We settled into an uneasy peace with the Klackons, seeing no further signs of aggression as our Newscouts made new discoveries - a radiated world at Rigel (the blue star in the far south of the galaxy) and the Klackon colony of Proteus at a minimally habitable world - and as our second Lander arrived at Beta Ceti, establishing our newest colony! Encouraged by our years of peace, I made a half-hearted effort at restoring diplomacy, and Xantak surprised me, not only agreeing to trade 25 billion credits per year, but offering to exchange technology. Of course, all he had were Deuterium Fuel Cells for our knowledge of ecological restoration, so though I tried to keep a straight face as I politely declined, I could practically hear my advisors' eyes rolling at him. The commerce agreement seemed a good start at least.
Over the course of the next several years, we chased a cowardly scout from a small ice world called Willow, just southeast of the nebula (the coward was something called a Bulrathi, apparently out of the northeast) and gathered scouting reports for Cygni - a tiny inferno of a planet near Simius and Centauri (a Psilon Colony Ship fled, but I think it had just been parked there twiddling its thumbs, honestly) - and Lyae, a terran Klackon world a little larger than Romulas. For standing on and off from Lyae for years, trying to get this report and finally succeeding, the local Newscout was officially named the Perseverance, and retired to easier duties.
After discovering Hand Lasers in 2339, our weapons labs were ordered to move on to Neutron Pellet Guns, as some form of consensus had finally developed among my miltary advisors (though I did notice that some were missing, possibly ambushed by their colleagues on the way to the imperial palace). The propulsion lab discovered Hydrogen fuel cells the same year, and proceeded with Irridium Fuel Cells. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but I did begin to worry a little bit about them; I feared they might have one-track minds to outrival even our blue planetologist's.
Colonizing Mu Delphi in 2342 put us in touch with the Psilon emperor, an Honorable (so he claimed) Technologist named Zygot who still hadn't expanded beyond his homeworld. Zygot agreed at once to trade 75 BC per year, and also offered the always-popular exchange of Deuterium Fuel Cells for our factory cleanup technology. Popular, that is, with those offering the Deuterium. I didn't bite, as you can well imagine. We also received a report from a roving golden News Droid: Some race called the You-Mans or something was the first to control six worlds, though I had yet to see as much as a Scout from them. This would have been a greater cause for concern if I didn't know my Sakkra were going to reach the same benchmark themselves in just four years. Meanwhile, the Darloks appeared to have developed long-range colony ships - though not armed ones, fortunately - as we chased one away from Kronos the following year. At the same time, we found that the purple star south of Mentar was Paranar, with a toxic planet that appeared to be made of pure neutronium! My industry and military advisors started drooling so heavily at that report, I had to bring in sandbags to keep them from flooding the throne room.
With Xantak feeling better about us, I renegotiated our trade agreement up to 125 BC per year, hoping my dream of peace might become a reality, shortly before our fourth Lander arrived at Kronos and established our newest colony. This finally led to contact with the Ape Men (or whatever they called themselves) and revealed that we'd won yet another race by just a year or two:
It wasn't as exciting as perhaps it looks; the Colony Ship wasn't armed, and beat a hasty retreat from my terrifying Newscout on arrival. You can see all of Monkey space here though (Ryoun, to which my cursor is pointing, is a white star just off the screen; add that to Thrax, Quayal, Sol, Stalaz, and Misha, and you'll find that we have indeed caught up with them). At the white stars north and south of the incoming Colony Ship, you can also see various Newscouts departing from the ice world of Crius and the Antares asteroids to take advantage of the new Kronos fuel depot and scout out to our new maximum range.
The Monkey's name was Alexander, and I greeted him warmly and suggested something I knew he would love: a 125 BC trade agreement. He had no interest in trading techs though, which I assume means he either he didn't have Range 5 or he did have Improved Eco, considering what everyone else in this galaxy was always offering.
More scouting reports came in from the ice world of Nitzer at a green star in the southeast, the Rayden asteroid field at the red star far northeast of the poor Psilons' homeworld, and the decent-sized but dead world of Gion at the red star south of Rayden. Meanwhile, in yet another act of bad faith, the Klackons sent a fleet of ten Cutlass fighters to Antares. My Newscouts had no choice but to retreat, regretfully yielding a scouting report of its beautiful asteroid belt.
2351-2367: A Plague on Both Your Houses!
Around the time we confirmed the location of the Darlok homeworld, we lost a star ship for the first time in Sakkra history. One guess why.
