My name is Emily Furukawa, Chief Executive Officer of Ionic Incorporated.
We are just passing eight months of operation, a tremendously successful period thanks in no small part to the generous grants of the Empire of Kusari.
As we enter the second full semester at our academic institute, we are able to offer advanced hyperspace navigation classes that to our knowledge, are not offered at any other educational institution domestically or abroad at this level of depth and specialization, and the robust platinum market has provided us steady income to fund our more ambitious ventures.
With this promising report, Ionic Incorporated seeks to expand. We have engaged in the manufacture of specialized spacecraft components and equipment from the early stages of our business, and now endeavor to broaden this production into full segments and possibly entire ships.
With four fully operational shipyards, our nation might already have a substantial capacity for manufacture, but we can offer something Yokohama, Yukawa, Kure, and Tsukishima cannot: A fresh production line built from the ground up to modern standards. Both manufacturing and ship-based technology have changed substantially in the last decade, and to fully commit to these rapid advances requires a fully new facility.
It is not our intention to compete in the already saturated commercial cargo ship market; rather, we intend to specialize in cutting edge military grade manufacture incorporating advanced technology such as cloaking devices and hyperspace manipulation equipment.
It is our hope to secure contracts with the Naval Forces for components, equipment, and if proven viable, ships that are truly of the next technological generation.
In education, research, and manufacturing, our nation has been pushing the boundaries, and this is an edge we intend to keep honing.
Transmission received
Code recognised as NT-Juny-Myk-Node:53-DrC-91
Decrypting.... Recipient:Ionic Incorporated Sender:Naval Operation Headquarters Date:07.10.834 A.S. Subject:RE: Shipbuilding Priority:High
Furukawa-san of Ionic Incorporated.
The Admiralty is pleased to hear about Ionic's intentions to further diversify their portfolio and shows great interest in a joint cooperation. Whilst we are well aware of the masterful crafts Kishiro Technologies and its subsidies can create, we think about something different than full scale ship production. Naval R&D had kickstarted the Project "Ikazuchi" together with the Shimamori Clan of Honshu a few years ago. A project to improve on the versatility of the trusted and proven "Takeda"-class as developed by Kishiro Technologies.
It just so happens that this project reached maturity and entered Trial Phase 3 over the course of the last week. The Experimental Module Yokosuka, operated by the NOH in tight cooperation with other military divisions, is currently studying the transformation process of regular "Takeda"-class hulls into "Ikazuchi"-class vessels and set up its own limited production capabilities to reach this goal.
The Admiralty would be more than pleased to cooperate with Ionic Incorporated on this front and share component blueprints with your engineers, so that a secondary production line can be operated on one of your installations. We are convinced that such a joint venture will also prove most beneficial to your academy branch. Monetary and logistical aid can be provided and will be handled through the relevant Ministries. The Admiralty further offers Ionic Incorporated the possibility of acquiring four refitted "Ashikaga"-class Gunboats free of charge in anticipation of a fruitful cooperation.
Should your company also seek to sell off military-grade components not tied to Project "Ikazuchi", we kindly ask you to provide us with a customer list in advance. KOI counterintelligence recommendations render this a necessity for the time being.
In service of Kusari, Shido Kijima
Naval Operations Headquarters
We would be greatly pleased to take part in the Ikazuchi project. In this early stage of our greater-scale manufacturing, we may well begin with that which we are most familiar with, that being electronics systems and advanced equipment. I may be stepping ahead here as the actual construction is still ongoing, but this is what the corporate policy of Ionic always has been: Expand first, ask questions later. Slower companies will be left behind.
I can with great confidence guarantee the availability of any and all advanced electronics and engine components for the project, as well as hyperspace and cloaking technology. This is our field and we will put everything to it to fulfill this capacity.
We wish to keep contracting simple, what we ask for is:
To offer contract to Ionic Incorporated for advanced avionics, engine technology, cloaking technology, hyperspace technology, prior to other providers, if outside of Yokosuka's own capacities.
To offer scholarship to ascending Naval Forces personnel at Ionic Laboratories, where we offer the most advanced currently available tertiary education on current-generation advanced ship equipment as mentioned above.
Our manufacturing will in return focus on any system the Ikazuchi project requires, at as reasonable a cost as circumstances will allow.
