Use of Weapons

[lifehole]

First colony in 2211? Wow, I'm at 2218 and AI's have an average of 4 colonies. Probably my mods.

Anyways, greatly enjoying the AAR so far; can't wait to see an actual war, it'll be fun to see how the characters react.

 

[Farquharson]

Ahh, what a nice friendly race to encounter. I mean, at least The Zhun-Khirs now have someone who can relate to them and they can write duets lamenting the lack of suitable foes.

Yes indeed, or perhaps skipping merrily hand in hand they can even find some suitable foes together.

If the Shadow Council wanted to be really useful they'd get Professor Aruk replaced with someone useful with a proper science background.

It appears there will be a race, will the Zhun-Khirs run out of crystals to smash up before they are strong enough to attack an actual enemy race? The more crystals they smash up the more tech they will gain, but only at the cost of running out of targets faster. Tricky.

No, no, Professor Aruk is my best scientist - she's exceptionally good at Social Science! Actually there are plenty of crystals around to smash, so happily I won't run out any time soon.

What a lovely thing it is to meet someone so like minded.

Yes, we're getting on like a house on fire!

The Zhun-Kirs appear to have found a kindred spirit. Now all they need is a convenient punching bag

Out of curiosity, what sort of name list are you using? Those are some mighty curious system names on the map there.

The only mod I'm using is Cybrxkhan's Assortment of Namelists, to make names a little more varied. However I've got into the habit of renaming systems to something more recognizable (if somewhat bizarre usually) as soon as they're in my space. They're generally based on whatever comes into my mind at first glance of the alien name. This also helps me to keep track of which systems I actually control.

A very appropriate title and theme for the Banks update. I know I re-read several of the Culture series in the last few months before Banks was released, and I'll have to continue re-reading the series.

I always enjoy the Culture ship names- looking forward to seeing more in this thread, and the Zhun-Khir look like they're doing quite well thus far. Hopefully any Outside Context Problems stay away until they can be soundly defeated in glorious battle.

Good to have another Banks devotee on board - welcome!

First colony in 2211? Wow, I'm at 2218 and AI's have an average of 4 colonies. Probably my mods.

Anyways, greatly enjoying the AAR so far; can't wait to see an actual war, it'll be fun to see how the characters react.

For some reason I seem to be expanding slower than usual in this game, perhaps because I'm concentrating much more on building and maintaining my fleet (kind of for role-play purposes as much as anything). Normally I'm ahead of the AI in planet count early on, but not in this game. However, I've also noticed that my tech is advancing faster than usual, so there is an upside.

 

[Farquharson]

Use and Non-use of Weapons
(2215-2230)​

At the end of the last episode we left the Zhun-Khirs League on the brink of a new stage of their exploration of the galaxy. The first thing to do was to replace the three explorer-corvettes which had, each in their turn, come to a sticky end, mainly involving sudden and unexpected encounters with deadly crystallines. Commissary-General Nerka Ukaq was hesitant to use his precious budget building more corvettes that would just end up as crystal-fodder, especially since, with more and more upgrades to their design, new corvettes were getting pretty expensive to build.

And then, quite suddenly, he had a brilliant idea. He decided to take a trip to Ram-Dakhm Spaceport to discuss it with Admiral Kina Kilu in person. Kilu scanned his proposal then looked up in astonishment.

Admiral Kilu: Er – let me get this straight, sir. This revolutionary new “Seeker-class” corvette design has no weapons on board?

Commissary-General Ukaq: Nope.

Admiral Kilu: No deflectors.

Commissary-General Ukaq: Correct.

Admiral Kilu: No armour.

Commissary-General Ukaq: None. It has one fission reactor to power the thrusters, the hyperdrive and the sensors. That's it.

Admiral Kilu: Pardon my asking, sir, but in what sense could this ship be described as “military”?

Commissary-General Ukaq: Well, you know. It's a corvette hull.

Admiral Kilu: An alarmingly empty corvette hull.

Commissary-General Ukaq: There'll be the crew, of course.

Admiral Kilu: Errm. Yes, sir. You say these Seeker-class vessels are intended for exploration of hitherto uncharted systems?

