Update 6: Rooooooooooooooooocket Ship!
Stillness(tradition) || Change? Duality Error!/Counterpoint-[Burning tree image], remaining ourselves [inward looking eye image] for a day > deathChange/Totality Error![Image of tapestry being torn]
-Internal Transcript, 'Al Primary Oracular Matrix UC 18741135700s
In circum-Errai space it was a year without much action, as all three factions felt they had overplayed their hands in the previous year, and desperately scrambled to rebuild. The Akresians of course had the additional problem of creating an industrial base and feeding their population all whilst fearing attack from the sky. Their earlier yearly protection stipend paid to the Ik seemed to have been abandoned without comment, something that Rasheeds political enemies made tremendous usage of in the Ik debating chambers he had begun an interplanetary war and diverted vast resources to the fleet seemingly without benefit to the republic. Instead the Akresians began mining operations around their old habitat (the one they built themselves) in the northern regions of Errai VIIIb. As the population grew many Akresians migrated back to this early habitat, preferring its spartan simplicity to the old 'Al habitats where they kept hitting their heads on door frames. In addition the winding geometric depths of the 'Al spaces, with their warm mists, strange echoes and lights, and upright corpses of the drones who died where they were standing was
really frigging creepy, even for hardened soldiers like the Akresians. In any case all this economic growth was constrained by the available food and living room, and population growth this year saw all available habitation occupied and the food supply actually exceeded by the hungry regiments of the Admiralty. They also designed an incredibly simple defensive platform that was barely more than a bundle of laser chambers. This crude design was actually a clever choice in a system dominated by IP fighters and the lightly armoured Ik ships its barrage of beams would do significant damage before it could be destroyed and its cheapness would let them fill the skies with it. As for the Ik, the dismal performance of the Abu-class at its designated task of protecting the Akresian mothership caused a revaluation of their military strategy. Defenders of the Abu pointed out that sending it out alone was obviously foolish, and a pair or more would have easily dealt with twice the number of simple IP fighters, but their opponents had the support of Rasheed and his military-industrial complex, and two slight variations on a much larger and more powerful ship that would totally dominate Errai space and beyond[1]. Inexplicably the even more militant faction of the Ik political spectrum gain considerably in the senate, despite the ruling faction devoting the majority of planetary resources to martial pursuits and strong interplanetary policy against a faction the majority of the population do not really see as a threat [2]. Perhaps to combat this fraying of influence the Prime Chancellor concentrations control and production in the capital city on Taik, setting up a new Weapons Research centre (vaingloriously named after himself) and encouraging migration to the city away from the orbiting habitats and smaller villages, the respective political bases of the Al'Hassan and Farheth parties, cleverly eroding their support base with the taxes his opponents have to pay. A flight of IP fighters accompanied the newly repaired sloop to Errai VI, an odd decision
considering the three dimensional nature of space, as the 'Al could easily evade that world if they wished to strike Taik. Perhaps it was a deliberate ploy to encourage the 'Al to engage in uninhibited space to minimise collateral damage, or that they had some trick waiting in orbit around Taik. In either case they stayed there for most of the year upon detecting significant ship construction around the 'Al homeworld, only working out much later that the new ships were not of a military design.
The 'Al on the other hand have been consumed with furiously silent debate this year. They see no way to continue their culture in Errai system, with both the Ik and Akresian governments designated as untruth tellers and thus permanently forbidden from polluting the collective song with their sinful communication. They still watched their foes though and knew the Ik and the Akresians were gearing up for what could only be a final war of extermination against them, the greedy Ik obviously coveting their planet as they swished their battlefleet about the system, a war fighting capability the 'Al would not be able to match. It was thus decided by the oracular matrix that the best course of action was to flee the system with copies of 'Al genotypes and memotypes and establish an existence elsewhere, whilst the rump of the collective would go down fighting rather than letting the sinful enter their holy spaces. To the former end a few tense but productive communications were held with the Lantians (who had not
yet been shown to be untruth tellers) by tightbeam, and one of the 'Al's precious Ansibyl Pearls was loaded onto the Probe before it departed, obviously in payment for services rendered or to be rendered. The Pearl leaving the system was detected by both the Akresians and the Ik, and rather soured their opinions on the Lantians for conducting trade with their hated foe. Meanwhile back on Errai VII the 'Al quickly designed and constructed two ships of an extremely long range scout design (that the Ik mistook for Abu-class equivalent warships), needing only a single more to engage their Charm drives and leave the system. Meanwhile the victorious fighter returned from the corpse of the Lone Wolf and was repaired in the 'Al shipyards, as the rest of the 'Al collective was consumed with some strange activity.
On Gemstar I the Lantians seem animated by the discovery of other survivors of the Tumult, though wizened elders asserted it was only a matter of time, and transform their political society from the dreaming utopian community it had been before to a more dynamic and flexible state, even if the Learned Council and their millennia of accumulated lore remained the heart of the system. The people are generally pleased with their new government, though wonder at the uselessness of the Majestic House of Delegates geographic apportionment system when 60% or more of the population crowds into the warrens of the capital. The new Senate concludes a productive series of agreements with both the Ik and the 'Al, preferring to ignore the abhorrent Akresians by treating them as Ik clients. With these possible new competitors the Lantian plans to expand to a better system are kicked up a notch with additional mining habitats and the near completion of their Hauxi prototype. Luckily on an airless world industrial pollution is pretty much irrelevant, but some scholars warn that the rare earth atom concentrations might not be as limitless as first though, and at this rate the golden dunes might be mined through in only a handful of decades. They now controlled every inch of the dusty orb of Gemstar I, and any further expansion would have to be vertical rather than horizontal, perhaps reason why they began work on a construction research centre in the capital.
