The Rising Ape (I will not learn), a Stellaris LP(RP) Blog

[Beth Pavell]

Because I do not easily learn. And with the recent Herbert patch, the early gameplay may be shaken up a bit.

I find Stellaris is always at its most fun when there's a story to be had from the game. I think the problems that arise are usually when I don't have an idea of where I want the story to go while playing. So, I'm going to have another go at this, with a couple of changes. First is that I'm playing with a few mods and without Ironman Mode, just so there's less chance of it fizzling through bad luck. The second is that I'll be playing sparingly - I hope this will keep up my motivation, and prevent me from losing perspective by playing in marathon sessions.

Rules this time round:

1. All game decisions have to be made with roleplay in mind - the point is to build a story with the game.
2. Maximum of 1 hour game play in any one day.
3. No cheating through saves allowed.

I'm playing using the following DLC: Utopia, Apocalypse, MegaCorp, Federations, Leviathans, Distant Stars, Ancient Relics, Synthetic Dawn.

I'm also playing with a few visual mods (Not worth listing here), but also the Known Precursor mod, for storytelling purposes. Just to see what will happen, I've set all Precusors to be present in this game. I don't expect to actually uncover all of them, but maybe it'll lead to a constant thread of discovery past the usual point where it drops off, at about 30 years into the game.

First principles! I will be playing as the human Commonwealth of Earth. The human race, reaching for the stars, is convinced of its own superiority and sense of manifest destiny.

In-game, the Commonwealth is a Citizen Republic: a Democracy with the Parliamentary System and Citizen Service civics, and Xenophone, Militarist, and Spiritualist as ethics.

 

[Beth Pavell]

The year is 2200. The nations of Earth are united in a tentative pan-Terran federation. Humanity is asking itself the age-old questions - how long can Earth support the species? Is there anywhere else in the galaxy where people can live? And are we alone in the cosmos?

It is to the International Foundation for Intergalactic Exploration that humanity turns for answers. For many years the IFIE has been preparing for the time when the Sol system can finally be transcended, and people can see with their own eyes what lies beyond Sol's gravity well. And finally, on the 23rd March, the first IFIE mission leaves the Sol system en-route to Alpha Centauri - the Wanderer, captained by the charismatic Bostonian Joshua Kennedy. More will follow. Over the next five years, the IFIE launches a total of eight ships: Wanderer, Pathfinder, Arbiter, Ambassador, Khonsu, Nomad, Asperity, and Pilgrim. Their captains and crews represent a cross-section of humanity: Liang Deng, Jésus Lopez, Aeeshah Jakande.

What they discover is epoch-making. Potentially habitable worlds are found in Alpha Centauri, Sirus, Barnard's Star, and EZ Aquarii, among other systems. Life is not uncommon among the stars. And nor is intelligent life. Humanity was not the first species to travel the stars. And it is not the last.

In 2202, scientists on Earth analysing data gathered by the Wanderer crew uncover evidence of a millennia-dead civilisation on Alpha Centauri Ia. Another extinct civilisation is uncovered by Nomad on Alpha Centauri IV. Everywhere the IFIE looks, there is evidence of advanced, if not spacefaring civilisation. But it is the last days of 2201 that are the most disconcerting. Evidence of an active alien civilisation is picked up by the Arbiter in the Helam system. Eight months later, the Arbiter arrives in the neighbouring system to find alien space stations, alien ships, alien signals in abundance. Humanity is not alone. The intentions of these 'Alpha aliens' remain unclear even as their language is analysed and slowly translated - until, on the 24th December 2204, Alpha alien vessels make an attempt to board and seize the Arbiter. To the relief of Earth, the Arbiter manages to make an emergency translation into hyperspace. But the incident makes one thing clear. The Alpha aliens are not friendly, and humanity must prepare to defend itself.

