What an unpleasant surprise to find oneself so outflanked. And indeed, a simple cost/benefit analysis shows that any cost from a conflict now is miniscule compared to the cost of allowing the Yldar to yield the sector. One can admire xeno culture, and advocate xeno rights, but when it comes to matters commercial the Compact must stand firm.
And so the new cruisers will get their baptisms of fire. It will be very interesting to see how the new ships perform, and how the Federal Navy performs.
Yes, that was my feeling too. The Yldars are xenophiles but they are far from pushovers and the xenophobic and aggressive Glyrrans would not have been pleasant neighbours under the best of circumstances.
The cruisers did well. From a purely aesthetic point of view I think my favourite of the humanoid ship set is the destroyer (at least the non-artillery destroyer), but the cruisers are impressive looking ships without feeling 'bulky' if that makes sense. In some ways they make me think of
Star Trek as a cruiser feels like a swiss-army jack of all trades ship that could operate on her own - the
Shoshana-class are my D-7s or
Constitution-class.
I was almost dissapointed that you do not explain the issue with the refugees. Glad to see that footnote.
Anyhow, I find weird that the Glyrran did not secure the wormhole before expanding.
Yeah, I'll cover the increasingly diverse makeup of the 'Yldar' space soon.
I'm confused why the Gyrrans failed to secure the wormhole. In-universe I suppose they may have gambled that would definitely lead to war while merely claiming territory west of the wormhole proper would simply make war likely.
Getting through a few more updates and I'm really loving this, RossN! Reading a few chapters in one go (specifically those wild few years when the Yldar discovered they were a) not alone and b) everything they thought they knew was wrong) does so much to— well I don't want to say "humanise", but at the very least bring to life what is an infinitely bizarre galaxy. As others said at the time, imagine what it would have been like to her lived through so much change in only a generation or so. (Though as a 21-year-old in the year 2020, I perhaps have
something of an idea already...
)
Really looking forward to continuing!
I loved this, if only because the idea of an intergalactic Sheraton gives off massive "Lunar Hilton" Kubrick 2001 vibes.
Thanks, really glad you are enjoying this!
The opening up of the galaxy can be a little overwhelming, especially since the Galactic Community is a thing (and while I haven't really touched on it the GC is very real in this universe.) There is a definite mix of thrilling and bittersweet at going from a space exploration game to more of a space opera game.
Also intergalactic hotels definitely exist in this setting - the Yldars are xenophile capitalists. They like to travel!
The ship report was great and I'm glad to hear that we might see some more as the march of technology goes on.
The lack of a strict dividing line between economic, political and naval leadership is really giving an Elizabethen England feel to things... Or maybe I have just been reading too much about Sir Frances Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh recently.
That's an interesting observation. I'd initially seen the Yldars as being like a space age version of the Venetians or the Age of Sail Dutch so Elizabeathen England isn't a million miles away.
What an unfortunate event with the wormhole!
Yeah. Second Stellaris AAR in a row where a wormhole has caused me headaches. At least the Glyrrans are a lot easier to handle than the Unbidden were for the Baviri!
All these various alliances and federations going to war with one another or dealing with unique positions are like something out Ancient Greece or the early Medieval steppes. Which I suppose is fitting for the genre of science fantasy... as well as all the powers involved in this story.
Definitely! As I've said while there are still undiscovered areas on the map and ancient ruins to investigate we've really moved into more a 'war, trade and diplomacy' galaxy. The frontier is a little less infinite at this point.
Let us hope the Glyrrans don't have too many fleets hidden away on their side of the wormhole ready to send through. If they don't, this war should be like a walk in the park.
They actually put up a surprisingly tough fight. Ithink I always had the advantage but if the Kammarians had not directly involved themselves and the Federal Fleet had been unavailable this would have been far harder.
Building a large star fortress at the wormhole? nasty things might come through ...
That might be a good idea, though there are other demands on my fortress 'slots'!