Turns 105-106Suprisingly, the Zuul throw up two Cruisers and, for some reason, two CnC Cruisers as a last ditch effort to save Pacem. While they do pound our ships with a cornucopia of missiles, they are no match for the awesome power of our fully-functional HCLs:

The Zuul incursion fleet mentioned previously is similarly decimated and we lose no ships.
Note: They were "runners", so I just Auto-Resolved since I had to chase them all over the map. "Why do they always run?"
The Tarka have some problems. I invaded their only remaining colony next to their homeworld to discover one ship orbiting a hazardous planet (495) with 20 Infrastructure, and a smattering of population. Once they lose the planet, they must have watched too many Superman movies, because they launch one ship toward their hope for a new life on a distant planet:

Unfortunately for them, it's a lifeless rock, but they don't know that.
And, just when you think all insects belong to a Band of Buggers, the Hivers discover that there are more unpleasant versions of themselves. I sent a small fleet to stop an incursion of Hivers when the Swarm did the work for me. I guess Gate Ships taste pretty good:

To end the turn, Node Focusing research completes and we have maxed out our home sector with 45 freighters.
Question: Do I have to research Subjugate Race to ask for surrender? I don't really feel like having to wear down the Tarka homeworld since they are defeated as far as I'm concerned. The Zuul are still kicking, but I'm slowly wearing them down as we push further into their territory.
I'm also open to new technology recommendations.