Commissary-General Ukaq: Exactly, Admiral.

Admiral Kilu: The sort of systems which up to now have frequently proved to be harbouring all manner of extremely aggressive and dangerous aliens, sir. And you are asking crews to fly into such systems in completely unarmed and defenceless ships?

Commissary-General Ukaq: Cheap and expendable ships – that's the point, Admiral. I mean, why bother with the expense of weapons and ship defences that are almost certain to be completely outclassed in any engagement?

Admiral Kilu: All I can say, sir, is that you'll have to find some insanely courageous space cadets to crew these missions.

Commissary-General Ukaq: That's it! Admiral, you're a genius!

Admiral Kilu: Sir?

Commissary-General Ukaq: I was racking my brains to think of a suitable name for the first of the Seeker-class corvettes to be constructed. You've hit the nail on the head!

And so just a few weeks later the ZLS Insanely Courageous, constructed at less than half the cost of a standard corvette, embarked on her maiden voyage to explore further along the Elemmilan Arm.

Alas, the voyage lasted less than two years before the Seeker-class corvette and her insanely courageous crew jumped into an unexplored system and were instantly set upon by a gang of enraged crystallines and blown to pieces. Before this however, they had made an important discovery – there was another space-faring civilization located in this arm of the galaxy, who didn't take long to make contact with the Zhun-Khirs.

The Drutheans seemed fairly harmless, at a roughly equivalent technological level, and fiercely egalitarian. They didn't seem like the sort of race whom the Blanvoq would want to beat up in their galactic crusade against injustice and oppression, and they were still too far away for the Zhun-Khirs to count them as real enemies, and so after formal greetings had been exchanged, relations remained neutral.

After the unfortunate demise of the Insanely Courageous, the baton was picked up by the next Seeker-class corvette, the ZLS Death is a State of Mind. This ship set off to explore for the first time the galactic arm to hubward of the Zhun-Khirs Arm. The first thing the crew found was a nebula which they named, rather appropriately, the Eye of Despair.

And needless to say, the Eye of Despair lived up to its name. Like its predecessor, the Death is a State of Mind lasted only about two years before, towards the end of 2220, it was attacked and taken to pieces for scrap by a horde of vicious mining drones. Of course, the drones were somewhat disappointed at the slim pickings they found on their latest prey, which was some consolation to the Zhun-Khirs.

Undeterred, Commissary-General Ukaq (who, it need hardly be mentioned, had just been re-elected for a thrid term in office) ordered a third Seeker corvette, the ZLS Edge of Insanity. This time the ship completed the exploration of the Elemmilan Arm, past the Drutheans and on as far as the Blanvoq. There it turned back and jumped across to the Outer Arm of the galaxy and began explorations there.

By 2230 the Edge of Insanity was, rather miraculously, still intact and roaming happily from system to system. No more new civilizations had been encountered. It seemed like there was plenty of space for others to expand.

We must now return to matters much nearer home. In 2218 the science ship ZLS Existential Tourist was doing a thorough survey of the inner end of the Zhun-Khirs spiral arm when, in Ethanol, the very last system in the arm, they came across a primitive civilization calling themselves the Tulkoids.

Their society was quite peaceful and prosperous but their greatest technological achievements so far amounted to banging bits of iron together. Obviously they would not be able to put up much of a fight if attacked, and would not have been of much interest to the Zhun-Khirs but for one fact. Their natural habitat was cold mountainous terrain such as covered most of their home planet. If they could be brought into the twenty-third century, they might be useful as colonists of some of the colder habitable planets which the Zhun-Khirs had discovered elsewhere.

In 2219 two newly recruited assault divisions were sent to Ethanol to explain to the Tulkoids that they were now part of the Zhun-Khirs League. Of course, this came as something of a shock to the Tulkoids, but unfortunately they couldn't do much about this new and rather unexpected development in their race's history.

A few years later, in recognition of their co-operation, and the advances they had made in integrating themselves into Zhun-Khirs society, the Tulkoids were given status as full citizens, on an equal par with the Zhun-Khirs, and efforts were made to ensure that they had decent living conditions, primitive though much of the infrastructure of their planet still was.

