Fwurg

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

Identity of the High Priestess revealed.

Stellaria - Sources have confirmed the identity of the High Priestess of the Divine Nova Triage that will be visiting Unity next week. It turns out the Lady of Purity, High Priestess Amilia is the one to go. The School of Blood says it will send eight members with her, six nuns and two Lady-Priestesses. When asked about the travel arangements, the spokes woman refused to comment.

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

High Priestess Amilia arives on Unity

Unity - Today High Priestess Amilia, the Lady of Purity, of the Divine Nova Triage arived on Unity. She was welcomed by a Lady-Priestess and a large number of poeple from both in and outside the Stellarian Triad Federation. Lady-Senator Maria Latharion personaly came to welcome her as well.

The reception was highly ceremonial and no incidents happened.

[Sundarian Federation]

Cracks in the coalition?

Glasslyn - For the first time during his period in office, High Lord Yllia has been unable to secure a Council majority. On the matter of the Union Senate Security, where a proposal was made to directly involve the Jedi Order, the Sundarian Council was unable to reach consensus, leaving Senator Peinaili de Montrève no choice but to abstain.

Analysts are yet unsure why, some believe several splinter-groups within the Liberal party used this bill to express their growing discord about High Lord Yllia's policy of mutual cooperation and to damage the reputation of the Sundarian Federation within the Union; where others believe that the High Lord himself was not convinced by the arguments brought before the senate, thus wouldn't fully support the proposal, swaying the balance in the Council slightly to the conservative side.

[Teprogrenaian Holonet]

Teprogrenaian economy growing to its old proportions after centuries of recess

Dhiahamara - The economy of the Teprogrenaian Consensus can finally see a bright future like it was in the past. For the first time since the start of building The Cradle experiences the Consensus a rapid economical growth. There is great public satisfaction of joining the Union, after aeons of isolation.

The economical push started when consensus was reached about the new large scale industrial focus, after the mining operations on Samahadrahac one by one started to run dry. The consensus to start mining for more crystals made that the Stallorium mines in the mountains are now working on full capacity, which is one of the main drives of the Teprogrenaian Economy.

Headmaster and spokesman of the Teprogrenaian economy on Unity city, Danar Torig, comments: "Joining the Union has provided great progress, however we have to stay open for new markets, as the market on crystals will likely soon be fulfilled by other factions in the Union. Although the current political movements are questionable sometimes, there are great opportunities for cooperation with other factions which are definitely beneficial."

The economical consult sees possibilities in growing metals production, and the information market, but consensus has yet to be reached.

[Amna Silin]

Veolian Entrepreneur opens nightclub in Unity City

Unity City - As the economy of the Veolian Commonwealth becomes more oriented on trade with other members of the Union, so does the entertainment industry. With Unity City's population numbering in the 12 million, it is still deemed a small city in Veolian standards. This has not hindered entrepreneur Kamuka Yatana, as she easily gained multiple private backers to open a veolian-style night club in Unity City.

We interviewed miss Kamuka about her new club, dubbed Purgatory:

Amna Silin: "Miss Kamuka, thanks for being here. I have to ask: why Unity? Aren't there larger cities to be found on Mirda?"
Kamuka Yatana: "Thanks for having me. Well, though Unity is small, it is the nexus of Union. All those politicians and traders need to relax too. Besides, I have it on good authority that Unity will not get any less populated."
AS: "True. What do you plan to do to accomodate all the different species and cultures?"
KY: "I'm currently hiring cultural advisers to ensure that we cover all the bases. We plan on accomodating all citizen of the Union, but we also keep our roots in sight. I hope to weave new cultural insights with veolian club traditions."
AS: "Sounds interesting. But with 12 million, Unity City already has lots of night life, how is Purgatory different from the other clubs?"
KY: "A very good question. Instead of focussing on a segment of the population, as some of my competition does, I focus on accomodating VIPs such as senators and high officials of different factions. In veolian tradition, the club consists of three parts; ensuring the privacy of our patrons, and offering them a way to relax outside of the public eye."
AS: "With the opening of Purgatory coming near, do you have any opening stunts planned?"
KY: "I can't comment on that. But I can lift a tip of the veil: you will see a lot of well-known faces at the opening night."
AS: "Thanks again for being here."
KY: "You're welcome."

A little information for those viewers unfamiliar with veolian traditions. Due to the cultural influence of gender on traditional veolian roles, veolian clubs traditionally consist of three parts: the public area, the lords' lounge, and the ladies' lounge. Most clubs only allow entry to members, but clubs vary in the number of invitees a member can bring along. As can be guessed from the name, the lords' lounge and ladies' lounge are areas for exclusive use by men and women.

