Galnet News

Last month, the eminent scientist Ishmael Palin issued an appeal for meta-alloys, the rare material produced by the 'barnacles' of the Pleiades Nebula. The request was enthusiastically received by the galactic community, but the professor's research into the meta-alloys was brought to an abrupt halt when he and his team disappeared en route to Maia b1ba.

Since then, certain sections of the galactic community have raised questions over just what has happened to these meta-alloys. Many cited the tremendous effort involved in collecting and transporting the materials, and some have even called for them to be made available on the Obsidian Orbital commodities market.

Authorities at Obsidian Orbital have not yet commented on the situation, but an anonymous report has emerged that appears to shed some light on the situation:

"The truth is that most of the meta-alloys were sold on the black market to various private companies. It seemed a little weird to me, so I did some digging and found out that almost all the companies were fronts for some big conglomerate I'd never heard of. I don't know what they plan to do with the meta-alloys, but I thought the public should know."

The legitimacy of the report has not yet been confirmed, but if it is genuine, it raises the questions of who purchased the meta-alloys and why.

Each week, GalNet presents a list of 10 of the 1,210 minor factions currently expanding into new systems.

Natural Fjorgyn Liberty Party

Law Party of Gundji

United Nang Ta-khian Confederacy

The 9th Legion

Bureau of Tetrian Liberty Party

Justice Party of Anekaliti

Movement for Villeachi Independents

Independents of Parenni

LP 580-33 Services

Crimson Energy Exchange

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.

The recent Federal operation to search for survivors from Starship One was eagerly supported by the galactic community, resulting in the safe recovery of thousands of escape pods, many of them containing living survivors. As the task of identifying the pod's occupants continues, Federal President Zachary Hudson has made a surprising announcement: one of the escape pods taken to Leoniceno Orbital contains former Federal president Jasmina Halsey.

"When we started searching for the remains of Starship One it was with the aim of discovering what happened to the ship. I never imagined we would find survivors, and certainly not that one of them would be Jasmina Halsey."

Asked about Halsey's condition, Hudson said:

"The medical team at Leoniceno has described Halsey's condition as critical but stable. It appears her escape pod was damaged and she sustained some injuries, so she's being kept in an induced coma until her wounds have healed. This is likely to take weeks. If her condition changes I will be immediately notified."

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

Here are 10 of the 15,698 minor factions involved in a civil war:

Guroji General Commodities

Noblemen of Guroji

HR 2622 Crimson Brotherhood

HR 2622 Co-operative

Hurusalki Jet Netcoms Company

United Hurusalki Independents

Social Zapakhere Future

Zapakhere Party

Kokaangin Blue Natural and Co

United Kokaangin Movement

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 7,061 minor factions at war:

Revolutionary UGP 145 Free

Uhlan Blue Public PLC

Confederacy of HIP 82088

HIP 82738 Syndicate

Ba Nefes Empire Party

Cliocassi One

LHS 3295 Legal Holdings

Baltah'Sine Unionists

LHS 229 Electronics PLC

Andhrimi Crimson Travel PLC

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.

Doctor Elana Lorax, a leading contributor in the field of xeno biology, has released a statement to the media:

"Before we reached for the stars we destroyed countless species on our homeworld. Similarly, the colonization of Tau Ceti, Delta Pavonis, Achenar and many other systems resulted in the mass extinction of native life."

"But humanity has yet to learn its lesson. The cry for meta-alloys is not unlike the lust for beaver-pelt top hats in ancient times. Thousands of barnacles have been destroyed, and for what? Defunct stations can be replaced. If the barnacles are destroyed for their meta-alloys we will lose their secrets forever."

Doctor Lorax continued: "With a little patience we could unlock the secrets of the barnacle. Xeno biologists and chemists could learn to synthesize meta-alloys, given time. Unfortunately it seems humanity is going to destroy another unique lifeform for short-term, and short-sighted, gain."

Commander Corrigendum

For years, the sparsely populated Orulas system has been dominated by the Orulas Blue Hand Gang, a ruthless criminal organisation. This cold-blooded band has been making life intolerable for the system's inhabitants, but the local government appears reluctant to take a stand. Some have speculated that this is because the authorities receive regular kickbacks from the criminals.

But one resident has had enough. Rose Trebek, a former soldier and veteran of countless military campaigns, has established a defence initiative to clean up Orulas – the Joint Security Taskforce.

"I'm sick of these scumbags running my system," said Trebek, "and I'm sick of the government looking the other way. It's time to take care of these punks. But we can't do it alone."

"Our intelligence indicates that the Blue Hand is ferrying its spoils in big convoys to various fences. They trade mostly in escape pods, which they sell to shady pseudo-scientific outfits conducting illegal human experiments. We need pilots to swoop in, bust open the convoys, and recover as many pods as they can. We also need volunteers to sweep the system, taking out any Blue Hand ships they encounter. That should make things easier for the Commanders targeting the convoys."

