My name is Richard Doll. Today is my 21st birthday. My day of accession. I wasn't supposed to inherit the throne. That was my brothers birth right. And it would have been, except for that day eleven years ago.
We had known we were not from this planet, Trendillu Major 3. Our histories show that we were part of a great interstellar empire, though we were not the only race or star nation in the galaxy. While there had been wars between some of those other races, we had learned to live a coexistence. Some of us were genuine friends and openly traded and traveled within borders of each other.
Then they came. The Shakturi. They came from outside of our galaxy, claiming to be fleeing a great evil in their home galaxy. It was a couple of years after they arrived, that the more aggressive races that were native to our galaxy, started to attack their peaceful neighbors. For centuries they had been forced to curb their aggressiveness. While the other races were peaceful, it did not make them easy prey either.
All of the races started their expansions about the same time. The more peaceful and freedom orientated races tended to come together. There were some minor wars or isolated incidents between them, but they never amounted to much or for very long. Together they built a space station in a star system that held no planets. Here the races were able to resolve any issues peacefully. This body had no authority over any of the member races. It was solely there for diplomatic purposes. The strongest action it could take was the awarding of colonies to the member races.
But, not all of the races were peaceful and believed in freedom. Others were aggressive, war hungry. Their governments were totalitarian. They would have had more success in conquering territory, except that by their very nature, they were not able to cooperate with each other. They were just as willing to fight each other than what eventually became known as the Alliance.
That is, until the Shakturi arrived. We're not sure how they managed it, but they were able to get the aggressive races to...cooperate. They almost never worked together in the conquest of a system. But they had no problem coordinating attacks against different systems. These races and their Shakturi overlords were to be known as the Axis.
The surprise the attacks and the shrinking of the Allies military budgets allowed for early success of the Axis. But the larger economies and advanced technologies allowed the Allies to regain their footing. These advantages didn't last long. The result was, after 23 years of warfare, and stalemate. Both sides were nearly evenly matched, though in a very warn out state.
That's when the Shakturi actively entered the war. Before that, they had not shown a military force of their own. Instead, they have stayed behind the scenes, making sure that the members of the Axis stayed focused on whom the enemy was. They are also the reason the Axis closed the economic and technology gap so quickly. Though they had saved the best technology for themselves.
Their attacks were at first directed solely against the Allies. But they quickly started to engage members of the Axis. All hope seemed to be lost, when the Allies released a secret weapon. It was a genetic virus that would kill any Shakturi that came in contact with it. A Shakturi infected with the virus would not show any symptoms until seven to ten days later. But during that time, they were contagious. The Allies had also secretly bred Kaltors. These were used to deliver the virus to the Shakturi worlds.
But the Shakturi had one last surprise of their own. They had developed a ship that was capable of destroying planets. Before the virus could spread to all of their fleets, they launched this last weapon of terror. The last few developed worlds were destroyed before the Shakturi fleet crews succumbed to the virus. All that were left were some scattered colony worlds like Trendillu Major 3.
We numbered less than 300,000. Most of the knowledge that was needed to begin rebuilding our lost civilization was not to be found on our planet. Even if it was, we could not be sure that the Shakturi did not have ships that could destroy us. So, it was decided that we should not return to space. That we would make ourselves small, unnoticed.
That was 1500 years ago. Until eleven years prior, it had worked. I was with my classmates on a school trip to the other side of the planet when the Black Mining pirates appeared. They had to of been watching us for a while before striking. Before we knew they were there, they had destroyed much of Celina, the capital. In that strike, they killed most of the government, including father, mother, Linus, my older brother, and Ruth, my little sister.
The Black Mining pirates told us that if we did not wish to suffer further attacks, we would pay them a yearly tribute. More specifically, they told me. I had little choice but to acquiesce to their demands.
That was eleven years ago. Today, my accession day, we prepare to end our enslavement to them.
Very nice ....will be monitoring...don't make me buy another game:)
Popcorns out..... bring it on
ditto
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FHkq3c.gif&hash=cde4fb1d31caffa4510f9c585193c2dad321c946)
Good intro, looking forward to more.
