Far Frontiers Gateway Sector #2
- Thread starter Murph
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242-2511 Gateway News Service- Gateway
The Octagon Society has announced that its latest push to put distressed spacefarers shelters on worlds has been relatively successful of late with many of the worlds in the Badlands, New Caledonia, Near Dark, Outlands and now the Ultima Thule subsectors getting shelters. The shelters are well built to a standard pattern, and contain long term survival gear designed to last for decades at a minimum. Each shelter is equipped with a powered signal beacon, to guide life pods and small craft to the shelter. Each shelter, is of course, shaped as an octagon, and they have between 4-6 levels to the shelter. Each shelter is capable of holding up to 40 distressed spacefarers in a pinch.
The Octagon Society is a tax exempt, charitable write off for most on Gateway, and other heavily settled worlds in the sector. The Society was originally chartered in the Terran sector and has proven to be a popular charity in the Far Frontiers. Based on Gateway, the society has generally been scandal free although there have been the occasional issues, which are generally quickly resolved by the board of directors. The society uses chartered ships to transport the materials, and crews to remote worlds in order to build the shelters.
The Octagon Society received much good public comment after the release of the epic poem the “Voyage of the Argent Dragon”, written by Horace Mandrake who was part of the crew of the free trader Argent Dragon which suffered a misjump into the Outlands and crashed on Anasazi where just six months prior an Octagon Society shelter had been set up. The poem details the efforts of the dozen crew to survive for three years on Anasazi.
The poem, is definitely not written by an accomplished poet, and is certainly a bit pretentious in some of its verbiage, but as a history of the crew surviving and attempting to fix their ship it makes for some good history. The crew found the Octagon shelter and used it as a base of operations while they did their best to survive until an exploration vessel found them in 2504.
The crew was able to get the parts they needed, fuel their ship, and safely travel to Shangri La where they finally ended their journey. The Argent Dragon was able to be repaired, and is now plying the space-lanes in the Outlands subsector a traveling advertisement for the Octagon Society. Only two of the original crew still are on board the Argent Dragon, but the others have been hired by the Society as spokesmen and spokeswomen to spread the message of the Society.
The poem is available for sale in hard copy and digital format at all Gateway Books Stores in the sector. A well received Vid by the same name as the poem was released earlier this year, and has gotten a small but avid following. The vid was a Dusty Hammer Studios Production, and despite the limited budget was remarkably well made, despite having “C” and” D” list actors of no especial notoriety. It has come in for praise for both the effects, and shocking the critics the solid acting by the cast.
The Octagon Society has announced that its latest push to put distressed spacefarers shelters on worlds has been relatively successful of late with many of the worlds in the Badlands, New Caledonia, Near Dark, Outlands and now the Ultima Thule subsectors getting shelters. The shelters are well built to a standard pattern, and contain long term survival gear designed to last for decades at a minimum. Each shelter is equipped with a powered signal beacon, to guide life pods and small craft to the shelter. Each shelter, is of course, shaped as an octagon, and they have between 4-6 levels to the shelter. Each shelter is capable of holding up to 40 distressed spacefarers in a pinch.
The Octagon Society is a tax exempt, charitable write off for most on Gateway, and other heavily settled worlds in the sector. The Society was originally chartered in the Terran sector and has proven to be a popular charity in the Far Frontiers. Based on Gateway, the society has generally been scandal free although there have been the occasional issues, which are generally quickly resolved by the board of directors. The society uses chartered ships to transport the materials, and crews to remote worlds in order to build the shelters.
The Octagon Society received much good public comment after the release of the epic poem the “Voyage of the Argent Dragon”, written by Horace Mandrake who was part of the crew of the free trader Argent Dragon which suffered a misjump into the Outlands and crashed on Anasazi where just six months prior an Octagon Society shelter had been set up. The poem details the efforts of the dozen crew to survive for three years on Anasazi.
The poem, is definitely not written by an accomplished poet, and is certainly a bit pretentious in some of its verbiage, but as a history of the crew surviving and attempting to fix their ship it makes for some good history. The crew found the Octagon shelter and used it as a base of operations while they did their best to survive until an exploration vessel found them in 2504.
The crew was able to get the parts they needed, fuel their ship, and safely travel to Shangri La where they finally ended their journey. The Argent Dragon was able to be repaired, and is now plying the space-lanes in the Outlands subsector a traveling advertisement for the Octagon Society. Only two of the original crew still are on board the Argent Dragon, but the others have been hired by the Society as spokesmen and spokeswomen to spread the message of the Society.
The poem is available for sale in hard copy and digital format at all Gateway Books Stores in the sector. A well received Vid by the same name as the poem was released earlier this year, and has gotten a small but avid following. The vid was a Dusty Hammer Studios Production, and despite the limited budget was remarkably well made, despite having “C” and” D” list actors of no especial notoriety. It has come in for praise for both the effects, and shocking the critics the solid acting by the cast.
243-2511 Gateway News Service- New Texas
New Texas authorities are warning beach goers to remain in the special hydra free zones along the coast since a number of parties have been held along no secure areas and hydra attacks are on the rise. New Texas Game Wardens have been active along the coast in an attempt to locate and deter hydras from attacking humans.
But, we are told, the hydras have been especially aggressive this year, due to some groups doing “hydra baiting” in an attempt to bring in hydras so they can be eliminated. This has led to some feeding frenzies along the coast which fortunately so far have not resulted in any fatalities, but over a dozen people have had to be airlifted to local hospitals due to hydra stings, which cause massive anaphylactic shock in humans.
As usual Game Wardens are warning New Texans, that hydras can sometimes move as far as 5 kilometers up rivers before the water becomes too fresh for them to survive. Game Warden Bucky Hansen told GNS that he had to use a BEI 20mm anti-hydra rifle on one specimen that had 12 meter long tentacles, and was one of the largest hydras yet seen along the coast. The animal was attacking a “party barge” that was filled with intoxicated revelers, who had been tossing food off the barge, along with some of the revelers, drawing a pod of hydras.
