Galactic Dreams(Stellaris, Interactive/Community)

[chesapeake]

Good to see that Boojie's benevolence has finally touched your computer.

My initial thought is to colonize Izval, just Impal Tov in the core area, and then to expand beyond Saiph.

[Coffee Warlord]

Praise be to Boojie!

[chesapeake]

The High Inquisitor informs you that no further executive decisions will be made from this point until Sunday evening and reminds the Collective that a brief period of anarchy is healthy for any empire.

[I'm leaving for a short vacation tomorrow morning and will be back late on Sunday. I'm sure Boojie will protect us in my absence.]

[Brian Swartz]

Excellent! Time to surrender to the Kroll while the Inquisitor is away ...

[chesapeake]

I hope the computer isn't giving you any trouble again.

[Brian Swartz]

Not at all. Just decided to wait till you got back, esp. since I had a busy work weekend.

[chesapeake]

My iron fists are ready to retake the reins of power.

[Brian Swartz]

2253-54

2253.09.03 -- Agglor begins a Hyroponics Farm to bolster it's growing population.

10.09 -- Upon arriving at the black hole Demon's Maw, Dr. JIMGA Jr. reports a very large Qravadox fleet(6 cruisers, 14 destroyers, 18 corvettes), roughly equivalent to the entirety of our navy. It appears that they have just concluded a battle with what were probably space amoebas in the system. Nice of them to do our work for us ...

12.27 -- Interstellar Railroad(only one slave pop lost though). Malcontents drop to 10% support, so there is no immediate danger of a repeat occurence.

2254.02.12 -- Frontier Outpost completed in Hanneri. New research stations, which will greatly benefit the Physics Dept., are begun immediately.

03.12 -- Hydrooponics Farm finished on Agglor and begins upgrading.

04.30 -- Surveying of what remains of Kroll space has been completed, and the Djomar are next. This will give us a good indication of who, if anyone, is worth conquering ... the Laggasch(Aslik Deesh) has been by happenstance assigned to this.

05.02 -- The Fist of Boojie departs the Haribas system, having it's first complement of three upgraded cruisers ready. The crystalline elites in the Tenecca system await. Such excursions now cost about 10 energy per month to sustain ...

08.02 -- The latest colony ship is finished and heads to the Izval system. A minimal investment of 30(out of over 100) influence will be required as it is within our space. Due to the plenteous state of our energy reserves(over 2100, well better than half our maximum storage) and the few developing systems we presently control, another is begun immediately at Agglor Spaceport.

08.24 -- Hydroponic Farm upgrade finished on Agglor.

09.01 -- Dr. JIMGA Jr. reports a small ocean planet(size 11) in the Obnoll system. This is significant as it is the 'jumping off' point from the corridor past Qravadox space back to our arm of the galaxy, past the Djomar. It remains to be seen who, or what, awaits us there ...

09.26 -- The Fist of Boojie engages the crystalline entities in Tenecca. This will likely be a short battle.

11.01 -- Power Hub begun on Bakangi; this will occupy the final usable province there. Toxic kelp will be cleared on Eskogg as well.

12.08 -- The fighting in Tenecca is over after about two and a half months. The remaining raider and three of six corvettes were lost, but all of the cruisers and destroyers survived. Attrition from such battles will require more of the smaller ships to be built, but it seems our larger ones are near-impregnable against even these foes. The cruisers, and nine of the fifteen destroyers which sustained no damage to anything other than shields will proceed to the next target, the mining-drone infested Nekkar system, while the others return to Haribas for the usual repairs. We destroyed another 18 elite crystals, and our hit ratio was a third higher than theirs(67 to 50%). Co-opting their technology seems to have been a very effective development.

2255.01.02 -- The year begins with the completion of Supersolid Materials research. We can now build more advanced Engineer Laboratories, which will spark somewhat of a new planetary spending spree.

[Brian Swartz]

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Coffee Warlord

The Engineering Dept. is up again.