Quote from: OJsDad on May 31, 2014, 07:22:18 PM
Together they built a space station in a star system that held no planets. Here the races were able to resolve any issues peacefully.
Someones been watching Babylon 5.
Quote from: Kushan on May 31, 2014, 08:05:53 PM
Good intro, looking forward to more.
Quote from: OJsDad on May 31, 2014, 07:22:18 PM
Together they built a space station in a star system that held no planets. Here the races were able to resolve any issues peacefully.
Someones been watching Babylon 5.
Not lately. But it was a great show. I didn't have cable when it was on, but mom would record it for me and I would watch two or three episodes in a row.
Excellent! Looking forward to read this!
Quote from: undercovergeek on May 31, 2014, 07:50:02 PM
Popcorns out..... bring it on
I'll grab the chips n' dip!
none of your guacamole muck!!
Quote from: undercovergeek on June 01, 2014, 01:45:13 PM
none of your guacamole muck!!
Oh but you haven't
lived... ! ;D
I'm taking a seat to watch the show as well. And I'll order a Scottish Whiskey.
"We're being told that Prime Minister Russell will be taking the speaker's podium in a few moments. Yes, there he is now."
The scene on the display changed from the news anchor to a moderately tall, young man stepped up to the podium that stood at the front of the House of Commons. He looked young for his office, no more than thirty. In reality he was ninety-eight. Looking at his rich black hair, brown eyes you never have known his real age. Under the robes of his office was a slim muscular body. He had been an avid athlete in school. His discipline to maintain his build was developed while an officer in the Imperial Marines. He ran five kilometers every morning, and spent at an hour in the gym every night. When asked why he was so devoted to his workout routine, he would quip that if he had any hope of keeping up with the needs and happiness of three wives, he had to stay in top physical form.
"Ladies, Gentlemen, and Lords of the Realm. It is not just my professional pleasure, but also my personal please, to present his Imperial Majesty, Richard the Fourth."
A thunderous roar of shouts and applause erupted from the speakers of the monitors and radios all around Trendillu Major 3 as a five foot eleven inch, brown haired and blue eye twenty-one year old man stepped up to the podium. The camera panned out to take in the entire 1241 members of the House of Commons and the 508 members of the House of Lords. Crown Loyalists, Libertarians, Labor party members were all on their feet wildly cheering and applauding. Indeed, it seemed that the members of each party were trying to out cheer each other.
The handful of People and Isolation party members were on their feet politely applauding, though they were not cheering. A few of them looking like they wished they were anywhere but here at this moment in time for it was no secret what the new emperor was going to ask for. Nor was it any secret that the vast majority of the two houses would be more than happy to give it to him.
After a full three minutes and forty seconds of applause, Richard raised his hands, palms down, and waved in a down motion asking those present to be seated. It took another thirty-eight seconds for everyone to find their seats and for Richard to begin his speech.
"Ladies, Gentlemen, and My Lords. I cannot put into words how truly humbled I am by the reception you have given me. I pray that at the sunset of my reign that you will find the desire to welcome me to speak to this august body."
"It has been the tradition of Parliament to invite a newly crowned Emperor or Empress to speak. To formally layout their vision of the future. What dreams and goals they hope to accomplish during their reign. Never in the past has the crown come before you one day after their twenty-first birthday. One day after their regency council was dissolved because of that same twenty-first birthday."
"It is no secret why I wanted to come to you today. My regency council and I, along with this esteemed body, have been working towards this day since the murder of not only my family, but that of over one million of our fellow citizens."
"But, before I get to that reason, there is a second reason I have come to you today" That simple statement brought a low whisper among those sitting in attendance. Everyone in the empire knew why the emperor had wanted to speak so quickly to a combined session of parliament. But only two people in all of the universe knew what that second reason was.
"The second reason I have an urgent reason to speak to Parliament today, is that I have finally worked up the courage to ask Miss Rosemary Ellis not to become not only mine, but this Empires Empress." That brought an instantaneous thunderous applause as everyone turned and looked up at the black blond blue eyed twenty-three year old woman sitting in the visitor's gallery.
