Part 113: Episode X: 2625 - 2650

Episode X: 2625-2650




Much bigger than the Meklar, but they are much more advanced. Overall we're roughly even with them for last in the 'not Alkari' category. It's rather hilarious that 325 years into the game we don't have contact with a race, and that nobody has been completely wiped out. The Bulrathi fleet edge goes a long way towards allaying my concerns. At some point they are going to stop sitting above our worlds and put it to use, I would think. I'm actually starting to get annoyed that they are protecting us too much. I never thought I'd say that. In any case it's a factor that continues to make any thought of betraying them basically suicidal.




** Silicoids -- 25(+1)
** Bulrathi -- 16(--)
** Mrrshan -- 10(+1)
** Sakkra -- 9(+2). Still at six developed worlds and no others are close to joining that group yet. Based on Bulrathi protection fleets though, Rigel and Nordia have a chance to eventually get there.
** Meklar -- 3(-2). I didn't realize they'd lost quite this much. It has been a strange game indeed when the Mrrshan hold onto their power, the Bulrathi are a titan of the galaxy, and the Meklar get pushed around in war.
** Alkari -- 1(--)

It looks like we are on the verge of joining the Mrrshan in the second tier. In fact, I'd go so far as to say we have achieved marginal relevance, for the first time in about 250 years.




A couple things here; you can see the six planets that are developed and the three that aren't. Nordia is starting to ramp up now though. Trade income is on the rise, it was about 220 when we signed the increased deals. The reserve is solid, and maintenance spending is about as high as it has ever been and increasing as we get more ships out there.




The painfully-slow research despite significant increases in investment as we've grown(50 years ago we were spending a third less on this annually) can be seen by the fact that propulsion research has been in the prototype phase for nearly a decade and still has only a small discovery chance. That range tech is absolutely key. Nordia is just close enough that, when we get it, I'll be able to send out recons to both potential Orion locations. The empire is also probably just large enough to support a fleet that has a chance of taking the Guardian down. I'd like another round of advances first though as we can't just overwhelm the thing through sheer numbers. All of the other fields also have at least some notable progress having been made.


https://youtu.be/FIkm8cpYugU



I sent our fleet here to Kulthos to get a peek at the latest Mrrshan offerings and see if our Repulsors are still relevant against them. But first the Meklar got in our way, and there weren't very many of them. We sent them packing, and the Mrrshan weren't there anymore. Time for our first planetary invasion!




What the heck are you talking about? We were over a Mrrshan planet you idiots. Not to mention that you are in no shape to threaten anyone. Go fly a kite.
That whole invasion plan went away when the Bulrathi also showed up and glassed the planet ... but yeah, we'll take another escort to let us claim a world if that's how you want to play it.

Oh, and the Silicoid alliances are broken as well. So we can do whatever we want to the Mrrshan, and they have recently resettled another nearby world just to the right of here, Whynil. Don't mind if I do. One thing I'd really like is the advanced scanners that allow remote detection of the defenses and development of a system.

None of that ended up working out though. The Meklar took Kulthos as the Bulrathi left immediately -- if I thought I could keep it I'd just take it back and suffer the war, but I'd rather have their trade income -- and the Silicoids chased us off of Whynil.




2628. The Recons were dispatched to the two long-awaited systems immediately. This will be their final purpose for existing. High Energy Focus is up next.




Here's the latest Mrrshan offerings when I did get a chance to look at them. And yeah, the Repulsor is no longer particularly relevant against these guys. Those tiny Wolverines appear to not be part of the mix for them anymore. They've gone big, and our window of opportunity is gone. So I did a redesign as well, taking them out. The shielding went back up, and a 4th torpedo launcher was added, reverting to the original payload. The top target in view at the moment is the Guardian anyway, and that will unquestionably be a superior configuration for that potential battle.




2632. I was right. Orion is in the upper-right, near the Mrrshan starting point. The other system is Xengara, and is uninhabitable. Now I can't go after the Guardian just yet, unless I want to build a fleet with reserve fuel tanks. As dicey as the proposition would be anyway, I don't think that's a good idea. I'll have to wait till we get closer. But now I at least know where it is.

The current war situation can be summarized by the Bulrathi and I sitting on our behinds guarding my systems, while the Mrrshan and Silicoids squabble over two systems, Kulthos and Iranha. They can do that till the end of time if they like and I'll be just happy about it. Let the former allies bleed each other.

Then the Meklar were kind enough to somehow destroy Crius, a Silicoid colony that hasn't been part of the fun till now. I took a gander at seizing it.




