026. Crippen Station and new Cycles

Huu was feeling like he had been run ragged.

With a three month cycle, six different companies, most of it being on entirely, different planets, he was trying to figure out just what was even happening.

Hearing things days or weeks behind the actual occurrence had taught Huu that he really needed to think ahead.

To plan things out just a bit.

He would, of course, forget in a few days, but for now, right here on the edge of the cycle end, he was feeling, just plain old, exhausted.

Eggers Education was expanding, he was seeing a lot of reference to 'sections' and 'hexes', so he assumed everyone had been set up in their own fortification blocks. Little 30 metre hexagons like office buildings back in his old life. There were thousands of educators now, each and every one of them costing him money, which was a positive. No profits had emerged at all!

Good.

Very good.

Eggers Armaments was spending a stupendous amount on... something. They weren't making profits anymore, the messages Glory had shown him was that they had eventually just run out of people to sell weapons to on Blackjack. Elsewhere, they were slowing down because other companies were also selling the same weapons.

Profits dropping, finally. Finally, things had not... collapsed and ruined everything. He was making slight losses from them! Part of their cash was being sent to Eggers Agriculture and Eggers Education as well, which dropped their money even further.

Good.

Absolutely, the best.

Saved.

He wasn't going to touch anything, just in case it went wrong.

Eggers Construction was a problem. Always making money.

He had to find another way for them to lose money.

There was a problem and Eggers Construction, instead of losing him money... had made him money! It was like a toaster making bread wet. A complete reversal of everything it had been originally created for!

No, in the next cycle there had to be another solution, something he could do with them to solve his problems... to make losses.

Grrrr.

Speaking of Eggers Agriculture, they were also losing money! From what he could see on the reports that Glory had provided, they were importing truly horrific amounts of... 'soil microbes', whatever that meant, and fertilisers. Why you needed soil microbes for a farm that grew plants... and not... diseases or something (he really had no idea, he was just guessing!), he had no idea. But since they were losing money, he was a-ok with whatever they were doing.

Even better, they were constantly getting new farms and farmers to join them, which only increased the losses even more!

Eggers Media was still operating on a flat line. Making money and then spending it immediately. If there was anyone he could trust, it was Chisaki, always losing money as soon as she earned it.

The perfect human being.

The Eggers Defence Force was losing money. Lots of money. All the money!

Running training operations around the Rasalhague Kingdom, costing him money through the need to pay them for their time. Or the Wolverines, which were running security?

He had no idea that it was even a thing! His guards were Wolverines!

The only reason he had found out was because they had Wolverine as a logo. Like, marvel Wolverine, yellow and blue, bearded and angry man, stout and stabby, that Wolverine.

An angry man that fights against the world is something they identified with... or something. He wasn't going to judge, he was still wishing he could be Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing.

That and documentaries of Wolverines from Terra, like how they pick fights with bears, wolves, coyotes, foxes... the entire animal kingdom really. Even if half the time they were killed, they still picked the fights. For some reason, his guards really liked to watch those videos. Maybe they were really into role playing and being a Wolverine was their thing.

As long as they didn't start... um... coughing up hairballs? What did wolverines do anyway? Pee to mark their territory? Whatever, as long as they didn't do something weird, he was fine with it.

But they were all over the Commonwealth, as like... almost entirely separate from the EDF. Which was just making things confusing, and he really needed to do something to fix that. Just creating a new company would solve his problems there. Internal security or something? Eggers Security Force? ESF?

Dunno.

Finally, there was Tolsand Warworks. Which was currently expanding their lines and trying to get exosuits working. All of which cost money. Money that was... being spent?

Nice.

Checking the paperwork, it looked like the billions he had invested were all being spent, which was impressive.

All in all, right now? He was hoping, rather desperately, that he was going to lose his money as he stepped into the waiting lounge, ready to get onto the dropship that would take him back to Blackjack.

Not helped by the fact that he had spent the week sick. Oxygen levels dropping twenty points certainly hadn't helped matters. He had made it through most of his time on Furillo without falling sick, but, alas, it had caught up to him regardless. The dreaded travel bug caught him... again.

