Galnet News

In a surprising twist to a story published earlier in the week, it would appear that the man previously believed to have been Commander Kamzel of the DSS Beagle, was in fact an imposter who had stolen the Commander’s identity in order to try and sell millions of credits worth of bogus data.

According to the real Commander Kamzel’s support team, the last communiqué from the intrepid explorer had come just days before the imposter had carried out his plan to impersonate the Commander. The communiqué in question stated that the Commander’s trusty ASP, the DSS Beagle, had received significant damage while in the outer reaches of the galaxy.

Lincoln station security services believe that the imposter managed to intercept the message to Kamzel’s team, at which point the thief decided to take advantage of the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the DSS Beagle in order to steal millions of credits.

It is believed that Commander Kamzel is currently on his way towards the Scutum-Centaurus arm, at which point he will attempt to send an encrypted signal to his team in case a rescue operation is needed.

A record number of people turned out to vote on the matter of an Independent Dulos this weekend, so much so that local station services found themselves struggling to contain the sheer number of visitors to the system.

While the battle was hard fought, with impassioned last minute campaigning coming out from both sides, in the end the Defence Party of Dulos managed to garner a staggering 75% approval rating for their move towards an Independent Dulos. The Federal representatives, the Green Party of Dulos, have said that they will not be contesting the vote.

This news will come as quite a blow for President Halsey, whose heavy handed rule of Federal Frontier systems has seen a number of far flung provincial governments start to question the value of maintaining ties with Sol.

Doubtless this most recent defection will be watched with great interest by powers throughout the galaxy, although exact details regarding a roadmap towards true independence for Dulos has yet to be announced.

The bounty hunter gossip columns are abuzz with a reported sighting of the fabled 'Silver Comet'. A long-standing superstition states that "anyone who sees the Silver Comet will die," and it seems this latest sighting will only serve to reinforce the myth. The report came from Quiness by pilot Johanna Meister, Deadly rank, who has since disappeared - last sighted in the Alioth system.

The Federal Navy dispatched a taskforce to investigate the mysterious comet’s appearance in Quiness, although so far they claim to have uncovered no evidence to support Commander Meister’s claim.

This news hasn't stopped independent hunters from getting curious. Silhar Bradeus, head of the Bounty Hunters Guild, has offered a hefty reward for any information on the Silver Comet or the location of missing pilot Johanna Meister.

Previously Unknown Explorer Returns from Outer Rim

Lincoln station played host to a rather eclectic delegation of scientists this weekend, as word spread of the return of Erimus Kamzel from his lengthy expedition to our galaxy’s Outer Rim. Commander Erimus’ journey, which started in Sol, saw our intrepid explorer travel a total of a staggering 144,000 light years before he was able to return home.

Part of the journey saw Erimus pass through the Galactic Core, where he was able to collect great swathes of data on areas such as the Greae Phio Stellar Forge, the Phipoea Nebula and the Dryad Chrea Stellar Remnant.

Perhaps most exciting of all, Commander Erimus is believed to have mapped out a whole host of previously unexplored areas of space beyond the Scutum-Centaurus Arm. Federal, Imperial and Independent scientists from institutions all over occupied space are now engaged in a hot bidding war to see who will be the first to get their hands on Commander Erimus’ records.

Erimus has issued a statement saying that he believes his discoveries should be shared freely with all humanity. To which effect he has released a series of video logs that can be viewed right now by searching your local video network for Distant Suns.

The Future of LHS 3447 Party, in partnership with the LHS 3447 Dynamic and Co Corporation, would like to take this opportunity to thank customers both old and new for their continued patronage.

The last week has seen an unprecedented number of traders pass through the system, with reports indicating that profits are up over 500% across the board. The biggest winners were the shipyards in Dalton Gateway, who saw profits soar an unprecedented 65 fold after selling a record breaking 2364 ships in just 5 days. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a large portion of those profits can be attributed to unprecedented sales of the ever popular Lakon Type 9 Heavy and its little sister the Lakon Type 7.

Members of the local community flocked to social media to praise the leadership of the Future of LHS 3447 Party, not only for increasing trade across the board, but also for their continued commitment to making LHS 3447 a hub of Federal activity for the surrounding sector.

An investigation into local pirate activity near the Alliance core systems has shown a focused gathering of cut-throat pirates in the Istanu system.

