Excerpted from a report by Chancellor Naiduin to the Industrial Planning Committee at the High University of Kaffaljihma, dated 2407.5:
Another of the new Djusholm class light cruisers reached Corcaroli today. We now have the capability to produce ships that can engage the Xi'Chung on more equal terms. We expect no longer to sacrifice two or three of our Drammen class destroyers for each of their Kamikaze class LCs crippled or destroyed. The heroic efforts of the two shipyards here in Kaffaljihma to put out enough ships to stop the enemy's incursions for the past year can no longer be sustained, but the Corcaroli and Ibsunk yards remain at full normal production. We intend the new ship yard planned for our outpost in Baten to provide the extra capacity to build additional Ikaalinen class colony ships to allow further expansion of our intelligence and research facilities, and a new scout design with which to contact the Cue Cappa, for whom our partners the Eee have refused to sell us the comm channel. The Eee have not expressed any opposition to our occupying more ice worlds in their space, but the recent discovery that they have entered a trade and research alliance with the Xi'Chung forces us to prepare the best defenses for those worlds that we can muster. The recent Xi'Chung raid that wiped out the picket watching our border with the Cluk-Ruk proves the necessity of advance preparation; we were forced to place a minefield at the Ibsunk-Deneb warp point rather than the original plan to block the border at Deneb-Merga. We intend to place the next minefield at the Kaffaljihma-Deneb WP, then fortify the Corcaroli border.
We believe the Xi'Chung to be psychologically incapable of the logical debate which we Tictsin normally use to resolve disputes; we have never found a rational explanation for their unprovoked attack on our Skotselv scout escort four years ago, or their declaration of war immediately thereafter. We expect this wasteful war to continue for many years.
[The Eee have also shared a Xiati ship design, but I haven't encountered them. The current standings are Xi'chung 1st, my Tictsin 3rd, Cue Kappa 4th, Eee 5th, Cluk-Ruk 7th out of 10 on a medium galactic edge map, in an unmodded 1.35 game. The Tictsin are Peaceful Scientists from an Icy/CO2 world, with Organic Manipulation, Advanced Power Conservation, and Emotionless.]
(Hey, I just noticed that I made Sergeant recently.
)
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Cap'n Q
[This message has been edited by capnq (edited 27 April 2001).]