Then in 2226 the Zhun-Khirs League was further expanded when the ZLS A Nice Family Outing arrived with its shipload of colonists on the previously uninhabited planet of Nurofen Desert. This brought the number of planets in the League to four.

The Zhun-Khirs were also maintaining intermittent contact with the other races they had encountered. Back in 2215 Commissary-General Ukaq had signed something called a “Non-Aggression Pact” with the Aruchetteans. You may be wondering what on earth would possess him to do such a thing, but the truth was that it was such an alien concept to the Zhun-Khirs that Ukaq had not really realized what it was he was signing until it was too late. Of course, he made sure that this was kept secret from Professor Aruk and the Vanguard of the Chosen, who would probably have suffered heart failure at the thought of such a thing. This sign of friendship was even followed by an agreement to exchange star charts in 2223.

In 2226 both the Blanvoq and the Zhun-Khirs declared the Arkattaaq to be their rivals. The truth was that the Arkattaaq were no longer superior to the Zhun-Khirs in any way, and it seemed more and more probable that, if the Zhun-Khirs were going to go to war with another civilization, it would be with the worthless Arkattaaq. In fact, in 2227 Commissary-General Ukaq went so far as to sign a Defensive Pact with the Blanvoq, in the hopes that, whoever declared war first, the Zhun-Khirs and the Blanvoq would stand together against their common enemy.

It only remains to give an update on the Zhun-Khirs Fleet and its activities during this period. A specialized Corvette Yard had been built onto Ram-Dakhm Spaceport in 2216 and from that time on Admiral Kilu had tried to make sure the Fleet was kept at maximum capacity. She continued to lead the Fleet on campaigns to clear nearby systems of both crystaalines and space amoebas, gaining more and more experience each time. A full study of crystalline remains was completed, enabling Zhun-Khirs ships to become far more effective at attacking these creatures,as well as using crystal-infused plating in addition to more conventional armour and shields.

By 2227 a new larger ship design had been perfected, and the first Zhun-Khirs destroyer rolled off the production line the following year. Upkeep of the Fleet was now becoming a major part of the League's budget, but fortunately Admiral Kilu was also becoming more experienced at fleet logistics, thus minimizing unnecessary costs.

This then was the state of the known galaxy in 2230. As has been mentioned, there still seemed to be plenty of empty space to be colonized, and there still remained plenty of hostile space-borne aliens to be cleared from otherwise useful systems. Commissary-General Ukaq, now 67 years old, wanted to leave behind a legacy of Zhun-Khirs supremacy in space. A guarantee that, whatever perils the future might hold, the rest of the galaxy would know that the Zhun-Khirs League was not to be messed with.

 

[RWA05]

An excellent AAR so far, subbed.

 

[Specialist290]

And so the Zhun-Kirs get to flex their mighty martial arms once more -- by beating up defenseless primitives, which hardly seems like a fair fight, but I guess you take what's offered to you. Hopefully the Arkattaaq will provide a more satisfying proper scrap.

 

[stnylan]

Time to make use of those weapons.

 

[El Pip]

I fear Ukaq has become distracted by this 'supremacy' idea. Surely the point is to get into a glorious fight, if you win that is just a bonus.

 

[Farquharson]

An excellent AAR so far, subbed.

Thank you and welcome!

And so the Zhun-Kirs get to flex their mighty martial arms once more -- by beating up defenseless primitives, which hardly seems like a fair fight, but I guess you take what's offered to you. Hopefully the Arkattaaq will provide a more satisfying proper scrap.

I hope so, and of course we are training up the defenceless primitives into a proud fighting race who will stand with us in future battles.

Time to make use of those weapons.

My feelings entirely!

I fear Ukaq has become distracted by this 'supremacy' idea. Surely the point is to get into a glorious fight, if you win that is just a bonus.

Yes, of course, the average Zhun-Khirs is primarily concerned with just getting into a glorious fight. This is why we have a Shadow Council, to guard against the tyranny of the majority. The Council's primary concern is to actually win the game.

