Homeworlds:
Andy vs. Russell
PBEM Game 1, Report #6, 1/29/4
Moves 36 - 39
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Russell:
Our Cookie Delivery Fleet Analysts are still trying to understand
what happened at Cobalt. Apparently, from the evidence we've been
able to piece together, the Tribunal's two small scouts began
covertly skimming the orbital Cookie delivery packages and filling
their holds with Cookies. To make matters more confusing, the
fully-loaded scouts then attacked their own side's light cruiser
in orbit around the system, and in the ensuing chaos and destruction,
fled the system together, bound for a completely new market for
our fantastic Cookies. Rescue efforts for the Tribunal ships began
immediately as the wreckage continued to break apart. Fortunately
there were fewer casualties than might be expected, due to the
quick work of the Peace and Tribunal ships. Negotiations have
begun with the last remaining vessel of the Tribunal Fleet in
orbit around Cobalt, and given the close cooperation in the rescue
efforts, it is likely that yet another Tribunal vessel will be
joining sides with the Peace Envoys. Welcome aboard, one and all!
Given the continued evacuation efforts of the Tribunal loyalists
around Paradise, the Peace Advisory Council on Intergalactic Affairs
has dispatched our home system's only significant defense unit
to the Jolly system, to question the mutineers aboard the Tribunal's
scouts. If they were just over-zealous in their desire to help
deliver the fantastic award-winning Cookies, their actions might
at least be understandable, if not forgivable. But perhaps there
is some more sinister reason that the Tribunal's fleets are attacking
each other. Our analysts can only speculate.
Andy: The arrival of a large Cookiemonger warship at
our new colony on Jolly was indeed a shock to the crews of our
two small yellow ships. As reports continued to come in from the
crew of the small green ship they left behind at Cobalt, also
under threat of attack by the Cookiemongers, they decided to embark
upon a bold but dangerous plan!
Leaving a small but brave defense crew on board one of the
small yellows at Jolly, everyone else piled into the other ship
to help out with the Cobalt rescue mission. Flying at an engine-risking
top speed, they returned to Cobalt and docked with the small green
stranded there. Even as the Cookiemongers sought to attack with
their vile, poisonous cookies, the engine from the small yellow
was removed from the small yellow ship the rescuers had arrived
in. As this engine was mounted on the hull of the stranded ship,
and everyone was crammed into its tiny green compartments, the
remaining pieces of the small yellow were blasted into pieces
(to keep them from being salvaged by the Cookiemongers).
Everyone held their breath then, for the most dangerous moment
of the mission was at hand: Could they escape? Would the already-overtaxed
stardrive even work, when so flimsily attached to a green ship?
Would the ship itself withstand the jump to hyperspace, with its
crew compartments overloaded at triple capacity? Would the Cookie-mongers
attempt some sort of final attack even as the ship embarked? And
if all that does work out OK, what strange new dangers would they
find in the uncharted world at which they were aiming?
Fortunately, the gamble paid off. The Cookiemongers waited
too long to attack, the engine worked fine, and the new planet
they've discovered seems to be fresh and unspoiled by the evil
Cookiemongers and their ways. Unfortunately, the crews are all
stranded there now, since the engine that got them to this new
planet burned out -- beyond all hope of repair -- just as they
arrived. But they say the taste of freedom they now enjoy has
made it all worthwhile...
With this in mind, the brave colonists have named their new
planet Freedom, and all of our people are today celebrating the
brave heroism of Freedom's new inhabitants. (But our people are
also deeply worried about the fate of the brave crew that stayed
behind at Jolly...)
To say all that another way: I'm sacrificing a small yellow
at Jolly to move the small green at Cobalt to a new large blue
star system named Freedom.
Russell: Peace Envoy Space Operations 1st Class Jaxon
evaluated the situation for a moment. Clearly, the small Tribunal
scout was abandoned, but why? None of his coaches could explain
why the Tribunal's forces so regularly blew up or crashed their
own ships. And the people he had met who had lived under Tribunal
rule all seemed sane to him. But he wasn't paid to think - he
did volunteer for this mission, after all.
As he drifted across the distance between his own Cookie Delivery
Vessel and the Tribunal Scout, he made a small adjustment to his
suit's trajectory, letting off a quick blast of compressed gas
that compensated for a slight spin. All sensor scans showed no
life forms in the scout, and his own sensitive hand held instruments
confirmed this. He had volunteered to reconnoiter with the abandoned
scout, to check for traps or other harmful devices left to hurt
any people who stumbled across the craft.
He chinned a button in his helmet that engaged the electromagnets
in his boots, at the same time that he let out a braking blast
of compressed gas. He quickly adjusted his perspective - he had
been heading up towards the scout, but now he was standing on
it, so his perspective had to reverse. His toes lifted in each
boot, triggering the magnetic releases, and he stepped across
the hull towards the nearest airlock. Using his digital encryption
key, he triggered the airlock door, and it slid open for him.
A small amount of air poofed out from the airlock, blowing out
a couple of rapidly self-decomposing Cookie packages - obviously
someone had been enjoying a lot of Cookies on board this ship.
As the air lock cycled, he chinned on his suit's exterior lamps,
so that he wouldn't be in complete darkness if the ship's lights
were out.