Here's Crius, positioned right in the middle of the galaxy. We took more significant losses to take out just three Silicoid cruisers, armed with advanced torpedoes and armor as they are. But an artifacts planet would be a valuable thing, in the unlikely event we manage to retain it. It beats eventually scrapping the older cruisers anyway.




Crius has gone Silicoid again, but we've managed to sneak a ship into Whynil. The Sphere of Chaos appears to have decisively moved to the right, largely because of the Meklar's decline I think. That fact has kept Nordia, Rigel, and Rayden from coming under any further attack. The Bulrathi have finally left Lyae, but nothing has happened there either. I think we have nine relatively stable systems now.

Whynil would give us the range to reach Orion, but that's not going to happen yet. Incoming Mrrshan transports will overrun it next year.




This is amusing also. This is the first Alkari ship we've seen in centuries. Back when the Silicoids were allies with them, they noticed Kulthos was open and sent this thing out. Alone. It's slow -- it has to have been traveling for at least 15 years to reach the center of the galaxy. Might be 20 or so. I think probably Nuclear(warp 2) engines, possibly even Retros.

I almost have to salute them for not giving up. But it's undeniably more fun just to laugh at them.




Well, I like our odds in any ground war against the Mrrshan. They lost 7M taking out the 2-3 we had here. The only edge they have is slightly better armor material; we have shields and Battle Suits.




With most of the Bulrathi protectors having left, the Silicoids sent a large fleet(dozens of capital ships) at Altair. The good fortune couldn't last forever. I expected a massacre, so I didn't record it. It would have been real boring to watch. They have stellar converters and hellfire torpedoes, but our shielding surprisingly held up well enough that with no real anti-planet weaponry they had to retreat due to the battle turn limit.

A very interesting development since we only have Class X Planetary Shields still, even if it is due to strange AI ship design quirks. We took out 40-some cruisers, and lost 23 of the 50 bases. Our Stingers aren't doing a whole lot to their ships either, taking out 2-3 per volley and totally useless against the behemoths. Still, it was a lot better than I expected.




It's taken a long time, but it's here -- and will probably take even longer to get to the next level. It's 2641, and I have two other projects in the prototype phase, with a further two nearing it. Time to close the tech gap a bit.




The Phasor was the next domino to fall. It was only useful in terms of moving the tech tree forward. The Particle Beam won't be of any use so I snag the Hand Phasor next, which will significantly improve our ground troops.




Along with all the 'factories at max' spam I got the same year, there was this. Nordia is the 7th system to reach full development.




Your insufferable acts of existence outside Meklon can no longer be permitted. What do you think about that? I'm in no position to enforce such a threat but they were already at the top of my target list. I think I can go about readying to actually attack them at my leisure, since they're likely to be quite busy with the Silicoids anyway.




Wow, the RNG throws me a bone! And a mighty tasty one at that. Rigel is just wrapping up the industrialization process, and still has a Bulrathi fleet in orbit. This should accelerate the shipbuilding process considerably, as I'll dedicate the planet to that per usual with rich worlds.




On cue, the very next year. 8. 8 Developed Worlds, Ha Ha Ha!




Haven't seen this in a coon's age either, but it pops up in 2648. I've been going for it whenever I've got an active spy with the races I'm at war with, because why not? I don't really know what the best thing is to go for here, but I pick weapons because that's most likely to get me something really good I think, being that it's the Mrrshan forte.

I discover the unspeakable wonders of ... Hyper-X Rockets. Oh well. It's something. Everything helps that tiny little bit.

\

On the eve of the Council vote, the bastard rocks came for Altair again.


https://youtu.be/8KbxCu4HhFU



Similar configurations to last time, but better; tech nullifier and missile defense has been upgraded. Still, I thought I'd be able to outlast them. I think it was close to the turn limit, but they did just barely eliminate our defenses. The most annoying thing about it is that I had an improved deflector in prototype. Class VII, which we finished the very next year. A year too late, as Altair was destroyed from orbit. Down to 8 planets, and 180 million Sakkra died because I couldn't get the shield upgrade one turn sooner.




Same number of votes, out of one more total.




No change here either.




This is new though; they've been steady Granid supporters. Everyone except the lone Alkari vote went Smurch, giving him a 64-42 lead. The galaxy turning in our favor against the rocks would be nice, but they've still got to be cut down to size before losing their veto capability.

Next up, I have a new plan that, regardless of what happens at Altair, I intend to put into place.