The known galaxy
​

Commentary
It's been a relatively straightforward start so far. A cluster of habitable worlds within two or three jumps of Sol is strategically useful, in terms of both defence and controlling trade. It seems like I'm going to have some reasonable breathing room to Trailing, and possibly to Rimward, depending on what is in the neighbouring arm (I suppose it would be Perseus/Outer arm). It's a little disappointing that the neighbouring civilisation, whoever they are, are so close - but at least the approach from Spinward is reasonably defensible. Given that they've already tried to abduct one ship's crew, it's safe to assume relations with them will remain hostile.

 

[Beth Pavell]

It started with the discovery of a space hulk.

In August 2207, the science ship Pilgrim discovered the crushed remains of an alien starship orbiting the star Ublion. Closer investigation revealed that it had been swallowed somehow, partially crushed and digested by some incomprehensible creature. And what's more, the functioning data banks left behind a wealth of information as to who had built and crewed the ship.

It was the Alpha aliens.

The Alpha aliens call themselves the Qwe'Pulci, and first contact confirmed Humanity's worst fears. The Qwe'Pulci have nothing but threats of species-wide genocide and cultural annihilation for Earth, and with that, humanity arms for war.

The seismic shift of the contact leads to Unification Day on 03 December 2207. On this day, the loosely federated nations of Earth unite as the Commonwealth of Earth. From now on, humanity will make its way in the galaxy as one nation, one species.

In 2203 the IFIE reorganised into the Earth Science Division, now an arm of the Commonwealth Navy. The seven vessels of the Division fleet continue to push the boundaries of interstellar exploration, discovering as many mysteries as wonders. Who built the amusement parks of Rotanev IIa? Who programmed the battleship-sized computer hidden beneath the surface of Eta Cassiopiae II? What laid the mountain-sized egg on Rotanev VIa? Why are there forgotten nanites in the billions scattered throughout Orion Arm? Deserts of nanites on Alshain IV, towering skyscrapers of them on UV Ceti II, a planetwide slurry of them on Antares IVb ...

Qwe'Pulci​

Commentary
Fanatic Purifiers do simplify matters considerably. The question is not if they declare war, but when. At this early stage their military bonuses could be very dangerous to a relatively small fleet. The only thing to do is to prepare for war as best as possible, and use all the available time to get ready for it. Hopefully the Qwe'Pulci will be too preoccupied with expansion to do anything other than threaten for a while.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Unification Day continues to push humanity to collectively arm for war in the face of implicit Qwe'Pulci aggression. A target of 30 commissioned ships for the Commonwealth Navy is set as the defences of Earth are stepped up. Cross-national traditions in shipbuilding are standardised and new breakthroughs in robotics introduce powered armour into the Commonwealth armed forces. The Commonwealth Navy is bolstered by the cruiser CNS Salvage, discovered drifting in the upper atmosphere of the gas giant Rastaban VII, raised and restored to service. Her more powerful sensors reveal a surprise. The homeworld of the Qwe'Pulci is perfect. A paradise of climate. A Gaia world.

As the Commonwealth grows in confidence, both in its military, and in its belief of humanity's manifest destiny in Orion Arm, so too does colonisation fever grip the people of Earth. It is now well-known that there are other worlds that can support human life. And so it is that on the 06 July 2217 the colony ship Progeny makes landfall on Alpha Centauri Ia to establish what will be the first human settlement on a foreign world.

It's in this time that a long-hypothesised possibility is proven to be reality - that creatures can actually live in space itself. In the strange stars of the Rim, at the very galactic edge, crystalline entities gather for some mysterious purpose of their own. Closer to home, in the Spica system, the great space-whales, or tiyanki, are found, cephalopod-like creatures that seem to feed on the atmospheres of gas giants.

The tiyanki of Spica​

Commentary
Expansion is the name of the game, mostly in terms of ships. This early on - indeed the first twenty years or so - this means pure numbers. Building a Stronghold on Earth gives me a capacity of 32 ships, of which CNS Salvage is free. Enough for a defensive war, probably - Salvage's sensors also show that the Qwe'Pulci have 23 ships of their own.

