A War for the Stars

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2402.0:

Syned I has been colonized. Acting on a suggestion from Captain Veren, a resupply depot is being rush built to support Seeker I's operations away from Virgillia. Gesaril is sending us its first shipments of radioactives now that their spaceport structure is operational.

We now have an embryo Diplomatic Corps, headed by Line Captain Reima, my former intel officer. With our new ISB intel centers, the Line Captain and his staff were becoming as useful as a Bantha in a pod race. As Chief Ambassador, his first job will be to ensure all alien races remain friendly until we have reasonable defenses set up.

Seeker I, Captain's log, SGY 2402.1:

The Arkonne system is a big disappointment, nothing but asteroids around one dim star. We'll head back to Syned I, then set off for the Last unexplored wormhole out from Syned.

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2402.2:

Chief Ambassador Reima has established regular communications with the Hutt. He has laid out a plan under which we will maintain good relations with our neighbors by offering them goods that are not essential to our defense program. The Hutt will receive one such shipment this tenth.

Comet II is on its way to Gesaril IX, a huge airless world where we hope to build a strong industrial base.

We will soon have our first ground troops. These will be security forces, fit only for police work and parades, but seeing the Imperial Army is enough to make most people feel safe and happy, which translates directly into more production for the Empire. Our plans call for one security battalion* on every Imperial colony in the sector; Colonel Sheer, now promoted to Brigadier General, will be in charge of these troops.

* - 1 Army battalion = 80 infantry troop units.

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2402.3:

The Hutt accepted our goods. We offered them some more, attached to a Trade Alliance; Reima tells me their greed ensures they will accept.

Our first security forces are now active. Brigadier General Sheer has organized simultaneous parades on all Imperial worlds, and the crowds loved them. Productivity is at an all time high and still climbing.

The people don't know it, but almost all of the troops in those parades were carrying mock weapons. We can produce bLaster pistols in moderate quantities, but no bLaster rifles yet. While it would be a simple matter to divert one or two small workshops to small arms R&D, we cannot spare them. We need starfighters badly; we can build their hulls, but we still can't fit a decent ion engine into them. One alien invasion while we are still vulnerable and all could be lost.

Comet II has landed on Gesaril IX; the Comet ships were an excellent idea, they are expensive but they buy us even more precious time.

I must talk to the shipyard design staff. I hear they have some new faces.

Naval personnel on Virgillia have a bad case of planet fever. They want more warships, they want a berth on the Seeker, they want anything that can take them out among the stars. I may have to order another Seeker to accomodate them.

[Erax]

I think it's time for a map of my current situation :



This is the quadrant map as of 2402.3.

Virgillia: Imperial homeworld.
Gathus: Andarr homeworld.
Keedad: Hutt homeworld.
Gesaril: First Imperial colony system.
Syned: Second Imperial colony system.
Berlin: Uninhabited colonizable system.
Arkonne: Barren asteroid system.

[ April 30, 2003, 11:49: Message edited by: Erax ]

[Ruatha]

Nice story, will read it to the end.

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2402.5:

The Hutt agreed to our trade alliance. Ambassador Reima also received a message from the Yakrin, proposing a trade treaty with us. According to him, this proposal does not make sense in light of our prior dealings with them; before this offer, they were arrogant and prone to making threats. There must be an important reason for this sudden improvement in our relations. I'll have the Diplomatic Corps look into it.

Seeker I entered Galvoni, another barren system with random asteroid clouds drifting around a stellar remnant. Captain Veren will cross the system and investigate the next system over. Comet III launched this tenth to colonize Berlin III.

Our security forces are doing wonders for planetary morale. Our investment in them was enormous but it is already paying off.

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2402.6:

The Andarr cancelled their treaty with us. Ambassador Reima is at a loss to explain how this could have happened but his Corps is already busy trying to contain the situation. I had to warn him that we cannot afford incidents such as this.

Our colonists landed on Berlin III at about the same time that the Syned starports became operational. Our position improves steadily.

[Hunkpapa]

Great read, thank you for the entertainment.

"Evil will always win because Good is stupid."

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2402.7:

We finally have fighter-sized ion engines. This would allow us to produce our first starfighters this tenth, but I chose to delay production to include the latest model laser cannon in the designs.

We have begun building Seeker II. Like Seeker I, she will explore the systems around us, seeking out other starfaring civilizations.

Now that a spaceyard is under construction in Gesaril, we will need to relocate some of Virgillia V's population to that system before it can launch its own colony ships. We need some kind of population transport; I will instruct our spaceyard staff to draw up plans in case we need to build larger hulls.

Seeker I crossed another hyperconduit into the Nalros system and found it already inhabited. After decoding and translating incoming signals, we were able to contact this new race, called... humans. This is not the first time the Empire encounters an isolated human world or group of worlds, but to them we were quite a surprise. Captain Veren assured them that the Seeker was on a peaceful voyage of exploration and obtained passage through the system. We believe the next system over should connect to Berlin, where the ship will go to be resupplied.

Ambassador Reima has dispatched a diplomatic mission to this group of humans who call themselves the Interstellar Alliance. They seem friendly enough and are very curious about us; Reima must make sure that they do not learn too much.

[Erax]

Admiral Wiers' private log, SGY 2402.8:

Our sector forces will soon have a starfighter arm. Plans for the TIE Fighter A (T/ln A) are complete and they are already being produced.

Lacking proper Imperial TIE pilots, we had to recruit them from the local population. This has already been taken care of and right now we have a large contingent of trained pilots on every world.

Commodore Telar will be the overall commander of our starfighter forces. We will produce two wings of TIE/ln A's initially, one full wing of 72 craft to defend Virgillia and a reduced wing with 48 craft to defend Gesaril. These defense wings are meant to harass and delay invading fleets; extensive facilities are available to mass produce more fighters which will then deal with the enemy ships.

As a side effect of our engine research, we now have marginally cheaper implosion drives. The Comet design has already been updated to use them.

Starfighters will go a long way towards ensuring our safety, but we need bombers, then carriers. The road ahead is long indeed.