[Sundarian Federation]

Balance of power restored in Sundarian Council

Glasslyn - After a period of unrest and heated discussion following from the Senate Security vote, insiders now report that a compromise has been found and the rest has returned within the Sundarian Council. Discord within small splinter groups of the Liberial Party has now been announced to be cause of the earlier failure of the Council to reach consensus.

However the apparent results seem to favour an entirely different explaining as several new positions, some very lucrative, have been assigned to members of the Conservative Party. Not in the least included are, Marquis Leandres Lafrioye è Koniova, known to be one of the strongest opposer's of High Lord Yllia's policies and eminent member of the Conservative Party, has been made Lord Chairman of the Economic oversight assembly and his son Lord Leandres II Lafrioye, has been named director of the newly formed Crystal Corporation, which is still under construction.

[Elrinka]

Jedi take control of Senate Building!

Unity City - Chancellor Bolv'ar today officially oversaw the exchange of the final security keys to the Senate Building from the old Senate Security Force to the Jedi, making them now the official Senate Security Force.

The Jedi will serve the senate to protect high officials and ensure the safety and contuity of the Union government.

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

Unity is protected.

Unity - Today High Priestess Amilia announced that Unity is indeed protected by the Goddesses that the Divine Nova Triage believe in. She said that the countless stars that can clearly be seen from Unity prove that 'She', as the High Priestess referred to Unity, is protected and loved by more Goddesses than can be counted.

After the announcement she proceeded with blessing Unity City and the Union in the name of Unity and the Goddesses. Solidifying the trust and loyalty of millions of Astrians and the Stellarian Triad Federation in the process.

Less than an hour after the public ceremony the High Priestess and her escort left to return to Stellaria.

[Amna Silin]

Saramuhe Bio-fabrication data centre attacked!

Mirda - One of the data storage centres of the Saramuhe Bio-fabrication company, a holding company owned largely by house Dewa, burned to the ground after a very sophisticated cyber-attack. The storage centre was one of the three known back-up sites for information from Saramuhe subsidiaries.

At 0452 this morning, an unauthorized client gained access to the centre's environmental controls, and executed an emergency lock-up, immediately followed by a shutdown of the coolant systems. Consequently, the storage servers overheated and caught on fire, destroying the facilities server rooms. Under normal protocols, the fire alarm would trigger a direct response from automated firefighter drones and manned firefighting units, but as a spokesperson for the district's firefighters said: "We received a call that Saramuhe was going to conduct a training exercise to train own personnel. We verified the call by checking the call encryption, and the call did originate from Saramuhe."

It is not known who executed the attack, or what their motivation is. Our cyber-security analyst thinks it highly unlikely that this was an unorchestrated attack, and instead surmises that the attack was executed at the behest of a rival company or political adversary.

[Hiocan Society]

Final preparation for the 1st Intergalactic science conference

Hio - In the centre city Mya they are busy with the final preparation to finish the new conference centre for the 1st Intergalactic science conference. The Hiocans have put a lot of effort in this conference and they hope to bring scientist of various faction together. By creating and improving various relations they hope to create more cooperation within the Union science community.

Currently the Veolian commonwealth, the Teprogrenaian Consensu, the Stellarian Triad Federation and the Miomanian Colonists will be sending a large delegation. The conference last 6 days, this is unusual as normally it takes 5 days. Each of the first 5 days there will be parallel presentation on various subjects of the natural sciences; astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, material science and earth sciences. The final day is to improve cooperation within the Union and various great scientists like Fecta Legin will give a presentation.

The Hiocan embassy will be opening a special conference office shortly to keep up with the questions and applications. They want to make this really a big success. Not only the science will profit from it but their economy will get a boost so they maybe can finally compete on Intergalactic scale.

[Amna Silin]

Veolian Commonwealth shares advanced military technology

Mirda - The hyperspace research community was abuzz last week, as the final touches were put on the first prototype of a newly researched hyperspace engine modification: a signature damper. The exact origins of the technology are unclear, and little about the project has been released to the public, but it is clear that the technology is mature and fully developed.

Immediately after a succesful flight, the specifications of the modification, along with a veritable library of reports and logs, and blueprints for the modification were packaged and securely transfered to all Union members and the Union military itself.

"This technology will ensure that the Union maintains a technological advantage over it's close neighbours", a military analyst from house Shebi commented. "Of course, I can give no futher details."

((OOC: As already noted in their turn report: The Veolian Commonwealth gave the Echani Hyperspace Signature Damping technology to everyone, and the Union in general -- if you don't write it down, you don't have it!))

[Amna Silin]

Union chancellor sworn in!

