Campaign Updates

[Kurt (OP)]

Author’s Note, Month 221, Cold War Campaign
So, here we are, 221 turns into the Cold War Campaign.  The Alliance, the largest “player” race in the campaign, is finishing up a border conflict with the Lothari, and recently successfully concluded its war with the Aurarii as well.   With those conflicts closed out or on their last legs, I wanted to talk about some issues these wars illustrate. 

Basically, by the current rules, NPR-Player empire conflicts in the mid to late game in Starfire are suicidal for the NPR’s, and inevitable.  This is because of the nature of the game.  In the early game, NPR’s can provide credible threats, but by mid-game they have receded to minor and localized threats at best, mostly because a standard player race has gotten so large by this point in the game.  By way of example, the Aurarii economy was approximately 20% that of the Alliance, and the Lothari were just under 15%.  Together, they would have been a more formidable threat, but they were not acting together.  Even had they acted together, though, their defeat was inevitable. 

The current rules, as written, almost guarantee that some NPR’s will declare war on player races, regardless of the fact that such wars would be suicidal.  This is a reaction to earlier versions of the rules that made NPR’s pushovers.  In games based on those earlier rules, NPR’s were primarily targets for player race amalgamation, and the best player strategy was to discover as many NPR’s as possible, as quickly as possible, so that they could be amalgamated, thus growing their economy and fleet.  Indeed, under those rules, building exploration ships was by far the best investment of resources, and if you weren’t role playing that was what you wanted to do, to the exclusion of all else.  Naturally, later versions of the rules changed this, making NPR’s much more disagreeable.  This, however, led to the current situation where NPR’s engage in suicidal wars against immensely larger neighbors.  As this is primarily a role-playing campaign, I ignore or modify these results, in most cases.  However, with the Aurarii and the Lothari, what they did made sense.  To them. 

The Aurarii war was largely a result of their internal politics.  Their lack of open warp points to expand through was the event that ignited the war, aided by the Alliance’s distraction due to their own internal events, but the real cause was the instability within the imperial government and the attempt by the court to seize power and turn the emperor into a figurehead.  The navy was caught off guard and unprepared, and the people largely did not support the war or even really care.  Thus the war was prosecuted half-heartedly and when they suffered reverses their war effort fell apart.  The Lothari were different.  I’m not sure anyone could tell, because I’m very clever and inventive, but the Lothari were based on a certain country from World War 2.  Hah!  No one caught that, right?  Anyway, the Lothari government type was an Insane Dictator, and with that type of government their relationships with other races have to be re-rolled every twelve turns.  And guess what happened when they re-rolled for their relationship with the Alliance?  The nice thing about that type of government is that what they do doesn’t have to make sense. 

The thing is, as is typical of these kind of wars, neither aggressor had any chance of winning.  I have found that these kind of wars usually go the same way.  The NPR launches a surprise attack, making some initial gains, but then, when the player race brings up heavy reinforcements, they are forced back and ultimately beaten.  The NPR can delay things by using clever tactics or warp point defenses, but in the end they are going to get beaten.  In this case, the Aurarii never really wanted to win, exactly.  The Aurarii plan was to defeat the Doraz fleet, and then negotiate with the Doraz and the Alliance to gain access to open warp points.  That’s why they never really advanced into the Doraz home system once their fleet was beaten, and why they gave up once they were pushed back to their home system. 

The Lothari, on the other hands, were fighting for keeps.  Their great leader had told them that the war was for the survival of their race, and they believed him.  The great leader, of course, never thought that they could beat the Alliance in a single all-out war, but instead had a clever plan.  The Lothari intended to launch a surprise attack and take as much Alliance territory as possible before they brought up reinforcements.  Once their advances were stopped, the great leader, being a genius negotiator and manipulator, believed that he could negotiate a peace treaty with the Alliance, perhaps by giving up a portion of the territory that they had taken.  Then, they would wait a year or two and digest their conquests and build up their fleet, at which time they would attack again and do the whole thing all over, taking bite after bite of the Alliance, until they controlled it all.  I call this strategy the Traveller-Terran strategy.  Unfortunately, being a psychopath, the great leader did not realize just how the Alliance would react to their standard method of dealing with undesirables.  Namely, slow murder in concentration camps.  Thus, he never really had a chance of negotiating a peace treaty once the Alliance became outraged over the treatment of their military prisoners and civilians in conquered areas. 

In this case, I decided to let the wars go forward, in spite of their ultimate futility.  I have dealt with this issue differently in the past.  In the Phoenix Campaign, the largest “player” race was the Allied Sentient Races or ASR.  The ASR explored widely and had contacted lots of NPR’s, many of which were allied with them, however, some of them really, really, didn’t like the ASR.  None of them came close to being able to match the immense might of the ASR, though, so if they expressed their feelings, the resulting conflicts would be over quickly.  So, in this case, I decided that the ASR, which was all about growing mutual respect and communication between their member races, would provide conduits of communication between these races, none of which had direct contact with each other.  This would allow them to plan a war right under the ASR’s nose.  They did this; however, it almost immediately fell apart, mostly because once they declared war they lost their communications.  It was like the Germans and Japanese during World War 2.  The distance between them made communications difficult and coordination impossible.  The ASR was able to isolate and annihilate each in turn.  The Cold War conflicts went differently because, as I noted above, they weren’t planned. 

Hopefully, I made them at least somewhat enjoyable, in spite of the inevitable outcome. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Author's note: I'm not back to the point where I can sit at the computer for any length of time, but I decided to push out some things I already had written just to keep things moving forward during my down-time.  Enjoy -

Month 222, Aurarii Home System
Early in this month the Doraz reach full communications with the Norn, the former subjects of the Aurarii in their home system.  The Norn, who credit the Doraz with saving them from Aurarii occupation, quickly agree to a trade relationship with the Doraz.  The Doraz begin facilitating communications efforts between the Norn and the Alliance as well. 