The problem is that alloys are hard to come by. Each ship costs about 100, each starbase 90. I've bought up about 1000 on the internal market, but that's never going to be sustainable. New colonies are the only way to solve that, so for the time being - because it does take a while for them to mature - I'm going to have to accept slower expansion until I have a complete fleet.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Alpha Centauri is formally established as a Commonwealth colony on 6th January 2220, ahead of elections that will see Yeshowa Li retain the Chancellorship in the face of opposition from Fang Sima, then Lady President of the Council. A second colony ship, CNS Community, makes planetfall at Sirius III the following month. To cope with the growing administration of the Commonwealth's interstellar territories, new governmental departments are opened up on Earth, subordinate to the Council.

These years also see a steady trickle of contacts with alien civilisations, both living and dead. First contact is made with the Great Fellnoll Empire in April 2219. Previously codenamed the 'epsilon menace', the Fellnoll had alarmed Earth's diplomatic corps when the empire sent Earth a highly aggressive, warlike transmission. First contact sees the Fellnoll apparently content to ignore and be ignored by humanity.

Great Fellnoll Empire​

Commentary
There's often reason to be a little nervous at this point in the game. Two colonies established within twelve months of one another will either mean a great leap in growth or a sudden crash when either Energy goes into deficit or Admin Capacity does. I intend to turn Alpha Centauri into an administrative colony - it's not really big enough to specialise in any one resource (Except for, perhaps Exotic Gases, since it has the natural resources to generate about 6 by itself). Sirius, on the other hand, will be a forge world as usual. It doesn't have enough Agriculture Districts to be an Agri World or enough Generator Districts to be a Generator world. Besides, I'm already hurting for Alloys

 

[Beth Pavell]

When Wanderer and Nomad found evidence of long-dead civilisations on Alpha Centauri Ia and IV, no-one could have imagined how many, or how old, or how advanced these precursor civilisations could be. Like peeling back layers of time, it seems that every epoch a new interstellar superpower comes and goes.

The crew of the Asperity began digs on earnest on Alpha Centauri Ia in 2214, slowly uncovering the abandoned ruins of an alien colony. Within the 3rd year of the survey, a data-crystal was found within the middle of the colony - altogether too easily, as if somehow the crystal somehow wanted to be found. The crystal's discovery would overturn scientific theory.

The aliens called themselves the Zroni. From the records they left behind, Humanity now knows that psychic powers are not only real, but that the Zroni themselves were a species of psionics. Using mass-lucid dreaming they discovered another dimension overlapping the ones we know, that through their psionic minds they could physically (If such a word can even apply) alter this dimension, which they seem to have called the Shroud. More excavations on Sirius III revealed another colony, and another data-crystal, suggests that the Zroni could enter and leave this dimension at will, essentially allowing them to teleport to any physical location they chose. Some scholars on Earth insist that this is nothing more than Zroni religious dogma, but a growing number of scientists are speculating on the implications of the Zroni. If the Zroni were psychic, why not any other species? If the Shroud is real, why hasn't humanity been able to detect it? Could an entirely different form of interstellar travel be possible?

It seems to some commentators at this time that Humanity is picking over the bones of civilisations past and gone. CNS Salvage is speculated to have been built by one of the aliens of the First League, a federation active approximately 2 million years ago. A First League fleet base was discovered orbiting Barnard's Star V; the wreckage of some naval battle found scattered around the Spica system. More wreckage of wars past, dating to perhaps 600,000 years ago, tells the fragmented story of cybernetic aliens dubbed the Cybrex, fighting what must have been savage wars against the other sapient aliens of the time. Beneath the toxic fogs of Kappler III, a corroding warship is found and raised to space. It transpires, to the horror of many, that the ship is self-aware and apparently sapient. Could this be a relic of the Cybrex? Will it be content to serve it's new human masters for good?

