NextColonist Log Entry #3

Day 76
177/252

Things were going so well. We had just found a new planet. The 5th in our collective. Nothing too special, but another planet means the potential for more resources. We had also purchased plans to build a more efficient Explorer. One that travels at six times the speed of our current Explorer, with better sensors to increase the chances of finding a planet. This was to be a huge step forward in furthering our mission of peaceful exploration. Most of our ships were in drydock for repairs, getting ready to head out soon. And then the Corvettes came.

It was a coordinated attack on two of our colonies. We didn't see it coming. 10 ships came in each wave. In the space of minutes, we lost 15 transporters. Then another few minutes of chaos, and 6 explorers were massacred. How can 10 of the smallest ships in the universe cause such destruction? I could see losing a few ships in an attack, but all of them?! Things are definitely out of balance when the universe so heavily favors the aggressor.

We tried to just focus on exploration. Finding new planets to settle, and discovering what's out here. But it seems the universe won't let us. All this universe understands is violence; so violence it will have. The focus now shifts from funding further explorations to funding the war machine. We've been given little choice in the matter. Please remember we did not ask for this. Our hand has been forced.

Admittedly, we are a small player. Most of our fleet has been obliterated. In the short term the best our engineers can do is design an early warning system against future attacks. We don't have the resources to mount a counteroffensive. We're actually pretty powerless to do anything at all against a colony with such vast resources. But 3 things we do have: time, a vendetta, and a very long memory.