Far Frontiers Gateway Sector #2

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146-2511 Gateway News Service- Nidhogg

The New Parisian Cruiser Turenne intercepted a Hercules class freighter, the Oberon as it jumped into the Nidhogg system. The cruiser’s marines conducted a boarding action onto the freighter where they seized a meson gun which was being illegally shipped to New Drakkensburg.

The weapon was found to have been officially declared damaged and destroyed by the Gateway Armament Ministry back in 2510. However, cross checking serial numbers shows that this weapon, which was allegedly destroyed was not, in fact, destroyed, instead the fully functional meson weapon and its ancillary equipment was part of the cargo on the Hercules class.

We are told that the New Parisian Navy was tipped off by an unknown source about the shipment of the meson gun, but the Hercules had already jumped from New Paris. The cruiser was sent on an emergency mission to stop the ship and seize the weapon. Meson guns are on the embargoed list of items that cannot be shipped to New Drakkensburg.

We are told that the government of New Paris has issued a communique that both Shiva and Nidhogg are in their exclusive “Sphere of influence”, and the Emperor Napoleon IV has decreed that New Paris will enforce the embargo on New Drakkensburg strictly. The combined clans, miners, and others on Nidhogg have filed a protest at this action on the part of the New Parisians. The Ambassador to Nidhogg said: Dommage. Tu dois respecter les règles, ou tu seras déçu.(Too bad. You need to play by the rules, or be disappointed.)

With stability returning to New Paris, the Emperor has apparently decided to flex his muscles by declaring the worlds of Shiva and Nidhogg were part of the Sphere of Influence of New Paris, and would strictly enforce the anti-slavery and embargo against New Drakkensburg.

It is known that the route to New Drakkensburg through Nidhogg is a well traveled smuggling route, but the New Parisian fleet is still recovering from the Civil War, and is too small to do more than station a ship or two outside of the New Paris system. But they have ordered quite a few new ships to replace their losses.

 

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149-2511 Gateway News Service-Shiva/Rajguna

Our correspondent C. Snively reports on this colony and its tea business. Rajguna is a corporate state which has the highest tech level on Shiva. It adjoins the Cricket enclave and is popular with people who live and work there. On Shiva, the Rajguna Tea Company has started offering opportunities for refined ladies looking to start a business, to open a franchised tea room. Ashok Kumar, the President and General Manager of the Rajguna Tea Company has said that in his colony, and several others, tea is extremely popular with all segments of society. The model for his franchises that he is offering, is the Tea Room that his family set up in the Rajguna downport which has been a fixture for over a century.

Tea, being important to the social life of the colony, has seen many tea plantations started in the lush growing areas of the colony. The quality ranges from your average quality cup of tea, which is either made into Chai, or drunk with milk in the British style. Rajguna tea has proven popular as far away as New Canberra which is a major importer of the fine leaves. Being a very culturally/socially conservative colony, meeting for prospective spouses at a tea room has become common in this colony.

The Tea Rooms would have a nominal cost, but Mr. Kumar has set strict standards for the tea rooms to ensure a good class customer base and ensure that all the citizens of Rajguna can enjoy a fine cup in a relaxing and genteel setting. One such lady Miss Prianka Udaipuri, who is well known in the Chamraj neighborhood told GNS that: "As a proper lady, owning my own tea room allows me to interact with properly brought up citizens, serving them a proper tea so that they can head back out to the hustle and bustle properly refreshed. The franchise fee is low, and the Rajguna Tea Company offers a great deal of help in setting oneself up in business."

Rajguna is one of the more vibrant colonies on Shiva, with heavy off world investment which has allowed the colony to become a tech leader for Shiva. Every citizen is a shareholder in the corporation that runs the colony, which allows for some interesting stockholder meetings. Embracing a strict neutrality in world affairs, Rajguna is seen as neutral ground for many opposing colonies to come to in order to reach a diplomatic settlement for those disagreements which occasionally end up in gunfire.

Rajguna is also the culinary capital of Shiva, since the colonists take their food VERY seriously. It has more three star restaurants than any other colony on the planet Shiva. Located in the foothills of the World Spine Mountains, the climate is almost perfect, and in the winter, sledding, skiing, and other winter sports are very much in evidence.

 

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151-2511 Gateway News Service- Rama

Teams are starting to arrive for the Rama Road Rally. This years course is different from the last course, taking a more “southerly” track than before, as well as being over 300 kilometers longer, which means that the racers will have to go through a bit more desert and steppes. To the unbridled fury of McBruce V, the course takes the racers far south of Bruce’s Billibong which will certainly be a disappointment for many of the racers, since Bruce’s hospitality has left several teams, shall we say, worse for wear.

But Abishek’s Dhaba is still in the course, which with the new rebuild it is going to be popular with the racers. Some are questioning why Abishek’s is still on the course and not Bruce’s which has puzzled many since both have been stopovers for the entire history of the race since they were on the original trek route, and also both places have been major supporters and popular stopping spots for the racers. There are some questions if money changed hands to cause this change in the stops.

