negociations have been engaged between the Hive and Morgan Industries, starting in 2194.

Under the initial terms of this, where both the Chairman and myself offered a truce, I stated that all military units within enemy coastal waters would withdraw to their own territorial waters. In compliance with this act, I removed two of my ships from the vicinity of the Hive island.

The Chairman, on the other hand, had two heavily armed warships right next to one of my coastal cities, which he not only did not move away from my land, but also used to bombard my city, damaging the police troops and exploration rovers stationed there.

How can I conduct peace negociation under these conditions ? I am sure you will agree that I cannot. The decision I had to take was a difficult one: should I ignore this blatant mockery of my diplomacy, or should I take measures to prevent such backstabbing attacks to take place in the future ?

After long hours in the Battle Headquarters at Morgan Industries, my military advisors finally convinced me that as long as the Chairman has armed ships nearby, negociations will be impossible. I therefore gave the ordered to my own ships to retaliate, and sunk one of the offending Hive boats. The other one was "convinced" to join the side of a more peaceful, free economy.

I want you to know that I had no desire for this to happen, and it is with much reluctance that I followed this course of action. A few years ago I gave my word to Lord Zod that I would seek a peaceful resolution to this conflict, but I am certain that even him will understand the circumstances.

My offer for a truce with the Hive still stands. If the Chairman accepts my offer, I will as promised last year withdraw all my ships from his territorial waters and redirect my efforts to the development of my nation again. If such is his desire, I am even open to a full peace treaty, the conditions of which can be discussed later on.

Feel free to contact me through the usual channels, should you require additional information regarding this issue. I can provide the above-mentioned proof upon demand.

Yours Sincerely,
CEO Aredhran

Animus · October 12, 1999, 11:21

Faction Leaders,

I am disappointed to hear the recent Aredhran Industries-Hive conflict has again reached the point of bloodshed. It is my sincerest desire to see this conflict resolved before it spreads to other factions. I will continue to make myself and my office available to both sides as a mediator of any negotiations.

Please understand, however, it is also my wish to remain neutral and not sided with either faction. I hope both leaders respect this wish.

2196 sent to Zod.

G. Animus

October 12, 1999, 22:05

2196 sent to Aredhran

--

statement of the diplomatic office

The CEOs ramblings are an interesting, though not very accurate description of the events on planet.
He refused our truce offer and sharing of geographic informations to make seafaring safer. No truce means the cease fire necessary for further negotiations is not in effect, according to the UN charta.
The so called withdrawal from the violated Hive waters was just a relocation attempt to intercept vulnerable Hive reinforcements.
Please try to understand the Admiral Hon-shos reaction, bombardment of an Aredhran base out of frustration, after learning that the despot A. refused yet another generous truce offer by Flomeise. Hon-shos reaction was admittedly wrong. Flomeises personally apologies to the other pacifist factions, and to the victims families.

Aredhran · October 14, 1999, 03:00

I received the turn last night, but can't play it until Saturday.

I apologize for the delay.

Aredhran

Aredhran · October 17, 1999, 18:23

2196 sent to Governor Animus.

Dear Faction Leaders,

Let it be known that I could have sunk yet another spy from the Hive this year, yet I did not in the interest of Peace on Chiron.

Instead, I offered him an unconditional Peace Treaty. The future will tell if the Chairman is a really man of Honor and Peace, or the treacherous scum my people believe he is.

Hoping it's the former and not the latter,
Yours peacefully,
CEO Aredhran

Animus · October 18, 1999, 18:35

Sorry, 2197 will be delayed 24h so that your Governor can work to bring peace to Planet. I'm sure you understand.

Animus

Animus · October 19, 1999, 16:14

Turn 2197 was sent to the peace-faring Lord Zod. Why can't we all be like Zod?

In any event, I still await Aredhran's reply and a letter from the good Chairman.

-Animus

Capt Dizle · October 19, 1999, 23:55

Turn Complete.

Lord Zod is in conference with his ministers. Rumors tell of plans to convert the vast industrial capacity of the Gaian Federation into a military machine.

It appears that our Leader is so concerned at the heightening tensions that plans are being drawn to provide AAA Garrisons and SAM Rovers for all bases. Additionally, Lord Zod is thought to be planning to build a network of aerospace complexes throughout the land.

It is known that Zod has authorized the production of 20 missle fighter aircraft, but no bombers are scheduled except for the single prototype in production.

Zod has refused the military's request to prototype nerve gas weapons. Lord Zod has maintained that no offensive force organization is planned and that the Gaian nation will continue to pursue peaceful resolution of the current crisis.

October 20, 1999, 11:32

turn complete

no blood was shed this turn.

An unconditional peace treaty is out of the question of course. The last one brought the bloated capitalist pigs immeasurable riches from our hard working folks, and nothing but sneak attacks in return.

