Part 74: Episode VII: 2325 - 2350

Episode VII: 2325-2350




Now, a tough choice to make. It's 2325, exactly a quarter-century in. This is a distinctively Meklar decision. We've already got more factories on Meklon than any other race would be able to build at this point. How far do we keep the buildup going before we switch into research and getting the colonizer out there? It will take about another decade to finish up the factories and I don't think we can afford to wait that long. Vega's going to be of little help, small as it is.

Bearing in the mind the 'interest' system that research operates on, I want to put a modest amount in that and the rest in industry. As time passes I'll gradually up the research investment, and then when we get close to getting the breakthrough on the fuel cells, pull funding out of industry for the ship. That seems to be the way to get this done the best, though I'm not positive.




Here's how it looks like at the beginning on the process. After a couple of years, I start shifting more into research.




Bastards. We're still stuck at two. Although I must admit this is probably good in the long-run -- decreasing the odds that the Psilons just crush everyone. It's 2329, and they've come back to Tyr a couple times but not with force. So at least we've kept them away there.

2331: Vega has 31 factories, and almost exactly the same population. It'll shift into research now to finish this up, while Meklon starts building. The homeworld has 297 factories, about three-quarters of the way to max.




2335, same year the Colonizer is finished. I don't know that I could have done better.




Haven't missed a single choice here. Tough choice, but I go with the range(Irridium) this early on. None of our initial choices are worth rushing though.




I won't have this much into it right away, but here's our distribution based on the Meklar's strengths. Naturally we're going to be all about the computing. Vega will follow the usual first-colony pattern of splitting effort between industry and research, but not until after it pushes a few more Recons out there.




We're off to Zhardan, which will get us to the better planet at Crypto. Beyond that we can only hope for good returns from the Recons. Back on Meklon, we have just enough investment in the next Colonizer to finish it in the minimum amount of time; the rest goes to industry.




2339. Better late than never ...




Scanners immediately report a Darlok scout duo(orange) nearby. There's no time to lose in extending our knowledge of the surrounding systems.




Ouch. Dead last in production as Meklar. It is good to see the Psilons and Humans not doing well though. Darloks third? Bulrathi first?? This is not expected.




We chase off the shape-shifters to find a system that will be important, but not until somebody can land on it.

2343: we finish an 'extra' Colonizer and get it moving. No more will be built until the scouting confirms we can at least land the one we have, so Meklon will now work on getting the industry finished up.




Four systems now, and our first good one that we've added. That red ship just appeared, a Psilon scout heading this way. Darrian(50 max, Desert) was discovered also. Everything is just out of range now though at 5 parsecs or more. Crap. That's at least two we could land on if we had the ability to go the distance. I decide to crash our next range tech in order to make that happen, after Meklon gets industry finally wrapped up in two years. Vega's job is mainly to keep sending out colonists.




Another radiated world of high economic value, once again the Darloks had a scout here already.




Then the Bears show up here, colony ship with no escorts. It sucks, but you're still going to have to earn it fellas.




A third system we can get once we get the range. Even if we get all three, that would still only be seven -- a lot better than four, but an uphill battle head to be sure. Also ...




Good grief. The only freaking planet that is worth a darn yet, and now I can't even do the bloody research there. Naturally there's not a darn thing in the reserve either. That's how the first half-century ends; no official contact with any other empire, but the Silicoids off quickly, multiple others stretching their legs, and a plague raging across our homeworld, sidelining critical efforts to remain relevant. Somewhere, a shadowy figure is preparing the last rites for the Meklar Empire.