OSG 26 - The Bearperor Returns

[RefSteel]

[EDIT: Report updated with spoiler tags and notes]

Full-on insane in-character report, now spoilered for length:

2335: Seven hours after taking the oath of office before the Imperial Palace of Ursa 2, Bearperor-elect Rref Grarghrar was already feeling homesick. Glancing furtively about, he stole into the Imperial holochamber gave a soft, wistful sigh as the long-range transmission systems brought images of his beloved Keeta colony to him across the deeps of space. There were the fertile fields of clover, studded with numberless beehives; there were the iron mines and smelting plants of his home province of Grarghrar (named, like his family, in the Keetanese dialect of Bulrathi, for its high-grade carbon steel) -- and there ... he frowned. There was the sigil of Crargrarra Ffregregr, head of the Rocket Propulsion Laboratory in the Keeta Center for Science and Technology, just off the spaceport. Resigning himself to his duty, the new Bearperor flipped a switch, and Old Crarg appeared before him, his perpetual frown making a comical attempt at imitating the least-genuine-looking smile Rref had ever seen. "So good to see you checking in," the RPL's chief scientist tried to enthuse, his voice quivering instead between fear, suspicion, and shame. "I must tell you, if you keep up our funding, there's a good 20% chance we'll have a working hydrogen fuel cell by the end of the year!"

The Bearperor grunted, but his eyes drifted from Old Crarg to the scene just visible through the window over his shoulder, and Rref's eyes slowly narrowed. "What's that ramshackle hut doing out there in the field out beyond your fancy propulsion labs?"

With an attempt at a laugh that had something of the sound of a water buffalo choking on gravel, the head of RPL said, "Oh, that's just the terraforming department. They haven't been funded in twenty-odd years, so they've been running experiments out of that old shack! Pay them no mind! Just keep us funded, and..."

Rref growled in the back of his throat, and Crargrarra fell silent, swallowing hard. Slowly, the emperor asked, "Haven't you been making the same promises to Bearperor Psillycyber for years on end? Isn't your lab's failure the reason he didn't get a fourth term like Bearperor Ianus?"

"No ... no!" Old Crarg protested, raising his paws in denial. "It's not like that! Besides, if you cut funding now..."

"You'll get your funding," the Bearperor growled. "You keep up those hydrogen experiments in those shiny buildings. But you'd better deliver or..." A low-register roar began building in the back of his throat, and the head of RPL swallowed hard.

"Yes, okay, understood! Yes sir!"

"Dismissed," Rref told the display, and as Old Crarg's face faded, he added, "Get me the planetary governor."

Within days, the full industrial power of the Keeta colony was concentrated around the labs. The RPL's funding remained the same as the previous Bearperor left it, but their efforts had become only a small fraction of the whole. Alongside Crargrarra's shiny RPL buildings, an enormous complex of greenhouses, hydroponics labs, offices, training grounds, and lecture halls was being raised where a single old ramshackle hut once had stood. The hut's volunteers were selected to head the heavily funded new Keeta Ecological Laboratory, with full autonomy and a budget that dwarfed Crargrarra's. Looking on from his holochamber, the Bearperor murmured, "Let's see if that lights a fire under Old Crarg."

2336: Having read the previous Bearperor's reports, Rref knew what to expect, but he hadn't realized they would come so soon. When a pair of Silicoid colony cruisers opened hyperspace rifts and sped away from Primodius, back toward home, he commended the pilots of his old Scouts in the system, but drummed his claws on his stainless steel desktop when the press conference was over and all the reporters had gone. Ursa's factory infrastructure was complete, its population - as many bears as the planet's ecosystem could support - fully employed. They were turning all their efforts to the production of a colony ship which - if Crargrarra ever got his act together - would ship out for the jungles of Talas with two million Bulrathi aboard. Yet the Silicoid presence troubled him. A single armed escort - any escort at all - and the rock people would claim Primodius unchallenged, Talas soon thereafter, then rich Gienah and soon many, many stars more. He had to do something to stall them, and the new colony ship was still four years away from completion even if Old Crarg actually managed to accomplish anything. He frowned at the Keeta economic indexes and the construction workers' proposals for still more ecology labs to add to the now-equally-funded RPL and KEL facilities, with KEL funding set to grow and surpass its neighbor rapidly. "I have a different proposal," he grumbled, and summoned his starship engineering and design team. Before long, the construction workers were back on the job, no longer assembling labs ... but Honeybee 1 laser fighters.



2337: Six of the galaxy's bulkiest starfighter pilots were gathered on the porch of the RPL, quaffing mead and gazing out at the beautiful green fields where KEL scientists were hard at work - in stark contrast to the pilots and the sinecure technicians of the RPL. One of the pilots, pushing his flight goggles further back on his head with one enormous paw, murmured, "Isn't this the life? Relaxing out here, hanging with RPL guys and joking with them about the over-under on their twenty-six percent odds, braging in town about our fighters, and nothing to really do..."

"I don't know," answered Migrraar Agraff, one of his colleagues, flexing cable-like muscles under her armored flight suit. "I signed on to put a Honeybee through its paces and chase aliens off from the skies of disputed worlds, not to sit around on a porch watching other bears work around me."