Everyone wave hello to the nice Guardian!
At the same time, our layabout construction research teams finally learned to make Improved Industrial Tech 9 work. I was beginning to doubt they ever would. Though IIT8 was also available (and we could have gone back for Reduced Waste 80) I asked them to work - preferably a little faster - on Duralloy Armor instead. We soon managed to scout the tiny, minimally habitable Human world of Quayal, and the arid world of Exis, with decent size but little in the way of mineral resources. It was 5 parsecs directly south of Mentar, so even granted that it was a pretty useless world, it was hard to understand how the Psilons had failed to colonize it. As far as I can tell, they'd had deuterium fuel cells (and Colony Ships sitting around at their homeworld) for just ages. Maybe they forgot to research Controlled Already-Habitable-Planet Environment or something.
When Class II Shields were discovered, our always creative force field research teams started work on Class III Deflector Shields, though I had to think long and hard about the other option they proposed: Ordering Out for Pizza. At the same time, we built a new colony at Yarrow, and established diplomatic contact with the Bulrathi. These Aggressive Expansionists were allied with the 'Loks, and still had only three planets. I proposed a 100 BC trade agreement, and the big bear agreed, giving me still greater hope for peace in the galaxy. (Can I still claim youthful folly?) Thinking along these very lines, I deceived myself into perhaps the biggest mistake I was to make in the course of my reign.
Seeing that the Apes and Bugs were both relaxed, and having no immediate plans to visit any of their worlds, I proposed a Non-Aggression Pact with each, over the loud objections of my military advisors - so loud they drowned out Draco's voice actually agreeing with them - and was accepted. Asking the Klackons if they'd like to exchange technology, I also found they still held out hope that I'd give them Improved Eco for Deuterium. Keep dreaming, Xantak. Keep dreaming.
Almost as soon as I returned from the holo-transmission chamber, I realized my mistake: There were still border worlds with both of these races that we each could reach. Historically, my orbiting Newscouts had established my claim to the planets, and all was peaceful there ... but with the new Pacts in place, our fleets could share space over these worlds, and the aliens would be all too likely to colonize planets right underneath my Newscouts' noses, forcing my ships into "violation" of the treaties! It was too late to do anything about it, but I waited with dread for the inevitable outcome of my decision.
OOC Note: A GNN report came in around this time, and my eyes got really big. There had been a computer virus ... and it struck the Sakkra ... and for a moment I thought the field it hit (Force Fields) had been in percentages! Then I saw that a total of 48 RP had been wiped out, and remembered the tech had come in two turns before, and I had barely started up a new one. So I just grinned.Soon enough, our Planetology teams devised the means of colonizing barren, dead, and ice worlds, with self-contained atmospheric recycling domes and advanced hydroponics. I voiced my congratulations, and their blue-scaled chief scientist was so excited about the idea, she proposed developing bases for even less hospitable worlds. Most of my advisors were drooling again, and we couldn't have that - if there's one thing I can't stand, it's a flooded throne room - so in spite of the fact that the proposed technology would open the ultra-rich world of Paranar to our colonies, I ordered work instead on Improved Terraforming +30. I defended my choice vehemently for two full years, but then I had other things to worry about: I began to pay for my real mistake ... of the diplomatic variety.
In 2360, the Klackons colonized the large, barren world of Trax while our Newscout watched from orbit. We had a Deathlander with one of the new colony bases ready to take the planet, about to depart from Arietis, but it was too late. I cursed the Klackons endlessly, but all the cursing in the world couldn't bring Trax back into the fold. The Deathlander was forced to head back to Vulcan instead, and within a year, I saw more Klackon ships approaching Simius and Centauri. I marveled at Spica, a little desert world at a red star in the galactic northeast, so close to the Bulrathi that it had no excuse to remain uncolonized for so long, and then went right back to cursing the Klackons - way more fun than cursing my own folly.
Soon enough, our computer researchers came through, and I suggested ECM Jammer II in lieu of yet another battle computer, in hopes that any new technology would open the way to less warlike projects going forward. At the same time, we found that the Bulrathi colony of Gienah, at the yellow star northwest of Ursa, was a lovely terran world, fortunately with few minerals to speak of.
