Far Frontiers Gateway sector

[Murph]

119-2510 Gateway News Service- Han Shan

An ALF vessel arrived and sent the following message to the human crewed craft in the system:

NORZZORP! NORZZORP! IT IS WITH GREAT REGRET THAT WE HAVE ENCOUNTERED ONE OF YOUR VESSELS 17 SNARGS (12 PARSECS) FROM YOUR PATHETIC WORLDS, AND UNFORTUNATELY THE DISGUSTING SOFT ONES INSIDE OF THE CRAFT HAD THEIR LIFE FUNCTIONS CEASE BEFORE WE ARRIVED.

WE WISH TO CONFIRM THAT THEY DID NOT DISCORPORATE UPON SEEING OUR TRUE FORMS, WHICH IS TOO BEAUTIFUL AND TERRIBLE FOR THE SOFT ONES TO VIEW WITHOUT DISCORPORATION. OUR HIGH FLARG WISHES TO ENSURE THAT NO SOFT ONE VIEWS OUR ACTIONS IN A HOSTILE MANNER.

WE HAVE KEPT THE VESSEL AS SALVAGE UNDER THE LAWS OF GIZODONDO, AND AS SUCH THE VESSEL SHALL NOT BE RETURNED, HOWEVER INSTEAD OF ALLOWING THE BODIES TO BE CONSUMED BY DECAY WORMS WE HAVE RETURNED THEM SO THAT THE SOFT ONES CAN PROVIDE YOUR SPECIES SPECIFIC FUNERAL RITES.

GAZZORP! GAZZORP! COMMUNICATION ENDS, WE MUST GO CLEANSE OURSELVES AFTER CONTACT WITH THE DISGUSTING ONES.

The seven crew of the free trader Diamond Star were returned along with the “black box” showing that the ship had mis-jumped 12 years ago, and the crew found itself in interstellar space 1 jump (3.26 light years) from the nearest star. The ships cold sleep capsules failed between six months and a year ago. The bodies were intact. The ALFs jumped out after delivering the bodies of the crew.

 

[Murph]

116-2510 Gateway News Service- Xu Su

徐苏 安全设备 Xú sū ānquán shèbèi (Xu Su Safety Equipment) has released a new generation of safety gear for boats and ships which travel the oceans of Xu Su. This new generation of craft, the MK IV, includes gravitic modules to assist in dealing with the heaviest seas, and a better sealed compartment for the passengers.

The company is famous for its MK III life craft which for over a decade has been a mainstay of ships on the treacherous oceans of Xu Su. The current MK IIIf model has been exported widely across the sector, and is credited with saving numerous lives from ships which were forced to deploy it. On Xu Su, by law each vessel is required to have enough life craft for all crew and passengers with a 10% additional margin in case of larger than expected passenger compliments.

The MK IV also contains a longer lived distress beacon, and some rudimentary food preparation facilities with a small desalination tank to allow for fresh water for up to 8 occupants. Plus, in accordance with law it is a bright international orange to aid in visual spotting.

 

[Murph]

123-2510 Gateway News Service- Gateway

Mr. David Lo Pan of Lo Pan Enterprises has issued a press release that he is getting married very soon, and hopes to soon have some heirs to follow after him. He has just directed that a trading station be opened on Shangri La,Jīnsè cǎoyuán (Golden Steppes), Leng Shan, and Lan Gu. He said that he hopes to capitalize on the trade with the Droyne, Hivers, and Vargr on those worlds.

Mr. Lo Pan, while not in the same league as Cheval Enterprises, is a well known business man and philanthropist who is very well known on Gateway. He and his company support the local Chambers of Commerce, the Rotary, the Gateway Cricket League, and many other organizations. He said that his bride, the very lovely Yin Miao Liu is looking forward greatly to being his bride. The pair will honeymoon on Xu Su.

His nemesis Wang Chi Consolidated has been working extra hard to ensure that the Lo Pan Consortium does not get access to trade possibilities before they are able to do so. The rivalry between these two date back to the early days of the 20th Century on Old Terra from the San Francisco Bay area.

