Galactic Dreams(Stellaris, Interactive/Community)

[Brian Swartz]

The choice is clear, and so far unanimous. Patriarch Glosch is appointed to another four decades, or until he departs this mortal coil. He has a clear mandate to hunt down and exterminate the Prethoryn Scourge, down to the subatomic level.

[Brian Swartz]

2337

2337.03.28 -- Bombardment of Pesch IV begins. This is an important date in Architreuthis history. It marks the point at which we are able to begin reversing Prethoryn encroachment into 'our' galaxy.

04.09 -- We are interrupted by a Star Brood jumping into the system.

04.16 -- More debris, more progress on Scourge missiles and Swarm Spawning Pools.

05.02 -- Cell Revitalization research finished.

05.11 -- Victory in Pesch, with no casualties. We were once again able to crush them during the cool-down period. Back to bombardment.

06.01 -- Pesch IV is now devoid of life, and unsuitable for habitation, ever. This is unfortunately something that is expected to be the result wherever we eliminate the Scourge ... but given the choice, getting rid of them is the obvious one.

They've occupied one other world in Pesch, and have four stations of varying sizes.

06.14 -- Apparently our success has motivated others. An Anathurian fleet, only a fraction the size of ours but larger than any we've seen attack the Prethoryn so far, is inbound to one of their worlds. Have at it ... many hands will make light work.




This shot isn't that great, but shows us attacking a Star Hive, the largest type of Prethoryn station. Key thing to see here is the rather absurd range at which these can strike -- instantaneously, and with devastating effect.




07.21 -- With the latest debris work, we now have completed research on Scourge Missiles.

08.02 -- Advanced Shields research finished. We'll go through another round of upgrades the next time the fleet is in orbit over a friendly planet.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.

Monthly chance of dying is now down to 'only' 31% with new cell revitalization techniques. You've long been laughing at such things though.

** Planetary Shields(Field Manipulation, 48 mo.) -- This RARE option unlocks the Planetary Shield Generator, increasing fortifications by 50% on any planet it is built on.

** Plasma Cannons(Particles, 105 mo.) -- An upgrade to our current Plasma Accelerators, only with 15% more damage. These aren't nearly as good as a Particle Lance, but they have the same armor-penetrating profile and can be made in smaller versions unlike the lance. Very useful for a more diverse, flexible navy, but not needed for any immediate purpose.

** Neutron Torpedoes(Particles, 105 mo.) -- Upgrade on our current Proton variant. As we've seen, the slow speed of these is a huge strategic disadvantadge compared to the Particle Lance. Theoretically they have the edge in taking down shields, but we haven't encountered an enemy where that is of practical use.

** Focusing Arrays(Particles, 53 mo.) -- Improves the damage of all energy-based weapons(Particle Lance included) by 5%.

Dr. JIMGA Jr., you are on the clock again.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Tarcisius

** Doctrine: Reactive Formations(Military Theory, 13 mo.) -- Increases naval capacity by 10%. Current usage is 412/561. That's as high as it has ever been; before the Prethoryn came we never cracked 300.

** Morphogenetic Field Mastery(Biology, 40 mo.) -- A RARE technology that unlocks a new kind of army. Basically these are the kind of game-changer to physical damage and health as the Psionic Armies were to the psychological side of warfare. They would be nearly a match for a Prethoryn army. The description is priceless. The technique here apparently involves 'direct, subconscious interfaces with organic units'. "Ravenous hordes of bio-engineered horrors made up of little more than teeth, claws, and an instinctive urge to kill. A cadre of scientists monitor and supervise the raging swarms as best they can from hardened bunkers behind the front'. Sounds totally safe to me.

** Massive Glacier Removal(New Worlds, 10 mo.) -- This one just won't go away.

** Hostile Environment Adaptation(New Worlds, 48 mo.) -- 5% habitability increase everywhere.

Genetic modification is still an option of course. Dr. Tarcisius, enter your instructions whenever.

[tarcone]

I want the scary army. Then we are going into genetic modification

Morphogenetic Field Mastery

Even if we dont get to use them against the "bugs", these will dominate when we go to take over the universe.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Take the rare option here, Planetary Shields

[Brian Swartz]

2337-2340

08.19 -- Another Star Brood shows up in Pesch.

11.27 -- And now they're eliminated.

12.02 -- Dr. Tarcisius is up to **** skill, which will slightly increase the speed of his researching.

2338.01.30 -- Swarm Spawning Pools are now available.

03.29 -- Pesch III has been glassed. It is now barren as well, something that will repeat itself many times.

The Way Forward

High Command now believes we have achieved strategic victory over the Scourge. They don't seem to have any way to stop us gradually eradicating their presence from the galaxy. That doesn't mean it that what they've done will be easy to recover from. It's been over 16 years since they first showed up in 2021. The 'cleansing operation' will require a period of time probably best measured in decades, not years. It will be expensive, and things will never be the way they were. Countless billions have been exterminated, and the barren planets the Prethoryn leave behind are useless to us.

The following steps will be taken as we proceed.

** Rebuilding What We Can -- Pesch is now just barely within our claimed territory. A science ship and constructor have been sent in to analyze debris and build orbital stations. This pattern will continue wherever we have control of the space vacated after the Prethoryn are eliminated, as the fleet moves on.

** Maximum Funding Focus -- All Sector Governors have been given instructions to manage their territories with increasing the imperial cash flow in mind. Right now the energy reserve is at about 3600, and losing about 30 per month. At that rate, it'll be gone in a decade. Research is down 15-20% across the board from pre-war levels, and this will sink it even more, but there will time to reinvest in those matters after total victory has been achieved.

** A Royal Question -- The captured Prethoryn Queen and her fleet continue to grow and suck up resources. They are inferior to our lance-wielding ships, but she may yet be of use if the Scourge has any more surprises up its sleeve. Killing off some of her creatures outright may not be wise. Therefore she has been dispatched on her own missions, close to where Admiral Shugglerm is going. The idea is that her numbers will thin naturally during engagements with enemy 'stations' -- Star Hives and the smaller cousins. A balance between keeping her fleet from getting too overgrown, and having it too small to handle these attacks, will have to be found. Right now it should be more than strong enough to handle a Star Hive, with 13 warriors and a couple of swarmlings.

** Fleet Balancing -- As of now, there are 26 Larens, 6 Corperials, and 10 SirFozzie ships with the fleet. A Laren and a Corperial are decomissioned to give exact ratios with 25/5/10. If necessary we can reduce things further, but the hope is that as the campaign proceeds, we can gradually 'grow out' of the deficit by limiting the size of the queen's fleet, focusing on energy production, growth on the new colonies we founded some years ago, regaining lost territory, etc.

** Outpost Distribution -- In some areas, we will eventually need to build new frontier outposts. That will probably wait until the war is over in most areas. We won't be able to put them up everywhere. The pair near the Anathurian border may get disbanded to free up resources.

** Ground Forces -- Once the new armies are ready and the Prethoryn threat secured, a new army will need to be constructed. Elite Morphogenetic/Psionic troops are planned for deployment to the core worlds, any border worlds, and for invasion duty. First things first though -- that's an expense that will wait until this crisis has abated.

2339.03.09 -- The Trimus and Hixaros systems have been cleared. Another Star Brood showed up and was crushed, while in Hixaros the Queen met up with a pair of Star Hives. Considerable damage was sustained, but she eliminated the threat. Just as was hoped.




Took this to show our Barrier Point Defence in action. Strike craft, except in absurdly massive numbers, have no chance against these -- the thin blue lines here.

07.02 -- Zempek has been freed. So far this is going better than anticipated, although the Scourge is back to sending constructors every which way, so eliminating all of their stations will take some time.

2340.01.12 -- Dr. Salve Linus was brought to a completely preventable and early end. The talented scientist, expected to take over as head of Physics except for the fact that JIMGA Jr. refuses to depart, was destroyed by salvos of missiles from a recently built Star Hive in Thegglan. He was attempting to salvage debris there, and could not escape in time once the danger became apparent.