 

[Farquharson]

Smash and Grab
(2230-2250)​

Over the next two decades, Admiral Kilu had a smashing time hunting down the vile crystalline scum and destroying them. Her fleet was becoming more and more adept at taking on these creatures, better armed and better armoured. The first Zhun-Khirs destroyer had been built back in 2228 but in 2236 a specialized construction yard for these ships was built on Morue Desert Spaceport and by 2250 the fleet boasted no less than fourteen of them.

Commissary-General Nerka Ukaq (re-elected, it need hardly be said, in 2230 and again in 2240) was careful to present these victories as milestones in the ongoing “Crystal War”, to remind everyone that the Zhun-Khirs League was actually at war if only with some bits of crystal. Some of his opponents, notably members of the Vanguard of the Chosen, wanted to see what they called “a real war”, with another space-faring empire. Ukaq had no problem with the idea of such a “real war”, but when war was declared he wanted to be sure the the Zhun-Khirs were going to win.

This meant expanding the Zhun-Khirs economy in any way he could. The ZLS Working Hard or Hardly Working was kept almost constantly at work building mining stations, some research stations, and even two frontier outposts to try to contain Aruchettean expansion and expand into the Elemmilan Arm. More hapless primitives were introduced to Zhun-Khirs diplomatic techniques on two more planets in the Python and Wafers systems, and another Zhun-Khirs colony was established in the Hookeye system. By 2250 the Zhun-Khirs League looked like this.

As can be seen, the fly in the ointment was that the Aruchetteans had also been expanding. In fact, they had managed to colonize the tiny ice-bound moon of Baggol Ia in the Eye of Despair, cutting off the two systems in that arm which were now part of the Zhun-Khirs League. The Vanguard of the Chosen were claiming that this amounted to an act of war, and calling on Ukaq to take Baggol from the Aruchetteans by force. Ukaq decided he needed at the very least to pay a diplomatic visit to President Preelvan of the Aruchetteans.

President Preelvan: Ah, Commissary-General Ukaq! What a delight it is to see you. We are always glad to welcome our friends here on Aruchettai.

Nerka Ukaq: Friends? I'm not sure that is the word for it, President Preelvan.

President Preelvan: Well, we have a non-aggression pact, at least – doesn't that make us friends? In fact I was really rather hoping you had come to propose something a little more robust. A defensive pact, perhaps?

Nerka Ukaq: What I came to discuss, Preelvan, is your provocative colonization of the Baggol system.

President Preelvan: Provocative? Oh no, it was just a little icy moon. We didn't think you would have any interest in such a world.

Nerka Ukaq: Actually we had that moon earmarked as the site of our first Tulkoid colony,

President Preelvan: Ah, yes. Er - the Tulkoids. I wasn't going to mention that episode, but since you've brought up the subject, I have to say we were a little alarmed at your treatment of those poor primitives.

Nerka Ukaq: Poor primitives? Hah! The Tulkoids are now enjoying all the benefits of citizenship in our glorious empire. If it weren't for us they would still be running around hitting each other with metal implements. We have brought them the light of civilization!

President Preelvan: And I suppose it's the same story with the Ilians of Python II and the Landdydd of Wafers II?

Nerka Ukaq: Absolutely. They are all now happily integrated into the Zhun-Khirs League.

President Preelvan: They don't seem all that happy.

Nerka Ukaq: They're learning. Perhaps you Aruchetteans would like to be part of the glorious Zhun-Khirs League too?

President Preelvan: Er, no – I think we'll pass on that kind offer thank you.

Nerka Ukaq: Well, here's the thing President Preelvan. I'm under a bit of pressure from certain elements in our society to get into a war with someone. The only question is, who will be the lucky candidates? Any more of this provocative land-grabbing from you chaps and you might win the prize.

President Preelvan: What! But... we have a pact! We are sworn to eternal friendship!

Nerka Ukaq: It's wearing kind of thin, that's all I'm saying Preelvan. Just remember that.

