The Evon Experience
by Alex Poff

Chapter 4 Defend

With the attack on Scout 1 by the "Guardian" and the wanton destruction of Scout 2 by an as yet unidentified species in the far-off Tokan system, our High Council determined it was time to shift our ship production from colonization mode to defense mode. Tactical analysis easily determined that our first step should be defensive in nature, partly due to the fact that we are, as mentioned earlier, a cautious race, but also because we felt our technological level of advancement was not yet adequate to field any formidable attack force.

We had only recently developed a larger ship building capability (Cruiser size) and we were limited to plasma fusion cannons for any type of offensive firepower. Our warp speed capability, while it had advanced, had not done so by very much, which meant even if we wanted to exact revenge it would simply take too long to build and dispatch a fleet to the scene of the crime.

We had, as we saw it, two main access or choke points, which fed into our Empire, which now consisted of a total of sixteen planets, two of which were our magnate friends, the Rhean and the Darlok. One system was Selia to the "south"; the other was Saak to the "north". This made ship allocation relatively simple. Other than having a few vessels on patrol in individual systems to control the inevitable trading in contraband, the bulk of our forces could be built and distributed to these two border systems.

We also elected to inform the Alkari that we could not proceed at this time to their home world with our planned colony vessel; it was simply too dangerous, as their home system was only one system removed from the scene of our scouts' destruction. In fact, we actually recalled the colony ship that was halfway there, ordering the captain to turn around in the Moya system and return to Saak to colonize the lone large green world we had discovered in that system earlier. We considered this an essential and battle-wise move, for if Saak were to be a true chokepoint system, we would need to build a mobilization center there fast.

Indeed, it turned out to be a very wise and life-saving decision. Upon executing his orders and turning back for Saak in Moya (two systems past Saak), we received our first formal contact with another species that did not want peace. They called themselves Ithkul, they had colonized worlds in the Moya system, and they declared war on us immediately and without provocation. Our High Council was stunned. These were truly revolting creatures that, while they appeared at least partially humanoid, seemed devoid of all soul and appeared to be more of a parasitic race. It was decided; our first four-ship LR Cruiser squadron was heading to Saak.

Meanwhile Scout 1 traversed the wormhole to the south and upon entering the system at the far end encountered another race of beings that called themselves Eolodi. They were large creatures that "floated" about and seemed quite advanced. Apparently, while we had been traversing the wormhole to get to them, they had been traversing the wormhole to get to us and had colonized the system that was below Selia, the system that was the access point to the wormhole and the Guardian. We immediately opened a peaceful dialogue with them and were delighted when we came to a mutual economic trade agreement practically immediately.

For the time being at least, we believed that war at both chokepoints to our Empire had been averted, but it did not stop our military commanders from sending a second four-ship LR Cruiser squadron to Selia, just in case. We also engaged our Rhean friends to immediately begin training marines, should the horrific become reality. If someone wanted to take our worlds, they would be in for a nasty gargantuan surprise.