The Return – A Distant Worlds: Universe AAR

[OJsDad]

Here are a couple of screen shots showing our neighborhood and the galaxy as a whole.

[Martok]

Very cool.  Would love to see screenies of the Trendilu Major system at some point as well (should you feel so inclined).  I still can't believe you you were blessed with two other Continental planets in your home system; talk about luck! 

[OJsDad]

Very cool.  Would love to see screenies of the Trendilu Major system at some point as well (should you feel so inclined).  I still can't believe you you were blessed with two other Continental planets in your home system; talk about luck!

Ask and you shall receive...

Inner System




Entire System

[Martok]

Nice!  Thanks.  :) 


By the way, can I ask what's stopped you from colonizing those other two Continental planets so far?  I was wondering if it's the basic limits of expense and/or not enough ship slots in your space port (in other words, there too many other ships you need to build first) or if there are other factors at work. 

[OJsDad]

I didn't have the technology developed yet to colonize.  The next part will deal with it. 

I'm beginning to think there is a bug with events and research.  After my warp engine entry, I kept playing, but trying to develop basic colonization tech was taking forever.  Plus nothing else significant had happened.  I had made a screw up on some ship designs, and decided to go back to my last save, which was at the warp entry.  It was a few game years, but nothing big.  In just a year of reply, I had jumped from 50% completion for colonization to completed, the Ancients had sent me a message, another group of pirates showed up and I can contact another empire through a pirate faction.  None of this happen before.  I'll have to check out Matrix forums to see if it may be a known issue.  May also have to reload a shaved game every game year or so to avoid.  No big deal to do that though.

Anyways, it'll be this weekend before my next update as I have to be out of town for work a good chunk of this week.

[Kushan]

3.  While the game builds single construction and colony ships, I will represent these as small flotillas in the story.  Each flotilla with consist of 6-12 ships.

I've done this before in some of my games, but mostly for military ships. Construction and survey ships I normally leave as singles. I've gone so far as to rename ships to match, for example a destroyer might be names "1st Destroyer Division." If your interested I can take a see if I still have the Shipnames.txt.

I wonder if it might be possible to do ship images that look like more then one ship. Obviously, it would look like they where flying perfectly together but it could look pretty cool. I might have to look into it if someone hasn't already tried it.

[OJsDad]

Sorry for the long delay in the next update, but I've been busy with kids sports, work and vacation.  So, here is the next update. 

Unfortunately, I'm going to be out of town quite a bit over the next couple of weeks, so updates won't be coming fast.

Part VI

   "All hands, this is the captain, prepare to drop out of warp into combat!"  As Captain Timothy Buckley killed the circuit for his mic to transmit to all hands, he swiveled his command chair to face the navigation work table.  "Alright Jenny, give us a countdown."

   "Helm, on my mark.  Four...three...two...one...Mark!"

   As the destroyer type Archer 001 dropper out of warp, her electronic systems all dimmed.  When a shipped went into or out of warp, it put a strain on a ships power systems.  This, in turn, caused momentary system outages.  These usually resolved themselves within a few seconds.  But when jumping into an awaiting enemy, those few seconds can be an eternity.  Especially when those key systems didn't always come back up on their own.  Engineering was always ready to intervene, but those few seconds could spell death for a ship and her crew.

   "EW, talk to me."  Captain Buckley said while looking at the Electronic Warfare officer.

   "Lidar and Radar coming up now sir." 

   On an Imperial Naval ship, the Electronic Warfare officer was responsible for the ships sensors.  These included both active and passive, defensive and offensive.  Even though at this point in time the navy didn't have any electronic counter measures.  But plans were being made to develop and add those to the ships.

   "CONTACT!!  Three thousand kilometers at two-six-eight!  Heading right for us!" came the slightly panicked reply.

   "Weapons free.  Helm, hard to starboard, but it on our tail and make max speed.  Engineering, prepare to jump back into warp."  Captain Buckley's calm, measured orders to his bridge crew.