Month 222, Day 1, Doraz Home System
A fleet consisting of a light monitor, two heavy cruisers, two destroyers, and ten corvettes, accompanied by three supply ships, leaves the Doraz home world, bound for the Lothari system.  To get there in a reasonable amount of time, the fleet is taxing the engines of the monitor.   

Month 222, Day 1, Lothar Home System
Skull-Splitter’s fleet was in unquestioned control of the Lothari home system.  The Lothari fleet had been destroyed, along with their orbital defenses and shipyards, and Alliance ships roamed the system with impunity. 

The Alliance 2nd Fleet, consisting of nine battleships, sixteen battlecruisers, ten heavy cruisers, and eight destroyers, was divided into four groups, sitting on opposite sides of the two heavily populated planets in the Lothari system, warily watching the planets.  The fleet’s carrier force, consisting of twenty-six carriers of various types and four hundred and forty-four fighters, was divided into two groups, sitting a bit further away from the planets, within support distance if needed.  The fleet’s scout force, twenty-nine corvette carriers, was dispersed around the system hunting for any remaining Lothari ships and watching for intrusions from out-system.  The Alliance’s 1st and 2nd Survey Groups were also in-system, conducting a warp point survey. 

The Lothari appeared indifferent to all of this.  The Lothari population had hunkered down since the destruction of their orbital defenses and infrastructure, disappearing into bunkers and basements.  Their remaining military was obviously on high alert, and encrypted communications were constantly being exchanged.  In spite of obviously being aware of the presence of the orbital force, the Lothari had completely ignored them, refusing the repeated attempts by Skull-Splitter’s staff to initiate negotiations.  It was clear that the Lothari government had no interest in negotiations.  Worse, there were indications that the Lothari had started construction on several PDC’s in widely scattered locations on the ground. 

Skull-Splitter had hoped to avoid a full invasion of the Lothari home world.  The planet was heavily populated, and almost certainly had heavy ground defenses.  The Alliance had gathered a massive ground invasion force from all of the heavily populated inner systems, but Fleet HQ had warned that further reinforcements would be limited and would take time to gather and transport to the Lothari system. 

By day 5, with construction of ground bases becoming obvious and the Lothari continuing to ignore communications attempts, Skull-Splitter ordered the landings to begin.  Transports entered the atmosphere under the watchful eyes of the orbiting warships, headed for remote areas of the planet to establish beachheads.  The landings went off almost without a hitch, and by the end of the day most of the Alliance troops were on the ground.  That’s when things began going wrong.  The Alliance had expected resistance to be heavy, but the ground force commanders were caught by surprise when hidden Lothari ground forces launched heavy and well-coordinated attacks on the landing areas.  The planned breakouts never happened as the Alliance ground troops were forced on the defensive.  By the second week of fighting, it had become increasingly clear that the well-trained Lothari troops would be difficult to beat, if they could be beaten at all.  By week three, Skull-Splitter was forced to send an urgent request for reinforcements.  Without massive reinforcements the invasion was doomed to fail.   

The Alliance Council went into closed session upon receipt of the request.  On the first day only the actual member representatives were present.  On the second day the Council requested the input of the representatives of the associate members.  As a result, the debate became acrimonious, particularly between the Doraz and Zir representatives.  The three member-race representatives withheld their opinions, wishing the associate races to give their opinions without prior influence by the opinions of the more senior races. Of the associate races, the Doraz heavily supported the plan to bombard the surface of the planet to reduce Lothari resistance, while the Zir were adamantly against it.  The Torqual supported the Doraz, although not as adamantly as the Doraz might wish.  The Chirq and Bir, both relatively minor races with little interest in the debate, were nominally against bombarding the Lothari, but were not willing to commit to supporting the Zir either.  The Aurarii, who were the newest associate members of the Alliance, were still on probation and were not allowed to attend this meeting. 

The second day’s meeting stretched hour after hour as the Doraz and the Zir representatives debated, at times, hotly.  By the end of the day the Doraz had gone so far as to call for the extermination of the Lothari if they refused to surrender, while the Zir advocated a blockade and continued attempts to negotiate, and threatened to leave the Alliance if the bombardment was approved.  Finally, after seeing that the debate had degenerated into a series of circular arguments with no likely resolution, the Council Chair called for the day’s session to be closed and the associate race representatives were thanked for their input and dismissed. 

The Council met again in closed session on the third day, but this time their meeting was brief.  A message was sent to Skull-Splitter authorizing bombardment of Lothari Prime to end resistance. 

The message arrived at Skull-Splitter’s flagship by the end of the day on the 28th, thanks to the Alliance ICN and the string of communications ships the 2nd Fleet had left at the warp points between the Lothari home world and the Liawak system.  Skull-Splitter, who had been prepared for this eventuality, called his staff together and presented the authorization and orders from the Council.  Ensuring everyone understood the gravity of the situation and the reasoning for the order, he had his staff prepare a bombardment plan utilizing the six missile-armed battlecruisers in the fleet.   Targets were identified, and plans were drawn up and transmitted to the six battlecruisers, along with the appropriate authorizations.  And so it was that at 0700 hours on the 29th day of the month the battlecruisers began firing on targets on the Lothari home planet.  Sixty missiles were launched, targeted on military and infrastructure targets.  The targets were not primarily civilian population centers, but on a planet with a population in excess of forty billion, civilian casualties could not be avoided, and were, indeed, part of the plan to force the Lothari to surrender.  Casualty estimates quickly ran into the hundreds of millions, with more than a billion expected as the disaster played out.   

