MattAtlas

you both should have it now @ImmortalRedshirt @N8-Toe

XNS Exclusive: The Volunteer Tapes, Tape Six Act 4 Article 7 of the Amor Patriae arc The camera opens to an Elyran man seated in a very worn-looking armchair inside a room lit by artificial lights. The windows of the room have sandbags on them and tarps draped across them to catch shattered glass. Prior to the Collapse, and the outbreak of war in the area, such a sight would have been unthinkable in the Alliance. The Elyran is clad in a Solarian Army uniform with an orange-yellow armband, and appears to be in his middling thirties. Offscreen, Liao Qi clears his throat and begins speaking. “We’re recording. You can begin speaking.” “Right, right. I am Khaliq Akhtar, formerly of the Najada Phoron Dogs and now serving in the First Colettish Volunteer Battalion. Before mercenary work, I was in the Army.” “What made you become a mercenary after your service in the Elyran Army?” Akhtar laughs briefly, and it has something of a bitter edge to it. “I couldn’t really go back to my office job on Bursa after the Incursion, so I figured I’d do something with what they taught me. Plus, we always need phoron, don’t we? Both the Republic and the Spur, right?” Akhtar leans back into his recliner. “What does it matter if a little bit of it’s got blood on it?” “Right, right,” Qi clicks his pen. “What brought you to San Colette?” “Money, what else? My company was hired to escort a few Elyran-flagged tankers which were doing business with the Coletters. Were they probably doing it to dodge regulations? Probably, but what do I care if I get paid? A Pound’s a Pound and a Credit’s a Credit,” Akhtar shrugs, then leans forward. “Now, you’re probably wondering why I stayed, right?” “For money?” Akhtar laughs again! “Right you are! Sure, there’s a degree of idealism or fighting extremism for a lot of people, hm? But for us – the Phoron Dogs – we follow our noses,” Akhtar demonstratively taps his nose, “to where profits are. This got us put under somebody from Biesel, but does it matter? The Solarians are still paying us to stay here and guard facilities on D’Anzin – now we’re just seconded to another group stationed here.” “How has this made your, ah, Phoron Dogs feel?” “If they’ve protests, they keep it to themselves. There’s a lot of Volunteers and they’ve been useful on San Colette while we get to stay nice and pretty on D’Anzin — the weather’s just like Bursa here! If the Front comes, they’ll stand – and so will we, assuming the Credits stay flowing.” The tape cuts out.

BREAKING: Front Incursion Repelled Act 4 Article 6 of the Amor Patriae arc At 4:54 Galactic Standard Time this morning, the 25th Fleet stationed in the Lumina system registered an incursion by an unidentified battlegroup later identified as the 33rd Fleet - belonging to the Restoration Front. Our sources report that they hailed the intruders for approximately twelve minutes before delivering an ultimatum to leave the system or be shot down, at which point the Front forces opened fire. The skirmish lasted approximately two hours and fifty-four minutes, ending with the Alliance pushing the Front into a retreat. Casualties were taken by both sides, with the Front taking a much heavier share. Preliminary numbers show 314 casualties for the Alliance fleet and slightly more than 1,000 for the Front. As part of our investigation, we have managed to get in contact with a Lieutenant serving aboard a destroyer that took part in this conflict. “The [explicits] just didn’t wanna talk to us,” the Lieutenant tells us, “Nothing we tried worked. They just kept moving. At which point, we had to try to stop them, somehow. We were more reticent than we should’ve been, since we knew those ships were Solarian – San Colettish design, to be precise – and we’re told to try and confirm who they are first, since we often get refugees from the Shield Pact or wherever else. But their IFF was off, and we couldn’t tell who exactly they were. We had to make a choice. And when we did, they started firing at us.” “After that, it was a bloodbath. You’re told to expect it when you sign up for the Navy, but it’s never a possibility to you until it happens. Any second that passes could be your last one alive - you don’t know you’re getting blown up until the shell explodes in your ship. And looking out from the windows was grim, too. Explosions everywhere, and most of the time you can’t even see the enemy with the naked eye. But we made it through, still not knowing for sure who we were fighting, even if everyone had a clear idea by the time the shooting started.” “Once the salvage crews went to the wreckages, we knew for sure. Front gear and decor everywhere. Black-striped voidsuits, posters of Hopper, Frost, Ozdemir, Keyserling, Verglas... photos of Lycoris… personal recordings of all the [explicit]-up things they did… the list goes on. The black boxes we recovered had some horrid stuff – even if I could talk about it, I wouldn’t want to – just know that shooting them down was the right [explicit] idea. They’re [explicit] animals, that’s what they are.” In response to this incident, the Government scheduled an emergency meeting, of which we have received the results just now. All battlegroups near the northern border will enter an increased state of readiness and begin preparing for maneuvers. The Navy has additionally announced that the families of its servicemen in these areas should be ready for long periods of no contact.

