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In which I play Realms Beyond Orion Imperium 9 Chapter Four: The Conjunction of Planets Indicates That We Must Eradicate You, or Final War
2501: Mu Delphi maxes on factories, goes to defense. 2502: Hit the Alkari, steal Deep Space Scanner. Romulas maxes on factories, also goes to defense.
 Bears are also sent from Imra and Incedius, three turns away. 2503: Mu Delphi gets its shield, starts pumping the planetary reserve.
 BEHOLD THE MIGHT OF THE NEW REPUBLIC The Darloks are sending a pathetic fleet to Incedius with its 10 missile bases. 2504:
 The 22 bases at Fierias fall in two rounds of bombing. Excellent. Next turn, the troops will arrive. Meanwhile, the Darloks turn tail at Incedius; enemy spies destroy 14 factories at Romulas. Romulas finishes its shield, sends production to the reserves. The first Grizzly-class battleship is finished at Dunatis. It will be stationed at Fierias. 2505:
 The only Computer tech the New Republic had that I didn't.
 Frame the Silicoids, not that it matters. Enemy spies destroy 6 missile bases (!) at Xudax.
 Also found in the cat picknick basket: Class IV Deflector Shields and Improved Terraforming +10. Fierias gets hot on defense spending; I help it out with about 700 BC from the planetary reserves. The Mrrshan intend to strike back at Romulas... in six turns! Yowtch, cats, might want to scrap those warp one ships at some point.
 2506: Bears obtain orbital supremacy over Firma.
 Hyper-V Rockets, bah. One less dud to capture or steal, I suppose. A mysterious unknown spy hits at Denubius, taking out 25 factories. Wonder who that could be? 2507: The Mrrshans attack at Fierias to find 3 missile bases and a battleship waiting. Their ship was a speed-3 dealy-bob with four Graviton beams and 2 two-shot Merculites. Not terribly scary. It retreated immediately, of course. I hit the Alkaris for a free tech:
 HOW DO I LOOK I HOPE THIS PICTURE TURNS OUT OKAY AM I BLINKING IS MY SPY BAG PROPERLY SYMMETRICAL? Also:
 The tech plunder: Class V Deflector Shields, Megabolt Cannon (nice!), Controlled Toxic Environment, and Reduced Industrial Waste 40%. The battleship is sent to Firma; Fierias has its planetary shield and is building a bunch of missile bases at the moment.
 I skip Poor Dolz for the moment, the Silicoid Terran world of Rhilus is a much more juicy target. 2508: The Alkaris are kind enough to give me the secrets of Ion Stream Projector technology. A real fleet is flying into Firma:
 Five turns away. There will be a Grizzly there, and a bunch of missile bases by that time; I am not too concerned. (Boy the AI uses speed poorly.) 2509: My bombers reach Rhilus; they blow up the bases there.
 I go ahead and steal Improved Terraforming +20. Every Planetology tech level helps boost production a little. Two missile bases go kablooey at Denubius.
 Now this is bad news for every other faction in the galaxy. Another +10 bonus to my ground rolls? Yes, please. That bear scientist sure seems happy about these "inaccurate but incredibly powerful" personal defense weapons. I send some NPG fighters over to Rhilus. Auto Blastor is next. 2510: The Mrrshans attack with a bunch of small fighters at Firma. Their Griffin-class fighters are only equipped with Hyper-Vs. Too bad. 2511: The Mrrshans finally bring a somewhat decent size fleet to Romulas:
 They threw everything except the kitchen sink on those Leopard class boats. My 25 bases fire on them and destroy the entire stack. Silicoids bring a fleet to Fierias, this one is a very bizarre design:
 Sad sad story. Think a Grizzly 5 and 21 missile bases can handle it?
 I don't even need to bother with fleets, myself. The tech is Bio Toxin Antidote, Stinger Missiles, and Range 6 fuel cells. No sense in messing around. I send the bombers on to Cryslon. 2512: The Silicoids bring a single Shark to Rhilus. A hundred NPG fighters run it off. The Mrrshans attack with a larger fleet at Romulas, this one with 39 Leopards and 14 Warcats. My new Stingers do a lot more damage though, so there is no real danger. Spies hit Silicoids with only one field open (Construction). I pull Battle Suits. Class VII Deflector Shields are researched this turn. I can research Zyro Shield, Class XV planetaries, or Class IX deflectors. I go for the planetaries, of course. The huge Klackon fleet arrives at Firma next turn, we'll get a good look at their navy for the first time. Also next turn, a Grizzly and over 350 bombers arrive at Cryslon. 2513: The Silicoids bring a large Polaris class ship to Rhilus; this is a fusion beam fighter with only combat speed 1. No danger whatsoever. The Mrrshans also attack at Rhilus with 24 Griffins and a single Warcat. The fleet is obliterated, except for a single Griffin that escapes. Finally, the Klackon fleet at Firma:
 W O W. I do believe that the bugs have a scary fleet. That is an insane number of F-bombs. The Grizzly puts up a good fight but is, unfortunately, finally blown up by the Merculites and Stingers flying around. I manage to destroy a lot of the F-bomb boats, but eventually the 19 missile bases fall. For now, the Klackons win at Firma. Meanwhile at Cryslon, my bombers are easily victorious.
