Part 50: Turn 16

TURN 16


The Federation Scout entered our space from the south (obviously) and perhaps a bit to the east. Our best guess is that Federation territory is due south, maybe southeast.


TURN 17. The recently founded Evadne colony has just enough energy to support theoretical simulators, which give us a +100 to research. It will be standard practice to install these quickly at each system we found. We really need to invent Starbases before the other empires show up in force.


TURN 18. Since we've already been discovered by another empire and have devoted resources to internal security, it doesn't hurt to look around a bit more to the south, where we're likely to just find more Feds. We make first contact with the Yridians. Klingon public opinion is strongly against the Yridians.


Yridia has the potential to be a very nice system.


A Ferengi Scout has been detected to the west. Hopefully it will not enter our territory and make first contact.


TURN 19. But of course it does. The greedy Ferengi always want to meddle. It's in their nature. So much for keeping away from the other empires until Starbases are made.


Chancellor Gowron's heart sinks when he views the updated map. Just a few sectors to the west of us is a pair of sectors shaded in yellow. It's Ferengi territory. They aren't just sending a Scout; they have systems nearby. It seems our location is not as isolated as we thought. But to the southeast, there is no sign of the Federation.


The free intel report on the Ferengi is an outrage to all proud Klingons. The Ferengi have economic power far surpassing even the Federation. Even worse, their military is nearly double the Feds' and is nearly 5 times our own. In a short time, the Ferengi have also managed to gobble up 7 territories including 2 Minor Races!


TURN 20. Our isolation has unraveled as another race makes first contact: the Romulans.


On a completely unrelated note, the Sheliak Minor Race to our west has declared war against the Ferengi. Perhaps this will be a good test of the Ferengi's strength. They have the ships, but do they have the will to use them?


It seems our Scout blundered. By moving to the south, it was he who made first contact with the Romulans. The captain of that vessel has been ordered killed and replaced by his second-in-command. So the Romulans are to our south. But how did the Federation find us then? In any event, we get some useful information. Mab Bu is likely part of the Romulan core, and the system with the Outpost is probably Romulus itself.


The free intel report shows the Romulans are, of course, way ahead of us. They seem to be roughly on par with the Federation overall. The Ferengi are enemy number one. At least we haven't made contact with the Cardassians yet, as they're the most notorious for doing sabotage. We have only 400 intel points.


TURN 21. We have discovered another Minor Race, the Mintakans.


Our Scout also discovered the Caldonians this round. Apparently that Scout ship is a real social butterfly.


The Mintakans' system will be massive when full-grown, but it is next door to Romulan territory and so obviously out of our reach. Too bad.


The Caldonians' system is smaller. But at least it could be considered within our sphere of influence.


Alarming news comes from the west. The Ferengi have assembled a group of 6 light ships and a Troop Transport. It is an invasion fleet. It has destroyed the Sheliak ship and is parked over their system. I guess the Ferengi took their war seriously.


We need some kind of defense fleet, since our Outposts will do nothing to protect us and we still haven't made even 1 of 3 tech advances to invent Starbases. We need ships quickly. We haven't even invented Destroyer IIs yet, so we'll build some Scouts. They at least have cloaking capability, so in numbers they could perform suicide attacks against Troop Transports.


We also need to do something about our poor morale. The Mintakans are well within the Romulan sphere of influence, so we don't have any possibility of bribing them to join us (not that we have the money, anyway). We'll simply declare war against them to boost Klingon morale.


TURN 22. Before we can build our first Scout, alarm bells ring on the core system of Volon.


It is only a Ferengi Scout. Normally you open hailing frequencies if you've only just met, but we'll take this as another opportunity to boost morale.


The butterfly-shaped Klingon Assault Transports do have a little weaponry. Our Transport, along with our Outpost, are enough to kill the Ferengi Scout.


The war declaration against the Mintakans goes live.


Our victory over the Scout and our new phony war with Mintaka are public relations bonanzas. For the first time, Chancellor Gowron is a popular man. Ironically, the Mintakans were planning to offer a friendship treaty. Apparently they are afraid of the Romulans--as well they should be. We had no intention of poaching them from the Romulans anyway. Even if we succeeded, we could never hope to defend Mintaka.


The Romulans view our small, technologically backward empire with derision. Klingon honor will not permit our sending them a bribe. And we don't have a lot of cash to spare, anyway.


TURN 22. The Ferengi wasted no time in launching an invasion against the Sheliak. They now hold a system only 2 sectors from our core and 3 sectors from Qo'nos itself. As if to underscore the point, Volon is next door to a disputed sector now. So much for breathing room.


From the west we also detect a Cardassian Scout. No doubt they are eager to make contact with us and unload a bunch of spies.