   "Sir, we cannot get back to warp for another four minutes, thirty-four seconds." Came the reply from the engineering bridge officer.  At the same the ship shuddered with the first missiles to leave the ship.

   "It'll be on top of us in less than three captain." The EW officer stated.  Sounding more calm than he did a few seconds earlier.   "We have visual"

   "Put it up."  Buckley replied.

   The Giant Kaltor filled the screen of the bridges main screen, even with the magnification at it's lowest setting.  It was brown and gray in color with four long arms with giant claws.  It's body was long and narrow, with a large rounded mouth filled with teeth that were designed for tearing anything apart that it grabbed ahold of.

   The first missiles could be seen impacting on it's arms and the computer generated pulse beams graphics could also be seen as making some hits.  Others were missing their target.  But no matter how many hits, the Giant Kaltor kept advancing, heedless of the injuries it was taking.  Just as the histories described.

   "Other ships are starting to engage now sir" the weapons officer stated.

   But it wasn't going to be enough.  The speed of that creature was hard to comprehend even while watching it.  Then, with only a few broadsides fired, it grabbed ahold of the ship.  It's claws started pulling and twisting at the ship.  Pulling the ship and her crew close enough so it could use its mouth to try and pry the ship apart.  Systems all over the ship started to fail.

   "Sir, hull breach on decks two through five, section eighteen thr..."  The damage control officers voice was cut off when her station exploded from a power surge.

   Captain Buckley tried in vain to reach the all hands circuit for his mic.  But the violent shaking the ship was taking made it almost impossible to reach that few inches.  Finally, for what seemed like an eternity he was able to reach it.

   "All hands, abandon ship!" 

   Just has Captain Buckley made that first statement, there was a load explosion followed by the whoosh of air escaping from the bridge.  Along with crew members not strapped in and debris.  Those crew member that were strapped in, fought to close the face shields on their helmets.  Most lost that fight.

   A few seconds later, the screen went black with the white letters "Transmission Ended"

   The lights in the auditorium came on as the hologram shutdown.

   "Twelve of the two hundred thirty-eight crew survived.  The Kaltor was destroyed with no other ships damaged or destroyed, or crew lost.  You've all had time to view the bridge recording, the battle tactical replay, and the after action reports from Admiral Diego, his staff, and his ships captains.  What are your thoughts."

   "Shields.  They should have had shields.  We should never have abandoned the research into shields in favor of hyper drives."  Captain Peng, head of Naval Weapons Development was the first to speak up.  As head of the NWD, he was responsible for all offensive and defensive system development.  It was funding from his defensive shield program that had been taken and reallocated to the hyper drive program.

   "Captain Peng, you know as well as all of us that the Imperial Security Committee made that decision for us and why." Replied Sir Lester Fink, Lord of the Admiralty. 

   "And we're seeing the results of that decision My Lord.  If our ships had shields, there is a good chance the Archer 1 and her crew would have survived the encounter. " Captain Peng stated.  Adding "Our ships should have had better protection before we started to move to other systems."

   "Captain, none of us had any idea that we were going to be attacked by a Giant Kaltor.  It had already destroyed a gas mining station and an energy research station at Trendillu Major 8.  And it was moving further into the system.  The navy could not sit back and watch it do more damage.  The men and women of First Fleet did their duty.  Protecting the citizens of the Empire is what why we're forming a navy."  Said Commodore Shinzo Yamamoto, head of Naval Personnel and Training Command.

   "And captain, notwithstanding the fact that both his Lord and I are members of the ISC, if this Empire is to survive, we have to expand.  And in order to expand, we need the hyper drive engines with their better speed, range, and efficiency.   We need those engines to colonize both Nurstus and Dinnascar systems, and explore that yellow star system to our galactic northeast in sector D1."  Admiral Davis stated.  Admiral Rodney M. Davis was the First Space Lord, the uniformed head of the Imperial Navy. 

