The Evon Experience
by Alex Poff

Chapter 15 Meet and Greet

Lotar had been correct in his assessment of the tactical situation and future battle plans for the Laan system. It would indeed, take a great deal of time to develop a sufficient force to assault and liberate the Alkari in Laan. In defeating the Laaran in Ognath, our forces had been greatly depleted and it was still vital that we maintain a powerful defense force in Moya, as it was still the northern entrance to our empire. With that, five TF's were positioned in Moya and our remaining four TF's in our northern fleet were placed in Ognath.

We had not encountered any more Ithkul fleets and our Eolodi military liaison officer passed on additional information, stating that the Ithkul were all but destroyed. "By whom?" we asked. "Good news." came the reply. "There are others we would wish to introduce to you." And so it was that another meeting was called before our High Council, this time to formally open diplomatic channels with not one, but two, like-minded, sentient species.

We were delighted at this turn of events. The first species was a humanoid one, Psilons, who called themselves Olaptra. While slightly different from us physically, they were, nonetheless, "brothers" in space and we took to each other immediately. They had been instrumental in attacking the Ithkul from the "far side", closer to the center of the known galaxy and were delighted to find that it was another humanoid species that had been killing their mortal enemy as well. In addition, they too, were at war with the Laaran, instigated by silicoid incursions in their space. Agreements were quickly signed, including economic, research, intelligence and finally, a Full Alliance. Could things get any better? Yes, they could.

The second species we were introduced to were the Tralaifa, a species not unlike our Eolodi friends, but of a different branch, so to speak. They were Imseisis, they said, but they live life much as our Eolodi allies do, "floating" about. While very pleasant, they did not proceed to a full alliance with us immediately. Many profitable trade agreements were signed however, and a formal Non-Aggression pact was quickly instituted between our two peoples.

Our High Council was ecstatic. We were meeting many new races now, and it seemed that most wanted what we wanted, peaceful growth and expansion. With Labon busily overseeing the development of the northern fleet, we could now turn our attention to our southern front and particularly the Guardian, who still held sway over the Ursa system, two systems away from our southern chokepoint, Selia.

Tovam now had eight TF's at his disposal. Five were our old 1st generation LR Battle Cruiser TF's and the other three were comprised of one 1st generation Battleship IF, one 2nd generation Battleship IF and one 2nd generation Battleship LR. The plan was to assault the Guardian with our three newer TF's, take the system, and immediately colonize the worlds with Battle Cruiser Colony Ships that had been built and were waiting for orders in Selia as well.

All did not go according to plan, yet no lives were lost. Tovam was completely successful in his attack on the Guardian vessel; it fell to our more powerful missile salvos rather handily. The colony vessels were immediately dispatched from Selia upon word from Tovam, however, our Eolodi friends held the system between Selia and Ursa and they simply beat us to it. When our colony ships arrived in Ursa only two of the six (not five, as we had originally thought) planets were open. The High Council was displeased, but obviously, we could not ask our friends to relinquish the planets they had just acquired. We were not about to risk our friendship simply because we had miscalculated. The treaty in place was very specific; "whoever gets there first" was the simple rule we both had agreed to follow. With that, we began developing our two new worlds. Tovam returned to Selia in his 2nd generation Battleship IF, leaving an IF and LR TF in the system to act as both system police and as a defensive force ag ainst invasion. We now had access through Ursa to another far-off system owned by our new friends, the Tralaifa, as well. This would prove significant in the not too distant future.