At this time, all advanced shipboard equipment except snubcraft weaponry and all ship component manufacture is restricted to purchase either by the Naval Forces, or for the use of Ionic Incorporated. The company policy is that we remain open to outside buyers as a matter of principle. If peoples across the sector wish to pay for the newest the sector has to offer, surely we must be offering.
If there is interest of an outside party towards some of the more sensitive technologies, we would of course contact the Kaigun before reaching any final agreement.
Transmission received
Code recognised as NT-Juny-Myk-Node:53-DrC-91
Decrypting.... Recipient:Ionic Incorporated Sender:Naval Operation Headquarters Date:08.10.834 A.S. Subject:RE: Shipbuilding Priority:High
Furukawa-san of Ionic Incorporated.
The elaborated details are most satisfactory to the Admiralty. We see no need to suggest any amendments to this. State of the art avionic and propulsion systems will be highly sought after for Project Ikazuchi. We will transfer relevant blueprints tied to the original trials to your institution within the next few days so that you may start with your production line at your earliest convenience. Considering the scenario of potential bulk orders, the Admiralty will give Ionic logistic vessels full clearance to the Keiretsu accessible portions of Module Yokosuka once the - bluntly put - mess caused by the initial wave of supplies has been handled. We expect matters to normalize by this Friday.
On the topic of academic cooperation, the Admiralty played with the idea of including your institutions for an upcoming plan surrounding the future of Naval Forces personnel training. We suggest to postpone exact details regarding this matter until we have established our new training area in proper fashion.
In service of Kusari, Shido Kijima
Naval Operations Headquarters
Greetings and best New Years' wishes.
I'd like to inquire about the status of the Ikazuchi project. On our end, the new semester is about to begin and all registrations have been processed. We have applied a level of preferential treatment for Naval Forces personnel, but slots are of course limited and we must accommodate within those limits. We have secured funding and some outstanding outside faculty connections, so this academic year promises to be an interesting one.
I am writing as we may be looking in what you might consider a parallel development. Our exploration division is working largely with adaptation of current designs to fit our specifications, rather than design of the next generation set up from the ground up for our purposes. We're currently outlining plans for what might become a project related to your own, with a focus away from the martial and towards the scientific, a project which due to its nature may face some legal and political hurdles.
I would be happy to discuss it in greater detail, if we may.
Transmission received
Code recognised as NT-Juny-Myk-Node:53-DrC-91
Decrypting.... Recipient:Ionic Incorporated Sender:Naval Operation Headquarters Date:12.01.835 A.S. Subject:Shipbuilding Priority:High
Furukawa-san of Ionic Incorporated.
We are glad to hear from you again.
Project Ikazuchi is currently undergoing multiple trial phases at once, the original craft is now serving as attachment to the ongoing Amanohashidate project, whereas two more vessels are bound to be integrated into standard Naval duty within standard fleet compositions for further combat trials beyond those the Shimamori Clan conducted. One of these two vessels recently departed Kure Shipyards. Whilst we have a few assumptions regarding your project plans through the implications laid out, we will patiently wait for you to present them in detail before we draw any conclusions.
Switching over to the topic of academic nature, Ionic Incorporated and its academic institutions in Shikoku were named towards the staff of Fort Ainoura as most promising candidates for a far reaching cooperation already. Your message signals us that they have so far neglected to reach out to you, so we would ask you to make the first contact in their place instead. Depending on the exact context of your project, Fort Ainoura may be the most suitable partner within the Naval Forces structure for you anyway.
Please apologize me for unloading the responsibility of discussing matters with them on you but the NOH is strictly responsible for space affairs. The training facility on Junyo is a joint venture of the Kusari Uchugun, the space faring part of the Naval Forces, and the Kusari Rikugun, our Armed Forces on the ground. The Overseer of Fort Ainoura belong to the Ministry of Defense, meaning that any detailed cooperation is to be discussed with them directly rather than us.
However, the NOH and Naval Admiralty will remain readily available to assist Ionic with their future projects to whatever extent is suitable and possible.
In service of Kusari, Shido Kijima
Naval Operations Headquarters
Target: Naval Forces Command, Ministry of Defense
Sender: Emily Furukawa
Subject: The future
Esteemed readers,
Greetings once more. I have matters to discuss that are broad in scope and of great importance for the security of the nation, thus I am sharing this transmission directly with the Ministry of Defense as well.
To start, we have received a number of naval personnel starting this new semester, who from the feedback we have received have shown great interest in our material. We are currently planning for new courses that integrate exploration and martial education, which I will get to later.
