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A galaxy full of wonders and we are yet one more
I sit upon my seat's own edge waiting for what's in store

---

Congratulations on finishing the third movement and I'm looking forward to the next year and a half!
 
Prelude: The Hunger Consuming Us

Prelude: The Hunger Consuming Us


Sing quietly, sing softly, hear the notes
Wonder at their magic as they leave our throats,
Our wings spread out, taste the wind’s song
Join the breeze and feel like you belong.

We spread out, feel the wind push back,
Fill the void with song, color in the black
Brightly colored feathers filled with song
A chorus joins, their voices true and strong.

But then you heard a discordant note
Ripped out of time, its song silenced
And you know the moment is here
And then you hear
The hunger consuming us.
The hunger consuming us has no breaks,
It only partakes and it takes and it takes.

The hunger consuming us sings, it says,
We desire stars to be ours
We desire planets to be ours
Our hunger devours
At all time, at all hours
It overpowers
Desire doesn’t care about the stakes
It only wants what it takes, and it takes.

The song we sing is ours and yet strange
We too want and desire what we can arrange
And we cannot arrange we will exchange or change
But the hunger consuming us differs
It does not create, only devours.

The hunger consuming us, kills, it slays
It murders, destroys, eats what it may.
The death consuming us
To the situation it adjusts
It doesn’t wish to discuss
The increased suffering is a plus
But it does not satisfy
But grows as it consumes
It does not satiate
Death doesn’t care about mistakes
It takes, and it takes, and it takes.

The hunger is here
It is time now
To see who
is coming for dinner.



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A galaxy full of wonders and we are yet one more
I sit upon my seat's own edge waiting for what's in store

---

Congratulations on finishing the third movement and I'm looking forward to the next year and a half!

One thing we are sure of
an era of crisis and change
the wind flows differently.

--
So pretty much this *entire* series of updates will be taken up by this war and things closely related to this war. It's one of the bigger and bloodier wars I have fought this in this game and one of the more interesting ones in a couple of ways.

Don't forget to head over to the Q3 ACA's and vote, abd thanks to those of you who already have voted for this AAR.
 
The swarm that always hungers is now here
Flee with friends and family, give in to fear
Or stand and fight to live another day
That you may be a being that's more than prey
 
Thundering Swarm

Thundering Swarm


Here comes the swarm
Thundering, hungering plundering
And here I’m wondering if we’re blundering
Cuz our fleet it ain’t big enough, big enough

Here they come, swarm,,
It’s going get rough, we’ll have to do it off the cuff
Oh well, at least we were smart enough,
To build our station, oh never mind it went puff
What we built wasn’t near enough, near enough

Yep, here comes the swarm
Here to take us and eat us by storm
It’s not like they didn’t inform, they don’t conform
They’re not interested in reform
Hope we’re ready to perform
The song of our lives we’re singing right now, right now.

Swarm, here they come, swarm
Ships swarm over our defenses, we’re defenseless
Better build more ships, damn the expenses
We’’ll have to tolerate their offenses before our attack commences
Here they come, right now, right now.

A swarm of failures, defeats
Not exactly a promising beginning
Sometime when this is done
they’ll be a hell of a reckoning
Until then we’ve just begun
The swarm eats, we’ll build fleets
The cycle repeats
But don’t worry, we’re saving receipts.
Until our fleet is big enough, big enough


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The state of Saiiban Murders at the start of the conflict

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The Ix'dar Swarm fleet was about 5K stronger than the combined Saiiban fleets


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The Station at Rixikar's Maw did not even really slow down the initial offensive.

ssrBLH5FOgOclck4zilJwo62UdoeU9rdUKrYGUACaa3P2kQVfbZuuADFZ-MR_uyKlNr_7aIkJsNvlI2Pa6Zv4CfvVJiBezvBIY-PrACwS1vZCK3ZBIvJ7m9gCsKfG8AYF8lK8csl

A fleet expansion program was started when the war was declared, this effort was expanded further once the balance of forces became clear.
 
The swarm that always hungers is now here
Flee with friends and family, give in to fear
Or stand and fight to live another day
That you may be a being that's more than prey

A smart bird, flies, flees
when they are outnumbered
and hunt another day

--

Don't forget to head over to the Q3 ACA's and vote, and thanks to those of you who already have voted for this AAR.
 
Stay Alive

Stay Alive


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Murder of Rickit, the closest Saiiban flock of starships to the theatre of operations, was close enough to arrive at the defensive station at Obaeshoth before it was attackd by a follow up offensive after the loss of Rixikar's Maw.

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The combined strength of the fleet and the station did not quite equal the strength of the Hive fleet that had shown itself to that point, but it was judged close enough to be worth attempting to defend the system.

