Once we have the isthmus we can extend our borders north, and ARC won't be able to expand to the east side of the continent without doing the Lewis and Clark expedition, which they won't when there's territory around them, unless we grant them access to our land (we won't). We only really need one colonist to secure the land we want.

And yes, we're very close to expanding our population.

 

Ah, perhaps the Ranger was dulled out due to having moved when the screenshot was taken, so I didn't really see it.

Well in that case, sally forth, eh? No real need to train another squad immediately, unless it's felt as necessary for defeating the aliens and/or protecting, or even fighting if need be(although hopefully not anytime soon), against the ARC.

 

Ahh. Well in that case fuck it - churn out a colonist right after the relic, blow the outpost to hell ASAP and then turn south to do what X-COM does best.

 

The ayes have it. Doom shall rain down upon BMC. Revised build order: Relic-Colonist-Trade Vessel-Explorer-Reactor-Lab-Recycler.

I will need a volunteer to be Colonial Governor, as well as a name for our canal-city.

 

I propose we name the new city Waterbridge. Particularly creative? Maybe not, but it's descriptive and easy to remember.

 

Hm... what do you people think of New Panama or New Venice?
And I guess that I could volunteer for the governorship.

 

If we were Brazilia or Franco-Iberia, I'd be fine with those, but we're not. Moreover-- I propose a new culture be developed for a new society.

 

Year 36: Our Rangers have reached the isthmus. Preparations for the siege have begun.

Year 38: For the first time on this world, X-Com has opened fire upon our fellow man. The BMC was offered the chance to surrender and become part of our society, and refused. The weaponry of the Rangers seems to be performing as expected, and the defences of BMC are significantly outranged.



Two years on this planet and ARC are already on the warpath. Considering the circumstances, I declined the kind offer to open a war on a third front on the Conclave's behalf.



Year 39: Aekiel's team has returned home, and after some much-needed R&R and some rotation of personnell, are headed back out. Their target - the crashed satellite, hopefully before ARC reaches it.

Year 40: BMC's engineers are repairing damage as our siege forces inflict it, but the cracks in their armour are accumulating.

Year 41: A monument to Earth, with a few pointed references to the Great Mistake, has been erected at Blackbird Claw. With luck, this will make the PAC colonists more amenable to our influence.

We shall begin the recruitment of a secondary exploration team before beginning work on the colony.

Year 42: Our Ranger team's skill is improving. The skills picked up in this engagement will vastly improve our chances when we bring the fight to the aliens.

Year 47: BMC's walls are crumbling. Coyote's team has been given the all-clear to assault at their leisure, and they opted to do so immediately. BMC has fallen, and the equipment looted from their facilities will accelerate our current research by as much as six years.



Much of the facility was underground, and has been buried in the destruction of the aboveground structures. Our exploration team should be able to dig them back up, and any further resources will be added to our own before our colony is built on their remains.

Aekiel's exploration team has reached the satellite, which appears undisturbed. Whether ARC have yet to discover it, or opted to leave it be, is unknown.

On the matter of the western front, a disturbing new creature has been picked up on our long-range scanners.

It appears to be a gigantic, carnivorous worm or serpent of some description. While terrifyingly large and well-armoured, it is very slow-moving. The defences of Blackbird Claw should be able to give it significant trouble, should it decide to approach any closer.



Year 48: To their considerable shock, Aekiel's excavation team was almost crushed by a ship making landfall, which managed to divert course at the last moment.



Palatine Relations, a PR company, has made the bizarre decision to build an outpost on this planet. While we cannot fathom their reasons, should we open relations with them they would be able to greatly improve our control over our own society - however, our lightly-armored trade vehicles would not be able to reach them, as all of the passes between ARC's territory and our own currently have patches of miasma - minor nuisances for our military, but solid roadblocks for our civilians.

Coyote's squad has secured the former site of BMC, while our Rangers are heading back home to deploy to the western front.