Three of the revelers were grabbed by hydras and stung before Game Wardens could arrive, and New Texas EMS dispatched a critical care team immediately which took the victims to Port Luckenbach hospital where they are reported to be in serious condition due to the stings from the hydras. Game Wardens cited the owner of the party barge and the JP in Port Luckenbach has suspended his license to operate due to his failure to observe safe boating regulations.
A hydra eradication campaign was stopped after environmental studies showed that the New Texas hydra is a critical part of the New Texas ocean environment. So alternate methods of beach recreation have had to be found. The current anti-hydra system was developed by New Texas Instruments Marine Division, and has shown a 99+% success rate in deterring hydra incursions into protected areas, with the few failures due to heavy seas lifting smaller hydras over the nets. New Texas Instruments Marine Division has worked with the New Texas Department of Fish and Game in order to protect recreational beaches on New Texas.
Also a new river net system is being put in place on rivers which are not used for commercial traffic to deter hydras from swimming up river. Hydras cannot survive more than two days in fresh water, but as they are expiring become exceptionally aggressive. The Game Wardens have a special hot line for hydra sightings, and urge all New Texans to be aware of the danger of hydra attacks.
New Texas authorities are warning beach goers to remain in the special hydra free zones along the coast since a number of parties have been held along no secure areas and hydra attacks are on the rise. New Texas Game Wardens have been active along the coast in an attempt to locate and deter hydras from attacking humans.
But, we are told, the hydras have been especially aggressive this year, due to some groups doing “hydra baiting” in an attempt to bring in hydras so they can be eliminated. This has led to some feeding frenzies along the coast which fortunately so far have not resulted in any fatalities, but over a dozen people have had to be airlifted to local hospitals due to hydra stings, which cause massive anaphylactic shock in humans.
As usual Game Wardens are warning New Texans, that hydras can sometimes move as far as 5 kilometers up rivers before the water becomes too fresh for them to survive. Game Warden Bucky Hansen told GNS that he had to use a BEI 20mm anti-hydra rifle on one specimen that had 12 meter long tentacles, and was one of the largest hydras yet seen along the coast. The animal was attacking a “party barge” that was filled with intoxicated revelers, who had been tossing food off the barge, along with some of the revelers, drawing a pod of hydras.
Three of the revelers were grabbed by hydras and stung before Game Wardens could arrive, and New Texas EMS dispatched a critical care team immediately which took the victims to Port Luckenbach hospital where they are reported to be in serious condition due to the stings from the hydras. Game Wardens cited the owner of the party barge and the JP in Port Luckenbach has suspended his license to operate due to his failure to observe safe boating regulations.
A hydra eradication campaign was stopped after environmental studies showed that the New Texas hydra is a critical part of the New Texas ocean environment. So alternate methods of beach recreation have had to be found. The current anti-hydra system was developed by New Texas Instruments Marine Division, and has shown a 99+% success rate in deterring hydra incursions into protected areas, with the few failures due to heavy seas lifting smaller hydras over the nets. New Texas Instruments Marine Division has worked with the New Texas Department of Fish and Game in order to protect recreational beaches on New Texas.
Also a new river net system is being put in place on rivers which are not used for commercial traffic to deter hydras from swimming up river. Hydras cannot survive more than two days in fresh water, but as they are expiring become exceptionally aggressive. The Game Wardens have a special hot line for hydra sightings, and urge all New Texans to be aware of the danger of hydra attacks.
246-2511 Gateway News Service- Xu Su
Regrettably, the Imperial Safety Bureau reported that Mr. Shang Liu Steyn was found to have drowned in a boating accident after he had taken his famed “party boat” out on the waters, and in some rough water, he apparently was intoxicated, and fell overboard, but no one noticed he had been missing for some time. Prince Roger and Princess Juliette were guests on board the vessel, and upon noticing that Mr. Steyn was missing, the Prince took charge and organized a search for the unfortunate man.
Mr. Steyn’s body was found, but it appeared that the local sea life had been at him, and so parts were missing. Needle Eels, and Corkscrew burrowers had attacked the body which had apparently been in the water for at least 7 hours by the time it was found. Princess Juliette had been overcome and had to take to her cabin and rest after the trauma of discovering their host had perished in a tragic accident. She had to take a sedative since she was just so overcome by the events.
The waves were a bit more energetic than anticipated, which left members of the boating party and crew a bit sea sick. Speculation is that Mr. Steyn, who was known for his fondness for fine brandy, had, as was his wont, overindulged, and had inexplicably gone on deck where he fell to his death in the sea. Prince Roger was detained before he could dive into the sea to assist in the recovery of the body since the local aquatic life forms were swarming, and it would have been fatal for him to have gone it.
We have been told by the Maritime Police that Mr. Steyn was found to have a blood level of .19 at the time of the autopsy, as well as traces of Nidhogg Green which would indicate that Mr. Steyn was certainly not in his right mind to be making decisions when he fell overboard. Prince Roger took command right away, and summoned both police and rescue forces to the scene, where he remained in charge until such time as properly relieved by the authorities.
Princess Juliette was so horrified that the was seen smoking a nic-stik on the fantail of the party boat, and just telling everyone that she feels so responsible, since Mr. Steyn wanted to impress her with his home world’s famed seas and sunrise on the Ocean. She told GNS if she had just declined, then “poor Mr. Steyn” would still be alive. She was seen weeping, and being consoled by her husband.
Shocking everyone even further, police discovered that eight members of the crew were slaves which had been purchased by Mr. Steyn and were being forced to work as “attendants” to several of the guests. The slaves were impounded, and will be freed. The captain of the vessel, along with six other crew have been arrested under the Anti-Slavery laws. We are told that Mr. Steyn has been involved in this disgusting trade for some time based on the testimony of the ships captain, and one of the crew who was in charge of “slave discipline”.