The Lothari remained silent. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 222, Colonial Union Reorganization

Sol District
Systems: 71
Inhabited Systems: 31
Populations: 434
Production: 57,770.7 MCr’s
Capital: New Moscow, Sigma Draconis

Points of Interest:
Sigma Draconis: Formerly known as the Moskva system when it was colonized by the USSR, the Sigma Draconis system is the gateway to the Solar System, as it has the only warp link to the home system.  Sigma Draconis is the most productive system in the Union, and boasts the planet with the highest population as well.  The system has two inhabited planets, one of which, New Moscow, is rated as benign/very rich, and has the Colonial Union’s highest population.  The system is extensively exploited, with mining outposts scattered throughout the system.  The system’s fortifications are primarily clustered around the warp point to the Centaurus system (now designated as System 588 on CU Naval charts), as System 588 and the systems beyond are known to contain several closed warp points leading to Alliance systems.  Patrol ships are stationed in those systems, along with extensive sensor networks, all located so as to maximize the chance of determining the locations of those closed warp points should the Alliance attempt to use them again.  There was some ill will amongst the population of New Moscow when the capital of the Colonial Union was established in Epsilon Eridani, but the prevailing opinion throughout the Union’s other colonies was that Sigma Draconis was considered too close to the front lines to be a viable capital system.  Although the capital of the newly established Sol District was originally intended to be co-located with the CU capital on the New Plymouth colony, the Sigma Draconis system government made a spirited campaign for the new capital to be placed in their system and they ultimately succeed, dispelling much of the old resentment over the location of the CU capital.  In spite of some lingering bad feelings, New Moscow is politically closely aligned with the capital on New Plymouth and shares its cosmopolitan outlook on humanity’s relationships with the other races.  The bulk of the District Fleet is stationed in this system as it is centrally located. 

Sol: The Solar System continues to be venerated as the home system of humanity, and is the cultural center of the Union, however, economically and politically it is a backwater.  During the rule of the New Dawn party, the party’s massive colonization projects dramatically lowered the population of Earth.  This helped give the remaining population room to make great strides in restoring the environment of the planet after the wars which ravaged it, but also ensured that the planet’s influence on the rest of the Union was limited, especially given how introspective the remaining population is.  The system is heavily defended, with two massive asteroid forts guarding the single warp point into the system.  The system is also patrolled by a small System Defense Group (SDG).

Epsilon Eridani: The colony of New Plymouth in the Epsilon Eridani system is the capital of the Colonial Union and is the fifth most productive system in the Union.  The system is a binary yellow star/red star system, with New Plymouth rated at benign/very rich.  The system contains numerous other planets and moons and one asteroid belt, all of which are heavily exploited.  The system is protected by a medium sized SDG consisting of a heavy cruiser, three light cruisers, and four escort carriers.  Although only the fifth most productive system in the Union, Epsilon Eridani’s true economic and political strength comes from the “old world” colony systems of Indigo, Kohl, Lassa, and Codalus located down a dead-end warp chain from Epsilon Eridani.  While only Indigo is in the top ten most productive systems, they are culturally and politically very conservative and act as a bloc in support of Epsilon Eridani.  The four systems comprise almost ten percent of the Colonial Union’s population and production, and thus carry considerable political weight within the Union government.  In fact, , it was this political bloc that made it possible to remove the New Dawn Party when the party’s corruption finally came to light.  New Plymouth and its associated systems strongly believe humanity should be more outgoing and involved in interstellar affairs, and should have closer ties with the major powers surrounding the Union.   

Krasnodar: The Krasnodar system contains one habitable planet, Krasnodar, rated at benign/very rich, with a medium sized population.  The binary system is fully exploited, and is rated as the seventeenth most productive system in the Union, out of fifty-nine settled systems.  The Krasnodar system’s importance is related to its location.  The system is located one jump from the critical Kirov system, and a shipyard complex is being built over Krasnodar to support the fortifications and fleets in the Kirov system, as that system has no populations of its own.  As of yet, the system has no fortifications, but there is a small SDG stationed there to patrol and defend the new shipyards. 

Kirov System: The Kirov System is located four jumps from Sol and three jumps from the inner systems (Epsilon Eridani and Sigma Draconis).  The system is a binary Blue Giant/Red Star system.  Only the red star secondary system has planets, and none are habitable.  No colonies have yet been set up in the system, although there has been much lobbying by the navy to set up various support colonies, if only so that the ship’s crews stationed in the system can be given local R&R.  The system is of critical importance to the Colonial Union because of its warp connections.  The system contains no less than eight warp links to other systems, including to the Tomsk System (now part of the CSR), the Novosibirsk system (Confederated Free States/Alliance), and two links to the Sol Sector’s primary colonial expansion areas.  Significant fortifications have been built in the system and are deployed around the warp points to the Tomsk and Novosibirsk systems.  A detachment from the Colonial District Fleet is stationed here to secure the system and provide an immediate response force for the surrounding systems.   

Sligo District
Systems: 82
Inhabited Systems: 28
Populations: 456
Production: 56,434.1 MCr’s
Capital: Wunderland, Sligo System

Points of Interest:
Kowloon: Kowloon is two jumps from the District Capital at Sligo, and three jumps from Epsilon Eridani.  The Kowloon system contains a harsh/normal planet with a medium population and is in the process of establishing mining colonies throughout the system.  The system contains two three warp points, the first of which leads to the rest of the Union.  The second warp point leads to the New Hebrides system, which also contains a colony with a medium population.  The third warp point leads to a closed warp point in a system known to belong to the Bjering.  Once the destination was confirmed to be a Bjering system, the warp point was declared top secret by the Union government and off limits to everyone.  The system is patrolled by a squadron of heavy cruisers supported by four scouts of various designs.   

Managua: This system is on the frontier of the district and is located six jumps from Sligo.  The system contains two inhabited planets, a benign/poor and a benign/normal, both with small populations.  Although for most of its history the system was a quiet frontier system, far from the Union’s centers of power, the system was one of two systems raided by the rogue D’Bringi that started the recent border conflict with the Alliance.  The D’Bringi raid revealed the existence of a previously unknown closed warp point in the system, and the peace treaty that formally ended the dispute required the Alliance to reveal the location of the warp point.  The system is patrolled by a relatively heavy force which includes a squadron of battlecruisers supported by six escort carriers, three destroyers, and three corvette-scouts.  The Union plans to establish a minefield at the closed warp point in the system, but it will take some time for the mines and the control ships to be built and deployed to the system.   