Submitting to tremendous pressure at home from Sakkra who felt our opportunities for expansion and new breeding space were slipping away, I broke my non-aggression pact with the bugs in 2365. In hindsight however, this only compounded the original mistake. The damage was already done, as the insect colony ships, which were armed by this time, were already en route. They would go on to take Centauri and Simius over the course of the next two years. Seeing that the Bugs were allied with the Monkeys, I regretted breaking our pact even more, and called on Alexander, Emperor of the Humans, to try and at least correct part of my error.
Thankfully, he was willing to cancel his buggy alliance. That accomplished, along with the beginnings of anti-insect spy training operations, I went back to more important business. Some of my advisors supposed that meant war with the Klackons. Draco knew me better than that, and realized it meant research.
2367-82: Spreading Like the Plague
Fortunately, the Klackons weren't the only ones building colonies. In 2367, we acquired Crius, Vulcan, and contact with the Darloks - Xenophobic Diplomats led by something named Morfane. He/she/it agreed to a 25 BC trade deal, but remained uneasy with me. I was uneasy myself for that matter, but not with Morfane: Xantak was the danger; I supposed that the Darloks would play no significant role in the galaxy. And considering the year, I can't even claim anymore that I was young at the time anymore!
The next year, we colonized Maretta, and we got our first spying report on the bugs the year after that. Their position in the galaxy was certainly dangerous, but their technology to that point was neither severely advanced nor especially well-chosen - notwithstanding the fact that I wanted to get my claws on some of their knowledge (like Nuclear Engines!) almost desperately! Meanwhile, our own research was coming along nicely; our weapon design teams figured out how to build Arietan-style Neutron Pellet Guns, and were ordered to move things forward wth a Merculite Missiles project because the Ion Rifles that were also proposed were practically redundant with our hand lasers, and if there's one thing I can't stand, it's redundancy. Then a Newscout reported that the blue star in the far north was Rhilus, a world as toxic as Paranar, but neither as large nor as filled with neutronium, and in 2372, we colonized Willow, and that did it: The Galactic High Council was called, finally! I was up in the polls against Alexander of the Humans, to no one's surprise. The Bulrathi abstained with their 3 votes, and that's what saved me; everyone else voted for Alex - even the Psilons, who were on the opposite side of the galaxy from the Humans, my nominal friends, and lacking anything resembling the means of even establishing contact with Humanity! Alexander wound up less than one vote shy of being voted emperor of the galaxy! Can you imagine? A mighty Sakkra emperor slaving for a monkey?! Ridiculous. Nor was that the worst of it: There was another election scheduled in just three years! There were no Alliances in effect when I checked our diplomatic reports, so the trouble was just that everyone loves monkeys. Most of my advisors would have loved to start a giant galactic war to ensure a stalemate, but even if I shared their opinions, three years just wasn't enough time. I wasn't going to slave for any old ape ... and a war of the whole galaxy versus me just didn't sound like the way toward peaceful research and discovery.
I was ready for some good news, and our propulsion teams came through in 2372 with stable Irridium Fuel Cells, having finally worked out the glitches that kept them off our ships for so long (some minor thing - they exploded when entering hyperspace or something). Deeply pleased by the options this would open for our exploration craft, I asked for the team's suggestions for their next research project. They were unanimous: Dotomite Crystals. Another. Bloody. Fuel Cell Technology. Nothing else was offered, or even hinted. Had anyone - even a hatchling just coming out of its egg - volunteered to replace them, I would have fired the entire propulsion team. I think I've already said something about redundancy.
In 2374, a Newscout at the Human colony of Stalaz reported that it was a huge arid world, sadly lacking in mineral resources. Though I'd tried for three years to come up with some kind of diplomatic shenanigans that would ensure some breathing space, I finally gave it up as a bad job, and resigned myself to hoping for a repeat of the last election - in spite of the liklihood that the Klackons' colonies would have grown significantly. Needless to say, the election was not a repeat.
With the development of ECM2, I politely asked my computer research teams if they could be any less worthless than the propulsion lab had been. And, no. No, they could not. I allowed them to develop Battle Computer Mark IV because the alternatives were going back for the Mark 3 or ordering them to test-fly a starship fitted with pre-fix Irridium Fuel Cells. Then I went to face the music.
I was up against Alexander again, but there were more votes on the table - 23. The Bulrathi still had 3, and still abstained, which meant the 5 I expected to hold myself would still be - just - enough to block the election. It was therefore merely a pleasant surprise to see the Psilons abstain, perhaps finally remembering that they had never actually even met a single Human being. I still had to abstain myself, but it wasn't as close as I expected it would be ... and I had 25 years to turn things around and get a veto!