CNS Salvage makes sail for Sol Station​

Commentary
I've never played with all the precursors on before. It's actually quite fun to think of the galaxy as being so active and full of history. I think the mod creates more places to actually uncover the precursor's sites, because they don't seem to be scattered as widely as they should be. Admittedly if I were to tell the stories of their discovery strictly in order, there'd be a mess of competing names. But there's grist for the mill, and this is all part of the creative constraints of telling a story this way.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Following the establishment of the Alpha Centauri colony in 2220, Sirius is officially founded in late 2222, marking a period of mass emigration from Earth as people flock to the new opportunities out in the stars. A separate colonial government is established on Alpha Centauri by 2226, by which time new cities have been built alongside the colonist's farmland and power plants. Contemporary with these developments, the crew of the Arbiter begin excavations of Sirius IVa, uncovering and cataloguing fossils of a species calling themselves the Baol. Already known from some fragments of data found in Alpha Centauri, downloaded from a fossilised bio-computer, Arbiter manages to establish that Sirius IVa was firebombed approximately 7 million years ago. It would seem that the Baol were very likely contemporaries of the Zroni, even co-existing in the same region of space. Further excavations on the asteroid RX2-3427 (Epsilon Eridani) reveals that the Baol were a plantoid people, a collective consciousness: a hive mind.

The death of Chancellor Li in 2227 leads to emergency elections in which Fang Sima, Lady President of the Council, is expected to the Chancellorship. Sima runs on a militaristic platform, continuing the fleet expansion of the previous administration and expanding the program with an army recruitment drive beginning in 2227.

Rimward of the Commonwealth, near the very edge of the galaxy, the science ship Wanderer discovers another Gaia world. On approaching the planet, the Wanderer is hailed and transmitted a complete phylogenetic catalogue of every species on the planet. The planet, it seems, is artificial, a garden world. Whoever the gardeners were, their AI assistants still continue to tend the planet, which they call Wenkwort Artem.

Alpha Centauri​

Commentary
What I don't mention above is the stream of new contacts coming in at this time. Few are really significant - glimpses of science vessels far from Earth, none of whom will turn out to be immediate neighbours. What is significant is the marauder enclave located just Spinward of the Qwe'Pulci territories. Essentially the marauders block the Qwe'Pulci's Spinward expansion and act as a buffer between them and any empire further Spinward - which means the Qwe'Pulci remain my problem. In other words, when the Qwe'Pulci eventually run out of empty territory I will be their inevitable new target. The sensible response then is to prepare for war, focus on the fleet as much as possible, and keep the fleet close to Earth.

 

[Beth Pavell]

In the elections of 2236, the Council of the Divine takes the chancellorship from Fang Sima's Patriotic Vanguard party. Their candidate, Orson Marsh, was until this point Admiral of the Commonwealth 2nd Fleet. These elections see a shift in Commonwealth policy, away from the determined march to war, instead allying with the Human Ascendancy Movement to push for Humanity's expansion into the stars. Accordingly, CNS Cultivator is launched in May of 2239, bound for the tropical moon 61 Cygni IIIc.

The change in regime also sees a reluctant change in Commonwealth foreign policy. Caloctora Dynamics, first contacted in 2228, is a polity lying Spinward of the Commonwealth along Outer Arm. A state dominated by one vast corporation, Caloctora has been generally friendly towards Humanity. On the 23rd July 2240 a trade agreement is signed between the two states, forming the first truly peaceable contact between Humanity and another species. Caloctora Dynamics subsequently opens branch offices on Earth and Sirius Magna within the year. A research-sharing agreement is signed the following year, pushed through the Commonwealth parliament by the minority Committee of United Scientists.

The Science Division suffers a blow when, in 2243, Joshua Kennedy dies at the age of 88. Kennedy's career began with the distinction of leading the first crew ever to leave the Solar System. He led the survey of Alpha Centauri Ia, which proved beyond a doubt that extrasolar life can and does exist. His life aboard the Wanderer was a long survey of space that ended at the very edge of the galaxy.

