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POV: Arthur Sinclair.
"The most recent Celestial Forge achievement is also an achievement that can be obtained in Stellaris." I said as I took my seat at the table across from Arriston. He waited for me to continue. "If the Stellaris achievements count as Celestial Forge achievements, then it means I have something I can work towards."
Arriston nodded. "I assume that you have some further achievements that you could test."
I nodded. "Most obvious is the Mad Genius achievement. It requires us to recruit a scientist from the Curator Enclave. I'm fairly confident that we could recruit a scientist from them as we stand at the moment. This would also allow us to get the Rare Technology 'Curator Archaeology Lab' which would unlock the Break On Through... achievement."
Arriston raised an eyebrow as I handed him a flexi. As he turned it on, he responded. "I seem to remember there being some achievements that should have already been completed."
I nodded. "There are a couple that I would have expected to activate already but just haven't. Namely, Brave New World, which should require us to own more than one world; Mutual Understanding, which requires us to have traded with another empire; and We Come In Peace, which requires us to initiate a non-violent first contact. I have some potential explanations for why, but none of them are particularly satisfying."
Arriston looked over the document. "Alright. What other suggestions do you have that we might test?"
I immediately picked up another flexi and began looking through the list. "Explorer: it would require us to survey one type of every planet. By the standards of Stellaris, I think the only type of world we have yet to survey is a Tomb World, and we can find those in the Inner Sphere easily. Building Better Worlds and Paradise Found could both be accomplished by terraforming a planet into a Gaia World with Azaryn's assistance. We could also get the previous two achievements by finding the Last Baol and activating it to terraform a world of our choosing into a Gaia world; this would also give us the It belongs in a museum! and Unlimited Power! achievements."
I flipped to the next page. "Those are the achievements we could feasibly get in the immediate future. There is one that we could get within a couple of months, but it would require us to stop developing our own hyperdrives. The Path Not Taken, would require us to be in control of 10 colonized worlds before we research hyperdrive technology."
Arriston stopped reading and looked up at me for a moment. "Do you think we stand a good chance of developing hyperdrive technology in the near future?"
I nodded emphatically. "Easily. Once we have the crystal growth chamber, assuming there aren't any issues, we'd have absolutely no issue with just recreating the Goa'uld hyperdrives."
Arriston pursed his lips. "Michael mentioned the possibility of taking over the Tortuga Dominions. Would those count?"
I quickly answered in the affirmative. "Absolutely. We just need to be in control of a total of ten worlds. From there, we'd be free to consolidate our power. If we take over the Tortuga Dominions, then there are two further nearby planets that we could claim with relative ease."
I shared a set of images, namely of the rimward periphery of the Inner Sphere. I first pointed to the Tortuga Dominions. "We already know the Tortuga Dominions, but here." I moved my finger 90 light-years to the south. "About here is the Hope system. The world is populous enough to have a problem with rogue mech warriors, despite my own knowledge stating that only a few thousand live on the world. I don't believe it would take much to claim the planet. However, if the population really is as sparse as my memories claim, then we would need other options."
I moved my finger to the other side of the map, to a system just on the border of the Free Worlds League. "Right here is the world of Astrokaszy. By now it should have either formed a government or be on the way to doing so. I don't know if we could claim it outright, but supporting its development materially could make it a valuable ally. Most importantly, it is between the Magistracy of Canopus and the Free Worlds League. It is an excellent rest stop for traders, and it would be an excellent place for a base of operations in the FWL."
The third system was almost 300 light-years rimward of the Magistracy of Canopus. "This is the Pharos system. The system was independently settled by a Capellan mercenary company, and then later by a group of Taurian and Canopian refugees. I know nothing about the system, but since I was checking all viable options, this one popped out at me. If I were to guess, they likely have access to several jumpships, or they did when they first settled in the system. If nothing else, then the system is well away from the Inner Sphere and could act as a fallback point."
Arriston looked through the sparse information about the Pharos system, his eyes narrowing. "You've certainly considered this."
I nodded sharply. "All it would take is delaying a project by a few months."
Arriston nodded back and tapped his flexi a few times in thought. "Alright. You should take this information to Michael. If you can convince him to include these systems in the initial survey, then I'll support it."
I smiled. "Thank you. There is one more thing I'd like to bring up. When I first got access to the list of Goa'uld Stargate addresses, there was one gate that was particularly close to Terra. That world showed up in my memories as a system known as Argondale."
I had the flexi zoom out and shift well anti-spinward of Terra to display Argondale's relative location. "If there is really a Stargate there, then it is possible that the Star League discovered it."
This time, the president pursed his lips but shrugged. "If you can convince Michael to send the ships, then I'll sign off on it."
I smiled and nodded. "Understood. Thank you for your time."
He smiled in response. "Of course. If you ever need anything Arthur, then please let me know."
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Two Days Later.
I stood at the back of the room as Michael briefed the pilots and crewmembers of this expedition. The entire briefing room held several hundred people; full crews for all 24 Al'kesh that would begin journeying around the periphery. "Alright everyone. This is the briefing for the Periphery Expedition."