XNS Exclusive: The Volunteer Tapes, Tape 4 Act 4 Article 5 of the Amor Patriae arc The camera focuses on a severe-looking man in a Solarian Army uniform with an unusual, non-Colettish garrison cap upon his head. The badge upon its front marks it as a Schiffchen of the now-defunct Visegradi National Defense Force. The man looks at the camera with the same intensity as Lieutenant Colonel Kaohi did earlier. He looks off to the side of the camera briefly and his mustache twitches slightly, then he begins speaking. “I am Willerich Kozak, formerly of Visegrad’s defense forces and now serving as the commander of Third Colettish Volunteer Battalion. Prior to coming to San Colette I was roughly equivalent to a Lieutenant Colonel in our forces and fought against other traitors to the Alliance. This conflict is simply the next step for me in ensuring our nation can reclaim its former glory.” “Right,” Qiao responds, “can you tell us a bit about the Third?” Kozak nods in response. “Boze,” Kozak sighs briefly, “it’s a bit of a hodge-podge. Our core is made up of NDF — Visegradi civil defense — soldiers and officers. Below that’s a mix of other Solarians and Coalitioners like you. Hale might disagree with me when I say this, but you Coalitioners can become fine soldiers with proper guidance.” “Why would he disagree?” “He’s a gold commander, but he’s got a lot of personnel behind him — he can make choices regarding who he brings in while I really can’t. There’s only two things I won’t bring into the Third.” “What are those?” Underneath his mustache, Kozak grins. He holds up one finger. “No communists,” the second finger goes up, “and no kigyo.” “Kigyo?” Qi asks after a momentary pause. “Lizards,” Kozak responds. “I haven’t seen any in my time here, but I have seen a lot of communists — mostly through our gunsights, but I’ve still seen them. It’s not a surprise they’re just as murderous here as they’ve always been.” “Right, right. That aside, do you think the Pact can hold without the Alliance?” “I’m not going to answer that. If it holds, it holds. If not, we’ll fight until we can’t.” Qi can be heard flipping a few pages before speaking again. “What do you think of the other battalion commanders?” “Hm,” Kozak’s mustache twitches slightly as he considers his words. “Hale’s a good soldier and I trust him to have my back. Forsythe’s from the Legion so he’s not my equal in terms of training, but his unit was the first to get boots on the ground. His X-O does most of the heavy lifting, I imagine. She’s Martian, he’s not.” “What has the Third been doing since the encirclement began?” “Training Pact troops, especially the Coletters, in urban operations. During the Collapse and its aftermath, right during the start of the Civil War, we ended up having to fight hard battles with secessionists on Visegrad, and most of my personnel saw action in Sloboda — sight of the hardest fighting. Not all of them took up the Navy’s call to arms when they dissolved the NDF and some of them — the synthetics the NDF used to own — didn’t want to get wiped. We ended up here.” “How has the training been going?” “It’s difficult to learn, but hopefully we’ll prevent some of them from getting killed by Fronters or by friendly fire from some kretyn. A lot are still going to die — that’s just the nature of it — but some won’t, and they’ll pass the lessons on.” At the point the tape cuts out.

