Part 27: Session 11: The War Drums Beat

Xeno Relations Board

An alliance will be sought from the Altarians and the Iconians. The Terrans shall maintain a strictly neutral stance in the Torian-Drengin War.

Colonial Development Commission

The names "Kirk," "Picard," "Sisko," "Reynolds," "Crichton," "Adama," "Sheridan," and "Sinclair" shall serve as a pool to name unnamed acquired planets.

Infrastructure Development Commission

Unless given a commission, either by the senate or a committee chairperson, idle starports will produce constructors.

Defense Commission

The LentzLandian war deadline shall be moved back 6 months. Additionally, automatic ship designs shall focus on beam weapon technology.

Scientific Grant Board

Research shall be directed to Research Academies, Star Democracy, then Xeno Trade Centers.

*RECORDING BEGINS*


So, Earthers. At last, we meet.


We have heard much about you, Lord Vega. The Drengin told us about how you were the other civilization to develop the first stargate pair.


Yes, we were. Until you went and built the hyperdrive and transmitted the specifications to every last species you could find just three of your Earth years ago. What were you creatures thinking?!


Hey, now, that weren't exactly our fault. See, that guy you met-Gibons-


Irrelevant. Your inability to control your scientists is just another aspect of your failing.


I would hardly call our society "failing." Through trade and independent research, the Terran Alliance is by far the leading edge of science and technology in the galaxy. We have secured alliances with three of our neighbors, and we are the second most populous society behind the Torians, whose breeding cycle is so rapid.


Also irrelevant. I want to show you something.


Special note: this map was always available since the very beginning by pressing a button next to the minimap. To see how it aligns with the main view, you should tilt your head 45 degrees to the right. Because it shows areas of the map that are unexplored, I decided to wait until we met all the civilizations normally.


So?


So?! You see how our homeworld is located in the lower left corner there, free of neighbors for several sectors in all directions?


What is your point?


Do you really think you were the first species to have come up with the idea for a hyperdrive? We Arceans have been a united people for hundreds of thousands of your Earth years.


I'm sorry, but you are aware that the Universal Translator handles unit conversions, yes? Your ambassador has already programmed the Arcean system in. You don't have to keep specifying like that.


Oh, but I think I do. We once created a working prototype for a ship-based FTL system. It was several thousand of your Earth meters long, but it worked. And do you know why we scrapped it? Because we knew there were no life-capable stars anywhere near us. The stargate system made us a center of the galaxy. Its development made us the most important species for any who met us. And yet now the stargate system has been shut down for being irrelevant, and this age of colonization has left us behind, a backwater!


I'm sorry to hear that this fate has befallen you, but you must admit, it is a rather selfish act to want to hold back the entirety of the galaxy just for your own aggrandizement.


Tell me, Senator Lal: if Gibons had not acted on his own, do you believe we would have shared the Hyperdrive technology with every species we came across?


That's…given what we've seen, perhaps not all races…


Of course not. Lord Vega, it seems we have much in common, and thus much to disagree upon. But if you do not mind, we shall discuss the technology trade aspects in a quieter location…

*RECORDING ENDS*


There but fer the Grace a' God go we. What's up, Morgan? I hear you had some news this time.



Indeed I do. Given our surplus at the start of the third quarter, I decided it would be good to begin funding espionage actions once more. That is the extent of my domestic report for the quarter.





Trade has been booming as our freighters reach their destinations; aside from the minor hiccup regarding the Korath, that is.


Awesome. Lal, how'd them alliances go?






Very easily. As you can see from the above slides, we were able to procure not only alliances with the Altarians and Iconians, but a number of additional technologies. The latter were gained mainly by selling Advanced Colonization techs; after all, they are our allies now, and our area of space is virtually tapped out. There is no harm in seeing them expand to areas we would not be visiting. We also purchased the Xalax Defense Coordination system from the Paulos.



You've already seen our meeting with Lord Vega.



It seems his fears of being a backwater have been realized in the intervening three years. We were able to purchase their proprietary technologies for just a few basic building design specifications.



Oh, we also purchased the down-left cluster planet from the Torians soon afterwards.



If I may? Alshain IV, later renamed Adama, is a small planet with very low land cover. However, the planet's evolution is at a stage where it has a much higher oxygen content than Earth's atmosphere, which, combined with the temperate climate caused by the large ice caps, almost makes up for the lack of land availability.



