The galaxy looks very different now than it did after the lizards took Selia and Firma ... and the hopeful trend will be continuing! Our northern Bolt ion fighters have done their work, and are ready to be replaced, as stage two of the war will be fought in the south, at warp 3! The old design is scrapped in favor of a Kite 3.0, with the best computer and maneuverability ever installed on a modern Alkari starship, and twin NPGs. These go into production alongside atmospheric terraforming at key worlds immediately ... while transports launch toward Giena!
2439: The second and last battle of Artemis pits 10 Colossus planet killers against our far-superior fighter fleets, as the Kites see their first live combat! We lose three in the battle, but wipe out the enemy completely. With Sakkra transports just arriving and our own one year away, we delay colonizing Drakka, only to discover there will be a Dragon there next year. Oh, well. Nothing we can do about that now.
I hate to lose the Farcries - there are actually a few planets in the southeast I haven't even scouted yet - but war ships take priority, so the Farcry design is retired, and we put together a Thunder 3.0, similar to our Kites, but with a Fusion and Nuclear bomb rack in place of the NPGs.
2440: One last Sakkra fleet attacks us at Selia. They take out two of our fighters, we kill 16 of their cruisers, and their five survivors retreat. Then, discovering that the Psilon-Darlok alliance is no longer at war with the Sakkra, I remind them of our common cause, and they both sign on once more to overcome the treacherous spore-spreading killers who hide behind a false mask of pacifism.
Hedging my bets in case of future Sakkra shield advances, I also trade Zygot our Trilithium Crystals for Omega-V Bomb technology, and accept Darquan's Reduced Waste 60% for our Atmospheric Terraforming, thereby at once helping my economy and increase the anti-lizard voting bloc for the upcoming election! I also give the 'Loks our Trilithium Crystals for Controlled Dead Environment just for the slight boost this will provide to our productivity, and to allow him to reach more Sakkra worlds with his fleets.
2441: We finally colonize Drakka, hoping we'll somehow get to keep it in spite of a deadly incoming fleet.
2442: The insane three-Dragon fleet arrives at Drakka, and destroys over 300 of my fighters! ... But we prevail! The colony ship and every one of the 23 enemy cruisers is destroyed, and the Dragons fall back on using their torpedoes as long-ranges stand-off weapons, allowing our Star Wing Clan pilots to dodge them until energy stores are exhausted and the Dragons are forced to return to their nearest base! Our incoming transports are safe, and Drakka will stand after all!
2443: The battle for ultra-rich Whynil commences in the south! The lizards' defense fleet of five new Hydra cruisers appear to be essentially similar to the new Juggernauts that did so much damage to our forces up at Drakka, but they aren't a real threat to our bombers in numbers this small. Our Fusion bombs take out all but one of the enemy bases, and the follow-up nukes finish the job! Our Thunders retreat, their work complete, though I do lose a few to Hydra fire, and my fighters take out the remaining Hydrae with ease! With a technological edge and more than three times the enemy's numbers, it is inevitable that we will also conquer the world outright and turn it into another powerhouse colony. First though, our spies infiltrate the Meklar automated defense net! With the Meklar still refusing to join the Sakkra war or to make so much as a NAP's empty promise of peace, I order an attempt to take out some of their missile bases. There are three purposes to this move....
...but their defense net reacts too quickly, and only one of the three comes through: No bases are destroyed, which means the place won't be softened in advance should we be forced to invade, and of course we can't plant false evidence pointing at Sakkra agents, since there's nothing for which to frame them ... but by infiltrating the planet deeply enough to make the attempt, our spies were able to bring us a scouting report, which means if an invasion is necessary, we can send our transports to arrive at the same time as our fleet! (Note the "before" and "after" images for the attempt, first with the world unexplored, then with its name and planetary features displayed).
It's my turn to glass the spud world of Dunatis since it's a Sakkra colony at the moment, and I happen to have a fleet ready, so I do so, just before our noble warriors soar through the skies of Whynil and claim it for our people, along with 122 fully-functioning factories, state-of-the-art but essentially worthless Class VII Deflector Shields that utterly failed to save the Sakkra from our Thunders, Anti-Matter Torpedoes for still more weapons miniaturization, and Fusion Beam, which saves us the trouble of completing our own research in the field. Faced with a bunch of expensive choices for our next weapons tech project, Kestrel considers a Fusion Rifle for still more overwhelming ground fighting power, but instead takes my advice to pursue a Megabolt Cannon, which will be terrific if we can ever fit one aboard a fighter (or even finish the research project) before the final end to war in the galaxy!
2444: The battle for Gienah comes, at long, long, last, to reclaim this beautiful world for the Alkari! The enemy frankly has no chance, in spite of 15 Juggernauts, against over 600 Divebombs and over 500 Kite and Talon fighters. Overconfidence leads us to lose about thirty ships before we shred the planet's defenses, but shred them we do. Seidon, meanwhile, is defended by a Dragon, but only 16 bases, and the outcome is not in doubt - indeed, the Dragon retreats. As at Misha, the Thunders' Fusion Bombs do the heavy lifting, and their nukes immediately follow for the kill. I was just going to glass the planet, but upon discovering that it's ultra-rich, I elect to let it live; this will save me lots of time turning it into a full-fledged Alkari world!
