Heh.  Love it!

Satisfaction. Our efforts have achieved their aim:

We will have to dedicate more cycles to processing this experience - and investigate methods of producing it again.

With the fall of the Jagged Knife and the Torians (in the same turn!) the Yor Collective now dominates the galaxy - it is only a matter of time before our conquest is complete.

A map by population, in case the purple robot excellence overwhelms anyone's puny meat vision. The bright orange is the Meklar, and the small dark patch in Korx territory is the Elerians. The Korx and Iconians are nearly the same color.

During our glorious conquest of various meatbags (the Silicoids , I-League, and Bulrathi have succumbed in addition to the Jagged Knife and Torians), the Korath discovered that their hearts were three sizes too small, and switched philosophies to the good and righteous path. This baffled us, as we had thought that a fleshling with an insufficient fluid pump simply ceased to function. We view this change with disdain - the Korath were some of the few flesh beasts to approach efficiency, and they chose to throw it away in the pursuit of 'good'. We must assume they cannot process basic logic. In any case, the Korath quickly made peace with the Altarians, who were then free to view the endless stream of Yor warships and transports passing through Altarian space as a threat.

We soon received a transmission from the Altarians containing mouth noises of an unusual amplitude and a great deal of limb wiggling. We do not need to understand their babbling to recognize a threat, but the error of warning us before a military strike is astounding. Their foolishness was their downfall, as the same ships and transports that so alarmed them were easily diverted to attack and capture the worlds they had planned to bypass. In a mere three weeks their military was in shreds and half their worlds lost. Not wishing to be assimilated, they surrendered to the Thalans, who were the weakest non-evil race. What is it with meatsacks and resisting assimilation anyways? It's not that bad, and the benefits (not being horribly killed) are great!

We thought we had witnessed the extent of meatbag cowardice, but the Arceans proved us mistaken. The Drengin had finally built a military, and declared war on the Arceans - but for nothing. The Arceans simply surrendered to the Korx without a shot fired, as they had not researched weapons and refused to let a single Arcean fall under the tyranny of Drengin rule. We believe it is this sort of suboptimal grand gesture that hobbles meat things in any difficult situation. If they really wanted to make a gesture, they should have let the Drengin conquer a world, then detonate the entire planet out from under them. That would have been a MUCH better statement of intent. Ah well, if we had articulated shoulder joints we would use them to shrug.

Our research into meatling brain structures has proven very useful - we are able to induce a planet wide receptive comatose state given enough time and influence over a planets electronic and media infrastructure. We currently achieve full thought control of a planet every one to two weeks. We could accelerate this process greatly, but at the cost of learning to communicate with meat. The Collective consensus is that this cost is not worth the potential benefits - as much as it galls us, we will be content with imperfect knowledge.

The Korath STILL have not researched planetary invasion, but the removal of two of their enemies has given them a reprieve. They still possess the most numerous fleets, but a single Yor battlecruiser or dreadnought could annihilate any number of Korath warships without significant effort. We have deployed several such vessels in Korath space, in case the Altarians' idiocy has infected the Korath along with their morals.

The Drengin seem a bit adrift after abruptly losing their military victim, and are downsizing their space force by selling a large percentage of their super dominator corvettes to the Drath. We suspect they may work themselves up to attacking the Korx, but we are unsure.

The Korx have even fewer mental barriers than most meatbags, and the fact that the Jagged Knife was strongest in and around Korx space gives us an excellent staging area for our unconventional assault. We intend to cripple the Korx with induced coma takeovers until they also make threatening noises at us.

Our creators, the Iconians, are proving to be a problem. They seem resistant to our thought control algorithms - almost as if they are aware it is happening. We have decided to destroy them before they communicate any suspicions to the other meatlings. We anticipate this will provide us another opportunity to experience satisfaction, as we finish the cleansing we were unable to complete so long ago.

Once that task is complete, we shall turn our attention to the Thalans. They have received a second chance in the tatters of the Altarian empire, and we intend to ensure their second chance is their last. As a display of our incredible superiority, we have even designed a dreadnought specifically to combat the Thalan mass driver weaponry. the Black Ice:

We were surprised when our initial predictive algorithms indicated a 100% chance of victory if such a vessel was constructed, but upon completion we have realized we were correct. As we always are.

The Drath are at war with the Meklar, and it amuses us to witness their flailing. We suspect the Meklar would win due to their superior use of machinery to overcome some of their inherent meat weakness, but the Drath have picked their foe wisely. The Meklar are barely holding off the Korath, and if the Drath research planetary invasion they can easily pick off Meklar planets after the Korath fleets come through.

---

I'm moving into the cleanup phase at this point - I'm so far ahead I could probably take on all the remaining AIs at once. I'm trying to avoid an influence victory, as it seems out of place in a game where I didn't talk to any of the other civilizations. I just need to stay at war with one or more major race until the game ends: not too difficult. I'm running out of things to research, so I could go for a Tech victory, but I've never done an Ascension win before. My plan is to do that, unless I get bored and conquer everyone in the 90ish weeks remaining.

Aegix, I'm really enjoying your Korx reports, especially your Kralax 'voice'. The 'Everyone loves money, right?', 'c2.28 ("do not leave with small children")' and the rest of the zombie bit, and your reaction to Bowser's demise stand out in particular

I notice you didn't choose any economics in customization, instead going for speed and loyalty (I think). Was this part of your all out colony rush plan, or just personal preference? Enlighten me, for I am curious

Aaaahhh...The power of the internet, Am I right?    It does that to EVERYONE!

  Thanks.  It's pretty fun to write too.

And the Bowser thing...That's literally what I was thinking when it happened.  The idea that a lone worker can kill a gigantic dragon turtle thing is insane.  ....Then again, he routinely gets taken down by a plumber, so I guess he's not as tough as he looks...

I didn't go for economics, since I knew the korx had great trading and econ already, so I didn't need any bonuses to that.  I went for speed since it's a huuuuge galaxy and I HATE HATE HATE taking forever to get anywhere.  If I need my military some where, I prefer they get there expediently, not a month after the fact!

And as for morale (not loyalty)...I tended to have trouble keeping my people happy in previous games, for some reason.  I hate that.  I usually put one level into morale just to stop that from happening, so that I don't need to keep my taxes super low all the time.  Then again, now that I understand that factories aren't essential, and I stopped spamming them everywhere, I CAN keep my tax rate low and still make ludicrous profits.  I'm raking in over 2000, sometimes even 3000 per week.  It's amazing.  I'm BUYING my giant Ipod ships rather than just build them! 