Unbanned. Make sure to read the rules and all.

XNS Exclusive: Pact Announces Victory Over Second Front Assault! Act 4 Article 4 of the Amor Patriae arc Following the typical XNS jingle the camera focuses on a screen flanked by analysts Ajit Gopal and Delphine Deschamps. Rather than all of the Northern Wildlands their screen now solely displays the system of Patria Nueva, which contains San Colette. All of the system’s major bodies — Nuevo Hispaniola, San Colette, San Colette Minor, and D’Anzin — are featured on the map, as are rough approximations of its defenses. The planets slowly orbit Nuevo Hispaniola until Deschamps clicks something on her PDA which causes them to first stop, then reverse before shopping again. Outside of Patria Nueva forces marked by the black-white-gold flag of the SRF are stationed in preparation for an assault. Inside, a mixed force of Pact units and Free Solarian Fleets mercenaries stand in formation with Civil Guard defenses. “Here are the Front’s forces and the Pact’s defenders as they stood roughly thirty-six hours ago,” Deschamps begins. “Through analytic work the XNS war room has managed to reconstruct some of the assault repelled earlier today by the Pact. Deschamps mods to Gopal, who hits something on his PDA and sends the entire system model into motion. Front forces stream through four paths cut in the Field of San Colette — a massive stellar minefield — and begin to slowly advance through the Colettish Belt, starting to take losses as they pass a faint circle labeled “Spear Range.” One of the advances — the 32nd Fleet’s — buckles under pressure in the Belt and retreats, having taken noticeable losses. The assault sections of the 33rd and 34th Fleets make more progress into the Belt before also being pushed back, with the 34th nearly breaking through into inner San Colette. The 35th Fleer’s assault detachment, the most experienced of the Front’s five fleets, managed to break through the belt and forms a small “beachhead” which is quickly repulsed by a combined Civil Guard and FSF force. As the final 35th Fleet forces return to their previous positions the display stops moving and Deschamps clears her throat. “The attack was repulsed effectively by the Pact, but not without losses. The Front, however, was similarly mauled in its advance, particularly the 32nd Fleet. It was badly, badly mauled by railgun fire during its retreat.” “It was the force behind the initial assault, wasn’t it?” Deschamps nods her head in response. “It was, yes. Its Admiral, Renart Paquet, is suspected to have died during the retreat when his flagship, the Mumbai-class battleship Implacable, was hit by a railgun round and suffered a critical reactor failure which resulted in its detonation.” “And the Pact?” “They’ve lost a lot of their mines and automated defenses but their inner defensive lines remain stable. It’s entirely possible the Front’s sole purpose behind this assault was to ‘soften up’ San Colette for future assaults by more modern vessels. While San Colette is an intimidating target to most attackers it’s cut off and entirely unsupported currently, and there are some points in their defenses where modernization efforts weren’t as widespread as hoped. The Colettish government has never disclosed that information but we can, at the very least, assume the Front is attempting to exploit weaker areas.” “Any other news?” Deschamps ponders for a brief moment before speaking again. “According to rumors the Front has begun work on repairing some of the Pact’s destroyed warp gates, such as those in New Peoria. Most were totally destroyed by the Pact as they retreated but some are at least partially intact.” “Are they going to use them to teleport into San Colette itself?” Gopal seems to be incredulous at the mere thought of doing this. “Probably not,” Deschamps responds, “since they’d need the relevant codes from the warp gates in San Colette. But if they do get those, hm, they might try it.”