Even having Voidy didn't help matters, clearly his supernatural bad luck was just that, supernatural bad luck. As a Hyperdimensional creature, Voidy just couldn't help.

In any case, he had to see just how this cycle ended. If it was going to be a good thing, or if everything was going to get worse. With more rules and just... more stuff that needed doing.

~~Beep beep boop~~

++ Cycle has ended Host. Is Host feeling well? ++

Really, system?

++ System Settlement. Cycle 3. May 2991. ++

++ Initial Funds = 309, 508. Profits = 0. Losses = 965,060 ++

++ Initiating conversion. 281,092,121 losses to 281,092.12 personal wealth. ++

++ Assessing objectives. Optional Objectives complete. Assigning Rewards. ++

++ Host has created two additional companies. Reward, business stopping before cycle completion rule has been abolished. Rejoice host! ++

That was... legitimately good. No need to worry about trying to get businesses to finish at the end of a cycle... when it took days or weeks to get messages through space. The personal wealth addition wasn't great... he had spent so much on food and entertainment here on Furillo. He had no impulse control, dammit!

++ Host has created a learning institution! Reward, learning institution structures do not count towards physical assets. ++

...

System... is there something you aren't telling me?

++ Optional Objective failed! Host has not made a single friend! System is disappointed! Host is still lonely! ++

Right.

Can you go screw yourself?

++ Reminder, System is not human. Bestiality is illegal. ++

++ Assessing Cycle Rules Adherence. ++

++ Pass. All rules have been adhered to. ++

Yes!

++ New Cycle Initiated. Starting funds ### (Initial + Loss Conversion). Cycle Period 12 months. Cycle abnormality detected. Host Starting funds out of sync with Host Assets, Host timeline out of sync with System cycles. Adjusting. ++

System, you better not be screwing with me here.

++ Beep Boop Beep ++

This is just screwing with me, huh?

++ New Cycle Initiated. Starting funds 1,000,000,000 (Initial). Cycle Period 6 months. ++

6 months and a billion C-Bills to start out with.

Not too much money to lose, it wasn't really that big a deal. That 6 months, though, it would take 3 months for him to return to Blackjack. Which essentially meant that he absolutely needed to start up something now. To make sure that he wasn't going to be too late, just in case he fell sick again.

Dammit, System, what the hell was with this timetable?

Are you trying to rush me here?

++ Updating Rules for this cycle ++

++ Old Rule: All structures and materials worth over 1 million C-Bills will be counted as assets. 10% of asset valuation is counted as profits during System Calculation. ++

++ Old Rule: All assets must be used, assets cannot be left to do nothing. Assets cannot be sold. ++

++ No new rules added this cycle. ++

What about the other rules? Was he going to need to worry about starting a social club?

++ Cycle Rules only apply during cycle if presented to Host. ++

Okay, that made things much simpler.

++ New Objective: Vertical Diversification. All True Tycoons cooperate with their suppliers to ensure positive interactions and development. Host must work to spread supply chains out further, Host cannot own more than 35% of their supply chain. Business cooperation is key to being a True Tycoon! ++

Right, that was... um. What the hell was vertical diversification? He needed to read more on it before deciding what to do.

++ New Objective: Make love, not war. Host has too many war making industries! War is throwing money into a fire! True Tycoons do not waste their money on money-losing ventures. Host must work to develop 2 civilian companies to improve standards of living! ++

Not too difficult... he was sure he could handle this... right?

++ Optional Objective: Host still has no friends. System is worried Host will die alone and not be discovered until tomb raiders find Host's desiccated body because nobody came to look for Host. Host must find one friend this cycle. ++

Right, you can go fuck right off System.

++ Optional Objective: Host must survive assassination. System would be very sad if Host were to die in horrific agony, bleeding out on the floor, screaming from the pain. Reminder, this objective is optional, System won't force Host to survive. System is conscientious like that ~teehee~ ++

Right, thanks for the warning, I guess.

