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You prepare the following for your next 5 year plan: Managing your helpers to increase the now struggling growth rate; send out your newest, shiniest fleet for diplomacy while the other gathers water for the thirsty colonies. Additionally, you use your newly Consortium-Credit enhanced budget to buy some biomass from the Aristocrats.
At first this seems strange. The Aristocrats hoard and gather biomass for warefare much as the Esaal, Consortium, and yourself gather valuable metals instead. Given their reliance on biotechnology, you find this decision strange. Until you buy the biomass in bulk, being delivered old ships coated with cancerous growths, abuzz with radiation from heavy energy exposure, their own healing ability no longer working to repair critical systems...
Oh. That makes a lot of sense. Regardless, with a few key acid compounds and some light cleaning you can break down these “living ships” into valuable clumps of biomass. Buried on the colonies, they will increase the amount of nutrients and increase soil growth, helping water retention. Biocubes were bad enough on their own made of Jaxtian corpses and poop, but biocubes made from a decommissioned Aristocrat pleasure barge? That might be a bit too far. Thankfully, your water situation has <span class="mu-s">improved considerably</span>.
Beyond building another AI Center, helping to increase Threemind's ability to gather research data, you also go about a second plan. This secret plan is to strand a colony ship on a deserted part of a habitable planet, cut off from everyone. You even have a coronal ejection of the local star all lined up for a believable story. It pains you somewhat to make little test-thieves out of your own people, but you can't deny your own curiosity on how they will do without access to the Hegemony's many resources and technology basis. Theoretically they could eventually revert to stone age technology, but could they really forget all the knowledge? It would take a thousand generations; far beyond the scope of your little “experiment”. Still, you already know that other races will not look kindly upon this. Best to keep it under wraps.
Additionally, the Consortium has finally upheld their other end of the bargain. The shipment containing Oon crystals has arrived, some glowing with some kind of unknown energy; the same that animated that satellite. Now, you've got your hands on it yourself. Right away, you put it through testing, and make sure to keep Antimatter on hand or a strong set of Alpha-Male hands to crush the crystals in case they become belligerent once again...