The crew of CNS Arbiter continue investigations into former Zroni colonies with their digs on Barnard's Star III. By now the pattern of discovery is clear - a Zroni data-crystal is found almost immediately, and transcription efforts begun. Jésus Lopez, captain of the Arbiter, begins to speculate that perhaps this wealth of historical information is in fact deliberate - that the Zroni wanted their history to be found and understood by those who came later. Who they believed their successors would be, and why this might be important to them, is a mystery. Certainly Zroni society became riven by civil war. By some mechanism scientists do not understand, the Zroni's use of psychic powers within the Shroud was causing the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy to grow. Zroni society split into factions, some believing that the Shroud, with all its godlike potential, was all that mattered, others insisting that the physical galaxy was not to be merely disregarded.

And yet while the Zroni fought amongst themselves, the Baol were burning under the firebombs of the Grunurr.

61 Cygni III and moon system​

Commentary
There's an inevitable amount of reshuffling somewhere between the 40-50 year mark, as the first generation of scientists start to die off, taking their skills with them. For the most part this hasn't actually been a big problem, especially since those actively researching technologies are really only a level or two behind those aboard the science ships. The bigger question is whether to replace them. I tend to think that more than three science ships, if you have no exploring to do, is a waste of resources in the upkeep. At some point soon I'm going to have to slim down that aspect of the fleet.

Caloctora Dynamics won't leave me alone, which is one reason why I agreed to a Commercial Pact at all. True, the extra Energy from the trade income does help. I suppose the bigger advantage will be that with Caloctera established on my planets, a criminal syndicate won't be able to take root and make a nuisance of themselves. I'm quite surprised the Research Agreement is proving as useful as it is. Usually they seem to be of negligible benefit, but most new technologies I'm starting seem to be getting a boost thanks to the agreement.

 

[Beth Pavell]

61 Cygni IIIc is established as the Commonwealth colony of Cadoan on 03 November 2242. New farmland is quickly opened up, the products of the tropical world largely bound for export back to Earth. But less than two years later, beneath the surface of the planet, an array of abandoned alien equipment is found - the remnants of an unfinished terraforming project. The equipment appears to be causing random climactic fluctuations, ultimately cutting the harvest yield by as much as 20%. The decision is therefore taken to restart the process.

The terraforming goes terribly awry. The average temperature across the world plummets. Native fauna rapidly devolve into monsters, a hyper-aggressive horde that for no natural reason begin attacking the colonists en-masse. The Tellurian Expeditionary Force is immediately dispatched from Sol, but by the time the army arrives it is all too late. Cadoan is overrun, the colony destroyed.

Navy recruitment continues at a brisk pace, with the shipyards at Sol Station beginning construction of ten new destroyers. The defences at 61 Cygni receive heavy investment, with an expansion of the starbase along with defensive platforms.

61 Cygni Station​

Commentary
I hate the damn abandoned terraforming equipment anomaly. If you do nothing the planet gets a -20% modifier to Food production, which could be ignored were it not for the fact that 61 Cygni was supposed to be an Agri-World. If you dismantle the equipment, you get plagued with random climate problems. Resuming the process is a roll of the dice. This one was a pretty bad roll - a perfectly good Tropical World turns into a Tundra World and monsters kill all the colonists. Damn 61 Cygni IIIc. I'm not going to bother resettling it, certainly not at this point.

 

[Beth Pavell]

The vote could only ever have gone one way. No-one had forgotten the threats of annihilation. And, as the Chancellor reminded the assembled parliamentarians, it was with the narrowest luck that the Arbiter had escaped a bloody fate at the hands of the aliens. And so on the 8th August 2253, the Commonwealth of Earth declared war on the Qwe'Pulci Annihilators.

The combined fleet weighed anchor at Sol Station mere hours after the declaration - 10 destroyers, 50 corvettes, the AI corvette s875.1 warform, and the cruiser CNS Salvage. Their objective, Operation Crossbow. After eight month's sail via Altair and 61 Cygni, battle was joined with Task Force Kampas, 5 destroyers and 40 corvettes, under the command of Qwe'Pulci admiral Galdrig den Aramik in the Helam system. Kampas was forced to retreat into hyperspace with a loss of 9 corvettes. The Commonwealth Navy loses 10 corvettes in return. Helam Station is engaged and captured, with s875.1 warform lost in the attempt.

