King Title Defense Update: Turn 37
As noted earlier, the Pootopians are next-door neighbors, making each move uneasy and a bit more critical.
Aggressive by nature, the Poo staged 2 invasions into the Mercator home system. The first was spent (just barely) on mines and satellites... allowing a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, the Mercators methodically worked on the answer, while gambling heavily (largely leaving the warp point undefended). So, the first expeditionary force sat tight and trained, hoping there was enough time...
In the west, the Poo successfully harassed progress and eliminated two frontier Posts. Their leverage produced a sizable amount of ships which the Mercator could only somewhat check. Complaints poured in that our new positions were
in jeopardy, and leadership was not doing enough.
But high command realized that western clashes may very soon become irrelevant.
Back at the home front, the hungry Pootopians barrelled through en masse again... but... their arrival was just barley anticipated. The Mercator fleet had just received the latest combat techs, and were banking on demonstrating many months of training. They were in position to strike the invaders, and Mercator commander Elvis rushed headlong into the climax- a clash of two equally sized fleets.
Newspapers across the Mercator systems celebrated a complete rout of the enemy, with our forces barely dented. Our boarding ships captured many Poo assets, and the lessons at the Honky Tonk Academy proved vital.
Orders demanded Elvis press the advantage and strike the enemy's heart. In the next 5 turns, two Poo homeworlds fell silent and cool; the Last homeworld has been targeted and engaged.
1FSTCAT had beaten me earlier in KOTH, so I remember the harsh lessons he taught me, and how good he is. I have to play a strainfully calculated game against opponents of his caliber... I feel I can breathe a little now.
[ April 30, 2003, 13:13: Message edited by: Stone Mill ]