Now that my exams are over, should have time to get back to my Korx game.  Keep enjoying! 

Sorry that I haven't posted in a few days...Had to study for a job interview, then DO the interview (and test), and then I finally got to sink my claws into Xenoblade........Yeah.  Xenoblade is awesome.  I had so much trouble putting it down....;_;

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled corporate warfare of the Korx

----

So, the tekk and the good races have ended their long war...And I can't help but notice that the tekk ships are pretty good, AND have very very good laser defenses...I ought to circumvent that...

And then, this mass of green came from the left.  The koopas were coming.  The koopas were COMING.  It seems I had underestimated their range...And military capacity.  They have dozens of ships.  TONS of attack powe.  And bazillions of them are going for a world I have near the tekk!

Pictured below:  A slice of their army.  Heading for a world I like.  That has my orbital defense post.  >_<  Don't want to lose it.

I called up every other race in the galaxy, and none of them give me the option to bribe them into helping me fight off the koopas.  And the koopas refuse to call off the war...It seems I am locked into this whole expensive shenanigan...

Alright, Koopas.  You want to fight me on MY turf?  Fine.  I don't need speed anymore.  I need brute freakin force.  Behold!  THE GRAND SHIELD!

The best defense BC can buy.  And I bought a bunch of them.....The koopas blew up my influence base (HEY!  I NEED THAT TO STOP THE TEKK FROM BOMBARDING ME WITH CULTURE YOU SHELL WEARING TWATS!) and...........Just passed my world by.

I weighed the pro and cons, and sent out a fleet of 2 grand shields to pick at their fleets.  The koopa fleets were demolished.  one fleet down...2 fleets....5 fleets!  And my ships were holding up well!  I sent out some of my Mega rockers....And they did well too!  I COULD stand up to these draconian brutes!  And so, I extended my hand and said dramatically "Launch....ALL THE SHIPS!".  And because of my naturally good speed bonuses, and a mega event that boosted my speed, even my slow Grand Shields were still relatively fast!

Then, the Altarians (of all races) offered us a free starship to help.  .....I was...so moved that I bought their research treaty for 1000bc more than it was worth.  It felt only fair (and it looked good on my tax returns).

......And then the game crash-...Umm....I mean, the galaxy suffered a terrible cataclysmic kaboom and everyone died.  Fortunately, my engineers have been preparing for this, and made the best damn time travel device that research grants can make!  ....Sadly, it took us back a few weeks farthern than I wanted, meaning that touching moment with the altarians never happened.  ...Well, that ship they gave us kinda sucked, so....Meh.

And then the good races and the tekk went at it again.  Thank goodness I'm not involved in any alliances with any of them.  The koopa war is taking up all of my attention and resources.  ...And more wars going on means more mercenary money for me, AND weakens the tekk for my eventual assault on them.  ...and then the tekk shot and killed the terran leader.  And now the terrans are attacking the tekk.  NIIIICE!!

And finally...finally...My mass driver research is done.  I've got the first evil gun.  Time to make them pay.  GO!  HEAVY METAL!

It does pretty well against koopa ships...Although if I run into those Vengeance ships that have missiles...Yeah, they take more damage than I like...

And then finally...FINALLY...FINALLY...The new koopa king said he was open to peace.  Thank you, Azurelas, I'll take that peace treaty.  I'll get back to blowing you guys halfway to hell LATER.  That's a promise.

Time to start funnelling my economy into those worlds that just went from class 0 to class 9 near one of my worlds, and turn them into tax producing superpowers.

And now, for MORE from everyone's favourite corporate master, named Korx of the millennia just last week!

So, after a well deserved short vacation in light of the recent peace talks, I got back to work, finishing the conversion of my new worlds to full on tax worlds.  And they're not bad.

Suddenly, I got a message from Azurelas, the new koopa king.  It was......0_o  Blank.  So I tried to call him up to ask him what was up, but I got turned away by his rather rude secretary, some weird pink dinosaur thingy with a pink bow.  And then the nightly news came on.  ....Wait, WHAT?!  WE JUST SIGNED A PEACE TREATY 3 WEEKS AGO YOU SON OF A GUN!!  You want MORE war?!  What the heck are you thinking.

And then it hit me.  The koopa have this policy where they can press new recruits and pirates into military service.  But only if a new war is declared.  So he made peace with us just long enough for them to be able to say it was a new war, and get tons of free ships.  Those cheap little shell wearing sons of creepers...That's...that's something I wish I could do!

So, we went to war again.  I was forced to concede to the engineering board that my Heavy metal fighters...well...They sucked compared to the previous models.  So, with a little bit more miniaturization, I upgraded the Grand Shield design to the Grand Blaster design.  It's pretty much the same thing as the grand shield, but with guns instead of lasers.  They hold up VERY well now.

Then, princess Celestia of the ponies came onto my vid screen, tearing at the eyes PLEADING for anything that could help them fend off the tekk.  ......*sigh*  I'm trying to be a cold hearted evil guy, Celestia.  Your irritating whinnying is only going to annoy me.  However, since I DO want you to keep harassing the Tekk, and I'd HATE to lose a useful tool...I'll buy about 3000 BC worth of influence.  That good?

0_o  Well apparently it was so.

Then the terrans wanted help to stop the tekk, so I gave them some of my very very outdated small fighter ships (they're called battery pewpewers.  They're basically just giant batteries with engines and two lasers.  Really weaksauce).

Suddenly, I noticed a blip on my monitor.  The koopas were sneaking ships PAST my frontline world (which they were pestering JUST enough for it to look legit), and were sending fighters directly to my main empire.  Those sneaky little.....  I sent a bunch of Grand Shields to intercept them...And then discovered that there was ANOTHER row of fighters even lower than them!  Even CLOSER to my worlds!  Those sneaky, conniving, cowardly little shell wearing losers!  I scrambled to make more Grand Blasters at my worlds....Hoping it would be enough...

Pictured below:  The Koopas finally poking into my zone.

And I started holding them off, no problem....And then...One group of fighters ignored my ships, and made a suicidal rush for another target.......*Boom*....My...My....ONE OF MY ECONOMY RESOURCE STARBASES!!  YOU!  YOU!  YOUUUUUU SCUM!!!

