Part 134: Episode XII: 2450

Episode XII: 2450 -





We are now competitive in terms of production, and the technology gap is just starting to close. The most significant factor is how things are continuing to equalize; there are no totally backwards races. That big Klackon fleet isn't doing them a darn bit of good as they are getting punished. Kaxal isn't earning his paycheck.




Normally I'd think about bribing the Klackons to improve relations, but with all their other conflicts and how poorly the war is going for them, there's no need. They need all of the friends they can get.




We're not even halfway to any new research developments, and Reduced Waste 60% is the only semi-important one with any progress put in at all. This here is more important. Of course there is all that Poor ... Poor ... Ultra Poor ... but also a moderate amount of spending on missile bases, for which the buildup continues. The recent terraforming will increase the size of several planets by at least a third(Proteus will double from 20 to 40M, making it half as totally inadequate as it was and only a quarter of how it started). And we're starting to reap the benefits of peace with a positive and increasing trade balance. That's only 5% of the potential of our current deals, but it's something.




The Sakkra continue to spread everywhere -- there's almost nothing left of the hostile planets I wished to gain and I expect they'll all be gone by the time we're ready with Radiated Landings. Despite the failure of that initiative though, we're still going to see our power grow ... just not as quickly or as much as it would have without the slow start.

** Alkari -- 14(--)
** Klackon -- 12
** Meklar -- 8
** Sakkra -- 8

The Klackons still have enough territory to be a very significant threat if they ever get their act together. And we may have one advantage here: the Sakkra and Klackons are still at Toxic, with the Meklar at Tundra. That would leave us as the only Radiated-capable race if it holds, meaning that we could take any such planets and have them ignored. There's only one I've found right now, but there are probably others further on. Rather amusing that in two games as the Sakkra, I didn't have Radiated landings. But now that I'm off to the Alkari, I get it -- and the Sakkra, Planetology experts, don't. **Boggle**.

2454: Another round of tech trading reveals nothing I'm particularly interested in. The other races mostly want Robotics III which I'm not particularly keen to hand over, and they don't offer anything very valuable. Improved ECM/Computers, terraforming worse than what I already have, basic scanners ... I'll pass. It feels like I've reached the point where I need to continue watching them fight among themselves while I catch up in tech the old-fashioned way ... by earning it. To that end, trade income is starting to ramp up, now at about 200 BC annually. That's about a 6% boost to the economy -- not a ton yet but it's getting there and increasing each year as we grind through the process of building factories and bases after the recent terraforming.




Didn't mean to catch our scientist in the middle of blinking, but left it that way for the lolz. Reduced Waste 60% is in, constituting a one-quarter reduction in the ecology chunk which is still a pretty significant expense. Zortium Armor is the only choice here bringing us forward. It's 2462, with the past decade since the vote having been decidedly uneventful. Altair and Exis have recently re-maxed, and many others are close to doing so.




The Klackon fleet has been -- finally -- swinging into gear, and as a result Aurora is now open. A Sakkra task force is on the way, but will not arrive for five years. Our NAP with them gives us a chance to profit from this situation. I also have been checking trade, but the lizard economy is just small enough that we can't double that deal; the others are larger already. Those agreements remain stable.




Several decades ago we were just a little too slow in getting here. Now we have a second bite at the apple, and for the moment at least grab a 15th system.




MOO of course cannot tolerate such positive goings-on. We have an ample reserve and Celtsi is a fully-developed system industrially, so this will merely be an annoyance.




Most of the Sakkra fleet over Berel has finally been disbanded, and the one base I built here(accidentally) was able to fight off the lone cruiser that remained. The four systems that were supplying population pretty much constantly(Escalon, Herculis, Proxima, and Kulthos) can now work on their long-delayed buildup. The Alkari Empire is turning the corner in a lot of ways here in the 60s, and Redwing is very optimistic about the future.




