RefSteel
Pacifistic Technologist
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2007
- Messages
- 257
2440: Forr the firrst time, we appearr to have contact with the Bulrrathi people. I starrted some token trrade with them, and then gave them Deep Space Scannerrs forr theirr Hyper V Rrocket designs, forr miniaturrization purrposes. I naturrally refrrained from mentioning to theirr scientists that we've alrready developed the MRVing varriety of the same thing forr ourrselves! Soon thereafterr, I turrned to more satisfying matterrs ... and sent ourr main battle fleet to Misha!
2441: We have learrned to imprrove our Battle Computerrs to Marrk 5! A huge brreakthrrough! Ourr scientists at Rana rrecommend that we prroceed with Advanced Space Scannerr, though ECM 4 orr 5 are also possibilities. I followed theirr suggestion, if only to make the eighth Yalara happy. Then, just as I was about to deploy my new starrfleet of Hard Beam-bearing Bobcats, Carrnax of the Silicoids interrupted me.
Forr some rreason, it thinks we might make peace with it when ourr fleet is alrready en rroute to Misha. I disabuse it of this notion rrapidly.
2442: In this historric, palendrromic yearr came the Thirrd Battle of Misha (and the firrst of my rreign)!
Ourr gunnerrs have learrned to fire at high-maneuverr ships at close rrange now, and we completely destrroyed the enemy warrships and base before the colony ships retrreated. We did lose the CatsEye and one of ourr Cheetahs, but we shall lose no civillian lives at this worrld! We have bombed them down to perrhaps two thirrds of theirr population alrready, and more ships are on the way! Perrhaps as a rresult of this action, I also rreceived a frriendly call frrom an unlikely individual....
Emperror Highsoarr, the Silicoids haven't posed a thrreat to anyone's worrlds forr decades. Also, I hate to rremind you of this, but you and I are still at warr!
2443: I had completely forrgotten that we were spying on the Alkarri, so when ourr teams infiltrrated one of theirr bases, I just told them to go afterr the Computerrs ... and ourr agents pulled the birrdies' state of the arrt!
Meanwhile, we continued to bombarrd Misha, and Highsoarr was so imprressed, he asked forr peace! Maybe laterr, yourr deliciousness; rright now, I'm busy with more imporrtant things than ending yourr completely fake warr with me. Forr instance, there's a brrand new fleet of ourr latest designs that just arrrived at Neptunus, and need new orrders: Forr instance, to head towarrd Tau Cygni!
Hmm. Well, I notice there is somehow an Alkarri fleet overr Nyarl (and now trransports on the way) in spite of theirr inability to penetrrate the Meklarr bases there, all fourrteen of which are still standing. I don't think the birrds stand a chance in spite of this impossibility. Still, I wonderr if it means anything.
2444: Ourr peaceful Rana rresearcherrs discoverr the secrrets of atmospherric terrraforrming. I'm told this will help ourr election chances incrrease frrom a "Virrtual Lock" to a "Slam Dunk," but I don't know what eitherr of those terrms are supposed to have to do with anything. We selected Advanced Soil Enrrichment overr Old Stuff forr ourr next prroject in this field. More imporrtantly, at least frrom my perrspective...
Contact was brriefly brroken with the Silicoids as a rresult of ourr bombing Misha into the grround, but that should change almost immediately. Nyarl and its 14 Meklarr bases meanwhile made its impossibly orrbiting birrdy fleet (and incoming trransporrts) go away.
2445: At last, we have managed the coup firrst contemplated by my firrst namesake:
And the Darrloks are now Affable towarrd us, thanks to ourr destrruction of the Silicoid colony there. We might be able to get an alliance! There are only two prroblems with doing so: Firrst, the Darrloks are second to us in population, and so would be ourr election opposition. Second, they still own Tau Cygni, which should have been ourrs since the beginning of the game! So instead of calling them up....
2446:
Tau Cygni is still packing nukes at its bases, so we bomb them out with virrtually no losses. Oh, and I might have forgotten to mention anotherr fleet I dispatched some yearrs ago. Let me therefore tell the storry.
Long ago, Fierias was rruled by fourr grreat dynasties: The dynasties of Sargon, d0om, dathon, and Mrrref. The most experrienced in the ways of warr and peace was the dynasty of dathon, but all were mighty warlorrds, rruling over mighty arrmies of hunting cats! Warrs were perrpetual acrross the face of Fierias - grreat and glorrious warrs for all! But then, in the historric yearr of 2300, the Sargon dynasty completed its secrret prroject of starrship constrruction ... and rrevealed to the otherr dynasties theirr astronomerrs' long-held secrret: there were otherr, farr inferrior but nonetheless hostile and dangerrous rraces in the galaxy! So the differrences of the fourr dynasties were put aside once and forr all, and an orrder or succession established so that all fourr togetherr might rule over Fierias ... and in time over the whole galaxy! The title of Yalara was established forr the rruler of Fierias in each successive generation, and we were united forrever underr the rrule of the Yalara succession! Unforrtunately, fate interrvened before the cirrcle of succession was complete: The dathon dynasty, the most experrienced of us all, was strruck by the drread Ohiobug disease, and though able to advise brriefly in the beginning, could not rrule overr the empire as all had wished. But in that time, Mrrref the Second swore a grreat oath to all the dathon dynasty:
And in the yearr 2446, we at last began the fulfillment of that oath!
Do you think twenty-fourr million dead Alkarri is enough?
Neitherr do I. (We also killed a few ships in orrbit of course, but that's of small imporrtance.)
Meanwhile, the Silicoids called us up underr the mistaken assumption that the "Alkari Menace" has rreached us. Frrankly, it's the other way arround! And the Darrloks called to say, "You sign treaties with us, then attack our planets! What villainy!" They didn't go so farr as to declare warr howeverr. I'm not too surprrised: I think "villainy" is considerred a compliment in Darrlok society.
Since the Silicoids also said something about smiting infidel dogs, I called them up myself forr an explanation: There aren't any dogs in this galaxy! Once they explained that it was the infidel birrds we would be smiting togetherr, I saw no rreason not to establish peace! Carrnax, frrom its two tiny planets in the far southwest, agrreed, verry much rrelieved. So, with the Silicoid warr finally overr, it's time to pay the 'Shifterrs back forr all the prrobe fleets they sent to attack us when we were at "peace"!
All together an efficient demonstration of the power of the cats in a good starting position with more than a little exemplary play - well done everyone.
