Stellaris: The Lyrite State, Part 2

Welcome back to my first (recorded) playthrough of the epic grand strategy space game Stellaris, where I guide a race of militant lizardpeople called the Lyrites from their homeworld (or homemoon?) of Lyrass to the voids of space. If anyone is actually reading this and wants to read the first part, I'll put a link down below. As we progress, I'll put links of all prior parts on each post so it's easier to navigate.

Previously...

• Part 1: In Which the Lyrite State Discovers Hyperlane Travel, Meets Strange Alien Races, and Establishes a Colony of Pollen Addicts

I, For One, Welcome Our New Alien Lizard Overlords

The LSS Lorod-Klonol was promptly dispatched to Roich to perform the daunting task of averting an impending nuclear war on the planet. Once it arrived, scientists from the ship worked with infiltrators to arrange for a conference of world leaders that called for nuclear disarmament and international cooperation, many of whom had already been replaced by Lyrites. The conference was a resounding success, and the replaced leaders gained more influence and popularity among the Haahn people.

However, things were not all peaches and cream on Haahn. The next year, an agent known by the
code-name X-32 went rogue and eloped with a Haahn female, abandoning a mission he felt was unjust. After a year alone with his girlfriend, he sent a transmission to the Lyrite government stating that if anyone attempted to hunt him down and bring him to justice, he would kill to protect himself and his girlfriend, and that the infiltration should be cancelled and the planet should be left alone. When his demands went unfulfilled, he used a list of operatives in his old cell to notify local authorities of their whereabouts. The infiltrators were promptly hunted down, and those who were arrested disintegrated themselves before they could be brought to a trial and possibly discovered.

Despite subsequent setbacks, the infiltration continued as planned and more and more Haahn leaders were replaced. Finally, in December 2218, Lyrite operatives dominated Roich's political landscape: virtually every politician was now a Lyrite. The leaders manipulated their governments so that the planet could be unified. When this was complete, a ceremony was held at the planet's capital, complete with drone fighters, parades and fireworks. The ceremony culminated in an envoy signing a petition for the planet to be officially annexed into the Lyrite State. The path required to achieve this moment had been filled with setbacks and strife, but at last a new species had joined the Lyrite State.

The End of Mharin Kharin

In 2214, on the first extralyrassian colony of Kluxared, the remote-administration had taken notice of a divisions of the colonial defenses. These fanatics were repulsed by the Mharin Kharin plant that had been used as a drug since shortly after the first settlers arrived on the planet. They went as far as to stay indoors due to the pollen in the planet's air. The administration elected to use the troops to mount what they called "an offensive like no other" on the plant.

Thus began what was termed "Project Fregnal-Sud",* a project to remove all traces of Mharin Kharin and improve conditions on the planet. The project would proceed in two phases: 

• Phase one would involve sweeping through populated areas and using herbicides on the Mharin Kharin plant.
• Phase two would involve the construction of atmospheric processors that had originally been used to clean up industrial wastelands left over from the pre-Unification eraon Lyrass. These processors would purge Mharin Kharin's narcotic pollen from the atmosphere, with the dual purpose of preventing citizens from getting addicted and halting the plant's spread.

While the project was not without controversy on both Kluxared and Lyrass, it nevertheless proceeded according to plan. In less than six Lyrassian orbits,** the Mharin Kharin plant had been completely eradicated from most urban areas and confined to controlled preserve areas on the planet. However, it would take longer for the populace to recover from what would come to be known as "the greatest cold turkey in galactic history".

Regarding the project, Consul Kulegaf would say "we should've done this a long time ago", and would soon pass a policy requiring that future colonies take detailed surveys of their planet's flora in the hopes of averting another incident like that on Kluxared.

*Fregnal-Sud literally translates to "Pleasant Breeze", but is commonly used to mean "fresh air".

**One Lyrassian orbit is roughly 15 Earth days, derived from the length of time it takes for Lyrass to orbit its parent gas giant.

An Unexpected War

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." -Napoleon Bonaparte 

In 2217, the galaxy (or at least the part of it the Lyrites and their neighbors called home) was shocked when leaked intelligence reports indicated that the Djomar Commonwealth had amassed its main military fleet in the Padjitauron system, on the border with the Lyrite's neighbors and political rivals, the Till'Lynesi Empire. Many suspected that war between the two was imminent, and those suspicions proved true when the Djomar President made a speech on July 28:

For years, the xenos calling themselves as the Till'Lynesi have proven to be incapable of civilized diplomacy. While not inherently xenophobic, they believe themselves to be inherently superior to their neighbors, despite clear evidence to the contrary: namely, us. We have explored space for decades longer than they have, and our fleets are more powerful than theirs. Today, I intend to prove that to them: as of today, a state of war exists between us and the Till'Lynesi Empire. We cannot allow them to spread and become a threat to our neighbors!

Made using in-game screenshots and GIMP. Could've looked a bit better honestly, but oh well. It was a bit rushed...

Lyrite Naval Intelligence reported that the Djomar fleets were more than a match for the Till'Lynesi ships, with sturdier armor and more powerful shielding. Many Lyrites argued that they should intervene and assist the Djomar, but those claims were rebutted with the words of Frexanog:

When someone else fights your enemy, let them do the fighting and come in only after your enemy is utterly routed.

True to predictions, the war went badly for the Till'Lynesi. Their ships lost engagement after engagement until they did not even have a fleet to speak of. When the last of their ships was annihilated, there was nothing stopping the Djomar from bombarding the Till'Lynesi homeworld of Tilla and their colony in the Lambda Serpentis system. Once the planetary defenses were reduced to rubble, the Djomar landed their armies and began an all-out invasion.

A Djomar fleet raids a mining station near the Till'Lynesi-Lyrite border.
Due to the placement of a nearby colony, this skirmish was the
only battle in the war picked up on Lyrite sensors, allowing Lyrite Naval
Intelligence to evaluate Djomar vessels.

Overrun, the Till'Lynesi had no choice but to surrender. As part of the Treaty of Tilla, their government was officially disbanded and replaced with a Djomar-led puppet regime called the "Democratic Till'Lyensi Suns" that was seemingly independent but was in reality only a vassal state with no democratic freedom other than what the Djomar demanded.

True to the President's words, this did indeed prove the strength of the Djomar as a superior power that was not above using force to secure their territory. Thankfully, they maintained a cordial attitude towards the Lyrite people and considered them worthy of respect, in no small part because both understood the merits of allowing individual freedom.

The End?

This brings us to the end of another part. Unfortunately, this may ultimately be the last one. You see, Patch 1.2 (nicknamed Asimov by the development team) has recently been released, and it brings significant changes to the game, especially to diplomacy. I fear that these changes may possibly break the game I'm currently playing. If it doesn't break things too badly, then I will continue this without any delays. But if it turns out this is utterly unplayable, then I plan on starting up a new game with a different species and chronicling their history.

Whatever the case, I hope whoever is actually reading this enjoys my playthroughs.