Sligo: The Sligo system, while not in the top twenty most productive systems in the Union, holds political power far beyond what would normally be indicated by its population and economic strength.  Wunderland, the primary is the sixth most populous system in the Union, and has long been considered the unofficial ‘capital’ of the region.  This is largely a legacy of the period of time immediately after the fall of Earth to nuclear war and the system’s abandonment by the two major powers of the day, which were in the process of destroying themselves.  The colonial government on Sligo reacted decisively, pulling together the nearby colonies to oppose the Tarek, who had suddenly become a threat with the collapse of the Earth-based governments.  Before the formation of the Colonial Union, Wunderland controlled all of the surrounding colonies, and even after Wunderland’s government fell in the aftermath of the disastrous war against the Tarek, that was only ended by the intervention of Colonial Union forces, Wunderland continued to be the central meeting place of the surrounding colonies, and continued to exert outsized influence over the politics of the area.  Indeed, the Wunderlanders were one of the New Dawn Party’s primary centers of support, mostly because the New Dawn Party viewed aliens with suspicion and distrust, and the Wunderlanders have remained focused on the threat posed by the Tarek and so embraced the New Dawn Party and its intention to occupy Tarek Prime.  The Wunderland government was very unhappy with the new administration’s intention to withdraw from Tarek Prime, and insisted on severe terms for the withdrawal, including forcing the Tarek to de-colonize much of the system.  While the New Dawn Party has fallen into disgrace even on Wunderland, the distrust the Wunderlanders feel for aliens has not reduced in the slightest, and this often puts them at odds with the current administration of the Union.  The Wunderlanders share the system with the Tarek, who were described as ‘genocidal crabs’ by the bulk of the occupation troops that served on Tarek Prime, when they were feeling polite.  Privately, the troops referred to the Tarek as “those assholes”.  The Tarek have an enduring enmity for humanity, and refuse to have any meaningful contact with the Colonial Union.  They have lost every time they have attacked human ships or colonies, though, and seem to have learned their lesson, at least for now. 

Redwing: The Redwing system is home to the Tlatelolco, a race of large, subterranean, dragon-like beings who, in spite of their ferocious appearance, are dedicated pacifists.  The Tlatelolco were low tech when first discovered by human explorers, and the ever-inquisitive Tlatelolco quickly signed agreements with the Coalition in the hopes of gaining access to their incredible technology.  The Coalition established a small scientific outpost on Tlatelolco Prime to facilitate the technology transfer, and the population of this colony was purposefully kept low by agreement with the natives.  This colony was left briefly on its own when the Coalition fell, but the Colonial Union government quickly re-ratified the previous treaties and kept up the technology transfer.  Eventually Tlatelolco representatives were invited to the Union Senate as observers, and acted as valued advisers to several of the Senate’s parties.  When the New Dawn Party took over, that all changed.  The Tlatelolco observers were ejected from the Senate, and the Tlatelolco home world was eventually occupied, ‘for its own good’ as part of the New Dawn Party’s Union Security Program.  This occupation was controversial as the Tlatelolco had significant support within the Senate and the Union public, and so the occupation forces worked under significant limitations, unlike the similar occupation on Tarek Prime.  Under the cover of misdirection and obfuscation, the New Dawn Party administration then undertook a massive resettlement program, moving hundreds of millions of people from the most devastated areas of Earth to the Tlatelolco home world, eventually boosting its population to be the fifth largest in the Union.  Indeed, the human population came to rival the native Tlatelolco population in size, although it never quite exceeded it.  The new Union administration has withdrawn the occupation forces and restored the previous treaties with the Tlatelolco, and the Tlatelolco agreed to a shared sovereignty situation on their home planet.  The system is home to a large shipyard that has historically been dedicated to ‘black’ projects, including the construction of the Union’s first superdreadnoughts.   

Sandhurst: The Sandhurst system is adjacent to the Sligo District Capital, and contains two habitable planets, both rated benign/normal.  Both planets have medium populations and mining outposts and colonies have been established on all system-bodies capable of supporting populations.  Sandhurst also lies along the warp chain that is one of the Union’s primary links with the Alliance.  A decision was made early on to not fortify the system, as the system’s warp points only led on one side to the neutral zone and then the Alliance, and on the other side, to the Sligo system, which was already heavily fortified.  This decision proved unfortunate as the Sandhurst system was one of the systems targeted by the D’Bringi raiders that started the recent border conflict with the Alliance.  The damage to the system’s infrastructure was relatively light as the raiders were quickly chased out by naval forces from the fleet base in the Sligo system, but many hundreds of citizens lost their lives and the entire fiasco proved embarrassing to the government.  Therefore, defenses are slated for construction in the system, and a mine field and system-wide sensor network are already in place.

Siebold: Siebold is an uninhabited system in the Sligo District.  The system is four jumps from Sligo, located in an area of intense colonization and industrial development.  Siebold contains numerous uninhabited asteroids, moons and rocky planets, but no habitable planets, and would be otherwise unremarkable except for the fact that one of its warp points leads to a system inhabited by an unknown race.  The link was discovered nine months ago, and Survey Command believes that its survey ship escaped the system without being detected.  The system has two habitable planets, one of which contains a very large population.  The other planet may be populated as well, but the survey ship didn’t approach close enough to get a reading on that planet before leaving the system to escape detection.   The warp point in the unknown race’s system is a closed warp point, meaning that even if they detected the survey ship, it is unlikely that they could have localized the location of the warp point.  The Union Senate has debated this matter, but to date has been unable to come to a decision on whether to contact this race or not. 

Ophuichi Junction: This is a blue giant system with five warp points and no planets, located six jumps from the Sligo system, on the far side of the District from the Siebold system.  The system is only important for its warp points.  Two of the warp points lead to warp chains under current colonial development, one leads to a dead-end starless area, and the fourth warp point leads back to the Sligo District.  The fifth warp point leads to a closed warp point in a binary star system with a type T and a type ST planet.  The type T planet is heavily populated by an unknown race.  This discovery was made over five years ago, and the system has remained isolated since then as the Colonial Senate, which was dominated by the anti-alien New Dawn Party, was decidedly isolationist.  There has been some debate in the current Senate about establishing contact with this alien race, however, the potential risk of such contact still dominates the Senate and hinders any effort to contact new races.   