Obviously the Zhun-Khirs couldn't go to war with the Aruchetteans any time soon, but of course, there were other options. The Zhun-Khirs had also come up against the Druthean Alliance in the quest for territorial expansion. A war against them might be quite profitable. But unfortunately the Blanvoq were not interested in joining a war against the Drutheans. Instead, Commissary-General Rac of the Blue Ghost suggested a joint attack on the despicable Arkattaaq. Although the Arkattaaq lay on the far side of the Aruchettean Nation, this seemed like the best option for a war in the immediate future.

But what of the rest of the galaxy? The ZLS Edge of Infinity had spent the last two decades continuing its explorations and, incredibly, had so far survived intact. Several more space-faring civilizations had been contacted, although they were too far away to be of much interest to the Zhun-Khirs at this stage.

It was towards the end of 2249 when the Edge of Insanity received an incoming communication from one of the most disturbing and hostile races they had yet encountered.

The only thing the Humans seemed to want was to be left alone, so much so that the Edge of Insanity found itself immediately expelled from the Humans' territory and lost in hyperspace for about a year. Well, perhaps a day would come when these obnoxious creatures would make a suitable foe for the Zhun-Khirs.

But it was in 2248 that the saddest event happened during these years, when the great Admiral Kilu died at the age of 93, while still in command of the Fleet. She had led the Fleet for 44 years and was adored by all who served under her. She had fought in countless battles against crystals, space amoebas and mining drones and had overseen the transformation of the Fleet from a squadron of four corvettes to an armada of fourteen destroyers and twenty-seven corvettes. She was always remembered as the Mother of the Fleet. Her second-in-command, Admiral Akut Nasi, was only 36 when she took over command, but she was already showing signs of promise as a great leader. Her dream, of course, was to be the first space admiral to lead the Fleet against another empire's fleet in battle.

A sad day for the League​

 

[Alex Borhild]

Humans? Disgusting.

I have yet to see a human fallen empire - I suppose that means I'll have to play more often.
I don't envy the Arkattaaq, or whoever the recipient of the League's aggressive diplomacy will be.

 

[stnylan]

A Human Fallen Empire? I am so very envious.

 

[jotwebe]

What weird and curious creatures inhabit the far side of the Galaxy! It seems a stretch that these "Humans" ever made their way out of their gravity well, let alone created an interstellar empire.

 

[Specialist290]

Well, that was unexpected.

 

[Nikolai]

Joining the choirus praising the Human Shard.

 

[Farquharson]

Humans? Disgusting.

I have yet to see a human fallen empire - I suppose that means I'll have to play more often.
I don't envy the Arkattaaq, or whoever the recipient of the League's aggressive diplomacy will be.

First time I'd seen a Human FE too, although I can't say I've played that many games. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later - should give some good story material somewhere down the line!

A Human Fallen Empire? I am so very envious.

They're mine! Hands off!

What weird and curious creatures inhabit the far side of the Galaxy! It seems a stretch that these "Humans" ever made their way out of their gravity well, let alone created an interstellar empire.

Maybe they were much nicer before they were fallen.

Well, that was unexpected.

Joining the choirus praising the Human Shard.

Yes, the only downside is that they seem so far away at the moment, but actually if I keep expanding along the Eye of Despair Arm I'll get a lot closer.

Well, I also want to raise a question that a lot of people seem to be asking, but I haven't seen any clear answers yet, namely, is there a secret to getting attackers whom you're inviting to a war to actually vote to join the war? I'm talking of course about the Blanvoq joining me in trashing the Arkattaaq if we can. I can invite them, but even if I offer them all five of the Arkattaaq planets as wargoals they won't say yes. They have the exact same ethics as me (Ega, Fan Mil) so I'm assuming they'll be happy to get cede planet goals. If they really just don't want to join me why am I allowed to invite them?? And are there other factors that might influence them, e.g. better relations with me, higher trust, worse relations with the Arkattaaq? What are my options, aside from going it alone, of course, which I may just try anyway. Helpful advice welcome!

 

[Pchang]

Try liberate and vassalize. They seem more willing to join for that (even if they don't get anything) and let them liberate a planet if you have to.

