Challenge Moo1: The Bugs of Life

Opening:
Hmm. A severe corner start in a small galaxy, with Humans, Psilons, and Expandicoids. Should be interesting. To begin, I ... scrap my colony ship!
Just kidding.
I follow the obvious opening, Colship to the nearest star (Minimal 40 Phyco), scouts to the only other stars in range (Inferno 25 Rana and Poor Jungle 85 Zoctan), and first contact is with the Psilons (uh-oh) at Rana (eek) in 2506. The good news is that this means Mentar must be the yellow star in the west, which is as isolated as Kholdan, especially if the other yellow just southeast of them is another AI's homeworld. I start research early, opening Propulsion in 2305 and Planetology in 2307, since we obviously need advanced range and/or controlled environment tech to do any kind of expanding. We choose Hydrogen (range 4) over Deuterium (range 5) and Terraforming +10 over Improved Eco (to climb the tree faster, but Sargon's recommended opening - Improved Eco first and quickly - might be better in general, and would probably have been better here). We chase a Human scout at Zoctan in 2309, and judge from the ship's departure direction that Sol must be the yellow at the center of the map. Um. I'm getting a bad feeling about this game.
Soon thereafter, I build a Newscout, since Range 4 will open another star when it hits; in 2312, I also start building LSentry 1.0s and 1.1s, medium ships with extended tanks and 2 lasers apiece, and sending them to Zoctan. I built two stacks of identical ships (ten total ships, with the last sent in 2319) in hopes of confusing enemy fleets so as to burn colony ships if necessary. I tend to be profligate with my ship designs, redesigning and scrapping with abandon, perhaps because I've spent so long playing MoO2 (which allows any number of designs to coexist), or perhaps just because I like using the ship design screen. I'll never know if the LSentries were an unnecessary expense or an effective deterrant here, but no one sends an armed ship to Zoctan while they're there.
T+10 hits in 2313, and I choose T+20 instead of going back for Improved Eco (Death Spores are also available) to move the tree forward and hope for Controlled Inferno. Then, in 2315...

...the monkeys are the first to 3 systems. An early diplo loss is looking more and more likely.
Hydrogen hits in 2320, and I take Range 6, glad to see that Stabilizers and Nuke Engines are available too. Two turns later, I learn that the only star brought into range is Toranor, an Inferno 15. I'll give this map one thing: It's going to be challenging!

Expansion?:
Terra+20 hits, and our third-tier choices are Enhanced Eco (6760), Terra+30 (give me a break), and Toxic (9000). I choose Enhanced, which might be grave mistake with those Infernos on my doorstep and Silicoids in the game.
In 2341, GNN reports that our mighty, productive Klackons are last in production. Under the circumstances, (and on Impossible), I'm not surprised, but it's still kind of humbling. Range 6 miraculously comes in just as we finish our first Lander, which I'd originally intended to bounce off of Rana. Instead, since I can, I send it directly to Zoctan. Meanwhile, I "choose" and complete IIT9, "choosing" Duralloy next (no other options in either case), and receive a couple of frightening scouting reports: Neptunus, just beyond Toranor, is a Radiated 10, the most worthless non-poor planet there can be (and an open invitation to the 'Coids), and Rayden, the green star in the Nebula, is already a Human colony with a standing missile base and a war fleet. A large, armed Human Cruiser chases my scout from Toranor; I just hope they don't have a Silicoid alliance or Inferno colonies. Well, I'm about to find out. First, we spot Silicoids for the first time, chasing a Colony Ship from Neptunus; then, in 2348, I colonize Zoctan, and get contact with Lasitus the Pacifist Human and Dynalon the Honorable Psilon, starting minimal trade with each ... and discovering that the 'Coids can reach Toranor, at least with scouts and colonies. I'll have to send the LSentries, eventually leaving Zoctan with only a token Newscout for a fleet. Lasitus already owns five stars up and down the galactic center, and that yellow star near Mentar that I hoped might be a homeworld is instead a Psilon colony. Fortunately, that's it; the brains are still running a 2PE. The Silicoids, on the other hand, with no apparance under anyone's "alliances," must be at the northeastern yellow star, and with that Colony Ship leaving Neptunus (still there, which means they didn't need a now-defunct alliance to reach it) the red star just east of the nebula must belong to them already ... and they must either have range 4+ and LR colships ... or range 7!

