Re: Dawn - One down...
2410.3
Nekkar III
Corporate Headquarters
The deadline had come and gone for the Norak to recompense the Empire for stolen technology and damages. Nothing happened, of course, No one had really expected the Norak to take the threat seriously.
Rita Edwards had succeeded in finally getting her department to adopt new methods and use more of the technology available to assist with defending against foreign espionage operations. The research department was also modernizing, and the facilities began the process of re-inventing themselves. The end results were simple. More research. Better intelligence.
The Chairman had just announced that the war in the Zezzis system had officially concluded. The last Sergetti colony had fallen, and the Sergetti empire was all but eliminated. Traders made mention of a few holdouts but without a planet or access to resources, they wouldn’t be much more than just that. The inhabitants of Zezzis XII weren’t too keen on the idea, and were rioting. This wasn’t unexpected, however and ground troops had moved to protect the facilities while the newest members of the Dawn empire adjusted to their new lives.
The design of ships larger than the Bulldog class cruiser was now available. Battleships were now available for construction. The preliminary plan for them would be planetary assault, with an eye to defeating the weapon platforms defending enemy colonies. Ordinance-based weapons such as missiles and torpedoes could play a key role in the new ships.
Also available – and with a potentially larger effect on the empire – was a large freighter class. Restructuring the fleet’s support ships led to the downsizing of general transport vessels (currently identified as the President class), but the Harvester class of mining ships was now upgraded to this large freighter class. They would be able to carry six remote mining robots each. They would be slow and take a long time (and cost) to build, but their potential for production would be enormous. With their development, the plan to use satellites as remote miners was scrapped.
The homeworld of Nekkar III had launched the second Bulldog class cruiser, christened CDS Mastiff. The new cruiser was sent to bolster the protection at the Pantrissa-Sheliak warp point. The space yard immediately began production of the first of the giant Harvesters. Even with the impressive production capability of the yard there, the ship would still take three months to build.
The war was going to take another lull as the empire focuses once again on defensive operations and infrastructure improvements. The Phong space yard at Zezzis VII is now a level three facility. The first space yard on Sirius XI was also now operational. The significance of this yard was that it was built on what was once a domed Terran colony, but now populated entirely by the Phong. Phong, Sergetti, and even Abbidon were now integrating into the Empire. The ability of these lifeforms to breathe non-oxygen atmospheres meant that domes across the empire may well become museum pieces...
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