Part 143: Episode XIII: 2400

Episode XIII: 2400 -




This all looks quite good. Better than I can remember looking after 100 years.




Minimal investment, but that'll pick up after this round of industrialization.




The Cheetah is our latest creation(faster, better computer), and the Lynx has been sidelined. A new ship will need to be designed though now that we have a new weapon capable of cracking recent shield enhancements.




The latest behemoth wasn't wasted, but diverted here. Not a complete loss. Now our empire strangely stretches from the upper-right to the lower-middle.




Lasitus is an Erratic Diplomatic. That will surely complicate things. A minimal trade deal is signed. However it may make him unpredictable enough to not gain favor with the others as well. Here's hoping.

The Alkari finally agree to trade, and the Darloks re-up. Both of those are at 325 BC.




I nearly stood up and cheered when I saw this. It would have been justified. A small Human empire eliminates my primary fear about this effort. Nermal now stands as a top contender.



Bulrathi are the only remaining question-mark. Either of those two yellow stars on the left side could be Ursa. Either way they must be fairly hemmed in. 3-4 systems at most. If we win the fight for the hostile worlds, the Mrrshan should be able to dominate this game easily. Nine systems now and the Darloks are next with six, but they only have Barren landings.




Nobody's close to getting it yet, but worth holding onto if we can. The factory-building process took several years, with research ramping back up significantly in 2406. And there was also this:




I could fit two Mass Drivers and forego any computer, but I decided against that. This should be effective for some while, and I'll send it out to the Tundra, Inferno, and Rich planets as I can get some built. Hopefully I can eventually get more significant numbers now.




Wowzerz!! This more than makes up for the radiation accident. From very poor to Rich -- and a rich planet with a 65M ceiling is rare this early on. Meanwhile I learn that the Alkari have gotten Toxic landings. Tick-tock.




The next year. Time to go nuts with Colonizers. First up is that dead rich world right on the Alkari doorstep. As far as our next project, I'll stay low with Enhanced Eco before going for some Terraforming. And normal tech ratios are back in effect. Looks like we aren't getting Toxic, which means it's Radiated or zilch -- but there isn't much in that range that is particularly valuable.

Just as the first ship left Box, a trio of Alkari colony ships were seen headed in a different direction towards hostile systems. Didn't have enough ships down there to stop them -- you can't get everything. After a few years, it was clear this was MOO Madness striking again. A brief alliance had them send these ships to points unknown -- diagonally across the map, right through the middle, past all the systems I was worrying about them taking. And at that point I thought 'Checkmate'. It really should be over strategically now with what I'm about to acquire.




The first of the next wave, in 2419.




2420. 11 systems.




Make that a dozen, same year.




Thanks Mr. Robot.




Cuteness vs. Dr. Evil. I might have known.

** Alkari(4) -- Abstain.
** Humans(3) -- Abstain.
** Sakkra(6)
** Darlok(5) -- Sauron. Mirana(?) really is a dark empress, allying herself with pure evil.
** Bulrathi(1) -- Abstain. The Bears basically don't exist.

We have 6 votes. So nobody's running away with it. Yet. Voting for Sauron would just be enough for him to win. 25 total so we are three votes shy of veto. It's abstention time, and we'll do this all over again in four years.




2422. 13 systems. For now, one more to go.




Not every day you get to look into the face of pure evil. Have a bribe and a trade deal. We'll take a look at the other details after the Council meets again. When that happened, there was only one change; the Darloks abstained, so we voted Sauron just because we can.

This is over. The galaxy just hasn't figured it out yet. I've never been quite this position on Impossible before. Next update will feature a special report on the plan for exactly how I intend to go about making it official.