2340.06.02 -- Morphogenetic Field Mastery research finished.

Here's the latest map in the area of our current offensive:




Pesch, Hixaros, Zempek, Trimus, Tibor, and further left Whaskar and Vollonis have all been retaken from Prethoryn control. Those last two still have Star Hives that need to be eliminated. Just below where you can see here, the fleet is in Peith taking out another pocket, and then will work it's way that direction. There are about 8-10 more systems that need to be cleansed in the middle arm before we can head outwards.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Tarcisius

** Continental Colonization(New Worlds, 23 mo.)

** Frontier Commissars(New Worlds, 46 mo.) -- 'Strict social control may be integral to the continued resilience of young colonies'. -20% Ethics divergence, +25% colony development speed. Cheaper to set up colonies in other words. The ethics divergence is a major bonus if that's important to you. This is another RARE tech.

** Talent Acquisition(Statecraft, 51 mo.) -- Leader recruitment cost reduced by 5%.

** Tropical Colonization(New Worlds, 23 mo.)

FWIW, I did an informal survey of potential habitable worlds in our territory, as we might wish to expand peacefully at war's end, if possible. In terms of premium(20+) planets, there are 3 tropical and only 1 continental; there are far more decent continental worlds though, at least a half-dozen of those.

Dr. Tarcisius, you're up again. Pick something.

[tarcone]

Going by what you say: There are more continental worlds that we can colonize. Even though they are not 20+. I think we should do that

Continental Colonization

[SirFozzie]

And if worse comes to worse.. there are other nations out there that owe us their existence from the Scourge. I think their planets can be just as welcoming . Eventually *evil grins*

[chesapeake]

Dr. Linus didn't have quite the impact on of his grandmother. Maybe his cousin, Roe Salmo, will. Put him in whatever capacity is most useful.

[Brian Swartz]

Roe Salmo . We seem to be mostly in need of scientists still. So Dr. Roe Salmo is selected as probably the best-situated of the current scientists. Other than JIMGA Jr., all are fairly youngish. Salmo is 88 and has expertise in Particles. Maxed out in skill, and next in the line for the Physics spot -- assuming the current occupant isn't immortal. Like the other survey scientists, you're flitting about surveying battle debris, even though I don't think there's anything of significance to be gained from it at this point.

[Brian Swartz]

2340-41

2340.06.11 -- In the 'stuff we don't have the luxury of caring about' category, QXU has resurfaced and destroyed another provincial building.

2341.04.05 -- The Confederation of Ir-Vol-Ta is integrating a vassal. We take note of this due to Ir-Vol-Ta being one of the few who can challenge us long-term if the Prethoryn campaign continues to be a success.

2341.10.02 -- Research finished(Planetary Shields). We've recovered only a couple more systems in the interim. The queen has been kept busy hunting down constructors, energy is now back to a positive balance, and we have enough minerals to go back into spaceport-upgrading mode. The main progress has been in knocking out stations and preventing them from building too many more.

So yeah, another year and a half and not all that much happened really.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.

162 years young, for those of you scoring at home.

** Hyper Shields(Field Manipulation, 106 mo.) -- I don't know how you 'reinforce and harden' a shielding system, but we've managed to find a way. The result is another 25% increase in strength over the recently-developed Advanced variants. That could well make these the preferred system to deploy in terms of ship protection.

** Phase Disruptors(Particles, 106 mo.) -- Still a heck of an anti-shield weapon. Still something we don't need right now.

** Shield Capacitors(Field Manipulation, 49 mo.) -- These work by storing surplus energy, which can be transferred to shields when needed. They dramatically increase the recharge rate of shields, with current technology they would more than triple it. That would definitely extend the life of our shields in combat considerably.

** Focused Arc Emitters(Field Manipulation, 106 mo.) -- The somewhat-forgotten Arc Emitters are actually considered to be our best overall weapon; they don't have the armor penetration of the particle lance, but against enemies of unknown configuration they are definitely the most versatile. This upgrade would improve them by about 15% in damage output, putting them a hair above the lance in base damage. Could be the weapon of the future to bring the good 'justice' of Boojie to the rest of the galaxy.

Dr. JIMGA Jr., you are on the clock.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Shield Capacitors

I believe we can now not only think about winning as a long-range goal but begin to think in terms of keeping our valiant troops alive in the process as well.

[Brian Swartz]

2340-41

2341.06.02 -- Continental Colonization research completed. Sector priorities are back on research now, and energy is holding steady at about the break-even point. We've recently eliminated enemy presence in Bastamore, and are now working our way towards Zarim. That's one of just two remaining systems in the middle arm where the Scourge control a planet. We have spotted constructors moving out of our sensor range to systems unknown ... they may be trying to seed themselves into the territory of other empires.

On the map shown below, we recently 'regained' the systems of Bastamore, Qad Vhi, Saldar, and Tunobo. Once the Star Hives are cleared out, we'll be able to do some rebuilding there.



Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Tarcisius

** Doctrine: Reactive Formations(Military Theory, 12 mo.) -- +10% Naval Capacity. We're at 372/579 right now.

** Targeted Gene Expressions(Biology, 45 mo.) -- A rare option that we passed on fairly recently and somehow is up again. +1 to Trait Points for the genetic modification option, and unlocks Xeno Cavalry, an army attachment that improves both health and damage.

** Massive Glacier Removal(New Worlds, 9 mo.)

** Communication Protocols II(Statecraft, 61 mo.) -- Adds 1 to our Sector cap. We're at 6/15 at the moment and have no issues with running out of sectors.

Dr. Tarcisius, choose one of the above options/genetic modification to proceed.

[tarcone]

We are going to modify some genes.

I want our species to become Thrifty

Let the experiments begin.

I want to start cross breeding some of the slaves we have soon. See if I can develop super strength. We need that.

[Brian Swartz]

We can't do Thrifty right now. That requires 2 trait points; we have 1. We could do the Targeted Gene Expressions research to get a second trait point, or modify one of the more basic options.

[tarcone]

Ok. I get it now.

Lets go for another modification that helps the ruling class.

Enduring

Does this count as research? Or Do I research something else also?

[Brian Swartz]

It doesn't count as research per se. You can pick one of the options given if you wish -- if you wait they'll still be the same ones. It's like what happens when we do debris research; Engineering research is interrupted until the special project is finished, then it resumes.

Genetic modification is a special project. While it's ongoing, it will interrupt whatever 'normal' research is going on.

[tarcone]

So I want to research Targeted Gene Expressions

[Brian Swartz]

Ok. This back and forth might be annoying for others reading the thread but I want to sum up what we are doing so that we are on the same page. Reason being, I don't think we can undo genetic modifications once they are in place.

** First, Genetic Modification on our native Architreuthis to add Enduring trait. This consumes our 1 Trait Point, leaving us with 0 but all the other races still have 1. Trait Points are basically the way of measuring our usable knowledge in matters of genetic engineering.

** Research Targeted Gene Expressions. We'll get +1 Trait Point from that, meaning we'll have 1 again for the Architreuthis and 2 for the other races. Still wouldn't be able to do one of the more expensive options like Thrifty on ourselves, but could do another more basic one, wait for an option to get more, go for a bigger mod on one of the slaves races, etc.

Please confirm if we're on the same page at this point.

[tarcone]

Sorry about this.

Lets do the Research targeted gene expressions 1st, and save the +1 so we can do Thrifty.

The we will do the modifications later.

That is what I want to do.

[Brian Swartz]

No problem. That's why I waited to ask . It can definitely be confusing particularly when you're not looking at the game.