With nothing standing in the way, the Navy translates into the Qwe'Pulci home system of Uklapp'korr. The battered Kampas drops out of hyperspace near the Helam hyperlane, but they are too late. Uklapp Station is attacked and taken in March 2255 and the Qwe'Pulci army transports burned at anchor. Kampas attempts to escape the system but is run to ground by 1st Fleet and engaged, forcing it to make another emergency hyperspace jump. Crossbow is a success. The Commonwealth Navy subsequently undertakes Operation Downspout - outlying systems are captured, while 2nd Fleet makes its way Coreward, capturing starbases as it goes.

The tipping point of the war comes with the invasion of Uklapp in 2256. 4th Crusade Army is destroyed, with the 5th taking heavy losses, but Uklapp is nevertheless taken, the Gaia world immediately falling under Commonwealth rule.

A world way from the fighting to Spinwards, the Science Division is uncovering stranger and stranger worlds. The location of the Zroni homeworld was understood in 2247. Now, in early 2251, the Arbiter finds Zron Prime to be a world wracked by psychic storms, the like of which has never been seen. And yet, somewhere down on the surface, the ubiquitous Zroni data-crystals are clamouring to be found ...

Mere months later, the listening post at 61 Cygni Station picks up an alien distress call. By pure chance, as it would seem, the signal is tracked down to the Grunurr home system, those nemeses of the extinct Baol. The Asperity is sent to investigate. The crew find a dead world devastated by nuclear war. Nothing sapient lives. The distress signal leads to a hidden research facility. Within, preserved among the ancient equipment, is the last Baol.

The Last Baol​

Commentary
Thank god the Qwe'Pulci weren't smart enough to dig in around their Helam fortress, otherwise this might have been a costlier war. As it stands, I'm not quite sure where so many of their ships went. I know I destroyed 15 ships of Task Force Kampas, but the others seem to have disappeared somewhere. There should have been 30 that re-engaged in Uklapp'korr. I can only assume they must have suffered terrible losses in the initial emergency hyperspace jump.

I'm beginning to realise that this mod doesn't quite preserve relative speeds with the larger system sizes. It's particularly obvious when you're racing an enemy fleet for the tactical high ground. Travelling under the default chemical thrusters is never quick, but it's quite a slog when you have to cover a trinary star system, put it that way.

The Qwe'Pulci are already prepared to settle this at status quo, and under another circumstance I might consider a quick and decisive victory good enough. But I have the ships to be able to grab much more

 

[Beth Pavell]

More than fifty years have passed since Joshua Kennedy made the first step into the galaxy beyond Sol. And in that time, Humanity has discovered that other sapient life is not only out there in the stars, but common. Contact has been made with half a dozen alien polities, diplomatic relations established, and even trade initiated in the case of Caloctora Dynamics. In 2254, the farrago of semi-formalised rules and diplomatic traditions are codified into an official pan-galactic institution - the Galactic Senate.

The formation of the Senate comes mere months after the Commonwealth of Earth declares war on the Qwe'Pulci Annihilators. As a consequence, Commonwealth participation in the Senate's early business is minimal. After the victory of the Invasion of Uklapp, the Commonwealth sends a delegation to the Senate to support the Galactic Exchange Bill. which passes with overwhelming support in 2259.

The Commonwealth occupation of Uklapp immediately leads to social problems on a massive scale. Qwe'Pulci are immediately excluded from a swathe of industries. Along with a human colonial government, people from Earth are brought in to serve as the new police force. Incentives created for human immigrants taking up jobs in the new colonial administration. Mass Qwe'Pulci unemployment and general discontent created a ballooning criminal underworld, and a rapidly expanding illicit drug trade.

Archaeological investigations at Zron Prime continue at a slow rate. An accidental explosion seriously injures the team leader, Dr Mina Adwam.