The swarm’s fleet is out there waiting in space
Sooner or later, their ships we will have to face
The swarm’s fleet is just waiting for the right hour
Sixty some warships totaling 25 thousand combat power
If they surround our ships
They surround our ships
They will surround our ships
We must somehow
Stay alive

We are outnumbered
And our enemies are unencumbered
By killing and eating some birds
We are outgunned, out planned
Outnumbered, out-manned
The situation at hand demands
We choose carefully
where to make our stand
And stay alive.

There’s no way to win this fight outright
So we won’t engage, flee from this fight
and strike later when the time is right
Wait until all our murders are ready to take flight
Only then will it be time for us to bite
Till then we just
Stay alive.

Their fleets break past our defensive station
They now have access to our planets, our population
We’re going to have to carefully limit the damages
And slowly but surely rob them of their advantages
Let be real it’s going to be messy, fighting like savages
But we do what we must so we may
Stay alive




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When the Swarm fleet continued its offensive late in the third month of 2296, it became clear that we had not in fact seen the whole strength of their forces, as their offensive fleets totaled 25k power and included Battleships, whereas the largest ships the Saiiban had were Cruisers.


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Murder of Rickit fled from the system, leaving the defensive statiion to its inevitable fate, the survival of the fleet was deemed more important to the overall war


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With the loss of the two permiter defensive stations, the Swarm was able to continue deeper into Confederation territory and now threatened some of the newer outlying colonies. Total Saiiban fleet power at this point was roughly 18.5k vs the Swarm's total fleet power of around 25k in the fleets that had been observed. Saiiban strategy at this point was to continue to avoid conflict with the united Swarm fleets but stay within range. Stellar cartography had up to that point funneled all the Swarm fleets through one route, keeping them concentrated. The hope was that the Swarm once it had more options in terms of where its fleets could attack would split its forces and the split fleets could then be defeated in detail. Barring that, continued reinforcements from the shipyards would keep strengthning the Saiiban flocks and would eventually change the balance of forces between the two sides, assuming we could keep our ships alive during that time.
 
I'm not going to lie, at this particular point in the game I was genuinely concerned that the Swarm AI was just going to more more or less curb stomp me: they had blown up my main defenses against them and my fleets were significantly smaller and I know that if I actualy tried to fight them the fleet would be lost or severely damaged. It's one of the more tenuous moments I've had playing Stellaris and my hat is off to the AI for its initial offensive here.

Don't forget to head over to the Q3 ACA's and vote, and thanks to those of you who already have voted for this AAR.
 
It devours it consumes
It wins it dooms
With Saiiban nests now open to the sky
Ours is not to reason why
But to rage against the sky
As in space the swarm now looms
Threats turn cradles into tombs

Impressive job from the AI!
I also once played a game with the express purpose of being crushed by the end crisis and that was a fun if harrowing experience
 
Guns and Ships

Guns and Ships


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The Saiiban Confederation would dig deep its its various material reserves and sell them on the Galatic Market for preicous alloys to continue expanding their fleet as the war continued.

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The swarm continued its offensive into Confederation territory, arriving at Rickichi's Roost in early 2298 and capturing it a few months later

With each painful passing hour
we grow and gather our power
Every day every murder gets new ships
And so time passes and the balance shifts
In space we dance our deadly dance
As we finance new ships to enhance
So we might have a chance and finally advance

The wind howls, cutting, killing,
And through it two murders fly together
Clinging to each other like new born lovers
Clinging to their first romance
As death silently hovers,
Waiting for its chance.
As so the stage is set, our fleets ready
Let us then hear from our admirals.

EYES OF BURGUNDY:

The enemy continued to advance
And we danced away evading,
hoping for a our eventual chance
As our fleets continued upgrading

BEAK OF GREEN:

Listen up,
Their ships kept on slippin deeper in,
till they got to Rickichi’s Roost
And the bombs started flyin
And there they were, in a proper nest
Wrecking and doin damages


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The Swarm finally began splitting their fleets up, leaving behind a force to bombard Rickichi's Roost. In the short term, this was painful for the Saiiban, but it would prove a crucial error by the Swarm as the war reached its critical juncture.

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In addition to a fleet left behind to bombard Rickichi's Roost, a contingent of battleships split off from the main Hive fleet to capture other outlying Saiiban systems. The primary Saiiban murders attempted to catch this small fleet but they kept slipping away. The Saiiban decided to let this fleet continue to get deeper into unpopulated Saiiban territory and turn back to face other parts of the Swarm fleet.