Miners operating in the area have been abruptly forced to leave or face death at the receiving end of high powered beam lasers.

One local miner who wished to remain anonymous (due to future health reasons) had this to say about the situation-

“It’s out of control! These pirates won’t let an honest miner do a day’s job without gettin’ shot at. The Alliance aren’t interested in doing anything about them! We need more independent pilots to come help clean up this mess.”

Individual contractors are being informed that many bounties are up for grabs. For a point of contact, CMDR Jobedy of the Alliance Outskirt Fleet has taken lead and is forming a local militia to assist the innocent miners reclaim the system.

The people of Dulos have finally begun preparations for the referendum that will decide whether or not the system retains its Federal status. At the moment the federal vote, represented by the Green Party of Dulos, is lagging behind by almost 30 points. If things don’t change by Monday, the Dulos Defence Party will win by a landslide, leading the system to declare itself an independent state.

Polling suggests that the movement for independence has enjoyed strong support amongst the local populace, a sentiment which is becoming more and more common among systems positioned outside of the Federal core, though in the last few days Federal supporters have become more active.

Of course not everyone is eager to leave the Federation behind. The independence movement in Sugrivik has failed to sway local voters to their cause, despite a significant amount of credits being spent by Purple Netcoms Holdings in an attempt to persuade people to back their play for independence.

When asked for comment in regards to the Dulos referendum, President Halsey’s office issued a statement saying that the President trusts the people of Dulos to do the right thing.

Last week the Future of LHS 3447 party generously announced that they would be sharing their recent success by offering a substantial discount on all ships purchased from the shipyards of LHS 3447. The sale has seen independent pilots flocking to the system, which in turn has led to local traders experiencing a huge boom in profits across the board.

As the sale begins to draw to a close, the Future of LHS 3447 party have issued a statement thanking all of their customers for helping stimulate the system’s economy, pledging to spend a fifth of the profits earned on rejuvenating system services aboard stations throughout LHS 3447.

“The last week has been simply amazing,” a representative of the Future of LHS 3447 told Galnet, “we never dreamed the response would be so positive. We can only hope that traders continue to think of LHS 3447 as a destination of choice in the future. The Future of LHS 3447 is to become a hub of interstellar commerce for all vessels passing through this sector. If you don’t believe me, come visit us this weekend. The sale has to end soon! So come get yourself a bargain before it’s too late.”

Breaking news from the Tanmark system would seem to indicate that Admiral Vincent’s bombing of Panem has only slowed the spread of Onionhead.

News has reached GalNet that a new strain of Onionhead, which is believed to have been cultivated in secret somewhere on Luca, with assistance from farmers from Panem in the Kappa Fornacis System has begun turning up on the local markets.

A dedicated reporter managed to track down Georgio Algeria on Panem, and it seems his group have been part of this -

“I said we would be back, and here we are. You cannot spoil our happiness. We are still cool. We have more friends that you realise. And now we are rich!”

Due to a quirk of Federal Law, the new strain does not fall under the statue banning sale of Onionhead, as Lucan Onionhead is a different strain. Federal Labs are reported to be rushing the tests through in order to make it illegal as soon as their processes allow.

Following Aisling Duval’s passionate outburst on “The Breakfast Show”, it was announced today that her charitable organisation, Stop Slavery Stupid, will be increasing subsidies for various emancipation programs being run from slave rehabilitation centres in Cemiess.

Stop Slavery Stupid have said that they will be using this new windfall to offer a more competitive rate of compensation to citizens willing to set their Imperial Slaves free.

This renewed commitment to liberate Imperial Slaves has been met with a great deal of derision from business leaders throughout the Empire. When asked for an official comment, The Chairman of the Cemiess Workforce Acquisitions Agency had this to say -

“Aisling and SSS doubtlessly mean well, but unfortunately her youthful enthusiasm and kind heart is getting in the way of her common sense. It’s pretty clear Aisling doesn’t understand the ramifications that would occur should she succeed in abolishing such an integral facet of our society. Never mind the fact that no one affluent enough to afford slaves would be foolish enough to simply sell them off at a loss. Hopefully our young lady Duval will give this up before she manages to bankrupt herself in an attempt to pursue this fruitless endeavour.”