Quick and nasty: a Securan story (SPOILERS)

[J HG T]

ORIGINAL: Grotius

Wait. That must be a typo. Are there SIX digits in their military power?

Also, I don't think you need to leave out the "quick & nasty" out of the title. This will be quick & nasty alright now that Shakturis have arrived.

"We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything."

[Gareth_Bryne]

Grotius, take a look at my thread here:

tm.asp?m=2909227&mpage=1&key=spoiler&#2909227

Looks can be deceiving, so if you use that super fleet you've been given to destroy three certain "spoiler" ships, you'll find that it is they who contribute the most to the 6-digit number. The rest of Shakturi can be very, very crunchy, as long as you target their fuel supply first, and their fleets later.
Besides, racial conditions don't matter if you win by taking their "spoiler" (hint-hint)[;)]. Now THAT would be an epic ending to your game!

[Fetrik]

Great stuff.

[Ares106]

ORIGINAL: J HG T

ORIGINAL: Grotius

Wait. That must be a typo. Are there SIX digits in their military power?

Grotius, What does the Empire comparison screen say about Shakturi Military Strength?

Its OVER SIX DIGGGGITTTTTTTSSSSSSS!!!

[:D]

[Grotius]

Thanks for your comments, guys! I haven't looked at that thread on the "spoiler ships," but I will eventually.

When last we left our intrepid Securan gals, they were steaming off toward Helu to seize a colony from the evil invading Shakturi. Unfortunately, we don't have the forces to fight both the Shakturi and the Gizurean. When the shrimp ambassador asks for a cease-fire, we first ask them to become our vassal. They refuse this suggestion, but they continue to press for a cease-fire, and at last we accept it, albeit grudgingly. We shall deal with them in time. In the meantime, we take quiet glee in accepting tribute from them.

[Grotius]

Meanwhile, our forces close in on Shakturi-occupied Helu.

[Grotius]

Time is running out. I need to acquire lots of territory fast, to boost my territory and population numbers, if I want to rise in the victory rankings. Really my best hope would be to conquer some UQE territory, but they have left me alone for decades -- and, more importantly, their military is twice as large as mine. It looks like the UQE needs to do a lot of research to win. Maybe that will take a few more decades! In the meantime, I'll do what I can to catch up.

[Grotius]

My 2nd Fleet, commanded by my one and only Admiral, arrives at Helu and approaches in a circular formation around a moon named Appoud. I thought this pattern was very interesting! (I know fleet formations aren't in the game, but they might be a cool addition for a future expansion.)

But I was dismayed to see the yellow ships here: a fleet from the Aqoenia Collective, who apparently are allies of the Shakturi. (The bugs stick together. I'm assuming that I'll learn more about why if I unlock more of the story line.) Sheesh, I don't want to fight two at once! But I seem to have a numerical advantage, so I press the attack.

[Grotius]

We mix it up. I'm proud of my Securan gals. We've come back from one colony, no starport, no warships. We're here trying to conquer a world owned by the Shakturi. We've come a long way, baby!

[Grotius]

The issue is in doubt for a while, but my ships are qualitatively superior to those of the Aqoenia, who lag behind me in most metrics. Their numbers dwindle, and then they warp out of the system, leaving me to mop up the Shakturi, whose main fleets are apparently elsewhere.

[Grotius]

At this instant, just as I'm wondering where the Shakturi main fleet is, I get this message.

[Grotius]

Yikes! I thought I'd installed some sorta early-warning system in one of my orbital defense bases back home! Or maybe I've just been too distracted by the zoomed-in battle at Appoud to notice.

I had left my two other fleets in orbit around my homeworld of Almas-3, but as I zoom in, I realize that they aren't doing too well.

[Grotius]

Belatedly, I realize that I'd sent the 4th fleet south to guard my second colony. I order it back home to Almas. But not soon enough.

[Grotius]

At the same moment, the 2nd fleet clears out the last remnant of Shakturi around Appoud, and my troops land and commence the invasion. Leaving the troops to their fate, I order the 2nd fleet back home to Almas. Here we see both the 4th fleet heading north to Almas, and the 2nd fleet vectored back southwest toward Almas.

[Grotius]

The 4th fleet arrives first, and it finds a weakened Shakturi invasion force. I had 4 orbital batteries in orbit around Almas, and a couple are still operational. Nonetheless, I think the Shakturi managed to land troops even while the batteries were still working. (I don't necessarily mind this, though I think troop transports should be sitting ducks for an otherwise un-distracted orbital battery.)

Interestingly, I had not yet patched the game (even with beta patches) at this point in time, but THIS time the AI has brought enough troops! Maybe the orbital bombardment had weakened my defenses? Or maybe the Shakturi just had better troop tech? For whatever reason, the battle on the ground is VERY close. Win or lose, I'm having an absolute blast with this game. What an epic story!

At least the battle in space is going my way. But will I win the space battle and lose the war?

[Grotius]

The battle rages on land on two planetoids: Abboud (the moon in the Shakturi-owned Helu system) and Almas (my homeworld). Meanwhile my ships battle the Shakturi in space, in orbit around Almas. It's like Return of the Jedi: everything happening at once.

The first report comes from my ground troops on Abboud.

[Grotius]

My first conquest, and it's a conquest of a Shakturi-held world! Huzzah!

The moment Abboud fell, I received this message. I'm not sure why! At first I thought the Shakturi must have taken Abboud from humans...

[Grotius]

But later, when I had more time, I took a snapshot of Abboud, and I don't see any human inhabitants at all. Lots of Shakturi and other insectoid races. Whatever. I'm just thrilled to have it. It's a pretty high-quality colony, as you can see -- better even than my homeworld.

[Grotius]

As I look at the above screenshot, though, it does seem like there might be more races there. Maybe there are some humans hiding somewhere. Pretty crowded place for a little desert moon! I'll load up the game and check again later today.

Anyway, I turn my attention now to the raging battle on the surface at Almas-3. After decades of struggling just to hold this place, it would stink to lose it. My General hails me. I yell to my communications officer: "On screen!"

[Grotius]

YES!! Victory!! Almas has held -- barely. Remember the dozens of troops I used to have? I mean, I built tons of the things to fend off the shrimp. Now look: