Part 91: Episode VIII: 2450 - 2475

Episode VIII: 2450-2475




As hoped, we have pulled out in front on production again. Population is still growing after the terraforming. The overall picture is basically the same as it was 25 years ago -- I think we are at the point of basically keeping pace in research, but we haven't been able to build up the fleet much and I definitely still wouldn't fancy a serious war with the Psilons.




About to get our new missiles in, with the latest shields and armor following that closely. Then it'll be time for new ship designs. Meanwhile our missile-base target is up to about the 10-20 range, will probably go up to about 25 soon on the bigger systems. Better waste cleanup definitely remains the biggest current need.




So far as I can tell, this hasn't changed in half a century or more, but I haven't shown one in a while. We've got 20 systems, 13 for the Psilons, 7 for the Sakkra. Based on the voting amounts I'm thinking about 15 or so for the Humans, probably 2-4 each for the Klackons/Mrrshan. Still three inferno systems in our area that the Psilons haven't snagged and we haven't gotten the tech for. We can still expand, if we ever get anything better than Dead.




A positive trade balance now; I inquired about a new deal but we could only increase from 1150 to 1375, which wasn't worth it. Missile-base maintenance is still very reasonable, and with no active wars or recent sabotage I abolish the security budget after taking the screenshot. What's really clear how is how pathetically small our fleet is compared to the economy. I can't really do anything about that though while we still trail in research. Time would seem to definitely be on our side, and with each passing year our position continues to slowly improve.




A year later. Normally this would be a no-brainer, but I've been keeping our deals low due to their erratic nature. Given how close we were in the Council to winning though, I decide to accept anyway and take the risk they'll attack.




Zortium Armor arrives in '53, and then this. Finally we get a new waste-reduction option. This will slash our ecology bill in half; another way of looking at that is that it'll basically amount to an immediate increase of over 20% 'disposable' production at all of our systems. It's worth a little more than a robotics level-up at this point.




After the merculite missiles arrived, this was our next choice. Any of the bottom three figured to move us forward. Hard Beam or Fusion Beam is a tough call, but I went with the Fusion just because we're already using Ion Cannons; they're the same type of raw-damage energy weapon, just further up the chain and almost twice as powerful.

Time for a new design, and with the terraforming I think any of our planets can handle a cruiser-sized ship so we'll only do one.

2455: We bribe the lizards with Hyper-X Rockets and get them to sign a NAP. The Psilons agree with no bribe. I'm basically just trying to build up relations and go for the cheap win here; if the Humans continue to aggravate everyone, I could end it in the next Council vote. Doesn't cost me much of anything to try, and if it doesn't work, keep building the economy. Also, Cygni is the first system to finish maxing-out industry since the terraforming; that's short-lived but we're nearing the end of another boosting cycle.




Next year. Class V Deflectors are in, and this has really been a charmed game for the most part in getting key techs. Class X Planetary Shields will be up next and go a long ways towards further securing our defenses. It's also time for a new ship design. All our planets can at least marginally handle a cruiser-sized vessel, so I'm only going with one.




The Ajax II here is basically the same as the original, with a couple more weapons and better armor. I toyed with putting the inertial stabilizer on it but I would have had to cut the weaponry almost in half to do that. Didn't think it was worth the price.




Robotics V is now in. 2460 as we crawl along, and I'll come back for Hyperspace Comm. at some point, but Battle Computer VIII would be a big upgrade(we're presently at IV).




The time to put Hissla in his place is coming, but not yet here.

Meanwhile, we've built a whopping six of the Ajax IIs, and once again will now divert efforts to the new factories. Close to a thousand are added in the process, which takes less than a year and a half.




This arrives in the 'stuff I'm never going to use' category. Next up there's an opportunity to jump from Warp 3 to Warp 5 with Impulse Drives.




We're in something-happening-every-year mode here. Frankly this might not do much more than save me the trouble of breaking it later. Going on the offensive isn't viable yet; Sakkra bases would be able to withstand almost all of the damage we can inflict. They're definitely the long-term target though, for multiple reasons but process of elimination if nothing else; it's either them or the Psilons -- and it's not a hard choice there.




No rocks this time, but some of the others have developed biologicals. This could be useful. Once again only one option, the un-exciting Cloning. Incredibly, we've skipped the last three hostile landing techs; we got Dead, not Barren or Tundra, and then didn't have a shot at Inferno, Toxic, or Radiated. That sucks. One out of six! It is a bad field for us, but still.




How about that. Our lizard not-friends have limited computer tech, to put it kindly(three advances, we have five) and both Toxic and Radiated. I do believe it's time to go do some research the alternative way. We'll max out our spying with them and go Espionage. If we tick them off -- well, they have problems of their own and no friends, and I'm confident we can handle ourselves in a defensive war with them. I wonder how long this will take in a favorable situation. It's currently 2466.

This was also the first point in the game where I was really able to 'settle in'; research progress is starting to slow down, so we were able to hammer out some more ships, missile bases are basically up to where I want them to be, and most of the spending bars don't need to be adjusted regularly.

2473: The next wave starts just as another vote approaches, with Battle Computer Mk. VIII. Three other projects are in the prototype phase, and once again we hit right on time with Robotics VI. 4-for-4.




The fusion beam has arrived, and next up are one of my favorites; the anti-matter Torpedo. I would have been fine with a bomb as well, but these will work. Once they come in we can prepare for a proper offensive.




Our latest effort with the new weapons. Doesn't have as many of them, but has a better computer for more accuracy. That's particularly important with these kinds of weapons due to the wide damage range. If we get enough of them and feel like it, these should be capable of handling lightly-defended Sakkra targets.




And here we go again. Same nominees, same vote from the Psilons. Notably the galaxy has added five more votes this time around. Much will be determined by who got them.

** Humans(10) -- They stay the same, good news for us.




Nice! The lizards are +2 and now side with us. It's looking good ...




That should do it. Klackons only have two votes but they choose us also. We lead 20-10 ... and have 20 votes of our own. 40% of the galactic population is Meklar, and a crushing 40-10 win!




Now, I could have played this out longer, but really it was just paperwork IMO. I'd have taken out the Sakkra first, gotten the hostile landing tech from them either by spying eventually or by capturing it, then added the inferno trio, and moved into the other side of the galaxy. With this large an empire, I was on a virtually unstoppable path, and the AM torpedoes would have sealed it.

The early Psilon/Sakkra conflicts at the beginning of this century were the only real hiccup. Psilons had back luck with robotics which helped a great deal, as did our starting position and the fact that they and Humans bumped into each other at the beginning while the Klackons remained pretty hemmed-in. The rest of the galaxy was basically content to fight with itself and not accomplish much on the other side, while the larger threat(our Meklar) simply grew, and grew, and grew with our massive industrial base. As it ends, I'd surpassed the Sakkra in research and was slowly making ground even on the brainiacs.

So a bit of a shorter win -- and now we go back to a medium-size with our next victims. Five races down, five to go; halfway home.