We do manage to scout that red star before the 'Coids get a missile base up; it's Klystrom, a Radiated 25. We also manage to scout the blue star brought into range by colonizing Zoctan; it features three hundred million asteroids, and zero planets.
More research: I choose ECM 1 over Battle Computer 2 to advance the tree more quickly, and Class 2 Shields and Hand Lasers over Not Researching Anything. Just as I get started on those projects, in 2354, the Silicoids reach the 6 system benchmark, which means they've gone around the eastern edge and beaten us to the southeast. The peaceful phase of our expansion will end when Rana, Toranor, and Neptunus are colonized (hopefully by us!) - anything else will have to come through warfare.
The Silicoid's sixth colony also triggers the galactic election, in which Lasitus is fortunately up against Sedimin of the 'Coids. Lasitus has the lead, and enough votes on his own for a veto, but not the victory. For twenty one more years at least, we're alive.
Still more research: Enhanced Eco hits ... at 8%! Apparently these particular Klackons built their research ant hills in a field of four-leafed clover. Which is good, because the only way forward is through Antidote or Terra+40, further emphasizing the fact that choosing Not Toxic was a mistake. Incidentally, Sargon's suggested opening, which in this case would probably have gone Imp Eco -> T+20 -> Toxic, looks like it would have been a winner again. With no Radiated in our tree, and no prospect of new worlds without colonizing (at least) Toranor, I go back for Toxic bases here. ECM also comes in, and at 11%! I'm not asking questions; I just hope this keeps up! RC3 is in our tree, so I spring for that next. Hand Lasers hits at I-think-it-was 8%, and this is getting kind of ridiculous. (Admittedly, it had been sleeping in the low percentages for several turns already....) Out of Hyper-X, F-Bombs, and Ion Cannons, I choose the guns, hoping for a real missile in the next tier. Meanwhile, the Humans add Bootis, a red star in the southeast, to their empire. It seems like they must have taken it from the 'Coids, considering its position, but no war has ensued. Either way, I'm interpretting this as very bad news. Better still, GNN brings us a special report. Good news? It never is. Sol has just gone Fertile. The vote is just 4 turns away, and I smell trouble brewing.
More research?: Toxic Bases hit ... at 3%!!! I begin to suspect that Klackon scientists have gone all meta-game on us and started hacking the Pseudo-Random Number Generator or something. This didn't come in time to give me any extra votes at the election, but it speeds the day (by a little) when I could be at five worlds instead of three. I choose Terra+40 to move forward, to improve my tiny planets, and to give me an extra vote in future elections. By sending my first ToxLander to Toranor, I'll get both Infernos just a turn or two apart. In the meantime, I go out electioneering. I don't like the Psilon-Human alliance one bit; Lasitus has too many votes on his own! Dynalon won't dissolve the alliance, but Lasitus is willing, which makes a kind of sense; votes aside, that alliance is clearly of more strategic benefit to the brains. (Check the map, and you'll agree...) This is also an important move in case I'm ready to attack sooner than I now expect, since I daren't take on both the Humans and Psilons at the same time. I also suggest to the Humans that they should dissolve their alliance with the 'Coids (in case I somehow have more pop than the rocks at this point) but they wants Enhanced Eco to deal, which is ridiculous.
A year before the election, Duralloy hits at 6%. I don't even know what to say anymore. Class II shields have been in double-digit percentages and slowly climbing for just ages, so it doesn't happen every time, but even so, I'm beginning to think the game's Pseudo-Random-Number Generator fell in love with the main Klackon research computer somewhere along the line. Our choices are Battle Suits, Auto Repair System, and Reduced Waste 60. I choose ARS in anticipation of an Ion Huge design. Then the High Council convenes and ... (phew) Sedimin is opposing Lasitus again. All's safe for now, with the Council split (I abstain, as do the Psilons) ... only, wait, who called Psilons' pizza? Who ordered the AI attack fleet with extra cheese?!