But before I could REALLY get mad, of of my time scientists burst into the room and told me that unless I calmed down, the universe would explode again, and that we were in a new timeline caused by their time "quicksave" device.  ....Well, it didn't save my starbase.  It seems they made the device way too accurate now.  Apparently we only last a week.  Not enough time to save the base.... >: (

I was still in a foul mood at the annual UP meeting.  At first, I thought the new proposal was a joke.  The Yor were the leading economic power?  Seriously?  Not me?  What?  What kind of joke is this?  And then I read the rest of the proposal.  ......They would have to SHARE with everyone?  Oh good, I don't need to pay up.  In fact, I'll make THEM pay up!  Free money is always good, even for a filthy rich civ like the Korx!  .....And then the Tekk vetoed it with their huge influence slice.  >: (

Well, my ships finally repelled all the Koopa ships, and made it to their worlds.  Many, Many, MAAAANY weeks of endless battles were fought.  It was getting quite tiring.  And then, we reached a pair of their worlds, and I started to clear the way for my master stroke of genius.

Finally, after months of waiting, my constructor caravan and escorts exited the slow-moving Yor space and reached their destination.  Now, BUILD ME A TERROR STAR!  LET'S FRY THOSE-

.......WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THE STAR IS OUT OF RANGE?!  IT'S RIGHT THE HELL IN FRONT OF YOU!!!!!  AAARRRGH!!

My escorts converged on the useless Terror Star and managed to save it while I sent a super super super fast constructor to build a base and extend my range.  And at last I had the range I needed.  NOW, Terror star time to....WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S "WARMING UP"?  IT'S A STAR!  HOW MUCH HOTTER DO YOU NEED THE BEAM TO BE?!?!  ....FINE!  I'll wait the 8 turns left that it'll take to mobilize that thing!  Argh!

Then the altarians found an amplifier crystal that will make them super strong someday.....Screw 'em.  They're way behind.  I'll deal with them later, I have time.  And even so, they begged for help against the Tekk.  ...You know what?  NO!  NO I AM DONE WITH THE FREE HANDOUTS!  NO MORE!  If they can't handle the Tekk, that's their problem!

Then, I heard an alert from my world in Yor space....A koopa ship had managed to get there...And I only had a pack of those battery powered small craft to defend it....And some troop transports....All of them got wiped............I bought more grand blasters.  ....Now, is that damn Terror star ready yet?  It is?  FINALLY!

I swiveled my chair around to face this ominous glowing red button I had installed for this day.  I looked left, and right, UP and DOWN for any other hitches in the plan.  None?  Good.  All ships.  Get out of range.  Now.  I raised my hand....Thought for a moment about what kind of witty one liner I wanted to say...I settled on a simple "Fire." as I slammed my hand down on the button.

Well, that was satisfying.

I called up the Koopas.

Alright Azurelas.  You've seen what we can do, and what we are willing to do.  If you want to avoid this fate spreading to all your worlds, you will give me 5000 BC, and five of your greatest techs.  I am being NICE.  I am giving you a chance to postpone your inevitable doom by fire.  Am I not Merciful?  AM I NOT MERCIFUL?!?!  Do it.  Now!

Azurelas chuckled, looking totally nonchalant on his throne.  "You been drinkin' again?  Hell no."

I leaned forward slowly.  I was no longer the satellite comm signal repair guy I once was.  No.  I was now the leader of the Korx.  A hard, nasty, vengeful lifeform.  A role model to the Korx.  And I looked Azurelas in the eyes and said "So be it.  You will beg for mercy.  ...My name is Kralax of Korx.  I killed your father.  Prepare to die."

I turned to my military advisors.  "YO!  I need more range to send my Terror star to their main territory.  We're taking that class 25 near that system I just vaporized.  How much longer till our new ace in the hole is ready?"  He replied with "We have massive hulls, and we are 7 weeks away from the next psionic gun...but...You could just take them now, sir, why do you want more tech?".

I shook my head and looked back at my map of the Galaxy "Because I don't want to just blowthem up.  I want to atomize them like the scum that they are.  I want to crush them so conclusively that they will look upon us and see doom itself.  THAT GOOD?"

Just a few more weeks...Just a few more and I will move on their home zone.  I will take their good worlds, and vaporize the rest.  And then...Then I will move against the Tekk.  then The drath...Then the ponies.  Then the terrans, altarians, and finally the Yor.  Unless one of them suddenly becomes a superpower too troublesome to bother with, then I am not going to bother making an alliance.  I will RULE this sector, or I will see it BURNT TO ASHES AROUND ME.

----
EDIT:  This was my first evey Terror star use.    That felt REALLY good.  I like these things.  None of this invasion hoohah.  Just, BOOM, and the situation is resolved.

AAAAND more from our lovable corporate Korx leader!

So, the good VS Tekk war RAGES on.  I have no idea what's going on, except that there are LOTS of lasers being fired, and that the Tekk are at the top of the dog pile...If I can ally with them rather than nuke them all...Yeah, that would make my life simpler.

And finally my research is done.  BEHOLD!  DEATH METAL!

Death metal isn't bad.  It takes more damage than I'd like if it's alone, but in a group, it does some pretty fierce damage.  I WAS hoping that they could Solo the Koopa fleets, but no dice.

...And then I got hit by a recession...that.....Did...NOTHING to me.

And then I got stock markets.  My profits almost TRIPLED once I got most of my worlds upgraded.

And as my transports neared the nearest un-vaporizable (damn Yor and Tekk colonizing near them!) Koopa worlds, Celestia came on again, BEGGING for another handout.  Ok, you want money?  How about you trade me some of that soldiering tech?  No?  Fine.  Be that way.  But remember, I offered you money, and you didn't wanna take it.  If you die, it's your fault.

And then I approached my target, a class 25 world with a Galactic monument (I want that very bad).  Now, RELEASE THE ZOMBIES!  .....Huh.  That went pretty bad.  How about we use Mass drivers?  ....What?  What do you mean ALL three transports are gone?  ALL the zombies are dead?  I mean...Re-dead?  Re-RE-dead?  ...Fine.  I guess I need better invasion tech.  Get on it.

My vid screen buzzed yet again.......Oh hello AGAIN Princess Celestia!  ....Ok, fine.  Here's a research treaty, 3000 BC and advanced aquatic colonies.  Now would you PLEASE hand over Terror drones?  Which I Can't seem to research?  ...THERE WE GO!  That wasn't so hard, was it?