Considering our current energy crisis - we are currently forecast to run dry in eight years, though a second region will finish building generators in five and put us back in the green - our effort to shape our society have been diverted into Industry, rather than Knowledge.

Year 51: Our secondary exploration team is ready to deploy, and has been sent to investigate the ruins of BMC.

Our Rangers have reached the western front. We will be watching for any good opportunity to start a war in our favour.

Year 52: Excavation of the satellite has been completed, and it has proven to be an invaluable source of recycled materials. Projections had given six years before our colony was completed, but I am pleased to announce that the great colonial vehicle has left Blackbird Claw today.



The CEO of ARC has registered her objections to us excavating in what she considers 'her' territory. Considering the likelihood that she would consider the wreckage of BMC equally hers, I refused to cave to her demands. She threatened escalation, but with her population still less than half ours, not counting those within the colony vehicle, I believe it to be empty posturing.



However, the colony vehicle has proven to be an increased drain on our resources, and our energy supply is moments from drying up, a year before the second set of generators is complete. The only potential source of energy is the other factions on the planet. As such, I have made overtures to them.

ARC is willing to pay large amounts of energy to have access to our territory, for obvious reasons. Considering the lengths we have already gone to to secure the northern lands, this is an unacceptable solution. Franco-Iberia is less of an immediate threat, though is offering us only a pittance - her only current interest in our territory is for the survey data it could provide to her exploration teams - or so she claims. But that pittance will tide us over, so I accepted.

Year 54: Another corporation has made planetfall near us, to what I predict will be their dismay, considering the alien presence continues to increase. Their aggressiveness is increasing - while they have not attacked us outright yet, some of their biological artillery has opened fire on our rangers. We have fallen back for the moment.



However, Coyote's team will soon be returning from the isthmus, and once the colony is established we will be able to draft a third team from their population, which may allow us to win a conventional war. However, X-Com was not made to fight conventional wars. As such, I have deployed Coyote's team in an unconventional way - I only wish I had a Skyranger to do so with.

I will keep you developed as the mission unfolds.

Year 55: General Vadim has apparently been watching us, and has drawn entirely the wrong conclusions. This may prove troublesome in the future. However, X-Com has experience in dealing with people who are altogether too fond of aliens.



Year 57: Operation Normandy has begun.



General Coyote and his team travelled by sea down the coast from the isthmus and stormed the alien nest, meeting minimal resistance. Once inside, they slaughtered their way through chambers filled with eggs, grubs, and giant, immobile versions of the creatures we have already encountered, swollen with unlayed eggs, and they burned it to the ground.

Well, most of it. It turns out the youngest of the eggs are incredibly volatile. They have been shipped to the most remote generator facility we have for immediate incineration, which will alleviate our energy problems greatly.

Now we will await the reaction of the aliens. How they will react to the destruction of their nest is unknown - perhaps they will be disoriented by the loss of their queens, perhaps they will be enraged. General Coyote and his men are falling back to their boats now, and we wish them the best.

But while the situation on the western front escalates, the northern front has sent news. Our sister city has been born.







A/n: No vote for now - just a cliffhanger.

---------- Post automerged at 04:46 ---------- Previous post was at 03:19 ----------



Year 58: First, good news from the front. Our exploration team finished their excavations of BMC's ruins just as the colony was founded above them. No survivors or additional useful equipment, but their computer systems were largely intact. Disturbingly, the recordings of their years under siege has become a hit with our populace. The dubstep remix of their grief-striken cries as they realize that they are doomed to die on an alien planet has won several awards. While I shudder to think what this says about the mentality of our populace, it has made them even greater fans of our leadership.

In somehow even more disturbing news, the aliens have declined the opportunity for immediate revenge on Coyote's team in favour of an assault on Blackbird Claw directly. This shows a disturbing level of intelligence.