** Railguns(Materials, 30 mo.) -- The third-gen projectile weapons system, which would be an upgrade from our coilguns and might make this branch of weaponry more viable again.
** Mineral Processing(Industry, 8 mo.) -- Increases mineral storage by 1000(presently 14k, and we've never used more than 2k of it) and unlocks the Mineral Processing Plant. Similar to the Power Hub, it improves mining production by 10% on a planetary scale.
** Space Torpedoes(Rocketry, 30 mo.) -- Torpedoes are very large, slow-moving missiles that never miss, ignored shields, and can be fired from very long range. Against targets that are not heavily armored, they are overall more effective than any current weapons system. They'd still be useful against armored enemies, but the math gets a little more complicated there since they don't have the armor penetration of some of our current options. It really depends on exactly how protected the target is.
** Nuclear Missiles(Rocketry, 1/8 mo.) -- We learned the basic of these with our discoveries in the Kroll War. They are essentially smaller, faster-firing but overall less effective variants of torpedoes, but more advanced versions of them might well do better.
** Crystal-Infused Plating(Materials) -- This is nearly complete, and will probably be wrapped up once debris analysis is finished from the battles in Tenecca. Aside from that, the Crystal-Forged Plating already in use is better. There's literally no good reason to pick this.

Dr. Coffee Warlord, if you are still around, have at it. You are on the clock and all that. I'll plan on putting up some shots of the cruisers in action for the first time in the next update.

[GoldenCrest Games]

Those Space Torpedoes sound pretty sweet. Have you used those before? Do they do a lot of damage?

I need to get this game....

[Brian Swartz]

I haven't used them. They do the most base damage of anything I've seen so far, but as mentioned it does depend on armor. Other weapons would probably be more effective against highly armored ships or installations.

[Coffee Warlord]

Didn't they buff projectile weapons in the latest patch?

[Brian Swartz]

They changed some stuff around. Projectile weapons got +15% shield damage, I think that's the only change that was made to them.

[Coffee Warlord]

Hmm. Though Engineering believes that the future may be in alternative weapons, we work with what we have, and will continue our Railgun research.

FYI - I'm out of town Tues - Friday next week. Dr. Coffee and the Glorious Engineering Department will let the will of Boojie determine any policy decisions needed during that time. (Aka, your call Brian)

[Brian Swartz]

2255-56

2255.01.02 -- Engineering facility upgrades begin on Humboldt and Agglor, and probably in a number of the sector planets as well.

01.14 -- Uldrugg Spaceport(Saiph system) is begun as a new repair point.

01.29 -- Eskogg finishes ... something. I don't really remember what it was doing, but it will upgrade on of its Engineering Facilities next.

02.14 -- Observation post finished at Vurl-Xagh, the homeworld of the reptilian Thek'Qlak in the Andack system. The Thek'Qlak are not likely to be happy with the idea of being infiltrated, as we did previously with the Shantari on Micaw. That's just too darn bad, of course. They have similar Arid environmental preferences, and will expand our holdings eventually towards the goal of connecting the Perj sector with the rest of our space.

02.21 -- Just two days after entering the Nekkar system, the Fist of Boojie is in battle with the mining drones there.

03.01 -- The Serpess system, fourth of the five in the 'High Value Mining' category, has been surveyed. It's pretty good, 9 minerals total, but no habitable planets.

04.10 -- The 'battle' in the Nekkar system has proven to be a complete joke. The fleet has systematically eliminated incoming drones before they so much as get in range to fire. The system is increasingly littered with debris fields, the wreckage of enemies completely overmatched.




04.22 -- Power Hub finished on Bakangi. The lone engineering facility there starts the upgrade progress to the more modern standard.

06.05 -- Eskogg finishes the engineering lab upgrade and a new mining network will be constructed next. There are still a few provinces here to be developed.

06.16 -- Engineering facility upgrade finished on Agglor.

06.24 -- Humboldt's upgrade is finished as well, and the homeworld is back to being fully operational.

08.01 -- A couple weeks ago, JIMGA JR was assigned to researching the debris from the recent battles. That'll keep him busy for a while.

08.02 -- Another colony ship is completed and heads for Impal Tov. The next one will head to the systems beyond Saiph in the outer arm.

10.13 -- Bakangi has now finished all possible planetary construction, the first colony to join the homeworld of Humboldt in that, a little over 50 years after its founding. There is a volcano province that could be developed if we discover a way to overcome that obstacle, but aside from that there is nothing more to be done at present.