No one would ever call her beautiful, nor would they call her ugly. Plain would be the one word that would forever describe her. Not that she really cared what anyone else thought of her. If she cared about what others thought, she would be worried about the millions of young single (and some older married ones) that, for the life of them, could not figure out why the emperor would choose her.
To find the answer to that question, one would have to go back to when they were seven years old. The empress had taken the children to the family ranch. A new ranch manager, Mr. Ellis, and his family had moved in since the last family visit. At that time, young prince Richard had a penchant pranks. His first target on that trip was the ranch managers oldest child Rosemary. Unfortunately for Richard, she didn't appreciate his sense of humor. In fact, she sent him running with a bloody nose. Mr. Ellis thought for sure that he would be looking for a new job.
However, the empress knew all about her son's sense of humor and had a much better idea, and made sure that Richard and Rosemary spent as much time a possible together not only on that visit, and not only on subsequent trips to the ranch, but whenever the empress could arrange for Rosemary to come visit. It was shortly after Richard no longer had to explain why Rosemary had put a whooping on him that the pranks ended.
Richard and Rosemary's relationship did not end with his pranks. It evolved over in a short amount of time into a true friendship. And never was that friendship stronger than when Richards family was murdered. After the attack, he had been taken to a secure and secret base. But he refused to allow anyone into his room or to eat for two days. That's when it was decided to bring Rosemary in. Within three hours of her arrival, she had gotten him to eat and leave his room. From that point on, she was his most trusted of advisors, even though she was not a member of the regency council.
Munch crunch nyom nom 8)
First two posts at almost 2000 words, and I haven't played a month of game time yet
Quote from: OJsDad on June 02, 2014, 07:19:56 PM
First two posts at almost 2000 words, and I haven't played a month of game time yet
the one bad thing about AARs is not playing the game because youre writing about playing the game
Quote from: OJsDad on June 02, 2014, 07:19:56 PM
First two posts at almost 2000 words, and I haven't played a month of game time yet
This is going to be a long game....
Quote from: undercovergeek on June 02, 2014, 07:04:20 PM
Munch crunch nyom nom 8)
Delicious!
Quote from: undercovergeek on June 03, 2014, 03:12:33 AM
Quote from: OJsDad on June 02, 2014, 07:19:56 PM
First two posts at almost 2000 words, and I haven't played a month of game time yet
the one bad thing about AARs is not playing the game because youre writing about playing the game
Too true.
Oh good! I don't have to work at trying to play this game for a while, with two AARs running! 8)
As the applause and cheers quieted down, Richard quipped "Once Rosemary tells me when and where to be for our nuptials, I'll let everyone else know." That brought about another round of laughter while everyone found their seats again.
As the last of the noise faded away the grin on Richards face also faded away. His gaze gave a final sweep of the members of Parliament, seemingly looking at each and every one of them in the eye for a moment.
"One thousand four hundred and ninety-two years ago, we lost contact with the rest of the galaxy. We know that contact was lost because of the Shakturi. What we were never sure of then, or even now, is whether or not the Shakturi are still a threat. We do know that both sides of that great war had unleashed their final secret weapons to eliminate the opposition."
"I feel, as most of you do, that both sides succeeded in given the other side a death blow that they could not recover from. I feel that if either side had survived those final super weapons, that they would have come looking for us by now. The Allies would have reached out to everyone colony to help rebuild. The Shakturi would have to make sure that no one was left that could threaten them. "
"But more compelling evidence is what happened eleven years ago. When the Black Mining pirates attacked. If either power had survived to be able to rebuild, I know that the pirates would not exist. Because of their existence I believe that there is no great power left. In fact, I believe that if other worlds survived, then they are in similar situations like us. Cut off from the rest of the galaxy, scared to venture off world, and possibly at the mercy of pirates."
"It is because of these reasons, that I believe it is time to venture back into space. First, by establishing a space station that will allow us to defend this planet, build ships to travel to the other planets in this system, and to allow us to gather resources from those planets. I also propose we build a couple of battle stations to help defend this planet, ships to survey the rest of the Trendillu system, research stations to help develop new technologies, and if needed, construction ships to build the facilities necessary for resource gathering in other areas of the system."
