Investigation Report Missing Materials
Classified. Eyes Only.
As per your initial lead, we followed up on long-term material thefts. The first three days were spent sifting through old data-records. Hampered by datanet blackouts and data-loss. Unable to determine if losses were deliberate, or due to poor stack maintenance.
Discovered no obvious errors in top-level accounting. Did however find errors in the accounting between the imported/mined minerals and the amounts used in manufacturing/export at district-level. This difference can be traced back to 4975, before that records are unreliable. We speculate that were the records reliable and available, we would find the same inconsistencies covering a much larger timespan.
We have taken into account the typical rate of skimming and theft by local operators, using the crime index cross-referenced from the Custodians, as per the annual reports from 4990 to 5009. Typical skimming operations account for around 4% of materials on all levels, we have adjusted for these standard figures in our initial conclusions below:
Our Data-savant confirms your original investigator’s findings, and adds further detail, as follows: For at least the past 40 years a massive-scale skimming operation has redirected an average of 39% of Tantalus’ industrial output to some unknown destination, equating to some 12,000 megatonnes of ‘missing’ material. During this time, at least 91% of rare minerals (used for high-tech, high-energy manufacture) have been skimmed at some point between refining and manufacturing. During tims time, at least 31% of manufactured high-tech goods have been skimmed after manufacture. Our investigation shows that the skimming operation has tapered significantly over the past 5 years, last year only 2% of Tantalus’ total output was skimmed, but of this, 96% was rare minerals.
As you requested, we have assumed the missing materials are being used to build a warfleet in secret, as per your previous investigator’s speculation. We have concluded that a fleet utilizing the majority of material (with reductions for losses and the construction of the docks, etc.) would be of between 750 to 4,000 starships based on known historical and current designs.
Our current conclusions are as follows:
We are unsure if the tapering of skimming is due to Tantalus’ reduction in output after the Niobe disaster, or whether Tantalus’ reduction in output is due to the reduction in skimming. Given this, we recommend that mining and industrial efforts could be significantly increased immediately, the industrial sectors clearly have the capacity to operate well above their current output. Worryingly, we have found that many of the people associated with these adjusted records have died. Our access to the Custodian data-archives show that there was no common link between the deaths (accident, misadventure, illness, old age, etc.), and there is nothing statistically suspect in the method of death, except their links to this skimming conspiracy.
Our second-stage investigation is as follows:
We will interview Jasper Barkle, Chief Executive of Paradise Holding Company. While his name does not appear on any documents, a significant amount of materials pass through the Paradise Holding Company each year, and therefore it’s highly likely that someone highly placed at PHC could make the necessary manifest changes on an ongoing basis.
As per your initial lead, we followed up on long-term material thefts. The first three days were spent sifting through old data-records. Hampered by datanet blackouts and data-loss. Unable to determine if losses were deliberate, or due to poor stack maintenance.
Discovered no obvious errors in top-level accounting. Did however find errors in the accounting between the imported/mined minerals and the amounts used in manufacturing/export at district-level. This difference can be traced back to 4975, before that records are unreliable. We speculate that were the records reliable and available, we would find the same inconsistencies covering a much larger timespan.
We have taken into account the typical rate of skimming and theft by local operators, using the crime index cross-referenced from the Custodians, as per the annual reports from 4990 to 5009. Typical skimming operations account for around 4% of materials on all levels, we have adjusted for these standard figures in our initial conclusions below:
Our Data-savant confirms your original investigator’s findings, and adds further detail, as follows: For at least the past 40 years a massive-scale skimming operation has redirected an average of 39% of Tantalus’ industrial output to some unknown destination, equating to some 12,000 megatonnes of ‘missing’ material. During this time, at least 91% of rare minerals (used for high-tech, high-energy manufacture) have been skimmed at some point between refining and manufacturing. During tims time, at least 31% of manufactured high-tech goods have been skimmed after manufacture. Our investigation shows that the skimming operation has tapered significantly over the past 5 years, last year only 2% of Tantalus’ total output was skimmed, but of this, 96% was rare minerals.
As you requested, we have assumed the missing materials are being used to build a warfleet in secret, as per your previous investigator’s speculation. We have concluded that a fleet utilizing the majority of material (with reductions for losses and the construction of the docks, etc.) would be of between 750 to 4,000 starships based on known historical and current designs.
Our current conclusions are as follows:
We are unsure if the tapering of skimming is due to Tantalus’ reduction in output after the Niobe disaster, or whether Tantalus’ reduction in output is due to the reduction in skimming. Given this, we recommend that mining and industrial efforts could be significantly increased immediately, the industrial sectors clearly have the capacity to operate well above their current output. Worryingly, we have found that many of the people associated with these adjusted records have died. Our access to the Custodian data-archives show that there was no common link between the deaths (accident, misadventure, illness, old age, etc.), and there is nothing statistically suspect in the method of death, except their links to this skimming conspiracy.
Our second-stage investigation is as follows:
We will interview Jasper Barkle, Chief Executive of Paradise Holding Company. While his name does not appear on any documents, a significant amount of materials pass through the Paradise Holding Company each year, and therefore it’s highly likely that someone highly placed at PHC could make the necessary manifest changes on an ongoing basis.
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