aftershocks

Incursion (2/3)

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FROM: CS MINALIROS, BORDERLINE PICKET FORCE
TO: CINCSPIN (CS LIBERTY’S PRICE)

***** EXPEDIENT
***** FLEET CONFIDENTIAL E256
***** SITREP

1. ENTERED VASARL (VANGUARD REACHES) SYSTEM EIGHT (8) HOURS PREVIOUS TO DISPATCH OF MESSAGE, PER MOST RECENT ORDERS RECEIVED.

2. HAVE MADE CONTACT WITH REPUBLIC INTRUSION FLEET AS MENTIONED IN ROUTINE STATUS UPDATE OF 119/3.

3. INTRUSION FLEET CONTINUE TO TRANSPOND. 8 SHIPS OF THE PLANE AND MILITARY SUPPORT VESSELS IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AND PROFILE AS FORMER REPUBLIC TASK FORCE DETAILED TO LEVIATHAN CONSCIOUSNESS CONTAINMENT FLEET, ADM. JANTAR RONIS COMMANDING.

4. REQUESTED INTRUSION FLEET HEAVE TO AND PREPARE FOR INSPECTION, AS PER PROVISIONS OF WORLDS-REPUBLIC DEMARCATION TREATY. RECEIVED FAVORABLE RESPONSE.

5. EXPECT ZERO-ZERO INTERCEPT IN TWENTY-FIVE (25) HOURS FROM PRESENT TIME.

6. THIS VESSEL INVOKES AUTOMATIC THREAT RESPONSE ON COMMUNICATION LOSS, AT SEVENTY-FIVE (75) HOURS FROM DISPATCH OF THIS MESSAGE.

7. MORE FOLLOWS.

8. AUTHENTICATION GEL ROTOR ECLIPSE SHACK JACKET CHEESE / 0x9983BCBEF127CC18

CAPT. SCEALIN MOR-TIRAK

 

Incursion (1/3)

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6

FROM: BORDERLINE DEFENSE MATRIX (107 – CHARACH)
RECEIVED AT: BORDERLINE DEFENSE MATRIX COMMAND
RELAY TO: CINCSPIN (CS LIBERTY’S PRICE)

***** EXPEDIENT
***** FLEET CONFIDENTIAL E256
***** SITREP

INCURSION INCURSION

TRANSIT DETECTED REPEAT TRANSIT DETECTED SIGNIFICANTLY EXCEEDING TREATY PARAMETERS AT REPUBLIC GATE, CHARACH SYSTEM.

ESTIMATED TASK FORCE STRENGTH INCLUDES 8 SHIPS OF THE PLANE AND MULTIPLE SUPPORT VESSELS, INCLUDING MULTIPLE CIVILIAN PASSENGER TRANSPORTS AND FREIGHTERS.

ANOMALY DETECTED: TASK FORCE HAS ACTIVE TRANSPONDERS. THESE TRANSPONDERS IDENTIFY THE MILITARY COMPONENT AS KNOWN REPUBLIC NAVY VESSELS, CONFIRMED BY PROFILE DATA, BUT DO NOT IDENTIFY THEM AS UNITS OF THE REPUBLIC NAVY.

TASK FORCE IS PROCEEDING ON COURSE FOR VISARL (VANGUARD REACHES) STARGATE, ESTIMATED INTERCEPT IN 14 HOURS.

MORE FOLLOWS.

AUTHENTICATION HATRACK RATCATCHER GALLANT FLARE BISCUIT LINELAYER / 0xCEEE8273B231AA04

 

Migratory Definitions

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Overheard in the Crescent Bar, Conclave Drift
6 months post the end of the Core War

“It’s a great speech, but it’s not going to work. You know that, right?”

“What’s the problem with it?”

“Well, mostly, that you’re trying to talk ‘political geostate’ to someone who speaks ‘sovereign service provider’.”

“What does that mean?”

“For one thing, it means that when you say ‘those people being unfairly excluded because of their beliefs’, what they hear is ‘that bunch of jerks who want service without signing up to our service agreement’.”

 

Ongoing Rumbles

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“…encode status report for immediate transmission to Vonis Prime…from VNS Moderation, Kadash IV…riot control action…fighting broken out in several major cities…operational dues, bank transfer payments and…seized…forces imprisoned planetside…self fired upon by local system defense forces…forced to withdraw…unrest elsewhere in the Shell…request instructions, reinforcements…”

– fragmented communications intercept, received at Tarqil (Crimson Expanse)

“Damn and blast it to heat death. Not yet!”