[Brian Swartz]

2342-45

2343.01.01 -- Our Yiriam Outpost, in the Perj Sector, has been eliminated. It was almost entirely redundant now with surrounding systems. Meanwhile, we've cleared out the stations in Saldar and a couple of other systems. Saldar is important because we can rebuild a spaceport there now -- our planet was never conquered. Building new orbital stations in the freed systems continues, an observation post is back up and running in Trimus, and so on. Each of these is quite insignificant on it's own, but collectively they are significant in getting our resource base/infrastructure back up as high as possible.

Also, we are building a terraforming station at the one large continental world in our borders. It's in Maghama, which you may recall is the system where our first off-world colony is: Bakangi. That'll become a core planet, requiring us to shift one of the others into a sector. Probably that will be Eskogg, in Norgon, as it's nearest to the Perj Sector. This is the name of continued gradual expansion where we are able to. It'll be some time before terraforming can be finished of course.

03.21 -- Battle in Tunobo finished, where our queen bit off a bit more than she could chew and was nearly destroyed by the usual arrangement of Prethoryn stations. Down to about 6% or so health with only four warrior escorts remaining, she'll definitely take some extended repair time.

04.06 -- The Bhenn'Thell Imperium is going to war against the Gwesibor Regime. Again.

06.01 -- Prethoryn constructors are becoming more numerous. It is starting to resemble the early months of the war. The queen, after repairing, will try to put out as many of these little fires as possible. At least slow them down.

06.15 -- Terraforming of Maghama IV begins.

2344.02.01 -- A series of Prethoryn ships have been seen heading into the uninhabited portion of the outer arm.




This is the end of it, with the longest jump in the galaxy leading from there into the territory of the Buhavilaa Ascendancy. We can't do anything about this yet, but there is increasing evidence that our fight against the Scourge will not end merely by reclaiming what was once territory integral to our empire. Eventually, the fight will have to go beyond our borders, and who knows when, or even if, it will end?? Questions for another day, however.

05.03 -- Apparently our recently rebuildt(not entirely sure we had one there before, but 90%) observation post has had some surprising results ...




07.14 -- The Prethoryn planet in Zarim has been sanitized. Only Isius remains as a holdout in terms of planets in the middle arm.

08.01 -- Energy is growing more negative, mostly due to rebuilding orbital research stations I think. Part of it is also the expanded spaceports adding Observatory modules like crazy. This is a good thing, as it will accelerate our research, but it's not free. We are now down to -10 per month, and the terraforming expense knocked our reserve down to less than 2k. If this continues, we'll have to enact an energy focus at the sector level again in order to continue this campaign.

09.02 -- During a rare respite in debris work, Engineering has finally completed Hull Integrity research. They'll next proceed with the RARE option of Droids. These allow for Robotic Armies, not much different from the standard ones, but also for building Droids, which are like Robots, only a little better.


2345.05.23 -- Isius has been removed. There are no Prethoryn planets in the middle arm; at least 'our' part of it.




However, our work is far from done. There are at least 6-7 systems that have enemy stations, and the queen is not yet strong enough to take them on. We have eliminated 4-5 constructors since the last report, so we are being successful in at least slowing them down and/or convincing them to go elsewhere. The fleet will eliminate these stations before proceeding to the next phase. That will allow unimpeded travel within our territory. A number of systems have been cut off from that for a while now.

When we proceed outwards, our goal is to build outposts wherever possible in areas the Prethoryn have taken over. It's impossible to tell where will be able to do that until we get rid of their planets and have a handle on the resulting borders, but we've got our eye on, for example, Nekkar in the Gamus Veil if it isn't still within Scyldari reach. We'll cross a little below that at Hiann, pretty much the only place in this region of the galaxy we can cross between the arms, and work our way upwards towards the region where the brunt of the Scourge assault once fell. We still occupy, either entirely or disputed, eight systems in the outer arm. It is only a fraction of what it once was, but there are still citizens and resources there. They will be rescued and salvaged, and what can be rebuilt will be.

Much has been accomplished, but much remains yet to be done.

07.01 -- The energy situation has not changed at all, still -10 per month. Sector Financial Focus is reinstituted by order of Patriach Glosch. Having the funds to continue the campaign against the vile Prethoryn Scourge is more vital than any other concern. Almost immediately, this drops our deficit to 4. Not good enough yet, but better.

08.01 -- A month later, and we're back in the black ... barely. +2 per month is not exactly a massive surplus. This policy will hold for now, with the goal of rebuilding a larger reserve.

10.02 -- Targeted Gene Expressions and Shield Capacitor research completed.

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.

You're a running joke by now, old friend. And I do mean OLD. 166, and a 39% monthly chance of dying. Which you continue to defy. At this point there are leaders who have been in their elevated positions for decades who aren't half your age.

** Tachyon Lances(Particles, 100 mo.) -- The Particle Lance on crack. Same basic idea, now with 10% more damage.

** Subspace Sensors(Voidcraft, 23 mo.) -- If you want a quickie, this would fit. 5% increase in survey speed, slightly increased range and weapon accuracy with these improved electronics.

** Neutron Torpedoes(Particles, 100 mo.) -- As before, Proton Torpedoes upgrade. Slow speed makes them pretty obsolete compared to the Lances, particularly since they actually have lower range.

** Shield Harmonics(Field Manipulation, 51 mo.) -- Allows for a 5% increase in all shield strengths. And we do seem to be heading in the shielding direction ...


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Tarcisius

From what you said before, we've got Thrifty gene modification up next. But still, let's present the options.

** Cell Revitalization II(Biology, 58 mo.) -- Another +5 to leader lifespans. Make JIMGA live forever! Not that he seems to care about the natural maximum ...

** Synthetic Thought Patterns(Statecraft, 43 mo.) -- Here's another RARE choice. Resettlement, which we basically never do, is 10% cheaper. Edicts are 15% cheaper. And the name sounds cool. Or something.

** Tundra Colonization(New Worlds, 21 mo.) -- Since I did it last time, I took a look through our options here. Four in the 15+ range, no big ones, several smaller ones but those would be nearly useless. Not a lot of Tundra around overall.

** Xenology(Biology, 11 mo.) -- Part of me half-wishes we'll get rid of some of these repetitive crap options just so I don't have to keep seeing them. Reveals Alien Pets, a nigh-useless strategic resource.

Let me know if you're still feeling Thrifty, and go ahead and pick one of the other options anyway. You'll get a chance to confirm or change it once the gene mod is done if you still want to go that route.

Dr. JIMGA Jr. and Dr. Tarcisius, you're on the clock again.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Subspace Sensors it is then. Maybe I'll last through completion & get a nice rare for the next round.

[tarcone]

Yes to Thrifty

After that We go Cell Revitalization II

I will reveal my secret work. Dr. JIMGA Jr. Has been receiving treatments from me for the past 4 decades. We are trying to defy death so we can live forever. Early results are showing promise.

[Brian Swartz]

2345-47

10.03 -- The Thrifty Genetic Modification(Architreuthis) begins. This is expected to take just a hair under a decade.

A few months later, we learn this ...




I'm not sure exactly what the changes are here. Siggwal is one of the worlds we still have in outer arm. Disconnected from the rest of our empire, they have penalties for various things and there has been starvation there for years now.

2347.10.02 -- Subspace Sensors research complete.

Over the past two years, we've eliminated Prethoryn stations in most of the systems in the middle arm, but two yet remain. A 'cat-and-mouse' game continues with their constructors, who are now fleeing when one of our fleets is sighted. Sometimes they appear to be trying to lure us into an ambush. We've eliminated a few of them, but some have escaped. The building of orbital stations continues, and one construction ship has been sent to the Ibannic Sector, up by our unfriendly neighbors the Buhavilaa Ascendancy. Our borders have expanded in that region to the point where we can access more resources.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.

** Hyper Shields(Field Manipulation, 101 mo.) -- Improves planetary fortification by 20%. The new shields would be 25% more effective for ship defense purposes as well.

** Predictive Algorithms(Computing, 87 mo.) -- Unlocks Guardian Point Defense, significantly improved batteries over our current Barrier system for use in that role.