The Esani decide to give their citizens space to reach their fullest potential as freely interacting actors, and upgrade their most overcrowded habitat to Gamma status, building acre after acre of spacious habitation modules under the thin grey sky. They also build a university in this new space, as properly managed education is the only way an individual can raise themselves above the beasts.
For a four hundred metre lump of metal, girders, laser cavities, and frankly rickety reactors, that ol' platform meant a heck of a lot to a heck of a lot
-Jeffrey 'the Butcher' Ghandiram, Shadow Lord, in a discussion with his chief lieutenants.
With a magnificent flash of light a nameless Soulon fighter impacted the Gardener laser array with relative speeds of thousands of miles an hour. This symbolic act more than anything else seemed to shift the perceptions of the factions of the Kaus system. The Gardeners had had their previously impervious overhead protection (no matter that they had been designing strictly superior warships for some years now) torn away, and the Soulon had finally beaten that metal demon that had denied them succour after the destruction the trade station all those decades ago. The Soulon realised that now they had the system and they had the time - they might just be victorious without the desperate suicide tactics drawn up last year. The remaining IP fighters in orbit of Kaus II thus quietly stole away, even if there had been remaining Gardener forces willing to chase it was unlikely they could have tracked them against the rubble, chaff and screamers the fighters left in their wake. Meanwhile the
Ravana charged back to the Gardener homeworld that suddenly felt so bare against the night, to be joined by her newly constructed sister ship the
Vibhishana later in the year.
The newly fearful bureaucracy of the Gardeners swelled the Kaus II datasphere and noosphere with entertainment and propaganda to bind the populace together, as newly conscripted army divisions spread to every corner of the world to watch the skies for Soulon landings. The new spirit of unified and aggressive sentiment would brook no person to isolate themselves and the independent habitat was brought down from within and without by volunteer forces without the Metatron having to order any bringing to heel hard eyed refugees from Kaus III taking up arms and marching off in defence of the world. The now tightly webbed society was given additional breathing room to sort themselves out by the lack of Soulon action, and now looked outwards to reclaim the rest of the system. The massive disparity in industrial production might prove something of a hurdle though.
The Soulon on the other hand were exulting in their victory, and decided to turn this year of Gardener retrenchment into an opportunity to do the domestic development they had previously missed out on. Mines sprung up all over the outer worlds, and the departure of the
Ravana from Kaus III allowed the volatiles shipments to resume once again. Farms proliferated over Kaus III and the Soulon had a food surplus for the first time in a while, and the habitats resounded with the patter of tiny feet as people celebrated the way they had celebrated the end of wars for time immemorial. However it wasn't all upside with no down in the Soulon league; the spread of their habitats over a host of worlds was taking considerable intellectual effort to tie it altogether, the common people were beginning to wonder when a somewhat more representative government might be put in place. Perhaps worst of all the few Gardeners on Kaus III, whose love for the planet had seen them stay on as amusements to the new Soulon colonists, were now warning that the rampant crude farming and atmosphere mining on Kaus III was going to cause the fragile biosphere to implode. The Soulon didn't have the ecological nous to know if this was likely or the ravings of some treehuggers, so decided to continue on as before for now.
In Zavi space the Vazan falter in the face of Kation spamming over the outer worlds. The recent development of basic weapons had allowed the Vazan to develop that feared destroyer of productivity laser tag! With little done except basic tasks whilst all the decision makers were off playing around, vast amounts of post-processed materials accumulate for use once they come to their senses. Meanwhile the Kations continue to lock up world after world in the outer system, none remotely comparable in value to the vast metals mine of Zavi II, but still moderately valuable for the development of industrial systems. With little threat from the Vazans the Kations take the time to consider that most important of subjects, themselves. Political discussion regarding the future rocks from world to world, as the blogs are filled with analysis of recently untapped historical data from the Kations wrecks on Zavi VIa.
Random Events
-Mehmed Amir; businessman, racketeer, blackmailer, and owner of the finest moustache in the known galaxy has disappeared from Taik after breaking into the government databanks and copying the now expired Ik scout probes exploration data (among other things). Who provided him with the capability to crack the Ik encryption, why he did it, and where he is hiding remains a mystery.
-The Kations find a left over advanced datacore in the ice of Zavi VIa: +2 s towards computation.
Karmically blessed societies
-Fastest Orders turnaround yet received: Akresians +1 lucky roll.
-Cunning deals please Loki: Lantians +1 lucky roll
Random Stats
Number of updates Dis forgot to make random stats: 2/7
Notes:
[1]Kentharu, your new ship designs were not going to be IS capable despite that seeming to be your intent, therefore I altered them (they're now pricer, but that'll drop once your Construction is increased).
[2]seriously Kentharu, eh? Shouldn't the Rasheed be taking seats from the AlHassan after nicking their political platform like they did last year. Also the 'Al really don't appear particularly aggressive to your voters, if only in comparison to the rapidly militarising Akresians.
[2]matt0088 your spending on reproduction was going to do nothing, and thus was stored, Soulon growth this turn was the luck of the RNG.
[3]I realised I'd coded research centres slightly wrongly, they now show the correct amounts.
[4]Kentharu, your Comp RC was actually reading from the wrong cell and producing somewhat more s than it should havr, now adjusted.