However, this is the first time that unfriendlies have come this close to the city, so many of you may be unaware of the countermeasures we have in place for just such an eventuality.

In the next room, you will find the controls for what some detractors used to call 'an entirely unwarranted amount of missile launchers'. Give them hell.



Well, with that interlude out of the way, let's discuss the events of the battle.

Our rangers have fallen back to the walls of Blackbird Claw to join the salvo against the drones, supporting an assault by the soldiers of the western front. While some of the drones remain, the majority of the swarm have fallen.

The colonial soldiers are approaching the forests from the north, where a swarm of wolf beetles are approaching the isthmus - scans indicate this is likely part of the swarms that attacked General Coyote's team on his first incursion into the woods.

General Coyote has hunkered down in the former site of the nest, unwilling to repeat to the boats due to the proximity of another swarm of drones - while they can fortify the forest, they will be easy pickings in boats.

Our trade vessel, captained by Commander Jibril, has started ferrying supplies up the coast to helt turn our new outpost into a full-fledged colony, and to accelerate construction of the canal.



Construction has begun on the reactor, which will be a welcome relief - though the alien eggs provided enough power when burned to meet our deficit for the next thirty years, it would be better to be building a surplus instead.

Year 59: The drone swarm that Coyote's squad was fortifying to defend against has opted instead to fly east and attack the soldiers of the western front, supported by manticore bombardment. They have taken heavy casualties and are falling back to the city.

In brighter news, the other drone swarm has been wiped out by our missile defence system. Our scientists have retrieved the corpses for study - in your dossiers, you will find their preliminary findings.

With the drones attacking the city, our boats will be unassailable by the aliens. General Coyote's team are moving up the coast again to support the colonial soldiers.

Year 60: The missile defence system continues to take a heavy toll from the aliens, pounding the manticores near to extermination and our rangers finishing the job. Again, our scientists have collected them for study.

The colonial infantry have begun skirmishing with the wolf beetles on the northern edge of the forest.

Year 61: The colonial infantry, having stung the wolf beetles into action, have begin to sustain heavy assaults. They have defended well, and the wolf beetles are near exterminated. Whether they will continue to attack will tell us much of their supposed intelligence.

Year 62: The wolf beetles on the northern front have not pressed the attack. However, the large wom creature, dubbed a Siege Worm, has moved north - whether this is part of it's wandering or a coordination with the wolf beetles is unknown, and the colonial infantry have fallen back to be safe.

The drones that were threatening Blackbird Claw have retreated to a miasma-ridden forest to our south. We have moved the soldiers of the western front to protect our civilian workers nearby.

Our culture continues to develop, and our energy economy has started to become worthy of the name - commodotization of the resources of this planet has started to provide us with a steady income that has brought us back into the green. With the completion of our reactor in three years, our energy woes will be over.

Year 63: A new swarm of wolf beetles has moved to threaten our city from the west, and is already nearly annihilated by the combined fire of our defence system and our rangers. The drones continue to lurk on our southern borders, but Coyote's team will soon arrive and allow us to drive them back or destroy them.

Our exploration teams have restocked at Blackbird Claw. One has been sent back west to scout the area around ARC's colony, but another has been sent east to investigate an island our long-range scanners picked up while farming the peninsula.



Year 65: The drones made their move, swooping in to attack our rangers, who suffered heavy losses. However, the missile defences wiped them out before they could retreat once more, and Coyote's team arrived and finished off the wolf beetles. The only alien life remaining on the sensors is the stragglers from the skirmish in the nothern woods.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Conclave, I believe we can declare this war officially won.

Year 66: Let us turn our thoughts to the future, now that immediate survival is assured.

Our thorium reactor has come online, bringing us comfortably into an energy surplus even without taking into account the massive generators we built on the outskirts of the city.

As such, we should decide on our future construction plans - the laboratory and recycler from the previous plan have yet to be built, but I believe the situation has developed enough to warrant re-examination, especially since we have finished our research into computing.