 

[Farquharson]

Try liberate and vassalize. They seem more willing to join for that (even if they don't get anything) and let them liberate a planet if you have to.

Thanks for the suggestion Pchang - I tried this but still couldn't get them to join me . I do think that sometimes the game allows you to invite allies who are actually not going to accept any wargoals that you suggest.

Oh, and and a special thank you to @Le Pix for nominating this AAR for the Weekly AAR Showcase. Slightly embarrassing that I've been relatively inactive this particular week, but the next update is now here...

 

[stnylan]

No it isn't

 

[Farquharson]

The Quest for a Real War
(2250-2270)​

The year 2254 was an eventful one for the Zhun-Khirs League. It was the year that the great Nerka Ukaq died at the ripe old age of 91. He had served as Commissary-General for more than half his life and had built up the Zhun-Khirs League into a force that could take on almost any other space empire. Not, of course, the enigmatic Elemmilan Watchers, or the dreaded Human Shard, but certainly anyone else. And now the Shadow Council had to pick his successor, the person who would take the reins of power in the free and fair election to be held in a few months time.

It would be one of their own number, naturally, which narrowed it down to just seven possibilities, but Nerka Ukaq was a hard act to follow and none of them particularly wanted to try. Koni Tupam, a young high-ranking army officer, pleaded that he was as yet too inexperienced. Most of the other Council members were old and would probably not last too long in the job. In the end it was decided to choose the ageing Professor Aikpok Akpik, Head of Physics at the University of Ram-Dakhm. The main reason he was chosen was that he had fallen asleep when the final decision was being made. They woke him up to break the news to him, which was slightly tricky as he was rather deaf.

Koni Tupam: Professor Akpik!

Peofessor Akpik: Ahem! Yes, exactly, I couldn't agree more.

Koni Tupam: Professor, you are the new Commissary-General!

Peofessor Akpik: Yes, that's right, I knew the Commissary-General. A fine fellow.

Koni Tupam: No, no, Professor – YOU. We've chosen YOU to be the NEXT Commissary-General.

Peofessor Akpik: Good gracious me, have you really? I'm not really sure I'm up to it, you know.

Koni Tupam: Don't worry, Professor. Any tricky decisions, we'll be there to give you advice.

Peofessor Akpik: Eh? What's that about vice? Stamp it out, that's what I say.

Koni Tupam: Quite right Professor. Now, about this free and fair election that we have coming up...

Although old, deaf and somewhat narcoleptic, nevertheless Professor Akpik was a gifted leader, and he went down in history as the leader who first began to forge Zhun-Khirs supremacy over other space empires. The people liked his simple, no-nonsense approach. In 2257 Professor Appiaq Aruk, who although even older than Akpik, was still leading the Vanguard of the Chosen requested an audience with the Commissary-General. She was demanding to know just why the Zhun-Khirs had still not managed to get into a “real war” as she termed it.

Unfortunately, halfway through the audience the Commissary-General fell asleep, and when he woke up he found that the Zhun-Khirs seemed to be at war with the Arkattaaq. He couldn't remember actually making a declaration of war, but his memory wasn't what it used to be. Apparently the Blanvoq had been invited to share in the spoils but had not shown much interest. And so the task of invading and conquering the Arkattaaq had to be done by the Zhun-Khirs on their own.

By whatever means the declaration of war on the Arkattaaq had come about, the outcome of the war was far from certain. Apparently the Zhun-Khirs' demands were nothing less than complete annexation of the Arkattaaq into the Zhun-Khirs League.

The Zhun-Khirs Fleet under Admiral Nasi was more powerful than ever, now boasting 18 Destroyers and 36 Corvettes. They were armed with Advanced Railguns and protected by Improved Deflectors and Ceramo-Metal Armour. Little was known of the Arkattaaq Fleet, except that it was somewhat smaller. Their technology however was thought to be comparable.