11.12 -- Mining network finished on Eskogg, which still has some ways to go. Upgrading begins immediately.

2256.02.06 -- The clearing of Nekkar is finally finished, having taken a year. The damaged elements of the Fist of Boojie have been repaired and returned to the fleet. There is one more known system with a couple of mining drone outposts, much less dense, along the Qravadox Corridor. That will be cleared as well before they return for shore leave.

03.03 -- Initial infiltration efforts on Vurl-Xagh are not going well. Our operatives have been forced to go dark and lay low for a while in order to avoid discovery.

03.08 -- The mine on Eskogg is now fully upgraded. A hydroponics farm is next as the food supply is getting a little too sparse for comfort.

04.01 -- The Izval Prime colony is now up and running near the Djomar border.

07.02 -- Hyperlane Breach Points research complete.




This is what I've taken to calling the 'Qravadox Corridor', so named as it is the path past the Qravadox who are the major power in this region of space(the outer arm). They hold the bluish territory and are roughly equal to us at this point in time(we're a little stronger I think, but it's fairly close).
As you can see, the Obnoll system has recently been colonized by a small empire down here. It's only their third system, a small(size-13) ocean planet.

In the upper left are the Djomar, and so far there is no evidence of anyone having settled the region of space past them. The Rakaron system holds a max-size(25) ocean planet that would be very nice. Continued expansion in this general direction appears to be possible and potentially fruitful for us. How far remains to be seen, but the survey ships continue their work non-stop to figure that out.

[Brian Swartz]

I should also report here that with new scientific stations, primarily in Hanneri, we are now a lot more balanced in research efforts. Physics is up to 90, which still brings up the rear, with Society at 115 and Engineering at 104. More equitable that it was by a good distance.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Frank Justyce

As soon as practicable, the fleet will be refit with the new hyperlane drives. Time now for something new.

** Database Uplinks(Computing, 8 mo.) -- Unlocks the Assist Research mission for survey ships, allowing them to boost research output on a planet.
** Antimatter Power(Particles, 63 mo.) -- +250 to Energy Storage(presently 3750). Unlocks Antimatter Reactors for use on our ships, increasing power generation from our present Cold Fusion models from 20 to 25 each(cost goes up a bit as well).
** AI-Controlled Colony Ships(Computing, 17 mo.) -- Use of AI allows a 25% decrease(12 months to 9) in the setup time for new colonies. This translates to a savings of roughly 25 energy for each new colony, along with the boost in getting them up and running more quickly.

** Blue Crystal Capacitors(Particles, 6/13 mo.) -- Unlocks the Blue Shard Thrower which is inferior to our current weapon tech and would basically be a waste of time.
** Disruptors(Particles, 4/31 mo.) -- The weaker of two potential weapons that are very effective against shields(double the normal damage).
** Ion Disruptors(Particles, 34/63 mo.) -- Second-gen disruptor weapon that is more powerful, with the same profile(double damage against shields). These were discovered from enemy wreckage in the Kroll War.

Dr. Frank Justyce, you are now on the clock.

[mrkilla22]

Let's research Ion Disruptors

[Brian Swartz]

Glad to see you are still with us.

2256-57

2256.08.01 -- Agglor begins clearing another province of toxic kelp, with the goal of adding a new power plant.

08.07 -- Hydroponics Farm finished on Eskogg, and sets for an upgrade.

09.04 -- The fleet has finished its work in the Borbagon system, clearing out the last two known obstacles; a pair of mining stations. The Fist of Boojie will head to back to port(in this case, Saiph) and await a gradual trickle of reinforcements. There are presently no known hostiles in our explored space.

09.11 -- The latest round of debris analysis has completed our work on Crystal-Infused Plating. We already have the more advanced type of this, but it's still one item off the board. Meanwhile, the next colony ship has been produced by Agglor Spaceport. Pursuant to the Inquisitor's instructions, we will now begin expanding beyond Saiph. The smallish ocean world of Khagaton III is next. This will take exactly the amount of influence(102) that we have remaining ...

10.29 -- The kelp has been cleared on Agglor, and a new power plant begun.

