VileFault

Elyra News Network “For Greatness, We Strive” Military Vessel Crashes into Parliament; 34 Confirmed Dead 1.12.2459 At 18:27 GST the parliamentary palace in Erbihok, Persepolis, was attacked. The SREV Aintisari, a corvette registered with the Federal Navy, appeared to enter bluespace just a few hundred meters above the palace. It remerged in the lower levels of the building, detonating and destroying the northern wing. The corvette deviated from its assigned flight path at approximately 18:21, authorities confirmed. It was hailed, and responded by blaming a technical glitch in the onboard navigational systems. The ship’s AI was offline at the time, and could not relay camera footage. The signature of its bluespace drive was visible for thirty seconds before the jump, but no response could be formulated in time. It is likely that the Aintisari exited bluespace underneath the High Parliament. Its internal reactor would have exploded on impact, setting off a chain reaction that could have included the palace’s backup phoron-based power generator. A bystander streamed footage of the events to the extranet as they unfolded. First responders have arrived, but casualties are likely to increase. Fortunately, the parliamentary morning session had ended just 15 minutes before, and many lawmakers had already left the building. Nonetheless, casualties include several members of the High Parliament along with numerous janitorial and maintenance staff members. Diplomacy Minister Nabil was among those who were in the palace at the time of impact, although his status is currently unknown. The confirmed death toll reached 34 at 18:40. Minister of the Army Tau Kwadwo was departing parliament when the vessel impacted, and is personally overseeing military units securing the area with assistance of local emergency services. No information has been released confirming whether this was an accident or a deliberate terrorist attack. Travelers should be advised that both Yarmouk Ave. and the Refaii Space Elevator have been closed temporarily.

On splitting up Sol Common, it seems like a good idea to keep in mind in the long term. Currently, we haven't created the diversity within the Sol Alliance to host these languages. We couldn't meaningfully say where each comes from, and why members of the different groups might be different. Your thoughts on TCB seem more easily put into practice. I especially liked some of what you had here (https://forums.aurorastation.org/viewtopic.php?f=78&t=7342&p=71733#p71733). I like the idea that it was NT sponsored. Perhaps they created it from scratch some time before the formation of the Republic, or perhaps it had existed for some time and they merely repurposed it. But it seems like a plausible attempt to gain an edge over their competition by enabling them to better utilize non-human populations. Once NT adopted it, it seems clear how the newly formed Republic of Biesel would grow to use it. If NT requires the learning of this simple phonetic language to work on a number of their stations, and many (perhaps a majority) of Biesel citizens are employed by NT, then schools would have to teach it. NT outreach programs to foreign worlds could continue this trend. Jackboot pointed out that unathi aren't retarded, and are probably capable of learning and grasping complex human speech. This is certainly true. I would think, however, that NT executives would not have at first shared this opinion. Even if they weren't dismissive of unathi intelligence, however, they would probably want to speak the learning process along and make it easier for races like the tajaran and unathi to vocalize in TCB. This brings up a further interesting point. Unathi would almost certainly see TCB as inherently condescending and distasteful. An affront to both their culture and their intelligence. It feels like the sort of vaguely nasty and discriminatory thing that a power like NT would do in the name of efficiency. Also, controlling the language gives you interesting cultural power. Hard to explore in a role playing game, but could be something to keep in the background. Bottom line, your ideas on TCB give it some nice meaning beyond: "oh, this is just what we speak I guess." I like that! It can create some conflict, some tension. The tongue of the oppressors, eh? I will find a space for it as I go, and will talk to JB since he doesn't seem fully on board as of yet.

|> Update had unintended bugs that messed with game mechanics. |> Developer wants to fix unintended bugs in system. I see no problem. Currently, I deliberately slow all my characters down to half speed anyway (to the eternal annoyance of people trying to lead me somewhere). I I already agree that this would be better.