"Good," said a voice from behind them, and half of them jumped. Behind them, as they turned to face him, Admiral Groaroar nodded. "Ensign Migrraar, I want you to take your Honeybee up on practice maneuvers and start training the next wave of pilots. As for you," he added, glaring at the first pilot who spoke, "You can pack your bags. There's an old Scout holding station over the barren world of Artemis 6, and we want to free her up to explore. Take your Honeybee out there to take her place, and patrol until you're called for."



2338: In the dim red light of its distant sun, the steppe world of Drakka 5 shone, its polar glaciers tinted pink in the diffuse light, as a single Bulrathi scout arrived from a distant star and settled into low orbit to map the surface in detail. On distant Keeta 3, Honeybees were still being assembled at a frenetic pace, while RPL personnel held wild parties in their labs and coyly reported 30% odds of a breakthrough on the research they were supposed to be doing, but in the skies of Drakka 5, all was peaceful and calm.

2339: Lieutenant Migrraar Agraff, chief flight instructor for the Keeta starfleet, paced the balcony at RPL, growling low in her throat as other pilots watched her idly. "Thirty-five percent, they claim!" she complained, bitterly. "Barely more than a third! And yet if you calculate out all the claims they've made during Bearperor Grarghrar's term alone, it would be more like an 80% chance that they'd finish by next year - and much higher if you include what they were telling Bearperor Psillycyber! They're obviously lying down on the job!" She paused to glare at the young pilots whose enormous ursine bodies were straining the chaise-lounges where they were sunning themselves on the balcony, each with a tall glass of iced honey-tea, many of them fitted with tiny umbrellas in festive colors emblazoned with the logo of Keeta RPL.

"Hey, you can't rush progress," one of her students replied, stifling a yawn.

Migrraar bridled. "The only progress they seem to be making is around in circles! There's a colony ship sitting in the Ursa spaceport even as we speak, just waiting for hydrogen fuel - just like our Honeybees - to take it down to Talas! How long are we going to have to wait? The hydroponics teams at KEL next door are only claiming eight percent odds, but I'll bet they finish their terraforming project before these lazy twerps!"

"Calm down," another pilot insisted. "It's not like you can get scientific breakthroughs just by trying hard!"



2340: Korrarg Rrargree, Chief of research and development at the Keeta Ecological Laboratory, beamed into the holotransmitter. "It's all thanks to Greerra's hard work in the boysenberry fields! She's developed strains that can survive in incredibly hostile conditions now -- mountain peaks and deserts and all kinds of places. We'll be able to feed millions more people on each of our worlds once we get these vines planted and established in land we've given up on. And better yet, it should be possible to adapt them and make life possible on worlds once thought permanently dead!"

Bearperor Rref nodded, rubbing his paws together with pleasure. "That's an excellent plan for the future. For now though, let's get these ecology labs to focus on ecology!"

Korrarg swallowed. "Are you sure? I know it's always good to improve our restoration techniques, but aren't those dead worlds more important? Some are so rich in minerals..."

"Of course I'm sure!" The Bearperor growled. "Do you think I make decisions I'm not sure about?"

Korrarg bowed humbly, but when the connection went, he answered to himself, "If you have any self-awareness or humility, you certainly must - all the time. And if not ... well, Bearperor Rref, it will only multiply the number of your decisions that go wrong."



Between the success of his first pet KEL project and the colonization of Rigel 2 - the second planet of the star that the colonists would rename Sanders so that they could live under its name like one of their most famous heroes - Bearperor Rref Grarghrar rode a wave of momentary popularity to re-election. He ordered terraforming work at both Ursa and Keeta, together with preparations for mass-production of boysenberry pie, and with just a few exceptions on Keeta 3, ordered everyone else in the empire to contribute to the rebuilding and expansion of the KEL facilities and remotely-operated experimental suites at other stars. The Bearperor was taking ecological restoration seriously! As for the scientists at the RPL lab, they still were funded - slightly - and reported odds of 37% that their project would succeed, but as they watched the towering budget of the new KEL project expand, something stirred in their ursine hearts even more powerful than stubbornness and sloth: Sheer jealousy!



2341: With hydrogen fuel refined at last - and the RPL labs temporarily closed for a complete house-cleaning in spite of the value of Irridium cells, the only option Old Crarg could propose, Lieutenant-Commander Migrraar Agraff set out at last with her wing of 21 Honeybees to meet the already-departing colony ship at Talas. Meanwhile, far out in the deeps, all the scout ships that could be spared from sentry duties harvested hydrogen from the stellar wind, refined it to fill their fuel cells, and set out to explore still-more-distant stars. Behind Migrraar and hef little fleet, freed from the rigors of the previous year's blitz of terraforming and research work, fully 40 million Bulrathi were boarding Keeta transports bound for the garden world of Sanders. A new age had dawned for the empire.

Only Korrarg Rragree, chief scientist of the KEL, felt a sense of forboding. He couldn't shake the feeling that Bearperor Rref should have pursued the hope of colonizing dead worlds - or at least poured more funding into the new ecological restoration project from other worlds. The Bearperor had many priorities to juggle, certainly - but Korrarg feared he was missing the most vital of them all.

