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In which I play Realms Beyond Orion Imperium 9 Chapter Three: Enter Alkari Space And You Will Be Destroyed On Sight, or the Tale of Two Galactic Overlords
2454: Zortium Armor discovered. Armored Exoskeleton is the next project. 2455:
 And a howdy hi to you too, neighbor. I establish 425 BC of trade; I trade RIW 60% for Controlled Tundra. That may give me a Rich world, at least. Klystron will take 2 turns to build the shiny new warp 3 tundra colship. 2456:
 The Alkari are gunning for the tundra world Yarrow, as well. Too bad, you shall not have it, Ariel. This is because your colships are too slow, and because silly xenophobic you commerces with the human player, and also because you smell kinda funny. By the time the birds get here, there will be an established colony and over a hundred NPG fighters in orbit. Sure that was an expensive trade for Controlled Tundra, but now I will have a Rich colony, which I'm pretty sure is the last thing the other factions want me to have right now. 2458: Range 7 pops, Warp Dissipator next. Also:
 A Rich 50 world, soon to be Rich 80. Wonderful. Spica and Klystron, both nearby, feed the world 15 million bears a piece. It's high time we got another shot of the galaxy map:
 This map is notable for the inclusion of the rocks and boids, and also for the sudden dearth of shifters. We are definitely shaping up as the dominant galactic power; soon enough the cats will know our might and buckle. The right half of the map is indeed carved up pretty neatly between the bugs, birds and sillies; the sillies and birds have clearly pulled away somewhat, but this really is the most balanced map I've played in a long while. I send a Scout out to an unknown world now in range. I bring an olive branch to the shifters, but they want RIW 60% for peace; forget it! You can beg. Or maybe I'll just take Nazin. I set my Mrrshan and Silicoid spies to Espionage. 2459: Denubius re-maxes on factories. I get a look at bird tech:
 2463: The 'loks offer peace; I reject the offer. No tribute. Ursa re-maxes on factories. 2462: That Alkari colship finally arrives at Yarrow to find no room at the inn.
 Spica re-maxes. 2465:
 Are the birds mad? What, exactly, do they plan on doing with their ion cannon fleet? Besides blow up really quickly, I mean? Klystron re-maxes. I get Xudax and Quayal hot on their planetary shields. Alkari spies go to espionage. 2466:
 Select Computer, get ECM Jammer Mark II and a long face. 2467: IT+40 comes in, I backtrack for Controlled Radiated. Advanced Eco can wait at the moment. Probably should have done this the other way around since IT+30 was readily available in trade. Xudax builds its planetary shield. This frees up the NPG fighters in orbit for Incedius. Quayal will finish its shield next turn, so I send its fighters over as well.
 I'd just like to interject here that Bulrathi spies look ridiculous. That fellow up there looks about as stealthy as, I don't know, a circus clown busking loudly while spontaneously going supernova. DURRPTY DURRPTY DURR, HELLO, I AM A BEAR IN A BIG BLACK BAG. DO NOT MIND ME. I AM HERE TO STEAL ALL OF YOUR SECRETS. I MEAN, I AM NOT HERE TO STEAL ALL OF YOUR SECRETS. I MEAN... OH, BOTHER. Bears: we make ninjas, too.
 No arguing with success, I suppose. In other news: since the birds and cats are at war, and the cats are allied with the rocks and the shifters, that now means that the birds are fighting everybody except maybe the Klackons at this point. The AI does not "think" too far ahead about this sort of thing. Or indeed, "think" about it at all. 2468:
 Scout discovers a Klackon world. No worries, Mr. Kafka sir. I'm only a little lost. My wonderful spies hit the Alkari, but they don't get Planetology! Construction is the only choice. I pull RIW 80%. Repulsor Beam is up to 15% now. 2469: Xudax maxes on factories. Excellent! 2472: Quayal maxes on factories. An Alkari fleet is incoming! But Quayal has a missile base up and will have two more next turn. 2474: Repulsor Beam finally researched. Class VI Deflectors are my only choice. 2475: Hard Beam comes in. Omega-V Bombs are the next choice. Council vote: Alkari (6) for Silicoids, Silicoids (7) for Silicoids, Klackon (4) for Silicoids, Darloks (1) for Silicoids, Mrrshans (4) for Silicoids, Bulrathi (15!!!) abstain.
 I am not making any friends, but neither do I need them. Grrrrowl! 2476: Incedius maxes on factories. 2477:
 SURPRISE! I TOTALLY SNUCK UP ON YOU DIDN'T I? YOU DIDN'T EVEN SEE ME COMING, DID YOU? ...NOW! I MELT INTO THE NIGHT!! SSSSHHHHHHHHH ECM Jammer IV in this turn, Advanced Space Scanner is next.
 Incedius will have a planetary shield and missile base next turn, and with Controlled Dead it's time to take a second Rich planet from my good friends the birds. I go ahead and ship some bears to arrive the same turn. 2478:
 "I AM A SPY." OKAY, NOW YOU GIVE THE COUNTER SIGN. The Mrrshans dial me up to complain about my vast expansion, which will shortly become even vaster. Tough kibble, kitties. Incedius builds its shield. Next turn, I conquer Dunatis for my own. 2479:
 THE BEARS MADE THE VERY GROUND SHAKE
 (Klackons, Aggressive Industrialist) Bugs have some range! I establish trade. They offer up a bunch of obsolete tech for other obsolete tech. Eh, not really interested at the moment. Never fear, my formidable formic friend, I will have some folks keeping an eye on you.