Unity - The new chancellor of the Union, chancellor Nehket Aeka of the Veolian Commonwealth, was sworn in today in front of the assembled senate. After the reciting of the oath, she gave a short speech highlighting her campaign promises.

Analysts expect her to quickly pick up where chancellor Bolv'ar left: with the debate on the Safety of the Union act.

[Praetorian Empire]

official opening Omnipotari Corporation!

Praeto - This week the Omnipotari Corporation headquarters has officially opened its doors and is now mass producing crystals.

After a refining period of 2 years the Omnipotari project has completed their initial research on growing high density energy crystals in their laboratory. The leader of the project and owner of the corporation spoke about her work at the opening ceremony.
Zatiri Ferumdra: "We are proud to present the fruits of our labour that will bring prosperity to the Praetorian Empire. We have developed a production line that is capable of mass producing military grade energy crystals. Our emperor himself has shown interest in our work and provided us with funding and support for the Omnipotari Corporation. A large part of the produced crystals have been reserved by our government for a large project in the near future. Thank you."

[Amna Silin]

'Voluntary' Twi'lek genetic sampling under investigation

Mirda - The methods of acquiring genetic samples for the Genetic Lineage Archive on Sirip are under investigation. While the effort claims to take samples only from volunteers, rumours among the Twi'lek population speak of less honorable methods: "They offered to pay me, in exchange for genetic samples of my wife and children. As if they were already planning to assign my wife to someone else!", an angry Twi'lek reacted.

The Genetic Lineage Archive, led by lady Khaw Henalka, has publicly stated that a mistake was made: "We have not taken into account the large difference in cultural values of the Twi'lek population. Because of this, some of our methods that would have easily been accepted by the normal population were seen as offensive. We apologize for this."

Unfortunately, this public apology was not well received. Duke Iaat Vyapar replied: "This is just an example in a long string of disgraceful behaviour by the elite. They knew full well that Twi'lek values differ from our own, and should have taken this into account. Instead, they opted to go ahead under the assumption that nobody would care."

[Hiocan Society]

Big archeological breakthrough!

Erau - An entire preserved ancient city has been discovered on Erau. This is the biggest archeological discovery ever made. Some smaller ruins had been discovered but had been completely overgrown and destroyed. They had discovered that the planet was inhabited by a race before and during the times of chaos, but they were annihilated in a war. Archeologist by order of the Hiocan History Institute were digging at a mountain side and when they discovered a hidden tunnel which leads to the underground city deep down.

Head archeologist Professor V’Nos has asked all other Hiocan Institutes to help and investigated this city. “In this city our ancestors have lived. They used technologies which look very similar to our own. We need the help of all departments to investigate all the cultural and technical aspect of this ancient Hiocan race.” Some holograms are shown of pictures of people and various building and tools.

There already were some clues in leading to believe that origin of the Hiocan race was on Erau from DNA investigation of various species but this discovery clearly proves it and this will have quite an impact on the Hiocan Society.

[Amna Silin]

House Nehket lines pockets with Iaat trade!

Mirda - According to duke Iaat Vyapar, house Nehket profiteers from trade that rightfully belongs to house Iaat.

In a venomous lash towards the senatorial house, duke Iaat Vyapar accuses house Nehket of claiming profits from trade that should be going to house Iaat:

"This is an outrage! According to our information, house Nehket has been receiving payments of and even for organics based produce from our provinces. Produce that they bought at lower prices, and resell to intergalactic bidders.

This is yet another example of elitism plaguing the empire. Of course, no one dares mention this, for fear of retaliation by house Nehket. Who, with their 'oh so' important senatorial duties have garnered favour with the emperor that allow them to overstep the bounds of the law without fear for persecution."

In a simple reaction from house Nehket, they claim that this has little to do with profits: "We can't help the fact that other intergalactic economies come to us for such trade, after all, we provide the senator to the Union. Clearly, we are more trustworthy for such trades than house Iaat whom, while very adequate farmers, are less adept at running the global economy."

[Unified Republic of Darya]

Launching of the Star of Darya

Sokar - Today Comerade Senator General Konev holder of the Star of Darya, launched the flagship of the Daryan Republic Navy the DRN Star of Darya.

After a stately ceremony with speeches from both Senator Konev and President Trotsnik. Senator Konev ceremonially released the docking clamps allowing the Star of Darya to leave its berth.

[Teprogrenaian Holonet]

Veolian Commonwealth buying Tepgrogrenaian capital ships

Dhiahamara - The first capital ships have left the teprogrenaian shipyards and are on their way to the Veolian Commonwealth, and many more will follow. The Veolian Commonwealth are the first to buy the ships of the Consensus, and are even receiving the ships before the Consensus does. The ships are custom designed and made with great care specially for the Veolian people.