Here are our current options, and projected build times:



Broadly, our options fall into three camps:

Infrastructure: Development of a second construction exosuit to work on the lands surrounding our new colony, a second trade vessel to begin trade with ARC, and a recycler to reduce construction inefficiency.

Science: A laboratory and the reboot of ARPANET to boost our scientific research, which is beginning to slow as our research goals become more complex.

Espionage: The construction of the appropriate infrastructure at this stage would likely make us the first on this world to be able to perform large-scale espionage. Suggested projects include the theft of research data or entire technologies, the siphoning of energy, sabotage to destroy satellites, and in the long term, coups.

It is also time to change our research goals. The same possibilities from earlier exist:

It has come to my attention that our medical infrastructure would be badly stretched by having to support our new colony. While it would not be disastrous, the effects of this would be detrimental to our research and economy. This adds a new reason to research genetics, which will allow us to improve our medical infrastructure substantially.

Additional options include:

4) Genetics, then genetic mapping. It is worrying to some in our society that the flora and fauna we brought with us is changing in response to this world. Some have brought up the suggestion that we should build a massive genetic vault to preserve untainted specimens from Earth. As well as a tacit endorsement of the line of thought that enshrines Earth, this would be an incredibly useful resource for our farming operations. However, it would be a long-term construction project.

5) Biochemistry. This would be a huge boost to our new colony in the medium term, as it would allow us to build infrastructure to better allow it to use the algae and oil it will have access to. Additionally, this would give us good reason to expand to the algae deposits offshore from our capital, and allow us to finish research into the improved food crops.

6) Genetics, then genetic design. This would allow us to construct a wonder of this new world that will revolutionize farming - even conservative estimates say this would increase our crop harvests by 50%. Again, however, this would be a long-term construction project.

All of these goals would take 25-30 years, though of course the improvement of our research facilities would reduce these times.

 

I vote for Infrastructure and continuing with Genetics on the research front.

 

Research: Genetics>Ecology
Build: Worker>Intelligence Agency

We're going to need that worker for improving our new colony up north, especially given the number of resource available to tap. Our military is fine for now, what with our northern front secure and our trade routes almost ready to go. That should settle any problems ARC has with us (as well as bring in a tidy profit).

The Intelligence Agency should be next on the agenda, though. Aside from giving us valuable intel on what each of our adversaries is building/researching, they'll also be able to supplement our scientific output through corporate espionage. It's nice to know what the other Sponsors are prioritising this early, too, which would also give us an idea of what kind of supplies they brought with them (read: what bonuses they got).

Speaking of research, we need to improve the health of our cities. Blackbird Claw is actually becoming quite crowded now and our clinics just aren't built to handle that kind of strain. Our northern colony (which I'm going to call Raven's Talon until we come up with a proper name) will also be relying on our medical supplies until it gets up and running. So we need to plan out our upgrades to the medical facilities and I believe a 'Pharamalab' would be a useful weapon in the fight against disease.

After that though, I must insist we start researching Ecology in order to safeguard our trading vessels. There is no telling what kind of creatures lurk in the depths of these alien oceans.

 

Infrastructure and Genetics-- Logistics wins wars, and the war against the aliens has only begun.

While I applaud Colonel Zombie's proposals for future plans to the council, I cannot in good faith give approval to them yet. I have noticed that XCOM has shown a remarkable virtue in adapting rapidly to changing circumstances, and ARC's arrival has... significantly complicated matters.

In other news, I have found that napalm is both ineffective and far too environmentally damaging. A pity. Wolf beetles and drones have taken far too many of my men already...

As a side note, I would ask that some member of the Conclave does... something about the mashups of Starship Troopers and our men dying to the aliens. I know that it sounds like a trivial request, but it has not done good things for troop morale. I would consider it a personal favor.