2342: Korrarg watched the transports leave: Five million Keetan Bulrathi returning to the mother world to help take advantage of the terraforming of Ursa 2. He turned to watch construction laboratories just under construction against the skyline where further ecological labs perhaps should have gone instead, and he sighed. He had heard rumors of yet another Silicoid colony fleet being turned back from Primodius, still without escort, still unarmed, and shook his head. "We're not alone in the galaxy," he murmured. "We know it, and we must face it before we fall so far behind we can never catch up." The Bulrathi were isolated for the moment ... but he wondered how long it could last.



2343: "Oh dear." Orgrar Grib, the chief of a hastily-assembled diplomatic corps, glanced around as the transmission appeared on the holodisplay. Tachaon - Tachaon the Psilon - had just found a way to make contact with the Bulrathi people, and that could only mean that Tachaon - Tachayon the Psilon Erratic Diplomat - had somehow managed to get his hands on fuel technology more advanced than even the theoretical Irridium, plans for whose research the Bulrathi were still ignoring as the RPL suffered 100% personnel turnover. Tachaon had allies already in a Sakkra people who were as yet only rumors to the Bulrathi, and when Orgrar made overtures regarding technology trading, Tachaon merely scoffed at "Bulrathi toys." To his previous comment, already on record, Orgrar intelligently added, "Ulp."

Somehow, he managed to put a 25 BC trade package through ... for as long as it would last. Somehow, he persuaded Tachaon - for the present at least - to adopt a stance of neutrality. Somehow, the Psilons had gotten into a war with the Silicoids already and were yet to grow beyond their widely-dispersed four-planet empire -- an empire that seemed to suggest very strongly where the Sakkra homeworld was probably located -- and so some hope remained...



...but Tachaon was not a friend, and never would be, and Psilon technology was terrifying.

And Bulrathi foreign relations were about to get even worse.



2344: The neutron star out beyond Dolz was supposed to be firmly in the Bulrathi back lines. As it turned out, it was very firmly not. While the Bulrathi were distracted by the Silicoids and Psilons, Alkari fleets had snuck around the galaxy's outer rim and - with propulsion technicians far superior to the old guard of the RPL - had managed to bring an armed Sparrowhawk fighter all the way around to the neutron star itself. The Bulrathi scout sent to explore it had no choice but to retreat, even as another arrived at the Silicoid world of Phyco - thanks to the laziness of the RPL, just a little bit too late. From deep space, Phyco Prime looked like a blazing inferno of a world, with some 45 million rock people spread among 56 factory-cities, but it was impossible to get in close enough for a better look; sometime within the past few years, the Silicoids had established a missile base on the surface of their world. A third scout arrived at Mobas, the green star out beyond Dunatis and Proxima, encountering no resistance, but found only a single planet there that was worthy of the name, smaller but every bit as fiery as Phyco Prime had seemed.

As Bearperor Rref's second term drew toward its close, the Bulrathi seemed to be living in an increasingly hostile galaxy.

2345: The Bearperor's poll numbers were dropping dangerously low in the face of unanswered alien threats as polling day drew near. Another scouting setback might have proven disastrous for his second re-election bid ... but as it happened, no such disaster was coming. The year started well with the retreat of yet another pair of Silicoid colony ships, allowing Rref to claim he was successfully protecting Bulrathi space against alien fleets - and soon thereafter, another scout discovered the colony that no doubt had allowed the Sparrowhawk to reach its neutron star on the previous year.



Zoctan's status asan Alkari colony was later lost in official map records due to a bug in the system, but an Alkari colony it was nonetheless, with just seven million birds supporting just a single factory-city at the time of the Bulrathi's arrival. The terran world was even mapped and surveyed from low orbit - with information that fortunately was retained by Bulrathi computer maps - since its starfleet defenses consisted of three unarmed scouts. The real news - and the real reason for the Bearperor's re-election for his third consecutive term - came from the opposite side of the empire however: Migrraar Agraff's fleet of Honeybee fighters finally arrived at Talas ... just in time to watch over the landing of the colony ship. For far too long, aliens had threatened to take start eating Bulrathi space, likely beginning with the critical world of Talas 2. When the Bulrathi at last claimed that world uncontested then, the three bears in charge of planetary survey charts gave it an appropriate name.



Yet another colony ship, just completed at Ursa, was sent toward Dolz in hopes of competing with the Alkari in that region of space, even as 31 million Keetans eagerly boarded transports, ready to help build up Porridge 2. Tenuous though his position had seemed just a few months before, Rref was re-elected in a landslide, carefully ensuring that new military scans of the Psilon Coraona cruiser bound apparently from Iranha straight through Bulrathi space were not released to the general public until after the election.