 

[Murph]

124-2510 Gateway News Service- Freedonia

Sir Richard Cochrane has returned after his most recent charter to Canyon. The hunters have professed themselves well satisfied, and have given him a five star review on Gulp the review site. Sir Richard after returning, almost immediately racked up yet another fine as he violated a number of traffic rules in his reproduction F-14 Tomcat, to include unsafe flight at an unauthorized low altitude. He has reportedly paid the staggering 3,000 stellar fine, and promised that he will behave. The judge took him to task, explaining to him that “A man of his age” needs to act like an adult. Sir Richard only said he would try to do better, but he got carried away by just the sheer joy of being back on Freedonia.

The local HOA of Harrison’s bay, which is under Sir Richard’s regular flight path has filed a restraining order against him, demanding he stop creating sonic booms, and stop flying at 100 meters off the deck. Sir Richard has promised to work on doing better.

 

[Murph]

The ALFs talk like Coneheads for those familiar with the Coneheads. They have a vastly impressive level of self assurance, and think very highly of themselves. Just FYI.

 

[Grav_Moped]

So... they're from France?

 

[Murph]

So... they're from France?

Absolutely!

 

[Murph]

129-2510 Gateway News Service- New Caledonia

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Well at least for the New Caledonian Highlanders on the field of battle with the New Ireland Shamrocks it was the worst of times. Going down to a humiliating 6-0 loss, the Highlanders, were trounced in a game that has left sports columnists, and bookies bamboozled. For the Shamrocks this represented a victorious comeback after four years of steady losses to the Highlanders in the New Caledonia Soccer matches.

New Ireland has erupted in celebration after the final clock ran out on the game. The Shamrocks, quickly returned to New Ireland where they were greeted as the heroes that they are to this planet, which has always been in the shadow of their older and more populous brother on New Caledonia.

To say that beer, stout, and more than a few fine drams of Irish whiskey flowed in the cities and towns of New Ireland is to perhaps understate the level of celebration. The Hereditary Prince arrived with an escort of the St. Patrick’s Rifles and with great ceremony delivered the System Cup to the assembled team. And as usual, they filled the trophy with Guinness Stout, and each member took a heroic draught of the nectar, with the Prince being among them, showing a great deal of appreciation for the New Ireland team.

To say that the Prince was welcome on New Ireland is to perhaps understate his welcome, and he also kicked off early his half year stay on the planet in honor of the win by the Shamrocks. On New Caledonia, we are told that Angus MacDougal’s grandmother has disowned him for “failure to play well against those barbarians!” The rest of the team has gone into seclusion, where, we are told, they will undergo a training regime the likes they have never seen before to get them back into shape for the next series, or to run them off the team if they cannot hang.

 

[Murph]

130-2510 Gateway News Service- Marduk

In a shocking development, the AstroBurger chain of fast food places, has set up stores directly across the street from several Wombat Burger stores, and is offering specials at a lower price than Wombat Burger, and extra cheese on the burgers for no additional charge. This is an escalation in the long simmering battle between AstroBurger and Wombat Burger over the title of the sector’s favorite burger place.

We are also told that AstroBurger which is a subsidiary company of the Gateway Corporation has set its next five year plan to completely eliminating the Wombat Burger stores from the Gateway Federation with a new line of burger deals, shakes, onion rings, and other items that they are hoping will force Wombat Burger to pack up shop and move.

In a new ad on Vid, the campaign has become; “Where’s the Beef” as a curvaceous spokesmodel is looking at a Wombat Burger, and complaining that there is no meat on the burger compared to a comparable offering by AstroBurger. The AstroBurger company has announced that they were increasing the size of their patty from 250 grams to 350 grams for the same price. The standard Wombat burger patty of 275 grams is claimed to be both smaller and less flavorful per tests run by the Astroburger chain using Gateway Corporation taste testers.

