Sirus, you're getting the Protector and Guardian. They're their own "minor race ships" fleet which will be added to as we get additional spacefaring minor races as members. At the moment they're chilling on orbit of Trill keeping an eye on the Romulan border, which is now hotly contested.
Turn 75It's turns like this that remind me why I usually play with random events turned off.
As far as I can tell the structures we lost were the shipyard (which
should be in space), our communications grid, and the trade center. Since we don't have a fleet to speak of, no ships have been stranded by the loss of the shipyard.
Turn 76The Romulans sent us another short (25 turn) non-aggression treaty. I see no reason to reject it, since we're not yet ready for any major conflicts right now. I expect they sent it in response to our sudden increase in defensive capability from the Trill.
Not much else is going on right now. I'm pondering buying off the remainder of the level 3 factory upgrade in Betazed to help the system get back on its feet. But I don't think I will unless we begin to feel a lot of pressure from the Ferengi or Romulans.
Turn 77Our intelligence operatives report that a "report on our general economic status went missing". So apparently someone is spying on us. I'm not sure how the information would help whoever has it now.
On Sol we completed our third destroyer, the USS Brittain A. I'm putting ship production in Sol on hold for now, and the rest of the fleet will be built in Trill when we have a chance. Sol is now building some of the new buildings we have available, starting with a quick improvement to our universities.
With the Trill system right on the border with the Romulans, it will be useful to build a scanner system to keep an eye on things before we can get a scout constructed.
Turn 78I could have sworn there was a Romulan outpost here 20 turns ago... I wonder if that squad of mystery ships has anything to do with its absence.
There was, see the image from turn 51.
This is the view you get from scanner data. We haven't visited the system yet but we can be fairly sure that's their home system. It would also appear the Talarians have built a warship.
Turn 79This glimpse of the inner workings of the Romulan Star Empire has reminded me how nice it is to be able to scan things. Thankfully the USS Sandhusky A has completed in the Trill system. Now we can get back to scouting.
The Romulans seem to have built an additional troop transport. Those mystery ships remain where they were, and seemingly aren't attacking the Romulan fleet. They must have some kind of affiliation. I'm guessing it's a minor race, since the Romulans would have told us if they'd signed an alliance with anyone. Maybe we'll bump into them soon.
Now that we have a scout, I'm buying that upgrade in Betazed so we can rebuild the EuchreJack drydock and move on with development. Trill is going to delay building the Research Institute (+30% bonus to all research areas while powered) to finish the fleet of destroyers. There will be plenty of time to do research when our enemies are dead.
Also the Ferengi proposed a war pact. We both declare war on the Romulans, they never attack, and our population gets a morale hit. No thanks.
Turn 80Damn it all.
This puts us +1 in Malurian, -3 in Balosnee, Betazed, and Trill. Oh and the maximum population in Trill is now 70 less than it used to be.
The Saskia finished terraforming in Balosnee, and is now headed to Trill to help salvage the situation.
As an added bonus, it looks like the Bandi finally joined the Ferengi. This turn sucks. I'm going to bribe the Talarians into trading with us to make myself feel better.
Turn 81Nothing useful happened, I'm still feeling surly.
Turn 82The EuchreJack drydock Mk2 completed in Betazed, the Sandhusky is checking out the remaining unscouted territory before heading back to the inhabited system we saw way back before half our planets were turned into garbage.
Talarian bribe part 2 is going out this turn, they should be willing to trade soon.
Turn 83The destroyer USS Tian An Men A was built in Trill this turn. We're going to have it join up with the 3 we've already constructed on Sol.
We've also sent a friendship treaty to the Talarians.
The ship buildup we've been observing in Romulan territory is now 3 destroyers, 2 troop transports, 1 colony ship, and the 3 mystery ships. Not sure what this means for us. I have a feeling the colony ship is there because it's already terraformed all their planets, Lemma is completely terraformed now.
Turn 84Well here's some good news.
There's very little practical benefit to this breakthrough, but we need it for energy 5.
In production around the empire, Mintaka is looking downright spectacular.
Here's hoping we don't get another planetary shift.
Turn 85Hooray, the Talarians are willing to trade now! I've assigned a trade route from Mintaka to their system. Also this happened:
I'm pretty sure "38 teraquads" is the same as 38 research points. Our total output per turn of research points is in the 300-range, so this isn't a big loss. But it does highlight the need for increased internal security.
I'm ordering the construction of 2 databanks in Malurian. Also we'll begin building the Counseling Academy in Betazed. This building will give us a +50% bonus to intelligence points spent on internal security.
Turn 86The Ferengi sent us a demand and the Romulans sent us a warning about our expansion. Both will be ignored. What can't be ignored is the Romulan fleet buildup, they're up to 4 destroyers. Thankfully our 5th will be done next turn.
Turn 87The Saskia finally finished terraforming in Trill. That completes terraforming operations in systems we already inhabit. The only thing left to do with the Saskia is colonize a system, and with no admiral in command I must select that system myself. I've chosen Benecia.
The Sandhusky has confirmed the presence of absolutely nothing off towards the galactic west. We're now sending it back towards Romulan territory. The Talarians are very well pleased with us, they may offer an affiliation soon. Here's a look at the area we've been scouting:
I've also selected Benecia in this shot, so you can see what we're colonizing next. Soon we'll have Sol build us another colony ship. It has 3 turns to go on the Federation Council.
The USS Sitak A brings us to 5 destroyers, construction of warships in Trill will continue for now.
In Malurian, we've activated the 2 databanks and begun construction of a trade center. In Mintaka, the farm upgrade is complete. We'll build a shipyard quickly before we upgrade the factories. It will make a great shipyard in time. Betazed continues to build the Counseling Academy while Catullan and Balosnee continue simply not being so darn tiny.
Apparently the Ktarians are now trading with the Ferengi, we can't have any of that so I'm offering them an affiliation treaty. If they reject it, we'll send them a bribe and then another one.
For RealsLots of turns this update. Lots of hair pulled. This is why I traditionally play with random events turned off. Regardless, development is proceeding handily and things are looking good.
I'd like to admiral a few more viewers if there's interest. Those of you who have already had a ship can consider requesting another if nobody else steps forward. Sirus, your fleet has been chilling over Trill this whole update.
It didn't seem like a "good" place to end the update, but this is kind of a weird time in the empire, so I just called it for now. Please post with comments or suggestions of any kind, I love feedback to help make this more interesting for you all.