"Many believe that if we take these first steps, that we will be able to free ourselves from the tributes that we are forced to pay the pirates. This, unfortunately, will not be possible immediately. We know that there are two other planets in the system, Trendillu Major 1 and 2, that will support humans with no problem. And, our engineers believe that with the right technology that there are other planets in this system that we can colonize. "
"It is because of these possible colonies and the possible mining operations in other parts of the system, that we will need a navy for defense. However, neither our technology nor are our naval personnel ready for those responsibilities, yet."
"We need to develop, and in many cases, reinvent weapon, defense and ship technologies, including faster than light travel. We know the pirates have that technology, and without it, they will be able to out race our ships from target to target. And, from what have seen, we know that their weapons are also stronger than anything we have."
"But, even if we when match and exceed the pirates technology, design better ships, they will be useless without the men and women to crew them. For the majority of the last fifteen hundred years, we have had a small military force and they have served us well. But currently, they are not ready to take on the responsibilities of a space based forced. In the last eleven years, they have done what they can with theories and simulations. Until they can start crewing ships they will not be able to truly build the professionalism that will be needed to use those ships."
"One final reason I believe we should return to space. It is hard for me to believe we are the only colony world of any of the allied races to have survived. Indeed, I would not be surprised if there are other human colonies out there. It is my belief that we have a moral obligation to find then, to offer them our friendship, and our arms in mutual defense."
"I know how scary this whole adventure is to many of our citizens. But what is even more scary to me is that the pirates are already a threat that we currently cannot counter. The fact that the Shakturi invaded our galaxy from another galaxy once and either they or another race may try again. And not being ready to do something about that possibility is even more scary. Our population has grown to over 5.2 billion people, we can no longer hide from others scouts."
"That, my fellow citizens, is why I ask that you support our return to space"
The parliament chamber erupted into a bedlam of applause and cheering.
Nice. So did you deliberately have Richard channeling JFK, or did it just happen to work out that way? :)
good stuff - is this pure fiction, or is it the actual back story to the game?
Quote from: Martok on June 06, 2014, 02:18:50 AM
Nice. So did you deliberately have Richard channeling JFK, or did it just happen to work out that way? :)
It just worked out that way. I never even thought of him when I was writing.
Quote from: undercovergeek on June 06, 2014, 05:52:49 AM
good stuff - is this pure fiction, or is it the actual back story to the game?
Pretty much pure fiction. Until after I posted last night only a couple of game months had been played and I had only played that much to see which pirate faction would show up.
Some notes from the author.
1. Build times are DW are fast. Since my last post, 2 game years have elapsed. In that time, I have built a large space station, three research stations, two construction ships, two survey ships, and a number of mining ships. As your reading my story, the narrative time lines will probably not match the times in the game. So if you see some screen shots and the time differences don't look right with the story, that is why.
2. All names of other races, planets, stars, etc. will match between story and game.
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.
4. The game shows a single leader. This is not Richard, or any other sitting monarch. I consider the lead not to be a single person but a combination of the prime minister and the cabinet. I apply the same logic to planetary governors. Admirals, generals, ambassadors, scientist if treat as a single person.
Hopefully I can write a good story and keep you all interest.
Quote from: OJsDad on June 06, 2014, 08:10:17 PM
Hopefully I can write a good story and keep you all interest.
you have so far - a purchase hangs in the balance here man!!
Oh, bollocks. You already want to buy it; you know you do! >:D
The western horizon was aglow from the setting sun. The eastern horizon was pitch black and filling quickly with stars. The only sound was from the gentle crashing of the oceans waves coming on shore. Dave Stratton was looking to the east, watching those stars as they came into view. The light from the fire was partially obscuring some of the stars, but the breeze off the ocean forced him to stand closer to the warmth of the fire than he wished.
His interest so focused on those stars, that he never heard the person walking up behind him. He had no idea they were there until her slender arms slid under his and wrapped themselves around his muscular abdomen and chest, drawing him closer into her. The top of her head only came up to his chin. For a brief second, we felt her breath on his back, in-between his shoulder blades, before she turned her head and rested it in that same spot that her breath had touched a moment ago.