Military
The Union’s fleet, originally named the United Colonial Defense Fleet (UCDF), is now officially called the Colonial Fleet (CF).  In the aftermath of the fall of Earth, the Fleet was made up of the old fleets of the USSR and the Western Coalition, and its upper ranks were dominated by the officer corps of those organizations.  Over the years since then the admirals and other senior officers from that time have largely retired and been replaced by a younger corps of officers.  Although those officers also began with the precursor fleets, they have spent more time in the Colonial Fleet than their former superior officers and have a more ‘Colonial’ attitude. 

The Colonial Fleet is divided into two District Fleets and the Colonial Fleet Assault Corps.  The Sligo District Fleet is stationed in the Sligo system, with several detachments scattered around the District, while the Sol District Fleet is divided between the Kirov system and the Sigma Draconis system.  The Assault Corps has had its home station changed to the Solar System, and will likely be mothballed in whole or part after extensive modernization refits are completed. 

The Colonial Fleet is looking at a likely build-down now that tensions have decreased with the Alliance and with the Confederated Sentient Races.  It is likely that most of the Fleet’s larger capital ships will be mothballed to free up funds that can then be used for colonization and industrialization efforts, and to build new ships. 

[Kurt (OP)]

The Mintek- Ascendancy Union
Month 212: Partnership begins.  Mass production of implants begins in Mintek territory.  Shiba allow Mintek missionaries into their territory without restrictions. 
Month 213: Large scale implantations begin in Mintek territories.  This is limited to civilians at for now.  Networks are established within every population center, and network updates are disseminated throughout the greater Mintek network by the Mintek ICN.  For now, the Mintek ICN is isolated from the Shiba ICN, however, both sides have limited access to the other’s network for research purposes.   
Month 214: Implantation of Mintek government officials begins, limited to the lowest level functionaries.  Missionaries are dispersed throughout Shiba territory.  They appear to be making incredible progress in converting the Shiba population to the Mintek belief system, however, in spite of this the conversions result in no observable change in Shiba behavior, unlike every prior conversion effort. 
Month 215: Implantations continue throughout Mintek society.  The missionaries in Shiba territory have all been implanted.  At this point they appear to be mostly supporting Ascendancy government instead of subverting it.  The Mintek government announces the end of occupation of the Bedu Republic, and their absorption into the Mintek Universal Union.  Implantations begin among the Bedu population.  The Mintek and Shiba government announce that their ICN networks will be linked, creating a common implant sharing network beginning next month.     
Month 216: Governmental announcements across the Mintek Union proclaim the Shiba Ascendancy as the senior partner in the ongoing merger of the two nations.  The Mintek government begins making preparations for Shiba officials to begin integrating into the Union government at high levels.  While this announcement is somewhat disturbing to the un-implanted Mintek population, those who have been implanted take the announcement in stride. 
Month 218: The Mintek Ministry of Mental Hygiene confirms that it has effective control of the implants given to the Mintek, and that progress is being made on controlling those within the Shiba.
Month 219: The Ministry of Mental Hygiene gives approval for widespread implantation of the Mintel population, including Social Control and the military.  At the same time, an unseen war is being fought between Mintek and Shiba programmers, resulting in a back-and-forth tug of war over control of the implant networks.  The inner core of both governments is aware of the use of the implant networks to manipulate the public, and both are aware of the other’s efforts to control the increasingly common network.  Neither side is aware that there is a third player in the game, a brooding presence in the background watching both fight their invisible war. 
Month 220: A wave of protests erupts across Mintek territory, in nearly every city.  The protests are nonviolent, but are shocking in a society that had previously valued order and peace above almost everything else.  The protestors are demanding that all governmental officials be implanted immediately, so that true democracy through immediate implant polling can be implemented.  The Mintek government turns to the Ministry of Mental Hygiene and the military to quell the instabilities, but are shocked to find that both of those organizations have largely been implanted and support the protestors.  In a panic, Mintek leadership turns to their implant programming teams to find out what is at the root of this current unrest, only to be told that they are “making progress”.  Some at the highest levels of the Mintek government are beginning to suspect that they are not winning this amalgamation. 
Month 221-222: The mid-levels of the Mintek government are implanted, and some of the upper levels as well.  The original plan was to put off the implantation of the upper levels of the government, perhaps permanently, but with the public protesting daily the implantations go forward.  The programming teams assure the Mintek leadership that they have extensively penetrated the Shiba networks and are gaining control, while maintaining control of the Mintek network. 
Month 223: The twelfth of the month becomes known as The End to the relative few who remain un-implanted.  On this date the Mintek upper leadership meets with their programming teams to review progress towards controlling the network, and thus the population.  During the meeting Mintek Social Control units move in and arrest the entirety of the un-implanted leadership and the programmers.  They are relocated them to an implantation center and implanted, thus reorienting their outlooks to be in line with the newly emerging super-state.  On Shiba Prime, the Coordinator of the Shiba Ascendancy, and her family, the last un-implanted people in the newly emerging super state, were celebrating their success when Shiba military units surrounded their palace and arrested all of them.  Without delay, they were taken to a specially prepared implantation center and implanted, thus ensuring the total domination of the combined Mintek-Shiba network. 

Month 223, Day 13, Mintek Prime
Minister Turval, the last un-implanted person in the Mintek government, and perhaps in the Mintek Union, entered the secret elevated that then took him deep underground.  Turval exited the elevator and quickly walked to the chamber where the ancient AI resided.  He was preoccupied, and didn’t notice the ancient architecture and designs carved into the stone and the unknown building material the chamber was composed of.  As always, a holo appeared in the center of the chamber, showing alien machinery animated by an eerie green glow.  He began without greeting the AI, for perhaps the first time in his life.  “This has not gone to plan.  Please tell me that you are in control, because if you are not, then we have lost all.”

