Part 177: Episode XVII: 2450

Episode XVII: 2450 -

I am acutely aware at the moment that if I don't win this one, it may take multiple attempts before I get another chance like this. Right now I'd put our odds at about two in three of pulling it off. I'd really like this to be the finale(in terms of Impossible games for this LP).




Our economic expansion did little more than have us keep pace with the others. I find that one of the most frustrating things about this difficulty. 'Oh that's nice -- you added 30M people to all your planets and a third more factories. Good job maintaining the status quo.' Tech comparison is stable or slightly gaining as well, and we did boost our population to being right there with the others. Significant, if small, gains were made in the last quarter-century.




The reduced waste that we'll get next is already obsolete thanks to our spies, but we'll get three other ones soon and some will be more important.
Only a modest increase in spending on bases despite having several times as many in service as we did before, again due to the overall growth in the economy. 13 of 18 planets are now shielded though, and a few of our better systems have reached their quota so they won't be building as many bases from here on out. Once the reserve reaches the desired level(it's mostly there now) the transition to building our first fleet elements will commence.

Aside from the intractable Klackons who just can't abide their emperor being offed for whatever reason, we're doing well in terms of relations and have reached critical mass where we can confidently bribe our way out of almost any amount of upset due to us stealing techs. I will say I'm quite enjoying the situation given how rough espionage has generally been in this LP. We're unfortunately back in the boat of everyone else being connected by alliance.

Right now I've got nothing more concrete aside from keep building up our defenses, keep improving our technology, get a fleet going so that we're ready for whatever transpires. This love-fest is going to break one way or the other, and the best thing we can do is not be a particularly juicy target. I think a particularly long and destructive war is quite possible. I found no tech trades of use; the Silicoids offered Armored Exoskeleton, but I'm not giving up Robotics IV for that.




** Silicoids - 23(+1)
** Darlok - 18(--)
** Klackon - 16(+1)
** Bulrathi - 16(+2)
** Human - 5(+3)

That's not a good trend, but it can't go much further. The others are just snapping up previously-unclaimed systems that we can't get to. There can't be many left with a sizable Alkari empire still out there. Also, the humans prove that those stupid cross-the-galaxy colony ships do occasionally accomplish something.




This is a step forwards though.




Honestly that isn't a particularly large sum at this point.




This is worth noting because of how long it took to happen. It is 2452. Quayal was colonized in 2354. It took nearly a century, what with a couple of robotics boosts, terraforming, population transfers out to other systems, and being a large, poor planet in the first place, for this rock to max out it's industry. None of the original colonists will have lived to see it, assuming roughly normal lifespans. Imagine if it had been ultra-poor ... *shudder*.




Another espionage benefit; we can now just skip zortrium and go straight to Andrium armor. I don't see a good reason not to.

By 2455 the reserve is where I want it and it's time to start the fleet buildup. First off, I want a handful of Colonizers out at all times to take advantage of any spoils-of-war situations. Sub-light engines are our best, and basically barely adequate for this kind of situation. Learning from past situations, I'm giving them a few missile launchers to be able to defend themselves if they happen upon a system that just has a destroyer or two or something. Given the size of our borders, we're going to need a half-dozen of these ready at all times.

Battle Computer MK VII arrives the next year ... and gives us the opening for Battle Computer Mk VIII. Sigh. After this, the next tier is Robotics VI. Let's see if we finally get one. Spies report that everyone missed on Robotics V ...




That's what I call a long-range invasion ...




First success in almost a decade, and we only had three fields to choose from. It's getting harder.




On the other hand this came in the same time, and the Silicoids were an open book for us.




Don't know what changed, but they finally relent. I gave them that tech a while ago, and they still weren't interested at the time. Trade agreement for a whopping 2k. A Non-Aggression Pact comes along for the ride. Well then ...

Shall we commit further espionage? They are still more advanced than us so it's going to be hard, but we shall definitely try.




This will be useful, and will make an appearance in our early combat designs most likely. Class X Planetary Shields will be eagerly gobbled up next. Also, the repulsor was the final tech the Humans possessed that we didn't. No point in investing in further espionage there for the time being.




In 2459, we design our first warship at long last. The Viper has the usual purpose of information-gathering and just getting something out there. For now we'll rely on the Repulsor for protection, along with speed and maneuverability. The heavy version of the Ion Cannon is deployed because we've seen that a couple of our rivals have the repulsor. Only the ultra-rich systems, Beta Ceti and Arietis, will be building these for the time being. Research is still top priority.




