Galnet News

The Reign of Emperor Hengist Duval

In respect of the assassination of Emperor Hengist Duval the planned article for this week has been moved to next week so that historian Sima Kalhana relates some of the key moments from his life.

Emperor Hengist Duval was the 15th in the Imperial Duval bloodline to lead the Empire and he saw a great deal of change in his comparatively short reign. He was born in 3163, only a few days before the death of his grandfather Hender Saik Duval. Some claim that the spirit of Hender had already passed to Hengist such were the similarities in looks and manner noted in Hengist’s later years.

When his father, Hesketh Duval, died in 3233, Hengist assumed his place on the throne. The live broadcast of the coronation created an impression of a serene transition. However lurking beneath this appearance lay significant tensions. Most significant of which was the growing power of the Senate which had developed during the extended period of his father’s illness. A parallel with the situation with Hengist’s coma can be seen in recent months.

At the start of his reign the cold war between the Empire and the Federation was starting to thaw, a process which continued for decades, although friction has recently resumed with the rise of certain powers like President Hudson and Senator Patreus.

Hengist’s reign witnessed a major technological advancement with the introduction of the new frame shift drive. This sped up travel between stars systems and even inside systems by an incredible margin. It created a more quickly shifting political, military and commercial landscape as reacting or causing changing became much easier.

Hengist fell ill early in 3300, and he managed to continue light duties throughout the first half of the year. His sickness worsened as the year progressed and during this time he remained in seclusion with only rare visits to the Senate. At the turn of 3301 he slipped into a coma. Many expected him to not awaken from the coma and it was a great surprise when he recovered several months later.

Near the close of 3300, Hengist decreed that his only legitimate child, Harold (who is Aisling Duval’s unmarried father), was not of sound mind and so unfit for rule, and in any case had no legitimate children himself. Following this announcement Arissa Lavigny-Duval declared that she was the illegitimate child of Hengist. The Emperor supported this claim by announcing his forthcoming marriage with Arissa’s mother, Florence Lavigny, and was expected to formally adopt Arissa and cement her claim to the throne.

With his murder and the marriage not completed the succession to the imperial throne is again not clear cut and many fear the potential instability this could cause to the Empire if not decided quickly after the Emperor’s funeral.

Leaked Footage of Emperor’s Assassination

In a move sending shockwaves of revulsion throughout the Empire, an independent newsfeed, Russell Networks, based in the Tulill system, has broadcast what is claimed to be a holographic recording of the assassination of Emperor Hengist Duval.

Imperial networks are refusing to show the footage and all levels of imperial society are outraged at this insult to the Emperor’s memory. The recording’s authenticity hasn’t been confirmed, but it does clearly show someone who looks like Brendan Paul Darius attacking the Emperor. As the Emperor passes by Senator Patreus’ entourage Darius is seen to lunge from the group. He then stabs the Emperor several times with a blade and inflicting severe facial injuries until being taken down by the nearest guards. In it, others in Patreus’s entourage, including Senator Patreus himself, appear to move to try to stop the attacker, and do appear to be genuinely surprised and shocked.

Chancellor Anders Blaine condemned the broadcast in a statement and refused to comment on its veracity.

Millions Pay Respects

Millions of senators, patrons, clients, citizens and slaves from across the Empire are making the journey to the Hall of Martyrs on Capitol in the Achenar system to pay their respects to the late Emperor. The queue to view the Emperor’s body already stretches several miles from the Imperial Palace, with the waiting time now measured in days. Naturally, senators, patrons and clients each have their own entrances.

Palace officials have announced that the viewings will continue, at all hours, until the final funeral preparations begin on the eve of the funeral. Volunteers from the palace staff will aid the mourners and keep the line moving.

The Imperial Naval Infantry will also be stationed along the ever-lengthening line – not because of security concerns, but to ensure the welfare of the waiting people. The population of the city swelled beyond normal capacity during the wedding celebrations, and the influx of mourners has pushed the city to bursting point. Along with the military deployment, local residents are providing those in the queue with food and drink.

Those unable to make the journey to Capitol have created memorials in their own cities, starports and colonies, and are assembling to give their respects.

GalNet Weekly Expansion List

Each week, GalNat presents a list of 10 of the 1,642 minor factions currently expanding into new systems (*).

