Now that the Local Cluster is unified under the Protectorate it’s admirable that High Command is staying abreast of technological developments and taking an active role in pushing them forward. Our position is precarious and we can’t risk being left behind and suffering a massive defeat.

However, High Command is throwing money and resources into an abyss.

There are conflict zones all over the Protectorate, particularly the former-Axis territories, and we’re struggling to contain them. Due to the effectiveness of the Isseian Air Corps during the war it was logical to play into that air support advantage. So, engineers from the top Military contractors came together for the Mobile Airstrip Cruiser.

A massive airship to carry a full squadron of airplanes, it was designed to land on relatively flat ground, deploy, and instantly provide a landing strip for their craft. The MAC has fuel stores, ordinance, and can rapidly redeploy to different combat zones around the world. The idea is similar to the Flying Dreadnoughts, deploying at least one to every world.

But after six years and 7.04 trillion Pelmarks so far, there’s been nothing to show for it besides a few disastrous prototypes that have fallen apart and nearly killed dozens of people. That much money would have been better spent on disaster relief, building more airbases around the Protectorate, or even just extending the range of aircraft to provide better cover.

The concept of a mobile airstrip that can be rapidly deployed to emerging combat zones is self-evidently worthwhile. It will certainly work with enough time and effort; the issue is that this is not where our efforts should be focused at this time. The Protectorate is strained to the breaking point and if we can’t fix it soon we risk a repeat of the Aggressive Expansion Era.