A raid on Mr. Steyn’s home and businesses turned up close to 30 additional genetic slaves who were taken into protective custody. Of those 30 half were female pleasure units as they are called. An intensive investigation has been opened up over this, with Mr. Steyn’s companies and associates being scrutinized.
Prince Roger and Princess Juliette have cut their visit short in light of this tragedy, and as the Princess told GNS, she just cannot handle being on this world due to such a horrible tragedy, which has just shaken her to her core.
The Royal Pair is now headed to Xin Zhongguo where they will spend a few weeks, and meet the Emperor at the Imperial Palace. The Police on Xu Su have asked that Prince Roger be awarded a medal for exceptional service, and they all were sincerely hoping that the Princess recovers from this terrible shock, since she is a delicate and sensitive person.
Regrettably, the Imperial Safety Bureau reported that Mr. Shang Liu Steyn was found to have drowned in a boating accident after he had taken his famed “party boat” out on the waters, and in some rough water, he apparently was intoxicated, and fell overboard, but no one noticed he had been missing for some time. Prince Roger and Princess Juliette were guests on board the vessel, and upon noticing that Mr. Steyn was missing, the Prince took charge and organized a search for the unfortunate man.
Mr. Steyn’s body was found, but it appeared that the local sea life had been at him, and so parts were missing. Needle Eels, and Corkscrew burrowers had attacked the body which had apparently been in the water for at least 7 hours by the time it was found. Princess Juliette had been overcome and had to take to her cabin and rest after the trauma of discovering their host had perished in a tragic accident. She had to take a sedative since she was just so overcome by the events.
The waves were a bit more energetic than anticipated, which left members of the boating party and crew a bit sea sick. Speculation is that Mr. Steyn, who was known for his fondness for fine brandy, had, as was his wont, overindulged, and had inexplicably gone on deck where he fell to his death in the sea. Prince Roger was detained before he could dive into the sea to assist in the recovery of the body since the local aquatic life forms were swarming, and it would have been fatal for him to have gone it.
We have been told by the Maritime Police that Mr. Steyn was found to have a blood level of .19 at the time of the autopsy, as well as traces of Nidhogg Green which would indicate that Mr. Steyn was certainly not in his right mind to be making decisions when he fell overboard. Prince Roger took command right away, and summoned both police and rescue forces to the scene, where he remained in charge until such time as properly relieved by the authorities.
Princess Juliette was so horrified that the was seen smoking a nic-stik on the fantail of the party boat, and just telling everyone that she feels so responsible, since Mr. Steyn wanted to impress her with his home world’s famed seas and sunrise on the Ocean. She told GNS if she had just declined, then “poor Mr. Steyn” would still be alive. She was seen weeping, and being consoled by her husband.
Shocking everyone even further, police discovered that eight members of the crew were slaves which had been purchased by Mr. Steyn and were being forced to work as “attendants” to several of the guests. The slaves were impounded, and will be freed. The captain of the vessel, along with six other crew have been arrested under the Anti-Slavery laws. We are told that Mr. Steyn has been involved in this disgusting trade for some time based on the testimony of the ships captain, and one of the crew who was in charge of “slave discipline”.
A raid on Mr. Steyn’s home and businesses turned up close to 30 additional genetic slaves who were taken into protective custody. Of those 30 half were female pleasure units as they are called. An intensive investigation has been opened up over this, with Mr. Steyn’s companies and associates being scrutinized.
Prince Roger and Princess Juliette have cut their visit short in light of this tragedy, and as the Princess told GNS, she just cannot handle being on this world due to such a horrible tragedy, which has just shaken her to her core.
The Royal Pair is now headed to Xin Zhongguo where they will spend a few weeks, and meet the Emperor at the Imperial Palace. The Police on Xu Su have asked that Prince Roger be awarded a medal for exceptional service, and they all were sincerely hoping that the Princess recovers from this terrible shock, since she is a delicate and sensitive person.
253-2511 Gateway News Service- Miskatonic Station
Miskatonic station was the scene of a minor donnybrook between crews of the Royal Sutekh Merchant Marine 1,999 ton cargo ship Azathoth, and several free traders, to include the Nosferatu. We are being told by Commander Lars Berquist of Station Security that the RSMM crew had arrived and were “full of ginger” and finding a number of Free Traders in Howard’s Watering hole, a popular place for ship crews, decided to evict some of the others from a table they were sitting at, watching the stage show.
The crewmen thus displaced, took offense to this, and delivered their rebuttal to the crew of the Azathoth, which led to an increasing dispute between the crews. At one point, a visibly angry, and intoxicated DL Wang, was seen flying across the table, grabbing on to one of the Azathoth crews head, and attempting mayhem.
As the disagreement became more general, and other crews joined in to the Free Trader battle cry of “Hey Rube!”, an ancient signal to come to the aid of other Free traders, the Azathoth crew also summoned reinforcements from the RSMM Sanford. By the time that station police arrived, the donnybrook had turned into a full blown chingaso. Police waded in with stun batons, giving fair and equal treatment to all.
As the semi-sober crews of the Free Traders found themselves on the losing end of the battle with the police and RSMM crews, there was a stampede to the doors, with a number of crew falling to the awaiting police. We saw DL Wang being carried off by a fellow crewman in a fireman’s carry, somewhat worse for wear, weakly muttering indistinct comments. All were fined 25 stellars and told to go back to their ships after paying Howard for the damage to his establishment.
Miskatonic station was the scene of a minor donnybrook between crews of the Royal Sutekh Merchant Marine 1,999 ton cargo ship Azathoth, and several free traders, to include the Nosferatu. We are being told by Commander Lars Berquist of Station Security that the RSMM crew had arrived and were “full of ginger” and finding a number of Free Traders in Howard’s Watering hole, a popular place for ship crews, decided to evict some of the others from a table they were sitting at, watching the stage show.