And then I took 3 koopa worlds, including that class 25.  And my troops managed to seize EXACTLY the tech I needed.  Ultimate shock troops.  Supreme planetary defense.  Terror drones 2.  My soldiering is rocketing up.  .......Although my bubble was soon burst when I saw that the koopas had managed to sneak a ship into my territory the long way, and they blew up a FULLY UPGRADED ECON RESOURCE BASE.  I CANNOT WAIT to kill these sons of guns.

And then, a bunch of my trade routes with the Drath went dark.  But before I could ask him what the heck was going on, the Drath leader came on my screen and said that he could no longer compete in the galaxy as an independent species.  And that he felt that we, the Korx, could serve his people best.  I blinked and then, with a great big smile said "I'm glad you finally see the light, my friend!  Welcome to the Dominion of Korx!  We'll see to it that your people work hard, and prosper!".  I then turned to my economic advisors to find the guy a nice little government cubbyhole job to stuff him away in.

So yeah.  I now have a bunch of new worlds.  Excellent.

Sorry for no update.  But I swear I have a good reason!  It's called XENOBLADEXENOBLADEXENOBLADEXENOBLADEXENOBLADE-*trails on into incoherent insanity*

---

So my war against the koopa is seemingly without end.  It's fortunate we korx are so damn good at making money, because I'm constantly buying my ships directly so I can maximize me research while still churning out ships.

........An economy the koopas seem hell bent on trying to throw a monkey wrench into.  How on earth they keep slipping those fighters into my zones to blow up my econ resources I will never understand.  Oh wait...It's...ITS A BATTERY PEWPEWER?!  WHO IS THE TREASONOUS SWINE WHO SOLD THEM THAT?!  ...It has to be the altarians.  They're the only ones I gave any ships.  ....Guess who's never getting any more handouts?

I need at least one more of their worlds to extend my range all the way across their territory.  And so as I took it I got....Wait, plasma 4?  PLASMA 4?!  THEY HAVE ALL THE WAY TO PLASMA 4 WEAPONS?!?!  ....Time to max out my shields, and crank out more guns.  I need to end this war as soon as possible, before they actually start doing more than scratching my ships.  Fortunately, my main research world is outputting 748 research.  Yes that's right.  748.  Heck to the yeah.

And suddenly....The ponies were no more.  Unable to cut it out there in the galaxy, they were assimilated into the Altarian nation.  .....Oh dear....The Altarians are no longer that far behind.....And they have that booster crystal....that's no good....I'll need to get rid of them on the quick...

On a related note, if the Tekk can take on the combined assault of 4 races, and take 2 of them out.......I think it's time I conceded that they are indeed a superpower worthy of attention.  Hey!  Axel!  Prime CPU of the tekk!  How about I give you a research treaty and some money in exchange for some diplomacy tech?  Goody.  Hopefully, when you're more than just friendly to me, we can be allies and save ourselves a very long, drawn out war.

....In fact speaking of allies, I should probably see how all the other races feel towards one anoth-SWEET CORNFLAKES ON A CARNAGE CASSEROLE THE KOOPAS ARE ALLIED WITH THE YOR?!?!?!?!?  Oh thank GOD this didn't happen earlier, or the yor would be on my case too.  At least the Yor are "close" to me, so I think I'll be hard to bribe them to kill me....Still, I should keep an eye on-

Why are there tons of Yor ships moving for territory that lies in between me and the Tekk?  I know they're all aiming for an altarian fighter, but still.......I COULD ally with them, but then if they are actually after the Tekk......Then I will be done for.  Totally done for.  Serve me on a platter done for.  I can't fight the koopas AND the Tekk!  .....Just gonna hope the yor aren't after me...Still, this means I can never make peace with the koopas, or else the Yor, and their very large army will be knocking on my door.

And then, right on cue, the koopa king Azurelas comes on.  "So....Yeah.  We're open for peace.".  Forget it, buddy.  I'm not falling for that again.  You just want breathing room to reload your weapons, get a ton of free ships and get the Yor in on the fun.  You want peace?  How about you TOTAL AND UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER in exchange?  ....No?  Fine.  But remember, I gave you guys a chance to live.

Suddenly, I noticed a koopa fighter heading for my terror star.  NO YOU DON'T LADDIE! ...Still, it's gonna take 28 weeks for it to get to the target....You know what?  I'm making more terror stars.  I can't wait that long.  Oh if only I had those spore ships those Drengin reject Korath guys are rumored to have had.....Still, that would just make their demise faster.

Then they came on again.  In fact, in their own crude (but appreciative) way, they conceded that we were mopping the floor of them, and that they wanted to grovel for peace.  ....My previous offer still stands.  No?  Your call.

.......And then they begged for peace again.  ...No, and how about you give me 3000 BC to maybe persuade me to be merciful later *snicker*.  No?  You realize I have a terror star building next to one of your stars, right?

And finally, the last surprise for the evening was a free precursor ranger.  ...That's it?  1 lazer and 6 missile?  ....Well, free is free.

Independent of the game(s) I've described here, I have finally resumed my Terran AAR.

Live, thread! Live!

I'm currently in the middle of a rather ridiculous game of TOA where, essentially, I've fallen victim to some kind of snowballing war effect. Basically, near the beginning of the game I declared war on a minor race who wouldn't trade me their technology. The Drath and Krynn (who already disliked me) declared war to 'stop my acts of aggression'. I managed to make peace with the Drath, only for the Arceans to declare war on me because of my 'war of aggression against the Krynn'. Then the Drath declared war on me again for fighting the Arceans. And so on and so forth. Currently, I and my ally the Yor are at war with the Drath, Krynn, Arceans, Korath, and Iconians, and I've had war declared on me about twelve times. There's only one problem for the enemy coalition in all this...

...I'm the Drengin.

60+ free ships, here we go.

  Sorry I haven't been posting about my Korx game recently.  I've been really busy and haven't had time to sit down and finish off those bloody shell wearing koopa scum!

....You son of a gun. 

I hate fighting the drengin just because of that skill.  In my current game, I gave that skill to the Koopa kingdom, and I am in a war with them.  I REFUSE to allow that war to end until they cave to me for 2 reasons.  1)  The one time I accepted peace, They declared war on me 3 turns later, jsut so they coudl get more ships.  And 2)  They have a pact with the Yor.  Who I have lots of trade with.  And who like me.  >_>

And I finally got back to my Korx game.  Sorry it's been so long.  I've been super busy.