The Fleet advanced through the Strurios system without encountering opposition. In Namkarja they came upon the planet Kaanlinga whose Spaceport was quickly reduced to space debris with no Zhun-Khirs losses. It seemed like a good omen. Now however the main Arkattaaq Fleet had arrived and seemed intent on putting up a fight. However, it was indeed quite a bit smaller than the Zhun-Khirs Fleet.

The Arkattaaq ships were using Cutting Lasers and Coilguns, and although their Deflectors were similar to the Zhun-Khirs' they had inferior Nanocomposite Armour. In the space of two months the entire Arkattaaq Fleet was annihilated. The Zhun-Khirs Corvettes proved to be somewhat vulnerable, especially to the enemy laser fire, and no less than 13 of them were destroyed in the battle. However, no Destroyers were lost. It was a resounding victory for Admiral Nasi. With the Arkattaaq now essentially defencless, the outcome of the war was a foregone conclusion.

Kaanlinga was bombarded, invaded and captured before the end of the year and the Fleet and Army moved on to Arkattaaq-Naduum, the Arkattaaq home system. There Admiral Nasi was somewhat alarmed to discover a very large, but apparently neutral fleet cruising through the system. The strange unidentified fleet did not make contact with the Zhun-Khirs, and seemed oblivious to the fact that it had wandered into a war zone. Nasi decided there was nothing to fear from the strangers, and proceeded to destroy Arkattaaq-Yaku Spaceport and to bombard the planet. By late 2258, after barely a year and a half of fighting, the Arkattaaq capital was captured. They had had enough, and immediately surrendered. The ruthless capitalists were vanquished.

All five of their planets were annexed into the Zhun-Khirs League.

But in terms of keeping the Zhun-Khirs public happy, the war was less than satisfactory. It had lasted less than two years, and had involved only one major space battle. Commissary-General Akpik himself had slept through a good part of the action and completely missed it.

It was at this point that the enigmatic aliens first spotted in the Arkattaaq-Naduum system made contact with the Zhun-Khirs. They called themselves the Galactic Nomads and claimed to be friendly, peaceful and completely uninterested in living on planets.

This was in fact a pack of lies, but Commissary-General Akpik was completely taken in by their honeyed words. So it was that, in 2260 when their leader Tadie Deskinante made contact once more, Akpik treated him with great respect. The Galactic Nomads did after all have a very powerful fleet.

Commissary-General Akpik: Greetings, your esteemed wandering-ness. What can I do for you?

Tadie Dekinante: Oh, nothing, nothing, Commissary-General. Just a social call, really.

Commissary-General Akpik: How very pleasant. I trust all is well aboard the mighty ships of the Pursuing Waters?

Tadie Dekinante: Oh, yes, very well, thank you. Except...

There is a pause.

Commissary-General Akpik: Yes? Is there some sort of problem?

Tadie Dekinante: Well, you know, I'm a little embarrassed to say but... well, some of our race have decided that they don't really like being nomads.

Commissary-General Akpik: Ah.

Tadie Dekinante: So there we were just, you know, drifting peacefully through one of your systems – Playhouse, I believe you call it – what a delightful name, if I may say so.

Commissary-General Akpik: Yes, isn't it. And what about it, then?

Tadie Dekinante: Well some of these rather aberrant members of our wandering race spotted a planet there.

Commissary-General Akpik: Ye-e-e-e-s....

Tadie Dekinante: A nice tropical planet. I don't believe it would be at all suitable for you Zhun-Khirs, of course. But for us – well, I mean for these slightly unusual elements in our community – it seemed like it would make an ideal home.

Commissary-General Akpik: You want to settle on one of our planets?

Tadie Dekinante: Just a few of us. And just for a while, probably. I imagine they'll change their minds after a short while. They'll probably get bored and decide that the nomadic life is not so bad after all.

Commissary-General Akpik: Hmm. And what if we say no?

Tadie Dekinante: Ah well, of course we would quite understand. There would be no reprisals whatsoever. Despite the fact that we have a huge and heavily armed fleet, we wouldn't dream of using it to force our demands upon you.

Commissary-General Akpik: I see.