Over the next few years, the Psilons finally got it together to colonize Exis and Dolz (the southeasternmost star in the galaxy) by bringing a significant armed fleet to each. At the same time, my Newscouts found the Galos Asteroid Field at the northeasternmost star in the galaxy; the toxic world of Tyr - not quite as rich or as large as Paranar, but close enough to start the drooling again - at the blue star in southern Human space; and the aforementioned Dolz, another desert world. (And near Orion. The conspiracy theorists had a field day.) Alexander and Morfane were both willing to increase our trade packages as well, to 250 and 125 BC per year, respectively, and I took both opportunities in the name of peace. Peace! This after I had watched the alien fleets' behavior for more than half a century! Not long after, when I saw that Zygot and Xantak were allies, I asked the wise Psilon to reconsider the situation ... but he was perhaps not so wise as I imagined, as he refused. Xantak seemed in a surprisingly good mood when I spoke to him, but still wouldn't trade Nuclear Engines to me.
The years progressed, and as if to underscore the pointlessness of the Propulsion teams' Dotomite project, our Newscouts arrived at the farthest reaches of the galaxy. At the northernmost white star, way out in the west, we found Kailis, a good-sized barren world with a new-built Human colony. Ryoun, the known Human white star nearby, proved to be a vast steppe world with amazingly fertile cropland, while Jinga (the Klackons' colony at the red star in the far southwest) held a smaller and less fertile steppe world of its own - smaller, less fertile, and with about as many minerals as a bale of cotton candy. The Humans' colony of Misha, at the westernmost star in the galaxy, proved to be a little Arid world, and that was just about everything.
By my count, by 2382, I had managed to scout all but ten of the stars in the galaxy. Of those, five were home worlds, and one was Orion (all indicated in the now-standard Ref style of map notation.) Moreover, the entire galaxy had been colonized, with the exception of three types of planets: 1) Inferno or Worse, 2) that isolated Tundra way at the south end of the galaxy, and 3) ?!?!?! What was that desert doing there right next to Bulrathi space? Even if they didn't have the range themselves, they'd had alliances on and off for decades with other races that did, and it was 2382 for Tiamat's sake! Seeing this, I designed a Farlander (with a standard colony base and reserve tanks) on the impossible chance that the place would remain available for yet another decade. I could never understand the minds of these alien peoples. Most likely, they couldn't unerstand themselves.
Those were trying times. I longed for our research projects to complete, but I still had only outcasts to work with, and they all seemed to have one-track minds, their real creativity bludgeoned out of them at an early age by bullies. When the new deflector shield designs were finished in 2380, no one could offer any ideas but Class V Planetary Shield. Fortunately, this is the option I'd have chosen anyway, for once, but I longed to have some kind of choice in the matter of our technology path, and I longed in vain. When at last, in 2382, after endless hemming and hawing and broken promises, our Planetology Lab developed Terraforming +30, I wanted them to go back for Toxic colonies, but the only way our blue planetologist and her crew could think of to advance the state of the art was by developing Controlled Radiated Environment technology. I wasn't going to wait and wait for Toxic to come in only to have to start Radiated for one little isolated planet and the next step in our knowledge of planetology, so I had no choice but to order research on radiation-proof colony bases immediately.
Trying times indeed for me, but my people at least were happy, and I was coming more and more to realize that this, and not personal fulfillment, was the true measure of an emperor. Even as I saw Kailis join with the Humans, Gion became a Sakkra colony, and the itinerant newsdroid popped up again to announce we were the first race to control 12 worlds! And in hopes of at once pleasing my warlike people and advancing my own lust for knowledge, I discussed trades with Alexander and agreed to accept Fusion Bombs for my Class III shields. I still hoped in my heart for a lasting peace, and shields of that class didn't much bother me, my NPGs, or my Merculites-to-be ... and my researchers had no more notion of how to design Fusion Bombs than of how to invent an engine technology!
2383-94: You Knew It Was Coming...