The crewmen thus displaced, took offense to this, and delivered their rebuttal to the crew of the Azathoth, which led to an increasing dispute between the crews. At one point, a visibly angry, and intoxicated DL Wang, was seen flying across the table, grabbing on to one of the Azathoth crews head, and attempting mayhem.
As the disagreement became more general, and other crews joined in to the Free Trader battle cry of “Hey Rube!”, an ancient signal to come to the aid of other Free traders, the Azathoth crew also summoned reinforcements from the RSMM Sanford. By the time that station police arrived, the donnybrook had turned into a full blown chingaso. Police waded in with stun batons, giving fair and equal treatment to all.
As the semi-sober crews of the Free Traders found themselves on the losing end of the battle with the police and RSMM crews, there was a stampede to the doors, with a number of crew falling to the awaiting police. We saw DL Wang being carried off by a fellow crewman in a fireman’s carry, somewhat worse for wear, weakly muttering indistinct comments. All were fined 25 stellars and told to go back to their ships after paying Howard for the damage to his establishment.
King Midas
SOC-12
Maxwell? Epstein? A little bit of both?
A little bit of both, and the Princess who is really a highly skilled assassin (PC) took him out after she discovered he was going to toss a couple of no longer useful slaves overboard. Her husband Prince Roger is loving the Interstellar Secret Agent gig, there is a LOT of backstory. A lot.
254-2511 Gateway News Service- Gateway
A “snap” election has been called by the ruling Gateway Freedom Party after a “No Confidence” vote in the Parliament passed by a shocking two dozen votes. Under the provisions of the Constitution, an election must be held if a government has a No Confidence vote go against them.
The Gateway Colonial Strength party with its 18 members defected, along with the Gateway Forever Party with its 32 members going into Opposition over the Government’s perceived weakness regarding both colonial and Foreign matters. With these 50 members defecting from the ruling coalition, and two members of the Prime Minister’s own party voting against him, it has triggered an election in 10 days.
What this means for Prime Minister Gonzalez-Cenisac is unknown at this time. But political observers doubt that he can restore his coalition before the election, and there is some doubt that his Gateway Freedom Party will retain some of its seats, especially in the New Avalon electorate, where both the Colonial Strength Party, and oddly enough the New Gateway Loyalist Party, which claims to not be the old Gateway Loyalist Party, have shown surprising strength in polls taken just yesterday.
But at the same time, it is doubtful that any of the other parties will have enough seats to form a government, and will require some sort of coalition government to get the seats needed to take the Premiership. We are told by inside sources that dissatisfaction with the Gonzalez-Cenisac government’s conciliatory attitude towards other worlds has been bubbling to the surface as the populace is demanding a much harder attitude towards worlds which claim colonies on “their planets”, as well as cuts to the number of warships in the Navy by which to enforce the government’s claims on worlds.
The Aki debacle where Captain Larsson did not send his marines to deport forcibly the “illegal” colonists who arrived and took over the colony is seen by some as one of the other reasons the PM and his government lost this vote. Many think that a fleet should have been called up, and the Gateway government should have forced the issue of the Alien city.
The PM has been making the rounds on the talk shows attempting to make the case for his party to remain in power, but commentators have started to doubt that he is going to be able to pull it off.
Duane Horowitz, who is the leader of the Colonial Strength Party is seen as a contender for PM if he can form a coalition. Also Pan Bing-Bing of the New Gateway Loyalists is seen as a potential candidate for, if not Prime Minister, then perhaps head of one of the big three ministries: Home, War, or the Foreign Office. While it will certainly lose seats, the Gateway Freedom Party will remain one of the larger parties and will have to be reckoned with by whatever group takes over the government.
The current opposition parties are all calling for a much harder line towards the colonies, and a demand that the Navy be increased by at least two fold. They have especially wanted to take a far harder line towards Amaterasu, Friedland, and New Texas. There is a distinct anti-Amaterasu faction hardening up in the Parliament, along with those opposed to Friedland and New Texas.
We will see in 10 days which side comes out on top, but it will be unlikely that the status quo will be maintained. The resurgence of the New Gateway Loyalist Party, which disclaims any link to the “scandal ridden and forgettable past” has shown strength in several of the old Gateway Loyalist Party strongholds. Plus its messaging on both traditional media and the social nets has caught the attention of younger voters who are not necessarily interested in the scandals of the past.
A “snap” election has been called by the ruling Gateway Freedom Party after a “No Confidence” vote in the Parliament passed by a shocking two dozen votes. Under the provisions of the Constitution, an election must be held if a government has a No Confidence vote go against them.
The Gateway Colonial Strength party with its 18 members defected, along with the Gateway Forever Party with its 32 members going into Opposition over the Government’s perceived weakness regarding both colonial and Foreign matters. With these 50 members defecting from the ruling coalition, and two members of the Prime Minister’s own party voting against him, it has triggered an election in 10 days.
What this means for Prime Minister Gonzalez-Cenisac is unknown at this time. But political observers doubt that he can restore his coalition before the election, and there is some doubt that his Gateway Freedom Party will retain some of its seats, especially in the New Avalon electorate, where both the Colonial Strength Party, and oddly enough the New Gateway Loyalist Party, which claims to not be the old Gateway Loyalist Party, have shown surprising strength in polls taken just yesterday.
But at the same time, it is doubtful that any of the other parties will have enough seats to form a government, and will require some sort of coalition government to get the seats needed to take the Premiership. We are told by inside sources that dissatisfaction with the Gonzalez-Cenisac government’s conciliatory attitude towards other worlds has been bubbling to the surface as the populace is demanding a much harder attitude towards worlds which claim colonies on “their planets”, as well as cuts to the number of warships in the Navy by which to enforce the government’s claims on worlds.
The Aki debacle where Captain Larsson did not send his marines to deport forcibly the “illegal” colonists who arrived and took over the colony is seen by some as one of the other reasons the PM and his government lost this vote. Many think that a fleet should have been called up, and the Gateway government should have forced the issue of the Alien city.