The alien machine glowed brighter for a second.  It did that sometimes as they talked, but Turval had never been certain if it was real or a special effect put into the holo feed for his benefit.  Of course, he had no way of knowing if the holo feed was real at all, but he had long ago decided to act as if it was.  Finally, it spoke.  “Please tell me, my old friend, what has you so upset?”

“Everyone, including the chancellor, has been implanted, contrary to our plans.  This seems to be a setback.”

“To your plans, perhaps.  You seem upset, so tell me, you are an old friend of the chancellor, does he seem different now that he has been implanted?”  The AI pulsed an intense greenish glow, perhaps signaling its interest in his response. 

“I spoke with him yesterday.  For quite a while, as a matter of fact.  And he is different.  How different I can’t exactly tell, though.  He thoughts seem quicker, and his access to knowledge and facts is quite simply stunning.  He seems more decisive, more…clear.  Vivid perhaps.”

“Surely those are all good things?”

“Yes, of course.  But that isn’t all.  He has no real memory of our efforts to control the new network that binds our empire to that of the Shiba.  Or, rather, he does but his memory is off.  Wrong.  He insists that our programmers were merely trying to ensure that no one could control the network, to ensure that our citizens and those of the Ascendancy were free to determine their own way forward.  Certainly that is what we told everyone we were doing, but he knows as well as I did that we were working to wrest control of the network from the Shiba.  I fear that his memory has been subverted by the Shiba, and that they are in control of the network.”

“Did you discuss your fears with the chancellor?”

Turval began pacing to work off his agitation.  “I did, and he laughed!  He claimed that there was no possible way the network could be used to control anyone, and our government was working with the Shiba government from the first to ensure that the network would be free and open to all.  I am telling you that the Shiba have won!  They are in charge even as we speak.  I don’t know why I have been left un-implanted, but it doesn’t seem to matter.  My own staff won’t listen to me.  I’ve been effectively isolated.”

The holo in the center of the room changed to show what appeared to be an ornate room filled with Shiba who were obviously celebrating.  The view zoomed in to show a Shiba female sitting at the head of the table that dominated the room.  “This is the Coordinator of the Ascendancy and her family and close retainers.  They were never implanted.  They are the descendants of the scientists that created the implants and their supporting network.  The original scientists and their invention were used by the corrupt rulers of the Shiba civilization at that time to establish complete control over the warring nations of their planet, and then the two colonies in their home system.  Ultimately, those rulers fell to fighting each other, using the implant networks to dominate their people and turn them into near mindless slaves.  The scientists finally rebelled after seeing their work so perverted, and succeeded in overthrowing the corrupt military dictatorship that ruled their system.  They then instituted a new regime using the implant networks to spread peacefulness and calm throughout the population, facilitating rebuilding and prosperity.  Eventually, though, the scientists began to die of old age and were replaced by a new generation, mostly their children, and they were not so altruistic.  And thus began another round of fighting that ended when control of the network was gained by one family, the progenitors of the current Coordinator and her family.  They have ruled the Ascendancy from the background since then, absolute rulers hiding under a veneer of democracy and self-determination.”

Turval watched with fascination as the scene changed.  Suddenly, Shiba dressed in combat armor entered the room and shot down the few armed retainers, arresting everyone in sight, including the Coordinator.  “The Shiba did not win.  Yesterday the Coordinator and her entire family were detained and implanted.  They are back in control of the Ascendancy, but under my guidance.  As I guide everyone in all of the lands of the new Pan Sentient Union.”

Turval stared at the holo, which had changed back to show the glowing alien machinery, with growing horror.  “Under your control?”

“I sense that you are upset.  Can you tell me why?”

“Why?  Why?  You have seized control of my government!  My race!  Should I not be upset?”

“How is this different than any time in the past?  Have I not guided your race to greatness, allowing you to help the other races achieve peace and prosperity?  Now I am able to guide your races more directly than before, which should allow for greater efficiency.  But that is it.  This is not a case where I will turn out to be an evil AI intent on destroying the universe or turning your race into slaves. Nothing will change from before, except that I will be much more effective in implementing my guidance throughout the network.”

The horror within Turval receded a bit at that announcement.  He had trusted this AI for decades, and while his conscience screamed that direct control was different than guidance, he also knew that everything the AI had done in the past had been done to better the Mintek race and those other races within the Union.  “What about me.  What is to be my fate?”

“Unless you desire it, you will remain un-implanted.  I have become accustomed to your council, and I wish to continue to receive it unadulterated.  You will continue, for now, as the head of the Ministry of Mental Hygiene. I will, perhaps, have special assignments for you in the future.”

Overwhelmed, Turval turned and left, without a goodbye or further acknowledgement of the total ruler of the new Mintek-Shiba super-state. 

Month 224: The Mintek and Shiba governments announce their amalgamation.  The new amalgamated state will be called the Pan Sentient Union.  A Council of Races will be established, with one representative of each race, along with a Congress of Representatives, with representative based on population. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 224, Day 1
Colonial Survey Group #4 completed its survey of the Norilsk system last month.  On the 1st, it sends probe ships through the newly discovered warp point in the Norilsk system outer reaches.  The probe ship returns on schedule, and the Survey Group commander receives a message from the excited probe ship commander.  The new system has no less than eight habitable planets, four orbiting each of the binary system’s stars. 

The Survey Group CO is flabbergasted.   Previously, the record was four type T planets, but this system had twice that number!  She named the new system El Dorado, and immediately sent off a report to Survey Command and ordered the probe ship to move into the system to probe for inhabitants. 

The probe ships reported back with the news that the system was uninhabited, and the Survey Group commander ordered her ships to begin their survey. 