The small galley he stepped into was a mess (he snickered inwardly
at his own bad joke). Cookie wrappers were everywhere, and various
articles of clothing and shredded paper and dishes and utensils
were strewn all over. Some sort of party had gone on here. He
couldn't imagine why they'd have thrown a party, then all abandoned
ship,boarded their sister ship, and then destroyed the other ship
with both crews on board. Especially if they were so clearly fans
of the Cookies. Why kill themselves? Lots of other Tribunal military
forces had gladly joined with the Peace Envoys, and been heartily
accepted. Was it true? Did the people of Paradise really have
such a low tolerance for the Award-winning Cookies? Did it perhaps
drive them mad? Again, he cleared his mind and concentrated on
the task at hand.
He quickly oriented himself, and made his way up to the control
room. He looked around, until he spotted the keys left on the
dash. He slid the seat way back to make room for his bulky suit,
and clumsily inserted the key into the ignition switch. He paused
for a moment, chinned a switch that dropped a bite-size Cookie
into his mouth, gave a silent prayer that the Tribunal's members
weren't all crazy and malicious, and turned the key.
Nothing happened for a moment, and then he felt a sudden WOMP
as the Scout's engines turned over, backfired, WOMPED again, and
suddenly the power was on and the dash board came to life. He
glanced over the controls and recognized most of the symbols from
his training. For a moment he entertained a fantasy - he, Linry
Jaxon, Envoy 1st Class, could have his own starship if he wanted
- and nobody could do anything about it. He could enter in some
coordinates, press the Jump button, and suddenly be gone, with
nary a second thought. He could become one of the dashing and
daring Cookie Blockade runners, delivering Cookies to the poor
people governed by the Tribunal, charming the women and making
the men jealous. He imagined a scarf blowing in the wind as he
tossed out Cookie packages to adoring fans, his hair tousled and
his face bright with accomplishment - blockade avoided, Cookies
delivered, standing tall - a hero of comic fantasy.
Jaxon laughed at
his own brief fantasy. He found the button for the scout's forward
headlights, grabbed the helm and sharply brought the little scout
around, next to the large Cookie Delivery Vessel. He twice thumbed
the Space Horn, which emitted two short Space Horn blasts (carried
over a radio frequency, since sound can't be heard in space),
and waved through the windows at his friends aboard the CDV. "Mission
Accomplished, Coach - the Scout is Secure and ready for your team!"
He then sat back in the controls, chinned another delicious bite-sized
Cookie morsel into his mouth, and happily went back to his fantasy
of Captain Jaxon, Cookie Delivery Blockade Buster!
Andy: We are launching our large yellow from Paradise
to a new medium green planet. We are naming this planet Shade,
in honor of the lush groves of forests that abound here.
Russell: Ahhh - they have trees - please be nice to
them! Our forces may want to visit Shade shortly.
{History}
First Move of the Game
Andy:1:Homeworld (LGSB, lr)
Russell:2:Homeworld (MYSB, lg) Name (MYSB, "Peace")
Andy:3:Construct (LGSB, sr)
Russell:4:Construct (Peace, sg)
Andy:5:Trade (MYSB,sr,sg) Name (MYSB, "Paradise")
Russell:6:Trade (Peace, sg,sb)
Andy:7:Construct (Paradise, sr)
Russell:8:Construct (Peace, sg
Andy:9:Trade (MYSB,sr,sy)
Russell:10:Construct (Peace, mb)
Andy:11:Discover (Paradise, sg, MB) Name (MB, "Cobalt")
Russell:12:Discover (Peace, mb, LG) Name (LG, "Loverly")
Andy:13:Construct (Paradise, sr)
Russell:14:Construct(Loverly,mb)
Andy:15:Trade (Paradise,lr,lb)
Russell:16:Trade (Loverly,mb,my)
Andy:17:Construct (Paradise, sy)
Russell:18:Sacrifice (Peace, lg): Construct (Loverly, mb); Construct
(Loverly, lb); Construct (Peace, lb) Andy:19:Discover (Paradise,
sy, MG) Name (MG, "Garden")
Russell:20:Sacrifice (Loverly, mb): Trade (Loverly, lb,lr); Trade
(Peace, lb, lg)
Andy:21:Construct (Garden, sy)
Russell:22:Move (Loverly, lr, Garden)
Andy:23:Construct (Garden, my)
Russell:24:Move (Loverly, my, Garden); Catastrophe
Andy:25:Construct (Cobalt, sg)
Russell:26:Sacrifice (Peace, lg): Construct (Loverly, mb); Construct
(Loverly, lb); Construct (Peace, lb) Andy:27:Trade (Paradise,
lb, lg)
Russell:28:Sacrifice (Loverly, lb): Trade (Loverly, mb, mg); Trade
(Loverly, mb, my); Trade (Peace, lb, lr) Andy:29: Trade (Cobalt,
sg,sy)
Russell:30: Construct (Peace, mb)
Andy:31:Construct (Cobalt, sy)
Russell:32:Move (Loverly, mg, Cobalt)
Andy:33:Sacrifice (Paradise, lg): Construct (Cobalt, my); Construct
(Paradise, ly); Construct (Paradise, ly) Russell:34:Move (Peace,
mb, Loverly)
Andy:35:Sacrifice (Cobalt, my): Discover (Cobalt, sy, LG) Name
(LG, "Jolly"); Move (Cobalt, sy, Jolly) Russell:36:Move
(Peace, lr, Jolly)
Andy:37:Sacrifice (Jolly, sy): Discover (Cobalt, sg, LB) Name
(LB, "Freedom")
Russell:38:Attack (Jolly, lr, sy)
Andy:39:Discover (Paradise, ly, MG) Name (MG, "Shade")
Copyright © 2004 by Andrew
Looney.