At this time complaints have been lodged with the Racing Authority over the course change and its failure to hit the Billabong. A source close to the Racing Authority tells us at GNS that the Chairman who made the decision has been taken aback by the level of outrage at removing Bruce’s Billibong from the stopping points for the race. An emergency meeting is being held to discuss the change in route, and to see if there is any possible way to add Bruce’s back into the mix. Rumors are that the McBruce family voted for the other candidate for Race commissioner, and this is a political payback, which if true represents an unwanted and unneeded change to the historically non political nature of the race.

It is looking like most racers are either using the New Texas Motors Rangestar XII chassis as the basis for their vehicles, or the Gateway Automotive Racing Thunderstreak XIX chassis. Both are the best in the field for racing ATVs. As is usual for the race, only emergency gravitc units are allowed in case a vehicle falls into a crevasse, a river, or such.

Also per the last race no advanced navigation systems will be allowed, only maps, map boxes, and inertial nav systems. Some racers have compared this to navigating using a sextant and the stars, but others welcome the challenge. The race recreates the early days of the colony so high tech is forbidden to the racers, although every race some team decides to try and be creative, and when found out are unceremoniously ejected from the race.

This years purse stands at roughly 600,000 stellars, with Mr. Bilmont Cockvalve throwing in 50,000 stellars to the purse. The bookies are looking over the racers, and should start offering odds in a few weeks as the remaining teams arrive. This year’s race is going to be crowded with almost 397 entries. That is one of the larger numbers in the almost 200 year history of the race, which started out as contractors hauling goods to isolated stations in the outback.

This years race also contains no less than FOUR K’Grech teams, one from Dustball, and three from Coffeeville. In a complete shock to everyone, there is going to possibly be an Aslan team entering this years race. The Meow, Meow, growl, purr, hiss spit, hiss, or as translated, the Group kicking the hairless aliens buttocks is looking to enter the race. Now we have seen everything! What next? A Droyne entry? Unreal.

The Friedland team has arrived early, and the Panzerknackers are looking very impressive in early practice runs. The Freedonian Blue Bells are also here, along with the Nacogdoches Stone Fort, with both teams running New Texas offerings. The Dustball team has been sponsored by Matoshi’s Dustball Hardluck Speculative Mining Company, and is also using the Rangestar XII chassis.

 

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153-2511 Gateway News Service- Rama

After the uproar over the removal of Bruce’s Billabong from the race route for this year, the Commissioner of the Rama Racing Commission said that they had no plans to change the route, and he was sorry if some people felt that they were singled out, and despite claims that the Commission had kept Abishek’s Dhaba in the course to assist them in recovering from the fire which leveled the famed Dhaba were simply not true.

Bruce McBruce V, the great great grandson of Bruce McBruce who built the Billabong said that he was not finished yet with this, and would see what other steps he could take, but if this year he had to not host the racers, then he understood since the Race was more important than just a single business, which despite being one of the cornerstones of the race since it was founded, and despite their years of helpful and faithful support and contributions to the Race, he understood, and would manfully bear up under the knowledge that the Racing Commission had other plans, that unfortunately did not include Bruce’s Billabong. He told GNS that he will, of course, be prepared to support the race despite this unfortunate and ridiculous ruling on the course.

The Rama road rally brings in an immense level of tourism, and is one of the larger parts of the tourist economy. In off years, the route to Bruce’s and Abishek’s are the scene of tourists renting vehicles to cover part of the route. We suspect, based on the level of outrage, that the saga of Bruce’s Billabong is not over yet.

 

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158-2511 Gateway News Service- Sulawesi

Gunfire broke out once more as Enclaves Burcepherous and Donar-Sulawesi continued fighting. Enclave Burcepherous has gotten reinforcements from a newly hired mercenary unit; Patel’s 20th Sikh company. The company landed under cover of darkness, and almost immediately entered the fighting, pushing the Donar-Sulawesi forces back 10 kilometers before they were able to stop the advance of the mercenaries.

Another recently hired mercenary unit, the famed Atrocity Mercenary Group has hit the Sulawesi-Timur forces in the Gold Canyon, and after three days of intense fighting, where the Atrocity Company called in ortillery strikes on the Sulawesi-Timur forces, they have been pushed out of the Canyon except for a small garrison around the fortified town of Nuggetville which so far has proven to be too tough a nut to crack for the Atrocity mercenaries.

Clan Ranald has also entered the fray, and its 300 men have provided assistance to the mercenaries. Burcepherous’s forces are cleaning up the hold outs in the canyon, and unless Sulawesi-Timur can suddenly get more troops, it appears that Enclave Burcepherous might, for the very first time, be completely in control of the Gold Canyon which is the location of many very profitable mines as well as rich agricultural land in the bottom of the canyon. As always Sulawesi is a mercenaries favored location due to the good pay, easy looting, exceptional chances for good contracts, and low casualty rates.