In the meantime, our first wave of 144 transports hits Gienah, which should be sufficient to handle their 109 troops on the ground. So it proves, with 40 survivors ready to explore 378 factories. Plans are discovered there for Improved Terraforming +40 and finally, at long last, the very last tech the Sakkra have not already known to the Alkari: We catch a huge blue lizard trying to simultaneously eat the last hard copy and keep the electronic records out of our hands through the use of a nefarious device called a pRNG, but it's too late this time, and finally, finally...
...we discover Impulse Drives! Did I mention, "Finally!!!"? We had nearly completed our own research on them in spite of the gigantic drag the war has placed on our research economy for the entire course of the project! High Energy Focus will be our next target in the field, and our scientists will complete it sometime after Kestrel ascends the high throne of the galaxy. Then I'm wanted in the holochamber, and poor Sauron is weeping openly as he begs me to end "this horrible war," which he and his people "can no longer sustain." I inform him however that his crocodile tears will not buy peace with me. He has spored, bombed, and blasted untold millions of Alkari and refused peace for decades on end, and will not be permitted to end this war the moment it becomes inconvenient for him! I would not have made this decision without consulting with Kestrel of course, but when I told her of the possibility, she was right on the same thermal with me: "We will not make a false peace and stand idly by while he murders millions of our friends among the Darloks and Psilons and Bulrathi! He has proven he can't be trusted; when deadly treachery is no longer in his power, only then dare we give him his peace." With that established, over 300 Thunders head for his Dolz colony, transports depart to take Seidon, and all of our Divebombs take off for Sssla itself, to hasten the time when, by Kestrel's terms, we can safely grant Sauron peace!
2445: Seidon builds another Dragon, only to see it destroyed at the cost of a few of our Kites. Next, our spies work on social engineering, trying to ensure that Sauron understands the cost of using bioweapons: They take out 8 missile bases at Sssla, and three more at Meklon, in each case planting evidence to implicate the other species. When Sauron, his massive power base crushed by our bomber fleets, faces war from every quarter in the galaxy, perhaps he will remember what "pacifist" means, and come to see the true value of peace! We seem to be on a roll here too, as our scientists finally come through with soil enrichment technology after promising it was right around the corner for literally decades on end! Improved Terraforming +50 is the way of the future, so they get started on the project right away. And last, but by no means least, with the colonization of the Morrig inferno in the far northeast corner of the galaxy, we receive a GNN special report containing no bad news at all: Yreet Kree, heir to Altair, heir to the galaxy, rules the first civilization to control 26 star systems, and is poised, at long last, to return to the high perch of Orion as the true and benevolent ruler of the galaxy!
2446: Seidon tries building Hydrae instead of a Dragon. That doesn't work either. I'm surprised to discover that Dolz has only 6 missile bases, and my Thunders put the poor, lonely things out of their misery. After taking out four more bases at Meklar, unfortunately with no chance to frame the Sakkra for the deed, I discover Dolz's problem: It's ultra-poor. That's so very sad that the Thunders have to put it out of its misery as well.
Back at Seidon, with only 41 transports in the first wave, we don't expect to take the planet (yet!) from 72 million Sakkra. We are correct, even running into some pretty bad luck in the fighting ... but remember that I said it was the first wave! Meanwhile, since there's nothing for our last Plover to do, we scrap it for parts and a new design, named after a swift-flying, beautiful, fighting hawk - and namd as well, unbeknownst to any but me and the one after whom they are named, after the most important living being in the galaxy: The Kestrel 5.0!
(OOC: Actually, I made a silly mistake with this design; the second NPG should have been in a separate slot from the first. Fortunately, it won't make the slightest difference at this point in the game.)
2447: The first, smallest enemy fleet hits Selia, and our Kestrels see battle for the first time! Some of our Kites are killed, but the Kestrels come out without a scratch ... and with nothing remaining of the Sakkra fleet! Seidon tries building Hydrae to defend itself again, a trick that doesn't work much better than it did the first time. Also, we arrive at Sssla. It's defended by 33 Hydrae and 39 bases, but with over 150 Kites and almost 600 Divebombs, we simply slaughter them until the last two Hydrae retreat. Romulas only has two Hydrae to begin with over its 28 missile bases, so when our 300+ Thunders smash the bases in one volley, even before the Nukes have a chance to hit, the Hydrae there also retreat. It turns out to be mineral poor, explaining the small base count (Sssla's was explained by our saboteurs) so we'll have to put the poor thing out of its misery, like Dolz ... but not before we glass Ssssla! This has nothing to do with misery; it's just an object lesson for the "pacifist" lizards who refused to make peace with me until I proved the horrors of war upon their stinking, scaly bodies! Oh, and I believe I said something about last year being the first wave at Seidon. The second wave has just arrived, with more than twice as many transports against depleted Sakkra forces! The lizards get lucky again, but this time, luck can't save them. 44 million Alkari take over the planet and its 167 factories. This time, when Sauron comes up on the holoscreen begging and pleading for peace, I accept after brief consultation with Yreet Kree. His production base is shattered, his ships can't stand up to our fleets, and he is no longer a threat to the galaxy.
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Next: The Conclusion
