2368: With Quark refusing to acknowledge the war, there was little RBO-18 could do to promote it, since the Sakkra refused just as adamantly to do anything but build scouts, colony ships, and factories. Spies and scout ships tried to harass Quark into admitting there was a war on, but could make no meaningful headway. All that could be done was to keep scouting and colonizing, until Agent Nefarius Serpensus suggested a policy of "aggressive scouting" with a new scout design:
A dessstroyer-classs ssscout could bring the war to the enemy! Obssserve the Tristar 2.0! Yesss, it hasss ressserve tanksss to make our people happy, but it can do itsss ssscouting even againssst armed fleetsss, with a battle computer and three lassser turretsss!
2369: The colonization of Tao and Trax opened new diplomatic vistas as the leaders of the galaxy convened in a great Galactic Council, a forum in which all the peoples of the galaxy could air their grievances with one another and bicker about who should rule the galaxy. The first indecisive election was such a cathartic experience, it was decided that another would be held in just six years. Of course, Trax also brought contact with the Bulrathi empire, of which the first Sakkra intelligence reports have been preserved in the Galactic Archive:
The title of "Aggressive Technologist" was the one claimed by the bear-people themselves. As far as RBO-18 was concerned, their true title was Weak Target. Saboteurs were immediately hired to scout Bulrathi worlds for future expansion, but the ursine emperor's response to an actual war declaration was decidedly unsatisfactory:
Ho ho! A funny lizard-joke I see! Hohohohoho! Funny, funny! Well, good lizard-joking, but I'm very busy now; have a good day!2374: Tristars finally allowed the Sakkra to make something resembling war, exemplified by Captain Whipsnake's report from the short-lived siege of Uxmai:
The target world is now in range. Planetary missiles and Comet fighters detected and incoming. Now closing with enemy fighters under asteroid cover.
Comet fighters destroyed.The Captain would then immediately retreat however, knowing the planetary base would be immune to his fleet's laser fire. The war - such as it was - was hardly satisfactory for the Sakkra, but as Captain Whipsnake himself reported:
It's nice to at least get to blow something up for a change.2376: Quark continued to pretend the war didn't exist, abstaining again from the council vote of 2375 - as did the Bulrathi and almost everyone else. With election results almost identical to those of the first Council, it was reluctantly decided that further gatherings of that type would come only every quarter-century.
Obsessivus must have felt this was just as well, as it gave the Sakkra more time to work out their colony-building compulsions and their unacknowledged multi-front war - a war which only grew as RBO-18 sent the following message of condolence to the Human emperor:
My good friend Lasitus, I notice with sorrow that your total power in the galaxy has suffered a precipitous decline since just last year. We Sakkra know this must be a difficult time for you, so I have ordered all our merchants to cease bothering you with their wares, and it is with the utmost sympathy that I am now preparing to wipe your pitiful species from the face of the universe, and so put you out of your misery.2377: The moment spying reports came in, Obsessivus decided to force Lasitus to believe in the war declaration. The Sakkra were tired of being ignored, as the only emperor who seemed to want to attack them was their powerful friend M5-35.
The official transcript of the brief strategy meeting following the destruction of Tao has unfortunately been partially censored, so the exact words are no longer known; the surviving transcript follows:
RBO-18: There was no way to protect that barren nothing of a world. If the Meklar want it so badly as to send seven cruisers and almost 70 destroyers with their colony ship, let them take it. I'm not worried.2381: Ryoun would contribute half its population to the invasion as well, while the empire's western fleet prepared to provide cover for the assault. The Sakkra government's undisguised disgust with its people was not without consequences however, as this contemporary GNN report suggests:
Secretary of Defense: Mightn't it be possible to reclaim the world though? Some say it's possible the Meklar will leave the planet's orbit without forming a colony.
RBO-18: You're saying they might ... oh, [redacted]! Fine. Fine! Send another [redacted] colony ship over. And send half our homeworld's population to Proteus while you're at it. They want to [redacted] expand? Let them [redacted] expand! Let's see how they [redacted] like making themselves [redacted] useful!
Transports were launched immediately from Xengara, ready to expand at the expense of "the enemy within" who revealed themselves in their rebellion.
2382: Three years after the Klystron colony was formed in the far northwest corner of the galaxy, the restoration of Tao finally brought the Sakkra empire to the end of its expansion orgy. GNN took notice, reporting that the empire controlled 12 star systems - mistaking "the empire" for "members of the race" in the case of Beta Ceti - and the production of actual fighters fleets, defensive bases, and research finally resumed. Dr. Bluescales Iguanaius was finally permitted to open the fields of study for which he'd been agitating for decades. His only official word, on his way to the lab at top speed, was recorded for posterity:
Let's just hope it's not too little, too late!_______________
Next: No Rest for the Loony