Surveying the map shows us bugs against Psilons, Humans and Silicoids. We are in extreme NW corner of this small map with a yellow star in colony range, a further blue and red in scouting range but generally we are cut off from the core until range is increased – nice, RefSteel gives us Planetology poor Meklar needing early Radiated and Alan gives us Propulsion poor Klackon needing early range! Assuming the yellow nearby is not another AI, that leaves only 4 yellows for the 3 AI, one extreme NE, two extreme SW and one central. That central yellow if occupied could be a steamroller. The SE has a promising 4 green and one red star but is a long, long way off.
Send Colony ship west to yellow and scouts south to blue & red. Yellow is Phyco (Minimal 40) - settled & 10 sent from Kholdan. Scout blue Rana (Inferno 25) then red Zoctan (Jungle 85 poor). Great, we need Inferno bases or Range 6 (if available) to expand. However the Construction excellent bugs can go LR Colony much faster (and more certain) than Range 6. So open tech and choose IIT9, IT+10 (over IER) and Range4 (over Range5). Rush IIT9, hit in 2309 and choose Duralloy. Also speed IT+10, hit in 2312 and choose IER (over IT+20, Spores). Psilon scout chased from Rana in 2306 and Human scout from Zoctan in 2308. Looks like Psilon are SW corner and Humans central which could mean Silicoid in NE – I hope the central planets are hostile to slow the apes which doesn’t look likely when GNN announces Humans are first to 3 planets in 2315. I speed Duralloy to build an LR Colony quickly. Open further tech & choose ECM1 (over BC2) and Hand Lasers.
Settle Zoctan in 2334 (hooray!), 23 sent from Phyco – use reserve pumping from Kholdan until Zoctan gets decent production itself. Range 4 pops in 2335, choose Warp2 (over Range 6 or IS) hoping for Range 7 next. Next year IER pops and now choose IT+20. With Zoctan founded I was able to explore the central area. White to SE is Toranor (Inferno 15) then S is blue Neptunus (Radiated 10) – slim pickings. In 2340-2 scout human planets, yellow in centre is Sol (with 20 bases!), green to north is Rayden (Ocean 70), green south is Whynil (pop 70) and green further SW is Yarrow (pop 38). After Hand Lasers choose Ion Cannon (over Hyper-X, Fusion Bomb) and after ECM1 choose RC3 (over BC2). IT+20 pops in 2345 and no Inferno (ouch!) so choose Toxic (over EER, IT+30) – bugs were missing Barren, Tundra and Dead also! Same year Psilon discover Range5 and introduce themselves as 2PE honourable diplomat allied with Humans. They have the two yellows in SW, Mentar to N and Gorra. Go back for Range 6 (over Warp3) after Warp2. Then in 2354 GNN announces Phyco is Fertile adding 15 to planet size (yay!). After Ion Cannon choose Merculite (over Mass Driver) and after a quick Deflector Shield 2 choose PDS (over DS3).
In 2365 discover Toxic (choosing IT+40 over BioToxin) and build 2 Colony ships. Things are looking up, the toxics are small but with IT+40 and RC3 they will be productive and after Toranor is founded I can reach the SE stars, if any left. Robotic Controls 3 bulb is full but I have delayed discovery since, with only IIT9, I do not want to delay poor or new colonies with expensive factories. By 2369 the 3 original planets (Kholdan, fertile Phyco and Zoctan) are maxed (at +20), Zoctan has 1 base (more to follow) and I discover Range 6 (now choose Warp3) meeting Humans (Pacifistic Industrialist), a 5PE including Exis, white star south of green Yarow. In 2370 Toranor is founded (Rana next turn) triggering Council vote and Psilons(2), Silicoids(3) vote for Humans(4) with my 4 votes irrelevant. I had tried to break Psilon/Human alliance but relations were never high enough. Bugs exiled to another galaxy, damn apes, trust them to be the centre of their own galaxy!

