063-1125
Exeter/Diaspora (2729 B769895-F)
By TNS Affiliate - Challenge 61
Officials of the Exeter Federated Shipbuilders today announced the
establishment of a new program to ease the burden of commerce raiding that
has plagued the war-torn Diaspora Sector. The naval architects of Exeter's
several noted shipbuilding firms will cooperate in creating sets of
standardized, simplified plans for the conversion of commercial ships to
military purposes, which will be distributed throughout the Diaspora
Sector, but without the usual architect's fees attached.
"People and organizations should be aware of this project so that they can
take advantage of it, and it's crucial that they are aware that there is
no additional cost involved to using these plans," said spokesperson
Andelin Taro. "The use of these plans should allow savings from
standardization which will permit the optimal use of this Sector's already
strained resources," she continued.
When asked how Exeter's yards could afford to distribute these plans,
which will create business for competing shipyards, Taro explained, "We
can't afford not to. The trade situation in this Sector must be
stabilized. The destruction of existing shipping does not create a greater
demand for the construction of new hulls. On the contrary, it destroys any
ability to generate the money to pay for new construction, and that's bad
for everybody, because there is no trade."
In addition to simplifying the arming of existing vessels, this program
will encourage the completion of surplus incoomplete starship hulls as
military vessels for use by local governments and starmerc units. A number
of hulls have been left uncompleted because of the bankruptcy of their
original buyers, and because they are unsuitable for the dangerous
environment currently characterizing the Diaspora Sector. Typical of these
are the over two dozen unfinished Type M Liners throughout the sector,
conceived for a peacetime market, now abandoned in the face of the
continued factional raiding and piracy.
The Federated Shipbuilders hope to have the full set of plans available in
six months. They will then be distrubted to all worlds requestingthem,
with the only cost being that of daa shipment expenses to the destination
world.
157-1125
Vland/Vland (1717 A967A9A-F)
By TNS Affiliate - Challenge 61
Zirunkariish today published its eagerly anticipated biannual report on
the acturial state of the Imperium. While many observers were hoping that
the massive megacorporation might have been able to statistically identify
the beginnings of some positive trends, the news was accompanied by an
announced raising of insurance rates by the giant Vilani megacorporation.
The most sobering portion of the report was the extensively doicumented
estimate that Imperial mercantile shipping experienced an 18% drop in
aggregate tonnage during the period 001-1123 to 365-1124. These figures
are in spite of the shipbuilding rates during the period, and show the
maintained ferocity of the Rebellion.
The figures are thought to show another trend as well. In terms of total
number of merchant hulls, the numbers only dropped 14% during the same
period, showing that larger high-value merchant hulls suffered in
proportion to their size, not their numbers. This is believed to reflect
the rising effects of piracy, because pirates pick their targets based on
percieved value and risk. Commercial losses due to general warfare during
the Rebellion have not shown this bias toward destruction of tonnage.
Instead, tonnage and numerical losses were within 1% of each other during
the first six years of the war. The term "hulls" in this report is a
specific term used by megacorporate insureres Zirunkariish and Hortalez et
Cie to refer to spaceships and starships together, rather than the
distinguishing term "ships" which refers only to jump-capable starships.
These loss figures were not the worst ever; that honor belongs to the 21%
tonnage and 22% hull number drop in the 1119 report covering the period
001-1117 to 365-1118. However, these record figures are artificially high
because the shipbuilding rates during that period had not built up to full
mobilization levels. In fact, this years' figures are quite bad enough to
have prompted Zirunkariish to announce a 20% increase in starship
insurance rates. The reasons cited for the increase are the increased risk
of loss, reduced overall revenue base, the fragmented political structure
preventing accurate assessment of risk or enforcement of payment, the rise
of piracy, and the decrease in size of the average ship resulting in
reduced economies of scale and capacities for self-defense.
These rate increases are of a similar magnitude to those that Hortalez et
Cie is rumored to be studying.
171-1125
Anaxias/Delphi (1724 A253A85-D)
By TNS Affiliate - Challenge 62
Margaret's government responded with concern today to increasing reports
of planets whose published world profiles do not correspond to the
realities found there. Margaret's officials, citing the danger of such
"surprises" to the safety of Imperial citizens, will make a formal request
of the Travellers' Aid Society Statistical Office, responsible for
establishing and disseminating these profiles, to look into these reports.
Reports presented include worlds whose starport capabilities do not live
up to their assigned codes, and planets where locally available technology
is beneath listed levels. The examples cited are all worlds in areas
outside of Margaret's defended frontier, areas being increasingly referred
to as the "Outlands" and the "Wilds." It is considered likely that the
effects of warfare in these areas have caused these changes, and this
theory will be included in the request to the TAS.
The TAS will be asked to check into the accuracy of these reports and, if
they are found to be true, establish a method to ensure accurate reporting
of actual planetary conditions in future publications of world profiles.
Most of the reports cited only inconvenience to the travellers themselves,
but in some cases merchant ships found themselves stranded on worlds
which, unreported in the world profiles, could no longer provide fuel
services or starship repair and maintenance.
210-1125
Exeter/Diaspora (2729 B769895-F)
By TNS Affiliate - Challenge 62
Exeter's Federated Shipbuilder's, this world's largest trade organization,
will close its doors for the last time today, citing its continued
existence as "superfluous." This follows the closing last week of Exeter's
two largest shipbuilding and repair firms, Kearny Yards and Exeter
Shipbuilding and Repair. However, the organization will be survived by a
core group of naval architects functioning as the EMMC Office.
