Death March

The Death March is the name usually given to the event of the Kohr-Ah applying their Eternal Doctrine to all species in our region of space, after they win their second Doctrinal Conflict with the Kzer-Za. The Zoq-Fot-Pik also refer to it by this name, though in lowercase.

Timing

The Death March commences the day that Kohr-Ah win the Doctrinal Conflict, that is, on 17 February 2159 or, if the Supox and the Utwig have attacked and weakened them in their offensive, on 17 February 2160.

However, if the player is in the solar system of Delta Crateris at the time that the Kohr-Ah win, the Death March will be postponed by seven days. This can be repeated as many times as necessary (e.g. 24 February, 3 March, and so on).

Order of Attacks

The Kohr-Ah will attack the various species starting with the Druuge and sequentially converging upon the center of the closest Sphere of Influence to their current location (traveling at 15.8 standard HyperSpace distance units per day), and instantly annihilating any race whose Sphere of Influence they reach. Note that they determine their next target when they annihilated the last one; they don't adjust their destination until they reach the original target coordinates.

If everyone is in their starting position, the order is as follows: Druuge, Mycon, VUX, Orz, Spathi, Zoq-Fot-Pik, Umgah, Arilou, Thraddash, Supox, Utwig, Yehat, Pkunk, Ilwrath, Humans.

Once the Kohr-Ah reach Earth, the game is lost and they broadcast news of their victory to The Captain. This happens somewhere in the fourth quarter of 2159 (or 2160, if the extra year was gained).

It is not too late to complete the game when the Death March has begun. In fact, the destruction of the various species makes it easier to acquire some of the artifacts required to finish the game. However, with the genocide of various races, it can hardly be considered a victory.

The Syreen, the Slylandro, the Melnorme, the Ur-Quan, and the Chmmr (or Chenjesu and Mmrnmhrm) will be never annihilated.

These tables detail the calculations for various game conditions (assuming that the Death March was not delayed):

All races alive

If all races are still alive:

Date	Location	Race annihilated	Distance to next victim	Days to reach victim
2159-02-17	600.0,625.0	-	492.0	31
2159-03-19	950.0,279.2	Druuge	316.3	20
2159-04-08	639.2,220.0	Mycon	208.1	13
2159-04-21	441.2,155.8	Vux	134.5	8
2159-04-29	360.8,263.7	Orz	143.1	9
2159-05-08	254.9,360.0	Spathi	211.4	13
2159-05-21	376.1,533.3	Zoqfot	207.3	13
2159-06-03	179.8,600.0	Umgah	140.9	8
2159-06-11	043.8,637.2	Arilou	288.8	18
2159-06-29	253.5,835.8	Thradd	501.2	31
2159-07-30	746.8,924.6	Supox	115.6	7
2159-08-06	853.4,879.7	Utwig	945.4	59
2159-10-04	497.0,004.0	Yehat	448.2	28
2159-11-01	050.2,040.1	Pkunk	137.6	8
2159-11-09	004.8,170.0	Ilwrath	172.2	10
2159-11-19	175.2,145.0	Human

Ignored Zoq-Fot-Pik

If the player met the Zoq-Fot-Pik and did not respond to their distress call, they will be annihilated during the Doctrinal Conflict, before the 17 February launch of the Death March.

Date	Location	Race annihilated	Distance to next victim	Days to reach victim
2159-02-17	600.0,625.0	-	492.0	31
2159-03-19	950.0,279.2	Druuge	316.3	20
2159-04-08	639.2,220.0	Mycon	208.1	13
2159-04-21	441.2,155.8	VUX	134.5	8
2159-04-29	360.8,263.7	Orz	143.1	9
2159-05-08	254.9,360.0	Spathi	251.4	15
2159-05-23	179.8,600.0	Umgah	140.9	8
2159-05-31	043.8,637.2	Arilou	288.8	18
2159-06-18	253.5,835.8	Thraddash	501.2	31
2159-07-19	746.8,924.6	Supox	115.6	7
2159-07-26	853.4,879.7	Utwig	945.4	59
2159-09-23	497.0,004.0	Yehat	448.2	28
2159-10-21	050.2,040.1	Pkunk	137.6	8
2159-10-29	004.8,170.0	Ilwrath	172.2	10
2159-11-08	175.2,145.0	Human

Post Ilwrath Removal and Pkunk Migration

If the Ilwrath and Thraddash have mutually annihilated and the Pkunk have migrated to Yehat-land:

Date	Location	Race annihilated	Distance to next victim	Days to reach victim
2159-02-17	600.0,625.0	-	492.0	31
2159-03-19	950.0,279.2	Druuge	316.3	20
2159-04-08	639.2,220.0	Mycon	208.1	13
2159-04-21	441.2,155.8	Vux	134.5	8
2159-04-29	360.8,263.7	Orz	143.1	9
2159-05-08	254.9,360.0	Spathi	211.4	13
2159-05-21	376.1,533.3	Zoqfot	207.3	13
2159-06-03	179.8,600.0	Umgah	140.9	8
2159-06-11	043.8,637.2	Arilou	759.4	48
2159-07-29	746.8,924.6	Supox	115.6	7
2159-08-05	853.4,879.7	Utwig	945.4	59
2159-10-03	497.0,004.0	Yehat	351.3	22
2159-10-25	175.2,145.0	Human

Quirks

When the Kohr-Ah "annihilate" the Arilou'laleelay, their influence sphere disappears from the starmap, but the Arilou homeworld remains intact, as does the natural quasispace portal.

It is possible to gain 5 months of extra time before game-over, if you send the Ilwrath to fight the Thraddash at the right time: about a month before the Thraddash are to be annihilated by the Kohr-Ah. For five months, the Kohr-Ah keep chasing after the Ilwrath, whose influence sphere keeps moving at an abysmal rate. Every day, the Kohr-Ah reach the spot where the Ilwrath were yesterday, but because the center of Ilwrath influence sphere is now slightly in a different place, the annihilation is rescheduled for the next day. As a consequence, during those five months, the Kohr-Ah do not annihilate anyone. A similar quirk probably can happen with the Mycon, but not as prolonged.

If you are in the solar system of the homeworld of a race the day they get annihilated, the annihilation does not get postponed unlike many other events in the game. The solar system may have interplanetary ships of that race, and the ships will remain there even after the annihilation, as long as you don't leave the solar system. It is therefore possible to e.g. make an alliance with the Orz after they have been annihilated. For the Umgah, this brings up a particularly morbid joke:

• If you enter the Umgah solar system right before the annihilation, but without ever talking to Arilou and thus triggering the zombification, the Umgah will you happily explain that they are performing experiments with the Talking Pet.
• A few minutes later, the annihilation happens, and you can pick up the Talking Pet from the ruins of the Umgah homeworld (even if you don't have the Taalo shield).
• Now the interplanetary Umgah ships (that are still there) will praise you as their savior, and urge you to go back to the Umgah homeworld and get your reward. Of course, the Umgah homeworld is now just a heap of smoldering ruins. Doesn't stop them from cheering at you!