HIP 73293 Guardians of Tradition

Yembo Interstellar

Tapones Corp.

Jimai Noblement

New Hun Cruacoc Labour

Workers of Wintii Confederacy

Fu Haras Patrons of Law

Paemani Monarchy

Kupoli Fortune Limited

United Wang Dana Free

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.

Chancellor Blaine Issues Statement

With no clear successor to the Emperor, Chancellor Blaine has accepted the task of governing the Empire until the succession has been determined. He reiterated his statement that the matter would be resolved after Emperor’s funeral. He then revealed more about the investigation into the regicide:

“Officers from the Imperial Guard and Imperial Intelligence Security Service have begun their investigation and are being provided with the resources they need.

“The assassin has been identified as Brendan Paul Darius. Senator Patreus has confirmed that the man was a member of his entourage, and the Senator is helping with the investigation. Darius killed the Emperor in a savage attack using a concealed blade, and a separate investigation has been launched to determine how he was able to sneak a weapon into the Emperor’s presence.

“Darius was killed by the Emperor’s Guard during the attack, and we have as yet been unable to determine his motive for the murder.”

For the remainder of the session, the gathered senators offered support and words of condolence to the Imperial family.

Children of Liberty call out Alliance Hypocrisy

A group calling itself the 'Children of Liberty' has made a public statement concerning the Alliance and what they call its “rampant hypocrisy”. The group claims that a "huge gulf" exists between the Alliance's professed goals and values and the reality present in many of its member systems.

"For an organization that purports to be devoted to the ideals of liberty and self-determination", the release stated, "the Alliance certainly tolerates a great deal of despotism and tyranny within its own borders. It's about time the Alliance addressed the rampant hypocrisy of allowing dictatorships – as well as other restrictive, undemocratic forms of government – membership into their supposed bastion of freedom and liberty."

The statement went on to list a number of Alliance-sponsored autocracies in various systems, and called on the Alliance and its supporters to sponsor serious democratic reform in said systems by backing democratically-aligned factions over autocratic ones.

Commander Virgil Kyle

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 13,044 minor factions involved in a civil war:

Callavs Inc

Sigma-2 Ursae Majoris Liberals

Ovimbundu Silver Universal Serv

Mafia of Zelano

Independent HR 1245 for Equality

HR 1245 Comms PLC

Catuncheim Gold Dragons

Catuncheim Confederation

Ye'kuapemas Dynasty

Ye'kuapemas Silver United PLC

Civil wars occur 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 2,393 minor factions at war:

Turot Creative Industries

Turona Crimson Universal Ind

Ao Kach Gold Boys

Coelrind Gold Mob

Mufrid Democrats

Citizen Party of Sekenks

Workers of Peng Free

Mulung Piri Noblement

Nanarilobo Jet Partnership

Revolutionary Jotunheim Resistance

Wars occur when a minor faction invades another star system. For the duration of the conflict, standard of living, wealth and security 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.

A Week in Powerplay

After an exciting week it’s time for another report on the political manoeuvrings and struggles of the galaxy’s most prominent political players. Hostilities have flared up, so read on to find out who benefitted from the chaos and who has been a victim of it.

Arissa Lavigny-Duval used this week to recover from the turmoil her administration had fallen into, with her supporters preparing several systems for expansion and undertaking widespread fortification throughout her space. This impressive defensive effort has assured Arissa’s rise to the #1 spot in the GalNet rankings, despite the successful enemy undermining of Cook and He Xingo.

Aisling Duval has suffered an unexpected drop to #3 in the galactic rankings this week. An increase in hostile activity in Aisling’s space, and the successful enemy action in her system of Syntheng, has pushed her administration into turmoil. This downturn in the face of a relatively minor offensive on her space calls into question Aisling’s ability to maintain control over her rapidly growing sphere of influence.

Zemina Torval has struggled in recent weeks, and her drop in rankings is certainly understandable. The Senator had her control of nearly half a dozen systems successfully undermined, and her only expansion attempt, in Mannoda, failed. While Torval’s resource reserves and her supporters’ impressive fortification efforts were enough to stave off turmoil, she will be facing a difficult week if the hostilities in her space continue.

