2212.06.15 Toady One System- StrongholdMy predecessor was a surprise guest at the interview. It… went downstream rather quickly.
Tankit is annoyed with the former Overseers reasons for not upgrading the fleet- he couldn’t convince the council to fund a ‘trivial’ refit. Unfortunately, without shielding technology, he simply didn’t have the leverage to convince them- all he could was expand the fleet and hope that quantity would make up for quality. I won’t admit it near the Admiral, but I have to concede this one… the Council simply wouldn’t care.
We both reamed on each others faults, and now the Council is mostly against me- I cannot rely on them as allies. Apparently, the Council doesn’t take kindly to their own being attacked from people not under their control, but areat least forced to be clandestine about it thanks to the support I have from the public.
Fine. I will make new allies- short of an Emergency Election, the Council will have to deal with me for another eight years and will learn to stay in line. Unlike my predecessor- although thanks to the groundwork he laid, I’ll give him that much now- I don’t have to rely on their goodwill to fund what I do.
We own and control patents and starcharts, have defence contracts and a hefty percentage of whatever profit is made from asteroid mining and power relays… we’ll be short on budget for awhile, but in time we’ll be stronger than ever!
2213.03.08 Toady One System- StrongholdTonight, we finally
finally completed the refit of the fleet that has been long overdue. Touring the upgraded ships with Tankit was like taking a child to a toy store- I never thought I’d see anyone so excited over
airtight bulkheads of all things!
The Admiral has expressed doubts on how useful the new shields will be in combat- he’s concerned we simply can’t put out enough power to sustain any sort of significant barrier... and the shields appear to be loosely based on Cybrex technology. He is grateful for the added durability, though… Tankit spent most of the day reminiscing how space debris be constantly tearing through the ship, forcing repair crews to work in shifts constantly… and the medical bay to always be full. Morale is at a new high, to say the least.
Meanwhile, URIST has launched another colony ship which is now heading towards Onxeis III. Haven’t heard anything more from them, curiously.
2213.04.03 Toady One System-StrongholdNaidoo has changed the patrol routes to take advantage of the fact our ships no longer need constant repairs, allowing Lu-Nin to expand our borders and claim more territory.
2213.11.17 Umeet’e System- D-9-981 AsteroidThe Vagabond was destroyed while investigating some caverns on the D-9-981 Asteroid. Their last report describes the discovery of something ‘horrifically terrifying’ before a strange chant in a unknown language is heard and the screaming starts. All signs point to the Vagabond having rammed the Asteroid as if to destroy what they found.
I’ve renamed the ISS Venture into the ISS Vagabonds Memory in their honor, and asked Tankit to bombard D-9-981… just in case. The public is in mourning, and to my surprise Liang is quietly visiting the families of the deceased crew himself. I… am ashamed to say I hadn’t thought about them, and now I wonder what else I’ve missed...
2214.02.03 Toady One System- Stronghold SpaceportSomething has impacted Stronghold near the Sakeni Yotta Ika Power Plant. At first it went unnoticed, ignored as a normal meteorite… but slowly reports started coming in. Rumours of strange sounds in the night, sightings of bizarrely malformed and aggressive versions of normal wildlife, an increase in Lu-Nin reported missing.
Of course, no one believed it was anything other than fear talking, so when Planetary Governor Hua He went in to reassure the populace there no one expected anything would go wrong… until we lost contact with everything in that sector.
The Council sent in a taskforce on the ground, only for the taskforce have to fight off the very land around them-the trees struck with their branches and roots, attempts to go around them through the kelp forests were met with disturbing, mutated toxin spewing serpents… Tankit ended up calling in the entire fleet to bombard the province from orbit, something we've never done to our own territory. He didn't take that order well, I think he's currently ripping through some minor pirates at the moment.
Eventually, whatever it is was contained and the distorted wildlife just withered away… Hua He was found, alive but insane, in a cargo container covered in scratches and surrounded by mounds of withered corpses.
We’ve identified what it was which caused this as some form of strange energy signature emitted by an object which is, thankfully, too weak to spread out from the now-quarantined Sakeni Yotta Ika.