12.01 -- Deaconi Palmieri, administrator of the troublesome Kroll Sector, has increased to ***** skill. If I'm not mistaken, he is the first governor to reach that level of ability. Though his input is not often needed directly, he has a vitally important role in keeping the Collective from splintering.

Energy reserves continue to decrease, and for the time being new ship construction has been temporarily halted and the speed of colonization decreased. We are presently at 91 of 148 naval capacity, so we could definitely grow more but it's a healthy amount. We have 1323 of a 3750 max. remaining, but the monthly balance is -25. This includes two colony ships, with the one at Impal Tov almost finished with its work. There is also the matter of the infiltration operation in Andack which also sucks another 5 energy a month out of the budget. Reducing to one colony ship in operation at a given time, while returning the fleet to port, wrapping up the infiltration operation in a couple of years, and growing our energy capabilities where possible with new construction should all help reduce this issue. Not a problem yet, but it is periodically necessary to reduce our tempo of expansion in order to deal with the necessities of the Imperial economy.

At such times, extra minerals are shunted into expanding spaceports, so that our infrastructure is well prepared to begin production again when feasible.

12.13 -- Hydroponic farm upgrade complete on Eskogg. Agricultural products on the planet are now sufficient to complete it's growth.

2256.02.01 -- The large arctic world in the Impal Tov system, to be known now as Gabbog, has been completely established. It is our fifth and, for now, final core world.

04.09 -- It was just noticed by a sharp-eyed Architreuthis clerk that the system of Zeta Reticuli, near the Perj Sector, has within the last couple of months come within our effective sphere of influence. This is significant because it holds within it a second Troutstone. Our second construction ship, the Maggasch, makes its way there immediately to set up the required infrastructure.

05.08 -- Power plant finished on Agglor. Combined with the fleet returning home, the completion of the colony in Impal Tov, and so on, our energy deficit is now down to 6.51 per month. We need to get that into at least a small surplus but it's good progress.

09.11 -- A new colony ship is ready, and will make its way to the Quannagon system, a neighbor of Khagaton where a smallish arctic planet awaits. There will now be a pause as mentioned before building any more.

10.20 -- Power plant upgrade finished on Agglor, which is now up to date.

12.08 -- More inflitration setbacks continue.

[Brian Swartz]

2258.05.06 -- Dr. Aslik Deesh was sadly lost on this date. Upon arriving in a new system within Djomar territory, the Laggasch was set upon by a group of red crystalline entities nearby. Evasive maneuvers proved futile, and there was no time for an emergency hyperspace jump. The Collective's most accomplished survey scientist was lost.





05.24 -- First contact with the Cormathani Star Combine. This is our first encounter with a new empire in a few years.




In what appears to be another bug related to first contacts, I could not find their territory anywhere on the map.


Inquisitor's Briefing: Roe Laren

We need to replace Dr. Aslik Deesh even as the mourning for him continued. He had a long and distinguished career lasting several decades. We still have three survey captains out there, along with the three research directors, one admiral, one general, and five governors for a total of 13 of 14 in our leadership. A little over half the governor's spots are still unfilled at this point, so the question is basically whether we wish to recruit a fourth survey captain to keep the exploration going at the same pace, or whether it is perhaps better to improve our administration with another governor.

Inquisitor Roe Laren, you are now on the clock in this matter.

[AnalBumCover]

Avenge me! AVENGE MEEEEEeeeee!

[chesapeake]

3 survey ships are sufficient. Bring on a new governor.

[Brian Swartz]

A new governor it is. You may sign up again for a new character if you wish, ABC. As far as vengeance, this will happen but it may be a dish best served cold. As the offending crystalline entities are in Djomar space, taking them out now would simply help them. However, with our truce set to expire in almost exactly two years, they may not hold that territory for long ...

[Brian Swartz]

2258-59

2258.08.03 -- More war in the core, as the Polity of Oxx-Oxx has declared hostilities against the Athanebian Consensus. As long as they are fighting each other, they aren't expanding towards us ...

12.03 -- Infiltration operations are now back on track; some of our agents have reached leading positions in the Xurl-Vagh government. Another couple of years and the planet will be ours, assuming no further setbacks.

2259.02.01 -- The first Hydroponics Farm on the new planet of Gabbog is begun; it's time to get our final core world up and running.

