Far Frontiers Gateway Sector #2

[Murph]

017-2511 Gateway News Service- Aki

An exploration vessel from the Gateway Exploration Service arrived on Aki today, and reports that they have found evidence that the world of Bedrock (C0808X) has evidence of once having life on it. Orbital surveys have discovered ruins of ancient cities on this world which is classified as E852000-0.

The survey vessel Beagle has spent several months in system mapping out the system, and discovered that the sole habitable world which has been called Bedrock appears to have suffered a terrible orbital strike with numerous impact craters being found on the surface, which could be the reason for the lack of surface water on the planet due to crustal cracks.

The Beagle sent its two mapping pinnaces on numerous low level mapping passes over the world’s surface. No signs of life could be found, but since the Beagle is not equipped for initial landing surveys, no landing was attempted. Air samples taken reveal some pollen in the atmosphere, with an oxygen-nitrogen thin atmosphere. There are some traces of odd particulates in the atmosphere which would indicate either extreme volcanic activity, or debris from orbital strikes some time in the past.

Photographs and videos of the structures show possibly a TL 2/3 civilization which appears to have completely died out. There is no visible evidence of any high tech civilization on this planet, and several of the cities appear from the evidence to have been subjected to some sort of orbital strikes. The photographs seem to indicate that life became extinct on this planet sometime between 20-25,000 years ago, which would place it in the time frame of the battles between the Lords of Darkness and the Precursors.

The data is being sent off to Gateway with the request that a landing be attempted. The Beagle will head to Shangri La for refitting, maintenance and resupply before heading out into the Near Dark subsector.

 

[Murph]

018-2511 Gateway News Service- Poictesme/Gateway

The old, almost abandoned, science station on this world has come back to life with the discovery of rich mineral finds close to the station by freelance prospectors. As most of the base is underground, and parts had become almost derelict due to the draw down of scientific personnel, the 100 year old facility was really showing its age before the final staff departed leaving only a very small 50 person care taking staff on hand.

With the discovery of subsurface water in good quantities, a miner named George “Rocket Fist” Gonzales moved in to the station with the permission of the caretakers. He found several old fissures on the lower levels of the station which were never really explored when the base was built and just closed off. In what he later called his “mother of a lode”, he discovered metallic spherules of Onnesium in several of the fissures, he quickly filed a claim under the abandoned property act of 2399 since the station was in effect abandoned.

Taking out over 200 kilos of the valuable metal, Rocket Fist found himself embroiled in a lawsuit from the Gateway Federation government claiming his finds were government property. The Supreme Judicial Court of the Gateway Federation has finally handed down its ruling.

In the ruling, it determined that while the facility was in “standby” or caretaker mode, the Government had allowed the miners to set up shop on the planet having essentially abandoned its facilities. And since no contract was required for the miners to operate or that all finds become government property, the Federation government has waived its claim of sovereign rights and cannot use Eminent Domain over the finds of the minerals, which revert back to the miners.

Furthermore, the Federation government is required to pay standard mining interest rates to the miners for the seized or in the case of Rocket Fist Gonzales, the unlawful sale of his property without his permission. The government has been fighting this for several years, and with this ruling the miners have free access to their mines once more. The government was given 72 hours to pay all of the claims since it appeared that they were arguing to the court that it would take them 4-5 Terran Standard Years to pay the outstanding claims, and longer in some cases. The court did not find this argument persuasive and ordered all payments to be rendered in 72 Terran standard hours, or the Federation would have 10% added each day the payment was late.

This represents a huge set back for the Gateway System Ministry, and will force them to treat miners much better in the future. A bill has been proposed in Parliament to force all future mines of this type to sign their lease from the government, and give the government Eminent Domain rights to any “strategic materials” found. However the Prime Minister Gonzalez-Cenisac has said that he is opposed to this bill, and would urge it not pass. It looks like 45% of the Parliament is in favor, 47% opposed and the rest undecided at this time. In light of this uncertainty, the Gateway Stock Exchange saw an enormous sell off of Mining stocks, and overall dropped 5 points in trading, causing the directors to halt trading for two days.

The old station has now become the hub of mining operations on Poictesme, and in the surrounding orbit of the Gas Giant as the existing facilities are now repurposed to support the mining operations in Cabell Orbit. Several of the old Geological Survey stations have also been taken over by mining operators and their crews as bases for mining on the surface of this inhospitable planet.

 

[Murph]

019-2511 Gateway News Service- Freedonia

A bill to formalize the National Anthem “All Hail Freedonia” with standard music, lyrics, and tempo has met vigorous opposition from groups across the political spectrum, with those opposed claiming that being able to sing the anthem as they wish makes part of the charm of Freedonia. The author of the bill said that all he wants is for the National Anthem to at least sound “normal”. He was shouted down by those in the gallery and by many other legislators.