Commissary-General Akpik was not at all sure about this. First the Nomads had assured him that they were uninterested in planets, but that seemed to be somewhat inaccurate. Now they promised to peacefully accept whatever decision he made – but what if this was similarly inaccurate? In the end, he decided to grant them their wish. After all, it was true, the planet in question was not of immediate interest to the Zhun-Khirs.

But it soon became evident that he had made a big mistake.

The Nomads had not simply put a few colonists on one of the Zhun-Khirs' planets. They had created an entire space empire, and helped themselves to no less than five of the Zhun-Khirs' systems, with all the resources contained within them. Then they closed their borders to all Zhun-Khirs ships.

There was however one good thing about the whole affair. This obviously meant another war.

The Pursuing Waters fleet, which might have been slightly difficult to defeat in battle, had fortunately wandered off to another galaxy by now, so it was a trivial operation to bring the Zhun-Khirs Fleet and Army round to Playhouse, and invade and annex the Nomads' planet back into the Zhun-Khirs League. It was of course an even less satisfying war than the Arkattaaq War, but, as Commissary-General Akpik pointed out, it had proved to be a relatively cheap way of colonizing a new planet.

And speaking of colonizing new planets, the Tulkoids had now got over their severe stellar culture shock and could now be sent to various extremely cold locations around the empire. Indeed, even the ocean-loving Ilians of Python were ready to take to the stars aboard Zhun-Khirs colony ships, which meant that pretty much any vaguely habitable planet was now accessible to the Zhun-Khirs.

These former primitives had all been granted full citizenship and decent living conditions and were generally happy and productive members of society. The Arkattaaq had also been given the same treatment, so it was something of a puzzle why they were so unhappy. After all, what was wrong with having your empire annexed wholesale into somebody else's? And yet, so ungrateful were the Arkattaaq that one of their planets, renamed Seattle Continents by the Zhun-Khirs, actually declared independence in 2263. They even managed to find some friends among neighbouring empires and signed several Non-Aggression Pacts with them.

Commissary-General Akpik quickly declared war on the rebels, partly to prevent them forming any Defensive Pacts which would make their re-annexation unnecessarily complicated, and partly just to keep the rabble happy. It took some time for the Fleet to get to Seattle, but by the following year the rebels had surrendered. All was peace and contentment once more in the Zhun-Khirs League. That is, the Arkattaaq were now being kept forcibly content by the army units now stationed on their planets, and the Zhun-Khirs were not really content at all, being no longer at war with anyone.

It was at this point that Commissary-General Akpik chose to die, peacefully and, unsurprisingly, in his sleep, at the age of 86. This threw the League into a bit of a crisis, but fortunately General Koni Tupam, now Head of the Armed Forces and, as has been mentioned, a member of the Shadow Council, quickly offered to step into the breach. The Council therefore ensured that he was brought to power in the free and fair election of 2264.

There were high hopes that General Tupam, being a military man, would soon get the Zhun-Khirs League into another war. And frankly, he would have good cause. Relations with the once-friendly Aruchetteans were quickly going sour, to the point where, in 2268, the Aruchetteans actually had the impudence to close their borders to the Zhun-Khirs. This prevented Zhun-Khirs ships from travelling easily between the three disjointed sections of Zhun-Khirs space, and therefore was a clearly hostile act.

The only problem was that the Aruchetteans had an annoyingly solid defensive alliance with the Council of Otu Orseresk, which was what the Drutheans had now decided to call themselves, and, of all people, the Blanvoq. A war against any one of these three empires would be a war against all three. True, the Zhun-Khirs were undoubtedly stronger than each of them individually, but General Tupam was not sure that he wanted to risk a war with all three quite yet. He had spent most of his term of office so far strengthening the Fleet with nine of the new Cruisers, a new and larger ship design first perfected back in 2264. But would this be enough to take on three enemy fleets at once?

 

[El Pip]

People are getting quite fussy about the exact wars, the small ones aren't satisfying the average Zhun-Khir but the Shadow Council are too cautious to start a big war. Will the people's discontent finally be enough to overpower the Shadow Council's grip on power? No, obviously not. But maybe another deaf and confused narcoleptic may get power and accidentally give the people what they want.