So much for the picnic:
Just as Class II shields finally hit, less than five turns short of forming my fourth and fifth colonies, I discover a Psilon fleet, obviously bound for Zoctan.

It's not an overwhelming force, but I judge that it's more than enough for Poor Zoctan, which only has one missile base up thus far. I could send the LSentry fleet to fly interference, but against four larges and five not-LR mediums, they won't do me much good. My base(s) will be immune to standard lasers and gats, but not the heavy variety, and ... well, anyone want to bet that Impossible Psilons are still packing lasers in 2376? Yeah, me neither.
I really need that planet. It's the only one I've got outside of my homeworld with a natural size above 40, and I have precious few worlds altogether (still three, though with two more colships en route). Could a better player have held the world, or fought back to win the game even without it? Quite possibly. I'm new enough at this though that I don't believe I can. I save the game here so it'll be possible to play it out without using diplo cheese, but I think this is a situation that calls for a bluff. I dial up the Psilons and threaten to attack if they don't withdraw their fleet.
Fortunately, Dynalon rolls over; he not only agrees, but offers Battle Computer 2 as a sign of good faith. He'll send two more brush war attacks, one at Rana, the other at Toranor, over the next ~30 years, and I manage to turn aside each with another threat, receiving cash (a little under 1000 BC) and Battle Computer 3. Yeah, it's kind of lame and cheesy, but I felt I had no other choice, and it is at least a risky move; unlike, say, asking for a spectator war, a threat can turn your brush skirmishes into full-scale hot war if you mistime it or get unlucky. Not that I'm making excuses: This had nothing to do with my skill at Orion or strategic abilities; the Psilons would have had their picnic at Zoctan ... and Rana ... and Toranor ... except that the local ants love them some cheese!

In the meantime:
I colonize the Infernos in peace, and RC3 hits ... at something like 4%. I didn't want it completing quite this early (while my new colonies are still struggling to build early factories), but the PRNG isn't in love with me - just with the Klackon research computer, apparently. To advance, we take Improved Scanner over ECM3, glad of the opportunity to do so.
Our last semi-peaceful scouting expeditions find an undefended Silicoid colony at Xengara (a Dead environment), and Dolz, where we chase away a Silicoid colony ship. I assume the Silis wanted that ship ready in case they became the first race in the history of Master of Orion to have Controlled Asteroid Environment in their tree.
And speaking of unarmed/undefended Silis in the 1380s, GNN reports the tech leaders ... and we're not last! This is why the Silicoids are famous for fading in spite of their quick starts; they're no good at researching just about anything. We also started our research early though ... and had all that phenomenal luck, which must have put our tech a few turns ahead of the curve.
With all my colonies established, I offer a NAP to the Humans, and they agree. Only ... I forgot that I have a Newscout en route to Bootis to see what I can learn about it. When my tiny, unarmed ship arrives, and promptly gets chased off by missiles and a fleet, Lasitus complains loudly.