LIVE: Coalition Special Committee Discusses Wildlands Crisis Act 3 Article 10 of the Amor Patriae arc The camera switches on and reveals a quite lively room featuring the previous members of the special committee in a very heated debate. Pravin Thaman, Gadpathur’s representative, is currently banging one of his shoes into his desk. “You must lift the warp restrictions immediately!” Thaman shouts to the committee, still banging his shoe on the desk. “You will doom us all if the League falls to the Hopperites!” (redaction's note: Hopperites refers to 'followers of Terrence Hopper', the Admiral responsible for the mass bombing of Gadpathur) “Absolutely not!” Mi-Hi Gim, representative for the Konyang Armed Forces, stands out of her chair on the opposite side of the room and stares down Thaman. “You would bring us into another Interstellar War where Konyang is the frontline!” Thaman stops banging his shoe and looks at the Konyang delegation. “Of course the Solarians oppose me! Can my fellow Coalitioners not see that Konyang is cut from the same cloth as the Hopperites? Can they—“ “How dare you compare the men, women, and synthetics of the Konyang Armed Forces to the Solarian Restoration Front!” Gim shouts back. “If it wasn’t for Gadpathur supplying the League, the Pact may have held the Front back!” Thaman slams his fist into his desk! “Do not accuse Gadpathur of causing this, Solarian!” Thaman storms over to Gim and Kwan Seok’s desk. “You insult the honored dead of Gadpathur!” “And you insult the sacrifices we have made to defend the Coalition! Our Coalition, Representative Thaman!” Gim shouts back as Rohan Magar, Xanu’s representative, bangs his gavel in an attempt to reestablish order. Thaman looks at Kim for a moment, eyes burning with hatred, and opts to slap her across the face! Kim barely reacts and a sickening crack is heard from Thaman’s hand before he begins screaming in pain. Kim shoves the Gadpathurian away from herself as two Xansan police officers stationed in the room rush over and grab onto Thaman, one tackling him onto the ground and the other moving to restrain his hands. “This session is now in recess!” Magar shouts from his podium. The feed cuts out shortly after this.

XNS Exclusive: Interview with an Officer of the Konyang Armed Forces Act 3 Article 7 of the Amor Patriae arc A Himean male is the sole host for this segment of Interviews and News, one of the most famous Xanusii services. It revolves around interviewing both exceptional and ordinary people. The host of the show is sitting in a rather cosy sofa, while on the holoscreen behind him one can see a Konyanger naval officer. The officer appears to be in his early middle age and is starting to go gray, though there remains a sharpness to his eyes and face. He appears to be in a well-decorated office with a painting of a ship in flight behind him. “Welcome, our faithful guests, to a special episode of Interviews and News! I’m Jude Scholes, and today we have a special guest with us — Captain Jung-Hee Eum of the Konyang Armed Forces!” “Thank you for having me on,” Eum replies. “Now, Captain, Konyang has been at the Coalition’s frontline for most of the War in the Nortthern Wildlands. Has it seen any impact?” “I would be lying if I said we hadn’t been impacted by the conflict, Jules. But thanks to the KAF, and our partners in the Coalition, we’ve been able to endure the conflict without it impacting our civilian population. We’ve had to fight off cross-border raids by the ‘anti-corporate’ League but they’ve never gotten past our vessels.” Scholes nods along. “Seems like you’ve got it in the glove, then!” Scholes cheerily responds. “On the subject of the Coalition, do you have any thoughts on Gadpathur’s alleged involvement with the League?” Eum grimaces for a moment, but recovers his neutral expression — and tone — before speaking again. “Gadpathur has contributed ships to the Coalition’s unified fleet in Konyang, and we appreciate this. I’ll leave any discussions of politics to the politicians.” “Right, right. Wouldn’t want to act as coalheaded as the last officer we had on,” Scholes briefly laughs. “How has life been for a naval officer since you hung up your gloves with Sol and joined the Coalition?” Eum looks at the camera with an expression of confusion for a moment, then looks at something offscreen, then back to the camera. “Are you asking how we’ve transitioned to being part of the Coalition as a military? I’m not familiar with Himean Common.” “I am! Sorry if it’s hard to get around it — it’s a habit hard to get out of.” “Right. It’s been easier than we expected to integrate into the Coalition and to bring positronics into our ranks, even if the logistics of it means we have to have separate units. Positronics have proven effective, and the KAF is happy to have them.” Scholes pauses and looks down at his watch. “And that’s all the time we have for now! Captain, thank you for your time!” “Thank you for having me on. I’m glad the KAF could present itself better than Gadpathur’s navy.” Scholes laughs in response! “You can’t fault their master of begrudgery, that’s for certain! Up next is the latest from Light’s Edge, so stay tuned!”