Rref's third term was quiet but fraught with tension and with fears. The Coraona passed right through the heart of Bulrathi space, bound either for Ursa itself or - as the Bearperor repeatedly insisted it must be - straight past it, taking advantage of an Alkari alliance, toward the distant star of Dolz, to which a Bulrathi colony ship was on approach. By the time his third term ended, another Coraona had appeared on scanners, bound either for Gienah or - as Rref again insisted - for a remote star in the neighborhood of Celtsi. One scout surprised everyone with a full scouting report on the Psilon colony of Iranha 3, a jungle world which in 2347 harbored 54 million Psilons but just 15 factories. Perhaps had he ordered an invasion as he briefly considered doing, Rref Grarghrar would have had a more telling legacy, but in the end he scrapped the plan, fearing that the Psilon alliances would quickly result in escalation to a three-front war if he succeeded - and with the chance of one or more Coraonas coming to Iranha's rescue at just the wrong time, he was never sanguine about actually succeeding. His fleets chased Silicoids from Primodius and a Psilon colony ship from Porridge without issue, but chasing colony ships had become routine, and the electorate began to feel that Rref was growing stale. Construction technology was moving along, and the improved ecological restoration project at KEL was approaching a breakthrough - the reports of 6% and 18% chances of success in the past two years were not nearly as egregious in their failure as the old RPL's - but the electorate was restless, and not without cause.

In the year 2350, Rref Grarghrar's third term ended, and he retired from the seat of Bearperor to pursue personal interests on Keeta 3. Shortly thereafter, the Bulrathi Senate passed an amendment to the constitution as well, forbidding any future Bearperor to serve more than two consecutive five-year terms. They had served under just three Bearperors over the course of the past 50 years, and the Senate was eager to see new blood in the office at last.

How soon Psilon and Bulrathi blood would also spill on the streets remained to be seen.

Regular detailed turn-by-turn report, spoilered for not-as-insane-but-still-lengthy length:

2335: Dump Keeta's production all-out into tech, and pour nearly all of it into Planetology, leaving just enough in Propulsion to bring it to 20%. Leave everything else as I found it and hit Next Turn.
2336: Another Sili Colship pair flees our Scout pair at Primodius. Ursa maxes facs and pours full production into a new Colship. Tech spending at Keeta reduced in favor of "Honeybee 1" fighter production, with just enough left over to split between Planetology (just enough to turn the LED red) and Propulsion (now up to 22%). Colship sent up to Rigel.
2337: Six Honeybees complete. One sent out to take the place of the scout over Artemis; the rest hold station to wait for Hydrogen cells (now at 26%)
2338: Drakka discovered at the northmost red star in the galaxy, a Steppe 45. Six more Honeybees ready and holding station, apart from one sent up to Rigel. Hydrogen up to 30%, IT10 has a full bulb.
2339: Silis retreat again and I realize the fighters will be useless; if they're unescorted this long, when they finally send a ship it'll be a cruiser at least. Colship complete at Ursa; 6 more Honeybees complete at Keeta. One more round of them, just in case they're needed after all....
2340: Terraforming hits at 8%! (Not Prop at 35% though...) Controlled Dead is in our tree! (As are Death Spores.) I nevertheless prefer IER for now. Rigel colonized and renamed Sanders, under whose name lived a famous bear. Ursa and Keeta terraform and everyone pours everything else into tech to seed IER. (Prop now at 37%.)
2341: Hydrogen finally hits! Irridium is the only option, and will be important ... later. For now, 21 Honeybees and a Colship set out for Talas! Spare Scouts also set out for every range-7 star except one back-line blue star and (presumed) Cryslon. 40 transports sent from Keeta up to Sanders.
2342: Silis retreat from Primodius again. 5 transports sent from Keeta to Ursa to max it out again ASAP. Start to seed Construction.
2343: Oh dear. Guess who we just met. That's right ... Tachaon the Psilon. Tachaon the Psilon Erratic Diplomat! Good news: They're already at war with the rocks. Bad news: They're already allied to the Sakkra. Good news: His four colonies are a mess, completely split off from each other ... and we basically know where Sssla is. Also, based on the location of their colonies ... the Psilons already have Dotomite Crystals! In fact, we may have just gotten contact because he teched the things. I offer Tach a 25 bc trade package, which he accepts, then offer to trade tech, but he quite reasonably points out that he doesn't want our Bulrathi toys. He's neutral toward us for now. Medved performs half its terraforming since the BCs line up nicely. Keeta finally resumes building factories, at least briefly.
2344: I think we've been overestimating the size of our "back lines." Alkari have a nasty habit of getting range tech fast, and they've already got a Sparrowhawk fighter up at the neutron star to our northeast. Our Scout is forced to retreat, and a Honeybee will be sent over to watch Dolz just in case. Meanwhile, the blue star just north of Mentar turns out to be Phyco: A Silicoid colony as expected, with a missile base preventing our Scout from getting a report, but with a pattern on the screen that suggests the place may be an inferno. Its population is 45, with 56 factories. Meanwhile, at a green star in the southeast, we discover Mobas, an Inferno 30.
2345: Another Sili "attack" at Primodius is repelled. Where are they hiding their fleets? (Maybe getting slagged by Psilons?) A green star in the east meanwhile turns out to harbor the newish Alkari colony of Zoctan - presumably the one that gave their Sparrowhawk the range to reach the neutron star north of here. With just seven pop and 1 fac, "defended" by 3 Scouts, it will yield its scouting reports to us (and turns out to be a Terran 90). Speaking of the starfleet though: We've just arrived at Talas with our main force, including the newest colship! Since we'd have been quite upset if someone had eaten it while we were away, the place is aptly renamed Porridge. Better still, the colship we just used is immediately replaced by a new one out of Ursa, which will head up to Dolz to help us compete for "our back lines" with the Alkari. Medved's terraforming is complete and it resumes work on factories. Keeta ships 31 transports to Porridge and various scouts are dispatched to explore new stars. Meanwhile, scanners from Porridge reveal a Psilon Coraona cruiser en route to Bulrathi space - probably to Gienah from Iranha, but could really be anywhere thanks to the Psilons' latest alliance - with the Alkari. On the chance that it's bound for Porridge - and that we can do anything whatever to stop it - all 21 of its Honeybees hold station for now.
2346: The Coraona looks like it's headed for our (and apparently the Birds') back lines. A Psilon Colony Ship has appeared near Primodius however, and looks like it might be headed for Porridge from Mentar, so the Honeybees continue to hold station in case it's armed. Porridge begins to receive Reserve funding and Sanders begins to terraform as Ursa comletes its factories and resumes Colship duties.
2347: A Scout surprises me with actual reports on Iranha, the Psilon colony nearest Bulrathi space. It's a size-90 Jungle with 54 population and 15 factories. It's tempting to invade them - Tachaon's erratic anyway - but there's no telling what doom fleet would arrive by the time our transports do, and conquering the planet would probably give us contact with the Sakkra ... who are allied to the Psilons. I don't feel like fighting a two-front war right now, so I concentrate on building up - and defending - our empire. I also order the Honeybee at Artemis to an alternate location since a Sparrowhawk is about to arrive, and our chances are very poor in a battle between identical ship designs against the Alkari.
2348: Silis are back at Primodius. They still don't have guns on their fleet. Sanders is fully terraformed, IER is at 6%, and the Psilon Coraona looks like it's bound either for Ursa or for Dolz. I'll try to confirm in time to warn the next player....
2349: Some golden-haired Psilon wants to eat our Porridge! Without a battle scanner or base, I can't tell if the colship was unarmed or just afraid of our cloud of fighters; either way, it retreats. Meanwhile, the Alkari Sparrowhawk chases off the Scout we sent to Artemis on the chance that the birdy fighter would leave ... and we complete another colony ship at Ursa, now already en route to Keeta. Just two problems: That Coraona really looks like it's going to Dolz at this point, which should make things ... interesting. Ursa is set to build a Nose 1.0 scanner ship with maximum overflow for whatever ship we build next, building up a few reserve points with the excess, and Sanders helps out a little with research to bring our total RP to 100 and IER up to 18%.
2350: Celtsi discovered at the blue star in the east: A size-25 tundra world. Denubius discovered at the red star due south of Porridge: A 50-pop Dead world that gives me hope that the Psilons don't have Controlled Dead ... yet. I set our various worlds to reasonable build choices, all veto-able by Ianus of course, but leave our fleets alone so Ianus can make the calls.

