Turn 42Small news first. As you can see, our scientists continue thier sterling work into improving our offensive capabilities.
The Brye Ehts continue to baffle as they send a small number of settlers to a gas giant world in the Kaff system. Probably all the Methane there looks like a free lunch.
However, both these facts pale into the major development this year...
5th Recon Det. holding picket in Theta Lyr picked up a short but highly directional data burst. The computing capacity on board the Sheb Class scout proved insufficient to process this signal, so it was relayed back to Earth. Over a number of days the signal was translated into what appeared to be a message:
We Zedovariri. Observe proximal world growth. Wish to become you. Request? Respond.It seemed they wanted to establish formal contact. A hastily assembled diplomatic team with minor security was dispatched to land on thier homeworld of Sadalbari IV. I find it hard to forgive myself for ordering this mission. The Zedovariri refer to themselves as the Ithkul, but those of us that observed events that day have given the name of "Harvesters". A Harvester is a flat organism, no more than 15 cm thick, roughly circular in cross section, 1m in diameter. 3 tough, muscly appendages over 1m in length adorn each side of thier body (terminating with a tough and sharp tip), with a central "mouth" on a snout loaded with optical and auditory sensory apparatus. Our diplomatic mission was wiped out. The Harvesters clamp on to thier victim, bury thier appendages into thier flesh, and burrow into thier central nervous system with thier "mouth". The security team killed dozens, as although they are fast and agile, thier bodies are as weak as ours under the effects of small arms fire. A Harvesters goal isnt to kill its victim. Instead it "takes over" the body it is attached to, as some form of controlling parasite. Video feed from the incident showed these "posessed" individuals being guided away from the scene by the Harvesters - our Biologists assume that the Harvesters are using the bodies of thse they latch on to as some kind of feeding mechanism, using the useful products of respiration to grow and reproduce in some manner. Some stills are included below.
Hours after the incident we recieved a second message, again relayed by 5th Recon Det. to Earth. This time, there was no need for a translation.
We the Ithkul now know you Humans well. Your people will serve us well as a source of hosts. Respond.Our Xenobiologists hypothesise that the Harvesters are able to access the central nervous system of thier host body. That would explain how they managed to gain competence in our langauge so quickly. No reply was sent to this message. We expect further demands in the near future.
Presented with these facts, The Zedovarari present a real and credible threat to the lives of all our citizens. No formal decleration of war is needed - through thier actions they have shown they wish to use us as little more than food. Our immediate and ongoing duty must be to wipe out this menace. For this to be achieved, a number of emergency plans have been put in place.
1: A number of covert operatives are being recruited. There are 2 mission profiles that these operatives will follow. Firstly, insertion into the Harvester home system with orders to gather information on thier technical capabilites. If the opportunity presents itself, disrupting thier research efforts is a secondary goal. Secondly, some operatives will remain in our systems, with orders to prevent the enemy doing the same to us.
2: Research funding is being prioritized in the "Fleet" and "Beam" schools - I have no intent of subjugating the Harvesters, simply wiping them from the face of the galaxy. Bigger and better ships will be a boon in this.
3: Our economy will be placed on a "Total War" footing, in order to focus on military spending for the duration of this emergency. Grats for planetary development have been cut and diverted to military programmes.
4: The social freedoms enjoyed by our inhabitants will have to be curtailed for the duration of the emergency. Whilst opressive measures will no doubt displease our general populace, I consider them a must to help detect those amongst our midst that would prefer to see our young empire broken up.
Whilst the Harvesters have been confined to the Sadalbari system by our border pickets and as such have few worlds, those worlds are heavily populated. Our goal is clear. All long range scouting is to be curtailed. We will construct ships and fleets to take control of the Sadalbari system, and sterilize the worlds under Harvester control by bombarding them with our full force of arms.
Today beings a struggle which must end in the death of each and every Harvester
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Topic: LP Modded Master of Orion 3 - Just so you know, this means war... (Read 15553 times)