SANN Exclusive: Interview with the 1st’s Fleet Admiral Act 3 Article 5 of the Amor Patriae arc The video opens up in an unusual location for the viewers. Céline, SANN’s trusted reporter, appears to be on a Navy ship of some sort, standing in a nondescript waiting room. That much can be gleaned from just looking at the environment and the Sol flags plastered about the walls. With a microphone in hand, she stands next to a serious-looking, thin, pale and gaunt woman with shoulder-length black hair and blue eyes, standing at about six feet four. She is wearing a Navy dress uniform, and those familiar with the Alliance navy can easily recognise her as Ingrid von Varnhagen und Langenburg, the Fleet Admiral of the 1st Battlegroup. “Welcome back, dear viewers, and boy do we have a surprise for you!” The reporter exclaims, beaming, “The SANN has gotten special authorisation to ember yours truly into the one and only SAMV Gunnhildr, the flagship dreadnought of the First Battlegroup. And, as you can see, standing next to me is this behemoth’s very own Admiral - and what a title that is! First of all, welcome to the best news channel in the Alliance! How do you feel about being live? Usually, people like you work from the shadows, so to speak.” “My pleasure to be here,” Ingrid says, her voice grave, yet still smiling, “It isn’t every day we get to show our faces to the Solarian public at large. Like you said, most of us don’t like the public spotlight. That’s the politicians’ job.” “Great!” Céline turns back to the camera. “We have been at the Northern Wildlands border for quite a while now. The maneuvers themselves are, of course, confidential - buuuut, our special guest here can at least tell us the reasons behind them and if they’ve had any effects on the fleet’s readiness. Isn’t that right?” She asks, looking back to Ingrid. The admiral replies without much of a change in her stance or face. “They’ve been largely a success. As you might know, the First Battlegroup is the only formation to be fully equipped with the Lopez-Zhang warp drives. Since we’ve only gotten them recently, we’ve been short on time to practice with them. But now, we’ve worked on incorporating them into some experimental maneuvers. We’ve also got a lot of new blood hand-picked from other battlegroups, since a lot of personnel were arrested for collaboration with the Front. Our new crew-members are the very best we’ve got in the whole Navy, but they’re not familiar with fighting side-by-side with a dreadnought, as most of them come from fleets outfitted with a supercarrier as the flagship. In short, we’ve caught them up to speed on how to fight with the Gunnhildr.” “Wow!” Céline exclaims, “It sounds like you’ve had your work cut out for you. So, how do you feel about this all? Is the First Battlegroup ready to defend the Alliance? Do you feel like you’re missing anything? An Idris sponsorship, perhaps?” “We’re ready for anything. No matter what or where - we will prevail.” Ingrid’s words brim with determination, while completely ignoring Céline’s joke, much to her dismay. “...Right. Anyway, all those Front sympathizers getting arrested seems to me like it’s been quite the problem?” The admiral nods once, “It was a pervasive problem at all levels. Most fleets lost a good amount of men. Some were almost entirely gutted. It means that we’ve had to wait for new personnel to replenish the ranks. Some battlegroups, like the First, have been able to recover; others aren’t at operating capacity yet.” Céline puts her free hand on her hip and turns back to the camera. The admiral turns her gaze to the camera as well, her expression unchanging. “You heard her, viewers! Do you think the Alliance’s navy is on a good path? Or do you think this is all for nothing? I think we’re in good hands, personally! Remember to vote on our site polls to give your opinion, and I’ll see you later!”

So what you are telling me is that it is a complete coincidence that you joined the Discord right when I banned Stars for ban evading, and also a complete coincidence that you happened to ask for Cybs if we have anything that detects ban evaders. I suppose it must also be a coincidence that Stars just made a new forum account right as you posted this staff complaint. Ok.