EYES OF BURGUNDY:
Then came the critical opportunity
They split up their fleets, hungering
Allowed themselves to fall into disunity
Finally blundering, we leap in, thundering

BEAK OF GREEN:
We chase em
Dance around
Trying to smoke em
But the enemy, they’re long gone
And another fleet’s flying in
They’re comin in to ravage
Our colonies are invaded,
there’s gonna be damages


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As the Saiiban unsuccessfully chased the small Battleship contingent the swarm continued its offensive and captured a second colony.


EYES OF BURGUNDY:

We advance into the hurricane of death
Knowing the lives of our colonists hinge on speed
More of them them die with every breath
To succeed we need with haste to proceed
But the results, they exceed our expectations
We meet the enemy bombing Rickichi’s Roost
And fight fiercely without any limitations
And finally win, their fleet is reduced

BEAK OF GREEN:
Eyes of Burgundy is on top,
dropping em like rocks
I wanna inform the Pitiless swarm
They gonna get taken by storm
Better run back home
Oops too late, your gone
It’s been real


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The primary Saiiban fleets finally returned to Rickichi's Roost and confronted one of the smaller Swarm fleets there.

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The resulting battle was the first Saiiban victory of the war and resulted in the destruction of a good portion of the Swarm fleet with minimal Saiiban losses in exchange.
The battle at Yunduk is arguably the turning point of the war as the Saiiban would now go on the offensive.


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Eyes of Burgundy continued to grow in stature and ability in the eyes of his fellow officers and crew as a result of the crucial victory at Yunduk.

EYES OF BURGUNDY:
Our hungry murders, ever stronger, fly on
Ready finally to answer for their crimes, to avenge
When catch them, the conclusion’s forgone
They will die in the silence of space, this we pledge.

BEAK OF GREEN:
By the time it’s all said and done
We fling up high
We cast them down low
Started the war outnumbered 2 to 1
Now they got close to nothin
Time to settle the score


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The two main Saiiban murders then turned back around and finally chased down the small contingent of Battleships at Takhvan.

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The resulting one sided victory put the Saiiban in a firm advantage in terms of numbers of ships and represented the destruction of a good portion of the Swarm's combat power.


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The galactic situation in the area of operations just before the battle of Takhvan. The swarm had taken a not insignificant portion of the Confederation's territory and still held some of her colonies, but the Saiiban now decisily had the advantage and would go on the offensive.
 
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Reactions:
It devours it consumes
It wins it dooms
With Saiiban nests now open to the sky
Ours is not to reason why
But to rage against the sky
As in space the swarm now looms
Threats turn cradles into tombs

Impressive job from the AI!
I also once played a game with the express purpose of being crushed by the end crisis and that was a fun if harrowing experience

The devouring hunger
is stopped at last by our ships
many it still consumed.

--
The swing in the advantage was honestly wild, as the next update will make even clearer, and I'm genuinely proud of myself for maneuvering my fleet around to keep it from getting pounced on by the whole Swarm fleet and then moving it in to take out the fleets once they were split up.
Despite the failure of the AI to keep its fleets concentrated this still represented some of the most nerve racking moments and one of the more damaging offensives an AI has managed against me, and I feel like splitting your fleets up to go on the offensive is an understandable error, so I'll give it a pass.

I'm not going to lie, I am not sure if I will make it to the end game crisis with this AAR. It's going to depend on exactly when Vic 3 comes out, as I have an idea for an AAR project in mind for that and don't want to have two to write at the same time. I also already have in mind how I am going to end this AAR and when that happens is a little flexible and doesn't require fighting the crisis. (in fact, it could be done after this series of updates about this war is over, we'll see how I feel at that point). I am still enjoying writing this, to be clear, but I guess I am also feeling tired of it a little at the same time. Hard to explain, but it makes sense on one level. I've been working on this for a year and a half, which is both very easy and very hard to believe, at alternating moments.

Speaking of time passing, time is almost up to go to the Q3 ACA's and vote. it ends tomorrow. Thanks to those of you who already have voted for this AAR.
 
Last edited:
Hunger and victory break our foes
With shattered colonies, we win
Though this is not the path we chose
We find one last way to save our kin
---------------------------------------------
Vic 3 sounds like it's going to be excellent AAR material. Looking forward to see how the Saiiban will end and how a new project will begin!
 
Taking the Shot

Taking the Shot


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The united Saiiban Murders caught one of the last substantial Hive fleets in Baeeruta as the Saiiban continued to press the advantage as the war entered its sixth year.



BEAK OF GREEN:

Life bursts with opportunities,
possibilities
But each one passes
it’s there, it’s gone
like a breeze
so if you one you like
Here’s what I recommend
Better take your shot.