Notes for Ianus: (AKA "if you read nothing else...")
- Controlled Dead is in our tree! We are currently researching IER, which might be a mistake on my part, but at least it's well into the percentages now.
- The main fighter fleet is still above Porridge; there's also a scanner ship at Ursa awaiting orders.
- A colship will arrive at Keeta next turn. I meant it to head up to Drakka but that's up to you now. Just don't forget about it!
- Another colship is due to arrive at Dolz next turn. I'm not sure whether to colonize it or send the ship back to Escalon; assuming the Coraona is really heading there (I think it'll arrive in 2357) the question is whether that cruiser will be able to bomb our colony into the ground. (And whether we'll be able to dislodge it in time to send ground troop reinforcements to the colony.) Of course, we won't necessarily know the answer to this by next turn....
- Coincidentally, several retreating scouts are due to arrive at our worlds next turn.
- The blue star between Cryslon and Mentar is Phyco, a Silicoid Colony.
- Zoctan, at the green star east of Ursa and Artemis, is a relatively recent Alkari colony in spite of the game not reporting it as such.
- Sssla is probably the yellow star between Mentar and Iranha in the north and Thrax in the south.
- I have not fed reserves to Porridge this turn (it may have a little left over from last turn; not sure) but we have enough in the treasury to double its production if desired.

[RefSteel]

Good points, Thrawn! I usually wait until I get scouting reports (potentially about those lovely barren rich worlds) to open Planetology, but I can definitely see a 2300 opening, minimal seeding, and slow trickle as a potentially strong strategy.

ALSO: I've updated my previous post with a detailed "normal" report for those who don't want to read the in-character story and some notes for the next player. (Hopefully I remembered everything....)

Roster:
- Ianus - UP until 2360! Good luck!
- Psillycyber - On Deck to take us through 2370!
- RefSteel - Totally Not Hibernating - just resting my eyes.
- (Thrawn - Still hibernating until his RL schedule stops sending Coraonas at his core worlds.)