EDIT: I am willing to support Aekiel's proposal in lieu of my own, and offer an additional suggestion-- the first armed forces produced by Raven's Talen should be named "Raven Wing," to build a colonial pride in the new city.

I want to see the two sister cities compete for prestige and influence, one day...

 

Research: Genetics>Ecology
Build: Worker>Intelligence Agency

Aekiel has it right. Finally started dicking around with BE, saw my precious trade vessels eaten by sea serpents. Bullshit. Also, spies actually seem pretty useful, though I was playing ARC at the time and that's their bonus. Fits with the X-COM theme too.

 

The genetics-ecology proposal shall be implemented. I am still awaiting further input on the construction proposals - the worker-then-espionage plan and the infrastructure plan currently have equal levels of support, with General Coyote backing both.

Zombie has taken on the role of Governor of our new colony, and as such has supplanted the temporary name of Raven Talon with the name Necropolis. Considering the circumstances of it's founding, it is rather morbidly appropriate.

 

As I was one of the original proponents of research into Computing it would be wrong of me to suggest delaying the establishment of our Intelligence Network[read: Spy Agency, not Network, of course]... except, I have heard many reports of needless waste buildup, and I put forth a recommendation of the appropriate Recycling facilities prior to further development.
I believe that such an effort would make future construction efforts more resource efficient, and potentially shave years off of potential projects. More in total in the long run than the effort to produce the facilities, at least.

Vote:
Worker/Recycler(either order) -> Spy Agency
Genetics -> ... something, although a soft spot for Ecology if we plan on settling that third settlment sooner rather than later.

Trade Routes(under the current game balance), ho~

 

For the sake of breaking the deadlock, I will be interpreting this as a vote for the Infrastructure plan - though the Espionage plan will be following directly after it, in deference to the amount of support it had.

I will keep you all informed once I have my morning space-coffee.

---------- Post automerged at 06:24 ---------- Previous post was at 04:46 ----------



Year 66: Construction has begun of the second worker exosuit, and research into how this planet is affect our citizenry on the genetic level has begun. We expect to see results of both within six years.

Our eastbound scouts, lead by Aekiel, have landed on the land we spotted and discovered it to be a small island. Sensors indicate deposits of titanium and silica that may be useful, as well as a coral reef teeming with native ocean fauna, as well as still another resource pod. They also, however, located an extremely anomalous structure, even older than the Exalt base we found in the arctic regions.



Investigations will begin shortly.

Year 67: Following the end of what some are calling the Second Alien War, our troops are being redeployed. The Western Guard are to mop up the remains of the aliens and will be on indefinite patrol through the forest to prevent the formation of any more nests. The Colonial Guard will be fortifying the northern pass to prevent ARC from being able to colonize the eastern coast. And Coyote's Penal Legion (we had to resort to desperate measures to refill their ranks a fourth time) are going south to scout.

The resource pod to the east contained yet another elerium generator. With each we find, we become more baffled as to the intended purpose of these pods. We also picked up another ancient structure on a second land mass south of the island.



(A/n: in theory resource pods can give you science, culture, or a satellite that boosts energy income as well as energy. However, this game I've only found a single one that wasn't energy. Bizarre.)

Year 68: The xenozoologists who predicted the aliens would be less aggressive far from their nests have been wildly disproved, as Coyote's Penal Legion has suffered significant casualties yet again after simultaneous attack from wolf beetle and drone swarms.



They are falling back to friendly lands, and the Western Guard are moving to support them.

Necropolis has grown to become self-sufficient, and the canal has been completed. Jibril's trade ship will continue making trips between Blackbird Claw and Necropolis to supply food and construction materials to help the growth of the new city, which is building trade infrastructure to better allow this.



We received further communication from ARC, justifying our concern at their presence.



As current plans involve further colonization of the northern lands, I refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of her claims. This may increase tensions, but hopefully future trade relations will calm them.

Year 70: Our hopes at future peace with ARC may be doomed.