Continuing he said "I think we can all agree that shields would have gone a long way to helping the crew of the Archer 001 survive it's encounter with the Kaltor.  However, ladies and gentlemen, we had better accept here and now, that our men and women will not always have the best weapons and systems that our opponents have.  Therefore, they will need to rely on their training and experience to come out victorious.  But!  We had also better realize that no matter how superior we may be, we will take casualties.  That is a fact of war."  The last words he said as he swept his gaze from face to face of the others present.  Nearly everyone returned his eye contact or have a nod of agreement, except for Captain Peng.

      Lord Fink and Admiral Davis were working hard to establish a navy in which the officers were politically agnostic.  For the most part they were having success, but a few, like Captain Peng, were proving exceptionally hard headed on the subject. 

      Continuing, Admiral Davis said "The purpose of a Board of Inquiry is not to place blame, but to find what mistakes, if any, were made and how to eliminate them.  It is also to identify where we need to concentrate the development of new systems and tactics. "

      "I fully endorse what Admiral Davis just stated.  And I'll add this reminder.  We're in the extreme galactic northwest.  To the best of our knowledge, no other race has a presence in this star cluster.  In order to both verify that and keep others out, we need to move with speed to explore this cluster.  And, as the Lord of the Treasury reminds me on a daily basis, the vault is not bottomless.  Therefore, we need colonize other systems to expand our economy. "  Lord Fink stated.   

Before anyone else could speak up, he went on "Because the vault is not bottomless, we cannot afford to put a fleet above every colony.  We need to develop faster ships and early warning systems to cover multiple colonies.   With that being said, the ISC has authorized the creation of three more fleets.  One each for the new colonies in Nuraslus and Dinnascar, when they are inhabited, and one to be located in a base to be determined.  Most likely at this moment in the Xa Fil Junction to protect our west flank."

      "Admiral Davis just found out about this right before this meeting and once we're done here, he'll start working with you all to start forming the plan for each of those fleets.  Now, let's get back to why we're here."

[OJsDad]

Ok, history lesson time.

Rodney M. Davis was not a Navy Admiral, but was a Marine Sergeant killed in action in Vietnam.  He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

A Perry class frigate was named after him.  While on her maiden deployment, I served on her for a couple of months as a stinger missile gunner.  My unit was assigned to Joint Task Force Middle East and moved from ship to ship as they were assigned to or left the JTF.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_M._Davis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Rodney_M._Davis_(FFG-60)

[Martok]

Ah yes, the age-old debate between what to research first.  I usually go for engines before shields too, but of course you can always argue that one back & forth. 

Thanks for the info on Rodney Davis and the ship named after him.  I hadn't heard of him before. 

[OJsDad]

Finally, I had time to sit down and write this up.  Now, I can resume my game  O0

PART VII

The heart of the Empires capital city of Serengeti was laid out in a triangle.  The north point pointed to the entrance of the Imperial Palace.  Looking southeast from the palace running for one mile along Boulevard of Justice was the Hall of Justice, the seat of the Imperial Supreme Court.  Looking to the southwest along the one mile long Boulevard of Crown was Parliament House.  Parliament House and Hall of Justice were connected through the mile long Boulevard of Citizens.

Sitting between each point of the triangle, were the various buildings housing the leaders of the different government apparatuses.  While the leaders of these departments and agencies had their official offices along the boulevards, the real work was conducted in other areas of the planet.

Looking at these wide boulevards lined with the leadership offices of the empire, one would think that the streets would be clogged with traffic.  The opposite was the truth though.  All non-foot traffic was banned from the Triangle as it was called.
In the center was a vast park.  At just about any time of the day members of parliament, the government houses, the Supreme Court, and even the Emperor himself could be found mingling with each other.  If there was ever an official study done, it would be found that more was accomplished in the Park than within the buildings lining the outside of Triangle. 

On this day, the Boulevard of Crown was packed with cheering masses.  Down the center came a procession led by Leader Yaz Gepkiy.  He was not human but Shandar.  Standing at five foot four inches, his would be described by humans as reptilian.  Predominately grey, but with shades of green, yellow, and orange.  A human would describe him as reptilian.