[Psillycyber]

Great turnset, Ref! You've put us well on our way to catching up on our terraforming research.

Ugh, how I hate early cheese alliances between AI that give them extended range to places they shouldn't be able to snoop around. Those Psilons....

I'm more worried about the Psilons than the Silicoids now. I bet the Silicoid gunships are getting distracted by their war with the Psilons. I'm not too worried about them colonizing the dead worlds. The Psilons, on the other hand....

I just had a look at the save, and regarding that Coraona headed for Dolz, assuming it is warp-1, it should get there in about 6 turns, which means our options are:
1. Settle Dolz. Send the max number of colonists from Medved immediately. Those colonists should arrive 4 turns later, 1 turn before the Coraona. My experience with early AI cruisers is that they are rarely bombers, and even cruisers equipped with lasers are not good at killing colonists—maybe a couple million per year. If we got the reinforcements from Medved there first, I would not be too worried about losing the colony outright, as we could probably regrow about as fast as colonists would be bombed. However, you know that the AI invasion fleets would be on their way, then. We could probably sneak more waves of reinforcements past 1 cruiser (if sent in large groups, accepting a few million losses), so maybe that wouldn't be that big of a deal. Plus, if the Psilons and Alkari end their AI cheese alliance (which the erratic Psilons are bound to do, I'd imagine), then the Coraona at Dolz will be stranded due to lack of range and deleted. So we would really only need to make sure to be able to survive 1 round of bombardment, assuming that the alliance ends before the Coraona gets to Dolz (6 turns, I reckon). I think we could survive if we sent reinforcements from Medved (4 turns away) immediately. This option would be a bit of a gamble.
2. We could re-route the colony ship to neighboring Escalon (directly from Dolz, right? Or, as per exploit rules, would we need to let the colony ship retreat to the nearest base first?)

[Psillycyber]

Also, by my count, even with the Alkari scooping up some of our backlines, we should be able to get a core of 8 worlds even before we get the dead worlds online. That will allow us to stay competitive until we can start invading, no? Sullla has often remarked that 7 or 8 worlds on a large map is the magic number. (Below that, and you really fall behind in tech).

[Ianus]

Got it! Things look a bit different than they did last time I was here.

[RefSteel]

Yes, the Coraona in the heart of our space is probably bound for Dolz, and I would guess it'll arrive in 2357. (It's definitely still using retros.) Colonizing and sending transports from Medved while ignoring the cruiser is definitely an option since we're Bulrathi, especially since their transports will take ages to arrive. I wouldn't try to sneak more 'sports past a cruiser though - not given its potential armament when we have just retros + titanium.

In any case, Ianus should have some interesting choices to make here!

Got it! Things look a bit different than they did last time I was here.

Just a bit, perhaps - good luck!

[RefSteel]

2. We could re-route the colony ship to neighboring Escalon (directly from Dolz, right? Or, as per exploit rules, would we need to let the colony ship retreat to the nearest base first?)

The exploit rules are very narrow: They only forbid sending a missile boat or bomber back to the same star at which they just fought a battle and expended ammunition. I always let my retreating fleets head back home, but even the most stringent exploit rules wouldn't forbid sending a ship someplace else when it arrives at a star unchallenged. (Doesn't mean we can't make that a variant rule some day though...)

Also, by my count, even with the Alkari scooping up some of our backlines, we should be able to get a core of 8 worlds even before we get the dead worlds online. That will allow us to stay competitive until we can start invading, no? Sullla has often remarked that 7 or 8 worlds on a large map is the magic number. (Below that, and you really fall behind in tech).

Well, it depends on the worlds and on the AI - including how soon we have to fight off war fleets! It's also a little different with Bulrathi, but the bears are easy to underestimate, and if we can land those dead, rich worlds we'll be doing great. That said ... let's not count our chickens just yet. Even with just four planets so far, Tachaon terrifies me. It's not just the tech (Range 7 already, and that was years ago! We're still not out of the first tier!) - it's that erratic diplomatic personality. We could face a dogpile, a diplomatic loss, or both long before we're ready.

(Which would be pretty fun to play out, actually. Like I said, it's easy to underestimate the Bulrathi.)

[Ianus]

First a review of the empire. Things look to be in great shape! We are colonizing well, tech is looking good, and we actually have a navy! From discussion with my teammates and having time to think I can say that I really dropped the ball on research at the start. I was so intent on building factories that I managed to cripple our empire’s early Planetology progress, which is made even worse by just how important Controlled Dead tech looks to be. It will not happen again!
Erratic Psilons eh? That should be enjoyable! The good news for now is that even though there are Psilon ships entering Bulrathi space the brains only have 4 planets, and as RefSteel points out they are pretty spread out. Now I realize that ONLY 4 planets of Psilons is a lot like saying its ONLY a three alarm fire, but it could certainly be a lot worse. Also Erratic Psilons may be a blessing in disguise, as Emperor Tacheon may find it hard to do research when he is fighting a bunch of wars. So that will become a crucial tactic down the road: keeping the Psilons at war. Of course, how to do that is another issue. Since spectator wars are off the table we will probably have to go to war ourselves and then draw in some allies. Which means that we will need some allies. To that end, and since the brains and the rocks are already off on the wrong foot I think that we need to buddy up to the rocks as much as possible. And the Sakkra too whenever we get into contact with them. That leaves the Alkari (and Psilons) to play war games with, which should be plenty at least for a while. This makes having and holding those Dead worlds AND doing it peacefully even more important to avoid annoying our hypothetical allies. Anyway, on with the show:

