Imperium 22 - Escape Velocity

"From 2372 to 2376, the humans colonized no less than seven star systems. From the vast terran world of Incedius to the rich ice worlds of Nordia and Aquilae; from dead Rotan to little Tau Cygni; from the poor, lush jungles of Regulus to the lifeless husk of Romulas, the humans raised their flags across the galaxy, triggering two growth warnings from GNN in the course of just four years."

"Unfortunately however, the other imperial leaders' preparations for a merger with the mighty human empire were as slow and inefficient as their efforts at expansion. The galactic election triggered by the humans' most recent colonies saw fully half the available votes in human hands, and only half of the remainder cast by Tyranid, but as the Darlok and Alkari emperors abstained, the results were indecisive, forcing the Human empire to wait decades more to unite the galaxy. The actions of the Darloks and Alkari were especially disappointing to the human foreign minister (whose name, by an extraordinary coincidence, also happened to be Ref) who firmly believed that had the human empire been ruled by an arbitrary tyrant like the other peoples of the galaxy, instead of by the RBO22, the aliens would inevitably have voted for the Humans they knew over the Sakkra they did not. Nonetheless, he put the point behind him and continued his diplomatic work across the galaxy ... only to face still greater disappointment the very next year."

"Just as the Humans lost an interstellar ship for the first time in their history - the Guardian was still active at the time, and this was the date of the Discovery 12's arrival at the Orion system - and incidentally claimed the rich, dead world of Phyco, their eighth new colony in six years, they also witnessed Skylord getting his merging techniques exactly backward, breaking his non-aggression pact just two years after it was made. Still scrambling to repair his shambles of a diplomatic record, the Human foreign minister would approach Tyranid about technology exchange two years later, but when the chairman of the RBO-22 rejected his suggestion to acquire Deep Space Scanner for the Humans' new Inertial Stabilizer and he accidentally accepted it instead, Foreign Minister Ref had no choice but to resign his post in disgrace. (His replacement, curiously enough, was also named Ref.)

"Fortunately for humankind, in spite of continued political mismanagement of the usual variety, their research program was progressing rapidly. Just after stabilizers' completion at a reported '13%," the following technical report was posted on the new Sublight Drives research project, in the very year of its inception, 2378:"

"The empire prioritized those engines heavily, but it wouldn't be long before even this research rate was eclipsed; the artifacts world of Neptunus wasn't even contributing yet! The new drives were soon ready for installation, and 2383 saw the selection of Fusion Drives as the next Human propulsion project, even as the empire switched research gears, returning to long-neglected planetology. Success followed success until 2385, shortly after the colonization of rich Artemis in the far galactic north, GNN reported what it conceived to be a major event in the galaxy. Apparently a devotee of the philosophy that the rich should always get richer, a debauched itinerant merchant gave some 800 BC away to the Human empire, prompting Chairman Ref to remark, 'Now, that's just unnecessary.'

"Humankind's latest interstellar outpost would be formed on the fertile slopes of Hyboria in 2387, followed one year later by the development of soil enrichment techniques for making all the other habitable worlds in the empire equally fertile colonies. It was also at this time that Skylord elected to declare war on humanity. Now, I have an exercise for the class. I will show you a galactic map from the following year, 2389, just after the Humans established a new colony at Thrax, the poor world in the far northwestern corner of the galaxy. Your task is to tell me whether Skylord's move was wise, clever, or unspeakably foolhardy. It might be difficult to distinguish some of the colors, so I have taken the liberty of circling the Alkari empire for you."

Virtually the entire class began to giggle, then to chuckle, then to dissolve in peals of helpless laughter. "Go get 'em, Skylord!" cried Airknight, apparently slightly unclear on the concept of galactic history. "It's no fair from them to have 25 or whatever times as many worlds as you! Show them they can't get away with that kind of thing!"

Professor Ssoriad nodded sagely. "Let us see how successfully he could perpetrate his war. Bear in mind that the following year would see the Human development of still cheaper factories, and their selecton of Improved Industrial Tech 7 simply because they felt that auto-repair for their ships, while nice, would never be needed. They did drop construction research to go for shields again, of course, but only to get the things out of the way. Then, in 2391, Centauri would experience the first actual interstellar attack in Human history. The planet's missile bases and Screen 3.0 defensive fighters found themselves up against ... three Alkari Foxbat laser fighters. The humans didn't even bother firing before the Foxbats' retreat. Unfortunately for their peaceful intentions however, the following year saw the arrival of a much more significant fleet."

"With twenty-one heavy lasers divided among their cruisers and colony ships, the Alkari were actually capable of harming the planet's bases, and thanks to their incredibly acrobatic pilots, the planet's old nuclear missile bases just couldn't destroy them quickly enough to keep them away. Thus, the mighty Alkari warfleet was able to destroy two of Centauri's bases ... two of three ... at a small, single world at the edge of the human empire. The survivors of the Alkari fleet, as its retreating remnants limped away, of course celebrated a victory, while Human scientists, finished (at "50%" - meaning 100% - odds) their personal shield project, and continued to ignore Skylord completely, speculating instead on the possibility of a Class V Planetary Shield while they started actual research into computer technology. Human ECM capabilities would double two years later, also at a '50%' chance, with an Improved Space Scanner ready to fall by the wayside in favor of the NPG project that would be finished (at "52%" because Science Minister Takahashi Villanueva - inexplicably nicknamed Ref - had ceased to even care about wasteful overspending) in 2396. In the meantime, Alkari forces continued to attack Centauri; a flock of laser fighters fled its bases again in 2395, and the rest of the Alkari fleet met five bases the following year, destroying none before its last limping colony ship followed the fighters in retreat, moments before the Human scientists' decision to progress forward with an Ion Rifle for lack of any hope of developing missile technology. Of course, its actual pursuit would be delayed in favor of designs for a planetary shield, completed (again at "50%," as research teams continued to never catch a break) in 2398 to open the way to a Repulsor Beam. With the Humans already established as the defacto leaders of the galaxy, there was nothing left to do but engage ine one last round of diplomacy."

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Next: Conclusion