04.02 -- Communications Protocols research completed. We now are at 6 of 8 available sectors used, and there are a couple options for combining them if we needed to. A pretty healthy situation though there is always pressure on it.

05.02 -- Ion Disruptors research is finished, giving the fleet another tool to potentially play with in the future.

[Brian Swartz]

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. David Corperial

** Mountain Range Removal(New Worlds, 12 mo.) -- Another type of presently impassable terrain, this time entire mountain ranges, can be made to bow to the will of Boojie.
** The Collective Self(Statecraft, 91 mo.) -- Leader capacity increased by +2, and recruiting them is 10% cheaper.
** Quicksand Basin Removal(New Worlds, 12 mo.) -- Quicksand gives me the shivers. Anyway, we'll have the wherewithal to conquer these provinces as well if this is chosen.
** Amoeba Breeding Program(Biology, 14/58 mo.)

Dr. David Corperial, you are on the clock.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Frank Justyce

** Space-Time Theory(Computing, 85 mo.) -- Unlocks Physics Lab III & Physics Lab IV, which will significantly increase the productivity of our ground-based physics labs(but do nothing for the other kinds, orbital stations, etc.)
** Quantam Energy States(Industry, 33 mo.) -- Energy storage +250(presently 3750). Unlocks Power Plant III and also the 'Betharian' Power Plant III.
** Planetary Power Grid(Industry, 33 mo.) -- +500 to Energy Storage. Also unlocks Power Hub II.
** Blue Crystal Capacitors and Disruptors, obsolete weapons systems for reverse-engineering, are still hanging around as well.

Dr. Frank Justyce, you are on the clock as well.


Time permitting, we'll have a war briefing tomorrow. The truce expires in a little over a year now, so it is time to decide what, if anything, we should do about that.

[SirFozzie]

I'm tempted to support finishing off a wounded foe, but do we want to risk the greater galactic community's approbation? After thinking about it, I can only say that Boojie's will was that we bring the Kroll planets into our sphere previously, and I think Boojie would want us to finish the job.

[DavidCorperial]

Whichever one of the removals helps on more squares.

[mrkilla22]

Let's research Quantam Energy States

[Brian Swartz]

On our core worlds, we have one mountain range and that's it. In the sectors, neither are particularly common but there are seven mountain ranges, and only one quicksand basin(which occur only on the drier planet types that we can't colonize yet, apparently). So Mountain Range Removal it is.




This is the most relevant section of our most recent star chart. We have explored a significant amount of territory 'below' the Djomar as shown, and there at least two large, habitable planets in that area. No sign of any other empires in that direction so far. Both the remains of the Kroll and the Djomar are by this point insignificant compared to use militarily. It would be an easy war, the question is whether or not it is worth the effort. We could still expand in the other direction towards the fallen empire. We don't need the war to expand here either, but if we don't clear a path we would be in a situation where part of the Collective could be 'cut off' -- if one of the empires in the way decided to close their borders, we would be unable to get through. The other way to maintain continuity would be to attack the small Scyldari Conferderacy along the 'Qravadox Corridor'. Taking Obnoll, their small ocean planet here, would give us access at least for now along the outer arm.

There are no significant relations with other empires to consider in either case. It would probably take two more wars to knock out the Kroll and Djomar completely. Djomar worlds(tropical preference) are not as suited to us as the ocean-favoring Kroll, but in addition to their slaves, there are two large arctic and a smallish ocean world that have been unsettled within their territory based on our continued survey efforts.

The truce is up in the middle of 2060, next year. At that time, what should we do?

** War with the Bright Compact -- Attack the Kroll/Djomar again. We could just take the remaining Kroll system, or push into Djomar space as well. It would probably take two more wars to knock them both out completely, due to limitations of war demands. Just taking out the Kroll would mean only one. Couple of choices here.

** War with the Scyldari Confederacy -- They have just three systems, so we could knock them out easily. They have no relations at all with the Qravadox, so we wouldn't be risking a fairly strong enemy by doing this, but we would be sandwiching Qravadox space with a couple of worlds via this route and it could lead to rising tensions over time. The Qravadox Corridor would be opened to us, perhaps or perhaps not permanently(there are other systems that I don't think either empire can settle yet that would need to be claimed to make it permanent).

