[Geckomlis]

K.O.T.H. Gecko vs Grazic Update: Gecko’s POV.

The Shark Elementals Expeditionary Fleet, after scorching and then salting the earth of every EEEvil EEEmpire planet in the Resshrak system, holds a guard position on the exit warp point used by the routed and retreating EEEvil forces. The offensive halts, supposedly to facilitate a massive resupply operation. In truth, the fleet is obsolete and can not engage and prevail at the knife-fighting ranges associated with a warp point defense. What the fleet can do is focus and hold the attention of the enemy’s mobile forces – an obsolete fleet in being is still a fleet in being. The enemy can not safely ignore the 40 long-range ships poised on his border.

On other fronts, the Northern Star Fleet and the Southern Cross Fleet complete the cleansing of the Sutran system and depart for the scheduled sterilization of the Zanthris system. Colonizers follow closely behind to quickly construct forward fleet bases.

Shark Elementals commandos bomb EEEvil ships with impunity and, between missions, philosophically ponder the EEEvil doctrine that emphasizes the production of new vessels at the expense of the repair, refit, and security of already operational ships.

Suddenly, in what can only be described as a complete breakdown in the command and control elements of the EEEvil EEEmpire, an EEEvil surrender is tendered simultaneously with an EEEvil offensive into the Resshrak system. The Shark Elementals Expeditionary Fleet is (anticlimactically) annihilated. The EEEvil EEEmpire quickly reneges on its offer to surrender and shouts defiance at the Shark Elementals Army.

Leader Gecko smiles. Without the need to maintain Expeditionary Fleet, massive numbers of resources are now free to be redirected. The Mothball Fleet, slowly accumulated over many years, is reactivated and then refitted with bleeding-edge technology at the huge orbital works above Ikrod V. Shipyards on 30+ worlds are ordered to complete the final outfitting of ships on hold. Entire worlds devoted solely to the storage of resources are emptied, but there are many, many more such worlds in reserve.

Leader Gecko Boards his Predator-Class flagship “Hammerhead”, and orders the smaller, leaner, and very much meaner new Expeditionary Fleet to engage their cloaking devices. This fleet will bypass the current forward edge of battle and any roving ships to target and destroy strategic resource production facilities.

As other fleets come Online, operations will conform to an entropy-based warfare model.