As Yaz stepped in front of the emperor, he knelt down on one knee, briefly bowed his head, and looked up into Richards eye.  He extended both hands, crossing one on top of the other.  Richard replied in kind placing both of his hands on top of the Shandar's.

"I, Yaz Gepkiy, speaking for myself, my family, and as leader of the people of the Shandar system, pledge our fidelity, our swords, our minds, our culture, and our wealth, and that of my family, and my people, for eternity to the House of Doll and the Terran Empire."

"I, Richard IV, head of the House of Doll, Emperor of the Terran Empire, on behalf of my family and my people, pledge our fidelity, our sword, our wisdom, our intelligence, our culture, and our wealth to the people of the Shandar system.  Now and forever."

The two leaders looked into each others eyes what seemed like an hour, but what was only about two heart beats.  Richard then pull his hands away, only to then extend them and helped Yaz to his feet.
"Come brother, we have much to discuss."

"My ministers and I were very surprised when you decided to build a space station to rival the one here orbiting Trendillu Major 3.  Pleased, but surprised. " Yaz Gepkiy stated as he drank Securan wine from his stone goblet.

"Well Yaz, as Richard would say, it was a no brainer, when you looked at all of the reasons to place a space station that size there." Princess Indo Zotri.  Like Yaz, she was an adopted member of the imperial family.  And like Yaz, she was the imperial representative to the Empire.  She attended all council meetings, not only representing the Securan members of the Empire, but bringing their unique views to the decision making process. 

Prince Yaz Gepkiy and his descendants would do the same for the Shandar members of the Empire.
Continuing on, Indo stated "First, Shandar is going to just about be the furthest southern system of the Empire.   Second, because of that position, second fleet will be home ported there.  We don't anticipate any military conflicts with the Free Shandar Paradise, it is prudent for us to make sure the border is well secured.  And having a large support base for what will be a headquarters of whole front is a requirement.  Third, the Shandar system has the second largest population and economy in the Empire.  And finally, because of size, we hope to encourage trade between ourselves and both the Ancients and the Free Shandar people."

"Currently, the only other planets that we would consider placing such large space stations are the other two inhabited planets here in the capital system and Immai in the Nurastus system which is so close to here that it wouldn't give us much advantage at this time.  Though we are looking at expanding their space station to somewhere between where they are now and the ones here and in Shandar." Richard said. 

"Economically, the Empire is in good shape.  Quite a few of our planets are fairly small, less than one billion in population but they are growing nicely.  We built the Bakuras shipyards that will help allow us to build more ships faster, and we're working on Rusan science facility.  If that works out like we hope, it should give us a scientific and research boost."

"Militarily, we have two threats, one immediate and one potential.  Well, perhaps a third with the Pliados Prime Authority to our east.  But currently they don't seem to be too interested in us and we're on somewhat decent diplomatic terms."

Taking a sip of his own wine he then continued.  "The immediate threat is one you also know well in the form of the various pirate gangs.  Currently, we're paying them protection money.  It's not something I wish to do, but until we can build up our navy, it's something we have to do.  But, right now, it's cheaper to pay them protection money than to build a fleet large enough to defeat them.  We also need planetary forces large enough to take out their planet side bases we know they have. "

"Yes, we were in the same position with the pirates." Yaz stated unhappily. 

"It's because of the potential threat that keeps us from addressing the pirates at this time." Indo said.  "Both the Imperial Naval Intelligence Command and the Imperial Intelligence Service think the rumors about the return of the Shakturi are more than just rumors.  Because they originated from outside of the galaxy, we believe there is a very real possibility that they could return again. "

Speaking up for the first, Prime Minister Russell stated "Our position in the galaxy gives us an opportunity to build a well developed and fortified position.  Therefore, we're putting our resources into colonizing those planets that we can and develop them when we do.  Currently, we have four more planets that we can colonize that we can reach.  Well, now we have a fifth.  It's a volcanic planet that our Shandar citizens should find quite acceptable.  Our scientists and engineers are working on the means to colonize swamp planets.  And, once our scientists and engineers develop the means for us to colonize swamp worlds, we will have several more planets in this cluster we can colonize."

