00:09:05
Oh, first Neinzul encounter. I deciphered what match the "song of peace" at 67% in my Neinzul database. The enclave approached my stations without sending younglings as I know they do when they attack, so I let it slip under my forcefield. And my stationary scouts spotted a red one that AI doesn't attack. Bad news.
Some stray AI ships are announced on the radar. They might have lost their way. They'll never tell where I am.
On the scout side, I decided to use scout starships instead of wasting time trying to improve the base scout model. I know they're not for deep scouting, but they'll do the job.
00:10:37
AI hit. Ok, maybe they were not stray ships. Maybe it didn't appreciate my curiosity. There were only a dozen of ships, but 7 different Spire models. Big ones, for some. I don't know if they are AI's reproduction or true Spire beings. I heared tales of the Royal Armada's firepower, and I fear the AI made a pact with them. But if they're only replicas, I'll be able to steal their blueprint, eventually.
And the yellow Neinzul enclave reacted, sending younglings in the battle. They were friendly! I imagine they found the place comfortable and helped me to keep it safe. My Neinzul starship model feels weak, in comparison.
00:14:12
"knock knock. Who is it? The second AI; can I get in, me too?" No way, pal! This Zenith blueprint proved quite useful. I can sustain only some, but I wrote down a note about future R&D.
On the 23 planets I scouted (24 with mine), I found 6 with a strange device that I think linked to the "evil" ones the pirates were looking for. 4 of them are adjacent. My starship scouts proved not that good at deep scouting. So bad, but I won't spend time and data tweaking scouts on such a little wormhole network.
00:16:48
31 planets, 12 scary artifacts. One corner and the center are infested. I'm beginning to feel like the human pirates are not gone for a treasure hunt, and that maybe they'll never come back. On the bright side, I notices two heavily fortified planets around a corner I can't get in with my scouts. I feel like this is where the AI hid one of its central processing unit. The bright side, as I said, is that there is a path with no Spire artifact that lead to it. I'll see later how to use it to my advantage.
00:17:38
Hey! A red enclaved jumped in without saying hello. It released angry younglings and my autonomous ships take them down, with a help from the yellow enclave. I hope the next enclave would be more polite.
And my scout starships are done exploring all they can. Still 31 planets out of 49. Now go for some conquest. But I need to be very careful with where I step. The immediate surrounding is full of co-processors and design backups. I need to overclock my brain and think faster. Where to attack? What to capture? I need more power to survive in this wormhole network and kick this AI in the teeth.
00:17:39
Fourth co-processor spotted. I didn't notice. But deep in Dark Spire territory. I'll need raid starships, and good ones. I'll improve them, hunt down the coproc and learn more about the AI's network doing so. I'll certainly be able to steal some more blueprints with that. I'm afraid the AI would respond and not only on the network. The Zenith siege engine would prove useful for defending a static relay of mine near the design backup. I'll upgrade them too. I'll lack metal, but I'll expand on the hacked planets. But first, raids! Let's do this.
00:20:44
One planet is mine. Raid Starships MkIII are so expansive I decided to blow a co-processor earlier and take more metal: these damn proc are emitting a powerful magnetic field due to quantum computing, I presume, that interfere with my long range power supply network.
I'm building a relay for my personal network on this one and sending a science lab in: an autonomous ship filled with all I'll need to analyze the AI's secrets remaining there. A second yellow enclave joined me and I broadcast the "song of attack" from my Neinzul database. Luckily, they understood I wasn't attacking them and followed my raid. These younglings are good warriors! They destroyed the last remote guard post before my siege engines could be in firing range.
00:24:20
Ouch! Aggressive enclave attacking. The enclave itself get destroyed rapidly, but near 80 younglings are a pain. As I said earlier, they're good warriors. Luckily, friendly enclaves don't hesitate to fight their siblings. Fire against fire.
00:31:57
I attacked another planet; it has no CoProc, no Design Backup, is only MkII and available through the one I just captured. This time, neinzul didn't follow. An AI Neinzul replica ship was a true pain to take down with my little fleet, and some spire blade spawners around the place made my life harder. I only half-neutered it and kicked out a counter post. Bright side: my economy is largely enough to quickly rebuild my little fleet. And by now the 3 MkIII Raid Starships are online. Let see how far my control network can reach, and how does it feel to "upload" myself in a blazing-fast starship!
Little precaution: send out engineer drones to build some automated static defenses, in case my raiders stirs up too much trouble.
00:32:41
Oops! The guards from the planet I tried to grab are seeking vengeance. They're very few, but a blade spawner is already firing at my expansive turrets! Oh, and a third friendly enclave is already under my forcefield. I'm sure they're communicating, but I can't precisely decipher it. Maybe I can register some songs and try to recast them. We'll see.
00:36:26
One hostile enclave and its 80 younglings get the forcefield of my relay station to 33%. I wish I had move turrets, but they are so expansive. I should have counted my metal before affording them.
00:39:03
Counter post's wave hit, sniper turrets just finished and helped, younglings bravely rushed the invader and a fourth enclave joined the team. Today was a good day.
00:40:48
Missile and sniper turrets on both planets are finished and my cheap fleet is rebuilt. I can't afford more for now, and it's time to raid!