The PM has been making the rounds on the talk shows attempting to make the case for his party to remain in power, but commentators have started to doubt that he is going to be able to pull it off.
Duane Horowitz, who is the leader of the Colonial Strength Party is seen as a contender for PM if he can form a coalition. Also Pan Bing-Bing of the New Gateway Loyalists is seen as a potential candidate for, if not Prime Minister, then perhaps head of one of the big three ministries: Home, War, or the Foreign Office. While it will certainly lose seats, the Gateway Freedom Party will remain one of the larger parties and will have to be reckoned with by whatever group takes over the government.
The current opposition parties are all calling for a much harder line towards the colonies, and a demand that the Navy be increased by at least two fold. They have especially wanted to take a far harder line towards Amaterasu, Friedland, and New Texas. There is a distinct anti-Amaterasu faction hardening up in the Parliament, along with those opposed to Friedland and New Texas.
We will see in 10 days which side comes out on top, but it will be unlikely that the status quo will be maintained. The resurgence of the New Gateway Loyalist Party, which disclaims any link to the “scandal ridden and forgettable past” has shown strength in several of the old Gateway Loyalist Party strongholds. Plus its messaging on both traditional media and the social nets has caught the attention of younger voters who are not necessarily interested in the scandals of the past.
257-2511 Gateway News Service- Dusk
A hitherto unknown cosmic phenomenon has appeared in the outer reaches of the system which has caused the System Defense Command to issue an alert to spacecraft due to the nature of the event. Some are describing it as a “storm” due to its appearance, others are calling it a “Transluminal tachyon event”.
The nexus appears to have suddenly appeared in System sector 22 by 47 by 12 and covers an area of one astronomical unit and is located roughly 120 million kilometers outside of the jump point limit. A research vessel has been routed to the area, and will arrive shortly, but will remain at least 10 million kilometers from the disturbance.
Immense gravitational fluxations are being noticed in the area on sensors across the system. Tachyon sensor grids are picking up massive neutrino emissions, as well as cascades of bosons, mesons, and quarks being blasted from the center of the event. Sensor probes have been launched and will arrive in the area shortly, being on ballistic courses.
The system defense command has placed a Level 1 alert in the area, and all ships are being directed to remain at least 50 million kilometers distant from the event. We are being told that nothing like this has ever been detected in the history of science, and so a fast courier was sent to Gateway to request an emergency deployment of a large science vessel to study the phenomenon which so far appears to be stationary.
A hitherto unknown cosmic phenomenon has appeared in the outer reaches of the system which has caused the System Defense Command to issue an alert to spacecraft due to the nature of the event. Some are describing it as a “storm” due to its appearance, others are calling it a “Transluminal tachyon event”.
The nexus appears to have suddenly appeared in System sector 22 by 47 by 12 and covers an area of one astronomical unit and is located roughly 120 million kilometers outside of the jump point limit. A research vessel has been routed to the area, and will arrive shortly, but will remain at least 10 million kilometers from the disturbance.
Immense gravitational fluxations are being noticed in the area on sensors across the system. Tachyon sensor grids are picking up massive neutrino emissions, as well as cascades of bosons, mesons, and quarks being blasted from the center of the event. Sensor probes have been launched and will arrive in the area shortly, being on ballistic courses.
The system defense command has placed a Level 1 alert in the area, and all ships are being directed to remain at least 50 million kilometers distant from the event. We are being told that nothing like this has ever been detected in the history of science, and so a fast courier was sent to Gateway to request an emergency deployment of a large science vessel to study the phenomenon which so far appears to be stationary.
259-2511 Gateway News Service- Gateway
Police have been summoned to the Golden Calf Condominium Tower, with the Robot Squad arriving in full tactical gear. Details are sketchy at this time, but it appears that an Alice 3 Domestic version has gone into cyberpsychosis. Reports are that at least one human has been killed by the robot.
Police are not releasing any details at this time, but we are told that the Robot Squad had to make a “dynamic entry” into the condominium and there was some gunfire as the errant droid was taken down and forcibly deactivated. GNS cameras on scene saw the Robot Forensic unit being allowed into the building with their equipment.
Shortly after their arrival a hasty evacuation took place, as an explosion rocked the apartment where the incident had occurred. The explosion was powerful enough to shatter windows around the area, with the apartment where the incident occurred engulfed in flames. A police spokesman told us that no officers were seriously injured in the blast. A source, not authorized to speak, told us that when the forensic squad jacked in, it triggered a hitherto unknown self destruct code which forced units to hastily evacuate the apartment, and take shelter in an emergency stairwell.
Our source told us that several well known and high ranking organized crime figures live in the building, and the victim of the Alice 3 unit was a high ranking crime boss. But we are not being given any other information at this time, and the police have required all press to relocate further away in case of additional surprises as investigators re-enter the apartment.
Police have been summoned to the Golden Calf Condominium Tower, with the Robot Squad arriving in full tactical gear. Details are sketchy at this time, but it appears that an Alice 3 Domestic version has gone into cyberpsychosis. Reports are that at least one human has been killed by the robot.
Police are not releasing any details at this time, but we are told that the Robot Squad had to make a “dynamic entry” into the condominium and there was some gunfire as the errant droid was taken down and forcibly deactivated. GNS cameras on scene saw the Robot Forensic unit being allowed into the building with their equipment.
Shortly after their arrival a hasty evacuation took place, as an explosion rocked the apartment where the incident had occurred. The explosion was powerful enough to shatter windows around the area, with the apartment where the incident occurred engulfed in flames. A police spokesman told us that no officers were seriously injured in the blast. A source, not authorized to speak, told us that when the forensic squad jacked in, it triggered a hitherto unknown self destruct code which forced units to hastily evacuate the apartment, and take shelter in an emergency stairwell.