The EMMC (for "Extemporised Mercantile to Military Conversions") Office is
named for the project that it is working to complete, announced by the
Federated Shipbuilders on 063-1125. The project calls for the creation of
a set of plans which will, when complete, form a standardized set of plans
for the conversion or completion of merchant hulls to military standards.
The project's name reflects the increasing emphasis given in the plans
themselves to the use of standard "off-the-shelf" items available at most
starports, rather than specialized components that must be imported.
It is still intended that these plans will be widely distributed among the
remaining viable shipyards in Diaspora Sector, free of charge, when they
are complete.
263-1125
Tripolis/Verge (2612 B885A98-E)
By TNS Affiliate - Challenge 62
A goodwill visit to the restive world of Tripolis by Lady Isis, daughter
As part of her tour "to show my father Dulinor's solidarity with you
during these difficult times," Lady Isis appeared with the Shaw Hamet,
Tripolis head of state, at Sirle Downport. While speaking there, an as-yet
unknown number of rioters appeared and, after shouting, "Down with
Dulinor," and "Dulinor has brought back the Long Night," began throwing
objects, apparently including bottles, garbage, and small fireworks at the
dais.
Lady Isis, though unhurt, threw herself to the ground to avoid being
struck. At the same time, some of the fireworks thrown by the crowd began
to go off. Although they were themselves harmless, their reports as Isis
fell to the ground caused her personal detachment of bodyguards to
conclude that she had been fired on by the crowd. One or more of the
high-strung bodyguards returned the supposed fire into the crowd with
plasma rifles, eventually killing at least 20, reportedly including many
bystanders.
The crowd panicked, and many fled the scene, trampling and injuring
several dozen more in the process.
The only photograph of the event, taken by an unknown photographer at long
range, shows Lady Isis with a horrified expression, and with her hallmark
fashionable gown spattered with some foreign substance. While some claim
that the substance is blood, acquired when Isis waded into the crowd to
comfort injured bystanders, others maintain that it is refuse, and she is
angered at the damage done to her wardrobe.
311-1125
Anaxias/Delphi (1724 A253A85-D)
By TNS Affiliate - Challenge 62
The Travellers' Aid Society Statistical Office today presented to
Margaret's government its report on world profile information published in
TAS materials. This report was made in response to a formal request by
Margaret's government that the organization look into recent accounts of
TAS-published world profiles that did not accurately reflect current
conditions on several worlds. The report was filed in the remarkably short
time of 140 days, reflecting, in the words of TAS official Eneri Kraus,
"the importance of ensuring the safety of not only our members, but of all
travellers in Imperial space."
The report shows that many worlds show a degradation in starport
capabilities, sustainable technology levels, and in some cases, population
and atmospheric qualities. The report was clear that in all cases of
variance between published figures and reality, it was the conditions on
the world that had changed, and not the result of misprinted or
mistransmitted world profiles. "What we are seeing here is a very real and
tragic decline in the quality of life of Imperial citizens that is so
precipitous it has overwhelmed our ability to document it in a timely
fashion," said Kraus after the presentation.
The report establishes and documents that these changes are all direct or
indirect results of Rebellion combat, and are concentrated in disputed
areas between factional boundaries that have seen high levels of combat.
Merchants operating in these areas have been to distinguish between
"Outlands," those areas just beyond the defended factional frontiers, and
the "Wilds," that remain in the much contested no-man's land between
heavily engaged factions.
Having identified the astrographic regions that hold the highest
probability of rapid world profile change, the TAS can now concentrate
field agents in these areas to report changes in world profile codes as
quickly as possible. A new system of world profile notation is being
introduced, which will show changed digits with Italics, and a question
mark (?) for values that have changed or are changing so rapidly they
cannot yet be evaluated.
325-1125
Vahana/Diaspora (2926 E65A5??-B)
By TNS Affiliate - Challenge 62
Six months of sporadic fighting on Vahana is now coming to a close, with
an apparent victory for the popular Mericulture Directorate over the
so-called Interim Council. The Interim Council, composed of retired
military officers, took power following the fighting that destroyed
Vahana's starport. Although it repeatedly promised economic programs and
an orderly succession of power, the council spent over a year in power
delivering only increasingly bombastic demands for belt-tightening and
self-sacrifice from Vahana's citizens. That year also saw a sudden decline
in the population's health and living standards as distribution networks
broke down under the council's interference.
The end of fighting follows a brilliant and almost bloodless
island-hopping campaign fought mostly by Vahanan volunteers, but led and
master-minded by an off-planet mercenary unit. The unit was recruited for
this operation by ex-Imperial naval officer Robert R. Rivera, who was
hired by the Mariculture Directorate to remove the council. The defeat of
the council will clear the way for the directorate's program to
reestablish planetary trade networks and restore interstellar trade by
creating a "soft" (water) landing starport facility. The directorate also
seeks to establish alliance ties with nearby worlds, and the elimination
of the insular Interim Council will open the way for these plans.
The campaign to overthrow the military government is notable because of
the lack of casualties suffered by either side. This was a deliberate goal
of Rivera's force, which used technologically sophisticated maneuver
tactics to overmatch and overawe its opponents. Rivera appeared yesterday
with his second-in-command, Lisa Marlene, to discuss these operations at a
brief press appearance. When asked how she felt about the campaign's low
casualties, only 83 killed and 349 wounded on both sides in six months of
operations that saw over 20,000 prisoners taken, Marlene replied, "We
don't feel good about casualties, no matter how low the number. But it is
gratifying to know that we kept them from being any higher." Rivera added,
"Every life that we take, every building we destroy, will make recovery
from the Rebellion that much harder. Killing more people isn't the
answer." Rivera also announced that his mercenary unit will remain
together under the name Rivera's Vigilantes.
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