Also they are claiming that Wombat Burger, despite the name is not really a burger place, being merely a “seared meat strip on a bun with toxic waste added, referring to the now discontinued Vegemite burger. The rivalry has accelerated in recent years after Wombat Burger stole a march on AstroBurger by opening stores in the Outlands subsector using its famous “Drop In Stores” delivered from orbit, claiming to have hot burgers ready in under an hour after drop.

AstroBurger stock has climbed 3 points in early trading on the Gateway Stock Exchange, with the Wombat Burger chain stock falling 2 points.

 

[Murph]

134-2510 Gateway News Service- Gateway

An incident occurred between the Gateway Police Service and a member of the Sainte Foix delegation last night in the entertainment district of the capital. At this time details are sketchy, but it appears that a member of the Sainte Foix trade delegation attacked several people in an alley which leads to several well regarded underground clubs which are popular with those into the club scene.

An eyewitness to the event told us that the member of the delegation who was dressed in black with a hooded cape attacked several party goers, while screaming; “It is time, I feel the flow, I need the nectar”. He apparently attacked several people in an attempt to bite them, with one person describing the attacker as “this tall pale dude, with crazy eyes, and long teeth trying to chomp down on my girlfriend! He tossed me aside like I was a doll, claiming he needed O Positive!” “It was like weird dude, he shook off 4 tasers like it was nothing” another bystander told us.

To the shock an amazement of the bystanders, the diplomat started tossing around police officers like they were rag dolls. One officer was severely bitten, and had to receive a dozen stitches as the diplomat hung on, and started sucking his blood, screaming words regarding “Bodily Fluids!” They were finally able to subdue the diplomat who seemed to have as one officer put it; “Superhuman strength”.

As the police finally were able to get the man under control, a female member of the delegation arrived, and became agitated at the smell and sight of blood. Two other members arrived and took the female into their custody as she had started becoming irrational as well.

The male diplomat was detained, but since he had diplomatic immunity had to be released to the head of the Sainte Foix delegation. We are told that the Foreign Ministry had to get involved to get the police to release the diplomat who is not being identified at this time. The officers involved were treated at a local hospital, given Tetanus boosters, and allowed to return to duty.

The leader of the delegation issued a profuse apology for the “regrettable, and unfortunate incident” and hoped that things would be quickly forgotten, having agreed to pay for all medical expenses for those injured in the attack. We attempted to speak with the head of the delegation, and all he would tell us is that the diplomat is fine now, filled with remorse, and shocked at his behavior. When pressed, he told us that people from Sainte Foix do not discuss intimate matters with outsiders.

Our inside source with the police told us that apparently they were told that it was the “time” for the diplomat, and he had ignored the warning signs for his kind, and instead of getting his “treatment” decided to go out on the town since he felt he could handle “it”. The Gateway News Service has said that the delegation was there to arrange for shipments of whole blood to Dunwich to be delivered to Sainte Foix.

 

[coliver988]

There was an Amber Zone in JTAS 15, Chill, that dealt with blood. Could see some sort of relationship here though that was a genetic deficiemncy issue.

 

[Murph]

Same concept, same name. Loved the idea, it fit into my universe so well, with genetically manipulated humans, with some advantages, but some nasty disadvantages, which were abandoned by GeneCo as "failed experiments".

 

[Murph]

141-2510 Gateway News Service- Gateway

Professor Felix Schicklestein, at the University of Gateway has been named as the head of the department of Bio Medical Ethics. The professor is a graduate of Johns Hopkins of Gateway, and The Gateway Medical School. He is a board certified Genetic Virologist, and Nano Medical expert. He has written a number of scholarly articles on Nano technological assisted medical procedures, as well as nano tech viral agents for research purposes.

Professor Schicklestein is the recipient of the Donnerbrook Prize for Biomedical Development, the Braunstein Prize for best Experimental Researcher for NanoMedicine, and the Sang Wu Prize for NanoTechnology. He is also an experimental Research Consultant with FreeGen, a company that develops vaccines for various viruses, and conducts classified research for the Gateway Military.