"Soon, though, we will begin to expand the navy." Richard stated.  "We will also expand the army.  Our scientists and engineers have not been idol in developing the weapons and systems we will need.  And once we are ready, we will begin to take out the pirates. "


"Our plans and goals are long termed.  We may have to make adjustments, but the worst thing we can do is to rush head long into making mistakes."

"Yes, I can see this." Yaz replied.  "This makes me more glad that we chose to join the empire"

[JasonPratt]

Princess Indo Zotri.  Like Yaz, she was an adopted member of the imperial family.  And like Yaz, she was the imperial representative to the Empire.

Wait; who is she again and where does she come from? Sounds like from another faction like Yaz.

[OJsDad]

Sorry about that.  I got pulled away when I was writing this and thought I had included.


When the empire started to expand one of it's biggest concerns was what would happen if they annexed planets with populations other than human.  An answer to that question was needed a lot sooner than anyone dreamt. 

A planet with significant Securan population was discovered early in exploration of the cluster.  Friendly contact was established and it was discovered that they had not developed the same level of technology that the empire had.  They were also constantly being raided by pirates.  At the time, neither the Securans or the empire knew about the other Securan nations in neighboring clusters. 

Since the empire was a lot more advanced in technology and stronger economically and militarily, the Securan's agreed to join the empire.  This gave them immediate protection from the pirates, and access to the economy and technology.  The empire gained a new race of citizens that brought the deep love of culture and happiness.

While the Securans were able to sent representatives to the Commons and some were given patents on nobility and seated in the House of Lords, it was felt that they needed to be tied more tightly into the empire.  In an attempt to address this issue, Richard decided to adopt a member of the Securans into his family. 

The Securans are a matriarchal society and was led at the time of admission into the empire by Indo Zotri.  Richard adapted her as his sister and made her a princess of the realm.  She, nor her decendents, can never ascend to the throne, but the are permanent members of the emperors council.  They are also treated a true members of the family, taking vacations, dinning, and other family activities. 

While it is to early to know if this will keep the Securans happy and loyal, they seem to feel that it showed the empires commitment to treating and regarding them as equals.  The same is hoped to be true with Shandars with the adoption of Yaz.

[Martok]

Cool.  Getting both a Securan and Shandar world to join your empire early on is always nice.  8) 

[OJsDad]

Part VIII

   The members of the Imperial Security Council rose as the Emperor entered the conference room.  The large circular room located in the Hexagon was the main strategy room.  There were five rows,  each higher than the one in front of it, surrounding the two large holographic projectors. 

   The first is one of the two largest in the Empire.  The Space Lords and their staffs used it for strategy planning.  It could project an area of space of five by three sectors with good detail.  Showing system names, systems with colonies, those with just bases, and fleets.   Running the projection out to its max, it could show an area of twelve by eight.  This was enough to show the current entire empire borders and many of the neighboring empires.  The twin to this holographic system was in the Imperial War College and was used as a tactical simulator. 

   The second projector in the room is mounted to the ceiling as had several uses.  One use is to project the person who was speaking.  The console that each person sat has it's own microphone and camera.  It could also be used to show unit information, intelligence assessments, or any other information that wasn't needed in such large detail.

   The conference room could hold 350 people comfortably.  Today however, there were only eleven people present.  The Emperor, the Lord of the Admiralty, the First Space Lord, the Second Space Lord, who was responsible for Naval Operations.  There were also the Third Space Lord, responsible for Naval Intelligence, Fourth Space Lord, otherwise known as the Commandant of the Marines, the Fifth and Sixth Lords, in command of Ships Command and Weapons Command respectively. 

   On the civilian side, there were the Foreign Minister, Assessments Minister, also known as the empires spy master, and the Treasury Minister. 
   