– transparency log excerpt, Republic Affairs Committee, Ministry of State and Outlands
(ICE SHADOW)

Aftershocks (5)

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CALMIRÍË, ELIÉRA – The Imperial Senate today rejected unanimously the petition of the Temporary Tyrancy of Ódeln for admission to the Empire as a stage-1 colony world. Announcing this decision, Incorruptible Secretary Tirill min Dinkoss stated, “While the Imperial Charter permits flexibility in local governance beneath its core principles, provided that the fundamental and imperial rights of citizen-shareholders are respected, and the Senate is permitted considerable discretion in approving admissions, we have chosen not to accept the application of Ódeln for membership at this time.”

Upon further inquiry, the office of the Incorruptible Secretary issued the following additional statement:

“In the interests of our existing citizen-shareholdership and prospective newcomers both, it is the responsibility of the Senate to ensure that new constituent nations are a good fit for the Imperial family. At this time, the Senate remains unconvinced of the Temporary Tyrancy’s ability to govern within the acceptable bounds of our libertist-technepraxic consensus, and is also skeptical that it is able to speak consensually for the population of Ódeln.”

The legate of the Tyrancy, rral-Fran-din, could not be reached for comment. Further commentary, including reactions on Ódeln to the Senate’s decision, will follow in later flash updates.

Aftershocks (4)

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Four-Thoughts Free Militia
Unnamed Bunker
Ruins of Intyev Township
Turbis (Cordai Gap)
(formerly People’s State of Bantral)

The fabber hummed quietly to itself, steam rising from its cooling vents and only a few sparks coming from the lashed-up power lines leading down from the solar foil on the roof. Kilden bustled around refilling the feedstock hoppers, aligning the feed drives for the dozenth time, and engaging in other such busy-work. The others indulged him, which he knew. This was, after all, his miracle.

“All’s clear outside; how is it in here?”

“Good, good! Those replacements you found are working. We’ll be eating well tonight.”

“I found this, too.” The new arrival tossed a wallet of flat plastic chips over to Kilden. “New recipes for your gadget, looks like. Any of these let it make us some bullets?”

“Maybe. If we can find it some metal. How badly do we need them?”

“We’ve got enough for now, maybe, if no-one pushes us, but they say the Kontyev Brigade is leaning towards the Concord. That’ll put them right up against us. And if that emissary of theirs lets word get out about” – he jerked his head towards the fabber – “that, everyone in the region’ll be coming at us. So badly, yeah. If you all are still determined not to join the Concord?”

“Aaah, I’ve heard their song before. Equality and cooperation and collective effort and so long as we’re talking about that, soph, we’re going to need your fabber for the common good, so hand it over and we might give you a fair share back. Since we took it from the lizards we’ve got full bellies – for the first time since before the war. You so keen to be hungry again?”

“No, but – even if we can keep the others back, what if the raiders come back? Or invaders confiscating it – the lizards again, or the deshniki, or the linobir mercs, or – or even the Impies?”

“The Impies? We should be so lucky.” The mechanic gave his comrade a disgusted look. “Don’t be an idiot, Bistot. Did you never listen to the People’s Propaganda? If they told us one true thing about the Impies, it’s that they respect private property!”

Aftershocks (2)

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2

Vontok System
Former Republic Stargate, Maintenance Access Four
Ring Dynamics Transition Team

“I don’t like it.”

“It’s going well so far. The interface layer reconfigured cleanly to accept standard blue-box protocol.”

“That’s why I don’t like it.”

“Because it reconfigured cleanly?”

“Because it reconfigured too easily. This thing was ripped out of a dead god’s brain with stone axes. That shouldn’t make it user-friendly.”

“Maybe it was built for them.”

“Okay, then, how do you explain the computronium stacks? Big and clunky this isn’t; it’s just got far more parcycles and dataspace than the stargate manager needs. What are they for – and don’t say nothing, and before you answer, remember dead god’s brain.”

“…that’s paranoid.”

“But am I wrong?”

“No, I can’t say that. What are you proposing?”

“I’m proposing we get this meme-gapped and rig the best emergency-destruct package we can that won’t risk kernel integrity, then call in a Probable Technologies forensic eschatology team. And that we shut down all our probes and mapping operations. It’s one thing if the gate goes diagnostic on us; it’s quite another if our pokin’ around wakes up a poison angel or triggers a prompt intellect excursion, and worse yet if it’s a strongly connected one.”