We’ve got these insects on the run
Time to have some fun
Blow up some ships, fly by a sun
Get back our colonies, better run
We’ve only just begun
To take our shot


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While a meaningful portion of the Hive fleet was able to escape, they Saiiban were able to inflict meaningful losses, especially among the remaining Hive cruisers.

We’ve got something here
something new here
New troops, new general
No wings, full speed
Ready to do some damages
Gotta take advantage
If we can manage
This whole gig right
We’ll be sitting pretty
Get some new cities
Better believe
We’re gonna take the shot


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By 2301, the Hive fleet was a shadow of its former self. Saiiban intellgence services estimated that effective resistance by the Hive was no longer possible.

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The weakness of the Hive drew the attention of their neighbors to the Galactic north, the Tebrid Homolog, who opportunistically declared war on them in the hope of taking their territory now that they could not defend it. Also of note this war saw the first meaningful presence of a non-Saiiban officer: Makn, son of Tibb, member of the Racket species which had joined the confederation as refugees, had risen to the rank of General and led the Saiiban ground forces as they began recapturing their taken colonies.


We’ve smoked so many ships
That what they’ve got is just pathetic
No time to be empathetic
Vultures comin in,
taking what we’ve earned
Best believe their taking their shot

We’re here, our wings spread
Talons ready for the grab,
Ready to to fly in
take some systems
They tried to eat us,
beat us
But let me tell ya
They gonna regret meetin us
We’re ready
To take the shot


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The victory at Kajam represented the last menaingful Hive fleet in the area of Saiiban space, and would also rperesent one of the last meaningful Hive fleets faced by the Saiiban as they began their offensive.

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By 2303, the Hive was starting to request a cease fire, but the position of the Saiiban leadership was that the Hive was to be diminished or eliminated if possible.


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By 2304 the Saiiban had finished recapturing all the systems they had lost at the start of the war and were ready to go on the offensive into Hive home territory.
At the start of the war in 2294, total combined Saiiban fleet power was around 10k, by now it was around 30k, a 300% increase.
At the start of the war, the Hive fleets combined possessed a total of around 25k combat power. These fleets had now all been destroyed and what remained was less than 5k in total combat power, a 75% decrease. The decrease was arguably worse, since some of the small fleets the Saiiban would destroy later had clearly been recently built.
 
Hunger and victory break our foes
With shattered colonies, we win
Though this is not the path we chose
We find one last way to save our kin
---------------------------------------------
Vic 3 sounds like it's going to be excellent AAR material. Looking forward to see how the Saiiban will end and how a new project will begin!

By now, murders scream
through space, wings spread wide in joy
victory is close.

--

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not sure I have ever experienced this wild of a power swing during a war, and I'm not done yet, by the end of things the Saiiban confederation is going to be substantially bigger.
 
Glorious victory won at high cost
Devourers now starving head to the end
In memory of all the flocks we've lost
Prey now predating, it's time to transcend
 
Science of War

Science of War​


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During the war, Saiiban scientists (mostly) focused on technologies that would either directly help the war effort or would help organize the Confederacy to better prosecute the war. The result was a severe jump in technical war fighting capacity.

A human philosopher
is said to have sung
That if you know yourself
and your enemy
The war is more than half won
And while we agree,
we would add to their analysis
It helps to have
Bigger and better guns.

Allright, let’s break it down a little
Just a little
So we’ve got a problem, right?
Right.
How we gonna solve the problem?
We know how we’re gonna solve the problem
Some good ol fashioned Saiiban science
Time to study the science of war.

Uhh, uh-huh, yeah
It's all about the science, sweetie
Uhh, uh-huh, yeah
It's all about the science, sweetie
Now... what y'all wanna do?
Wanna be killers? War winners?
If you wanna reach your goals
Better get computers with updated combat roles
Turn your foes into phantoms
Get yourself some new cannons
They thought they was gonna eat us
But now they gonna meet us
Cuz they didn’t factor
On our new antimatter reactor
All about that boom, baby
All about that science, sweetie
Better get studying the science of war

Cuz war is a game where they don’t keep score
You just keep on playing till you can take no more
Gotta practice some new flying formations,
It’s easy if you gather enough information
Speakin of information
I got some information
I got this sweet new ship, no one is gonna harm her
Least not with this brand new durasteel armor,
Not that armor will help you much against my new disruptor
It make interesting new particles out of your cellular structure
Fly fast, strike hard in a flock, that’s the Saiiban way
flying in a new fighter from a new carrier battleship that ain’t here to play
All about that science, sugar
All about that research, that’s right.
Uhh, uh-huh, yeah

Gonna conquer so many stars
Everything you see is gonna be ours
Gonna have to develop a new Galactic Bureaucracy
And boost up our administrative capacity
And with all this new population
Gonna have to improve our administration
But I gotta say I like our prospects
Especially looking at our brand new system capital complex.
Uhh, uh-huh, yeah
All about that science, sweetie
All about that boom, baby
All about that science, sugar.
All about that research, that’s right.
Saiiban scientists studying the science of war
Till our enemy ain’t gonna be here no more.