A map instantly appeared on the display, showing a route that meandered around the spinward and the rimward periphery.
[MAP OF THE EXPEDITION'S PATH]
So, Michael began the presentation. "You will begin the expedition to the Járnfolk world of Ålborg. You will spend approximately a week there and on the nearby worlds, gathering intel before moving onto the next target."
Next, the world of Alfirk was highlighted. "Alfirk is one of ComStar's hidden worlds. We know next to nothing about the system, other than it is far from Terra and capable of producing their own JumpShips."
Next up was a world on the border between the Draconis Combine and the Outworlds Alliance. "This is Antallos. We know nothing about the world other than it is inhabited and likely contains an HPG. If there is, then you will continue on to your next target."
The fourth target was a collection of ten star systems, with the world of New Delphi highlighted first. "This is the New Delphi Compact. It is one of the few proper republics within Terra's sphere of influence. You will spend anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month surveying their worlds."
Fifth and sixth were a set of systems on the opposite side of the Outworlds Alliance. "These two systems are Novo Franklin and Mica. We know the same amount about Novo Franklin as we do about Antallos. Once more, if you notice subspace interference, then move on. Mica is a set of asteroid mines that were formerly prison colonies of the Draconis Combine. We expect you to do a few days' reconnaissance before continuing on."
Finally, the map moved to the Tortuga Dominions. "As you all know already, this is the Tortuga Dominions. They have been raiding the Federated Suns since before the Star League was brought into existence. For most of you, this will be your primary mission. Once you reach the Tortuga Dominions, you will spend a month doing recon before preparing a forward base. Unless we discover something new, we expect to begin operations against the Tortuga Dominions within three to six months."
The map moved on once more. "This is the Hope system. It is a day away from the nearest world in the Tortuga Dominions. Apparently, the natives have an issue with disenfranchised mech warriors. If all goes according to plan, then we expect to make the world a staging ground for any future operations in the Tortuga Dominions."
Michael coughed once. "Now, once you've completed the initial recon, a group of six Al'kesh will continue on to this system." The map highlighted the next planet. "We know very little about the world, other than that it ended up suffering a significant technological collapse, and we may be able to offer them assistance. There is also a non-zero chance that they have access to several JumpShips."
Finally, the map shifted one final time. "This is the Argondale system. Three of the Al'kesh that were part of the expedition to Pharos will continue here. According to Ares' database, there is a Stargate here."
The screen turned off, and Michael Dresden nodded to everyone. "That is all. Go prepare your ships. You leave in four hours."
There were three more presentations after the first for each of the other three expeditions. They would travel to select points in the Inner Sphere to distribute the Asgard subspace oscillation monitors — a piece of tech I would be sure to get my hands on soon — before continuing on to their final destinations.
The first would comprise six Al'kesh and would visit Camelot Command in the Dark Nebula, near the Wotan system. Wotan had an active HPG, and it was only through sheer luck that Camelot Command was outside of the 15 light year range of subspace disturbances.
Camelot Command was defended by automated drones and required a specific set of access codes to get in. Luckily, the Manassas had been stationed at Camelot Command alongside the Cobalt Eye, so the access codes were well known.
The second would also comprise three Al'kesh, and would first be traveling to New Dallas to search for the New Dallas memory core. From there, they would continue on to Niops, a Star League research outpost that had grown into a full-fledged independent star system. They had retained most of the tech they had at their peak and had become a technocracy, where the highly educated remained at the top and the uneducated were stuck doing manual labor. It wasn't the greatest setup, but they had survived the fall of the Star League, so it was something.
The third would comprise six Al'kesh and would travel to the New Vandenberg system in the Taurian Concordat to search for the SLS Tripitz. Unfortunately, New Vandenberg itself had an active HPG, so about a fourth of the systems that might hold the vessel just couldn't be reached. If they failed to find the Tripitz in the reachable systems, then several of the XJF fighters would be sent over to search the closer star systems.
In the meantime, three of the Al'kesh would head for Detroit and then for Alloway to find the SLS Argo, an experimental Star League dropship (that is currently being used as a pirate base). There would likely be one or more pirate JumpShips in the system that could be stolen. By then, it was expected to have proper weapons and armor for boarding and commandeering a JumpShip.
If the Tripitz was within the unreachable star systems, then the plan was to steal one or more pirate JumpShips, perform upgrades, and then go salvage the Tripitz.
Of course, that left a lot of pressure on me. I needed to have the first stealth Nighthawk variants ready by then. It would take 16 days for the Al'kesh to reach New Vandenberg and begin the search. From there, assuming four days for a preliminary scan of the system, and with 34 systems to scan, that would mean up to five months to get the Nighthawk ready for anti-piracy actions.
An initial prototype wouldn't take anywhere close to that long. Producing assembly lines would be the real time cost. So, as I watched all 38 vessels in total depart into the depths of space, I once more turned back and prepared to get back to work; if anyone ever said that they were done with work, I would be sure to smack them before pointing them at the next thing that needed to be done.