I was sick of my Sakkra research teams and their empty promises (they kept swearing, year in and year out, that they were just on the verge of a breakthrough in Construction technology) so I asked around among the other races to see if things were going any better for them, and if we might therefore manage to learn anything from more competent researchers. To my surprise, I found that my least favorite friend Xantak was ready to offer Nuclear Engines for my Class III Shields! If I had to watch my pilots rowing around the galaxy in warp-1 dinghies for one more year, I was going to scream, and I had already decided (with Alexander) that giving the shields away wouldn't hurt me too badly, so I readily agreed. (Xantak would alternatively have given me the engines for our latest terraforming technology, but I wasn't completely insane.) This led me to design a Farlander 2, just like the Farlander, but with Nuclear Engines instead of eggbeaters, and ordered one at Mu Delphi. No sooner did I do so however than the Bulrathi sent a fleet to Spica, the desert world I'd been hoping to poach. With two large Claws and an armed Colony Ship, they had no trouble chasing my Newscout away, obviating the need to finish the Farlander 2. Fortunately, my recent technology trades had finally lit a fire under my own researchers. Fearing that I would disdain Sakkra research entirely for that of my alien friends, my construction teams finally worked all the kinks out of our new Duralloy Armor, and even gave me a full menu of decent options for future research! I considered advanced factory construction and waste reducton technologies, but decided to hedge my bets in the end since there was no telling when or if our computer teams would come up with factory controls more advanced than Pac-Lizard joysticks. This left me with another opportunity to make my people happy, by requesting that we develop an Automated Repair System for our starfleet.
Around this time, I also scrapped our lone Farlander and our two redundant prototype Scouts. In their place, Sssla was ready to build an LRDeadland2 - nuclear engines, a dead colony base, and extended fuel tanks strapped haphazardly onto a large hull - which would be sent down to the isolated little tundra world of Nitzer immediately. Throughout this period, transports were being sent from non-hostile worlds to hostile (or important - i.e. Arietis) ones to help overall population growth rate, and I actually introduced breeding subsidies on non-hostile worlds, the most popular policy of my entire reign. In keeping with my developing philosophy, putting the happiness of the Sakkra before my own, I began to be content with my lot ... until 2390.
That's when the plague hit Sssla. Millions would die, and all I could do was try to ride it out while my people tried to research a cure, aided by laboratory parts and equipment (but no people! I refuse to solve a plague by sending healthy people to their doom!) shipped in from all the rest of our core worlds. So I sat in my throne room and gritted my teeth. If there's one thing I can't stand - one thing I really, really, really can't stand - it's a planet-sweeping plague, no matter where or when!
In the second plague year, our spies managed to steal the secrets of Controlled Barren Environment from Xantak's least interesting research laboratory. I sent them ironic congratulations from my hermetically-sealed palace chambers. I hate the plague. More importantly, we formed our colony at Nitzer, and with Crius and Maretta about to face overpopulation, I regretfully ordered transports from each back down to Sssla, hoping with all my heart that they would arrive at a healthy world. Have I mentioned lately that I hate the plague? Well, good.
Millions of healthy Sakkra drew ever closer to the plague zone, and I knew I could never forgive myself if they arrived at a diseased and deadly world, but in 2394, my hope was finally answered!
Far less trying than the plagues of legend, this one lasted only four years - with all possible medical resources diverted to Sssla the whole time of course - which doesn't change the fact that I hate plagues more than anything. Even more than Klackon poachers! When the last case was proven cured, I at last emerged from my hermetic palace to congratulate the pox-scarred medical technicians heartily. Truly, bravery and hard work in the line of duty had paid off, and they were worthy of all possible praise! There were celebrations across the planet's surface, and throughout the empire, and I was still in a terrific mood when I returned to the palace and received a holo-transmission from good old Morfane of the Darloks. I asked cheerfully after his health (or her, or its) - all ready to spring the good news when she (or maybe it or he) asked after mine, and Morfane answered ... that the 'Loks were "tired of diplomatic games." I just stared for a moment, disbelieving. The shifters were the proud owners of three worlds in the far north of the galaxy, and they didn't scare me in the least. I said, "You have got to be kidding me," but the connection was already broken. I was flabbergasted, but not particularly concerned. Crius and Vulcan got started on missile bases right away, itching for a fight, but Maretta couldn't be bothered to make more than a token effort in that direction while it worked on its infrastructure, even with some outside resources helping out. If the 'Loks were tired of diplomatic games, they could play all the war games they wished; I doubted theu would hurt a single Sakkra child. Games indeed! Still, it was troubling news; there was no possible reason for them to declare war on me, and nothing in their leader's personality had suggested it (or he or she) might turn on me so suddenly. Had it not been for my carefree mood following the end of the plague, I would have been deeply saddened by the end of galactic peace ... and I might have remembered to do something about it!
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Next: Nobody likes me; everybody hates me - I think I'll go eat ... THEM!