Huu was now creeped the fuck out.

Right.

Just... stick with the Wolverines and... think about this.

He was just about to get on the dropship, so plans had to be done quickly. It was 30 minutes away, barely any time at all, he had to get to the front of the checking queue! Get on the ship, and he was going to be safe that way, just stay on the ship, don't leave.

Safe as can be.

Anyway, future plans!

Better split the Wolverines from the EDF, it wasn't like they were doing much EDF-y things anyway.

Hmmm.

What had he just been thinking about... Gundam! What was big, useless, and exploded really easily?

Colonies!

Like in SEED where that colony took like... 4 missiles and broke apart. Or the one in Wing that took one shot from the Zero and blew up. The big spinning cylinders that like... nobody would ever want to live in because they were so fragile. Or Junius 7 which took 1 missile and basically imploded on itself.

Absolutely perfect!

Build something incredibly big in space, that would need a ton of resources, that nobody would actually want to live in because it was so dangerous. The fragility would outweigh any desire to leave the nice, solid, earth below.

One business sorted, sorted.

A huge waste of money that would cost constant money in maintenance... and if he stuck a school on it... wouldn't he not need to consider it an asset!? Genius!

Shipping everything into the sky, then coming back down to pick up more stuff? Was there any better way of wasting money?

Perfect!

He would... create a second company! Subsidiary to Eggers Construction, it would be Eggers Orbital Construction...

System?

++ Subsidiary Companies are allowed Host! Host is not breaking any rules! ++

Done and done!

The second civilian company would be...

Subsidiary...

Media! There were video-games coming out and such.

Why couldn't he create a company to produce video games? Wasn't Activision and Electronic Arts always talking about how they need to increase monetisation and game prices because they were losing money?

What better way to lose money than to create a video game company?

Hah! Take that system, he had gotten it figured out!

He was on a roll, lost money last cycle and about to lose money this cycle!

Hahahahahaha.

+_+

Receiving word from Glory, Hunter Bek had been absolutely confused.

Just what exactly was going on? Why had the Little Boss ordered him to construct an orbital colony?

He was completely lost on the specifics, it didn't seem like something that made sense... but... but it was the Little Boss.

He always had a plan!

Worse was that the clues he had provided were that it was a rotating, cylindrical colony like those from Gundam SEED or Gundam Wing.

What was a Gundam exactly?

Meeting with Chisaki, she had told him that her agents had managed, after nearly a year of wrangling, managed to get themselves entry to Terra itself to comb through the archives of old media materials. Several hard returned early, the rest were still on-schedule.

One in particular was of interest to the both of them from his words. He was already back here, definitely not in time to receive clarifying orders for research, but he did have some clues... from the Terran Alliance days.

Ancient, in other words.

They were returning today, and Chisaki had invited the heads of the company's on Blackjack to explore them with her.

So, he had arrived, with Chisaki Nagao, Erwin Jaxon, Marzio Cocci (here on a brief recruiting tour), and Aliyah Martinez. Representing Construction, Media, Armaments, Defence Force, and Education. Some of the most influential people of Blackjack in one room.

Standing at attention, the agent gave an aborted salute before stopping himself.

"Good morning, I am agent Delta, currently working for Chisaki Nagao."

Chisaki just waved him on.

"You had something to show us regarding a cylindrical orbital station?"

"Yes, ma'am, I was exploring the local library in the small city of New York's central library. I managed to uncover a great deal of information that is publicly available."

Hunter was greatly interested, hopefully this would be useful for his new orders to build an orbital structure, that had not been seen since the days of the First Succession War or earlier.

How was he meant to do it, it was impossible! Were there alternative options available in this ancient information?

"First, and most relevant, is Crippen Station, built in the 2005 by the Western Alliance using plans from the United States and Japan. It is 600 metres wide and 1500 metres long."

"What the hell is the United States and what is Japan?" Erwin interjected, looking annoyed that he didn't recognise these names. Was it related to Japanese the language? Truly ancient territory they were talking about if that were the case.