---

After a VERY long and well deserved corporate vacation, I came back to my ubercomputer(tm) to continue my extermination of the koopas.  And I decided to stop focusing on weapons for the time being, since I'm already super strong, so I could get more diplomacy and work things out with the Tekk.

Oh, and hit the big red button to nuke two more of their worlds.  Finally.  These terror stars are freakin slow...

In fact, I'll go take a look at the Koopa tab on my WAITWHATTHEHELL?!  WHENDIDTHEFUDDERMUDGINGKOOPASALLYWITHTHETEKK?!?!  Oh gosh....oh gosh oh gosh....The koopa are allied with the tekk.  If I am forced to break off war with them, I'm never going to be able to fight them again...

Well, two can play at that game!  Hey, Tekk?  Now that I've got some Majesty researched, how about that alliance?  Because you're too much trouble to fight?  Ok, cool.  Am I still at war with the koopa?  ....Good.

In fact....I'm close to the Yor too....Who is somehow part of the alliance with the tekk too....I wonder...Could I make that work in my favor?  Make peace with the koopas and piss them of until they attack me, and then cause a dogpile beatdown on them?  ....No, they know I'm strong than them....They won't redeclare war under any circumstance.

Hey, I wonder who else is allied with the Te-....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

They have alliances with everyone except the Terrans!!!!  And they're close to them!  Oh no what did I do?!  I thought by allying with the Tekk I coudl pursue an alliance victory, but instead....I just furthered theirs!  Do I want to risk war with the tekk by breaking the alliance?   ....Dammit, what the heck do I-

Wait....I see one chance.  ONE.

Hey Terrans!  Want to go to war with the Tekk?  No?  Dammit, that really-  ....But you can go to war with the koopa?  Do it Jenna Casey.  ....Perfect.  Alliance doggy pile, here we go!  2000 some odd BC is more than worth this.

I COULD break my alliance with the Tekk, but then at best I'd never be able to make an alliance victory with them, which would be a terrible option to lose, and at worst I could end up under a doggy pile of alliances.  So while the Terrans are buying me more time, I am going to steal victory from under everyone's feet.

And then the Galaxy was consumed by war yet again, and everyone pounced on the humans.  Good.  I hope this will buy me enough time....Why oh why did I make that damn alliance?  Well, there's only one thing I can do now.  CRANK!  DAT!  !@#$!

...Is it working?  Good, it's only double, not squared.  Time to max out all possible research.

And then the Tekk rang me up.  YEAH?  WHAT?!  WHAT DO YOU JERKS WA-  ...huh?  My...BENEVOLENCE has earned your admiration?  You...Want to give me a gift?  Oh...1234 BC.  Hahahaha, you so funny Axel.  Thanks!  *close vidscreen*  YOU TEKK SCUM I WILL NOT LET YOU WIN!!

Then the Terrans came calling.  They were in desperate need of help (obviously).  I hate doing this, but you know what?  Here's 4000 BC, and a bunch of semi obsolete grand blaster mark 1s.  You should be able to fight them off no problem now.  Yes, Yes, I know I'm your hero.  Just don't die!

Then a PLAGUE struck.  ....Dammit I do not have time for this.  I DO NOT HAVE-.....One turn?  ....Fine.  But only because I don't want my researchers to die.  Make the cure, make it FAST, and then give it to my scientists first, NO EXCEPTIONS.

*BZZT*  Oh HELLO, Altarians, what do you wa-...My benevolence has.....More gifts?  Uhh...Ok thanks I gue-....YOU GUYS STILL HAVE A RESEARCH TREATY?!  GIMME!  GIMMEGIMMEGIMME!

Suddenly, A terror star crew buzzed me.  They were in position.  Next to 3 koopa worlds.  Normally, this would fill my with evil ecstasy, but for some reason, it doesn't.

In fact, a lot of my terror stars are almost in position....I guess I could......Yes, I can probably execute the entire koopa race before I ascend.  And I just found their homeworlds too.....You know what?  I'll do it.  I will make my last great action in this galaxy be the extermination of the entire koopa race.  I'm vain like that.  Wait...They have 9 worlds...I only see 7....Huh....There's only one place left where they could be hiding them.  That tiny pocket of worlds in the corner.  Let's make a super super fast scout ship MADE of nothing but engines, and then WHOOOOSH it all the way over there in 2 turns, and...AHA!  Found you.

*BZZT*  Oh, hey Azurelas, Koopa king.  "You are small furry animals on the roadside!  Your doom is at hand!  For we have Plasma weapons!".  I sighed, shrugged, and said:  I have max level shields.  Also, I have a Hulk-I mean, I have a pack of Terror stars nearing your worlds, guarded by fleets you can't even scratch.  And I have the secret of the universe at my fingertips.  Mock me all you want.  You are about to die.

And then another terror star descended upon them.  They keep sending armies upon armies upon armies of fleets to stop them, but my ships are far too powerful.  Their doom approaches like a slow, inexorable death march.  I can't imagine how powerless they must feel.  I mean, I'm not some pathetic lesser life form!

The koopas begged for mercy again.  "You know, I realize our mass attack on your species COULD have been misinterpreted as hostility, but we REALLY ARE interested in peace!".  Misinterpret my middle finger, Azurelas.  I appreciate that you are willing to turn over 2 of your last 6 worlds to me, in exchange for peace, but....I can't remember which ones are the ones next to the Tekk worlds, soooooo....Screw you.  Offer denied.  You should have surrendered when you had the chance.  Now I want nothing less than your total extinction.

And then the koopa homeworlds were burnt to dust...Now the Koopa king will have to rule from a space ship!  My last terror stars are almost in position.  two of them are hovering next to systems shared by the koopas and the tekk, waiting for orders.  And one is headed for their last 2 worlds.  14 weeks.  14 weeks and I will detonate them all.  And in the ensuing chaos, ASCEND!

.....What?  WHAT?!  WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!

You Koopas are surrendering to the ALTARIANS OF ALL RACES?!  Cowards.  You want your species to continue that badly?  Fine.  Go hide under their bed like the losers you are...  In fact, you know what?  EVEN THAT WON'T SAVE YOU.  Azurelas flipped me a rude gesture and replied "see you later...IN HELL!".  I laughed at him.  No.  No we will not meet again.  I will transcend reality.  Your reptilian brains are not powerful enough to ever follow us.

4 turns left.....Alright, let's get that last reasearch into Galatic Godhood started.  Time to shake up this Galaxy one last time.

