Part 59: Freedom and Mixed Success

Freedom and Mixed Success




SD 3523.0 - The Trilarians, probably our best friends in this galaxy, and the Meklar formed an alliance. This could not be allowed to stand, and the fishfolk were agreeable to our demands.




Neither the name or design specs of the new Deathbringer are subtle. Bombs should no longer be necessary.




FINALLY.




3523.3, the same turn. The time for this kind of thing has passed. With our new plasma cannons we can and should dominate the galaxy. We have no need of your services. Only half of our battleships had been refitted though, but that should be enough to smash the Meklar resistance to our rule. Though their targets were several turns away, the colony ships set off immediately. There remain a few unclaimed systems after the long galactic silence, a time that only the oldest Klackons can even remember the beginnings of. Our destiny beckons us.




Two battleships and a starbase were easily dispatched in orbit by our ships. Three full transports of ground troops became casualties in the invasion, but overwhelming numbers did the job.

The Meklar are no more, except as our servants.




It's not much, but it's the first shield we've managed to acquire.




They used this on us in the previous battle, but it wasn't enough to really help them.




Realistically, it's probably too late now for our new labor force to help all that much. Still, we'll continue with the plan. A full dozen here plus however many more Meklar citizens we can breed/manufacture ... a little of each in their case?

Bulrathi task forces are en route, but with our agreements in place with them that is hopefully a moot point. Our Deathbringers will look to defend here, then gradually push out across the lower part of the galaxy into Gnolam territory.




If Unification is OP, what is this - Mega-OP?? Either way, our economy just went from dominant to ridiculous.




Continuing in that general direction. Getting some cheap things to boost our infrastructure even further so we can pump out ships wherever and whenever they are needed seems sensible.

By far our biggest challenge right now in travel time - ships still take several turns in most cases to get where they need to go, so patience and planning are required.




We're in danger of having a Gnolam stalemate here. Maintaining the status quo is easy. Supporting enough battleships to defend Arkab and Meklon while also hitting their fortified systems, not so much. I decide to just throw a few of our ships into the fray and see if we can do any damage. Even if it's a battle of attrition, that's probably a worthwhile effort. Balancing out what planets produce trade goods, transports, colony ships, or more battleships to maximize the fleet is a fun bit of every-turn micro right now.

Boosting our command points with more battlestations would be nice, but we've got a lot of planets in the pipeline with only one currently in construction.

Malec (2:04)


Ok then. Not doing so hot at absorbing the punishment these days. We can still eventually overwhelm them with numbers, but right now their fighters and missiles are killing us.

I attempt to work on tech trades, but only the Bulrathi have anything interesting, and they want the Plasma Cannon. Nope, not happening. We clearly can outmatch their ships, so I think hit-and-run tactics now to whittle them down and see if that gets us anywhere. Right now there are 5 Battleships and 2 Cruisers with the reinforcements at Malec. I foresee an extended standoff.

Meanwhile, we're starting to get Meklar incubator planets up and running.




No clue how many this is now.

** Trilarians (7) - Abstain
** Gnolams (7) - Abstain; they must really not like Morfane either. Who would though?
** Bulrathi(6) - Abstain
** Alkari (3) - Abstain
** Darlok (8)

We have 23. We continue to spit on the galaxy, but have less than half overall. Klackons are the greatest ... but cannot yet enforce our will of destiny. Naturally we play the game and vote Darlok.

I feel dirty now.




We continue to rack up small things. I want more plasma miniaturization, but I think reducing pollution with Nano Dissasemblers is worth the price first. We're among the galactic leaders in research advances at this point, so really it's just time to max our production and fleet efficacy.




The Antarans could have chosen any of the three Bulrathi planets in the system. Jerks.




We're looking for those with a more diverse skillset at this point. Rejected. Also, Gnolam, or at least 'Gnolam', espionage is becoming a problem.




Neutronium Armor would be nice, but is only a 50% boost over our current Zortrium. I still think packing more weapons on our ships would be better.

Malec Again (3:20)


The Gnolams moved their fleet inexplicably to the opposite side of the galaxy, so we moved in with full force. Of course, this victory was tempered with the following knowledge:

"Darlok spy steals Plasma Cannon".

Asstwerps. At this point though, the goal of expansion is simply to gain more territory and population. I don't want to destroy the worlds, just get enough votes so that nobody can oppose us in the Council. That seems clearly to be the shortest line between where we are and the galaxy accepting the inevitable.

We swap with the Bulrathi, getting Microlite Construction. Might as well. They're going to get the plasma cannon eventually now anyway, let's get something for it.




The next turn. The Gnolams had split their remaining fleet, leaving us attacking another defended system with 4 battleships against three defending ones. We lost two, but pounded through. This is going to be a start-and-stop campaign with these kinds of losses. However, Arkab and Meklon should now be beyond their reach, and we are pushing them back.




That'll boost our clearly pathetic espionage defense. As 'Darlok spy steals Jump Gate'. Oh well. The planet itself is a mid-sized poor tundra, not much to celebrate.

The shipbuilding efforts spread to four planets, and hopefully more soon will be ready. Any fully-developed rich/ultra world will now be dedicated to the task of pumping out Gnolam-blasting Deathbringers.




Cryslon at the bottom, and Ecu at the top will be the rally points. The wanna-be whiz kids look about to seize an open planet in the Gote system, between Ursa and Orion right in the middle. That would give them the range to outflank us if we don't prepare a response in that area.




The Darlok fleet is significantly larger than us, and their technology a hair better. When it comes to sheer citizens though we continue to roll, and the folly of the Gnolams moving their fleet away clearly hastened their undoing. There's more of a sense of urgency now that some of the others have our plasma technology; our superiority must be firmly established by the time they can deploy that weapon. And it wouldn't hurt to pay the Guardian a visit if we ever get to a point where there isn't a more pressing target ...