Like the reached consensus prescribed, the Veolian Commonwealth went through a screening and passed the test with ease. The only way consensus could be reached about selling military ships was by making sure the parties they are sold to are trustworthy enough and will not abuse the ships. Some people think the screening is to smooth as even the Veolian Commonwealth can get our ships with no trouble. Other voices say that the Veolian Commonwealth may be not as barbaric as we thought, and that this deal is a great step to intergalactic peace.

It took a long time of debate within the Consensus to discuss if they should sell such dangerous equipment at all. There are still Consults who are sceptical about the the war business, as this part of the galaxy is only just crawling out of the times of chaos. At last, consensus was reached that the peace should be enforced somehow as unwilling parties are unlikely to listen to reason. One of the higher consults state: "It is a shame that there are always parties out there who think violence is the best way to achieve their goals. We say: 'If they shoot, shoot back harder and with more'."

[Teprogrenaian Holonet]

Danar Torig, into disrepute.

Dhiahamara - Danar Torig, Headmaster Teprogrenaian Intergalactic Economy have send a holo-letter to Dareal Noxim of the Praetorian Empire where he compared the Praetorian Empire with an 'mentally ill rancor.'

There was already a growing tension between the Teprogrenaian Consensus and the Praetorian Empire after failed attempts to cooperate in the production of . The economic Consult was getting severely frustrated by the Economic department of the Praetorian Empire resulting in Torig sending the angry holo-letter. This became clear after parts of this letter became public within the Teprogrenaian Consensus:

"...your faction crashes into our... ...invested area like a mental ill Rancor without any regards for its surroundings..."

Although the economical Consult states that it fits their feelings over the Empire really well, the political Consults says that it never should have been send in a letter, certainly not this way. "It is a shame the economical Consult failed to see that communicating with other factions is a delicate process." Said a spokesman of the political Consult. Thus far there are no official statements released, as the different Consults are still busy deciding how to handle the issue.

The economical Consult was not yet available for comment, but Torig was willingly to talk personally: "It is true I sent an angry holo-letter after the Praetorian Empire made clear they thought that they could satisfy us with some leftovers and seriously wanted us to pay the full price. They only did this after the Unified Republic of Darya openly rose the situation in the Union senate, and the Praetorian Empire showed the impression that nothing was wrong with the offer."

Thus far this dispute seems to be no reason yet for the Consensus to let Torig resign from his current function, but it is waiting for the official statement of the combined Political and Economical Consults.

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

Protests on Stellaria

Stellaria - Thousands of Astrians spent today protesting against the new Definition of Life Act that is currently undergoing voting in the Senate. The fear among them seems to be that people without any connection to the Force will be treated as second class citizens.

Also some have expressed concern that the Travellers, a group of Astrian full cyborgs with their brain connected to a starship instead of a normal body, would not be considered alive by the act.

A lot of the protesters are also angry at the Triad Boards for not taking part in the discussion so that this could have been prevented.

Despite strong feelings and large numbers the protest remained calm and without incident.

[Astrian Colonial Authority]

Public announcement by Lady-Senator Maria Latharion on the Definition of Life Act

Unity - Today Lady-Senator Maria Latharion made a public announcement, addressing the concerns of the people of the Stellarian Triad Federation regarding the new Definition of Life Act. In it she said to have spoken to the Chancellor about the matter and was swiftly put at ease by an explanation from Dewa Nishkor Sardan, a Veolian philosopher who took part in the discusion.

The explanation was as follows:

I shall walk through the different articles of the definition, and try to explain the intent of each statement. Should anything be unclear, the blame falls squarely on me. Do not hesitate to contact me for further elaboration.

Statement 3 is easily explained: all participants in the discussion agreed that if something is proven to have a connection to the force, it must therefore be alive. This can be interpreted as either 'The Force' as known to the Jedi, or a as the soul, as known to the Highmonian people, or several other faiths.

Statement 4 can easily be confusing, so let me elaborate: If it can be proven that something has no connection to the force, it is not alive. However, therein lies the subtlety: as far as we are aware it is impossible to prove that something has no connection to the force. Even a simple thing such as a pebble from a riverbed can not be decided by this statement alone.

Because the force is not (yet) scientifically known, we clearly need a better heuristic to determine whether something is alive or not. Statement 5 offers this heuristic, we have elaborated in the properties that need to be observed to declare something alive. There is a large body of work that supports these basic six heuristics.

