Quoted By:
Preparing for the eventual attack by the Consortium; you fortify the base. You assign the extra water in the system to your fusion cores- you'll need them to power your new <span class="mu-i">Laser Artillery</span>. While firing laser weapons thru an atmosphere isn't the most efficient, as the air molecules will diffuse the phontic payload quicker; but these weapons can be supercharged to offset that. The more power you put into each cannon, the more damage they will deal. Plus it makes them a bit more protected back here, on the planet, not in space with the enemy fleet. You place embankments of Artillery on the planet's surface at different positions; so as the planet spins, you will 360 degree access to the system. You hope that when you detect the first warp signatures, you can aim the cannons and blow the Consortium ships out of the sky. After all- the Consortium's inferior fusion generators means they won't have shields when they first warp, giving you a chance to deal some serious damage...
Then, out of nowhere, your first-warning Starsight team at The Stand suddenly detects something incoming. You have moved your post here to better command; and within seconds you know of the incoming warp presence.
<span class="mu-b">”What do you see?!”</span>
“Their presences, my Lord. Lights. Dim lights for the ships, brighter for those within. I can see them, like fireflies thru the leaves.”
<span class="mu-b">”How many? Thousands- millions? An invasion fleet?”</span>
“...No Sire, not that many. Only the ships and the crew.”
Exactly as you had anticipated, the Consortium and their primary racial bloc, the Leraay, are too cowardly and lacking in honor to try and invade the base directly. After all, you studied the different martial traditions of the major races; Esaal swordsmanship, Swalli under spear-fighting, Vetuck axes and formations, and Jaxtian knife-fighting... Nowhere in any historical record have the Consortium races ever had such proud and noble fighting traditions and physical mastery. They've long since abandoned combat by hand- even the Leraay spies able to move in your society unseen never tried to assassinate a Supreme Ruler by hand- relying instead on sabotage or poison. Yes, your hunch was <span class="mu-i"><span class="mu-s">absolutely correct</span></span>. You will now have an advantage at not having to worry about soldiers who won't be able to contribute anyway.