** Assembly Algorithms(Computing, 51 mo.) -- 5% reduction in all construction times.

** Gamma Lasers(Particles, 101 mo.) -- These would be used in some of our spaceports, and also would be an option for medium and small fleet weapons as a modest improvement over our X-Ray lasers. They are of quite limited relevance with the particle lance option being available.

Dr. JIMGA Jr., I'm beginning to wonder if you are immortal. Even so, you must pick something.

[JonInMiddleGA]

While I really like the idea of unlocking GPD, I'm swayed by the dual-purposing for my choice, which is Hyper Shields

[Brian Swartz]

Hyper Shields it is. The next update will likely cover several years ...

[Brian Swartz]

As expected this might be the longest update I've ever done in terms of years. With things still progressing at an incremental pace though, there still wasn't all that much going on. One major event at least, but even that surprisingly had a choice that basically made itself. Anyway, feel free to scroll to the bottom and the most recent map if you just want to know where we stand at the end ...

2347-2356

2348.08.15 -- Patriarch Glosch has departed to the embrace of Boojie. He was 131.

With JIMGA Jr. having previously withdrawn himself from consideration, there was really only one qualified candidate this time: Schlurma. The two others who stood for the position were not experienced enough. Gov. Schlurma has been governing our largest region of space, the Occupied Territories Sector. At 143, he has a gift of longevity and is expected to live at least another decade. He's also known as a Champion of the People(+10% happiness). Schlurma's priority is not military, as Glosch's was; his focus is on the new generation that will operate after the peace is won. Population growth is increased by 25% under his leadership. The loss of efficiency in the military has reduced our energy balance from +15 to -2 however ...

11.13 -- The final system with Prethoryn stations in the middle arm, Thegglan, has been cleansed. The fleet makes it's way to Hiann for the crossing to the outer arm. It's time to free our longsuffering citizens holding out there ...

2349.03.01 -- Prethoryn constructors continue to move into the middle arm; three of them right now. The idea apparently is to occupy our fleet here. We'll let the queen and her mostly regrown herd take care of them.

06.23 -- The crossing begins, with three construction ships close behind to handle any opportunities.




Three systems that used to belong to the Scyldari and Qravadox are first up: Yobhanir, Nekkar, and Dalthaana.

2351.06.17 -- Four nests of stations had to be cleared out, along with a half-dozen infestors that apparently had no planets left to claim. We've finally made the next step though and eliminated the Prethoryn infestation in Yobhanir. This did not free any systems, merely returning Borbagon to Qravadox control. You're welcome, jerks. Thanks for nothing.

Meanwhile, the queen has been quite busy, and overwhelmed with the number of constructors showing up. A number have been eliminated, but they've re-established a few stations in the middle arm despite the losses. We're going to win this campaign eventually ... but the Scourge is sure doing it's level best to occupy our fleet and make it time-consuming and annoying to do so.

2351.10.01 -- Gov. Deaconi Palmieri Jr., who would have made a fine Patriarch were the beauracracy not so pigheaded in it's selections, has reached maximum ***** skill.

12.20 -- Seems you can't just herd all the primitives onto reservations indefinitely without the occasional inconvenience. Who'da thunk?




2352.06.07 -- Nekkar has been sanitized. This was a major infestation, with two planets and a moon controlled by the Scourge. It's now a free system, just outside of Scyldari territory ... so we'll set up an outpost here immediately.

2353.02.20 -- I'm not sure what brought this on, but multiple Prethoryn transport fleets are inbound to our systems in the Coffee Sector. The Fist of Boojie is in nearby Dalthaana, but that cleaning operation will be put on hold while these armies are dealt with.

06.04 -- Much like her predecessor, Dr. Roe Salmo gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, and her life force is terminated prematurely.

The transports continue to swarm in by the dozens. This is Spica; there are a couple of Prethoryn stations here but almost all of those are troop transports. Seems they really have a bee in their bonnet. We'll happily slaughter them, but they are headed to other systems also ...




06.17 -- Terraforming finished at Maghama IV. We need a colony ship now.

08.01 -- Frontier Outpost complete in Nekkar. There's some of everything here, and our construction ships get busy once again.

10.30 -- The wanton slaughter of scores of millions of Prethoryn organic army units is over in Spica. Still don't know what brought that on. They originally split up, but all of them, something like 15 or so groups of transports, eventually converged on that one point and it was truly like shooting fish in a barrel. The skies above Paaltok are filled with smoldering Scourge remnants.

2354.05.24 -- More transports bound for Spica. Apparently the Prethoryn haven't pointlessly sent enough of their military to it's death.

2355.03.02 -- Gene modification finished. Our energy balance shifts from about +2 to +56. Quite the boost there.

With this change, Patriarch Schlurma authorizes a change in how we are conducting the war. The current 'fly-swatting' method of hunting down constructors will be turned over to the new Defender class of corvettes. Armed with three small Plasma Accelerators, these will be deployed in small groups to deal with chasing down any threats in far-flung areas. The captured Queen will focus on handling any established stations, while our main fleet implements a more focused approach to pushing back the Prethoryn Scourge. Clearing resistance from systems where we have planets and obliterating those areas that are infested with the enemy themselves will be their only objectives.

While it's too late for our deceased scientists, the survey captains will head back planetside for assist research tasks at least through the remainder of the war. With all the constructor chaos it's simply too dangerous, and we haven't gotten anything useful from the debris studies in a long time anyway.

Sector Focus will switch back to research as well.

04.01 -- Maghama IV colony established.

04.02 -- Droids research finished. Engineering moves on to Advanced Mineral Processing.

12.05 -- Communique from the QSC: "Let us end this charade". They have declared us a rival again. If they are bound to determined to have us prioritize them as an enemy in the future, they're doing a good job.

2356.01.20 -- This we've not seen in some time ... in the upper regions of the Ibannic Nebula, we've recorded previously unkown alien communications. This contact has been designated 'Epsilon' for the moment. The usual protocol, unused for nearly a century, is followed and the Society Dept. works on decoding these transmissions.

02.07 -- We've regained control of the contested system of Yssom, where the Prethoryn had a moon in orbit of one our planets, a perverse situation that lasted decades. Onward.

02.29 -- Pressing on further, we reach Rantor where we find something else not seen for quite a while.




The Prethoryn have a small Star Brood(one queen only) here. Looks like they are trying to rebuild a bit. Time for some more smashing.

03.02 -- Hyper Shields research finished. Before we get to the next set of options, here's the latest zoomed-out overview of the war's progress:




As can be seen, we've pushed them back considerably but the Prethoryn still hold a lot of territory. We estimate 12-15 systems where they have an infested planet or moon of some kind, and many more with stations that will eventually need to be cleaned up. And that's not counting what inroads they might have made into other territory ... we have reports that they have even eaten a bit into our advanced neighbors, the Buhavilaa Ascendancy. Of course we must reclaim what they took from us first before worrying about such things. Many who are alive today will not see the end of this struggle ...

[Brian Swartz]

This may be a good time to point out that we have basically reached pre-war levels of research output, and are at least as good in other aspects of the economy. We'll push forward beyond that of course, and obviously are rivals have not been sitting around while we saved the galaxy from extermination, receiving no thanks and very little help.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.

I've decided that Tarcisius speaks the truth; he's found a way to make you immortal. There is no other rational explanation.

** Tachyon Lances(Particles, 94 mo.) -- Like the Particle Lance, only with 10% more damage.

** Focusing Arrays(Particles, 48 mo.) -- Improves damage of all energy weapons by 5%.

** Neutron Torpedoes(Particles, 94 mo.) -- Slow moving weapons that ignore shields.

** Phase Disruptors(Particles, 94 mo.) -- Available in all sizes, best dedicated anti-shield weapons system.

We've seen all these before. Dr. JIMGA Jr. must decide which is most worthy of our efforts.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Before I choose ... does the QSC use shields?

