Galnet News

Senator Patreus and Aisling Duval have been spotted out and about on Faece this weekend. The Empire’s newest power couple took to the fashion halls for a pleasant afternoon shopping spree, accompanied by a vast entourage of followers and hangers-on.

The couple walked hand in hand as security cleared the way for them to enter shops and purchase beverages. The pair spent around three hours perusing the goods on offer in the Faece fashion halls, before retiring to Senator Patreus’s ship for a light dinner.

Federal forces continue to dominate the skies of Lugh. The Crimson State Group’s air defences have been all but shredded, with the majority of their fleet now adopting a defensive position around Balandin Gateway and Knight Dock.

Thanks to the actions of a crack troop of Federal Marines, Seega Port was secured with only a handful of soldiers being lost in the process. Federation forces are now working hard to secure Read Gateway for use as a staging post, from which they plan to launch a series of attacks against Crimson State starports.

Despite millions of lives having already been lost in the conflict, rumours from Lugh suggest that the Crimson State Group is preparing a desperate last-minute attempt to stop the Federation from crushing the native uprising.

However, in a sign that the local population may be losing faith in the CSG’s ability to secure the system, hundreds of refugee ships have started to flee from Lugh 6 in a bid to escape the Federation’s wrath.

The Kappa Fornacis Farmers Union appears to be up to its old tricks again, as news has started to come out of the region that Onionhead is once again available in the ports around Panem.

“We aren’t going to be kept down by the man, man,” Georgio Algeria announced to the gathered crowds in the marketplace aboard Harvestport. “You can’t stop the crop. It’s always out there, man. That’s nature, that’s just how it works. The people know what they want, and what they want is 100% organic, original blend Onionhead.”

When asked for comment, President Halsey’s office said that the matter would be dealt with in due course.

Core Dynamics has been put in the deeply embarrassing position of having to further postpone the maiden voyage of the FNS Nevermore. Representatives of Core Dynamics have confirmed that this most recent delay is due to faulty sensor and turret targeting arrays.

The faults first came to light when engineers began running the FNS Nevermore through its standard weapon diagnostic checks late last week. According to Core Dynamics, the FNS Nevermore’s weapon systems gave engineers the all clear, but upon attempting to fire on the target drone ship, the FNS Nevermore instead released a massive volley into Hudson Dock.

The dock’s defence systems then returned fire, causing the Nevermore’s automated battle systems to kick in, resulting in an all-out fight between the two stellar titans.

It took engineers three hours to regain control of the ship. During this time dozens of people were killed, and hundreds of millions of credits in damages were done to both structures.

Commander Lokquine, a member of Hudson Dock’s Shipyard Union, had this to say on the matter:

“Well honestly, what do you expect to happen when you build a ship like that out of so much Copper? I told them they should have used Gold, cheap << censored >>.”

Core Dynamics is now looking for traders to help bring a variety of Metals to Hudson Dock to assist in the repair efforts.

In a brief written statement submitted to GalNet news, Virgil Kyle, commander of the exploration-fitted Asp Spirit of Indianapolis, claims to have been the first to visit what he calls Sol's ‘true North Star’.

"Wregoe TV-L C24-0 is over 1,200 light-years 'north' of Sol's position in the galactic plane, and less than a light-year from her position otherwise," he goes on to explain. "Due to the jump distances involved, the system is only visitable by Asps and Anacondas fitted to achieve near-maximum jump ranges."

"I know it ain't the flashiest achievement," he admits, "And other explorers have obviously achieved far greater things, but as the star system hadn't yet been visited, I thought it was worth mentioning."

He finished his statement with an invitation to other explorers and sightseers in suitably equipped vessels to visit the area, calling the view of the Milky Way from the system ‘spectacular’.

Lady Kahina Tijani Loren's unofficial entourage has begun a tour of the outer gas giants in the Sol system. Hundreds of privately owned Federation-registered vessels have turned out to greet the Senator, in lieu of an official welcome, as she continues her passage through the Sol system despite continued apathy from officials.

Requests for interviews from the diplomatic representatives on Mars have been turned down, but one, rather stressed, aide was quoted as saying, "Listen. We have no intention of jumping through hoops for some jumped-up Imperial prima donna who won't do the paperwork properly. That's off the record, yes?"

Questioned on this at a Merchants Guild reception hosted on Titan, Lady Kahina was quoted as saying, "We Imperials often do get accused of being arrogant and overbearing, but at least we're good at it."

The system of 78 Ursae Majoris, home to over 10 billion people, has erupted into civil war today. The conflict started just hours after news broke that the frontier system was planning to announce its intention to secede from the Federation.

We spoke to local resident and farmer, Gryph Jones, who woke up this morning to find he now lives near one of the heaviest focal points of the conflict. He had this to say on the matter:

"Pah! The Federation! Now, I won't say I support this war, the revolutionaries are monsters and criminals, but the inability of the local Federal government to keep things under control is exactly why those folks are so unpopular here! The Feds are too busy playing with Lughnatics and Onionheads half a galaxy to focus on places like this - maybe both sides will kill each other off, I can't help but think we'd be better off for it.”

Shadow President Hudson has released a scathing attack on the President’s offensive against the Crimson State Group, calling it “nothing more than a petty attempt to show strength at the cost of hundreds of thousands of innocent lives”.

He went on to say:

“The fact that our troops are doing well in Lugh is a testament to the excellent training programmes offered by the Federal Navy. It is certainly no thanks to the actions of our supposedly esteemed President, who sent our troops off to war without adequate support or supplies. Indeed, if anyone should take credit for the current success of the Federation’s strike teams, it is the loyal Federal pilots who flew in from all over the galaxy to answer the President’s premature call to wage war against our own people.”

The fighting has been fierce in the Lugh system this past weekend. Hundreds of thousands of ships have been shot down and millions have lost their lives in the opening salvo of the war.

Federal pilots are currently dominating the skies of Lugh, where they outnumber the native Crimson State Group 2 to 1. The Crimson State defences are in particularly bad shape, with reporters on the ground claiming that we are just days away from the first CSG outpost falling to the Federal Navy.

However, reports are coming in that spies loyal to the Crimson State Group are currently working to seriously undermine the Lugh for Equality Party on their home station of Hartsfield Market. If the undercover operatives succeed at their task before the Federation manages to stamp them out, the Crimson State Group could snatch Hartsfield Market (and control of the system) from out of the Federation’s grasp.

In an apparent show of solidarity for the visiting Senator and in protest at her perceived shabby treatment at the hands of her Federation hosts, dozens of independent Commanders have volunteered to escort Lady Kahina Tijani Loren's Imperial Courier through Federal space for the duration of her trip.

The unofficial escort is primarily composed of Imperial Cutters in private ownership, causing acute embarrassment to the Federation, who are powerless to prevent newsfeed images of what appears to be a sizeable Imperial fleet gallivanting unchallenged against the unmistakeable backdrop of core Federation worlds.

Lady Kahina was briefly interviewed by The Mars Herald and was asked, "What do you think of your welcome into Federal space?"

She replied with "When I receive one, I shall let you know."