2350: Wait, what are all of these ships doing here?! Those weren’t here last time I looked! I decide that Porridge has been ours long enough and dispatch all but one lone Honeybee down to Primodius in hopes of stalling the Silicoids long enough. I send the Nose from Ursa up to Dolz to have a look at the Psilon Corona design before probably routing it down to the southeast to have an eventual look at the Alkari. Other than that things look good. I send Reserve funds to Porridge and leave everything else the same.

Also, Emperor Tacheon refuses to break his alliance with the birdbrains. I just had to ask. I also expect to be seeing a lot of that grumpy mug in the future.

2351: What excitement! Our heroic scout at Primodius runs off ANOTHER incursion from the Silicoids. Emperor Granid (or whoever): well, it didn’t work the first 9 times, but I have a really good feeling about number 10! I spend a long time debating about settling Dolz, and then once I decide to do so I spend a long time pondering about what to name the colony (I don’t usually rename planets), and just when I have decided that a minimal 30 world feels quite Dolzey I am struck by brilliance and rename it: Dither. Brilliant! We also scout Endoria, a well established Sakkra colony just south of Mentar. Its starting to get a little crowded around here! And CATASTROPHE! A virus wipes out all 100RP from our work on Irridium fuel cells. I don’t know that there was overflow RP assignment, but at least it wasn’t Planetology or Construction, the two fields we are actually working right now. [I’m sure that Ref could make this into a hilarious bit of flavor, but I’m just not up to it right now]. And now the turn actually starts!
I send 27 million colonists from Sanders over to Dither. Now that the colony is founded I can see the Alkari Sparrowhawk in orbit of the purple star to the east. I dispatch my lone Honeybee to see about chasing it away. I’m pretty certain that the Psilons are en route to Dither, so we will see what happens there. I notice that there is another Psilon Corona headed to Artemis just south of Ursa. You know, if you don’t maintain your scout blockades this is what happens!

2352: Go planetology go! Onward to Controlled Dead! That 3100RP price tag is painful, especially with the 134RP I am currently producing. Next turn the last colony ship completes though, plus Reduced Industrial Waste 80 has almost a full bulb.
There is definitely a bug in the game about displaying explored planets outside of scanner range. Now that my scout is flying from Endoria to what must be Sssla the planet displays as uncolonized, but it displays as an actively scanned planet rather than reading “last reported as a Sakkra colony” as it should.

2353: Run away! This is the topmost red star in the northeast corner, just to be clear. I guess that the Alkari won’t be getting up to the corner any time really soon. Our final Colony Ship is produced and Reloc’d up to Sanders, saving a turn on its journey to Drakka. RIW80 enters the percentages at 1% and I switch Ursa over entirely to research.

2354: Well the Silicoids try AGAIN with their two unarmed colony ships at Primodius, and my heroic Scout and his backup of 19 laser fighters run them off again. Also the Sakkra have 20 bases and a large ship at Sssla.

2355: A quiet turn. My colonists and the Psilon ship will arrive at Dither on the same turn. Not what I wanted to happen. RIW80 is at 22%.

2356: Yes! All research to Planetology!
Ok, something really really weird is going on here!

First of all Emperor Tacheon has lost half of his planets. They also don’t show up on the galactic map.

Then, when I check the Races screen I have apparently met the Sakkra, even though I did not get any message to that effect. I can talk to Emperor Tyranid the Aggressive Technologist, who is in an alliance with both the Psilons and the Alkari. I’m not sure how he can talk to the Alkari, but whatever. He is also at war with the rocks.

And finally after exiting the Races screen I can see Tyranid’s planets, including the two which until just last turn apparently belonged to the Psilons. Also Endoria now correctly displays “last reported as a Sakkra colony” as it should. But the Map screen now shows 4 Psilon planets and no Sakkra planets again. Weird! We will see what happens next turn.

2357: The game is seriously wigging out now. First the Silicoids return to Primodius with the same two colony ships for like the 15th time, and are repelled again. Then the Psilons attack at Dither with 10 Heavy Lasers and gain space superiority AND shoot down 9 or 10 of my incoming colonists. So in desperation I threaten them. The result?

Um, ok I guess… Thank you for filling a HUGE early hole in my tech tree and pulling all your ships back from where I’m sure you were about to clobber me. I realize that the Bulrathi are a bit intimidating in person, but this is a hologram and I’m pretty sure you could flatten me if you wanted to. Although to be fair you do only have two planets…
Another result of this bug, the ships incoming to the Barren worlds which last turn were displayed as Sakkra turn out to be Psilon, which means that they will be retreating from my mighty scouts. Rahrgh! [Player’s note: If this threat ruins the game for anyone, I’m sorry! To be fair I believe that we could probably hit the brains at Iranha with good results]
Finally I am OFFICIALLY introduced to Tyranid the Aggressive Technologist. He and Tacheon are made for each other.

