131-1124
Warinir/Daibei (0507 A889978-F)
By TNS Staff Writer
Professor Ililek Kuligaan has been, since 213-1123, fleeing a warrant for
his arrest issued by Archduke Dulinor himself, Kuligaan's public remarks
on 212-1123, critical of the Rebellion, and by extension, the
self-proclaimed Emperor Dulinor, have sparked numerous responses, in
addition to Dulinor's.
For three quarters of a year, Kuligaan's whereabouts were unknown. Then on
126-1124 it was announced that he had met with Duke Craig at Warinir.
Following several days of requests, Professor Kuligaan finally agreed to
meet for an interview with a member of the TAS News Service Warinir
branch. Although he refused to discuss the details behind his meeting with
Duke Craig, he did reveal more of his outspoken views on the Rebellion.
The following is an excerpt from that fascinating interview.
TNS: How long until we see the Imperium reunited?
IK: Never.
TNS: So you feel it will take a long time, then.
IK: No, I said never, and I mean never. There will be no reformed
Imperium; there can be no peace or unity among these factions. No, we must
go farther into the darkness before we can see the light again. That is
proper, that is proportionate.
TNS: Proper? By whose standards?
IK: You see, if peace were to come now, that would justify what has
already happened. Surely even you have read the figure, tens of billions
dead. The horror that we have already visited upon each other, that would
somehow become acceptable. Leaders would be able to countenance other wars
just like this one. "You see," they would say, "we could do that again and
still pull back and be okay again." That cannot happen. Peace now would
redeem what we have done, and that is just not possible. It is
irredeemable; the sin has gone too far.
TNS: The sin? Against God?
IK: No, not against God; against the only thing you can sin against,
humanity.
TNS: So you feel that it is only humans that matter in this equation.
IK: No, you idiot. Who assigned you to this story, anyway? [The sin is]
Against the thing inside every living being that makes it unique. The
Vargr must call it vargranity, the Hivers call it hivranity or some such.
Whatever word you happen to hang on it locally, the object is the same.
But the word has to be local to you if it is to have any power for you.
Yes, I call it humanity. And the Vargr have it, the Hivers have, the
Asllan have it, the K'kree have it. You might even have it. The issue is
--
TNS: Are you a member of the Virasa faith?
IK: Do all reporters have such short attention spans? The issue is -- and
by the way, the phrase is, "Are you a Virasin?" -- that what we have done
is a crime against all life, all decency, and not in a contextual way, but
in an absolute way. We cannnot put a happy face on this, brush ourselves
off, and go on. We are corrupt, we are polluted, we are death to each
other. And in this case, yes, the issue is about humans, homo sapiens. We
have to see our way through this hell that we've created and see to it
that it does not happen again. There is something inside us that has
allowed us to embark on this monstrous war, and we must burn it out of us.
This war, if all of these deaths are to have any meaning, must force us to
come to grips with the fact that we cannot remain this way if we expect to
have an interstellar society.
If, on the other hand, we can justify to ourselves what we have done here
in this "Rebellion," then we can never be saved, which is to say, we can
never save ourselves.
154-1124
Rhylanor/Spinward Marches (2716 A434934-F)
By TNS Staff Writer
At the University of Rhylanor today, approximately 150 students staged a
pro-Ine Givar demonstration to show their support at the university's main
square. They wore green Ine Givar armbands, shook their fists and shouted,
"Agitate. Educate. Organize."
Dean Eneri Woemser called in campus and local police forces to prevent any
outbreaks of violence by the students or patriotic bystanders.
After chanting and handing out leaflets reading, "The Moment for Democrasy
[sic] Is Now!" The demonstration disbanded peacefully. However, seven
students who had been brandishing unloaded handguns were arrested for
firearms possession and public endangerment, and inciting to violence.
The university plans to expel the seven students for their acts.
Dean Woemser's brief public statement concluded with the remark: "We have
over 34,000 students enrolled on this campus. The forbearing response of
the vast majority of our students to this inflammatory display by a
handful of illiterates is ample proof that this university cannot be
judged by the example of these stylish 'revolutionaries.'"
168-1124
Gracilis/Dagudashaag (2038 A52077A-C)
By TNS Affiliate - Challenge 60
Recent Black War strikes on Gracilis by Lucan's forces have prompted
planetary leaders to question the long-term habitability of the world.
Progressive damage to port and power production facilities combined with
the world's inhospitable atmosphere makes the future of the world's 63.2
million inhabitants "tenuous at best," according to one official.