Our source told us that several well known and high ranking organized crime figures live in the building, and the victim of the Alice 3 unit was a high ranking crime boss. But we are not being given any other information at this time, and the police have required all press to relocate further away in case of additional surprises as investigators re-enter the apartment.
262-2511 Gateway News Service- Rama
Ladies and Gentlemen have we got a race! It has been a nail biter of a start complete with over a dozen wrecks, mostly caused by hard jockeying for position among the racers. Of those dozen wrecks, seven of the vehicles are totaled and the racers are out. We have seen some questionable actions on the part of the New Drakkensburg Ubermensch after they did an illegal PIT maneuver on the New Texas Rangers vehicle, but the New Texas team was able to recover, and this has turned into a grudge match between those two teams, with Racing Commission staff being forced to keep the two teams well apart at stops.
But the New Texas team is also not the only one with some serious carnage in mind against the New Drakkensburg team. Even the Great Leslie has had words with the Race Referees over the blatant and unsportsmanlike conduct of the Ubermensch. Several fist fights broke out at the last fuel stop as the New Drakkensburg teams vehicle sideswiped the Freedonian Lumberjacks and caused damage to their vehicle.
This forced the Racing Commission to issue a one hour penalty to the Ubermensch. As of right now as teams are making their stop at Bruce’s Billabong, the leaders are the Gateway Supernovas, the New Texas Rangers, the Dunwich Horrors, the Coffeeville Ghost Riders, and the Freedonian Lumberjacks, closely followed by the Rocket 88’s of the Banzai Institute. As is his wont, Bruce has spared no expense in either food and entertainment for the racers and accompanying press cars.
A rather persistent and nasty rumor has started making the rounds that Professor Fate’s Service Crew is working with the New Drakkensburg team. The professor denies this, and no one has any hard proof, but a number of teams have suffered suspicious vehicle failures which appear to have been tampering.
There for a minute we thought that the Coffeeville team was going to suffer the fate of many a new team who were not experienced in the race as they entered the Muddy River, but to the shock and awe of everyone, their vehicle had deployed air bags which allowed it to float safely across the torrent, aided by the vehicle’s propeller system which was concealed by some cargo bundles. Big, big thumbs up to the Coffeeville team for one of the most novel methods of crossing the first big obstacle. The all K’Grech team looks to be serious contenders in this years race.
When the New Drakkenburg team came in at 29th place, there was some dispute over their parking location which was considered unfair by the team. We are told that extra security has been flown in to prevent regrettable accidents. A small fist fight broke out as some of the Ubermensch had words with the Sutekh Elder Gods who are sitting at 21st place right now, which sent seven racers to the infirmary with various injuries, with security having to use a stun gun on one of the New Drakkensburg team who pulled a lug wrench on one of the Sutekh crew.
This resulted in an additional one hour penalty for the Ubermensch which was protested, but the Racing Commission denied their protest. The Sutekh Team has brought in some additional staff to ensure there is no “funny business” during the stop at Bruce’s.
There are plenty of shrimps on the barbie, and a concert given by Sheila and the Barbies which had a rather exceptional mosh pit. Bruce had plenty of cold ones on hand with even the Friedland Team commenting on the quality of the beer this year. The New Medina team to the annoyance of all, demanded that Race Officials check their time and location since they were complaining about being in 47th place, and were lodging a protest claiming that they were closer to the front of the pack. After a series of hearings, at each one they claimed the video and times were incorrect, resulting in four separate checks, it was determined that they actually were in 48th place, not 47th, which led to a small altercation as the members of the team did not take this demotion well.
As usual the Great Leslie is at the front, coming in at 9th place, in his shockingly pristine white vehicle. When asked the secret of keeping his vehicle, clothing and equipment so spotless, he would only reply: Good Sportsmanship, and clean living”.
Ladies and Gentlemen have we got a race! It has been a nail biter of a start complete with over a dozen wrecks, mostly caused by hard jockeying for position among the racers. Of those dozen wrecks, seven of the vehicles are totaled and the racers are out. We have seen some questionable actions on the part of the New Drakkensburg Ubermensch after they did an illegal PIT maneuver on the New Texas Rangers vehicle, but the New Texas team was able to recover, and this has turned into a grudge match between those two teams, with Racing Commission staff being forced to keep the two teams well apart at stops.
But the New Texas team is also not the only one with some serious carnage in mind against the New Drakkensburg team. Even the Great Leslie has had words with the Race Referees over the blatant and unsportsmanlike conduct of the Ubermensch. Several fist fights broke out at the last fuel stop as the New Drakkensburg teams vehicle sideswiped the Freedonian Lumberjacks and caused damage to their vehicle.
This forced the Racing Commission to issue a one hour penalty to the Ubermensch. As of right now as teams are making their stop at Bruce’s Billabong, the leaders are the Gateway Supernovas, the New Texas Rangers, the Dunwich Horrors, the Coffeeville Ghost Riders, and the Freedonian Lumberjacks, closely followed by the Rocket 88’s of the Banzai Institute. As is his wont, Bruce has spared no expense in either food and entertainment for the racers and accompanying press cars.
A rather persistent and nasty rumor has started making the rounds that Professor Fate’s Service Crew is working with the New Drakkensburg team. The professor denies this, and no one has any hard proof, but a number of teams have suffered suspicious vehicle failures which appear to have been tampering.
There for a minute we thought that the Coffeeville team was going to suffer the fate of many a new team who were not experienced in the race as they entered the Muddy River, but to the shock and awe of everyone, their vehicle had deployed air bags which allowed it to float safely across the torrent, aided by the vehicle’s propeller system which was concealed by some cargo bundles. Big, big thumbs up to the Coffeeville team for one of the most novel methods of crossing the first big obstacle. The all K’Grech team looks to be serious contenders in this years race.