Thank you. Another turn of events you have doubtlessly heard of regards the Korath Clan declaring war on the Altarian Resistance. We have answered their call for assistance, but I will let Senator Santiago go into the details.



Technically, we answered their call twice, but hey, who's countin'?



The Iconians were also nice enough to give us an update on their technology research.


Right. Zak, tell the nice people what we won.


What did we win?


I mean, tell 'em what techs we got off the aliens.


Ah. We hardly "won" those, you know. However, we have purchased a number of new technologies. First, the Altarians were nice enough to sell us their Superior Hulls designs, which brings us halfway to being able to build the next class of capital ships: destroyers. The Torians shared their information on Planetary Defense and Planetary Bombardment, the first of which gives us a structure made to coordinate resistance to planetary invasions, and the second one gives us designs for drive thrusters that can push asteroids into a collision with a defending planet. They also give us an overall boost of 15% to our soldiers' abilites. Enhanced Logistics gives us 6 additional "points" for our fleet-making abilities, and Mass Drivers III provided a newer version of the Railgun.

The Xalax Defense Coordination system provides an impressive boost to a fleet's defense capabilities, but the bulky device used to provide it means that only one specialized ship in a fleet should be mounted with one.

War Rooms improves our Military Production speed, and they may wind up discovering something early for us (Creativity +10%). Advanced Fire Control is much like the Drengin technology that improves attack in defensive areas, but manages to be slightly cheaper.




A spatial anomaly the Nautilus discovered was soon found to be easily reproduced in laboratories, and the Research Academies were finished ahead of schedule.


That it? Arright, Yang, what's happenin' on the starbases?






Thanks to the council's unerring wisdom, there has been an extensive development of our starbases, as you can see.



They have grown quite complex over the last several upgrades.

(I mostly just wanted to show off the obvious reference that is the upgraded mining starbase.)



There is one other thing: while we have heard no official word, reports have reached me that the Torians are no longer drawing from an Ascension Crystal. This was likely a casualty in their war with the Drengin.


Sweet. Corazon, I don't doubt everybody's dyin' ta hear what you got ta say this time.


I once said that war is inevitable when growing powers meet. Thus we face the Korath today in open war, guaranteeing a promise we made to the Altarians. However, the Korath have bitten off more than they can chew: the Altarians have strong ties to the other "Good" species of the galaxy, and all of them answered the call to war. Kora is now at war with all three of its neighbors: Altarians, Torians, and ourselves.



There are three areas where our territory intersects with the Korath: two are caused by starbases, and one by a planet near the outlying colonies of Kamadeva, Kanassa, and Odin. The nearest planet, Albiredo IV, has several corvette assets which leave it out of our abilities to attack with the currently assembled forces, even though it was decided earlier that the buildup for Operation Moustache Shears should be completely redirected to the new war, dubbed Operation Armed Bears.


It's a pun, geddit?



Two corvettes which had reached the rendezvous point were immediately sent to destroy the nearest mining starbase, which you can see here has Battlestations already.



Meanwhile, since our enemy has been decided, I told our ship designers to focus primarily on armor, since we now know the nature of our enemy's weapons. We continue to focus primarily on beam weapons, as directed by the senate.



Given Odin's strategic importance, I also demanded they finish production of the Aphrodisiac immediately so they could concentrate on building a starport.


Don't that mean she was steppin' on yer toes?


I allowed it. It seemed…prudent.


I'll bet. An' how's the Trojan rep doin' these days?


…Quite well.



IF I may continue, I also ordered a Star Fury built on Chiron.



You may recall how the Korath built a base on our Ascention Crystal? Due to the nature of its design, the starbase has no defenses and can never gain them.



It's destruction after the war was declared was inevitable, really.




Sadly, our corvettes' destruction was just as inevitable. At the very least, they made a noticeable dent, and the Korath are unlikely to get a constructor past the Altarians to fix it.


You may also notice in the first of the two images that a Ninja Constructor has been placed on station near the base, ensuring that we will obtain the resource once the Korath have…lost their claim?



One final note. As of August, the first Battle Axe frigate has come out of stardock. It was built here on Earth, quite naturally.


Right, an' if that's it, lemmie show ya what the Nautilus dug up:





It ain't much, sure, but it all adds up, right?



See all you assfaces after recess. I'ma go beat up some nerds fer lunch money.


Why are you looking at me?