The needs of the relatively large population require a vast oxygen and
water cracking industry to chemically produce these essential resources
from minerals found on the world. Recent developments in the ongoing
Rebellion have made this procedure much more difficult. Lucan's raids have
done extensive damage to Gracilis' habitation domes and subterranean
galleries, which will require time-consuming repairs. Until such time as
permanent repairs can be made, temporary repairs allow atmosphere and
water supplies to leak away, placing a greater strain on the cracking
industry. However, damage to the world's power production facilities has
already reduced the capacity of the power-intensive cracking operations.
Repairs to any of the damage pulls already-scarce resources away from
other projects on a world that has been on a wartime footing for seven
years. Access to crucial repair parts is also becoming difficult, given
extensive recent damage to Gracilis' port facilities and the dramatic
fall-off in trade in Dagudashaag Sector because of the war.
Troy Kharkazlin, Gracilis' Minister for Resource Management is blunt about
the situation: "We might just be able to keep going if things are left the
way they are now. It won't be easy, but five or six years down the tunnel
I can see a little light. But any more damage to this world and it's all
over but the dying. It's time for a contingency study on worldwide
evacuation."
However, Kharkaziin is quick to agree that all of this leaves one question
unanswered: "Where do we go?"
220-1124
Dlan/Ilelish (1021 A8D1ADE-G)
By TNS Affiliate - Challenge 60
Dulinor today firmly refused military aid to exiled President Kaerri
Sundarigari of Neola/Gushmege (1430 B526543-E). This aid would have been
used to unseat the military council which overthrew her democratically
elected government in a coup two months ago.
Federation Press Secretary Tredek Jurisor said: "The Federation is well
aware of the situation on Neola. We have received the assurances of
General Meochovici that Martial law will be lifted and democracy restored
as soon as the current crisis has ended.
"Therefore, we will continue with Federation policy of non-intervention in
the affairs of individual worlds, unless other worlds or the Federation
are threatened."
Speaking from her hotel in a hastily arranged and bitter press conference,
Sundarigari responded: "'Current crisis?' What current crisis? I am
absolutely sickened by Dulinor and his farcical Federation!
"Six years ago, I remember Dulinor saying Emperor Strephon was complacent,
that he should have used his position to make the Imperium more responsive
to individual citizens. He said he would bring an end to representation by
the nobility, and give power back to the public. Now he's turned his back
on the issues which supported his claims to the throne or any legitimacy
as a ruler."
When asked to speculate on the reasons behind Dulinor's decision,
Sundarigari replied angrily: "Maybe he feels that the [military] dictators
will build more warships than we did for his precious Rebellion."
251-1124
Dlan/Ilelish (1021 A8D1ADE-G)
By TNS Affiliate - Challenge 60
Dlan Port Authority officials reported that former President Kaerri
Sundarigari of Neola/Gushemege (1430 B526543-E) was killed along with four
of her closest advisors today in a freak accident at Dlan Downport. She
was reportedly on her way home to her subsector to recruit support to
fight the ruling military council that unseated her government over two
months ago.
Eyewitnesses report that Sundarigari's party was waiting to board a
shuttle to the orbital starport when an out-of-control baggage lifter
crashed into and ruptured several liquid hydrogen refueling lines. The
resulting explosion killed Sundarigari, her Defense Minister, Press
Secretary, Chief Judiciary Advisor, and Chief of Staff, along with nine
other bystanders.
Archduke Dulinor's office expressed its regrets moments later when the
event was reported, remarking: "President Sundarigari was a courageous and
dedicated leader."
Some of Dulinor's officials have privately remarked that there should be
an inquiry into the possibility that the junta's assassins could have
reached all the way to Dlan, and the dangerous possibility this represents
to other dissident groups.
345-1124
Hice/Diaspora (2920 A795222-E)
By TNS Affiliate - Challenge 61
In one of the bitterest blows of the Black War yet to befall the Diaspora
Sector, Solomani forces launched an attack on Hice's class A starport
using thermonuclear weapons. This attack completely destroyed the starport
and, it is believed, killed a substantial portion of Hice's populace.
According to a source in Margaret's Navy, Hice was not targeted because of
any inherent value, but rather because of its location near the Solomani
frontier and its high-quality starport. "It was like a dagger pointed at
their operations in the Promise and Khulam Subsectors. We had been staging
forces out of Hice right in their front yard to keep an eye on their
activities and threaten any movements they made. By removing Hice, they've
improved their ability to operate unhindered."
Tentative estimates by local Travellers' Aid Society officials indicate
that Hice will now be listed as X795122-E.
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