This complicates the Aurora situation. This Mrrshan cruiser won't get here for a while, but we can't field any useful ships yet. Pretty soon we might be able to start doing that again, but I need some advances that are currently being worked on. There's no chance of the incoming Sakkra force chasing them off, as the two of them are allies. I send in colonist transfers anyway, and hope that the cats are feeling friendlier than I expect.




2466. One step closer to being able to field a respectable combat ship, but not there yet. ECM IV is the only option.




A year later. The quiet of the 50s is long gone, and the Age of Chaos is clearly here. It's spoils-of-war time, but not the way it was done in the Sakkra game. I don't want to ally with one side or the other, and I don't have to. Combination of not being combat-ready and not having planetary shields makes maintaining peace an imperative. But the two NAPs(Meklar and Sakkra) I do have should help me still use colonizers as a delaying action to keep others from easily gaining the open systems.

Keeping Sssla is highly unlikely, but every turn I have it is a turn others don't.




And then there are these benefits. Aggressive Technologists, the Mrrshan are on the Sakkra/Bulrathi wing of the galactic war. The losing side. They agree to a 525 BC trade deal.




They are also willing to let this go for Reduced Waste 60%. An easy call, esp. since we won't be able to stay at peace forever(most likely, anyway). Everything else they want Robotics III for. Seems I'm about the only race that had it in our tree. Which I'm fine with.




There's a lot more of them than I thought. Process of elimination clearly mandates that the Bulrathi are only a bit player. The balance of power is much more clearly delineated now.




Pretty decent-sized, but the kitties aren't very advanced.




This is the other one I was waiting on. Combat ships won't be coming yet because now I'm spending a bunch on building planetary shields, but this should give me the chance to damage modern enemy ships. I don't see any reason not to just keep on going with the Fusion Beam next(same idea, just more damage). Graviton Beam('streaming' weapon) was the other option.

In other news, the Meklar took Sssla, and ...




Third time's the charm? One certainly can't abid the tyranny of the one empire that hasn't been at war for like a century, but this is pretty-much expected. And contact is broken with the Mrrshan. So a lot of stuff going down in the year 2469. The bugs have no allies and are still at war with everyone else save the cybernetics, so the main concern here is defending my own territory. With prospects for that looking up lately I'm not particularly concerned about the latest outbreak of hostilities.

Research also continues into the supernova situation at Celtsi, but it's been a few years and no updates. Starting to get just a bit concerned.




This was nearly a max-difficulty project. This amount though is basically half of a year's production, so it was easily concluded the next turn with one to spare. I'll eventually need to get more funding into the reserve though, as I ate through between half and a third of our savings.




Looking good here too. It seems the Mrrshan went through a round of disbanding a year or two out. The Sakkra have a transport group inbound that we'll handle easily, and the others are a pair of Bulrathi colony ships that won't arrive for some time. It's looking like we may hang on to Aurora.




Things have calmed down the last few years, but here's another opening.




It was only a matter of time until the Sakkra re-upped their combat techs. With the PDS added, we lose at a 2:1 ratio here while on the defensive. Aurora could end up becoming the new Berel if they send more troops in. Berel itself though, is finally secure and at peace. So that'd still be a win.




Only a year or two before the next vote. Big news here is the Sakkra are in free-fall. Klackons and Meklars are easily handling the weakest trio of empires right now.




As their fortunes have declined, the lizards have become more and more friendly.




The Klackon war, though they have not yet attacked us, essentially guaranteed another stalemate.

** Bulrathi(4) -- Redwing. I might have tried harder to get peace with the bugs if I knew this was coming.
** Mrrshan(5) -- Redwing. Wow.
** Meklar(9)

16-12 in favor of INT-986 with our 12 votes upcoming. We've got to abstain, but it wouldn't take much to put us over the top. Three votes shy here. The Meklar appear to be ticking everyone off, and we are only two votes shy of a veto bloc. More and more it's looking like it's not a case of if we win, but when. Klackons and Meklars teaming up against us is the only way to really prevent it I think, and the window for even that to be realistic is shrinking.