DW: Republic of Arcadia, Part 8: Diplomacy and Sabotage

Stardate 2105.01.01

2105.02.18 All retrofitting of the navy is completed.  Research improves, and a better beam weapon, the Maxos Blaster, is developed, but it will be installed on the next class of warships. Right now the priority is hyperdrive technology.  

2105.05.22 Republic agent Peter Berallia, sent to the Grim Gang’s Pi Leonis 2 Gas Mining Station, successfully destroys the station and escapes.

DW: Republic of Arcadia, Part 7: Rebuilding

Stardate 2104.07.01

2104.07.06  The Savage Moon Spaceways offers the Republic a protection agreement.  With a navy now, the Republic declines.

DW: Republic of Arcadia, Part 6: Retaking the Solar System

Stardate 2104.01.01

The Republic Navy prepares to attack, but there is dissent in the Senate. President Bendu is revealed as a pacifist as he makes an impassioned plea to forestall the attack.  He argues that the protection money the Republic has paid thus far cost less than a single warship, and that it is a small price to pay to keep the peace.

DW: Republic of Arcadia, Part 5: Building a Navy

Stardate 2103.01.01
Construction on the new space port is critical.  If the Republic is to recover from the previous pirate attacks, it needs a few quiet months to complete work.

DW: Republic of Arcadia, Part 4: Bootstraps

Stardate 2102.03.03

Construction begins on Arcadia Prime Orbital Battery 1, but after a month, it is not even 20% completed.  The Republic hopes for a reprieve from the Grim Gang.  This is a critical time period.

DW: Republic of Arcadia, Part 3: Back to Square One

Stardate 2102.01.01

Priorities are as follows:

• Build a Weapons Research Station
• Upgrade Arcadia Prime Space Port to Medium size
• Begin researching weapons
• Begin researching hyperdrive

In order to protect itself from pirates, the Republic begins a military buildup.

DW: Republic of Arcadia, Part 2: Extortion and Treachery

Stardate 2101.03.28  The Gas Mining Station at Arcadia is completed, and construction of an Energy Research Station in orbit around Arcadia Prime begins. The Senate passes a bill to begin construction of a space navy in order to protect Arcadian assets, but the bill is vetoed by President Karl Bendu.  

"We seek only to explore the solar system in peace," says the President. "We have no need to sully space by weaponizing it." Arguments made by the opposition that our stations already have defensive weapons are ignored.

DW: Republic of Arcadia, Part 1: Baby Steps

Stardate 2100.03.21

The Republic of Arcadia (RA) has begun humanity's return to the stars.  After much debate, the Senate of the RA voted to begin construction of starships.  The first priority is to build a construction ship to facilitate the building of outposts, and to build several exploration vessels to explore the solar system. The home planet of Arcadia Prime orbits the magnificent gas giant Arcadia, so that will be the first target of exploration.  The RA also intends to examine the small vessel seen orbiting Arcadia.

Distant Worlds

Uh oh, I found another computer game.  I already have far too many demands on my time, and then I stumble upon Distant Worlds, a space grand strategy wargame.

Back in the 90s I fell in love with a 4x game called Stars!  There were essentially no graphics to it, but the game was about the strategy, not the graphics.  You explored the galaxy, sent out ships to colonize other planets, built up an economy while fending off attacks from alien races, and ultimately exterminated them to rule the galaxy.  Long after I had abandoned many other games, I kept coming back to Stars!.  There was a planned sequel called Stars: Supernova Genesis, which was billed as an improvement with the addition of cool graphics, but it was abandoned, and I was heartbroken.

Our Turn to Shoot

My World War II short story, Our Turn to Shoot, is now available at the Amazon Kindle Store.  It will be free for a short time, so hurry on over and pick it up!

In early 1942, while the Imperial Japanese Navy rampaged in the western Pacific and the East Indies, the US Navy was desperately attempting to recover from the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. A raid by US Navy aircraft carriers on the Japanese-held Marshall Islands was a small but important step in showing the world that America was still in the fight.

Ensign Jim Novak is a dive bomber pilot on board USS Enterprise, eager for a chance to take the fight to the enemy. This will be his first mission to strike a blow against the Japanese, but it could also be his last...

Our Turn to Shoot is a short story of approximately 6,300 words.