** Keep the Peace -- Focus on expanding peacefully where we can, without the disruption of war throwing a wrench into things. As we found after the Kroll invasion, newly conquered territories can be disruptive for a time, and maintaining a large fleet away from port would definitely put pressure on the rest of the economy. If we choose this route, we'll also need to decide whether to colonize the 'disconnected' territories past the Djomar, or focus only on those we can guarantee access to.

Inquisitor Roe Laren has the final word here, and is on the clock. What say the leadership of the Collective?

[chesapeake]

My initial reaction is to annex the Kroll and Djomar while they continue to be small and isolated. But I am interested in the views of the rest of the collective.

[SirFozzie]

Definitely take out at least the rest of the Kroll.

[muns]

im down for getting rid of the kroll as well

[mrkilla22]

Let's take them out!

[ntndeacon]

As am I. Let's enslave the Kroll

[JonInMiddleGA]

fyi -- though it's unlikely to matter given my current job analyzing space debris for the betterment of Booje -- I'm likely out of touch until late Saturday. I entrust any decisions that might somehow arise to you.

[chesapeake]

The attack upon our unarmed scout vessel in Kroll space is a cowardly act by fading empires (science team--please get to fabricating some video and corresponding "evidence" ASAP). The provocations of the Bright Compact cannot go without a response. If the Kroll and Djomar want war, the Children of Boojie shall give it to them.

[tarcone]

Although we are somewhere in deep space, we were able to locate a drone that was attached to our lost science ship. We were lucky to happen upon it.

We uploaded the video we retrieved from the drone. Here is what was found:




Obviously the drone was a scout drone to warn of any imminent danger. Though not fast enough this time.

[chesapeake]

Good enough for me. Send in the navy!

[Brian Swartz]

Far be it from me to quiver over details, but we weren't actually attacked by either empire. Having said that, war it is -- the Collective's will is clear. The Fist of Boojie will re-route to our border systems near the Kroll over the coming months. The assault armies will gather as well, and all non-essential economic investment will cease until this conflict is resolved. The heretics who deny the wisdom of Boojie shall serve him by force, since they refuse to do so by faith or reason!

[Brian Swartz]

I found the video amusing btw. Slightly overpowered compared to the crystalline entities, but if you're going to do propaganda anyway, no point in doing it halfway ...

2259-60

** We are now on version 1.23. I haven't been keeping tabs on what the changes are, we will see how things go and I'll report anything new or surprising.

2259.05.02 -- Agglor begins a major construction, the second Troutian Power Plant, as the recently acquired Troutstone formation will be put to good use. The need for more energy and to use this important resource overrides the research focus in this instance.

07.01 -- The fleet begins to mobilize in the Deetenal system for war.

08.01 -- The Quannaga colony is up and running, the last new world for the time being.

11.11 -- Our second Troutian Power Plant, this one on Agglor, is now operational. It will be upgraded immediately, but the addition of this energy source brings us to nearly even now on that front.

12.03 -- Yet another setback on Vurl-Xagh, as some of world's leaders are still in place and have not been replaced with our agents. This is proving to be a more lengthy and costly infiltration than expected, and we may well not have the planet until after the the next round of conflict with the Bright Compact is concluded. The latest estimate is nearly two more years ...

2260.04.02 -- Mountain Range Removal has been researched. It is noted that 'sometimes there is little difference between terraformation and demolition'. Meanwhile, we are nearly ready for war. The Fist of Boojie is nearly to Deteenal, with Eusrim's troops already in place. The final Djomar systems are being surveyed by our science ships, and the exact date of attack will likely be determined by when they can finish that and get out of their space. Zarim, where the attack by the crystalline entities occurred, is the only one that will remain unsurveyed.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. David Corperial

** Doctrine: Space Combat(Military Theory, 10 mo.) -- Improves naval capacity by 10%. This continues to be a non-issue; energy is the limiter here not naval capacity. We are presently at 95/186.
** Symbols of Unity(Statecraft, 14 mo.) -- This is a Rare technology. The Symbol of Unity building reduces ethics divergence by 10% on any planet where it is built. This may, or may not, be important to maintaining loyalty to the Collective as our empire continues to grow.
** Arid Colonization(New Worlds, 36 mo.) -- Arid worlds are not good for our species ... but they are good for others. This would unlock many new planets for colonization, and are most fitting for our Shantari slaves. The Thek'Qlak, who will be joining us after the infiltration eventually succeeds, also prefer Arid planets.
** Amoeba Flagella(Biology, 17/71 mo.) -- Bred from space amoebas for use as strike craft.