[Brian Swartz]

We haven't yet run into any enemy that uses a significant amount of shielding. Of course, everybody's advanced at least some since last we fought them(except the Prethoryn of course), so that info is a little out of date at this point.

Either way, due to sheer numbers we would have little to fear from the QSC if we were able to focus our fleet on them.

[JonInMiddleGA]

hmm ... let's go Focusing Arrays.
Quicker turn around, maybe we get a nice rare in the next pull

[Chesapeake1]

No more science ships for me. Too dangerous. Please put Roe Clark into government, where all good members of the Roe family can live good, long lives.

[Brian Swartz]

Can't really blame you there. Had particularly bad luck, as none of the other scientists got caught -- just your characters twice. That's why we're going back to research assist until we get a better handle on things.

Roe Clark, as of the end of the soon-to-be-posted update, is 52 and governor of the growing Ibannic Sector. He has the Iron Fist(+15% slave mineral and food production) trait. ** skill and about halfway to his next increase. Clark is definitely the 'golden boy' of the empire's administrative aspect, and in 2-3 decades he will probably be very important.

[Brian Swartz]

2356-60

07.21 -- Communications opened with Democratic Yapathi Union. They hate everyone, but the most surprising thing about them is their location ...




In the purple, sandwiched between us and the Buhavilaa. Who they are, and how they got control there is a bit of a mystery.

09.20 -- A series of Prethoryn transports make their way across our territory and into Gwesibor space. We can only hope their eventual targets there are prepared to resist them.

10.02 --




Here are our old 'friends' once again. This relates to our building of droids. It's determined that there is no justification for picking this fight right now; they are still stronger than us(Superior across the board according to the latest reports) and the droids aren't that important to us. They are more efficient at some tasks, and assist in the growth of new colonies ... but nowhere near worth starting a war over.

2357.03.02 -- Advanced Mineral Processing research finished. We'll now be able to improve our mining output. Meanwhile, energy has flipped over into the negatives again. This is mostly due to a happiness hit as a result of us accepting the Buhavilaa's demands. That's temporary, but will last years.

Engineering will now work on finishing up a few obsolete reverse-engineering weapons options. These won't help us immediately, but could lead to further advances in the future.

09.02 -- Engineering switches gears now as the new possibility of Matter Compression presents itself. Fairly lengthy project, but it will allow for all forms of armor to be 5% more effective.

2360.01.02 -- Cell Revitalization II research finished.

04.02 -- Focusing Arrays research completed.

We've taken another half-dozen infested systems over the past few years.




A couple of things jump out as notable here. First of all, we've taken enough space from the Scourge that there are quite a few systems now that are essentially 'empty space' -- that is, they are controlled by no empire. You can also see that we are beginning to move into a couple more 'disputed' systems -- Ovastivum and Haribas here.

However, for the first time we've come upon a habitable planet that for whatever reason the Prethoryn did not spoil. Look closely and note the 'Cknoor' system and the green planet 'icon' there. A medium-sized(16 max) desert-class world is available. This will be very important to us after the war, as it will allow us to spread our borders much further eventually without the need for as many outposts being built.

Almost half of the known Prethoryn systems from just a few years ago have been squashed. The fight over Spica brought them out of the woodwork, largest Star Brood we've seen in a while, several more infestors, etc.

Unfortunately, we've also discovered something else ...





In the chaotic area below and to the right of the Bhenn'Thell's territory, the Prethoryn have established another pocket of control. It was suspected this would happen but this is the first clear evidence we've seen of it. The Imperium could handle this if they chose to I'm sure ... but it is far less certain that they will.

[Brian Swartz]

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.

** Predictive Algorithms(Computing, 81 mo.) -- Second crack at this, which allows for improved point defense(Guardian upgrade to our current Barrier batteries).

**Flash Coolant(Particles, 47 mo.) -- references 'improving the cooling and stability of our weapons systems, keeping them from blowing up the ships on which they are mounted'. Yeah that'd probably be a good thing. These increase the attack speed(i.e., firing rate) of all energy weapons by 5%.

** Satramene Refining(Materials, 22 mo.) -- Another new one here. Reveals the strategic resource of Satramene Gas and unlocks the spaceport module Satramene Atmospheric Dispenser. These improve the population growth rate on the planet by 15%.

** Gamma Lasers(Particles, 93 mo.) -- Next step in our basic laser weaponry past our current X-Rays. They are good, but somewhat inferior to our lances in all respects(less range, damage, and armor penetration).

Dr. JIMGA Jr., you've got a decent variety to choose from here.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Tarcisius

** Doctrine: Reactive Formations(Military Theory, 11 mo.) -- Another 10% increase in naval capacity. The latest numbers are 396 of 746 being used.

** Cloning(Biology, 33 mo.) -- Unlocks the provincial building Clone Vats, used for producing a Clone Army. These are somewhat better than our standard armies, but not as good(or as expensive to maintain) as the more advanced Psionic/Morphogenetic ones we've developed. The requirement for Clone Vats on any planet that wants to recruit them is also significant limitation. This is a 'cheaper' research option in the 'army tech tree' that we never had a shot at and sort of skipped over.

** Massive Glacier Removal(New Worlds, 8 mo.)

** Combat Training(Military Theory, 13 mo.) -- Reduces army upkeep by 10%.

There is also the matter of Genetic Modification. Up next for consideration are the Djomar. At present they constitute 15% of our population(35% Architreuthis). Less than half of our number, but our most populous 'slave race'. They have the following traits:

** Repugnant(reduced happiness for other species living near them)
** Industrious(+15% mining)
** Strong(+20% army damage, +5% mining)
** Tropical World Preference

As with all the others, they presently have 2 Trait Points available. We could spend 1 to remove Repugnant if we wanted(the beneficial ones can't be removed). The options are similar but slightly different for each race. The 1-point modifications are below:

** Natural Engineers(+15% engineering research)
** Natural Physicists(+15% physics research)
** Natural Sociologists(+15% society research)
** Rapid Breeders(+10% population growth)
** Quick Learners(+25% leader experience gains)
** Nomadic(+50% migration speed, -33% resettlement cost)
** Communal(+5% happiness)
** Enduring(+30 years leader lifespan)
** Resilient(+100% Garrison health, +50% fortification bonus)

Or the 2-point options as well:

** Agrarian(+15% food)
** Thrifty(+15% energy)
** Intelligent(+10% research)
** Adaptive(+10% habitability)
** Talented(+1 leader skill)
** Conformists(-20% ethic divergence)


Dr. Tarcisius, you're on the clock as well. Choose what to mod about the Djomar(if anything) and a new research project.

[tarcone]

Get rid of Repugnant and make them Communal

I think happy slaves are better than the alternative. And them being our biggest population, probably a good idea.

And let us stay with our genetic engineering and go with Cloning

May be better for our defense.

[JonInMiddleGA]

selfish me wants to go with the shortest option, so that I can live to pick again.

But the responsible scientist says we have to go Predictive Algorithms.

[Brian Swartz]

Heads-up: this update is taking longer than most of the recent ones. Work reared it's ugly head IRL, I've got another project requiring some time, but also the war has taken an unexpected turn. Seems the invaders are not quite out of tricks yet.

Also gives me an opportunity for a semi-cruel cliffhanger, and I'm pretty much always down for that.

[Brian Swartz]

2360-63
05.06 -- The Bhenn'Thell Imperium has declared us to be rivals. This could be a prelude to another war, and definitely is a situation to watch. Patriarch Schlurma declines to rival them back only because we have no need of influence at the present time, so there's really no upside to it.

08.?? -- The Prethoryn have hit upon a new strategy: counter-attack. They have sent their Star Broods to systems like Yssom and Ovastivum in the outer arm, hoping to dissuade our scorched-earth campaign through their systems without confronting our impregnable fleet directly. The worst they can do though is to knock out a couple spaceports. That's bad, but not bad enough to divert us from knocking their legs out from under them.

