Quoted By:
With the ancient Skiff probes having long since been deactivated and the light lag from nearby star systems making accurate information impossible, you have decided to start sending out FTL scout frigates to nearby systems. While the ships are still too new to be specialized into any given role, these general purpose frigates are good enough for a scouting mission. Headed by <span class="mu-i"><span class="mu-s">Captain-Admiral Kimnan II</span></span>, your fellow indigo brother, and “corrected” clone of the first Kimnan, one of the greatest pilots the Hegemony has ever seen.
Kimnan II is much more humble then the first, and doesn't like taking unnecessary risks. Part of gene therapy was to remove those selfish and “heroic fantasies” that plagued the first Kimnan. Unlike him, your brother is incredibly cautious and patient, and did not get behind the controls of a starship until he was passed on all safety checks. He is exceptionally skilled at piloting fighters, but prefers to stay in a safer, larger ship- like your new Frigates. Despite this cautiousness, he is still a Supreme Candidate and easily worked his way up to a very high rank in your fleet- if you didn't just instate him there to begin with.
“This is Kimnan II to Jaxt Control. We are detecting hostiles in Nan system.”
Dammit, you should have known. Nan is a neighboring system to Jaxt, but has no planets- only two gas giants, their sterile moons, and an asteroid belt around a dim white dwarf. This made it a very unattractive option for colonization- at least by YOUR species. But for the gas-giant dwelling Baalathi? This is prime real estate. It appears that the Baalathi have already fully colonized one of the gas giants, Nan-II, while Nan-I is still breaking down the cylinder sent to it for raw materials.
Scanners show that the Baalathi here are very numerous and they are beginning to build up stellar infrastructure. However, their technology <span class="mu-i">appears to be almost identical</span> to how it was during your first encounter and the capsule wars. It seems the colonization-crazed Baalathi of the homeworld aren't working on much advancement even after centuries- though due to lightspeed delay this cylinder could have been sent since before you ever fought them.
Immediately, the Baalathi target your ship with a data prion, which the advanced AI core on the ship deletes without raising its CPU temperature by a single fraction of a degree. That trick is a dinosaur now compared to you. However, those orbital platforms around Nan-II look sketchy- a high amount of energy is concentrated there. You have no idea what they could be; weapon systems, terraforming, construction platforms?
In order to complete your vow, you have to rout out the Baalathi presence here and take this system. It will <span class="mu-i">take precious time</span> to send reinforcements- your frigate will be unmatchable by the Baalathi's old tech. But that's your brother down there...
“Control, shall we engage?”
>Engage
>Retreat