Hello! Sorry I am getting to this so late, I wasn't even aware of this question before someone pointed it out to me over the weekend. Hopefully it is still relevant! Okay, I am not interested in getting overly specific here and thereby creating problems, but I can outline a few general paths which seem likely. First and foremost, affiliation with NanoTrasen. If a character was employed by NT in an Alliance member, then they will have no trouble entering the Republic. Specific deals have already been worked out between the megacorporation and the government of Tau Ceti to allow for this. If you were recruited by NT outside Ceti, but immediately moved in, it is very likely that you signed a contract to work for a certain (and probably considerable) number of years. So, maybe you sign up for 10 years of work and get the rights of a citizen 5 years into that period, give or take a few years if you need to. If you are especially wealthy, I imagine you could also invest in the growth of the nation and the Republic would be fine allowing you in. The only ones which have a hard time becoming citizens are people who are both poor and unwilling to sign up with NanoTrasen. . In most nations that break away from larger nations, citizenship is decided by place of birth or current resident. I see no reason why this would be different here. Remember that, though the Alliance wasn't exactly doing well when the Republic was formed, the split was negotiated and the budding state probably was given access to all relevant birth/residence records. If you were born in Ceti, or lived there at the time of the RoB's formation, you would have been a citizen just like that, more or less. . Probably. Between the ASSN and the Republic? I would say so. Remember that, while the Alliance doesn't like the Republic's leadership, their citizens are only a decade estranged, and the split was more or less amicable. The larger power here is still looking to influence its recently departed member, and cutting ties would likely be quite unpopular. Then again, when considering duel citizenship with the NKA? Probably not. Use you judgement and it will likely fly. . Eh. Odds are good. Why do we care? If you want to, sure, it would be acceptable. But at best it would be like the pledge in America, something that is only said by aspiring citizens, school children, and politicians. It probably wouldn't even be that significant, since the nation is so young. I see no benefit in specifying this. .

Oh, oh, do me, do me!

I am inclined to agree here, but remain interested in seeing what everyone thinks about this. I thought I might offer a few clarifications, however. That is correct. Some members of the Sol Alliance are directly administered by it, but many are partially autonomous dependancies. Though in Tau Ceti it is easy to conceive of the ASSN as a cultural monolith, most members of the Alliance would be to differ. Travel and trade between members is more or less open, but there still exist very distinct societies in individual systems or collections thereof. About the diversity thing. Sure, most people who play on the server are white or hispanic, but their characters don't necessarily have to reflect this. I am personally of the opinion that, if we factored ethnicity into human factions more, people would find other races more compelling. I don't think we are discussing racial quotas, here, and there is no need to make things political. That leads into my next point. Sol Common is rarely spoken—this is true. But I would contend that this is partially because it has no significance. If we clearly differentiated the connotations of TBC and SC (or its potential variations), we might see people using the language to establish their identity (very much like how languages are used in real life). This ties in with my desire to create a more heterogeneous face for humanity, with competing human factions. At the moment, humans have only a handful of major issues to disagree over: synth rights, xeno rights, and the rightful place of the ASSN. What makes a person from Epsilon Eri different culturally to a person from Luna? Not a whole lot, currently. But, if each was given their own unique feel and society (as I am trying to do right now), then giving them a unique(ish) language would make a lot more sense. If my character didn't get on so well with the Tau Ceti natives or the other Alliance factions, it might be totally reasonable to speak another language when associating with my ethnic/cultural group.

Hiya Strudel! Ok, so your answers to Synnono's questions cleared up most of the doubts I had about KELT. As far as I am concerned all my interactions with MAKE have been pretty good, KELT seems like a fair character, and your OOC attitude seems wonderful. Your previous synthetic application also convinced me that you are more than capable of handling all the nuts and bolts (har har har) of playing a synthetic. What is there not to like? +1

I like this idea. It seems like a good think to stick on the WI. It also seems like most of the code could be copied from the contracts database, since it already conveniently links Byond IDs to persistent documents. The way I see it, this would almost be like incentivized lore submissions. Things that are especially good could be canonized. Ah! The possibilities are endless! Hurtz and I could ICly contact the project heads to clarify things and square everything off with previous research. "NT approved" research papers could be archived for all to see. We could even put out jobs to confirm data or further study a certain subject for extra points! Fraudulent papers could be reported by colleagues, and would involve CCIAA investigations and firings! But research papers over multiple rounds could pull in loads of points. I think we have really hit on something good here, though I would have to really make an effort not to be too anal-retentive with a tool like this. There are a few mechanical things we would have to iron out (can anyone post these, or should a research director have to fax it to central or post it with the other authors listed), but this has me all excited! ADDENDUM: I like Chada's idea for investing points a little... but yes, Nanako has a console planned that will allow RDs to leave notes to each other. And these are all head whitelisted players who can be held accountable for such things. There should also be a log of who spends what.