She began slowly running the tips of her nails up and down his chest and stomach. He could barely her say, "They were asleep seconds after their heads hit the pillows."
He continued to stand there, staring at the ever growing sky full of stars. She allowed him to stand like that for a few seconds more, then slowly, she forced him to turn and face him. Her hands continued their slow journey up and down his back, her head pressed against his chest. Grinning to himself, he allowed his hands to wonder onto her back. As soon as she had pulled him to her, he knew she had left her cover up in the tent, and replaced her one piece swim suit with her two piece tanning suit.
They stood like that for what seemed like hours. She with her head against his chest. He looking down into the top of her long red hair. Then one of their upwards journey, her hand continued up past his neck and to the back of his head. At the same time, she pulled her head back, looking up into his eye, revealing her green eyes and light sprinkle of freckles. Her hand resting behind his head pulled his mouth to hers. He allowed one of his hands to come up to her shoulder, then begin to drift down her chest to cup her full, supple, br....
Beep-beep! Beep-beep! "Command Stratton, we need you on the bridge sir"
In an instant, the image of his wife, Autumn, was replaced by the image of Chief Petty Officer Wagner. It took Commander David Stratton a couple of seconds to remember that he was not planet side, but aboard the HMS Lawless Mirage. Mirage seemed to be an acute description to what he was feeling at the moment.
His dream had been of the last night he had been planet side with his family. A week later, he had gone back to space to take command of the second survey ship, the second ship of any kind, to be built. He and his crew of thirty-one would be gone just over a year to get a better understanding of the other planets and moons in the Trendillu Major system.
The Lawless Mirage and her sister ship, the Prize of Trendillu Major, had already surveyed Trendillu Major 1 and 2. The two were like Trendillu Major 3, a continental planet that could support human life as is. Then they had split up and gone their separate ways.
The Prize headed to the asteroid belt between the systems fourth and fifth planets. As they were approaching the outer edge of the belt, they had detected something strange. It didn't take long for them to realize that it was moving towards them. When they got a visual on the object, it looked to be some kind of slug. Because the survey ships had no weapons, all they could do was set a course away from the creature. After that, they continued on to Trendillu Major 5, a gas giant, orbited by a single barren rock of a moon. At this time, the Prize was heading back to the Trendillu Major 3's space station to refuel and resupply.
The Lawless had head out system also on a course for Trendillu Major 6. Also a gas giant that is orbited by two rock barren moons and a single desert moon. Survey's on all of them had been completed, except for Eluir, the desert moon. Looking at his clock, they were about sixteen hours from orbit there. That means he had been asleep for all of one and a half hours.
"Chief, this had better be damn important. You just interrupted Mrs. Stratton and me."
"Yes sir, it definitely import enough to interrupt your dreams. Our satellites have deployed around Eluir. Nothing unusual from the weather satellites, but he the visual and mapping satellites have found something unusual. It looks like a structure of some sort sir"
"Are you sure chief. We have nothing in our files that indicate that there was ever anything out here."
"Yes sir. I woke up Ms. Rios first and she confirmed it. She's still studying the takes, that's why so she asked me to wake you."
Martha Rios was the ships X.O. and survey specialist. She wouldn't have had the captain awaken on anything trivial.
"Alright chief, I'll be up in about five minutes. Stratton out." He laid back down for about fifteen seconds before getting the energy to heave himself up and out of the bed.
"Captain on the bridge" Chief Wagner said as Commander Stratton stepped onto the bridge four minutes later. The Imperial Navy had pulled all of the information that was in the archives on the long dead Terran Navy's traditions. One of those traditions was for a ships captains arrival into a compartment to be announced and for the crew to snap to attention. The Imperial Navy had no problem with the captains arrival to be announced, the decided that the crew had better things to do than snap to attention when the captain entered a work space. Therefore, the only time the crew came to attention when the captain entered a compartment was when he came into either crew quarters or mess halls.
"Alright Martha, what do we have."
Lieutenant Martha Rios stood at five foot five and weighed one hundred and ten pounds. Naturally tanned skin with black hair and brown eyes. The only thing that surpassed her love of marathon running was her work in surveying the systems bodies.