Our contacts within the major powers show that none of them are showing any official recognition of ARC's condemnation of us, which is a hopeful sign.

To the south, Coyote's Penal Legion has been wiped out yet again, with Coyote left with no company save the massive pile of alien skulls. The Western Guard also took heavy losses, but the drones swarm was wiped out in exchange. Both squads are falling back to Blackbird Claw to replenish their numbers.



The Rangers have finished recovering from the losses they took during the Second Alien War, and will be deploying to support any future skirmishes with the aliens.

Necropolis' population has already doubled, and Blackbird Claw looks set to reach eight times the original population of the colony ship within two years.

The second worker exosuit is completed, and is heading north to support Necropolis. First course of action will be the set-up of large-scale farming of the nutrient-rich algae the settlers of Necropolis are already heavily reliant upon.

Year 72: Our research into genetics is completed.

This will allow us to build the infrastructure to improve the medical infrastructure of our city, which is already strained due to supporting Necropolis as well as itself.

Aekiel's reseach team has reported in from the island:



We are at a loss to explain this phenomenon, though our scientists have feverishly recorded everything Aekiel has been saying in the hopes that it will one day make sense.

He and his team will be returning to Blackbird Claw to check Aekiel for neurological damage, as well as for restocking to investigate the second set of ruins.

(A/n: This gave us about 500 beakers towards the 2500-beaker cost of Cybernetics - for comparison, our current science income is only 17 beakers. Not useful right now, but it will be a welcome boost in the long term.)

Year 73: Necropolis' population is now thrice what it originally was, fueled by immigration from Blackbird Claw. The total population of our colonies is now eleven times the original population of the colony ship.

It has finished building it's trade depot, and is now building a clinic to alleviate the burden it has placed on our medical infrastructure.

Year 75: Our secondary exploration team has shown what may be the root cause of ARC's hostility - their chosen landing location seems to be both hemmed in to the west by the ocean, and under assault by a siege worm. The siege worm, however, seems heavily damaged by prolonged rocket fire.



We've established a trade route to ARC's capital, Central, through the Necropolis canal. As well as leading to impressive profits for both parties, it will also enrich our science program as information filters through about their discoveries, and we become able to farm out work to private research entities within ARC's borders.

Year 76: Coyote's Penal Legion is heading south once more, backed by the Ranger team. Aekiel's exploration team is likewise heading back out after he was given a clean bill of health, despite the fact that he can now whistle in 5600 baud.

Year 77: Thanks to the Second Alien War supplying a great deal of specimens for study, we have finished our studies into the life of this planet.

This has brought forward two intriguing possibilities - a vivarium to grow food in greenhouses and design organisms specifically grown to survive in the deserts around Necropolis, and an ultrasonic fence that will deter the fauna of the planet from approaching too close to our cities. Our scientists also have hopes that if we build one of these structures, we may be able to discover a way to extend the effects to our trade vessels, allowing us to send convoys to Palatine and Fort Barca - both of which we have yet to contemplate, due to the near-certainty that they would be destroyed by rampaging aliens.

With the current research plan completed, it is time for us to plot a course once more.



Necropolis will greatly benefit from research into Biochemistry, as they are currently heavily reliant on algae deposits for food and will soon be able to tap the oil fields to their north. Alien Lifeforms to domesticate the more benign creatures, Alien Sciences to tap into the xenomass substance, Genetic Design to improve our farms, and Genetic Mapping to build a genetic vault are all other viable options. Alternately, current tension of ARC may lead some to suggest the research into a Defense Grid should relations devolve into outright war. Finally, the alien nests seem to be dependent upon the miasma - if we were to study Alien Biology, we may be able to... alter Engineer Poytin in such a way that he and his equipment will be immune to the effects of the miasma, allowing him to enter into it and disperse it over a number of years, eliminating the danger from the western forests completely.