2358: We settle Hefalump in the far north, and I discover that through poor ship management I sent a colony ship to the wrong place, and so I missed out on naming our last planet. The ship is on its way so the next player can rename it as they like. Dead tech is nearing the percentages too.

2359: A quiet turn. Controlled Dead enters the percentages at 5%. The Psilons retreat from everywhere, and that is about it.

2360: And the Silicoids are back at Primodius with the same 2 Colony ships, but this time they have brought some friends. Three large Sharks sporting a 5-rack of missiles and a laser or two. But after a nail biting battle involving dodging all missiles due to AI stupidity, the ultimate sacrifice made by our heroic Scout pilot to absorb a laser salvo, and incredible dodges and hits by our fleet of Honeybees, I manage to hold the planet with the loss of only 10 fighters and our scout. Seriously that pilot is the greatest hero I have ever known!

And so I hand over control of our empire. We are actually in pretty great shape, at least according to the graph.

For the next emperor:
• Controlled Dead is at 24%, but only because I have sacrificed all of our factory building to get it there
• You have 4 turns until the Silicoids can turn around and return for Primodius. With Nuclear engines our travel time is doubled, but you can only fit combat speed 2 OR a shield or computer on a small laser hull. I can’t decide which is better so I leave it up to you.
• We have a major AI love-fest going on, with the Silicoids playing pariah and everyone else in love. The Sakkra are even allied with the Meklar, and one way or another a council vote isn’t far away.
• Good luck!

[Psillycyber]

Great report, Ianus! It looks like things are looking swell indeed!

What a diplomatic coup with the nuclear engines gift! That will allow our ships to play a bit of zone defense between planets, and in combat the 2-space manueverability will help us dodge those Silicoid missiles.

I did get the save (and I assume that I am up next to play, right?)

But first, there is just one thing I want to clarify:

2360: And the Silicoids are back at Primodius with the same 2 Colony ships, but this time they have brought some friends. Three large Sharks sporting a 5-rack of missiles and a laser or two. But after a nail biting battle involving dodging all missiles due to AI stupidity, the ultimate sacrifice made by our heroic Scout pilot to absorb a laser salvo, and incredible dodges and hits by our fleet of Honeybees, I manage to hold the planet with the loss of only 10 fighters and our scout. Seriously that pilot is the greatest hero I have ever known!

In this battle, since the Silicoid Sharks had lasers on them, I'm guessing they stuck around, right? Which means, did our Honeybees actually kill all 3 attacking Sharks (if so...wow!) And what about the colony ships? I'm guessing they retreated, right?

In all, I think the bravery and ingenuity of the Honeybee pilots was only surpassed by that of their commander, Admiral Ianus. I don't think I could have pulled that off....

[Psillycyber]

Okay, after looking at the save, I've come up with some plans. (Unlike last time, where I took the save and flew off running by the seat of my pants ). Here is a visual aid to help show what I mean:



1. That Psilon colony ship is headed for Celtsi, a size 25 tundra world in our backlines! (See white arrow with ? in top right). And there is no Bulrathi fleet at that planet! I'm betting the Psilons will have the tech to colonize that. And we do NOT want a Psilon presence in our backlines, even if they are looking weak at the moment! I might let them colonize it and just invade right away, but we don't have the range to get our transports there right now, so it is probably a safer idea to try to block them from Celtsi in the first place. Any idea on whether that colony ship will be armed? If it is, well, I hope I can get enough warp-2 Honeybee 2.0 fighters there in time to fend it off. I will start on that ASAP. I can probably produce them out of Ursa and still have them get there in time, so I should be able to get a fair amount there in time. How many do you all think would be sufficient to fight off an armed colony ship? (Although...always better to have more, and win the battle more quickly while taking fewer losses....) And that colony ship is moving at warp-1, right?

2. I am going to keep research focused on controlled dead for one more turn (because it is THAT important), and then start re-distributing research to all six fields, regardless of whether controlled dead has popped yet. (It will be at >20%, so it can't take more than a turn or two even with a trickle after that). I will put one turn of full research with no factory construction into the techs, and then I will go back to mostly factory construction while dabbling a trickle into all fields after that.

3. After we get controlled dead, I've outlined the order in which I plan on colonizing them. Proxima, the size 55 rich, is the ultimate prize, and it is near the Alkari, so I feel like I can't afford to wait. So my plan is 1. Artemis (Barren, size 45) to give us range to reach... 2. Promixa (Dead, rich, size 55), then 3. Gienah (dead, rich, size 20), and then #4 (dead, non-rich, I forgot the name of it at the moment...)

And let's hope I don't forget to put dead colony bases and nuclear engines on the new colony ships like I do sometimes in my single-player games.

4. Maybe Keeta can be spared to build some Honeybee 2.0 fighters to add to the defenses at Primodius. The added benefit will be, these fighters can spring back to Porridge or Gienah in a jiffy if the latter comes under fire at some point. And those move-2 Honeybee 2.0 ships should be really good at dodging Shark missiles.