"They are countries that formed the Western Alliance. Japan in particular is the cultural touchstone of the Draconis Combine, the official language being Japanese."

"Woooo, so Japan's really important huh?"

"Well, they did help build Crippen Station..."

"Right, right, so a little important then. What's this Western Alliance?"

"The Western Alliance was one of the groups that formed the Terran Alliance."

"Right, so more important. Let's have a look at this station then, huh. Ancient, big, our ancestors really knew what they were doing, didn't they?"

And so, it was displayed, a documentary detailing the process through which a cylindrical station, named an 'O'Neill Cylinder' in the documentary, had been built. Some still existed in the Commonwealth, yet their secrets had been lost with time. Relics of an age long past.

This Documentary revealed that lost knowledge, the materials, the stresses involved, the mathematical equations to calculate the above... everything. The interviewed scientists and engineers laying it all out for the viewer's enjoyment.

Said station also included orbital lasers that could destroy strategic missiles launched from planetside silos... in 2005.

Seriously, where the hell had mankind fallen that they had lost so much?

It was even crewed with a permanent population, by 2016 it had 112 residents, living under rotational gravity.

The cylindrical nature of Crippen Station allowing it to construct vessels in space, such as the AS Columbia... the first ever fusion powered vessel.

Then came the most significant part of the documentary, after detailing colonisation efforts of Luna and Mars, as well as probes to Tau Ceti (or New Earth), they could see the Volga. In 2107, it was the first ever Jumpship.

Better, they could see its entire structure, everything, especially as it was naked, a test ship that didn't even have a crew.

200 metres long, 10 meters wide, simply a drive core with navigation equipment, not even a power plant, all of it explained in loving detail. The blueprints to build one of their own, even displayed for anyone to copy.

Crippen Station's story didn't end there, it also had the TAS Ark in 2116 carried 500 colonists to Tau Ceti, again, it was lovingly detailed, just as Crippen Station was. It's construction, the equations behind its drive, the new crew quarters... everything.

The entire room was frozen.

The secrets of faster than light travel, revealed... from a documentary in a public library?

Was there anything more absurd?

Further... the fact that Jump cores were... in the public domain. The implications of that, anyone could build a jumpship... anyone. That it was so cheap, that private corporations were capable of building them... corporations limited to a single planet... it boggled the mind.

"Due to what I can only consider a dismissive attitude, Comstar's personnel did not prohibit me from taking a copy of the 'Crippen Station, A Life off Terra'. I also managed to bring with me the modernised construction process developed in 2123, contained within the book "Rudolph Ryan, How I Watered the Colonies'. Detailing his patented process for utilising multiple jumpships in unison. To shift billion ton loads consisting of ice asteroids, through hyperspace to deliver them to worlds in need of water."

Retrieving the examples from his secure storage, those in the room felt an almost... sense of reluctance to touch the devices that contained the holy grail of the age.

"I... I think I understand now." Hunter whispered, almost reverently.

"I am... I am building a colony like Crippen Station... to start a new age of human exploration of space. Like Crippen Station, this new station will be able to house people. To build dropships. To build jumpships. To... restart the age of exploration."

The others nodded, unwilling to add their voices to such a moment... to possibly ruin it.

Somehow the Little Boss had known about the trip to Earth, had known what had been freely available for anyone with a library card... and had known it had been brought back to Blackjack, before any of those in this room.

Sure, it wasn't the true jumpship cores they had in the modern age... but the primitive cores could still be extremely useful.

Truly... his foresight was monstrous.

A.N.

Yes, everything involving the colony and jumpship is canon. From the Dropships & Jumpships published by FASA. In-universe it even says it was declassified in 3025 by Tiepolo... so Comstar really doesn't consider the information within classified.

Also, Volga doesn't have a description of where it was built, but I said Crippen just to keep the theme of 'firsts' going.

That said, I'm sticking to O'Neill Cylinder. Maybe there's a historical divergence with O'Neill being born as O'Neil and missing an L from his name. It does irk me though, so O'Neill it is.