Officially, I reply with a form letter containing the word "regret" more often than "the." Unofficially, he can blow it out his ear. (Still, failing to wait just one more turn for the NAP will probably come back to haunt me).
Personal Deflector Shield, Ion Cannon, and Sublight Drives all come in before the turn of the century; I choose Class 4 shields (the only way forward - no planetaries), Merculite Missiles (over Mass Driver), and Energy Pulsar (over Uridium, which would allow me to do exciting things like discover more Silicoid colonies and/or asteroids, and lose a scout at Orion). Oh. And GNN has something to report: Gorra, the Psilons' second star, is about to go nova. In this case, the Psilons manage to stop it in time, but I think it's only because they're Psilons, and maybe only because of Gorra's peculiar status (of which we would learn more later). It seems like the AI's MO in circumstances like this is to just keep building a bunch of ships at the potentially-doomed world and let the star that shelters half their empire explode. This is another argument for turning events off, even though it didn't happen that way in this game: The AI almost never seems to deal with them intelligently. Almost never.
Also, I should mention in passing that Terra+40 does not come in before the election; if it had, it would have represented PRNG bias so egregious, I'd have to send the Klackon research computer off to a nunnery.
Auto Repair does hit on the same interturn as the election, but it does so at a real percentage, and we take Zortium next, the only way forward. At this point, we might even be able to design a real ship! (Couldn't have built one in time to defend and avoid the last slices of cheese though ... at least, I don't think I could have....) The Council is inconclusive again, with Lasitus vs. Sedimin; we abstain, still at a distan third. We're not done with politics and diplomacy though, as Sedimin himself achieves contact, having presumably acquired at least Range 7. He's ... an aggressive ecologist? Uh ... makes rock gardens with a jackhammer, I guess. I open a minimal trade agreement, which unfortunately means 90 BC. I also discover that Orion is in the southeast corner by process of elimination. Soon enough, Terra+40 and Improved Scanner both come in, with the latter revealing the third Psilon fleet (the last that we would try to send away with cheese).
Then, in 2412, GNN is on the air again, with more bad news to report.

Since the Silicoids just got a brand-new rich world, obviously Lasitus and Dynalon call up to complain about the way the bugs are growing (thanks to Terra+40)! Makes sense to me! Especially in the monkeys' case, this isn't so much a case of "pot : kettle" as of "tar pit : hapless elephant." Even so, I can't very well show my face around Kholdan after this if I evade more attacks with bluff threats. I've survived this long on the strength of an at-least-semi-exploitive feature of the game, but from here on out, I'll have to do without the cheese.

I gained a lot out of the Long Range Lemon on this map...

Prelude to war:
My last helping of diplo cheese is followed by two decades of peace, including yet another vote pitting Lasitus against Sedimin for emperor of the galaxy, resulting in another stalemate when I abstain. In the meantime, I'm pecking away at my tech deficit slowly but steadily. Inertial Stabilizer hits first, at 2% (yes, you read that correctly, and no, I don't believe it either), then Mercs at ~20% (note the extra zero), and I go back for Fusion Bombs, investing heavily since they're my best chance for an offensive; they hit around the same time as Zortium armor and Class IV Shields. I go back for Battle Suits, hoping to do some gropo soon, and choose to advance the other fields with Stingers and Repulsor Beam. Soon thereafter, I go so far as to build a Drone 3.0 (medium hull with a battle scanner, with a Merculite 2-rack and computer thrown on just so it can feel like it's contributing if a fight starts around it or something) and send it to Mentar to learn about the enemy fleet.

Okay, I'm scared. That Huge can fly, and Megabolt cannons are way beyond anything in my arsenal. Repulsor Beam research just became my top priority. Meanwhile, I'm leery of helping the Humans, but I need tech faster than I can research it, so I make a couple of trades with Lasitus, giving him Inertial Stabilizer for Fusion Drives and Zortium Armor for Class V Planetary Shields (both missing from my tree). With regard to the Zort, I reasoned that he'd be able to get cooler armor on his own anyway, perhaps before I was ready to attack him, since there's so much of it in the tree, but that was likely poor reasoning in a small galaxy. These trades may well come back to bite me later, just like asking for a NAP a turn too early. It also "bites" me in some sense immediately: I was prebuilding a huge ship at Kholdan (the Chiton 3.0, a classic anvil, with every defensive modification at my command - well, no ECM, but everything else - and very little offensive capability) that I cut off about a turn short of completion in hopes of turning it into a Huge Repulsor when I got the technology. I can't redesign it with my newfound Human tech until next turn, by which time the miniaturization from that same Human tech causes it to get built in spite of no new spending. It's not only an out-of-date high-maintenance ship, but one with a misspelled name! (The word I wanted was Chitin.)
Next up, in 2429, the Psilons come calling ... to thank me for our minimal trade agreement?! "Errr ... you're welcome. Any time, okay?" I breath a sigh of relief.
Prematurely. About five years later, soon after my Battle Suits come in, they launch a true Cold War fleet.

