2451-54
2453.11.?? -- The
Confederation of Ir-Vol-Ta, formerly semi-friends, has decided to declare us rivals. This is a bit humorous, but completely irrelevant. They are a little under a third our size and we could crush them at will.
12.04 -- Shortly afterwards, the fleet upgrade is finished with the new sentient combat AIs. Trials have been better than expected, with over a 6% increase in expected effectiveness. Survey efforts are nearly complete; one colony has been set up and a second ship is nearly to it's destination. No others are planned.
In short, we are nearing the time for the final campaign. A couple of matters still need attending to though. We could build more ships; naval capacity is at 92%, 115 out of a maximum of 125 battleships. It'd be nice to get there, but wouldn't help if we just have to disband some of them immediately. Our estimates, revised but usually off, are all we have to go by. The current target for monthly energy surplus for the existing force is 438 pre-war; we are presently at 441. That's about as close as it gets, but the army recruiting continues. New colonies need troops, and those worlds that are still growing occasionally need reinforcements. In an empire of 150+ planets, that's a surprising amount still needed. So we are still a few years away there.
When it looks like we are almost done with the army's needs, sector priorities will switch over to energy and we'll see if we can afford any more battleships. For now, the spaceport construction facilities are quiet.
2454.01.04 -- A surprisingly diplomatic request ...
We told them to shove their suggestion, of course.
02.08 -- Their reply was less kind.
We once again told them where they could shove their opinions.
02.23 -- Another item checked off the list as the last remaining system within our grasp is surveyed.
04.02 -- Synthetics research completed.
08.02 -- The day after the Sadatoni colony is up and running, Sentient Resource Management and Shield Harmonics are finished also. So far the Buhavilaa bluster has been just that and nothing more. If they do attack, all they do is hasten the start of the war by a few years. And if not, preparations continue. Society moves on to Nerve Dampeners III(increasing army health more), and a new governor is recruited. Meanwhile we need more instructions from the other departments.
Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.
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Applied Superconductivity II(Industry, 38 mo.) -- +5% energy
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Assembly Algorithms II(Computing, 38 mo.) -- -5% construction time
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Planetary Signal Boosters III(Voidcraft, 45 mo.) -- +10% planetary sensor range.
Only three options this time, for reasons unknown.
Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Deacon Palmieri III
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Heat Recyclers II(Voidcraft, 39 mo.) -- +5% strike craft attack rate
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Teldar Crystal Mining(Materials, 8 mo.)
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Matter Compression II(Materials, 39 mo.) -- +5% armor
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Synthetic Personality Matrix(Industry, 53 mo.) -- RARE. Allow a policy choice that permits synthetic leaders, making them fully equal to us in all aspects of society.
Dr. JIMGA Jr. and
Dr. Deacon Palmieri III, these may well be your last peacetime selections. Choose wisely.