The people want answers… but while our Physicists have identified three locations where the object may have come from, I fear this is far beyond our scope of understanding. The object appears to
warp reality and time around itself and distort it- we can only clear its taint by bombarding it from orbit and hoping for the best. Given that the object wiped out all life around it, Council Member Liang has even voiced concerns the object may be an attack by the Cybrex! I'm more afraid of the possibility that it wasn't them... but instead another threat out to wipe us out.
2214.10.12 Laatis System- Laatis VIII
Unidentified structures have been found floating in the atmosphere of a Gas Giant during a survey mission. After some convincing, I’ve convinced URIST to finance an expedition led by Zienab to investigate the structures in hopes of finding ways to improve their Paturn IV Power Relay.
2214.12.20 Laatis System- Laatis VIIIThe floating structures are the remains of a rather elaborate social experiment involving colonists of various species according to the databanks that are still on the structures.
Given the number of corpses and what our Forensics found, the experiment came to a violent end when the colonists massacred each other. What kind of scientist would run such a twisted, albeit interesting, experiment and not intervene when things took a turn for the worse?
…Would we do the same?
2215.03.03 Onxeis System- Colony II, As Yet UnnamedOur Head Diplomat of Xenophobic Affairs, Shui ‘Euchre’ Jiao has been assigned to the new colony in hopes that the planets extraordinarily dangerous wildlife, volcanic activity and dangerous terrain will force him to do his work and STOP HITTING ON ME.
So far, his laziness and condescending attitude has proven too much for the planet to handle. In fact, there is a Science Team investigating his continued survival- they think he may have similar reality-warping abilities as the object that caused the ‘Distortion’ on Stronghold.
Speaking of Xenophobic Affairs, the populace is leaning in favor of ‘integrating’ the Denobulan. I should get around to that- Jiao obviously won’t.
2215.04.25 Laatis System- Laatis IThe Decimator has discovered an abandoned Solar Sailer similar to the one found during Liang Nelsongs term as Overseer. It’s curiously close to the abandoned social experiment, so I’ve ordered Zeinab to look for signs that they share origins.
2215.07.04 Shuyesh System- Shuyesh IIIDuring my last inspection of our labs, I noticed that the Physicists under my command have invented all sorts of improvised equipment to get around the lack of funds my predecessor forced them to work with, making it difficult for different labs to collaborate.
No more- they now have to upgrade their labs to meet my standards by 2220, and I’ve given them the grants to do it. I shouldn’t be converting twenty different systems of measurement to understand a report on one barnacle gilled project.
2215.07.06 Laatis System- Laatis IThe ISS Decimator has been lost, along with Zeinab Alawi. No one is certain how it happened, but somehow a simulation of Solar Sailer inadvertently activated the Decimators self-destruct. Tankit is currently searching the wreckage for evidence- I haven’t seen him angry before, and I hope I never see it again. He destroyed the Solar Sailer in his rage, and frankly it was worth it to get him calmed down.
Liang has turned his funeral into a political event, the arrogant spawn of a parasitical, acid-breathing scavenger. I have secretly arranged for his ‘secret’ vacation spot on Rampart to be ‘accidentally’ leaked to the press- serves him right! I am regretting thinking he could ever have a selfless scale on his body- I bet when he gave his condolences to the families of the deceased from the Vagabond was also just politics!
The loss of Zeinab and the ISS Decimator has set back Scientific Progress by decades… but more importantly, he will be missed by his friends.
So, we have a planet to name! I'm leaving planet names to you guys from now on. Feel free to suggest names for other things as well- I can name pretty well anything in Soveriegn Stronghold space, up to and including every mining station and power relay. Stellaris is great like that.
Zienab Alawi and Maxwell are dead- the RNG Gods claimed their poor souls. Maxwell wasn't all that noteworthy until he died (as harsh as that sounds), but Zienab was involved in a lot- pretty well everything we know on the Cybrex was thanks to his efforts. How should we honor him?
Finally, a confession: I actually forgot about the Denobulan until I was proofreading this. I will get on that ASAP, I swear! *Gets pummeled by raging citizens*
) and policy, the policy can provide some Pops with a 150% Happiness Bonus but bans the new ship hull. I normally go for it because of the happiness bonus. 