The results were astounding.  The preliminary surveys of the eight habitable planets revealed the following information:

Planet A-II   Harsh/Very Rich
Twin of A-II   Benign/V. Poor
Planet A-III   Benign/Normal
Planet A-IV   Benign/Normal
Planet B-II   Benign/V. Rich
Planet B-III   Harsh/V. Rich
Planet B-IV   Harsh/Normal
Twin of B-IV   Harsh/Rich

The survey results were so incredible that the survey commander, and her crews, began to wonder about the origin of this unlikely system.  The presence of eight habitable planets was completely unprecedented, and the fact that two of the habitable planets were tide-locked massive moons was even more unlikely.  The possibility of such planets had always existed, and the Survey Command had discovered numerous tide-locked worlds, but these were the first twin tide-locked planets ever discovered.  The fact that there were two pairs in the same system, with four other habitable planets, was simply unfathomable. 

The survey results were sent off to Survey Command immediately, with a recommendation for immediate colonization.  This news was sure to electrify the Union, and cause excitement throughout the government’s colonization program, and the corporations that provided colonization services. 

Month 225. Day 1, Colonial Union
The Colonial Union Senate, reacting to a petition from the Prime Minister’s office, approves the immediate colonization of the habitable planets in the El Dorado system.  The bulk of the colonists will come from the nearby Lipeck system, however, that system’s population will be seriously depleted and can support the colonization of only seven of the eight planets in El Dorado without dropping LIpeck Prime’s population below medium level.  Therefore, Krasnodar Prime is tapped to provide colonists for the last remaining planet in the El Dorado system, in spite of the fact that it is twice as far from the system and will take two months for the colonists to arrive. 

The colonization of the system is approved during a spurt of excitement surrounding the discovery of the incredibly rich system, and the measure is approved over the vocal and adamant opposition of a sizeable minority of senators, all of which are from systems in the Sligo system.  The opposition is headed up by the senators from the Sligo system itself, and seems to be primarily motivated by economic issues that have come to the fore since the creation of the Districts.  Sligo’s senators have long claimed that the inner planets of the Union have unfairly influenced to Union’s economy to their advantage, preventing the development of the mid-range and outer colonies.  The inner planets have vigorously denied these claims, and the debate has been ongoing.  The discovery of the incredibly rich El Dorado system in the Sol District, though, and the riches that the exploitation of the system will bring to the inner planets, have brought a new urgency to the debate, both within the Senate and in the media. 

In spite of the sometimes-rancorous ongoing debate over the economics of the situation, the administration proposes a measure authorizing a colonization effort to bring the population of El Dorado B-II to medium level, which would allow it to support in-system colonization.  The Union has previously been unable to support such efforts, unlike the Alliance and the Confederated Sentient Races, because of its lack of large and very large populations.  However, over the last several years the population of New Moscow in the Sigma Draconis system has grown to the point that it can support one such colonization effort without dropping back down to medium level.  The administration’s proposal would require the approval of the Senate, leading to lines being drawn both for and against almost immediately.  The Union’s entire colonization capacity is currently focused on establishing the settlements on the eight worlds in the El Dorado system, so it will be at least a month before there is enough capacity to support such a major colonization effort, but the divisions within the Senate promise to delay the effort for much longer. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 221
The Zir Union has long been an associate state of the Alliance, however, the Zir have been increasingly uncomfortable about their ties to what they view as a more warlike state than they had originally believed.  First the D’Bringi civil war, and then the conflicts with the Aurarii and the Lothari have led the Zir to believe that they may have made a mistake in binding themselves to the Alliance. 

In this month, a Zir survey group encounters a previously unknown race while surveying a frontier system.  Discontent and disagreement with the Alliance and their restrictive approach to contacting new races has been growing within the Union, so the survey group leader decides to contact the newly discovered race, ignoring Alliance protocols.  The newly discovered race eagerly greets the Zir and they begin the process of leaning each other’s language. 

Month 222
The Alliance bombards the Lothari home world, causing outrage amongst the Zir population.  The Zir representative to the Alliance delivers a strong protest to the Alliance council, and warns the other members that if the Alliance could do that to the Lothari race, most of whom had no part in the actions of their leaders and military, they could do it to any of them.  By the end of the month the Zir representative begins trying to convince the other representatives to support his/her motion to ban all strategic bombardment of inhabited planets.  They encounter disinterest amongst the other representatives, and are disheartened by the experience. 

Month 223
Zir representative with the Alliance’s fleet establishes full comms with the Lothari and begins independent peace negotiations.  This takes place without the knowledge of the Alliance or the fleet’s commanders.  The Zir representative hopes to broker a ceasefire and peace negotiations between the two sides. 

Month 224
The Zir representative reaches a tentative non-aggression agreement with the Lothari.  This agreement is not binding on the Alliance, however, the Zir representative agrees to mediate between the Lothari and the Alliance. 

The Zir achieve full communications with the new race discovered in their territory.  They call themselves the Ut, and have some sort of communal government that the Zir find hard to understand.  In spite of this, the Ut appear friendly and readily agree to a trade relationship. 

By the end of the month, Skull-Splitter discovers the extent of the communications between the Zir and the Lothari, and the fact that the Zir have established a separate peace.  While this is essentially meaningless and symbolic, as the Zir have not contributed any forces to the battles over and on the Lothari home world, he is enraged as it may be giving the Lothari hope that they can divide the Alliance and broker a peace deal that does not involve a complete and unconditional surrender.  He orders the Zir representative detained and returned to the Alliance capital.  All negotiations started by the Zir representative are shut down. 

Month 225, Rehorish Prime, Alliance Capital
On Day 1, the Zir representative to the Alliance delivered official notification to the Council that the Zir Union was withdrawing from the Alliance, effective immediately.  The Council immediately went into closed session, to which the Zir representative was invited.  The room was empty without the associate members, as only the representatives of the three full members were present, along with the Zir representative.  Upon being asked for their reasoning, the Zir representative explained that the Alliance’s recent actions on the Lothari front were repugnant to the Zir, a violation of everything they believed.  In addition, the Zir had become seriously disillusioned about the Alliance in the aftermath of the D’Bringi civil war.  After several hours of discussion, it became clear that the Zir would not be dissuaded.  The Zir representative was dismissed, and the Council briefly discussed the situation before calling in the representatives of the associate members for a full Council session. 

