More Cat Herding
25 Nov 2019Kissamies
It won't be that terrible once we beat them and secure our foothold in the system, then slowly make it to the top and claim our place as its masters. I am glad to get some recognition among the group even though most of my work was supposed to be under the table. Apparently I wasn't so discreet as I thought and my Dropship was spotted as it zipped about doing all those missions. Perhaps it was a mistake to paint it bright red. Oh well, too late to worry about it now. Just have to make sure we will win that war so that all the hard work wasn't for nothing.
After the Artume debacle in previous expansion, I decided to make sure that it wouldn't miss again. Not go to any LYR systems, ones occupied by active CMDR factions or the Hudson stars I promised to stay out of. When 12 Persei was once again pending expansion, I started bolstering the lowest influence minor foreign factions in all the unwanted expansion targets in range. That was a chore in itself. After another faction nearby had finished its own expansion, I started also to lower the influence in the most desirable targets. Hard work and some misfires, not being able to lower some fast enough and other getting tangled up in conflicts due to random cmdr interference, but in the end two probable targets emerged: LHS 1348 and LP 245-17. Both had their merits. The former had a real convenient main station, making it a very good potential base of operations, and the latter just being easier to handle with its smaller population and less likely interference with its far stations. An invasion would also give use the biggest station right away. In the end, LHS 1348 had just slightly lower percentage so our faction ended up invading there. It's more of a handful, but worth moving most of my fleet over once we run it. I love it when a plan comes together.
I make it sound I did all by myself, but the squadron did its part too, especially maintaining the expansion and taking care of distracting crises elsewhere. Still, it was hard work. Convincing stubborn Progenitors to act for their own best interest shouldn't be this complicated. Perhaps we will try forcing a retreat in the target system next time.