"The terrain mapping sats first noticed It and the visual sats confirmed it. Definitely an artificial structure. About 300 feet tall and 210 at the base. It's a giant arch with carved inscriptions on it. The computers have identified the language of the Ancients."
"Comms, get a link opened up to the Hexagon. Raw data only. I don't want any of our analysis to pollute theirs."
"Aye-Aye Sir." The communications petty officer replied.
"Sir," Rios said, "it's looking like the inscriptions are describing the some of the system bodies in about ten of the nearby star systems."
As Stratton seated himself into his command chair, Chief Wagner handed him a cup of coffee. Taking his first sip, his mind started to whirl through all of the possibilities. Lord knows how old this arch and the inscriptions were. If they were indeed descriptions of nearby star systems, they may not be accurate anymore. But whether or not they still one hundred percent accurate or not, this discovery would start a firestorm of research and construction that would rival what took place after what was known as the Emperors Return speech.
After the speech, there was frenetic construction and research. The first three years were mostly concentrated on the construction of eight launch sites, with a total of twenty-five launch platforms. That was followed by two and a half years of round the clock launches with prefab pieces for the space station. When that was done, the launch sites then began launching the battle stations and research stations, and the two construction flotillas.
While the launch sites were working to complete their tasks, the space station had started on construction of the two survey ships. Those took eight months to complete. That was followed by a number of mining ships that were harvesting the resources from the system bodies that the survey ships had visited already.
"Sir, there's something else." Rios stated while giving him a lopsided grin. "If this information is still accurate, then there is a planet in what is called the Nurastus system that we could colonize pretty easily."
Yes, Stratton thought to himself, definitely a frenetic pace coming soon.
romance :'(
drama :o
get typing!!! :tickedoff:
Quote from: undercovergeek on June 08, 2014, 04:00:21 PM
romance :'(
drama :o
get typing!!! :tickedoff:
At this rate, I may need to invest in a voice dictation system. Watch out David Weber!!
To say the crew was disappointed would have been a major understatement. I'm not sure how to describe the crews mood at first. After our discovery at Eluir, we thought we would be headed home to some R&R, like the Prize and her crew. Unlike the Prize, we had plenty of fuel on board, so it was decided to send us out to Trendillu Major 8, the systems outer most planet. It's a frozen gas giant with a single moon, Ibeiv. It wouldn't have been so bad, except it was at the systems zero degree mark and we were at the two hundred and seventy mark. But some astronomers had thought they had detected something in orbit of the planet. All of these years, and no one had noticed anything before. Whatever.
While the crew would have been happier to have gone home first, what we discovered made us repeat heroes of the empire.
We first went to Trendillu Major 8, where we did find something in orbit. It was a highly damaged abandoned ship. We sent a team over to examine it. It was obvious that it was a ship from our human ancestors, the Terran Republic, and the technology looked more advanced than anything we currently have. We couldn't get much information from her, except her name, the Red Vendetta, and her class, a Sabre II destroyer. Per the Hexagons orders, we placed a marker on and continued our survey of Trendillu Major 8.
Once complete, we headed for Ibeiv. There, we made an even bigger and more significant discovery. Actually, two of them. First, we found another ship in orbit. This one was nearly intact. The ship had long run out of fuel and power. We were able to rig a portable power supply to the computer systems and gained access to the logs.
The ships name is Banished Sprite and she is a member of the Medusa II Frigate class. She and the Red Vendetta had been part of one of the allies last task forces. The Vendetta was badly damaged in the battle. The Banished Sprite was attempting to escort the Vendetta to our planet. They knew the colony was and that it had gone dark to try and avoid detection from the Shakturi.
They had made it just into the system when they ran out of Carlson fuel. While the warp engines still had their internal power, the rest of the systems shutdown. Without those systems, they couldn't make their way in system. With the colony having gone dark and not having any craft, the ships were on their own. They had decided to take their chance on Ibeiv.
Ibeiv was a barren rock with no atmosphere. The crews detached the warp engines and got them to the surface. They had rigged up shelters and had gotten their supplies and aquaponics up and running on the ground.