And finally, there is the nuance of how this definition should be applied. This is a most complex issue. To put it in the words of my honoured colleague, Mazeron of the Divine Fiefdom of Highmons: "Surely these conditions cannot be applied to individuals? For example, human women become infertile after a certain age, but despite no longer being unable to reproduce, it would be quite harsh to declare them dead while they still breathe! And what of those who will never be able to procreate? If these conditions are applied to individuals, that would be quite unreasonable!"

I wholeheartedly agree with him. Instead of applying the definition to individuals, this definition should be seen as applying to the larger whole of the group of entities, their observable common traits and the form derived from this.

In the context of recent news, let me use the Stellarian Triad Federation's Travellers as an example. According to our definition, they are alive, by virtue of statement 3: it has been proven that Astrians, even those that are largely cyborgs have a connection with the force. How else could Nathan Miodrass Asillion be a Jedi Padawan?

Even stronger: as far as I know, there is not a single biological Union citizens that has no connection to the force. The Jedi will be quick to inform you that the Force is in all living beings, though it might manifest itself in a myriad of ways. Furthermore, if nothing about the force can be proven, the six heuristics offer a solution.

Shortly after the announcement the better part of the Astrians in the STF calmed down and some even spoke up about how happy they where about that the Union makes an effort to put their worries to rest.

[Amna Silin]

Teprogrenaian Food trade hits House Iaat in the face

Mirda - Duke Iaat Vyapar publicly questioned the sincerity of the Teprogrenaian Consensus' recent accusations towards the Praetorian Empire. Union Central News caught him on camera:

The image of Duke Iaat Vyapar could be seen drinking and talking to two other veolian men.

"It seems to me that the Teprogrenaian Empire only accused the Praetorian Empire because it was their market the Praetorians were stepping on. If they themselves can make a profit by stepping on even smaller factions such as House Iaat, they won't even think twice.

Just yesterday they entered into a trade with House Nehket, exchanging Food for hard cash! Food that was produced in our factories and farms, Food from which the profits, all 30 , should rightfully go to House Iaat. But we haven't seen a single payment yet -- they just acquire the Food at Open Market prices. And House Iaat is forced to go along, after all: our allies the Teprogrenaians have decided that house Nehket is more trustworthy."

House Iaat was unavailable for comment.

[Hiocan Society]

The 1st Intergalactic Science Conference boosts the economy

Hio - The 1st intergalactic conference has greatly increased the Hiocan Societies economy. The big construction project of building the new conference center has taken the construction business to a new scale. The conference is still going on and now the provision of food and other products for the visitors is taken to the next level. The economy of the Hicon Society has gotten stronger from this and it will not take long before they can participate on intergalactic trade.

((OOC: Edit: Made changes a to prevent timeline problems, see OOC thread))

[Amna Silin]

Duke Iaat praises Teprogrenaian Consensus

Mirda - Duke Iaat Vyapar, CEO of the Dryatech Consortium, has released a press statement praising the Teprogrenaian Consensus for their honourable conduct with regards to a trade.

"It is with great pleasure that I announce this. The Teprogrenaian Consensus has decided to stop their trade with House Nehket, and instead buy their directly from the source. Not only have the Teprogrenaians offered their apologies, they have promised 500 as compensation for the losses incurred by House Iaat due to the malicious business practices by House Nehket!

However, this is not the only good news today! I have it from a reliable source that the Teprogrenaian Consensus has spoken out against slavery in our fair Commonwealth, and we look forward to conduct further business with the first Union Member that fully appreciates not only our business, but our ideals as well."

[Amna Silin]

Veolian Imperial Council convenes on the matter of the Union Embassy

Mirda - Recent events have prompted the Imperial Council to convene about the matter of house representation at the Union Embassy. While the embassy should represent the whole of the Veolian Commonwealth, it seems that this is not currently the case. House Iaat has provided evidence that House Nehket misrepresented them in multiple trade deals, the last of which was a trade deal with the Teprogrenaian Consensus.

Upon presentation of the evidence, House Dewa and House Shebi called for the council to convene on the matter. House Nehket has unsuccessfully tried to delay the matter by citing the absence of the first empress as a reason to postpone the council meeting. Their delaying tactic backfired. Sources near the emperor inform us that he said was significantly irritated by the behaviour of House Nehket, and responded with "the council will convene, and I will tend to the matter myself. My wives have done enough to try and resolve this situation through diplomacy."

The council meeting took little over two and half hours, and resulted in a unanimous vote to increase the representation of each house at the Union Embassy. Though House Nehket remains the political representation of the whole Commonwealth, the each House is now entitled to their own economic representation on Unity, the senatorial house is now bound to transfer any trade request to the correct noble house.