 

[Murph]

023-2511 Gateway News Service- Xanadu

The Guillotine files has claimed another scalp as the head of the opposition party in the Senate as he was exposed as being paid for by BioGen and Fusigon. Also he used his influence to get his children accepted to the best schools, and then to get them jobs with very prestigious firms on Xanadu.

While this sort of nepotism is winked at on Xanadu as long as it is not too blatant, everyone in power does much the same for their children, whether they are competent of not. In the case of the leader of the Opposition, his daughter, was given a job in the Prosecution Service, and moved rapidly up to supervisory positions, she is known as a spoiled princess who shows up and works maybe 3-4 hours a day before heading off to the golf course, or shopping while constantly berating subordinates for her failures.

His son avoided military service by getting a medical waiver, and is now a senior manager for Xanadu Shipyards in charge of new business. He is thought of as a perfumed prince who comes in, spends perhaps 10-15 hours a week actually at his office, and the rest is spent on the golf course or in karaoke bars “drumming up new business”. Our source tells us that he is accomplished at pinning failures on subordinates and others to remain in his position. The file also shows he is involved in an extensive bribery ring where suppliers provide him with both “gifts” and kickbacks for contracts sent their way.

A gift that keeps on giving, the Guillotine file has sent shock waves through Xanadu power circles as the rich and powerful wonder when it will be their time in the spotlight. In the meantime Anna Kim has departed for New Texas where we are told she will be staying for a few months. She was escorted by her “bodyguard” and were seen holding hands as they took the shuttle up to the Empire of the Rising Sun, a King Richard class liner headed to New Texas. She also had quite the security presence with her since rumors are that she is the one suspected of releasing the Guillotine files.

 

[Murph]

025-2511 Gateway News Service- Nidhogg

Four bodies were found on the edge of the cold zone, and Omega Tech EMR staff say they appear to have been shot to death by laser fire. It appears that they were employees of Yaroslavl Mining company, which is a Nidhogg based subsidiary of New Drakkensburg Mining and Exploration.

The deceased persons were stripped of all valuables, and their ATV was also ransacked by unknown persons. The area they were in at the time of their deaths is called Cold Creek Canyon, which is one of the main routes leading up to the Anserra glacier on the cold side.

Omega Tech was able to determine that they had been searching for radioactive in the canyon, when they were attacked. There are tracks of two other At Vs in the area which headed back in the direction leading to the world river. The bodies had been semi preserved due to the temperatures which were hovering around 0C. A local trapper found the bodies, and called in to the starport for EMR services.

The area of the canyon is not heavily traveled, and so it was purely by chance that the bodies were found. We are told that the sample storage bins did show a low level of radioactivity which indicates radioactive ore had been in them sometime in the near past.

Yaroslavl Mining has asked Omega Tech to conduct an investigation into the deaths of their employees, which is a standard practice on this world which has no government and no world police agency. A spokesman for Omega Tech said that they have opened a case at the request of Yaroslavl Mining.

 

[King Midas]

025-2511 Gateway News Service- Nidhogg

Four bodies were found on the edge of the cold zone, and Omega Tech EMR staff say they appear to have been shot to death by laser fire. It appears that they were employees of Yaroslavl Mining company, which is a Nidhogg based subsidiary of New Drakkensburg Mining and Exploration.

The deceased persons were stripped of all valuables, and their ATV was also ransacked by unknown persons. The area they were in at the time of their deaths is called Cold Creek Canyon, which is one of the main routes leading up to the Anserra glacier on the cold side.

Omega Tech was able to determine that they had been searching for radioactive in the canyon, when they were attacked. There are tracks of two other At Vs in the area which headed back in the direction leading to the world river. The bodies had been semi preserved due to the temperatures which were hovering around 0C. A local trapper found the bodies, and called in to the starport for EMR services.

The area of the canyon is not heavily traveled, and so it was purely by chance that the bodies were found. We are told that the sample storage bins did show a low level of radioactivity which indicates radioactive ore had been in them sometime in the near past.

Yaroslavl Mining has asked Omega Tech to conduct an investigation into the deaths of their employees, which is a standard practice on this world which has no government and no world police agency. A spokesman for Omega Tech said that they have opened a case at the request of Yaroslavl Mining.

Bandits? Claim jumpers? Megacorp shenanigans? We shall just have to wait and see...

 

[Murph]

Ah, that is part of the ongoing mystery....

 

[Murph]

New Texas and Freedonia.

 

[Murph]

For those who get the emails of the newsletter, I just sent the completed sector map which is too large to attach here. Thanks to Peter who cleaned it up and did yeoman work making it look decent in photoshop, he did an utterly amazing job on it.