2361.01.04 -- A whole bunch of transports are now incoming to Ovastivum. This is a more serious threat, and the fleet will return there as soon as possible ... which may not be soon enough.

04.16 -- One group of transports defeated, but the other two land and easily take control of Ovastivum.

06.04 -- A smaller attack on Whoo'tar(Yssom system) is defeated.

07.06 -- We've destroyed all planetary fortifications of Ovastivum, but the purging of the local Shantari population continues. Meanwhile, another Star Brood has pushed across the galactic arm again into Pesch.



Gotta hand it to the Prethoryn Scourge; they've effectively forced us to change tacks here, at least temporarily. It was a mistake to think we could just push forward and allow their Star Broods to wander. Previously, they have always responded to our attacks on their territory, allowing us to quite accurately predict and control the location of our engagements. It was a simple matter to crush them and move on. Now that they are the ones resorting to attacking points of weakness and ignoring our rampage, we must deal with that threat ... and in so doing weaken our campaign of eliminating their strongholds. Clearly we've been outmaneuvered here.

** Ovastivum is the first problem. I don't think there's any way we can stop them from eliminating the population there, but as long as we have ships in orbit to bombard them, we can prevent corruption of the ecosystem; i.e., it doesn't have to become a barren wasteland, and we can repopulate it later. Not good, but not a total loss like so many worlds have been.

** A token force, about 10% of the fleet will stay here to handle bombardment duty. The rest will head to deal with the meddlesome Star Brood that crossed the arm, and any others we might see elsewhere. Periodic 'cleansings' of any enemy ships spotted in neutral or friendly territory shall be the standing orders going forward. Unfortunately, we have to go the long way around, and there's no other force that can take on even a small Star Brood on it's own: the queen and our corvettes would be quickly wiped out in any such encounter.

** Waiting until after the war to rebuild our assault army force was clearly a mistake, one that did not forsee this type of circumstance. In the long run we want such situations to be dealt with by advanced Psionic/Xenomorph armies. They each take a year to recruit however; standard assault armies, just three months each. The increased strength makes it worth the wait though.
A crash program is commenced to get an elite assault corps up and running. The goal is to get 50 of them, 2/3rds Xenomorph and 1/3rds Psionic. That may seem like a lot, but in order to deploy sufficient numbers to multiple hotspots at once, it's necessary. These will be traind up and recruited at any planet in the empire where our stronger slave races can be found: Djomar, Kroll, and Shantari are the most physically capable and best for this kind of shock-troop role. 28 planets were found in this category: that means we can build, and later rebuild as many times as necessary, a sufficient force in two years. That's not bad.

** The rest of the fleet heads immediately to chase down the Star Brood in Pesch and any others that might be encountered. Of course we have to take the long way around, unable to travel directly across the space between the galactic arms, so they might cause considerable havoc before we get there.

10.02 -- Matter Compression research finished, improving our armor slightly.

10.09 -- The offending Star Brood has left our space, heading to somewhere further inwards in the galactic core it appears. That's both good and bad -- it only took out a couple of orbital stations, but we'll have to deal with it eventually. Regardless, with no Prethoryn fleets in scanner range, we can return to our regularly scheduled rampage for the moment.

2362.01.02 -- Djomar genetic modification finished. Meanwhile, after finishing the elimination of our shantari populations on Ovastivum, the Prethoryn armies embarked and tried to leave. They didn't get far, cut down by the few ships remaining in orbit. Our infrastructure on the surface is still intact, but we'll need to recolonize the planet at some point. Impact on the subterranean civilization is unknown.

07.07 -- The first round of armies are finished. We have no immediate use for them, but will attempt to gather in a central location. Energy has been fluctuating wildly, but is now back in the negatives so we'll hold off on another round of recruitment for now.

11.16 -- The Assembly of Vun-Okon Dominions is at war with the Qravadox Star Consensus. Maybe they'll do our job for us.

2363.01.21 -- A second medium Star Brood in about a year is eliminated, and another small ground invasion of Whoo'tar fails as well.

08.02 -- Cloning Research finished.

09.02 -- Gov. Roe Clark has improved to *** ability.

Overview

Energy continues to be a concern. We're holding steady at about -10 per month. Reserves are at 1750 and slowly dropping. That's sustainable for now, giving us about 15 years worth, but we'd like to get it going the other direction. We've managed to adjust to the new strategy by the Prethoryn. They are still losing territory, but it's much more slowly now due to the need to chase down their Star Broods from time to time. Still about five more systems to clean out before their footholds in our territory are eliminated. The Bhenn'Thell have been providing some assistance, probably because they are the only empire strong enough to dare to.

[Brian Swartz]

Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Tarcisius

** Gene Banks(Biology, 58 mo.) -- Unlocks the Clone Commandos attachment, increasing army damage by 25%. This is a RARE technology.

** Gene Seed Purification(Biology, 58 mo.) -- Unlocks the Gene Warrior Army. These are genetically-enchanced supersoldiers, and are significantly better even than our terrifying Xenomorph armies. This is also a RARE technology.

** Synthetic Thought Patterns(Statecraft, 40 mo.) -- -15% Edicts cost, -10% Resettlement cost. A third RARE technology, which is rather astounding.

** Xenology(Biology, 10 mo.) -- Unlocks the dubious strategic resource Alien Pets.

Then there is our next step, if desired, in Genetic Modification. Architreuthis(35%) and Djomar(15%) have already been completed. The Shantari(10% population) are next. An Avian race, they were first ones we subdued by infiltration and coopting their government before they could reach space-age tech and become a threat. They prefer Arid environments, and have often been chosen to settle dry-climate worlds, increasing their numbers from a single planet initially around a century ago.

Current Traits --

** Quick Learners(+25% leader xp gain)
** Strong(+20% Army Damage, +5% Mining)

1-Point Options:

** Natural Engineers(+15% Engineering research)
** Natural Physicists(+15% Physics research)
** Natural Sociologists(+15% Society research)
** Rapid Breeders(+10% Population growth)
** Nomadic(+50% migration speed, -33% resettlement cost)
** Communal(+5% happiness)
** Charismatic(+1% happiness to other species living nearby)
** Enduring(+30 leader lifespan)
** Resilient(+100% Garrison health, +50% fortification defenses)

2-Point Options:

** Agrarian(+15% population growth)
** Thrifty(+15% energy)
** Industrious(+15% mining)
** Intelligent(+10% research)
** Adaptive(+10% habitability)
** Talented(+1 leader skill)
** Conformists(-20% ethic divergence)

Dr. Tarcisius, you are now on the clock. Three rares to choose from, and also whether or not to continue down the genemod path.

[tarcone]

Gene Banks For the next Generation.

If I have 2 points. Make them Industrious

Try to up the production of minerals.

[Brian Swartz]

Yeah, 2 points for all races FYI.

2364-66

12.11 -- After a close-range engagement with a large Star Brood, the fleet actually took some rare losses with a pair of cruisers destroyed, and some time will need to be taken for repairs as well. We'd been hoping to save a primitive civilization being purged by the Prethoryn, but this delay will make that impossible.

2365.06.11 -- Got a chance to see the Bhenn'Thell fleet in action against a Star Hive. It seems that they have effective anti-strike craft weapons, but don't have our lances so they took more casualties than we would have. Feeling a little better about our prospects against them.

08.06 -- At 160 years old, Patriarch Schlurma sleeps with his ancestors. Once again the choice of successors is very one-sided. Pablasch, long-time Governor of Bakangi, is the only highly-qualified candidate. He is at age 120, so he still has some time left. Pablasch is known as a Fertility Preacher(increasing population growth by 10%) and Charismatic(Edict Duration increased by 25%, cost decreased by 20%). His agenda is to make a Scientific Leap(10% increase in research speed). Economically however he lacks the skills of his predecessors, and energy supplies dwindle to a defict of over 30 per month. That's not a sustainable situation by any stretch. He also reassigns Gov. Roe Clark from the post in the Ibannic Sector to our newest planet, Maghama II.