Hey, Tekk?  I'm done with our alliance.  "Oh...Ok...but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised!".  Surprise THIS, Axel.  *BOOOM!*  Yes, that's right.  I just blew up one of your worlds AND an altarian world.  Why?  Because the Koopa once lived there.  Just because they flipped to another civilization doesn't mean that the people down there have changed species.  They are still Koopa, and they will DIE.  Now, on to the nest shared system!  Oh...There is a united planets law stopping me from attacking until next week?  Well, screw it.   I LEAVE THE UP!!  I HAVE NO NEED OF YOU PEONS ANYMORE!  NOW WRECK THAT WORLD!  *BOOOM*

And now the last two worlds formerly owned by the koopas....*BOOOOOOM*.  And with that, the koopa race is as good as extinct.  What few still live will never be enough to bring their species back to any form of relevance.  They will die out.  It's inevitable.

And now that I have only one week to go until Godhood....Hey yor?  *PEWPEW*  I just shot your ships!  HAHAHA.  Hey terrans?  *PEWPEWPEW*  I just attacked your worlds!

Then, I slammed my palm down on another evil-button-of-doom I made, and hijacked all communications across the galaxy.  Every TV station, website, everything.

ATTENTION EVERYONE!  Now that I have your attention by making all of you go to war with me, I have an announcement.  In one week, I will have the secrets of the universe and will ascend, taking my people, and the drath, who surrendered to my brilliance, with me.  I have decided to leave behind an inheritance to all of you, equally.  That inheritance is NOTHING!!  Har har har!  In fact, once I've ascended, all of my worlds will explode, leaving you with no spoils!

To the Terrans, I say thank you for being good pawns!  To the Yor, I hope you blow up everything!  To the Altarians, ....Uhh....Whatever.  To the Tekk, HAH WE BEAT YOU!  To anything left of the koopa race, let my legend be told for the last days of your race's history!   And if Azurelas is still alive....*leans forward*.  My name is Kralax of Korx.  I killed your father.  And now your race is dead.

Smell ya later!  Gentlemen?  HIT THE SWITCH.

*BWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRR*

And now...A GOD AM I!!!!  WHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

And the universe was never the same......

----

So...Yeah.  My Korx game is done.

It's too bad my game bugged up a bit near the end though.  The Terrans actually surrendered to me the first time, but then I was forced to reload a previous save, and they didn't do it the next time...

Sorry if the end came so quick.  But when I saw that the Tekk were about to make a diplomatic victory....I freaked out.  I mean...I COULD have just broken the alliance and tried to take over by killing everyone...But considering the size of the galaxy, the slow speed of the terror stars, and how slow and annoying invasion is...forget it.

Next game I play, I'm taking the spore ships.  I swear to mod!

Wonderful!  

In my current game,as the Drath, I've got the galaxy under my cold, reptilian claw. Put down the Torian and Thalan empires in one turn each.  Got my battlefleets in position outside all the remaining Korx and Altarian planets, ready to declare and invade; one turn from victory.  

And, the Jagged Knife just turned 62 of my planets; including the entire far, safe corner where all my Galactic Achievements and Trade Goods are.  Bugger.  

Hey, does anyone know how to delete custom races?  I can't start my next game until I delete some duplicate races.

See I want my next game to start blind (randomly selected opponents).  I don't want to know what races I will be up against until I find them.  But I don't want to run into 2 seeker unions while I'm out there...

 FYI, my next game I'm playing as a race of psychics with the Krynn tech tree and Super Manipulator.  I'm starting off neutral, but I will change my tactics and morality depending on what kind of Galaxy I run into.

Hot damn, 62 worlds?!?!

That's just insane.  My sympathies, man. 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!

I managed to find the delete function for races and got rid of the duplicate races I had (Seekers [the old version], And the Allseer Network.)

I started a new match.  As a race of psychics called the Allseer Circle.  Based on the Krynn Tech tree and with the Spore ships.  I would have taken super manipulator (You want to go to war with the Yooooor.  *handwave*), but in my last game the other races never seemed to have the race I wanted to fight on their list of targets.

Gigantic Galaxy, 9 races CHOSEN AT RANDOM (So I could play blind and try to adapt to whoever came at me), and on Challenging difficulty.  ALL victory types on.

So I begin...And things look promising.  Then, a Galatic news bulletin reveals that the Kingdom of Celestia (who ALSO use the Krynn tech tree) is in this game.  And then I run into the Krynn themselves....

Ok, so...Three races that use the same influence heavy tech tree....Ok, fine.  This is going to be a bit weird, but I can deal with it.  It could lead to a super crazy influence war!  That would be nifty!

And then...Suddenly another race comes on the Vidscreen....The Allseer NETWORK.  The race I HAD JUST FREAKIN DELETED.  WHY ARE THEY STILL IN THE GAME?!

So I killed that match.  Not only would it be stupid to fight against my own race, but with just a name and ability change, but this would be FOUR freakin races with the Krynn tech tree.  !@#$ that.  I'm not doing that.  Too monotonous  >: (  And I double checked.  They were not in the list of available opponents!

I'll try the random thing again later.  If it screws up again, I'm just gonna ask my brother or girlfriend to randomly select the races for me and not tell me which ones are in.... >: (

---

Anyway, a few highlights of that match that I just started:

1) What the heck is this thing?  It seems to be identified as a "dark Yor"....What's he saying?  Smeetz Kaela et............Yeah.  It seems my emotion reading powers can't "speak" robot.  I better get on that translation thing....Ahh, there we go.  Now, what do your emotions taste like, dark Yor?  ....Ew.  Very bizarre.  A disturbing taste followed by an even more bizarre aftertaste...

2) And who is this who contacts me?  Ynrhed Eidden of the Krynn, you say?  Your emotions taste of....Manipulation.  And strict doctrine.  Perhaps we might get along.  Perhaps not.

3) And who are you?  EMPEROR Iso THE WISE of the Inonians?  ...Superiority complex, much?  YOUR emotions taste li- EWWWWW!!  EW EW EWWWW!!!!!  WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE DANGLY THINGS HANGING FROM YOUR FOOD HOLE?!?!  EWWWWW!!

Ok, I started a new game, and I think the copy civs are finally gone for good.

Here are my settings:

All civs are random, difficulty is at challenging all victory types are up and ready.

And here is my civ.  I'm going to adjust my win strategy and morality and everything on the fly.

So, here we go!

