Galnet News

Utopia: Commune or Cult?

Simguru Pranav Antal's vision of Utopia has taken the galaxy by storm, with recent estimates suggesting that 91.8 billion have joined the movement, and shows no signs of slowing down. Many are attracted by the commune's experimental tech and high standards of living, as well as the ideal of a better society.

But is everything as it seems? A few former utopians, who asked to remain anonymous, have come forward with disturbing testimonies. One young man said: "My sister and I lived on a Federation fringe world. Life's hard on the frontier, and we travelled to Utopia to find work. Everything was great at first – we had employment, free accommodation – but then my sister got a position assisting the local overseer. She found out they were kidnapping people and locking them up for questioning or disagreeing with Antal's wisdom. It's run like a cult. I told her not to confront them... Now I don't know where my sister is, or if I'll ever see her again."

When one of Antal's senior aides was confronted with these accusations, they appeared shocked: "Simguru Antal would never condone such practices. These are false accusations, intended to discredit Utopia, from those who have not reached enlightenment. Visitors are welcome to view our sim-archives at any time, and experience what life as a pilgrim is truly like."

Commander Stateira "Starcloak" Eleshenar

Regulus Observer | Interstellar Press

Core Dynamics has Links to VP’s Death?

In another shocking revelation the Federal Times today posted a story highlighting possible links between a non-exec member of the board of Core Dynamics and Vice President Nigel Smeaton’s death. They first referenced an interview on January 28th with Congressman George Fallside who appeared to have early knowledge of the Vice President’s death. The Congressman refused to comment on the article, but it is public knowledge of his non-executive directorship of Core Dynamics and several other major arms manufacturers.

More damning was the evidence concerning one of the crew of the Starship One, Flight Engineer Nick Baron, who had previously worked at Core Dynamics before joining the President’s Crew. From the information package sent by Elaine Boyd after her death, the Federal Times published extracts of financial records of the flight engineer.

When tracing these records through a convoluted series of transfers, one of these transfers was through a shell corporation , in which Congressman Fallside was involved. The trail of the payments revealed that Boyd must have obtained a high level clearance access, possibly provided by Agent Monroe.

When asked about today’s story, the Chief Editor for the Federal Times commented:

“There does appear to have been a conspiracy on several levels. We believe that the destruction of the Highliner Antares so many years ago may not have been an accident. When the Vice President was investigating the death of his relative, he must have discovered some of these details, and possible the dark forces killed him, and when our reporter Elaine Boyd did the same, she too was silenced. We are still not clear how it relates to the present day. Our reporters continue to investigate.

“At the Federal Times we always seek the truth and we will discover the truth here.”

GalNet Weekly Security Digest

In this weekly report, the latest GalNet data is assembled to present ten minor factions experiencing civil unrest or lockdown in their systems (*).

Here are 10 of the 456 minor factions in lockdown:

LP 376-62 Collective

Tjakiri Jet Dynamic Industry

Karakasis Patrons of Law

BD+03 3531a Resistance

Guguroro Silver Public Comms

Paesan Limited

Kwattrages Labour

LHS 2936 Nationalists

LHS 2150 Purple Electronics Serv

Official Haroingori Defence Force

Lockdowns increase the security rating for a system but also have a negative effect on the system’s wealth. Increased bounty hunting activity can shorten the lockdown period.

Here are 10 of the 693 minor factions experiencing civil unrest:

Tanmark United Systems

Clan of Dhathaarib

Mehudi Energy Partners

Alpha Fornacis Allied Corporation

Future of LP 621-11

Kitjali Patron's Principles

Parutis Fortune Ltd

Keries Camorra

Gliese 868 Services

Sengen Sama Dominion

Civil unrest is caused by illegal activity within the system as well completing contracts from more nefarious sources. The wealth rating and standard of living will suffer when a system contains civil unrest. Combat missions and activities can be utilised to end civil unrest.

* Data is correct at time of publishing.

GalNet Weekly Economic Report

In this weekly digest, the latest GalNet data is compiled to show the economic state of a short list of minor factions and the star systems they inhabit (*).

Here are 10 of the 3,539 minor factions currently enjoying an economic boom:

Independent LP 30-55 Confederacy

Avalon Organisation

Liberty Party of Tz'utuls

Glusargiz Patron's Principles

Angurongo Patron's Principles

Mawu Corporation

Reddis Independents

LHS 3262 Blue Clan

Kruger 60 Free

Kuki An Ring

When in boom, the wealth of a system is increased for the duration and all trade missions have double the effect on influence. Boom can also positively increase a minor faction’s influence. Boom can be entered by consistent trade profits and completed trade contracts. Booms tend to last until they naturally expire or until some other indicator takes precedence, such as famine.

These minor factions are experiencing an economic bust:

Zandu Jet Syndicate

The wealth of a system diminishes while in bust and the minor faction’s influence is also lessened. The effect of trade contracts and actions do not contribute to boom while a bust is active. A bust generally has to run its course before ending.

* Data is correct at time of publishing

Cold Ice, Warm Trail

Early this morning, an Imperial Navy commando unit uncovered a hidden forward command post for the Kumo Crew invasion force in the Tjakiri system. There was evidence that the site had been occupied as recently as half an hour prior to the raid, as ice was found in a glass in the abandoned command centre. DNA from stray hair follicles was analyzed by a forensics team – the results were a match for Archon Delaine.