The war begins:
In 2436, one year later than I should have, I spot the incoming Psilon fleet: The huge Star Fury, with over a hundred escorts, due at Rana in 2440. I also spot a new Huge design, the Nova, slowly moving up to Mentar from Gorra. I send the Drone down to check it out (it should be back in time to join the fun at Rana) and learn that the Nova features Megabolts like the others ... and a whole bunch of Stinger and Merculite 2-racks. By this time, it's 2438, and every Klackon ship with a gun is at or en route to Rana, including the ancient LSentries I built back in episode 1 (my version of what Alan calls the "Long Range Lemon"). We still have a prebuild going at Phyco, hoping for Repulsor Beams, but the PRNG has decided to punish me for mocking its loving relationship with our research computer; Repulsors have been in percentages for something like seven years, and are now up to 28%, but they won't come in!
They hit in the interturn, their last chance to be useful in the battle for Rana ... just as I detect another Psilon battle fleet, this one bound for Toranor! With some help from the reserves, Phyco will get a repulsor huge to Rana via RELOC (the Standoff4.0, similar to the Chitin, but with Repulsor Beam instead of Stabilizer, Fusion engines instead of Sublights, and Heavy Ion Cannons in greater numbers), and Rana's old prebuild will be enough to turn out a pair of Repulsor larges, with lots of defensive/maneuvering/initiative equipment, but armed with nothing but a heavy laser apiece, so useless for every purpose except keeping enemy ships away from them (and so adept at that) that I dub them Stinkbug4.0s.

One move into the battle for Rana, you can see that I brought the kitchen sink. The misspelled-Chitin is hanging out at the top of the screen for no reason I can remember, and there's a Newscout trying to be invisible in the background, soon to retreat. Just below it is the Drone, launching one of its Merc missiles (also hanging back and ready to retreat next turn), while the Standoff and the Stinkbugs hold the planet's forward flanks, hoping to use their repulsors to keep the Psilon ships out of range. You can also see three old Ion fighters that I built accidentally during the brush-war/cheese-fest phase of the game. The hopelessly outdated LSentries are missing only because they were scrapped to make way for the latest designs. It's just enough; I think the battle would have been lost if either the Stinkbugs or the Standoff had been missing, but with both present, our blockade holds, and the Psilons are eventually forced to retreat. Three years later, we repel the first wave of the Toranor attack with similar success, and the following year, the Nova reaches Toranor too, and we manage to destroy it. (Yay!)
Meanwhile, we've been assembling a fleet of Hive 4.0s - so named because "HiveKillers" wouldn't fit. They're quick-moving mediums with stabilizers and class 3 computers (yeah, the ones I got from the last helping of cheese...), carrying three Fusion Bombs apiece. As soon as the Nova is taken down, we send our whole fleet to Mentar to counterstrike ... and fail miserably! I commit a critical piloting error, and lose almost all of our bombers to take out just a handful of bases. Then, as the survivors return to Zoctan to lick their wounds, the dread GNN logo appears on our screen. A comet has been detected, and if no one deals with it before 2455, it will strike and destroy our homeworld!

When it rains:
The 2450 High Council is another match up of Lasitus and ... me?!?! Uh-oh. I was so caught up in my Psilon battles and sending the fleet up to Kholdan to deal with the incoming comet, and so sure this would be another Human-'Coid stalemate, I was paying no attention at all to the status screen! A moment later, I see what happened: There are only 18 votes among all members of the Council (down from something in the mid-twenties)! Lasitus and Sedimin must be in the middle of a Cold War that makes mine with Dynalon look like a scholyard tussle; in fact, with Sedimin giving me five votes (really just voting against Lasitus), and five votes of my own, I find if I'd paid attention to the graphs and made nice on the Psilons instead of retaliating, I might have had another 2450 diplo win (this time with the help of cheese). Instead, Dynalon abstains, and the game continues.
The comet is still due to hit my homeworld in 2455, and I have no idea how much damage I've done to it; I'd appreciate an update on its status any time GNN wants to give one to me! Meanwhile, a pair of 'Coid colships are bound for Neptunus (if they're armed, they can probably have it at this point) and a Human SoD is headed for the Silicoid world of Beta Ceti (a Rich world, per the mining event several decades ago). Still no wars officially declared though, in spite of the battles raging across the galaxy.
I've been prebuilding my repulsor Huges around my empire, ready to turn them into bombers when more tech comes in, but with no word on that comet, I'm getting very nervous. If the comet is harmed by actual offensive capability (and not just ship size/strength) my heavily defensive fleet will barely be scratching its surface. Instead of waiting any longer, I therefore switch my shipbuilding worlds to the Hive(Killer)s and relocate them to Kholdan. If the homeworld goes, that's the game.

