Let me tell y'all a tale. I started wedged between two empires, right beside
The Forbidden Nebula to due to the Galactic Northeast. Skipped colonisation tech because, obviously, it'll come up next time, right?
Wrong.
Spent the next decade fortifying my one planet and cataloguing the galaxy in anticipation of my expansion. Discovered things, many things, that I can only hope I claim. The one saving grace is that I have a natural expansion to the Galactic South, with some planets and research, so it'll be OK. Meanwhile my fellow empires outpace me in military, with one peaceful and one warlike, and colonies that can only be imminent at this point.
And then things get interesting. I discover a strategic resource right inside the Forbidden Nebula, disturbingly close to the warlike empire. So I decide it's time to expand, colonisation or no. And right as I'm constructing the frontier outpost, a research ship recovers a derelict spacecraft. It's a friggin' frigate with no name and it is stronger than my standing fleet (of four corvettes). And now it's mine. Things just got interesting...
Kinda spoilery, but
behold New Ship in all its glory. The Dark Wanderer has arrived.
goty