Denton Patreus has used the recent weeks to recover from the sharp drop in support his organisation has seen. With the Kumo Crew distracted and under pressure from Operation Davy Jones, and Federal corsairs focusing on Zemina Torval, the Senator’s forces surged ahead, rapidly expanding Patreus’ sphere of influence and securing a rise in the rankings for their ambitious leader. It remains to be seen if this impressive recovery can be maintained if Denton’s systems once again come under attack from his rivals.

Zachary Hudson had a successful week. With expansion paused due to recent turmoil, his supporters completed an impressive fortification program throughout much of the President’s sphere of influence. This meant that only one of Hudson’s systems was successfully undermined by the enemy, and it gives the Federation politician an impressive reserve of resources to draw upon.

Felicia Winters has had her space heavily infiltrated by enemy wings for weeks now, and her supporters always staunchly defended her systems. However, this past week saw a sharp increase in hostilities in the Shadow President’s powerbase, straining her modest forces. With her grip on much of her space undermined by rivals, Winters’ administration falls into turmoil, and it’s only through impressive effort from her supporters that just one of her systems is at risk.

Edmund Mahon has shown that his organisation has the ability to grow stronger even in the face of extreme difficulties. The Alliance politician’s rise to #2 in the GalNet rankings is well earned this week, with his resilience to heavy hostile action attributed to a successful fortification program and a series of expansions into highly profitable systems in the recent weeks. While both of those factors give Mahon a good reserve of resources to draw on, his enemies successfully undermined eight of his systems in what likely heralds a period of increased hostility, likely to tax the rapidly expanding organisation.

Li Yong-Rui’s Sirius Gov has retained its high galactic standing despite a sudden increase in attacks on its systems. While the ability of Li Yong-Rui’s supporters to withstand the added pressure is impressive, the successful undermining of two their systems and widespread hostilities throughout many of their border systems likely spell an end to a period of relative peace for the organisation. As tensions with Sirius’ neighbours flare up, the corporate government is sure to come under increased pressure from without.

Archon Delaine and his Kumo Crew continue to defend against the Imperial offensive – dubbed ‘Operation Davy Jones’ – which is now in its fifth week. While the pirate lord’s grip on his claimed territory has been severely challenged, with one of his expansion attempts stopped in its tracks and his control over more than a dozen systems undermined, there is yet no victory in sight for his attackers. With a relatively small powerbase and key systems fortified against aggression, the Kumo Crew remains unbroken, having avoided falling into turmoil and even securing one new system, Kakmbuta.

Pranav Antal has experienced an amazing surge in support in the recent weeks. Emboldened, his supporters claimed several new systems for Utopia, including Ewah, where a fierce battle with the local opposition forces took place. While attempts to claim the distant Sothis faltered and expansion into Lidpar was countered by staunch enemy action, it seems clear that Utopia will continue to grow at a quick pace. The one difficulty facing Pranav Antal’s organisation is somewhat lacklustre fortification efforts, which may expose Utopian systems to enemy action, should hostilities flare up.

Commander Cadoc

Further Outbreaks of Cerberus Plague

While medical teams across the galaxy work to deliver the Cerberus Plague antidote to systems affected by the disease, fresh outbreaks of the pathogen are appearing in other systems. According to recent reports, the following systems are currently affected by the Cerberus Plague:

Altair

39 Tauri

Kamorin

Delta Phoenicis

Kappa Ophiuchi

Murung

LTT 14850

Gali

Cauani

LTT 6705

Watha

Asgaa

Svent

Any independent pilots who wish to help are encouraged to eliminate the pirates targeting medical supply convoys in the Bast system. The Union of Bast Liberals is currently offering rewards to pilots who destroy these pirates.

Cerberus Plague Continues to Affect Starports

Although a cure for the Cerberus Plague has been found, the disease has not yet been eradicated, and it continues to wreak havoc in certain systems.

The following systems have been affected by the plague:

Cantjarisni

Rajukru

HIP 10175

Amahu

Leerham

BD-11 4280

Louguala

In these systems, the following station services are unavailable:

Re-arming

Market

Bulletin board

Docking

Shipyard

Outfitting

Black market

Authorities in these systems have reported that services will remain offline until the Cerberus Plague has been either contained or eliminated.