"When we left the human empire last time, it was beginning to seriously take off, from the development of Hydrogen cells in 2328 - at supposed odds of '7%' - to the completion of Stalazian infrastructure in 2331, to a report the following year from the GNN droid that the humans already led the galaxy in population. In spite of the RBO22's collective disappointment in
Inertial Stabilizer as a follow-up project to hydrogen cells - they had hoped to be able to study nuclear engines or at least irridium fuel - things were looking up for the Humans as they started to heavily invest in terraforming technology. The discovery of barren Laan and poor but vast, terran Denubius in this period also led the humans to believe that they would one day inherit the galaxy. Nevertheless, it soon became clear that they were not the only galactic power!"
"In contrast with their encounters with Sakkra ships in disputed space, the first encounter between Humans and Alkari occurred in orbit above Altair itself in 2333, where a single Discovery, unable to communicate, was forced to flee from a pair of missile bases and a Wareagle cruiser. At the same time, another Discovery was sending home reports of a habitable planet in the Kakata system in a nearby region of space, while yet another met an unarmed Sakkra Colony Ship above Rha - a key star for the expansion of both empires. Members of the RBO22 were confident that they could claim that star at least momentarily before the Sakkra could get an armed fleet into the region, as long as Kronos became a Human star, but were less sanguine about actually holding the world - or even planting a flag on Kronos itself, an important 4-parsec stepping stone star that had briefly been visited by another Sakkra colony ship some five years before. According to archived footage of their meetings, the Twenty Two were prepared to cede Kronos to a possible Sakkra invasion so long as human colonists were able to plant their flag in the system - along with a refueling station - for one or two years. Rha, however, they could not afford to yield at all. All the human plans for westward and northward expansion relied on holding Rha - and on claiming Kronos for at least those one or two years. Their claim would be tested in 2336, with one Pioneer 1.0 colony ship halfway to Kronos from Stalaz, another just completed and about to head south, positioning itself to depart for another nearby star when and if the Kronos fuel base was complete, and a third in production to claim Rha, when the human leaders received word that a second Sakkra fleet had arrived at Kronos. The human race held its collective breath, awaiting the reports from Kronos, but their arrival brought immediate relief: The Sakkra ship was another unarmed civilian."
"All right, Houston, the fuel base, scanners, and transmission relays are now established. We can see the retreating Sakkra Colony Ship still en route back to Sssla, and our new receiver dishes are picking up signals from four different worlds similar to those emitted by the Sakkra Scout and Colony Ship fleets we've seen. We're getting enough signals here that it should be trivial to get translations going shortly."
"That's excellent news, Kronos Base. Just keep relaying the Sakkra transmissions our way; we'll put our best teams to work on them immediately."
"Relief and celebration spread across Sol, Vulcan, and Stalaz as the Kronos Bridge colony was founded in 2338. Better still, before the year was out, lines of communication were finally opened with the Sakkra crown and its four star systems - exactly the same number as humankind's. Trade relations were established at once between the two empires, to the tune of 100 BC, with no sign of danger for the Kronos colony. Parity between the two southern empires could not last however, and the Humans were determined that they would not be left behind. Thanks to the Kronos Bridge Colony, two Pioneers, already complete, would soon proceed to vast Maalor in the south and the disputed keystone star of Rha, while human scientists worked to make room for still more people at all their already-impressive stars."
"One year after the construction of humankind's fourth Pioneer, their scientists managed to develop advanced terraforming techniques, leaving the RBO22 with yet another trying choice. At least one of the Twenty Two spoke up for almost every course: Going back for cheap ecological improvements en route to a major toxic-world control project made sense to some, and dead environment research would have quickly allowed the humans to claim the rich tundra world at nearby Aquilae, but the consensus in the end was for the quickest possible means of advancing the state of the art, since it also would provide the greatest improvement in waste cleanup:
Enhanced Eco Restoration technology. Work was to begin after a quick detour into Construction research, with a simple
Improved Industrial Tech 9 project selected for the purpose the following year, since with enhanced eco in the queue, the effects of slightly reduced factory waste products would be relatively negligible - just one BC of cleanup for every 25 factories once the cleanup tech was ready."
Ssoriad cleared his throat slightly. "I judge by the number of eyes I see glazing over that I have strayed onto dangerous ground: It seems that in spite of the progress made in our education system, some people still can't stand to deal with numbers more precise than integers or larger than about three. I'll let your mathematics professors lose sleep over that one. In this class, please just remember the new colony plans I mentioned. When they both came to fruition at once in 2342, even GNN took notice of the simulcolonies."
"Soon thereafter, with a colony founded at the lush ocean world of Esper in 2345 as a stepping stone to the east, and another Pioneer or apollo colony ship rolling off the docks at Stalaz virtually every year, the Humans were assuming a leading role in the galaxy, and the celebratory mood in their empire was only dulled when a 2346 GNN report placed them third - ahead of only the Darloks, with the Sakkra holding a definitive lead - in technological development in the galaxy. The discovery of a rich, dead world at Phyco the following year led to further second-guessing of the RBO22's technological policies, but did not affect the real source of the problem: The politically-motivated one-project mentality. Still, the atmosphere was jubilant in these years of reckless expansion, the more so as the next GNN report, in 2351, placed the humans first in production across the galaxy. The timing could not have been better, as the technological news remained ... iffy. A construction tech breakthrough the previous year at under-reported odds of '22%' had led the way only toward nearly-redundant
Improved Industrial Tech 8, and the new year's tiny research budget, abandoning construction for an exploratory investment in computer technology, revealed that
ECM Jammer Mark I was the only possibility. Other exploratory investments would be pursued for the next two years, just to get them out of the way, revealing the possibility of
Class II Deflector Shields, the shock of the century, and
Hand Lasers, which prompted the chair of the RBO22 to pronounce, 'Good news! Now, let's quit fooling around, and start investing in Enhanced Eco, finally!' The humans suited action to word, pouring over 400 BC per year into the project for several years running to get the necessary labs and research infrastructure into place."
"Of course, the humans also had other sources of technological development: While also doubling the value of their trade package in 2353, just after establishing critical colonies at Denubius and Toranor, humankind worked with Sakkra scientists to exchange obsolete technologies, acquiring the secrets of
Improved Terraforming +10 in return for Hydrogen Fuel Cells (Range 4), thereby (slightly) improving colony miniaturization and imperial productivity. These gestures of friendship were well received by the saurian people whom the humans had taken to calling "our pacifist buddies," as was the proposal of a formal Non-Aggression Pact between them, offered thanks to the discovery of massive radiation levels at the nebula star of Klystron, leaving no contested worlds over which to fight that lacked a colony. Other, less peace-loving emperors were about to make their appearance to the human race however, and to demonstrate what could be done against them with armed warships and advanced range technology!"
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Next: Disturbing the Peace
