[chewy027]

Phong Confederation 18th place
Terran Confederation 17th place
Rebel Alliance 14th place
Abbidon Enclave 7th place
Vandron Empire 6thplace
Klingon Empire 3rd place
Aquilaeian Empire 2nd place
Star Empire of Romii 1st place

2406.6 – 2407.8 ~ Humdrum

“It’s been too quiet,” thought Admiral Nefta as she sat in her command chair staring off into space. “I know the Aquilaeians are going to try something, they have too large a presence in our systems not to. Yet, as the tenths pass they continue to go on their way barely even noticing us. It simply makes no sense. What is the wisdom in tying up resources by stationing ships in our systems? Perhaps they’re just trying to scare us into not trying anything ourselves. But that makes no sense; they know that we would never initiate a war. No, the only reasonable answer is that they plan to attack. So we must be ready.” She had been having these discussions with herself for over a year now. Tactically, the Aquilaeian presence made no sense other then to position themselves for an attack, and yet the attack had not come. This is what bewildered Nefta because the Vandron fleets grew stronger by the tenth. They became larger, faster, more powerful, and better defended as each day went by, and the Aquilaeian threat began to look less and less like a threat at all. Yet deep down Nefta knew that the real reason she was tired of waiting for an attack was that she herself yearned to continue the fight to avenge her sister. To Nefta it did not matter how many victories she won against the Terrans or the Rebels or Aquilaeians. All she knew was that they were responsible, maybe not directly, but it was their fault that she was dead. It was simply the way that these galactic powers operated that was to blame. If they could just live at peace with each other Sharnon would still be here. Therefore, she had decided a long time ago that as long as there were other powers who would oppose the Vandron, she would not have her thirst for vengeance quenched. “I wish the Rebels and the Terrans would not have capitulated so easily,” she thought in disgust. “I didn’t even get a chance to fight in a major engagement in the war with the Rebels, and these Klingons haven’t even shown themselves in our systems much less attacked us; they must be a cowardly people. Yes, my only real hope for a battle now is the Aquilaeians, but when are they going to give it to me?”

“Yes, of course we will continue with our previous agreements. This is simply an upgrade over those prior arrangements,” explained Mandron as he was finishing up a partnership treaty with the Abbidon. “Think of it as us becoming as b…brothers. We will share everything, and hold back nothing.” The ambassador from the Abbidon seemed to finally understand what Mandron was getting at, and finalized the deal. With that settled Mandron retired to his quarters to rest. “I can’t believe how easily manipulated they are,” he thought to himself as he walked back to the room. “Of course, it’s not like I’m leading them into a war, ours is a peaceful endeavor that will allow both of our people to flourish,” he stopped his hurried pace to look out the window. “Still, it does seem that these Last few tenths have dragged by. Apart from the Abbidon negotiations, boring talks at best, there have been no new surprises from any of the other races.” He continued on his trek back to his room, “I almost wish the Aquilaeian would contact us, even to deliver another threat about us having a treaty with their enemies. Yes, the Aquilaeians,” he paused again, “they are always a challenge to deal with. They may be our enemies, but they’re damn good diplomats.” He had finally reached his door, “Oh well, I suppose this will be another boring night. Here’s to hoping the Almighty gives me a divine revelation in my meditations.” And with that Last thought he entered his room and retired for the evening.

“…and that should do it,” thought Junon as he was putting the final designs into the computer for simulation. “I think we’ve finally acquired the knowledge and expertise to build Cruiser sized vessels,” he said aloud to Chagnon and Defcon.
“Good work Junon, you never disappoint,” congratulated Chagnon. “So what is that now, five breakthroughs in the Last year?”
“Something like that,” replied Junon. “Let’s see, a new armor material to protect our ships, those marvelously fast contra-terrene engines, another level of religious technology, and a more efficient means to capture ships. Yes my Lord, I do believe it was five new breakthroughs.”
“So what does he turn his attention towards next?” asked Defcon. “The Aquilaeians haven’t made a move toward us in over a year, and the Klingons haven’t shown their ugly faces, perhaps we should look into something a bit less militaristic?”
“Actually, I have already begun my next line of research,” put in Junon, “or perhaps it would be more accurate to say have continued an old line.”
“How do you mean that?” asked Chagnon.
“Well, when I finished my research into that Last round of religious research, I hit onto something that may prove a decisive advantage for us militarily. However, I will need much time to perfect it, which is why I have begun it now.”
“And what is this Almighty-given technology that you have hit upon?” laughed Defcon.
“You laugh now,” replied Junon, “but you are not very far off the mark.” Defcon stopped chuckling as Junon went on, “in my research into harnessing our religious understanding and meditation, I realized that when we Vandron are in a highly meditative state, we react with near perfect exactness to the world around us.” He paused for a moment to allow this information to sink in before going on, “While that may be of little use to us, I also realized then when given a specific task, like hitting a ball or swatting a fly, the accuracy of the people within this state of deep meditation was 99.9 percent dead on.”
“I still fail to see how that can help us,” put in Defcon.
“Well then I’ll get straight to the point,” cut in Junon. “I believe we can harness this seemingly Almighty driven meditative state to make the gunners on our vessels have impeccable precision in their targeting. I do not yet know how this will be done, which is why I need time, but I do believe it can be done.”
“If that is what you wish to pursue then you may,” allowed Chagnon. “If your theories about the outcome of this research are to hold true, then no force should be able to pose a threat to our people.”
“Bigger ships would be nice,” said Defcon with a stern face, “but I suppose this would be good too,” said Defcon with as he broke into a smile. “Besides those birds aren’t going to try anything any time soon. We may as well develop this targeting technique so that if they do come for us they’ll be wishing they hadn’t.”

After the explanation of the new cruiser class ship, Chagnon went back to his quarters and received a brief synopsis of the current exploration and colonization efforts by Exnon:
All goes well my Lord. We now control forty-seven worlds across ten systems. We have again begun production of more colony ships to reach more worlds since the threat the Aquilaeians pose has somewhat diminished, and so the number of worlds we control should begin going up sharply again. Also, the exploration side of things is gong extremely well. With the new star maps we have received from the Abbidon we now know the contents of over eighty percent of our quadrant. There are only a handful of unexplored systems and wormholes left. While we do not know what races inhabit these other star clusters, we at least now know what stellar objects inhabit them. We have also learned of more worlds throughout the quadrant that harbor ancient ruins. One system in particular, the Omicron System, has three worlds with ruins. It is my belief that this may have been the home system of the race that built these ancient structures. However, it is not an easy system for us to reach. Perhaps we will meet one of the races in that area of our quadrant who can teach us more about that system. Until then, we really don’t know too much more about these ancient people. Until next time, Exnon out.

After reading this summary, Chagnon began his daily meditations. He thought on all the usual things, and said all the usual prayers. He enjoyed the serenity and peace of it, and the deliverance from stress and worry that it provided to him. He had been worried about an invasion for so long now that he had forgotten what it was like to truly be at peace. “Perhaps,” he thought, “we were all wrong about the Aquilaeians. Maybe they never intended to attack us but simply wished to prove their dominance. They haven’t made any hostile moves in over a year now; maybe we simply misunderstood their intentions.” He finally gave in to his optimism with a sign. “But what does it matter,” he finished, “we must be prepared for whatever lies ahead, and the most likely event is still war.”

[ September 18, 2003, 16:14: Message edited by: chewy027 ]