12.09 -- QSC has ended their rivalry, stating 'Will you not cease your mean-spirited campaigining?'. Pot.Kettle.Black. This is good however in that I think it will allow us to travel through their territory when we need to.

2366.01.01 -- We've now eliminated all Prethoryn planets from our territory in the outer arm. The fleet will push upwards to finish off a couple more, and then we'll be in position to start clearing out the many stations they have which still prevent rebuilding operations.




You can also see here that the Prethoryn have been pushed out of the area in the galactic core that they had claimed. They might be late to the party, but other empires are taking care of some of them.

11.14 -- Another Star Brood defeated at close range, but at greater cost. All five remaining cruisers, and for the first time one of our Laren battleships were lost. However, this appears to be nearly the final flailings of the Scourge. As far as we known, they only hold two more systems, both at the end of the outer arm. Meanwhile, our period of 'humiliation' at the hands of the meddlesome Buhavilaa Ascendancy has ended, and the economy returns to normal with a sizable energy surplus. It's about time.

12.02 -- Predictive Algorithms research finished.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. JIMGA Jr.

** Tachyon Sensors(Voidcraft, 51 mo.) -- Another 5% survey speed, 2% weapon accuracy, and small increase in sensor range for this.

** Phase Disruptors(Particles, 86 mo.) -- Anti-shield weapon system that comes in all sizes.

** Tachyon Lances(Particles, 86 mo.) -- Upgrade to our current Particle Lances.

** Assembly Algorithms(Computing, 61 mo.) -- 5% increase in construction speed.

Dr. JIMGA Jr., you have outlived yet another Patriarch. Go figure. And pick something, so we can finish kicking the Scourge out of the Stellaris Galaxy.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Do we need the construction boost to aid with rebuilding?

[Brian Swartz]

Not really. I mean it would help -- it speeds up everything we build -- but 5% is less than a month faster even on stuff that takes a year. Not enough to make a big difference.

[JonInMiddleGA]

In that case ... Tachyon Lances it is.

Hopefully we can find more dilithium crystals

[Brian Swartz]

2366-70

2367.07.20 -- Here's what greets us as we breach the Assaniz system. To the best of my knowledge, this is the last place in the galaxy where the Scourge controls a planet.




All manner of infestors, stations, a few armies, and a small Star Brood. Let's get to work here.

2368.01.01 -- Isn't this lovely. As we close in on Assaniz, having thinned out most of the defenses, a bunch more ships spawn. Some constructors, but also three small Star Broods. They now outnumber us ... but we've been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Power up the Particle Lances again ...




03.02 -- Engineering's latest project figures to be of particularly good use against any enemy featuring strike craft. Large-scale Flak Batteries are in effect, using massive shrapnel explosions against enemies of any size.

06.01 -- All resistance in Assaniz has been pacified: we need only to cleanse the planet. Two battleships were lost, and a number of others badly damaged.

07.02 -- Dr. Tarcisius has reached the ***** max.

08.01 -- It's finally over, or at least this stage. Assaniz is cleansed. There is no such thing as Prethoryn space in the galaxy, anywhere that we know of. Observations of our queen note nothing unusual. All of their Star Hives have ... well, died I guess is the correct word. They no longer exist.

It's time for an Outer Rim Redevelopment Plan.




There are four systems which have worlds we can develop here. From top to bottom, Tadasca, Edasich, Ovastivum of course, and Cknoor. All are dry-climate worlds, so we'll use our 'helpers' the Shantari for this. A couple of the target planets are even quite large(size 24). Once we have fairly well-developed planets in these systems, something that will take probably at least a couple decades, we may want to put up an couple outposts to cover the gaps. We will be able to extend our borders considerably with just the new colonies though.

Of course, much has been lost which will never be recovered, but the great threat to the galaxy has been purged. The Prethoryn Scourge appear to be defeated.

In addition to the colonization efforts, the fleet returns to Gabbog for long-awaited refitting and upgrades. There are new spaceports and orbital stations to build and armies to be recruited. Defender-class corvettes are to be sent to many places along the border in order to provide sensor coverage of any possible approach of new threats or signs of the Scourge. And as for our captured Queen? She is a reminder of the vile creatures she was spawned from, obsolete and potentially a threat. She and her 'herd' were ... eliminated.

The peace has been won, but it will be many years until true stability returns to the Oncorhynchus Collective.

2369.02.30 -- The fleet refit begins. This is mostly a defensive system upgrade for the Laren. It's finally time to retire the crystal-forged plating, along with the old shields and durastell armor. Neutronium armoring based on the exoskeletal structure of the Prethoryn is used, along with the new Hyper Shields and Capacitors, multiple generations better than what was used before, are outfitted. Shielding is now the primary defensive system.

The Corperial-class battleship and SirFozzie cruisers also get the new Guardian point-defense batteries. Everything stays according to the same design parameters and philosophy. No need to reinvent the wheel unless something shows up that prompts an 'adjustment'

The refit process is expected to take the better part of two years.

04.03 -- With the fleet back in port, our energy surplus is truly ridiculous: 150 per month!! At that rate we will max out our reserve in about a year and a half from now. No way we can use it all, but it's definitely the time to get the assault army corps up to the desired levels, expand the fleet, etc. The mineral surplus is nearly 500 a month, and will easily be used up for a while here.

06.07 -- The Bhenn'Thell Imperium is starting to rattle the saber again ...




2370.06.02 -- Gene Banks research finished.

Energy surplus is down to 'only' just over a hundred per month(3k/5k reserve), and most of the Army's buildup has finished. We're in the process of colonizing two of the outer rim worlds, with two more colony ships scheduled to be finished in a couple months to settle the others. Meanwhile, our new core planet on Maghama II is progressing well. Qravadox and Kroll immigrants have boosted growth, and construction on the planetary capital will soon begin. Station contruction in the outer arm continues, but is slow-going. Definitely a long-term project.

Eventually we'll have to do something about our 'less friendly' neighbors, but that's premature while there are so many internal matters to attend to.


Research Director's Briefing: Dr. Tarcisius

** Talent Acquisition(Statecraft, 38 mo.) -- 5% reduction in the influence cost of recruiting new leaders. We've got plenty of influence for the time being, but this is the biggest thing we use it for(maintaining outposts and colonization also are a significant cost)

** Tropical Colonization(New Worlds, 17 mo.)

** Massive Glacier Removal(New Worlds, 7 mo.)

** Hostile Enivronment Adaption(New Worlds, 34 mo.) -- Increases habitability by 5%.

There are three more races worth considering for Genetic Modification. My arbitrary line for that is 5% of total population or more. The Thek'Qlak are next at 8%. They are another Arid race, and at present not a particularly useful one. Enduring(+30 leader lifespan) and Slow Learners(-25% leader xp gains). Since we don't allow alien leaders, those are irrelevant. They are another dry-habitat species, preferring Arid climates.

For reasons unknown to me(perhaps because their default traits suck?) they have four points available. If you want a slave race for some special purpose, this would seem to be the time to do that.

I should point out here that we can change their climate preference if we want to anything we feel like(no point cost for that, just takes more research/time). Native Architreuthis are ocean-favoring, as are the Kroll; Shantari are another Arid race, Djomar prefer Tropical, Qravadox Tundra. Continental, Desert, and Arctic are not covered. Given our ability to terraform this is of limited importance, but it's doable if so desired and could save us the cost of terraforming. Having two Arid species is basically redundant in terms of colonizing.