Commentary
One flaw with Stellaris is that the first fifty years or so of the Galactic Community tends to play out the same way. The way motions are tabled is to blame. Each one is voted on one at a time, but the order of business is determined by the overall support for the motion. In other words, popular motions are voted on first, and they almost always easily pass. The AI tends to have similar priorities each time, so you tend to see the same motions pass each time round. I don't really bother to keep track much, not until I either have a big enough Diplomatic Weight to seriously affect the order of business, or I'm able to influence the way other empires vote.

It pays to be nice as a conqueror in Stellaris. Which, given the empire I'm playing, I won't be. Reducing the Qwe'Pulci to Chattel Slavery immediately kicks a hole in Uklapp's production, both in terms of jobs unfilled and production penalties due to low Stability. That being said, Uklapp has a strong ongoing incentive to Human immigration - alongside the usual landgrab bonus, there are Specialist jobs to be had, and the place is a Gaia World, being just as comfy as Earth.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Dr Adwam retains leadership of the Zroni expedition, but progress remains painfully slow. Contact is made with several of the ubiquitous Zroni data-crystals; details of their civil war slowly teased out. But from the gestalt of Zroni scholarship, Kumar Gupta, former head of the Physics Division and now head of Society, formulates what he calls his Psionic Theory - a theoretical understanding of the mechanism of psychic powers, and how this might be applied to the human brain.

By this time the war with the Qwe'Pulci has been dragging on for eight years. The 2nd Fleet continues to capture systems unopposed. Many of those serving the Commonwealth are citizen militia from Earth and Alpha Centauri, especially among the Navy. There is a growing sense across the Commonwealth Parliament that the job is essentially finished. Bowing to the pressure, on 19th October 2261 Chancellor Marsh signs an armistice with the Qwe'Pulci premier. Though the Qwe'Pulci insist it is a mere ceasefire, in reality it is a resounding victory for Earth. The Qwe'Pulci homeworld is a Commonwealth colony. Half of their territory is taken. Commonwealth space now spans three spiral arms from the Rim almost to the galactic Core.

Status quo down the barrel of a gun​

Commentary
After a certain point wars get boring - and in any case, my fleet is in as much need of refit as the empire is of administration. Concluding the war means rebuilding lost ships, upgrading fleets with new technologies, and downgrading useless starbases. The immediate challenge, or concern, is where to place fleet bases and trade stations, given the size of the territory now under my control. I know from experience that it does not do to make too many enemies when you have that much space to cover. Fleets simply can't respond quickly enough to threats, and being on the wrong side of the empire can be fatal.

The advantage is that the Trailing border, towards the Core, is still a de facto wilderness. Abutting borders creates diplomatic tension. In this case, it will be wise to keep an eye on the Great Fellnoll Empire to see that they don't make any inconvenient alliances

 

[Beth Pavell]

Chancellor Marsh dies in office, at the age of 93, on 18th April 2264. History will remember him as one of the heroes of the early Commonwealth, whose 30-year term in office led to Humanity's victory over the Qwe-Pulci in the First Xenos War. Under his leadership the Commonwealth of Earth has become increasingly militaristic, some would say jingoistic. Most citizens identify with the armed forces on some level, in large part due to the long-standing traditions of citizen service. Those who have fought the Qwe'Pulci, on land or in space, are especially honoured in daily life.

In the snap elections that follow, Marsh's Council of the Divine nevertheless lose power to the militarists in Parliament, led by Aarav Kulkarni, formerly Admiral of 2nd Fleet. His policies usher in a programme of fleet reform, the Navy receiving upgrades to their shielding and armour in response to a number of recent scientific breakthroughs.

In 2265 the Galactic Senate passes the Buzzword Standardisation Bill. Many of the galaxy's most influential players abstain from the voting, including the Multyx Alliance and Haddam Nation. In spite of the bureaucratic issues this engenders, trade between species does begin to run more smoothly, seeing a period of economic growth over the subsequent years.