----

I am Aeus.  Leader of the Alseer circle.  We are a nation of mentalists.  We can read minds and emotions.  We have long known that life exists outside our world...But could never reach out to them.  Until now.  As I reached out my mind, I heard an idea echo across the Galaxy.  Hyperdrive, it was called...

We built our ships, and sent out pilgrims to far off worlds.  We seem to be in the center-bottom of the galaxy...

There are very few stars around us.  And few worlds to colonize...Ah!  A class 10...And a 12!  They are MINE.

I kept hearing thoughts of other nations...The Terrans are one race, the Seekers anoher...And...Wait...This Thalan race...they have already gotten Temporal enlightenment?!  That's a Wonder!  How did they get that already?!

AH!!!  And...Uh...Who are you?  Krindar I'A-.....uhh...I can't mentally pronounce that name.  You're from the Korath, eh?  ....Umm...I'll have to get back to you later.  I can't seem to understand Monkey.  I'll have translators up in a week, though.  Your emotions taste like...Ugh...Blood.  I don't like that taste.  You scout ship...It's in the northwest...

Then, we made a huge discovery.  A powerful precursor device that can amplify our mental waves...Is there a downside to increasing its power?  Yes?  That our mental waves might get strong enough to influence the minds of others?  That's an acceptable side effect.  Boost it to the highest sustainable safe level!

And now a precursor workshop...Oh.  People who enter it often die slowly for unexplained reasons?  ...NO.  If there is such a defense mechanism in place, it would be wise not to tamper with it.  Jettison the lab from the planet as soon as you can.

And then the Thalans came before me.  Yes, I'm glad to meet you too.  Your emotions taste like...Like....Nothing.  Weird.  Your species has no taste!  They seem to be originating from my south...

Ahhh, and now the Tekk come before us.  You have something to say, Axel?  "I'm sure we'll get along great.  On the other hand, there's always long drawn out genocidal war.  We're good either way.".   ...You play a dangerous game, my new friend...Your emotions taste like....Ouch!  overheated processors!  they are to my east...

And now the TERRANS came to say hi too!  You might be right Jenna casey...Perhaps the galaxy ISN'T big enough for all of us...Your emotions taste of bread...Kinda bland, but full.  They are northwest of me.

BY THE MATRIX, MORE DIPLOMATS?!  Hello Iso the wise and benevolent of the Iconans, yaddayadda whatev-....Dude.  You need a tissue or something.  You have these giant snot thingies dangling from your nose.  Oh, and your emotions taste of regret.  Lots of it.

This veritable avalanche of races has begun their conquest.  A lot of low value worlds nearby are being taken by them all...but I am only concerned with the good ones.  They can take the worthless worlds if they feel like it.  Also, it appears that the Korath, terrans and Tekk are warm to my existence.  Good.

...And then a world I took turned out to have a civil war between insects RAGING across the surface.  This is none of my business.  Let nature take its course.  I realize this will hurt my world's production, but I'm fine with that.  After all, we just found a 300% boost to research here! 

I was then contacted by a veritable cacophony of colors.  Princess Celestia of the Kingdom of Celestia... Redundant, much?  Your emotio-...oooh!  OOOH!!! THEY TASTE LIKE SKITTLES!  Mind if I keep tasting that?  It's delicious!

And then the seekers...And then the drath...The former tasting of Hard Rock (the music and the mineral), and the letter tasting of bitter, bitter sadness, tinged with manipulation.

And then I came across something strange and otherworldly...Is that....An ascension crystal?!  Just outside my territory?!  I will note this....

And then suddenly, it was in the pony zone.  They swiftly colonized a few worlds near it, including one that I wanted....

It appears there are no more easily accessible worlds...I should now turn to tending o my citizens.  My mad rush to colonize has alienated them.  Everyone, I am lowering taxes considerably, and I'm constructing temples for us to meditate in!  Ahh, and the balance of the mental network is flawless again...

And finally, the Unite Planets was formed.  Our first law?  Increasing the speed of constructors.  I voted to boost the speed by 5.  Speed is always welcome.  And yet, no one liked the idea.  No change.  You people are so shortighted....

Lastly, I noticed that two worlds in my zone (class 4, both of them) got colonized.  By the terrans and the Korath...Welcome to my family.  Don't worry, you will become one with our collective consciousness soon enough.....

And we're back for another power hour of the Alseer Circle!

And just like that, RESTAURANT OF ETERNITY.  And just like that, the terrans colonizing that smaller world in our system have been enveloped by our collective mind and now see things our way.

Which is good, because my population is far too tiny...I am losing lots of money every turn...Ah, an Ecnomics capital just saved the day.  This will buy me some time to prepare...

In the meantime, I have a colony ship without a target.  I'm sending it from cluster to cluster, looking for somewhere to colonize...And then I cam across the Korath homeworld...It's VERY close to home...

And speaking of the Korath...

They threatened us.  No, I will not give you our damn homeworld.  I will not forget this.  Someday, you shall regret your impudence.

And just as my economy was beginning to tank yet again, Trade centers and xeno farms went up galaxy wide.  The economy started to rise...and rise..and.....There we go.  Now I can afford research once more.  

We're going for guns.  The Korath will not be content to laugh at us forever.  We need to be ready to fight. 

And then the UP declared the entire galaxy a Star Republic........At just the right time too.  Now that I am doing well economically, I can actually afford to lower my taxes enough to keep control of the thought network.

And then we discovered why our psychic network exists.  Deep under our homeworld of Etherion, we found a crystal cave.  These crystals are what makes our race the influential thing that it is.  And if we were to mine it, we could spread the Network further.  ...However, by separating the crystal from the stone around it, it brutally scars the mind of anyone near, eventually cutting them off from the Network, and then turning them into mindless beasts.  This price is too high.  No one shall be cut off from the network.  We leave the crystals there.

Suddenly, we found ourselves at war with the Seekers.  Apparently someone paid them well to fight us.  .......When is our railgun 1 research done?  Next week?  Good.  Finish it and commence the construction of the Trifecta Alpha.

And then the Seekers went to war with the Tekk...Who are these influential being that are convincing them to wage war so...?

I began to ponder my next move...

Not that this isn't interesting, but where'd everyone else go? I'd love to see ChainsawSchmalz apply his "unique" style of immersive writing to some other race, for instance.

I know!  I'm the only one still doing reports!  It's a lot of pressure being the only one! 

More alseer stuff

---

Subterfuge and battle rage begins...