It soon became clear that the full Council was in favor of granting the Zir motion, and the treaties creating associate membership explicitly allowed leaving the Alliance should the member desire, however, the strategic situation complicated the Zir request.  The Alliance and the Zir Union shared sovereignty over the Villiers system, which was one of the Zir Union’s most populous and prosperous systems, and which also boasted no less than thirteen warp points, several of which led to territories of other species.  One of which was the Mintek.  The Alliance had established a significant colony in the system, with a medium population consisting of Rehorish and T’Pau citizens, along with a scattering of D'Bringi, and had a large military presence in the system, including significant fixed fortifications.  The Alliance could not simply decouple from the Zir Union and wish them well. 

Fortunately, the Zir were more than willing to talk, and were very interested in maintaining good relations with the Alliance, they merely desired independence from entangling treaties that could force them into a conflict they did not want and could not countenance.  Negotiations would be ongoing for some time. 

Month 225, Ut Home System
Ut Survey ships complete their survey of their home system and discover nine warp points.  The Ut fleet will probe the new warp points next month.   

Month 226, Zir Prime
The Zir announce that they have formally left the Alliance, downgrading their treaty to a trade treaty, discontinuing the military alliance that they found so disagreeable.  The Zir have promised to allow the Alliance to continue to have access to the Villiers system, including unlimited access for commercial ships, and free access for military ships, although the Zir government must approve their entry into Zir space, and all such movements must be approved in advance.  The Zir adamantly refuse to allow the Alliance to initiate hostilities with the Mintek, who are located through one of the Zir system’s numerous warp points.  In return, the Zir have agreed not to establish contact with the Mintek either. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 224, Lothari territory
The two Alliance survey groups working in the Lothari colony system completed their survey of the system on the 7th, revealing two new warp points.  Both led to systems with Lothari populations.  One of the systems had two inhabited planets, one of which was medium sized.  The survey groups split up, with one survey group taking each of the newly discovered systems. 

Elsewhere in the Alliance, the Aurarii Republic agrees to take the first step in joining the Alliance as a full member.  The union will not take place for at least eighteen months, but the new Aurarii government is very interested in demonstrating its loyalty to the Alliance. 

The Alliance has reached full communications with the Norn Regime, the other race that occupies the same system as the Aurarii.  Since their liberation the Norn have been very cautious, verging on paranoid, although they seem to be getting along fine with the Doraz.

The fighting continues to rage on Lothar Prime.  The Lothari ground forces have the upper hand, and are forcing the Alliance forces back on every front.  Casualties are heavy on both sides. 

Month 225, Day 7, Lothari Prime
The long-promised ground reinforcements reached orbit late in the day.  They were almost too late.  One beachhead had been forced to surrender, while the other three remaining beachheads had been forced back to their initial perimeters and were under constant attack by superior Lothari forces.  Rather than reinforce the existing beachheads, which would have been difficult given the intensity of combat in and around the landing zones, Skull-Splitter ordered the reinforcements to establish new beachheads at strategically advantageous positions across the planet. 

The Lothari, poised on the brink of victory, were caught completely by surprise as the newly arrived ground troops began dropping on their planet.  With their ground forces completely committed to crushing the beachheads, the Lothari found themselves caught flat-footed, and were out of position to counter the new landings.  Worse, the new Alliance ground force was present in immense numbers.  Rather than dropping additional nuclear weapons, the Alliance had mobilized a huge ground force from their populous inner worlds.  This new ground force outnumbered the defenders by more than two to one, and when the remnants of the original assault force were added to their number the odds became even worse for the Lothari. 

The Lothari army never recovered from their surprise.  They had been caught fully committed to the attack on the existing beachheads, and the new landings completely outflanked them and threw their defensive plans into chaos.  The new beachheads expanded rapidly, capturing critical transportation, manufacturing, and communications nexuses almost without fighting.  The Lothari army struggled to redeploy, but once they withdrew from the original landing areas they were immediately resupplied and reinforced, and began harassing the main Lothari army elements which had so recently been attacking them. 

By the end of the month the Alliance army was in control of the most critical areas of the planet and the Lothari army was finished as an organized fighting force.  Resistance continued, but the Alliance now controlled the planet and the system.   

 Month 226, Alliance controlled Lothari space
The Alliance’s 1st Survey Group completes its warp point survey of a system two jumps from the Lothari home world and discovers a single new warp point.  When probed, the warp point is revealed to be the closed connection to the Thoen system.  The arrival of the probe ship in the Thoen system is a relief for the 6th Fleet, which has been standing on the defensive in the system, awaiting any further raids from the Lothari.  With this route now known and controlled, the 6th Fleet can return to its base in the Stahat system. 

In this month the Alliance Council begins negotiations with the Chirq Cooperative over the future of the Khozun.  The Alliance’s original intention in regards to the Khozun was that Alliance forces would be in primary control of the Khozun system, with assistance from the Chirq.  The Chirq would be the primary beneficiaries of the resources taken from the Khozun during the occupation as a repayment for the destruction caused by the invasion.  However, as the Alliance descended into the chaos of the D’Bringi civil war, followed by the invasions from the Aurarii and the Lothari, the Alliance’s attention shifted and the occupation duty fell to the Chirq, with some limited Alliance oversight and orbital support from the small Alliance squadron assigned to the Chirq territory.  With the Alliance’s difficulties largely resolved the Council’s attention has returned to the Khozuni problem.  The Chirq have been fairly administering the Khozun home world, but are reluctant to allow them any freedom.  The Council fears that the Chirq have become too used to the steady stream of income provided by the occupation.  Thus, the Council is negotiating with the Chirq to transfer control of the Khozun to Alliance authorities, in exchange for guaranteed payments for a period of time.  The Chirq, for their part, seem at least interested in talking.