   As he reached his seat, the emperor told the others to be seated.  "Alright folks, we have a pretty short agenda today.  But the item on that agenda is going to take quite a bit of discussion.  And that item is where do we go next.  Lord Fink, would you please start us off."

   "My pleasure, your Majesty." The Lord of the Admiralty said.  "As we all know, the strategy of the Empire since his Majesty led us to our return to space, has been to secure the Roman cluster from all outside threats.  We've done this by colonizing every planet we have the ability to colonize.  Every system has either a space station and a fortress in orbit, or they are under construction.  We also have three combat fleets that will respond to any threats.  We are still paying for protection to many pirates, and we would like to end that practice, but at this time, it would cost us much more to do this."

   That final statement brought several nods of agreement and several scowls of unhappiness. 

   "With the exception of the Tyr system on the eastern edge of sector B1, Ylisea Prime in C4, and Delunixa in the southwest corner of D4, all of our other systems are close in to the cluster.  Tyr is well protected due to its location so far from everything else.  The closest neighbors to Ylisea are the Free Shandar Paradise empire to its southeast, and the only known Ancients system.  Delunixa sits between the Ancients and the Free Securan Utopia nation.  Per NavInt, we're not anticipating any hostilities with any of those entities.  Does the Foreign Office and Assessments agree."

   Lord Owen Griggs, Minister of the Foreign Office and Sir Steven Welch,  head of the Assessments Ministry, both nodded in agreement.

   "In the last few years, the Empire went through a very rapid period of colonization.  This has helped to secure the Roman Cluster." Fink went on.  "But it has caused a strain on our treasury."

   "That is true, however, with the development of the newest system, the things are starting to look better from the treasuries point of view."  Sir Barrett, the Minister of the Treasury stated.  "Our projections are that in about ten years most of these new planets should be contributing to the treasury.  Currently, with tax incentives and their size they're not making any positive contributions to the treasury."

   Pausing for a few moments, Lord Fink continued on.  "While we at the Admiralty see the wisdom to stop our expansion and allow the economy to grow, we feel that now is the time to take a leap at a possible great prize.  First Lord Davis will brief you on Operation Longbow, with you permission, your Majesty."

   Taking a few seconds to look around the room, the Emperor turned to the First Lord and gave a single curt nod.

   "Thank you, your Majesty.  As Lord Fink was saying,  we at the Admiralty had always figured that after this current round of colonization, we would settle into fortifying the cluster, preparing to remove the pirate threat and any other external threats.  One of those threats, that you're all aware of, is the possible return of the Shakturi."

   "However, a number of events have come together, or will very shortly, that has us at the Admiralty to reevaluate that position."

   "The first is that Admiral Davis has taken possession of the Almas Prime space station.  In addition to the space station, there were four war ships docked there.  They were two cruisers, one destroyer, and one frigate.  We've designated these ships as Fifth Fleet.  Yes, it's a rather small in number of ships, but the combat strength they have is about what any of our other fleets have.  ShipCom and WeapsCom would like to have them brought home so that they tear into them and try to reverse engineer their secrets, we have other plans for them."

   "The second event, is the completion on how to build and operate resupply squadrons.  With these squadrons we can greatly extend the range that our ships can operate from home."

   "Finally, the third item is WeapsCom is close to being able to deploy Ion Cannons.  Without these, we would not want to venture to far out of the Roman Cluster with the Silvermist out there somewhere."

   "What we at the Admiralty would like to do, is a plan called Operation Longbow.  There are a number of phases and pieces to it.  To start, we would bring Fifth Fleet home and embark Marines.  The space station is advanced enough that it should have any issues with any would be aggressors."

   "Once the Ion Cannons are ready for deployment, we will then begin construction on three resupply squadrons.  Once they are complete, we will deploy them for use by Fifth Fleet.  The ships in the Fifth use hydrogen, not Carlson, but for where we want to send them, we should have any problems securing it for them."

   "Excuse me First Lord, but where do  you wish to send them." The Emperor asked.

   Looking back at the Emperor, the First Lord simply said "Malthur"

[undercovergeek]

MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!