It is the field of parapsychology that sees the most significant development in these years. Since the dawn of civilisation, Humanity has told itself stories of incredible individuals capable of harnessing magical, even miraculous, powers. It is now that Kumar Gupta proves the impossible - psychic powers are real, and humans can manifest them. Psionic Theory is greeted with as much adulation from the religious community as it is astonishment from the scientific, hailed as a gift of Heaven, proof of the divine. Already, work ahs begun to develop standard ESP tests to find and study human psychics.

The Rising Ape​

Commentary
I think it's always wise to reorganise and upgrade the fleet in the wake of a major war. Inevitably there are lessons to be learned along with ships to replace. With so much more territory, the obvious question will be how many individual fleets I'll need, and where to base them.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Colonisation fever once again grips the Commonwealth. Flush with the heady successes of recent decades, confident of their place in the quadrant, humanity sets sail for the stars again. The colony of Calamander is established in the Alkaid system in 2268 - the Demeter and Heket set sail for the Errai and Balthazar systems in April of 2270.

Studies of former Zroni colonies begin to reveal the ultimate fate of their race. In an effort to end the war once and for all, the Zroni destroyed themselves in a psychic holocaust, leaving behind nothing but their powdered and ashen remains in the dimensions we know. The deposits of strange psychoactive dust, concentrated most heavily in former Zroni colonies, are found to be the funeral remains of that psychic race. With Humanity now proven to manifest psychic powers as the Zroni must have once done, this discovery can only pose more questions ...

Islands in the void​

Commentary
I always have trouble deciding when to send out colony ships. Certainly I try to found as m any colonies as I can well before the first 100 years of the game are up - thanks to the way population growth mechanics work, much later than that colonies tend to end up in their fledgling state for decades. The problem is, if you found them too early or too close together, the initial immigration rush can pull people away from other young colonies as well.

But the fact is that the empire has pretty much hit the peak of its territorial extent. If I were to try expanding any further, the marches would be basically indefensible anyway. Besides which, I've also hit the usual Consumer Goods deficit. Paramar just isn't producing the goods I expected it to, so I'll need to found a new colony to grow into a factory world before the deficit grows so large it can't be put off with government subsidies

 

[Beth Pavell]

On 27th April 2272, the Council announces the formation of a new law enforcement agency to begin operations on Teraphim, formerly the Qwe'Pulci capital of Uklapp. For some time now, Teraphim has been plagued by unrest stemming from drug cartel activity, a situation that had become almost endemic since the planet's annexation nearly twenty years ago. This new agency, unique in all the Commonwealth, is to be comprised entirely of telepaths. The Psi Corps of Teraphim mark the first organised exploitation of psionics by Humanity.

Demeter and Heket make planetfall in 2272 and 2273 respectively. The colonies of Becker's World and Theia are established shortly thereafter - in the same year Alpha Centauri and Sirius experience a period of sustained growth. The colonies have now come of age as extra-solar provinces of Earth. Alpha Centauri has become an administrative hub, while Sirius's heavy industry supplies the majority of the finished materials for the Commonwealth Navy. As the Commonwealth comes of age, so too does it's administrative and political institutions. Governors are routinely appointed by the Council of Earth to act as colonial viceroys - usually, though not always, as extensions of the ruling Chancellor's cabinet.

The Navy's first cruisers are also launched in 2272. CNS Proteus and Dauntless are assigned to the 1st Fleet, with a further four sister ships ordered for construction in the near future.

Demeter makes planetfall​

Commentary
In some ways, the Psi Corps are overkill. Realistically a crowded planet like Teraphim can put up with some crime - but I can't help but stamp it out. Maybe, some years down the line, I might be able to disband the Corps, but for now I'm determined to put an end to the Teraphim drug trade.

The name of the game here is consolidating power, and getting stronger. Cruisers are a bit pricey at this point in the game, but a carrier cruiser is also a huge force multiplier against fleets that mainly comprise of corvettes. For wars fought on the defensive, it doesn't matter if you destroy the corvette just so long as you can force it into hyperspace.

 

[KerfishSea]

oh hi Beth