Just what the doctor ordered: As soon as the Hive 4.0s show up from Phyco (and Kholdan itself), the comet is toast, and "our glorious star fleet" heads down to Zoctan in preparation for the next stage of the Psilon war. Then I notice something interesting: A Psilon fleet is now headed for Neptunus (they've researched Rad bases already), due just a bit later than the 'Coids. I think I'm going to let the rocks have the place even if their Colships aren't armed. My Newscout heads up to Toranor, whistling innocently. The gambit appears to fail however, as the 'Coids and Psilons form an alliance almost immediately. (Wellllll ... if I'm allowed my cheese, the AI is allowed its version of the same.) Then, just as I'm sending my main fleet (and new builds) to Mentar, Lasitus decides to dissolve our NAP. He has a vey scary-looking fleet, and I don't know what's on it; he could well have missile five-packs, torpedoes, or two-space beams! It may be that I'm finally getting bitten for forming that NAP too soon. How bad is my miscalculation? Well, I forgot that, on Impossible, and especially in a small galaxy, the term "front-line world" is functionally identical to "world in my empire!" Lasitus sends ten Large ships of various designs up to Kholdan ... at warp 5! By the time I see them coming, they're one turn away!
This calls for emergency measures; I scrap the Newscouts and the Drone in favor of two new ultra-special-purpose, pray-they-work starships: The Stinkbug4.1 is a slightly cheaper version of the 4.0, just small enough to finish and RELOC from Phyco in time to meet the monkeys' fleet, with all the leftover reserves after Kholdan's production is doubled. The Spinous 3.0, built at Kholdan alongside maximum defense, is a Medium with Repulsor, Sublights (since Fusions wouldn't fit), 2 combat speed ... and that's it; there's no more room! If they have any weapons with a range of 2 spaces or more, I'll be sorry that comet didn't hit!

Notice the speed of those Warships and Escorts (this shot was taken on my first move of the battle), and the miserable lack of defenses at Kholdan, where I thought I was "safe." The Cruisers in the back have Mass Drivers and Lasers, but the others are packing Hard Beams ... and, in the case of the Escorts, a 5-rack apiece (ulp) ... of Nukes (phew!). That's still plenty to take out my Spinous, but they target the Stinkbug until it's too late, and we destroy everything except the Escorts (which, with ARS and the Zortium I traded them, are virtually immune to my attacks), finally timing them out and forcing them to retreat.

The ants go marching one by one:
Next up is the battle for Mentar. The Psilons have brought some new toys...

...but fortunately, they're still one-space beams. Though we lose more than half of our Hive Bombers, we manage to take out all of Mentar's bases, plus a handful of their ships (the rest retreat). Unsurprisingly, the cold war with the Psilons goes hot instantly. After the battle, the Standoff and one of the Stinkbugs head up to Toranor, the nearest planet to the main Psilon fleet, while I coordinate my invasion of Mentar, halving and force-regrowing the population of every planet in my empire to do it, over the course of the next few turns. More good news comes in as an unusually severe quake hits the Humans at Bootis, killing 18 million people and 251(!) factories. Couldn't happen to a nicer "Pacifist." Then our invasion force hits Mentar, and we take the planet, fill it up, and still leave 9 troops sucking vacuum. Better too many than too few though; I want this place standing up on my side, ASAP! From 189 factories, we discover Mass Driver (sigh), Uridium Cells (meh), Tachyon Beam (wellll ... at least it should be good for miniaturization...), and ... that's it. Not much of a haul for the Psilon homeworld, really. Oh. And then Lasitus declares war. Nothing I could do about that after he broke his NAP (the diplomat was gone) since I was committed to my attack on the Psilons. On the plus side ... the 'Coids don't hate me yet. That's something. I call up Sedimin, and he agrees to join me in the monkey war (he wouldn't help with the brains), but whether this is a good thing or a bad remains to be seen. Lasitus may just eat him for breakfast anyway, and with the Psilons still allied to both other AIs, Sedimin might yet declare on me before the Psilons declare on him.