Trebek has the resources to offer generous incentives to those who support the campaign. But she has stressed that the operation will not be straightforward:

"If you're not an experienced combat pilot, frankly you can't help us. These Blue Hand dirtbags are the real deal. I don't want your death on my conscience."

The campaign begins on the 25th of February 3302 and will run for one week.Pilots who want to participate are advised to make their way to Wilkes Orbital in the Nespeleve system.

LHS 3447 is familiar to many independent pilots, being a popular starting point for those embarking on careers as traders, bounty hunters and explorers. But many of these pilots have bemoaned the relative inaccessibility of the system's starports.

The Pilots Federation, in association with LHS 3447 Dynamic and Co, has announced plans to address the issue by constructing a new Orbis starport in LHS 3447. According to a spokesperson for the organisation, the new starport will orbit LHS 3447 B 1 a, making it particularly valuable to miners exploiting the LHS 3447 AB belt.

"The Pilots Federation is all about building a better future for the people who keep the galaxy moving. This new starport will give those people a valuable new trade and resupply hub, in addition to giving the system's economy a boost."

The campaign to construct the starport, which will be named 'Bluford Orbital', begins on the 25th of February 3302 and will run for two weeks. Pilots who want to support the first phase of the campaign are invited to deliver metals to Worlidge Terminal in LHS 3447.

Responding to the suggestion that more meta-alloys be shipped to stations experiencing technical issues, Dr Arcanonn of the Canonn Interstellar Research Group has issued a statement:

"Many teams from the Canonn Interstellar Research Group have already started collecting meta-alloys. Some have been doing so for many days. But one thing bothers me. The community painstakingly collected and shipped thousands of tonnes of meta-alloys to Obsidian Orbital for Professor Palin. Where did they go? Surely the engineering teams at Obsidian Orbital didn't use them all up?"

"I want to urge personnel at Obsidian Orbital to help us by releasing their remaining stock of meta-alloys to the commodities market. Once the existing supply runs out, we will return to the barnacle sites to collect more."

"Since one of the affected stations is in my home system, I'm as eager as everyone else to deal with these malfunctions. It seems we have the means to fix the problems, so let's do it."

Commander Lord Zoltan

This weekly roundup highlights some of the minor factions pursuing the dream of democratic freedom by holding elections.

Here are 10 of the 3,284 minor factions holding elections:

Chick Bara Empire Party

Leaders of LHS 369

LHS 6427 Universal Partners

Movement for Delkar Revolutionary Party

Chiut Empire League

Monarchy of Berkanan

Social Kokan Coalition

Djabushis Systems

LTT 6714 Company

Untun Services

Elections occur when two minor factions of a similar political structure resolve a conflict over ownership and influence within a system.

Data is correct at time of publishing.

It has been over a month since personnel at Obsidian Orbital reported that meta-alloys had been used to alleviate the starport's ongoing technical issues. Since then, there has been widespread speculation that the meta-alloys might hold the key to eradicating the technological plague that has blighted so many starports in recent months. But the only attempt to verify the theory was brought to an abrupt end with the mysterious disappearance of Professor Ishmael Palin, who had been researching the meta-alloys.

A member of the technical team at Irens Dock in the Manite system, one of the latest starports to experience technical issues, commented on the situation:

"When I heard the news from Obsidian Orbital I expected people to start taking meta-alloys to the other affected starports, but that hasn't happened. Maybe people are being cautious - after all, we don't know for sure that the meta-alloys can help. But if you ask me, it's worth a shot."

The latest data on affected starports follows.

Starports where services have been suspended:

Ackerman Market, Eravate

von Bellingshausen Port, Almar

Haack Gateway, Halbangaay

Gabriel Enterprise, Harma

Gurragchaa Gateway, Warkushanui

Gaiman Dock, 49 Arietis

Weyn Dock, 64 Arietis

Korolyov Hub, Arawere

Lobachevsky Outpost, Pic Tok

Carter Port, Rhea

Starports experiencing technical issues:

Irens Dock, Manite

Bloch Vision, Loperada

Skvortsov Orbital, 63 G. Capricorni

Tall Enterprise, Ngalia

Love Ring, Evejitaka

al-Din Prospect, Alpha Centauri

Robigo Mines, Robigo

Saunders's Dive, Wolf 1301

Alexander Freeport, HIP 18843

Coats Hub, Warkushanui

Bond Hub, Varati

Hinz Hub, Ngobe

Tsunenaga Dock, Iapodes

Li Qing Jao, Sol

Ray Gateway, Diaguandri

Vizcaino Enterprise, Nganji

Talos 2, Peregrina