1-Point Modifications:

** Natural Engineers(+15% engineering research)
** Natural Physicists(+15% physics research)
** Natural Sociologists(+15% society research)
** Rapid Breeders(+10% pop. growth)
** Strong(+20% Army Damage, +5% Mining)
** Nomadic(+50% Migration speed, -33% resettlement cost)
** Communal(+5% happiness)
** Charismatic(+1% neighboring species happiness)
** Resilient(+100% Garrison Health, +50% fortification bonus)

2-Point Modifications:

** Agrarian(+15% population growth)
** Thrifty(+15% energy)
** Industrious(+15% mining)
** Intelligent(+10% research)
** Adaptive(+10% habitability)
** Talented(+1 leader skill)
** Conformists(-20% Ethics divergence)

3-point Modifications

** Very Strong(+40% Army damage, +10% mining)

4-Point Modifications

** Extremely Adaptive(+20% habitability)

Somewhat longer list here because they are more of a 'blank slate', so to speak.


Dr. Tarcisius, you're up next. You know the drill.

[tarcone]

Talent Acquisition Just for future purposes. There is a time when we will need lots of influence.

Thek'Qlak need to be Continental dwelling. Change them from Arid to Continental.

Thrifty and Industrious These guys are our Orcs. Put them to work in the mines.

[Brian Swartz]

2370-73

2370.12.01 -- Fleet upgrade finished.

2372.01.01 -- It's been a quiet year. Ovastivum, the last of our four outer-arm colonies, is now up and running. We're nearing the point of optimal balance economically.

10.01 --




10.21 -- Gov. Roe Clark is improving quickly, up to **** skill.

11.03 -- The Confederation of Ir-Vol-Ta has declared the Bhenn'Thell Imperium as a rival. This is major news, as they are our two strongest competitors for galactic dominance.

2373.01.07 -- Studies completed.




05.02 -- We've now hit our energy cap. I was going to wait a bit longer, but what the heck. It is now time to take action.


General Briefing: Post-Prethoryn Situation

We have now achieved stability, more or less. There is some work to be done. Here's our latest galactic map:




In the outer arm, we'll need one or two more frontier outposts eventually to reclaim all of the lost territory. Most of the orbital station-building work is done, but some still remains. Nonetheless, the new colonies are all up and running as mentioned. Almost all of our spaceports elsewhere are at maximum capacity, and the army is upgraded with new elite elements.

The question then remains what to do now. In galactic terms there are pretty much four great powers right now. Nobody else is really a threat, unless they were to strike while we are engaged elsewhere or something.

** Oncorhynchus Collective(53 planets, 760 population)

** Buhavilaa Ascendancy(5, 125) -- The greenish territory at the top and right of the map. Small, but advanced. They are still considered Overwhelming overall, with Superior rating in Technology and Fleet Power. Naval Capacity is roughly Equivalent. We are slowly approaching the point where we can safely ignore their 'dictates'.

** Bhenn'Thell Imperium(55, 752) -- They basically own the core on our side of the galaxy. The Prethoryn war allowed them to equal us in terms of size pretty much, although they were also the only other empire to help in any significant fashion -- well after we'd turned the tide, it must be said. They are rated as Superior overall due to their edge in technology, Equivalent in Fleet Power and Naval Capacity. They have two small vassals, having integrated a couple of others already, which add another 11 worlds to their dominions, and are currently at war with the shrinking Beldross Empire in the upper middle of the galaxy. They also recently rivaled us some while ago, making clear their intentions.

** Confederation of Ir-Vol-Ta(46, 626) -- These we haven't had any direct contact with, but they are the dominant power on the opposite side of the galaxy. They like having rivals apparently; the Bhenn'Thell are only the most recent of six that they hold, no remaining vassals or wars though. They are overall considered Equivalent; Inferior in fleet power but pretty equal otherwhise.

There are a number of other empires in the 25-30 planets range; not small enough to be completely ignored, but not strong enough to challenge us either. Long-term, it still looks like it's going to eventually come down to us versus the Bhenn'Thell. You never know what surprises the galaxy will throw our way, but the main thrust of our concerns is how best to deal with the Imperium's growing expansionism.




Here's our border with them. The upper part of this used to be controlled by the Polity of Oxx-Oxx, the lower part by the Gwesibor Regime. Now it's mostly Imperium territory. We've got a number of options here, but let's look at our internal specifics a bit first.

** Energy -- We're at the 5k max with a surplus of just over 50 a month. Any large-scale fleet operation would be expected to cost at least that much, more like 60 if we mobilized everything, so the fleet isn't going to get much bigger right now. That will allow for a minimal deficit in any time of war. Total monthly income is now 670. 26% goes to the navy, 14% to the expanded army, 19% to orbital stations, 27% to provincial buildings, and 5% to spaceport operations. The remaining 9% is our surplus.

** Minerals -- Similar income here, 642/month. 27% goes to ship maintenance, leaving a surplus of about 470 which is far more than we need most of the time.

** Research -- Before the Prethoryn came, we were at a little over 420/mo. in each category. Now we're around 500, so we've well more than recovered here. 488 in Physics, 505 in Society, 496 in Engineering, and gradually increasing. Additionally, Patriarch Pablasch's focus on science increases the speed of advancement by 10%.


Policy Options

Ok, now let's decide how to proceed.

** Patience & Internal Development -- We have a number of medium-sized worlds that we could colonize, and by keeping the fleet in port we could afford to enlarge it somewhat, waiting for the right time to strike. Under this approach we would not go to war to enlarge our territory, but wait for the Bhenn'Thell to get in the wrong war(probably with the Ir-Vol-Ta) and then stab them in the back. Failing that, we'd continue to peacefully work on research and colonization efforts, rather than taking on more territory. This also has the advantadge of avoiding the 10% happiness penalty(and minor, but noticeable production decrease that goes with it) that we suffer due to the people's unhappiness with offensive wars. Patriarch Pablasch leans in this direction due to his scientific focus, but is open to other ideas. It's clear we can't ignore the Bhenn'Thell forever.

** First Strike -- Don't bother beating around the bush: strike the Imperium now. We'd only be able to take a small chunk of their territory in any war(and vice versa), but things will likely get much easier once the first conflict is decided. It's clear that Boojie intends for us to use naval might to subdue the galaxy.

** Restriction -- We'd generally head 'left', or inwards, in this approach. The goal would be to acquire territory along the Bhenn'Thell's borders, giving them less room to expand. An indirect war, so to speak. Force them to go the other way ... where the Ir-Vol-Ta are waiting.

** Clean Up the Riffraff -- Another option would be to gradually expand with our own development in mind. The Democratic Yapathi Union(purple near the Buhavilaa at the top), Scyldari/Qravadox(lower outer arm, with the benefit of securing the second transit between the arms which is still in QSC space) and Anathurian Alliance of Domains(purple lower down, further expansion in the middle arm) would be the targets here. Essentially the goal would be to counter the Imperium's expansionism with some of our own -- just do it better than they are, and overwhelm the galaxy with sheer numbers.


So, leadership of the Collective, you are now all on the clock. How will you advise Pablasch to proceed(feel free to make up your own option/ask questions/etc. as always)?

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'd probably advise waiting on major fleet activity until the new Tachyon lances are ready & can be fitted to the fleet appropriately. No sense running off into battle just before our latest & greatest is ready.

Not sure that represents a major delay in strategy decisions, but felt like it should at least be noted as a consideration in the nearer term.

Beyond that, I lean toward some combination of Restriction & Cleaning Up Riff-Raff options. Let's see if the Bhenn'Thell make a mistake (with whatever help our movements provide toward that end), while gaining some territory & strength in that time.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'd probably advise waiting on major fleet activity until the new Tachyon lances are ready & can be fitted to the fleet appropriately. No sense running off into battle just before our latest & greatest is ready.

Not sure that represents a major delay in strategy decisions, but felt like it should at least be noted as a consideration in the nearer term.

Beyond that, I lean toward some combination of Restriction & Cleaning Up Riff-Raff options. Let's see if the Bhenn'Thell make a mistake (with whatever help our movements provide toward that end), while gaining some territory & strength in that time.

I agree with this.