Now for the greater picture. As you know, our company specializes heavily in hyperspace technology, the advancements in which are in the early stages of what will likely become revolutionary. We must work with the assumption that it is only a matter of time before hyperspace tunneling progresses from small scale experimental use to the new method of mass transit, which would represent a technological paradigm shift not seen since the development of jump gates.
This development is also fraught with competition; hyperspace devices proliferate, and although we are unaware of any manufactured entirely without Kishiro technology, we have to assume that other entities, Ageira in particular, but possibly even non-state aligned actors cannot be too far from independent manufacture.
This brings me to my next point. The usage of hyperspace breaches has led to the discovery of the system dubbed Earhart by explorers, which contains alien structures that act as an "anchor" for hyperspace travel, as confirmed by many human wrecks found, some of them centuries old, which appear to be leftovers of older failed hyperspace experiments or mishaps.
The nature and origin of these structures, or any relation to the alien species known as "Nomads" is at this time hotly debated, but it is our currently strongest theory that they formed the nexus of a hyperspace travel network of enormous scale. Exploration of this strange system, its connections, and the collection of anomalous materials found within, has been a major priority for Ionic.
Because of the link between hyperspace technology and the Earhart system, we strongly believe that it is in the highest national interest to aggressively pursue exploration and study of this sector. It is possible that understanding of the alien technology found could lead to a "Valhalla moment" which completely changes technological development in the colonies, and it goes without saying that the pioneers of this knowledge will hold tremendous advantage - and conversely, there are massive strategic dangers that could result in unpredictable actors making such technological gains.
So allow me to circle back to some more practical points. Ionic has been adapting Kishiro's original Ikazuchi plans for our purposes. It is our intention to create a next generation exploration vessel specifically designed for hyperspace travel. The base design already fits well into our requirements, since it integrates the last generation of the Jintsuriki scanner suite. We are currently working with a small independent organization, the "Starfliers", on an updated version better suited to anomalous reading analysis as suited for exploration. These Starfliers have impressive hyperspace exploration know-how and have proven valuable partners on the academic as well as the practical exploration front.
Every previous vessel equipped with hyperspace technology has been an adaptation, blending existing technology together as best as possible. This craft will be different: A purpose-built design specifically to pierce the veil, so to speak.
Now I can return to the first point, the integration of exploration, technological development, and national security.
We propose the creation of a joint exploration task force, centered around the vessel currently in the final planning stage, tasked with hyperspace exploration and securing the advantage of the Empire of Kusari in this field. Now I must be clear here, this is not to be a friendly-faced outreach group, this is a martial task force with the objective of securing Kusari interest in a rapidly-developing sector. The Ikazuchi platform was not chosen just for its technical superiority, but for its defensive and offensive prowess. For the purposes of this task force, we suggest we develop a course to train such naval exploration personnel, combining our technical perspectives with military training.
We firmly believe that this represents the most secure investment in the future we can currently make, and we are confident the Empire will share this perspective.
Transmission received
Code recognised as NT-NOH-DirectL-Ionic-A9-O
Decrypting.... Recipient:Emily Furukawa, Ionic Incorporated / NOH / Imperial Shogunate Sender:Asset Goryō
Subject:Ishigaki Exploration Taskforce
Furukawa-san.
It is a great pleasure to connect a face to Ionic Incorporated. Allow me a brief introduction before we proceed. Asset Goryō, Naval Forces. Current Commanding Officer of the recently established Totsugekitai Division: A spearhead combat unit aimed to secure Kusari superiority in areas where legal boundaries and standard operational protocol are a hindrance. As my unit absorbed most of the Naval Forces attached Intelligence units which were involved in the initial Earhart (internally labelled Ishigaki) expeditions in cooperation with the Samura Industries subsidiary of Senkaku Development, the Admiralty permitted me to carry out future discussions with your company directly.
Admittedly, these expeditions added little in understanding the underlying mechanics and nature of this place but resulted in a basic understanding permitting the exploitation of newfound resources. Our experiences in terms of which houses and organizations possess means to access the area, as well as where to look for several of these resources, should be of advantage regardless. Ionics assessment, in our eyes, is supported by these previous experiences and we agree that the Empire needs pathways to secure technological and scientific superiority.