They had been on the surface for seven months when the unforeseeable or undefendable happened. And micro meteor shower hit the moon. Without an atmosphere they were not destroyed in the atmosphere and destroyed the camp.
What was left there was of little use to us. Except the two warp engines. They were beat-up and damaged pretty good. Their internal power supplies had long been depleted. Because we had long ago lost the knowledge of how warp engines worked, shipped them back home in hopes that the egg heads would find them of some use. There was too much damage too them to duplicate them. But they were able to figure out the principles that they worked.
It took twelve years, but they finally figured it out. And today, we get to reap the rewards for all of that work. David Stratton had been promoted to captain and was no longer in command of the Lawless Mirage. That duty had been turned over to Commander Rios. Stratton was now in commanding officer of 1st Survey Squadron. His duty location was in the Hexagon. But today, he was doing an inspection on the Lawless, which just happened to be the first warp capable ship heading on it's experimental flight out system to Tond.
Tond was one of the systems that they had found information about on the arch on Trendillu Major 6. Their mission was two-fold. One was to verify the warp engines. Every ship was waiting for that verification to start upgrades. The other was to verify the information on the arch.
Chief Wagner was the only other member of the original crew still on board. He had spent the better part of the last twelve years as an instructor at fleet training center teaching navigation to the new officers and spacers. Today, he reassumed his old job of ships navigator.
"Ma'am, we're showing all systems ready to go to warp."
"Thank you Chief." Rios replied, much more calmly than anyone really believed. She looked down at the comm screen to the youthful looking lieutenant stationed down in engineering. "Jack, the Chief is ready to go to warp, how things looking down there"
"All systems green, we're ready" replied the ships chief engineer.
"Alright Chief Wagner, on my mark, take us to warp. Three..Two..One...Mark!"
In an instant the Lawless jumped from thirty-three kilometers per second to one thousand two hundred and fifty-seven. It still took weeks to make the transit to Tond, but it was better than the decades it would have taken before.
They had done it, they were back to being a warp capable race again.
Here are a couple of screen shots showing our neighborhood and the galaxy as a whole.
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1145.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fo513%2FOJsDad%2FOurNeighborhood.jpg&hash=7b9d890bf2094dfedbc974911449552dd13bec1c) (http://s1145.photobucket.com/user/OJsDad/media/OurNeighborhood.jpg.html)
(https://www.grogheads.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1145.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fo513%2FOJsDad%2FTheGalaxy.jpg&hash=7194b3d27487b3165d736b58d24051fcd6faaa90) (http://s1145.photobucket.com/user/OJsDad/media/TheGalaxy.jpg.html)
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!
Quote from: Martok on June 09, 2014, 05:24:06 AM
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
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Entire System
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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.
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.
Quote from: OJsDad on June 06, 2014, 08:10:17 PM
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.
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."
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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)
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.
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"
QuotePrincess 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.
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.
Cool. Getting both a Securan and Shandar world to join your empire early on is always nice. 8)
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"
MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm embarrassed to ask, but was Malthur mentioned in the AAR earlier? And if so, what is its significance? (Otherwise, I presume we'll find out soon enough... ;) )
Quote from: Martok on September 09, 2014, 02:33:20 PM
I'm embarrassed to ask, but was Malthur mentioned in the AAR earlier? And if so, what is its significance? (Otherwise, I presume we'll find out soon enough... ;) )
No I had not. 8)
"Malthur!" Lord Griggs shouted in surprise. "Rodney, you've got to be kidding. We've discussed this many times. They're much to far out for us to protect."
"Yes my lord, but as I've just pointed out, we believe that the reasons I just outlined change all of that." The First Space Lord replied calmly.
All sat in silence for what seemed like an hour, thinking about what had already been discussed with the Navy's new capabilities and how they could play into bringing Malthur into the Empire. Finally the Emperor spoke up "OK Rodney, let's hear the overview of this Operation Longbow of yours."
"Yes your Majesty. The first two things that will need to happen is that Fifth Fleet will need to come home and embark Marines. While that is happening, WeapsCom should be able to complete the Ion Cannons. Once those are complete, we'll assemble our first two resupply squadrons."