Dr. David Corperial, you are now on the clock. The truce officially times out in two months ...

[DavidCorperial]

Arid Colonization is the right way.

[Brian Swartz]

2260.04.14 -- Power plant upgrade on Agglor complete.

04.19 -- A mysterious transmission is received from Vurl-Xagh. It used a frequency normally reserved for our agents, none of whom were currently transmitting. Could this possible be our rogue agent?

The message contents follow ...




Inquisitor Roe Laren, this is a matter for you. I didn't know this was possible to happen, and I find it rather amusing. The game gives no hints other than what you see here as to what will happen with the different choices. I have a pretty good idea what opinions will be, but it's your call. How do we respond to this... traitor?

[tarcone]

I had this happen in a game of mine. He will be rogue and marry a native.

In other words, he went native.

[chesapeake]

Since he is no longer a part of the Collective, protections under our laws no longer apply.

Make sure there are no remains for anyone to study.

[Brian Swartz]

Remind me never to make you mad.

X-34's response:




2260-62


2260.05.23 -- With just days left before the end of the truce, the Bright Compact notifies us that it's borders are now closed to us. There was one large system in the lower parts of Djomar space still being surveyed, but that effort is cut short. Dr. Tarc and the Jaschalgur are forced to leave ... we'll come back sometime in the future. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes this war necessary ... these weak fools will not keep the mighty Architreuthis from our destiny to dominate this part of the galaxy any more than Operative X-34 will. That's our story anyway, and we're sticking to it! The fleet is on high alert, knowing that the order to strike will soon be given ...

06.12 -- The Jaschalgur has officially jumped out of Djomar space, and the Fist of Boojie powers up hyperdrives for the first of three jumps that will take it to Trimus, the remaining Kroll world. Our demands are their surrender and that of two Djomar worlds in the system closest to us, as well as open borders with the Djomar. At least two other colonizable planets would then fall within our space.

The Kroll response is "We are not surprised. In fact, we expected this sooner. You will find that our forces are ready for you."

Absurd bravado, esp. given that we could not declare war on them until 11 days ago. I doubt very much that they 'expected this sooner'. Nonetheless, here it is.

07.14 -- In the first system, Pesch, one of four orbital stations attacked us immediately. It's resistance was short-lived.

10.15 -- The spaceport at Vi Sullug, the Kroll capital and lone planet in the Trimus system, has been defeated with only minor damage to us.

10.27 -- News from Vurl-Xagh, and once again it is not good.




Apparently not only is Operative X-34 still at large, but he's not sitting idly by.

2261.03.05 -- Gen. Eola Eusrim's ground troops land on Vi Sullug.

04.04 -- As usual, we have made short work of the enemy. For all intents and purposes, the Kroll Star Commonwealth now ceases to exist. All that remains for them is for it to become official. On to Djomar space, several jumps away.

06.01 -- The Fist of Boojie arrives in the Ullus system, where two Djomar worlds are targeted.

06.27 -- As Eusrim's armies prepare to follow the fleet, having completed their repairs, the defenders of the first Djomar planet have been defeated and the Fist of Boojie moves into position for orbital bombardment.

10.22 -- Ground assault on Naff'Avm, the first Djomar planet, begins. The Fist of Boojie moves off to a neighboring system now to deal with a frontier outpost.

11.10 -- Naff'Avm surrenders.

12.02 -- Quantam Energy States research completed. Upgrading of power plants begins on the four developed core worlds. Humboldt has four to do, Bakangi and Eskogg three apiece, and Eskogg four as well. Getting everything up to the new standard will take a year or more most likely, but the economy should be in much better shape afterwards. Naturally, the most productive provinces will get the first investments.