We recommend our friend Lord Zod for building a fleet of interceptors for maintaining the peace on planet.

Aredhran · October 21, 1999, 18:00

To my esteemed Pact Brothers,
with Carbon Copy to Chairman Flomeise.

I am sad to report that the Chairman declined my offer for peace. Here are
his words, as reported by my ambassador:

"Last time, you reaped all the benefits without ever sharing your
accelerated research, and then even attacked my defensive probe. No, truce
and some tech or your map would be a reasonable 1st step towards lasting
peace".

Allow me to make a few comments...

- "without ever sharing your research": This is a blatant lie. I gave the
Hive Industrial Economics in 2173 as part of the initial treaty
negociations, then Ecological Engineering in 2178. Considering the very
small cash flow generated by trading with his destitute people, I don't
consider this such an unbalanced deal. Of course, when the Chairman showed
his reluctance in joining a fruitful pact with my industries (in 2185 IIRC),
displaying a very cold, disrespectful and almost hostile behavior towards my
envoys, I began thinking twice about granting him access to sensitive
knowledge.

- "defensive probe": I do not deny sinking the Hive spy ship, but you must
ask yourself this question: Can a probe *foil* truly be considered a
"defensive" unit ? Clearly the chairman's agents were headed for my shores,
and the captain of the ship who sank the spy did what was needed to defend
our information networks.

Now Chairman Flomeise asks me to give him more tech which, considering our
current diplomatic status is simply unacceptable, or alternatively, to
provide him with my world map (of course he would reciprocate). As you, as
the experienced leaders that you are, know very well, information is the
essence of war. I have no need for knowledge of Hive Territory, and I do not
believe that the Chairman needs to know the details of my land, unless he
were planning an invasion. Clearly it is only common sense of my part not to
agree with his demands.

To prove my interest in peace, I have met all conditions suggested by the
Governor, and also of my own accord withdrew all offensive units to my own
bases. My intention is to behave as if a formal truce had been signed, even
though it is not the case. Let it be known however that any Hive unit
spotted within my territorial waters will be destroyed without warning.

One more thing, the spy foil that I spared last turn as a sign of my good
will, instead of being withdrawn as requested, has been spotted lurking in
the fungus, within striking distance of one of my bases.

My offer for an unconditional Peace Treaty still stands. Once this status is
reached at last, my scientists may consider opening their vaults of
knowledge to their Hive counterparts again, but not before.

Best regards,
CEO Aredhran

Animus · October 21, 1999, 18:43

The deed (2198) was done.

October 22, 1999, 14:59

Reading CEO Aredhrans CC of his latest Propaghanda fantasies was an exhilerating experience.
I laughed so hard that the poor cat dropped from my lap again.

never did my hardworking people receive a gift of technology from the Morganites. Ind. Econ. was received for signing treaty so beneficial to them, Ecol. Eng. was traded with one of our own advanced technologies.
My refusal to pact with a despot following his own megalomaniac version of the 18th century laissez-faire Capitalism is logical. Me and the other factions demonstrate that it is quite
possible to develop social systrems fit for the requirements of this planet and the 23rd
century.

The defensive probe was in spotting distance of the Hive coast, (2 squares from a city), but at maximum distance from Morgan land (4 squares). I called his action paranoid back then, and still believe that was his motive. It was our single probe at that point, and defensive indeed.

Unfortunately for him, his action triggered the production of a whole fleet of probe teams, strictly for infiltration purposes, no need to deny that. I am pleased to report that this year access to the Morganic networks was achieved.

CEO Aredhrans paranoia is evident again in his refusal to share geographic knowledge. So be it. I offer an unconditional truce. According to the latest polls, there is not even the slightest interest amongst our people to commence trade with the Morganites again.

Now the part which really cracked me up. i quote:
"and also of my own accord withdrew all offensive units to my own bases. My intention is to behave as if a formal truce had been signed, even though it is not the case. Let it be known however that any Hive unit spotted within my territorial waters will be destroyed without warning. One more thing, the spy foil that I spared last turn as a sign of my good will, instead of being withdrawn as requested, has been spotted lurking in the fungus, within striking distance of one of my bases.

hm, now lets match this report with the new infiltration data: all offensive units are 3 warships (90%, 70% damage in bases, the last one swimming around somewhere, probably guarding the transport, but not stationed in any base (as suggested by his mail) , and one probe foil (60% damage). So our units were hardly spared, but benefitted from a general retreat. The 70% damaged ship was just sunk, i hear.

the truce offer stands. No conditions attached. If this is not enough to convince you, my allies, of my peaceful intentions, take a look at the Morganic and the Hive production queues. Missile fighters on the one hand, only a handful of impact interceptors on the other.

Chairman Flomeise

(edited to make it look a bit nicer)
[This message has been edited by Meister Flo (edited October 22, 1999).]