"Upon completion, they'll depart for the gas cloud that sits in the junction of sectors G4, G5, H4, and H5. The ships of Fifth Fleet use hydrogen, not calson for their reactors. So, we'll need one squadron mining hydrogen for Fifth Fleet and one mining calson to keep the supply squadron fueled and on station."
"Once the supply scquadrons are on station, Fifth Fleet will depart for Malthur, with a refuel stop on the way. Fifth Fleet is strong enough to take on anything of anyone, that we know of, can throw at them. As soon as Malthur is part of the Empire, we'll construct two fortresses first. Those will greatly enhance the systems defenses. The two fortresses will then be followed by a large space station."
The Treasury Minister was not happy to hear that, but remained silent.
"Once we have strong base to operate of Malthur, we'll be moving most of our Exploration flotillas and Construction task groups. We'll also begin assembling Sixth Fleet, which will relieve Fifth Fleet protecting Malthur. Fifth Fleet will then move the Moctraj system and try to clear out the Kaltors that are then so we can get a good look at the ships that are there. And we'll start sending out the Exploration flotillas to start finding out what else is out there."
After a few seconds, Sir Welch spoke up "This is all going to be quite costly Rodney. I'm not sure we can afford it."
"We believe that the younger colonies are well established, growing nicely, and will start making positive financial contributions to the Empire's treasury while the pieces of Operation Longbow start to come together. On top of that, we believe we really cannot afford not to bring Malthur into the Empire and expand that direction." The First Space Lord replied.
After several more seconds of silence, all eyes turned toward the Emperor. Finally, he spoke, making sure he made eye contact with all. "There are more than seven billion humans on Malthur. They do not have the ability to protect themselves. When I led our people back into space, I promised to protect those who could not. I also believe that it is critical to our own survival that we know what is in the parts of the galaxy we cannot reach now. Therefore, First Space Lord, I hereby authorize you to activate Operation Longbow."
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Yikes. Malthur is indeed a long ways away. I normally don't expand anywhere near that far beyond my usual "borders"!
So are you going for Malthur more for the RP aspect of protecting humanity? Or because there's 7 billion of them (which also: holy crap!)?
I don't normally expand that far away either, so yes, a little bit of RP there.
FYI, during game setup, I chose not to be able to colonize anything beyond 2 sectors. Therefore, the only way I could get it was to invade. Therefore, the way I get Malthur in the AAR is different with the way it has to be done in game.
Sorry for the long delay, but work and family life kept from playing for awhile.
Here is an update on where things stand.
Malthur joined the Empire and is doing well. It is still the only planet in that area that we controll.
We salvaged ships from two different debris fields and used them to beef up 5th fleet and form 6th fleet.
The Sluken Hive, a race of Sluken's, tried to blockade Malthur. Imperial Intelligence is not sure why they tried this. Their nearest planet in the Sol system was almost two full sectors away. A second Sluken Hive Strike Fleet was spotted moving toward Malthur, so 4th and 5th Fleets broke the blockade. It cost a Fortress and a few of 4th fleets ships, but the second Sluken fleet turned back and the first one was destroyed. After a few months, we offered peace and they accepted. Many want to pursue the war, but with the only base to support the war being Malthur, it would have been a long and difficult war.
The navy did take out a pirate base in the sector to the NE of Malthur. Ships in 4th Fleet are still being repaired and a few will need to be replaced. While this is being done the Imperial Security Council is evaluating future targets.
The Imperial Marines have been assisting local authorities in eradicating pirate activities in the Roman Cluster. It's long slow work, but should help the economy. There are about 16 planets that still need cleaned up. But it's a task the Marines are looking forward to.
We probably need to look at boosting research some.
Still no signs of the Shakturi. But I still feel that are out there somewhere, waiting.
Good to see an update on this.
Interesting/odd the Sluken moved against Malthur. It's hard to fathom how doing so would further their strategic interests. I almost wonder if someone put them up to it.
I'm glad the invasion worked! I've been catching up on Horus Heresy novels recently, and my impression is that such things can't really end well. ;D