One year later. This is the last of this wave of advances, and the most immediately beneficial. Our empire is roughly evenly divided between hostile and standard, and a couple of them are already fertile. Only a handful will actually get a boost here. Atmospheric Terraforming is next, which is the one that will really change things.

As it turned out, 10 systems were affected which is more than I thought. The big one of course was Arietis, up now to 95M ultra-rich. Could go either way, but I think we stand a decent chance of being nominated in the next High Council.




Nice -- this one we just missed, so it's a pretty high-level tech at this point in the game. It's also one that can be very useful on larger galaxies where fleets may be going on longer journeys.




Time for everyone to get their dander up. We get a similar statement from the Klackons. Apparently we are just large enough to get this penalty. I thought we'd slip underneath it for now. 2462; let's see how long it takes for actual hostilities to break out.




For whatever reason we're getting a bit more success against the Bulrathi lately.




It's not a lot better, but 10M per system is still almost two more Council votes. Bulrathi caught us taking the Death Spores, so we unloaded some crap to boost their opinion a bit(hand lasers, deuterium fuel cells). From Neutral down to Wary, then up to Unease.




Excellent! This reduces our current factory costs by a third.




Our first success against the Klackons in over a century(weren't trying most of the time of course) boosts our ECM considerably. In diplomatic news, the only active alliance is a Bulrathi-Alkari one, with no wars ... the posturing continues but no real action.




Another needed boost. Looks like we just hit a run of bad luck for a few years, as now the results are coming in fast and furious again. That terminates the only alliance in the galaxy. It would be really nice if we could keep things this way and just pick off whatever empire we feel like fighting, one at a time.




Once again we make our current research obsolete. We were caught, so we gave them Fusion Bomb and Duralloy Armor, both of which are actually better than what they had but still fairly low-level.




2470. The latest computer comes in, and all we can do is go after the next one because we still haven't been able to get any robotics in our own tree. Our last shot, other than stealing it(only the Silicoids have Robotics VI right now, and nobody has V) will come after this as we'll unlock the final tier of Computing tech and take our shot at Robotics VII.




I don't think I'll be using this, just because we'll get the fusion beam in soon. It's between that and the ion cannon we are currently using on our Viper cruisers.




As a visual answer to Randalor's question(answers given in the thread were correct), this is the first step you see when there's a successful steal. I can choose the category but not the specific tech in any way. And as you can see here, Computers is not an option -- that means they don't have anything in that field which fits into the range I can successfully pilfer on this attempt. So I go Construction. Industrial Tech 5, and we frame the Bulrathi.




Well that's not very useful, except to continue working on keeping the others diplomatically isolated.




This had a far-too-long prototype period, and probably is only useful if we have a war with the Alkari, the only race we haven't met. And maybe not even then. It does let us get started on Impulse Drives(Warp 5), which will be a lot more beneficial.




Here are the choices as the Fusion Beam arrives. I cackle gleefully as we get the torpedo option, my favorite all-purpose mid-game weapon. The fusion beam will allow a new and improved design for defensive purposes, and once we get the AM Torp taking a run at Orion is a real possibility. Our new Cobra has only 4 weapons compared to the 6 on the Viper, but with the upgrade from ion to fusion weapons(and a better computer in the remaining space) it should still be quite capable.




A boon for the birds.




Just before the vote. It does extend our range, which I don't really think does much for us but we'll take it.




Welp, our struggle has moved into a new phase now. Not only nominated but #1 in population now!(we know that because we are listed first).

** Bulrathi(12) -- Abstain. We can put aside any fears of losing this vote safely.
** Humans(2) -- Farseer
** Alkari(18)
** Klackons(18) -- Abstain
** Silicoids(18) -- Farseer

We have 21 and abstain, leaving us with zero votes :P. 38 for Farseer, out of 89. If we voted for them it would have been one below the line of them winning, so I didn't bother risking it. We are +5 this cycle, and the galaxy is +10 overall. Nobody is close to the 30 votes required for veto. Three races in co-second place and the Bulrathi falling behind that group.

The main question now is, what's the best way to win? I definitely see more population boost in our future, partly through tech and partly through Orion. Bribing the Silicoids, Klackons, and Bulrathi onto our side is one way; fighting at least one of them is the other. Normally I go the diplomatic route just because it saves time and isn't as tedious. Both routes would really be 'in-character' for the Darlok, depending on your interpretation of them -- the conniving manipulators, or the ruthless overlords?

Since this looks likely to be the final Impossible run, I'll put it up to vote. I'm not ahead on this game, 2475 is the current date of my save so I can go either way on this. Bribery or War, what say you all?