 IT+60 is next.
 I like this better than the Klackons invading (eventually) and capturing Advanced Soil Enrichment, or any of my superior shields or computers. I concentrate my research spending in Force Fields. Class XV Planetaries will make all those F-bomb ships useless. 2514: The Silicoids bring a large fleet into Cryslon.
 Mineral-based lifeforms apparently have a penchant for really weird ship designs. In any case, it's the Grizzly's job to deal with these ships, and it does so, decimating the entire Silcioid fleet. The Darloks bring some ships to Incedius, but it's hardly even worth noting. We play bear popcorn versus rock popcorn:
 We get Pulson Missiles finally (very nice!), IIT 5, Fusion Beam, Ion Rifle, and the entirely redundant IIT 6. This, I believe, cleans out the New Republic's library of techs entirely, for the moment anyway. RIW 20% is in the percentages, when that pops it seems like a natural time to produce some new ship designs. The Klackon fleet of doom has left for Kholdan. Good, for 5 more turns it isn't going to be approaching any of my planets. 2515: Silicoids attack Rhilus with a wimpy fleet. I send planetary reserve spending to Cryslon. 2516: Cryslon's shield is up, I send the orbiting fleet to the Silicoid colony of Hyboria. 2517: We take Hyboria orbit, Darloks attack at Incedius with an inconsequential fleet of mosquitoes. 2518: The Klackons attack Cryslon, and wipe out the 10 missile bases! I need those Class XV planetaries.
 2519: A new Grizzly battleship arrives at Cryslon to wipe out the 8 Klackon Knight large pulson missile boats in orbit. 2520:
 2521: The Klackon death fleet is flying off to Firma, which apparently is something of a hot potato. I will take advantage of the opportunity to retaliate in a small manner:
 Also this turn, Class XV planetaries enter the percentages. Once those are up there isn't a prayer for the AIs. 2522:
 2524:
 It's all mop up from here. Since there are still plenty of planets to conquer on this map, from here on out it's just the highlights. Personal Barrier Shield next, tech fields equalized. 2525: Reduced Industrial Waste 20% pops, time for a new generation of bear ships!
 Advanced Damage Control next in the Construction docket. 2528:
 2529:
 2530: Intergalactic Star Gates researched. 2533: A little unfinished business...
 Plunder is Class X Planetaries. IRC 5 is researched the same turn. 2537:
 2539:
 2540: One Warbear defeats the Klackon death fleet of 3000 plus F-bombers at as-yet-unshielded Simius. Yay Ion Stream Projector! Yay Repulsor Beam! 2541: No mercy.
 They still had the largest fleet of any of my opponents. That just went poof just like that. IT+60 researched this turn. 2544:
 The birds and the rocks are all that is left of the "New Republic". 2546:
 I think I'll want a bear flag on every planet this game. Advanced Damage Control in this turn. 2548: Colony at Phantos built. High Energy Focus in. Silicoid colony at Lyae bombed out. Simius turns mineral poor. 2549: Silicoid colony at Neptunus destroyed.
 IIT 3 is the plunder. 2550: Personal Barrier Shield and Particle Beam come in. Black Hole Generator and Pulse Phasor to be researched next. Lyae re-colonized.
 Battle Computer 6 is the prize behind the door this time. 2552: Neptunus founded, Silicoid colony at Xengara destroyed. 2553: Hyperspace Comm researched, IRC 6 next. 2554: Xengara captured, Personal Absorption Shield found in the ruins. 2555:
 Well, that just leaves me and ol' bird-brain here. How's that whole "being emperor of myself" thing turning out for you, Ariel?
 Weeeelllll, I guess you still have a chance here. Except for the fact that if I sneeze, you're pretty much dead. 2559:
 2560:
 2561: We take Keeta. 2563: Exis captured. Pulse Phasor and Industrial Waste Elimination researched.
 You have to be kidding. 2564:
 Well, too bad I'm not going to get use out of these shiny new toys. 2565:
 2567:
 2568:
 2569: IRC 6 in. 2570:
 The birds are reduced to a single planet, Ultra Poor Steppe 65 Paladia. I already have about three hundred Omega-V bombers parked over it; all I have to do is give the word to eliminate the birds and finish the game. However, there is one other minor task to do before I'll call this game completed. 2576:
 There. That's a blue flag on every planet, except the final Alkari world. My troopers will take care of that next turn, I've turned on the Nazin bear-hose. 2577:
 Hey, one last tech pops.
 Fade to black.
 Outcome: Extermination Victory 2577, in lieu of a 2500 diplomatic victory. |