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The growing technological research prowess of the Saiiban confederation allowed theme to catch up with and then surpass the Hives war fighting abilities.


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As the Saiiban went on the offensive, the confederation faced for the first time the social and political challenge of gaining and establishing control over territory previously held by another star-faring species. The logistical, bureaucratic and technical aspects of the venture were given just as much serious study by Saiiban Social scientists as the more direct technical aspects of the latest hyper drive and antimatter reactor. It was well understood that properly pacifying, controlling and ruling over the expanded territory would mean the Saiiban would win the ensuing peace as well as the current war. As a political matter, some Saiiban political leaders began to sing for the first time of the idea of a “Saiiban Empire” and idea that would continue to be debated about.
 
Glorious victory won at high cost
Devourers now starving head to the end
In memory of all the flocks we've lost
Prey now predating, it's time to transcend
The heights we start to reach
ascend to new winds, new fears
and new joys, singing
--

FYI: The 2021 Yearly AARland AwAARds are taking votes, head on over there and vote.
 
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Saiiban science swiftly strikes
Stars are the limit no more
Like flocks of bloodthirsty shrikes
They come knocking at your door
 
Power

Power


I'm living in the 24th century
Doing something new to it
Do it better than anybody you ever seen do it
Screams from my enemies, got a nice ring to it
I guess every superpower needs their own theme music

Should any one bird have all this power
I can destroy what others build in just hours
They spend years building what’s theirs
But we can take more than our fair share
Feeling like millionaires
Nothing else compares
Such a sweet feeling,
Got me believing
power becomes appealing



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By this point in the war, the Saiiban fleets advanced more or less unopposed. What tattered remnants of the Hive fleet remained represented little more than target practice to the overwhelming numbers of Saiiban warships.

It might sound egotistic,
But our species is quite gifted
We’ve got raging political debates
It feels like it’s raising the stakes,
but we can make a few mistakes
Should we ignore the alien beings
Or just give em some beatings
Either way the galaxy is falling in our lap
Gonna make it a snack
Gonna paint the map,
Get into a scrap, wings gonna flap
Till their armies go snap



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The political scene in Saiiban got more complicated due to the mixture of harrowing years of conquest by the Hive fleet and then the resounding Saiiban success which turned the war around. New political parties gained traction in the Confederation, arguing that the war proved either that Aliens were to be kept at a distance or that the recent Saiiban victories proved that we were superior and should take advantage of that.

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More practically, the negotiations among the various trade and learning organizations to elect the Director General led to a rare loss by the incumbent. Wings of Lavender’s more peaceful approach to expansion was instead replaced with a more security minded focus proposed by Plume of Indigo.

I’m asking ya,
Should any one bird have all this power?
The enemy army is devoured
Our army gots these new weapons
Kill entire divisions in seconds
Gonna take all their possessions
The idea of Empire beckons
Won’t have to make concessions
Won’t have to accept less than what we want
We just walk up and take it, all nonchalant
Power is weapon you can use to get whatever you want

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The Saiiban engaged in the first conquest of planets held by another species. This likewise did not represent a challenge, Saiiban fleets first softened the defenders if they were present in any numbers, but in most case the offensive flocks led by Makn, son of Tibb were sufficiently numerous to easily overwhelm the defenders and conquer the planet.

And they say, they say
No nation has our education
Or level of technical information
Better join our organization
Come under our administration
Cuz we’re taking stock of the situation
And we’ve performed an examination
And we’ve got the combination
Of smarts and speed,
Ain’t never seen birds like these
Our generation’s in the right time and location
Ain’t no other explanation
We’re done with preparation
gonna build us a proper foundation
For a new galactic order
Ain’t gonna be any disorder

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By 2306, the 12th year of the war, the Ix’Idar Swarm was being split up by the Saiiban and the Tebrid Homolog, who had opportunistically declared war when they saw the Ix’Idar’s weakness.

But still we ask
Should any one bird have all this power
Can kill millions of years of evolution
In a matter of hours
We don’t know the solution
But that won’t stop us from making our contribution
After all if we stop flying it our execution
Gotta keep moving, join the wind
After all if you don’t win your matches
Your dead and gone into ashes.