"It's frustrating to think that we missed apprehending the most wanted man in the galaxy by mere minutes", commented one of the commandoes, "but every day we come a little closer to getting our man.”

Commander Corrigendum

Agent Susan Monroe Part of VP’s Protection Detail

The Federal Times today revealed the latest article in their ongoing investigation into the apparent suicide of their reporter Elaine Boyd.

They revealed that Agent Susan Monroe, who Boyd was accused of murdering, was part of Vice President Nigel Smeaton’s protection detail at the time of his death. It already seemed obvious to many that Agent Monroe was the source of the reporter’s information, but now there is greater likelihood that she provided it willingly.

Officials from the Federal Security Service insist that Agent Monroe was an unwilling participant and they had evidence to link the agent’s death to the reporter.

The Chief Editor of the Federal Times responded by claiming this was ‘nonsense’ and that he would not rest until the truth was revealed.

GalNet Weekly Expansion List

Each week, GalNat presents a list of 10 of the 1,419 minor factions currently expanding into new systems (*).

Wuruku Prison Colony

Revolutionary Party of Diaguandri

HIP 101846 Empire Group

Wong Guin Imperial Society

Eleumo Empire Group

Guguroro Silver Public Comms

Imantana Values Party

T'a Shakarwa Coalition

Nyalayan Imperial Society

30 Lyncis Interstellar

Expansion occurs when a minor faction reaches a sufficient influence rating and there is a populated system within striking distance. The act of expansion is a costly one, and the wealth and development rating suffers during the period of expansion.

* Data is correct at time of publishing.

Imperial Internal Security Service Requests Exploration Data

In an unprecedented move, the Imperial Internal Security Service – the organisation responsible for domestic security throughout the Empire – has issued an open contract for exploration data. Agent Cope of the IISS made the following statement:

“The Imperial Internal Security Service is conducting a comprehensive revision of its information networks, and is therefore in need of as much fresh data as possible. The more information we have, the more accurate we can make our database. We thank the community in advance for their cooperation with this effort.”

The request was preceded by rumours that the organisation was actively gathering information about the group known as Emperor’s Dawn. When asked about the rumours, Agent Cope said:

“I can assure you that any allegations concerning interest in specific individuals or groups are entirely groundless. The IISS has a remit to analyse any available data for useful intelligence, and the exploration data we have requested will be subjected to this analysis. That does not mean, however, that this operation has been designed to gather information about Emperor’s Dawn.”

This refutation was somewhat undermined, however, by an article published this morning in the Imperial Citizen. In the article, the Citizen claimed to have intercepted an IISS communiqué in which Emperor’s Dawn was specifically mentioned:

“Our recommendation concerning Emperor’s Dawn is to gather fresh astrological data, and to filter it for information about the group’s movements and bases of operation. Our belief is that the organisation has no more than half a dozen bases within inhabited space, but it would nevertheless be advisable to accumulate accurate data.”

The request is being managed by the Cemiess Empire Party on behalf of the IISS. Independent pilots interested in participating should deliver exploration data to Mackenzie Relay in the Cemiess system.

Antares Incident Links to VP’s Death?

The case of reporter Elaine Boyd took an unexpected turn today as several respected newsfeeds, including the Federal Times, received encrypted data packages. It is claimed that these were automatically sent by Elaine Boyd from a public storage server with instructions to be delivered if newsfeeds reported her death.

The data apparently reveals a connection between the death earlier in the year of Vice President Nigel Smeaton and the Antares Incident. His death was officially declared an accident, although many at the time suspected foul play. Those suspicions are likely to rise again with the revelation that he was related to one of the crew aboard the Highliner Antares when it disappeared on its maiden flight 50 years ago.

Elaine Boyd discovered details of a private ‘off the books’ investigation by the Vice President into the incident and that he suspected it was caused by sabotage, rather than drive component failure. He had already spoken to a number of now quite senior officers involved in the original enquiry. Elaine Boyd’s information implied that he may have been killed to stop his investigation.

In a statement, the chief editor of the Federal Times said:

“We hope that amongst the information Elaine has provided there is evidence to prove her innocence in the crimes she was implicated in. We are continuing to examine the data in detail.”

GalNet Weekly Conflict Report

This weekly transmission lists some of the systems currently in conflict around the galaxy, based on the latest data (*).

Here are 10 of the 13,342 minor factions involved in a civil war:

Masters of Wolf 906

LP 811-17 Corporation

Yawa Empire Party

Natural LP 811-17 Conservatives

NLTT 13249 Limited

HIP 20480 Coordinated

HIP 20480 Universal Incorporated

Allied Wu Kich Dominion

Progressive Party of Wu Kich

Ernutet United Co

Civil wars involve conflict between minor factions in the same system over ownership of major assets such as starports. During civil wars, only combat missions and activities help bring the conflict to a resolution. Security, development level and standard of living indicators all drop for the duration of the civil war.

Here are 10 of the 2,443 minor factions at war:

Family of HIP 94863

Independent Gladyangar Revolutionary Party

Crew of Gamamonga

Amahutii Gold Dragons

Purungurawn Purple Society

Haolin Ti Partners

Nik Future

Lodemovoi Advanced Incorporated

Worker's Party of Tamor

G 126-31 Purple Federal Org

Wars occur when a minor faction invades another star system. For the duration of the conflict, wealth, security and standard of living are all severely impacted. Combat missions and activities determine who wins the war. If no winner emerges, the war ends in a ceasefire.

* Data is correct at time of publishing.