When the New Drakkenburg team came in at 29th place, there was some dispute over their parking location which was considered unfair by the team. We are told that extra security has been flown in to prevent regrettable accidents. A small fist fight broke out as some of the Ubermensch had words with the Sutekh Elder Gods who are sitting at 21st place right now, which sent seven racers to the infirmary with various injuries, with security having to use a stun gun on one of the New Drakkensburg team who pulled a lug wrench on one of the Sutekh crew.
This resulted in an additional one hour penalty for the Ubermensch which was protested, but the Racing Commission denied their protest. The Sutekh Team has brought in some additional staff to ensure there is no “funny business” during the stop at Bruce’s.
There are plenty of shrimps on the barbie, and a concert given by Sheila and the Barbies which had a rather exceptional mosh pit. Bruce had plenty of cold ones on hand with even the Friedland Team commenting on the quality of the beer this year. The New Medina team to the annoyance of all, demanded that Race Officials check their time and location since they were complaining about being in 47th place, and were lodging a protest claiming that they were closer to the front of the pack. After a series of hearings, at each one they claimed the video and times were incorrect, resulting in four separate checks, it was determined that they actually were in 48th place, not 47th, which led to a small altercation as the members of the team did not take this demotion well.
As usual the Great Leslie is at the front, coming in at 9th place, in his shockingly pristine white vehicle. When asked the secret of keeping his vehicle, clothing and equipment so spotless, he would only reply: Good Sportsmanship, and clean living”.
265-2511 Gateway News Service- Dusk
The anomaly has vanished, science vessels in system have been headed to the location in an attempt to gather data. Some of the probes sent actually managed to enter the phenomenon, and the readings sent back make absolutely no sense at all. Gravity waves going from zero g to 10,000g in the space of a kilometer, then back to zero g, then to 1 g, and back again.
They are calling this the DGRA (Dusk Gravitational and Radiation Anomaly) which has caused scientists to question whether this is a natural occurring phenomenon or is artificially created. The one probe which managed to enter the center of the DGRA vanished, with no explanation, one minute the readings were coming in, and then...nothing.
Against orders, the crew of the Henry Hudson had sent a crew in a shuttle into one of the outer areas, and it was sucked into the center of the anomaly, reappearing within less than 0.3 seconds, with the crew unable to return, so another shuttle was sent, which was able to tow the other vessel back to the Hudson. The crew of the shuttle which vanished had two dead, three insane, and one which was changed.
The changed crewman was discovered to have had all of his organs reversed. Also he was left handed, and is now right handed. A deeper examination reveals that he is unable to utilize standard human food since he now requires reversed amino acids. He will require supplements to survive since his body can no longer process normal food. Doctors tell us that this crewman is now suffering from extreme PTSD. The afflicted crewman had a small birthmark on the left side of his face, it is now on his right side.
Those who are classified by the medical staff as insane are reporting seeing shapes, hearing colors, tasting sounds, shrinking to points, then suddenly becoming giants, merging into odd shapes and colors. None of their descriptions sounds rational, and all three have been placed in safe confinement pending transport back to Gateway for help.
The dead appear to have died of some unknown effect since autopsies show no reason for them to have died. All those who are able to tell the scientists anything related that they thought they had been gone for days to weeks instead of 0.3 seconds. They said that time had no meaning in the place they were, and each person thought they had been gone a different amount of time as perceived by each person.
The shuttle also showed that everything was reversed. Controls, computer components, air lock, etc. The shuttle is being taken back to Gateway for examination due to this “swap” which has caused consternation among the crew. None of the computer data on the shuttle is unreadable at this time, but time devices on the ship show differing time measurements.
The Governor of the Dusk system has sent out an emergency message to Gateway for assistance, in light of things which happened, and in case the DGRA shows back up again.
The anomaly has vanished, science vessels in system have been headed to the location in an attempt to gather data. Some of the probes sent actually managed to enter the phenomenon, and the readings sent back make absolutely no sense at all. Gravity waves going from zero g to 10,000g in the space of a kilometer, then back to zero g, then to 1 g, and back again.
They are calling this the DGRA (Dusk Gravitational and Radiation Anomaly) which has caused scientists to question whether this is a natural occurring phenomenon or is artificially created. The one probe which managed to enter the center of the DGRA vanished, with no explanation, one minute the readings were coming in, and then...nothing.
Against orders, the crew of the Henry Hudson had sent a crew in a shuttle into one of the outer areas, and it was sucked into the center of the anomaly, reappearing within less than 0.3 seconds, with the crew unable to return, so another shuttle was sent, which was able to tow the other vessel back to the Hudson. The crew of the shuttle which vanished had two dead, three insane, and one which was changed.
The changed crewman was discovered to have had all of his organs reversed. Also he was left handed, and is now right handed. A deeper examination reveals that he is unable to utilize standard human food since he now requires reversed amino acids. He will require supplements to survive since his body can no longer process normal food. Doctors tell us that this crewman is now suffering from extreme PTSD. The afflicted crewman had a small birthmark on the left side of his face, it is now on his right side.
Those who are classified by the medical staff as insane are reporting seeing shapes, hearing colors, tasting sounds, shrinking to points, then suddenly becoming giants, merging into odd shapes and colors. None of their descriptions sounds rational, and all three have been placed in safe confinement pending transport back to Gateway for help.
The dead appear to have died of some unknown effect since autopsies show no reason for them to have died. All those who are able to tell the scientists anything related that they thought they had been gone for days to weeks instead of 0.3 seconds. They said that time had no meaning in the place they were, and each person thought they had been gone a different amount of time as perceived by each person.
The shuttle also showed that everything was reversed. Controls, computer components, air lock, etc. The shuttle is being taken back to Gateway for examination due to this “swap” which has caused consternation among the crew. None of the computer data on the shuttle is unreadable at this time, but time devices on the ship show differing time measurements.
The Governor of the Dusk system has sent out an emergency message to Gateway for assistance, in light of things which happened, and in case the DGRA shows back up again.
This is a fortuitous break for the investigators.
Crap, the typo strikes again. I should be all data is unreadable.