Turn and turn about:
It turns out that the miniaturization from Tachyon Beam is much more valuable than I imagined, as I can now build FireAnt 4.0s: Small ships with Stabilizers, Fusion Engines, max maneuverability, and two Fusion Bombs apiece! I start building them wherever and whenever I can (scrapping the one-fight-wonder Spinous ship). The monkeys are still way ahead in technology though, and capable of researching much faster than I can; if I'm not careful, they're going to come in with some multi-space weapons and mop the floor with me. I decide it's time to take on a Human target, to start playing catch-up and to take away some of their production/research base, choosing Rayden first since it's in a nebula, has no fleet in orbit (though the Human ships are fast enough to change that instantly), and looks like it's the link that allows them to get at Kholdan.
I've been repelling various Psilon microfleets at Mentar since winning its orbit, and they're sending something to Zoctan that won't crack the bases there. They have a death fleet at Neptunus, but it's very slow, and still vulnerable to repulsor beams. I've forgotten how quickly those Human ships move though; a fleet reaches Zoctan with literally no warning, and it's too much for my bases there to handle! I burn all their Warships, and whittle them down to 5 Escorts, but by then, they've taken out enough bases that their autorepair keeps up with the damage I'm doing. Remember when I said trading them Zortium Armor might come back to bite me? I think it just did. ... But maybe not. I got Planetary Shields in exchange, and Zoctan survives the battle when it times out with two missile bases remaining. Their Hard Beams just can't do enough damage through nine layers of shields to kill my bases quickly enough for the win. Poor Zoctan's population heaves a sigh of relief, then struggles to put up more bases to thwart the still-incoming Psilon fleet. The Humans next send a small fleet to Kholdan when the Stinkbug4.1 leaves to join the main battle fleet, but I crash up a few more bases, and win the battle easily. Meanwhile, the Psilons take Neptunus from the 'Coids, which I take as a good sign of sorts. (((In hindsight, I should have invaded Gorra here, to take swiftest advantage of the situation (leaving them with a worthless OPE and letting Sedimin genocide them), but I was dead-set on Rayden. Plus, I didn't yet know Gorra's secret.)))
The missiles from Rayden's 40(!) Merculite bases can't catch my FireAnts before we eliminate their bases; the 6 Escorts in orbit all retreat. We start another coordinated invasion, knowing full well that the nebula is going to de-coordinate it, and send all the Hive ships and most of the FireAnts (leaving a few in case a missile base gets built underneath our fleet) down to Gorra, finally. The newly-built FireAnts gathering at Toranor, followed by Mentar's orbital defense force, will be sent so as to arrive simultaneously. I note with a combination of amusement and chagrine that the Psilon death fleet at Neptunus has decided to leave for Gorra. It will arrive 2 turns too late to participate in the defense of their colony, but leaves Neptunus open to Silicoid attack on the following turn; as a result, Neptunus gets bombed down to nothing.
More Humans are coming to Kholdan, and an "Unknown" spy (Hi, Lasitus!) destroys a couple of missile bases there just as the ships appear in transit. When the fleet arrives, I find I accidentally RELOCed part of my defense force to the wrong place! The one Stinkbug4.1 in orbit tries to hold the fort alone, but goes down under a barrage of missile fire, and the Humans' Hard Beams burn off all my remaining missile bases! Kholdan needs some emergency help, STAT!