 Uh... somehow, I think they'll be in touch. I go ahead and send the remaining ships at Incedius up to Dunatis. 2480: Armored Exoskeleton pops, paving the way for IIT 4 research. The Alkaris have taken Paladia in the south, putting us back into contact. I resume spying on them -- in fact, at this point I have espionage on everybody. 2481:
I certainly have a use for this. Romulas (Inferno Rich 40), Darrian (Inferno 40) and Mu Delphi (Radiated Rich 30) are now open to bear I set Xudax to building a ship for Mu Delphi, Klystron for Romulas, and Ursa constructing a colship for Darrian. All three ships should be ready in two turns. 2482: Warp Dissipator is researched, and bear scientists begin laboring on Impulse Drives. Yes! You heard that right! We're going to get to research an engine! 2483: Alkari colship arrives at Dunatis and quickly retreats. There are larger, meaner fleets behind it, though. Yarrow maxes on factories, and starts working on defenses. Radiated colships go out. 2484:
 182 "Sparrowhawk" class fighters. Nothing that the NPG fleet around Dunatis can't handle. A colony at Mu Delphi is founded. Xudax feeds it some bears. 2485:
 An even meaner Alkari fleet appears at Dunatis! The Sparrowhawk fighters are laser fighters, not too much of a threat. The larges are equipped with heavy ion cannons, however, and are a little tough to hit with the Alkari defensive bonus. Even so they are no match for my numbers.
 ...HERE'S A HINT. "I AM A SPY, TOO."
 YOU DIDN'T SEE ME I WAS NEVER HERE DO I HAVE TO CONK YOU OVER THE NOGGIN OR WHAT OH WHAT DO I DOOOOOO I go ahead and frame the bugs. Everybody hates the birds already, anyway. Aaah. The bears frankly are not the best-suited race for espionage, but at this point I have a good Computer tech edge on everybody. Not even the Darloks are safe from my bears in big black bags. Multiple hits in a turn and frames are always fun, too.
 Yarrow builds its planetary shield and gets to spend time pumping the planetary reserve. I send the NPG fighters in orbit around Yarrow to Romulas; as an Inferno Rich planet it might become a tempting target for the kitties; they have Controlled Toxic. Over in the south part of the map some inconsequential squabbles are going on amongst the AI races. The Darloks have taken Paladia from the bugs, who took it from the birds, who took it from the cats, who took it from the shifters, and so on. That gives the shifters two planets, for now. We'll see how long they can manage to hold it this time... 2486:
 Talas seeds the new colony. Okay, time to take a look at where things stand:
 ...and just how much this game is over.
 At this point, I am making no diplomatic overtures with anybody. No new trade contracts, no tech trading, no new treaties. In fact, I'm actively spying on everybody, war or peace. I could easily patch up relations with the Darloks and Alkaris and likely coast to a council vote win in 2500. However, that doesn't sound like too much fun, does it?
 2487: My spies inform me that the Silicoids picked up Repulsor Beam, Ion Stream Projector, and Pulson Missiles in the derilict. 2490:
Class VI Deflector Shields researched, Class VII Deflectors next. Silicoids complain about my size. 2491:
 Fusion Rifle is the next Weapons choice. 2492: Spies hit the Silicoids and pull Graviton Beam. Frame the birds. 2493: Alkaris send a handful of Sparrowhawk fighters to Dunatis; they do not even bother to fight. Dunatis maxes on factories, and starts building its defenses. 2495: IIT 4 pops. Reduced Waste 20% is the way forward.
 Seriously, I'm terrified. Just terrified.
 Wetting myself in horror over here. Have no idea whatever I am going to do. Verily, verily, we are lost. Dunatis builds its planetary shield. With the new Construction tech it seems like a good time to put together a new ship, but Impulse drives are in the percentages... 2496: Advanced Space Scanner comes in. Improved Robotic Controls V is the only choice that moves forward. The scanners reveal that the hotly-contested world of Paladia is a Steppe 62 Ultra Poor. Wow. 2498:
 Star Gates are the next propulsion project.
 This is almost entirely a beam boat. I don't like Swiss Army Knife-type designs; my best bombs would certainly fit on this ship but I would rather build a small Fusion bomber. F-bombs are still good enough against most of my opponents, and it's a lot cheaper to build hundreds of small bombers than a fleet of battleships with a few dozen bombs a piece. In the spare room I slapped in missiles, mostly to allow me the ability to move after firing my beams. The high level shields plus Auto Repair will make this ship very, very difficult against any of my enemies' current technologies. The single unfortunate aspect is that this ship does not have great computers. Haven't had a battle computer to research in a long time. Here is the dedicated bomber:
 A very scary bomb boat for this point in the game, actually. Yarrow and Dunatis will split boat-building duties. 4700 RP from the planetary reserve is dumped into my shipyards. 2500:
 I pull Anti-Missile Rockets, and frame the Klackons.
 Advanced Soil Enrichment -- hah! -- is next up.
 ...So I get to pick the Council winner, huh? This is where I get to pack up my big black bags and declare myself the victor and go home and go back to bed for another 20 years, is it? But where the hell is the fun in that?
 I'm a democratic sort of person, 12 vs. 11 of everybody else's vote went for that Ariel fellow, so he must be an all right guy. I guess I'll vote for him! Yay, Ariel for Galactic Overlord! Hooray for the New Republic! Alkaris are pretty!
 ...No, I do not approve of the Council's ruling, absolutely not! Down with Galactic Overlord Ariel! Pfaigh upon the New Republic! Death to the Alkari! VEE VILL BURY YOU! What can I say? I have decided that these are Erratic bears. That means we can start by tying our shoelaces one morning and end by declaring war on the rest of the universe, don'tcha know.
 Bring it on. You guys suck so much you lost the game about 200 turns ago. Spies at the ready? Bombers being built? Battleships are go? Planetology tech spending upped? Okay then, Final War it is. No messing around, lots of AI bloodletting beyond this link... in chapter 4
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