Part 32: Turns 378-386

This game has now been going on so long and over so many patches that random bits are starting to break. For example, Relocate is now rather buggy and only intermittently works. However, I plan to finish this regardless, although by the end it'll probably resemble Topper Harley's plane.

Turn 378

The Dolphin advances on one of the twin worlds of Cargg. Greatfather can only imagine what its inhabitants must be thinking. Then he remembers that he's psychic, and starts listening to all the screams.



Scans reveal that the world has considerable defences, although given the sheer disparity in firepower between us and the Publishers, anything less than an enormous wall made of lasers isn't sufficient to stop our advance.



Turn 379

Unhindered, we bring light to the darkness.



Their cities in the sky die, even as our women overwhelm them.



We grant the world's former defenders the mercy of a quick death.



Turn 381

Nothing moves in Cargg except the Blissful Dolphin and its prizes of despair.



Turn 382

There is something wrong with the universe. Our fleets report great difficulty in relocating to our forward bases, or indeed leaving their present locations at all. In the meantime, our Inquisitors report that even with knowledge of technology wrested from the minds of our victims, they are unable to grasp it fully.



As I said, the game is literally falling apart around me.

Turn 384

It makes little difference. The Dolphin and its horde descends upon the Winath system.



Our enemies are not without guile, even in the face of defeat. Their lightning cannons make excellent anti-Ratsolov devices.



Not excellent enough, of course.



Turn 384

And they remain much less impressive when deployed against a Goonfleet.



Turn 385

The universe warps, and in its path whole worlds change, seemingly at random.



I didn't do this. The game just decided that this was going to happen. I'm a bit scared.

Turn 386

Luckily, it seems that sometimes our Inquisitors are still capable of wrenching secrets from the Publishers. This war is not to be lost to a failing cosmos.



Turn 387

We even get a second chance to overcome our earlier failure.