I thought so too, but then I thought, why not be readable? It could be readable, but we don't understand what the readings are showing us, or maybe we just barely understand the readings, but they don't make any sense. Or the readings have been tampered with, but we don't see it.
This give you options based on which way you want your story to go based on what is/isn't really out there.
I saw Event Horizon and it still gives me nightmares. This seems oddly similar. Love these posts: hilarious to creepy to oddly space operatic, you are covering a lot of bases well!
I'm sure that would have worked out well.
264-2511 Gateway News Service- Gateway
In an utter shock to the system, the election was held and the Gateway Freedom party lost its majority in Parliament. But the shock was by the margin which voters rejected the former Prime Minister’s party. While still the largest single party in Parliament, they now only hold 41% of the seats, down from 57% before the election. The big winner is the Gateway Imperial Party, which has formed a coalition with the Gateway Colonial Party and the New Gateway Loyalists to control 51.25% of the seats.
Immediately upon taking office the new Prime Minister Sylvia Whist said that she was going to expand the navy, and start taking a far harder line at other worlds which have had the temerity to ignore the Gateway Federations rightful place in the Sector. She and her team wasted no time by ordering the retirement of the Chief of Naval Operations, as well as over a dozen other senior officers.
Vice Admiral Ramachandra has been promoted to Admiral and made Chief of Naval Operations. He is taking a hard line stance on “Those worlds which belong to Gateway, and we need to teach the Neo-Barbarians they need to respect us”. He is asking for the Parliament to increase the navy by no less than 35 capital ships, and almost 150 other vessels over the next five years. His “New Look 2512” program envisions Gateway having a navy strong enough to fight off any two possible opponents.
The new Foreign Minister is also a hard liner, and said that he is going to take a long hard look at removing the Gateway Federation from the Gateway Treaty which has only allowed other worlds to take advantage of both worlds which have been explored and settled by Gateway along with the colonial infrastructure, and the Technology that Gateway has used to propel humanity to its place in the sector.
He and the new Home Secretary will be looking at “foreign ownership of strategic industries and facilities” in the Gateway System. The ownership of Chandra Shipyards by Cheval Enterprises is one specific instance mentioned. The Home Secretary has said she considers it ridiculous that an obviously critical shipyard such as Chandra is owned by a hostile foreign power such as Cheval Enterprises which everyone knows is owned by the Cheval Family of Sutekh. He is going to make a case to nationalize such critical industries and infrastructure to prevent worlds like Sutekh from profiting off of the hard work of the Gateway Federation.
The former PM Mr. Gonzalez-Cenisac has called the statements and rhetoric coming from the new PM and his government “concerning, and ill advised”. He said that while the people have spoken and they wanted a new direction, the government going out of their way to alienate other governments is both foolish and short sighted in the long run. He predicted that their rush forward into unknown territory would backfire on the Federation in the long run, and undo years of diplomacy and good will.
Some analysts are expressing concern over the new coalition government’s attitude towards both traditional trading partners, and allies as showing a very short sighted mentality, and the rush to build a massive fleet as destabilizing in the long run, since it is suspected that this will kick off an arms race among other worlds concerned with where the Gateway Federation is headed. But others are praising the new Whist government for its “clear eyed, and forward looking” policies.
In an utter shock to the system, the election was held and the Gateway Freedom party lost its majority in Parliament. But the shock was by the margin which voters rejected the former Prime Minister’s party. While still the largest single party in Parliament, they now only hold 41% of the seats, down from 57% before the election. The big winner is the Gateway Imperial Party, which has formed a coalition with the Gateway Colonial Party and the New Gateway Loyalists to control 51.25% of the seats.
Immediately upon taking office the new Prime Minister Sylvia Whist said that she was going to expand the navy, and start taking a far harder line at other worlds which have had the temerity to ignore the Gateway Federations rightful place in the Sector. She and her team wasted no time by ordering the retirement of the Chief of Naval Operations, as well as over a dozen other senior officers.
Vice Admiral Ramachandra has been promoted to Admiral and made Chief of Naval Operations. He is taking a hard line stance on “Those worlds which belong to Gateway, and we need to teach the Neo-Barbarians they need to respect us”. He is asking for the Parliament to increase the navy by no less than 35 capital ships, and almost 150 other vessels over the next five years. His “New Look 2512” program envisions Gateway having a navy strong enough to fight off any two possible opponents.
The new Foreign Minister is also a hard liner, and said that he is going to take a long hard look at removing the Gateway Federation from the Gateway Treaty which has only allowed other worlds to take advantage of both worlds which have been explored and settled by Gateway along with the colonial infrastructure, and the Technology that Gateway has used to propel humanity to its place in the sector.
He and the new Home Secretary will be looking at “foreign ownership of strategic industries and facilities” in the Gateway System. The ownership of Chandra Shipyards by Cheval Enterprises is one specific instance mentioned. The Home Secretary has said she considers it ridiculous that an obviously critical shipyard such as Chandra is owned by a hostile foreign power such as Cheval Enterprises which everyone knows is owned by the Cheval Family of Sutekh. He is going to make a case to nationalize such critical industries and infrastructure to prevent worlds like Sutekh from profiting off of the hard work of the Gateway Federation.
The former PM Mr. Gonzalez-Cenisac has called the statements and rhetoric coming from the new PM and his government “concerning, and ill advised”. He said that while the people have spoken and they wanted a new direction, the government going out of their way to alienate other governments is both foolish and short sighted in the long run. He predicted that their rush forward into unknown territory would backfire on the Federation in the long run, and undo years of diplomacy and good will.
Some analysts are expressing concern over the new coalition government’s attitude towards both traditional trading partners, and allies as showing a very short sighted mentality, and the rush to build a massive fleet as destabilizing in the long run, since it is suspected that this will kick off an arms race among other worlds concerned with where the Gateway Federation is headed. But others are praising the new Whist government for its “clear eyed, and forward looking” policies.
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