12.17 -- A Djomar fleet of transports appears in Ullus, and a fleet of four destroyers and seven corvettes has been spotted in a neighboring system. The Fist of Boojie will need to wrap up it's business with the frontier outpost quickly.

2262.01.01 -- Vurl-Xagh news again, and once again it is not good. Operative X-34 is becoming a real pain the neck, if indeed he is the cause.




01.04 -- The frontier outpost has been destroyed, and the Fist of Boojie makes ready to return to Ullus. The incoming Djomar transports divert course immediately; their fleet has not entered the system. It appears they know they are overmatched and are not even really going to give more than a token effort.

02.20 -- The Djomar transports did not run quickly enough. The Fist of Boojie caught up to them in the middle of the Ullus system. The armies, and their General Goll as well(*** skill) were doomed.

03.02 -- Railgun research is completed.

[Brian Swartz]

The war goes well as expected and will soon be over. Right now though it's time for more research.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Frank Justyce

** Self-Aware Logic(Computing, 29 mo.) -- Increases research alternatives by +1 each time.
** UV Lasers(Particles, 29 mo.) -- Third-gen laser weapon; the distinguishing aspect of lasers is that they have 33% armor penetration. We presently have the first two, red and blue lasers.
** Interlinked Support Systems(Computing, 39 mo.) -- Unlocks Barrier Point Defense, an upgrade to our current as-yet unused Sentinel Point Defense systems. These are primarily effective against enemies who use strike craft, such as the space amoebas.
** Disruptors and Blue Crystal Capacitors remain as obsolete weapons systems.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Coffee Warlord

** Autocannons(Materials, 29 mo.) -- A new possibility in projectile weaponry, Autocannons are large-caliber weapons and boast a high rate of fire. They receive the same 15% bonus to shield damage as other projectiles and are slightly less effective overall than the recently researched railguns ... but this is the first stage and with improvements they could well prove superior to our standard projectiles.
** Deep Space Outposts(Voidcraft, 8 mo.) -- Back again is the gateway project for orbital defense stations. Defense Platforms would be unlocked here.
** Ceramo-Metal Materials(Materials, 20 mo.) -- An improved armor meterial, ceramo-metal offers the possibility of double the protection(and also double the price) of our current nano-composite armor. This reduces damage taken, in constrast to the crystal-forged plating which adds more durability but doesn't deflect any of it. Overall, we estimate that ceramo-metal armor would still only be less than half as effective as the crystal-forged plating, but it could lead to further improvements that might eventually be worth using.
** Nuclear Missiles(Rocketry, 1/8 mo.) -- Discovered during the first war with the Bright Compact, this is an early missile weapons system, noted for it's accuracy and long range. It is considered fairly likely that we'll learn more about this from salvaging the debris from our recent battles during the second, ongoing war with the same enemy.

Frank Justyce and Coffee Warlord are now on the clock.

[GoldenCrest Games]

Operative X-34 is a badass!

How do you deal with something like that?

[Coffee Warlord]

It can never hurt to have better armor, even if we rarely use it.

Give us Ceramo-Metal Materials.

[mrkilla22]

Let's start research on UV Lasers

[chesapeake]

The outcome on Vurl-Xagh is not in doubt. Boojie insists that we bring his love and enlightenment to all sentient species. We would prefer that they enter the Collective by a peaceful vote with no loss of life. But Operative X-34 appears to prefer that they be conquered by our armies, which would likely lead to the deaths of thousands, if not millions, of Thek'Qlak. It is regrettable that his insistence on his own personal gratification may well lead to the shedding of so much innocent blood.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by GoldenCrestGames

How do you deal with something like that?

Grin and bear it, more or less. From what I can see he can't stop us, merely make it a lot more costly. It's normally just over four years to subvert a planet: this may take us about a decade when it's all said and done. Each setback costs us 20% progess(ten months worth). Measured in resources, that's 5 energy and 5 society research each month we need to keep the operation going. I don't think there's any way for infiltration to 'fail', necessarily ... but I expected it to be done before now and at the moment there is still a year and a half's work left by current estimates.

In other words, unless he's got something better in his bag of tricks than he's shown so far, or can keep this up indefinitely(unlikely), Vurl-Xagh will eventually be ours as the Inquisitor intimated.