This would be good. Someone in a RIG is almost certainly talking into a microphone anyway—there is no way regular conversation is getting through an EVA capable suit without a basic integrated intercom. RIGs, which are pretty much made for the people who ought to be giving orders, should have a way to amplify them.

We have antags who come every few rounds to blow up the station. They aren't canon. We just happily ignore their shenanigans after the round finishes, and keep all the rest of the happenings. So, ah, just think about the end of a cycle in the same way. "U didn't c nofin mate."

This looks very interesting - I would be happy to play a game or two with ya. Looked into the mechanics a tad, and made an account. My username is, predictably, "VileFault."

Sol Alliance Opens Talks on Biesel Embargo with Bold List of Conditions 11.25.2458 UNITY STATION — The Sol Alliance has opened negotiations with the Republic of Biesel today over the cessation of the ongoing embargo with the public issuance of a list of conditions. This comes a full month after the commercial embargo was announced by the Sol Alliance in conjunction with the Jargon Federation to deter the scheduled production of thousands of combat drones by the NanoTrasen Corporation for use in the breakaway state’s military. The drones, each wholly autonomous and equipped with “lethal energy weapons,” provoked concern in neighboring Alliance members and the Federation over the Republic’s ability to control this powerful synthetic arsenal. Since the commencement of the embargo, its solid enforcement by the Alliance Navy has dealt a severe blow to the economy of the Republic, and major corporations have largely vacated the once-thriving Tau Ceti Free Trade Zone. Numerous smugglers have been aprehended attempting to traverse Alliance Bluespace Gates with shipments of luxury contraband, which only further illustrates the impact of this tough new policy. Despite Biesel President Joseph Dorn’s repeated (and repeatedly contested) claims that the commercial embargo constitutes “intimidation” and “battleship diplomacy,” Prime Minister Chater has stood firm. Today, however, the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary clearly defined the steps that the system-state will need to take to see the embargo lifted. According to statements by President Dorn and our sources within the Alliance, this highly public proclamation represents the first substantive communication on the topic of the embargo since it was announced in late October. According to our Mendell City-based political correspondent Anthony Marcel, a public statement of this nature is highly unusual, even towards a “financially troubled and militarily diminutive” state like the Republic of Biesel. “The reason you almost never see this is that allows a given party very little room to maneuver during negotiations—if you back off of even a single point you can loose face in the eyes of the public,” he said. “Then again, I think this really reflects the nature of these ‘talks.’ The Alliance has brought overwhelming economic force to bear here, and after nearly a month Chater clearly believes that Dorn will see reason with relatively little resistance. Even taking into account Biesel’s reputation for hardheaded politics, this seems like a quite safe assumption under the circumstances.” The Alliance’s delegation will arrive in Biesel tomorrow, and official negotiations are set to commence on November 27th.

Presumably by making you type in fewer numbers, I guess. The power consumption of the station has always been a bit wacky. If engineers think this is a problem, it seems easy enough to change.

So good, yet so easy! Like, a cross between employee of the month awards and military medals of honor.

> "What is your position on synthetic rights?" Mister Overeasy laughs robotically, his screen tilting comically to one side. Mister Overeasy queries, "Now, what makes you ask a question like that? It seems rather crusty to me, a bit dry perhaps?" Mister Overeasy pretends to quietly mutter to himself, before springing back into motion with a flourish. Mister Overeasy states, "I would say quite plainly that I have no opinion on the subject whatsoever, though I encourage political participation in all of my audience!" Mister Overeasy chimes softly. Mister Overeasy states, "Though you may admirably contemplate these very important issues, I am but a humble cook. You said you wanted your burger... rare, was it?"