The mandate for our capital will be the Spy Agency should no further input be received, but both our Science and Medical infrastructure are starting to show their age. Alternately, the possibility exists for us to greatly improve our trade infrastructure: an ultrasonic fence to develop the technology to defend them, a gunboat to blaze trails to the as-yet-undiscovered capitals of the other factions, and two more trade vessels to double our current merchant fleet. Currently, our only trade partner - save, of course, Necropolis - is ARC, due to our lack of knowledge of this planet's oceans and the risk of land-based trade routes to Palatine and Fort Barca, and of course should they declare war, we will no longer be able to trade with them.

Option Summary:

Science: Biochemistry, Alien Lifeforms, Alien Sciences, Alien Biology, Genetic Design, Genetic Mapping, Defense Grid.

Construction: Espionage, Science, Medicine, Trade.

 

Blackbird Claw Build: Spy Agency>Ultrasonic Fence
Necropolis Build: Health buildings
Research: Genetic Mapping

The spy agency is the answer to both of our science and energy woes, though it takes around 23 turns before you get a return on investment for it. The Ultrasonic Fence will guarantee our trade routes for long term energy and science gain, though at the price of making our adversaries more powerful.

The health buildings in Necropolis are to be built for obvious reasons. However, it's not the end of the world that we're in negative Health right now. Whereas in Civ V being in negative happiness is a TERRIBLE THING, in Beyond Earth it just means we take -10% to research and culture, which is basically nothing at this stage in the game. It'll be a problem once we're around turn ~150, but for now it's no big deal. We don't want to get below -10 Health though, we start to lose production and make it easier for enemy spies to infiltrate us at that point.

I choose Genetic Mapping next because Necropolis is going to be a city with huge production values, but a severe lack of food. We're going to struggle for citizens to work the mines without transferring in food from other cities, so we're going to want the Gene Vault to offset that. I'd propose building it in Blackbird Claw so that we can start to specialise our cities a bit; focus on food in our capital and production in Necropolis so that we get the best returns possible on our trade route.

Spoiler

As a side note, if you don't have any Wonders the AI doesn't seem to care about you very much. My first couple of games were largely boring because I didn't get to any Wonders and the AI chose to fight against each other rather than me.

Third or fourth game I went for a couple of Wonders and suddenly half the world hated me. Made for a much more interesting game, and the Gene Vault is a legitimately good Wonder to try and grab. Not as good as the Hanging Gardens were but it makes up for that with the culture bonus.

 

Well, folks, good news! They die just fine from bullets. And stabbings. And explosions. And being set on fire. And having acid thrown on them.

Jury's still out on cancer, though. I've got one in a box back in my apartment I'm pumping cigarette smoke into. We'll know in a few years.

(I really fucking hate aliens...)

Also, I'm going to call for Biochemistry and Espionage. Despite the fact that my men have started calling me General Ripper, the fact remains that we can hold with our current tools.

 

BGM



There has never been a time in history where intelligence has not been the lifeblood of any great human empire. We talk now of going to war with many enemies, but even in the earliest times, when the Art was just being written, Sun Tzu said, "All warfare is based on deception."



Why go to fight on uncertain footing when we can be the first to own the ground we fight on?

Science : Artificial Intelligence. If we want to have the supreme military force on this planet, we'll want the Markov Eclipse wonder, which will increase our military XP gain by 50%, but even more badly the Cynosure wonder under the Synthetic Thought technology, which will allow all of our military units a whole level of veterancy above every other military unit on the planet.

Construction : Espionage, obviously. As the first ones to have a Spy Agency, our agents will level up the soonest, and we'll be able to take whatever we please from the other factions - Science, Energy, even entire Technologies. The root of human domination is innovation, and we should steal as much of other people's innovation as is humanly possible.



I feel confident you'll make the right decision.

[:// END TRANSMISSION, SENDER <DIRECTOR L{REDACTED}>\\:]