We spoke with him about what his plans were now that he had been promoted, and he told us that his focus always has been on the ethical and moral use of nanotechnology and the advancement of medical ethics in line with modern technology, so that all resources can be utilized to provide a level of self actualization to our patients and our customers to ensure that they get the most satisfaction from our products and those students which are graduated from the fine medical schools on Gateway. He said that looks at himself as one of those who molds and shapes the next generation of medical professionals.

 

[Murph]

142-2510 Gateway News Service- Xanadu

The Aunt of Senator Pham has passed away at the ripe age of 163, having been an early recipient of the first generation of anagathics. A meeting was held at the Wind Lotus Buddhist Temple in their secure conference room where the will was read. A source inside of the meeting told us that there were fireworks, with some apparent threats being made by family members to Senator Pham.

The event was disrupted as the fire alarm was set off by an unknown person, along with the sprinkler system, which rather abruptly ended the meeting. Something had occurred as Senator Pham was seen walking out with a single bodyguard, and as responding fire fighters arrived, they found six guards who had been badly beaten in the hallway leading to the secure conference room. Since there were no video cameras, and no one is talking to the police, our source is unsure what occurred in the hallway.

As she left the secure conference room, there was a confrontation between her security team, which rushed to her side, and security people belonging to her step brother, and other family members. The opposing side seemed reluctant to allow the Senator to leave the property, with her half brother arguing vigorously with his father in law. But in the end she was allowed to leave.

Reports of a dramatic shift in family dynamics is being reported, with the Senator being whisked by a veritable phalanx of security to the headquarters of JSS security where we are told she went into a very secure area of the building. She was seen leaving in a different vehicle than her husband Wu Shi-Peng. Speculation by several confidential sources are telling us that the area the Senator was whisked to is reportedly the nerve center of Dreamland.

Our source also tells us that Senator Pham was named as both the executor of her Aunt’s estate, and the recipient of all of her aunt’s shares of the Foundation, which gives her a 71% control over the foundations funds. What this means is unknown at this time, but the amount of power this puts at her fingertips could cause a shift in the way the political winds are blowing on Xanadu.

Senator Leong was seen at the temple meeting with one of the senior monks, and by all accounts having a very good time as he was able to see the people leaving the secure hall.

Speculation is rampant that the recent police raids have netted some very high ranking gang members, perhaps even the head of the Red Phoenix, but surprising everyone, no information is being released regarding those arrests. We are told that there have been some very high level meetings between police commanders and unknown parties regarding those arrests. Who had been taken into custody is a mystery that does not appear to be soon unraveled.

 

[Murph]

143-2510 Gateway News Service- Sutekh

Police have released their report on the murder of Sir Nigel Matheson, CEO of Imperial Metals, on 121-2509 at his townhouse in the capital. Sir Nigel was found shot to death with a single gunshot in his study at the mansion. They can now reveal that untraceable credit chips totaling 11 million stellars were taken from the safe.

Also Sir Nigel was the mastermind behind the mercenary incident in Okuvango on New Africa. He had hired a group of mercenaries to rescue Winston Limbani, but had at the last minute betrayed the mercenaries by cutting a deal with the current President for Life General John Tschombe for the concession to mine minerals in Okuvango.

The police spokesman told us that Sir Nigel had directed that the mercenaries be abandoned on New Africa. Speculation exists, but no proof exists that Colonel Faulkner might have had a hand in the murder of Sir Nigel. Police attempts to contact Colonel Faulkner have been unavailing, and it is suspected that he has gone into hiding under an assumed name.

The theory gains traction when police discovered that the mercenaries who were killed, and those still alive were all paid their promised salary, bonuses, and the deceased had their funerals covered for those whose bodies were eventually recovered. The stolen 11 million covers all of the promised remuneration to the mercenaries.

The surviving mercenaries do not have any idea where Colonel Faulkner has gone, or if he is still alive. Sutekh Gendarmes wish to speak with him regarding this case. Inquiries on Coffeeville have turned up nothing, and attempts at getting information on Hades Station have proven fruitless as well.