Whilst I cannot speak for the Admiralty on the topic of an Ikazuchi-class vessel in direct ownership and operated by Ionic Incorporated, I can voice my opinion on the matter. The original IKN-Ikazuchi is part of my division and excels in reconnaissance and surveillance tasks already. A further modified variant, explicitly constructed as an expedition taskforces flagship, should easily grant the Empire an edge ahead of the other colonies and various third parties organizations. I will see to discuss the permission for this in the Ministry directly.
In regards to the expeditionary taskforce, the Naval Forces are more than interested in cooperation as you have surely noticed by now. Keeping in mind that I cannot allocate too many resources away from the Totsugekitai, the regular 66th Expeditionary Forces can be assigned to assist actual spaceborne operations together with your security and scientific details for the time being. The 66th are experienced veterans of deep space operations and should be most suitable candidates for initial expeditions until we have set up the training of new, additional personnel. I will see to lay a foundation at Fort Ainoura to establish several courses for the aforementioned joint trainings, in tight-knit cooperation with your academic institution. Bear in mind that this might take a while, so I suggest we focus on the details surrounding the potential flagship and initial drafts for the first expeditions instead.
In service of Kusari,
Commanding Officer 'Goryō'
Totsugekitai Division
Target: Naval Forces Command, Ministry of Defense
Sender: Emily Furukawa
Subject: The future
Esteemed readers,
I will keep this shorter than the last message, I hope. The imminent Liberty threat in southern Shikoku, or for that matter in the resource-rich Galileo fields, has at this point not materialized.
Sure, we have experienced attempts of our competitors to make their presence known, but they seem to have mostly involved local commanders trying to present a strong face - attempts which ultimately failed when our forces destroyed them.
The Infinity project is now itching to go. We cannot make any further use of localized patrols in Shikoku, and there has now been an extremely significant objective that unexpectedly popped into our consciousness: The southern Omegas. Significant hyperspace modulation has revealed a number of previously unknown connections, and rumors from the region suggest there are phenomena yielding resources of unknown characteristics.
I realize this all sounds highly speculative at the moment, but we have obtained data that should make the further exploration of this region the highest priority.
Like the Ishigaki situation, this is of highest national security interests.
My request is simple.
Project Infinity is prepared for further operations. I have assigned one of my closest protégés, Riko Ose, as commandant. She was a star student at her local naval academy in Honshu, and after switching over to a scientific career, has remained at the top of her classes her at Ionic. She is a little overenthusiastic at times, but that's something to be expected from players with ambition.
We want the green light to move the vessel, by hyperspace tunneling and conventional travel, to any point that doesn't conflict with any inter-house treaties, for now. We do not intend to deliberately violate any treaties with the Republic of Liberty, but this is something that we have to be pragmatic about.
We don't intend to deliberately violate any treaties with Rheinland. We will cautiously skirt around them.
Bottom line, we require authorization to move Infinity in accord with our scientific expeditions, and the authorization of Ionic Incorporated and Commandant Riko Ose to take control of the 66th Expeditionary Division as necessary. With the caveat that national emergency will require the asset's recall and engagement in any martial activities the Empire of Kusari deems necessary. The vessel's now well-tested hyperspace traverse capabilities should make that an easy feat. That goes without saying.
Transmission received
Code recognised as NT-NOH-DirectL-Ionic-A9-O
Decrypting.... Recipient:Emily Furukawa, Ionic Incorporated / NOH / Imperial Shogunate Sender:Asset Goryō
Subject:Exploration Taskforce
Furukawa-san.
I have taken it upon myself to discuss this matter with the 66th beforehand. We reached the conclusion that they can offer a small assortment of escort vessels for your exploration purposes but urged me to tell you to also seek assistance with other Keiretsu subsidiaries regarding this endeavor. The 66th has been assigned to missions of utmost importance to the Empire's security and will see most its forces locked down for these sensible tasks for many months to come.
The vessel may be moved around the sector as you see fit, so long so as all potential relevant parties are informed about your transit in advance. We currently see no reason to consider Project Infinity as on-call asset for home defense purposes, so you can enjoy planning security for this endeavor. However, due to the political situation around the sector, we would be at ease knowing the vessel will transit Bretonian space instead of Gas Miner and Rheinland territory. It might also represent a good opportunity for limited joint ventures with Bretonian corporations too, if such a possibility interests you.
In service of Kusari,
Commanding Officer 'Goryō'
Totsugekitai Division
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