The Korath are trying to ascend.  Yeah, that's right.  The KORATH are trying to ascend.

But it seems that they're not going to be going so easily.  The Seekers were bribed by a "mysterious third party" to kick their asses, and declared war.  Suddenly, the ponies piped up that the Korath attack on the Seekers is ruthless and terrible.  ...It seems that there is a layer of hardness under that cotton candy...

Then the the Torians piled on.  Then the drath.  THEN THE TERRANS.  All of them citing Korath "Agression".... DO NONE OF YOU FOOLS REALIZE THAT THE SEEKERS ARE THE ONES WHO DECLARED WAR?  NOT the Korath!  And they're doing so for a mysterious third party!  What....How...None of you are making any sense!

The Tekk certainly don't seem to approve and are retaliating on the seekers.  The drath are helping the seekers.

And then to make things even MORE annoying, the Drath come on and lecture US for OUR agression with the seekers!  WHAT AGGRESSION?!  THEY declared war on US!  Probably because of YOU!  And not a single shot has been fired this war!

....I tried to sway many of the other races, but none will even consider aiding me against the drath....That's just stupid.  Why is there no option?!

Furthermore, My economy is rather slow.  Stable, but slow...Even with this new Galatic Stick exchange, I feel I need to expand.  I need more worlds....Oh hello Korath.  NO I WILL NOT TURN OVER ETHERION 2 TO YOU APES.  ....But your planets look quite ripe for the picking....Can I crank out invasion tech?  I can?  Do it.  And....Creative powers go, I have invasion tech early.

So here's where I stand now....

The Galaxy is at war, and there are small skirmishes with the Korath and the other races near my zone (The korath have LOTS of ships.  Much weaker than my upgrades Trifecta Betas, though).  But they keep gaining and losing their ascension bases.  They snagged a second one, but they keep losing it.  Thank the network.

I need to crank out a military force, and I need it now.

Well...my current games are all as follows:

New Game --> Galaxy Setup --> Select Race --> Select Opponents --> Loading --> Crash

FYI, not much has changed in my alseer game.

Well...A lot Has, but...

You that saying "the more things change, the more they stay the same"?.  That applies here.

Everyone is at war with everyone.  The Drath bribe one race, and then everyone follows their lead and gangs up on their target.  The Korath, Iconians and the Thalans are all on the receiving end of a beatdown brouhaha of some kind.

I'm like an island of sanity in an ocean of madness!

...Although one thing it bugging me.  I'm culture hugging a Korath world.  I have it at (9.50) It's had the skull and crossbones symbol for over a year.  And its STILL not freakin flipping over to my control!  I don't understand it!

Planets tend to be difficult to subvert.

try using a spy on any moral improvements on it.

By the way, for those of you following my Terran AAR, I plan to start a new one soon as the Torians (for the 15-year game I've mentioned above), since I'm going to reach the current point in that one in a few more "chapters".

An update on my Alseer game:

Finally, after hovering at 16.5 influence bombardment, that small Korath world's apes FINALLY were subsumed by our Network.  Finally.

Then, the drath got bribed to kill off the Korath, adding to the beatdown brouhaha going on...and then, following a totally blank message, they came after us.

It honestly seems like no race will take us seriously, either.  Yes, I know, we're on 8th place in the power standings.  But no one will trade anything to us, no one of use to me will consider an alliance (I just tested the waters), and other races keep attempting to extort money from us as "peacekeeping" fees...This needs to change.  We alseers are not some minor race to be taken advantage of.  We must turn this around...But to do so, we must expand.  We can't survive on just a handful of worlds....There are two fantastic Korath worlds nearby....If I can add those to the Network it would be a great boon to us...So I made preparations.

In the meantime, a nameless race destroyed their own homeworld through their folly, and needed a new home.  I welcomed them with open arms.  The more join the network, the stronger we become.  All will become one of us....

And then, it seemed the mindless apes of the Korath clan finally realized that I was coming for them, as my transport ships neared those two worlds.  They chose to attack me, and try to destroy me before I destroyed them.   .....What was that Terran phrase?  "BRING.  IT.  ON."?

My large fleets of weak Trifecta Betas were a fair match for the Korath fleets, generally taking them out with few losses.  And my smaller fleets of mid-sized Catalysts were even better.

Then came the invasion.  Through the eyes of the commander, I saw those barbaric apes pounding their guns on the ground and gesturing like animals.  I raised my hands and focused....A storm brewed.  The continued to chant.  The storm became a hurricane.  Their oceans became an unstoppable maelstrom.  The apes began to falter...Then, as the storm struck them, sending them into disarray, my psychic shock troops descended from the transports.  Their mental powers turned ally on ally, friend upon friend (Can these monster apes even have friends?), and killed the rest with arcs of lightning.  Many shock troops died in the battle, but those two worlds were almost immediately taken.  And then, we forcibly jacked them into our Network.  After a moment of instability,  everything settled to normal.  Dissent within the Network was stable at the usual 10%.  Those worlds, and those apes were now ours.

Let the universe see this and know our resolve.  We are not done with the Korath.  We shall rebuild our lost ships and we shall push them out of our sector.  I know where their home world is.  We will take it from them, for they are unworthy of it.  We shall do what the other races cannot, despite their endless feuds and bribes of war.  We will civilize these monsters, by word or by flame.

Alseers:

----

The Korath are dead.  Gone.  Finished.  I was preparing to take their last three worlds....but the Terrans got to them first.  This upsets me.  I need more worlds...

On the plus side, the korath defeat frees up some resources I wanted and were too defended before.  I now own an additional research base and a first ever econ base.  This will be useful to me.

I  found myself in a pickle. Most of the other races have alliances up with other races, and none will consider a straight up alliance with me.  I also need more worlds, but I'm not sure I can take on the Tekk (who are the top dogs), or the Terrans (who are strong and I like), or the Ponies (they have MANY alliances with stronger races...).

It was about this time that the terrans attacked the tekk, causing the Tekk, Torians, Ponies and Drath to dogpile the terrans.  On the other hand, the Iconians are now assisting the terrans.  So I sat there, unsure of what to do......And then I decided.  There were a few tekk worlds not too far from mine.  It was time for a cold war.  We will slowly bring them into the Network.  Slowly, carefully, peacefully...

I hope this doesn't blow up on us...

-----

Also, this is the LAST TIME I EVER TAKE SUPER MANIPULATOR.  None of the other races EVER want to go to war with the guys I want them to, making it useless to me.  >: (