Added the following rule:

Voting for dismissal. Not a mechanic I want in game: too silly, potentially too good and would break a lot of SS13's gameplay foundations.

The San Colette Crisis: A Benefit to Phoron Stocks? Act 2 Article 9 of the Amor Patriae arc After a corporate jingle the camera pans in to focus on Mike Donnelly, the balding host of the Tau Ceti Times’ Money Madness financial talk show. Donnelly is regarded as either one of the top minds when it comes to phoron investments or a mouthpiece for the Trasen regime depending on if you ask a resident of Tau Ceti or anyone else in the Spur. “Hello, hello, hello!” Donnelly begins, pointing a finger gun at the camera. “Today we have an important question many Mendell City investors have been asking: will the San Colette crisis impact phoron stocks? In order to answer that question I am joined today by Doctor of phoronics Xavier Ramirez!” The live audience calls as Dr. Ramirez, a NanoTrasen-sponsored economist, walks onto the stage. He waves and moves over to a chair opposite of Donnelly, where he sits down and smooths out his Walk Like Idris blazer for a moment. “Thanks for having me on, Mike!” “Ah, it’s no problem at all Doctor. Now, people are concerned about San Colette becoming cut off from the Republic due to the Alliance’s actions. Do you have any advice for them?” “Well Mike that’s a good question,” Ramirez clears his throat. “Colettish phoron facilities have been a minor, but important, part of our economy since 2462-63 and, since the discovery of Orchard Moon, there’s been a need for more phoron processing facilities rather than less.” “So what does that mean for the average person in Biesel?” “Chances are we’ll see some price hikes on consumer phoron stocks within the next month or so, so now’s a good time to invest in phoronics.” “You really think so?” Donnelly leans over in an exaggerated manner. “I do, yes.” “Alright!” Donnelly claps, leaning back. The audience claps in response. “You heard it here, folks! Phoron’s in for a bumper year in terms of stocks, so invest now! We’ll be back after this short word from our sponsor, NanoTrasen!” The broadcast fades out to the sound of clapping as an ad for NanoTrasen starts to play.

First Battlegroup Moved Near Border for Exercises Act 2 Article 8 of the Amor Patriae arc In a press conference at 1400 GST today, Minister of Defence Lucien Courtois has confirmed the First Battlegroup will conduct its readiness exercises near the Alliance’s border alongside several reserve fleets now stationed in the region to ensure the security of the border. When asked by a reporter if this was related to protests on Callisto, Minister Courtois advised the First has intended to perform these maneuvers for, “at least several months,” in order to ensure its combat readiness remains high. While undergoing maneuvers the First Battlegroup will be under the overall command of Fleet Admiral Ingrid von Varnhagen und Langenburg, who was unable to be interviewed due to the deployment but advised she was, “very excited,” to conduct maneuvers with the entire battlegroup. When combined with existing reserve forces, the Navy detachment stationed at the Wildlands border constitutes one of the largest concentrations of Navy vessels since the Interstellar War. SANN reporter Céline Eylenbosch has been embedded with the First Battlegroup and will provide updates on their maneuvers as they progress. In related news, the percentage of Solarians who support some form of intervention in the Wildlands has risen sharply following widely publicized protests in the Commonwealth of Callisto. The Solarian Navy Press Office declined the SANN’s request to comment on this development.

Ministry of Defence Raises Reserve Fleets Readiness Act 2 Article 5 of the Amor Patriae arc In a press conference at 1300 GST today, Minister of Defence Lucien Courtois has confirmed that approximately half of the Alliance’s available reserve fleets are being mobilised towards the northern border for national security reasons. The minister has stressed that these fleets are being sent for defensive purposes and that they will not see combat at this time. Upon being questioned on whether or not intervention is expected by the Government, he has repeated that no such thing is planned. When asked if this was related to recent protests on Callisto, the minister refused to comment. “And that is the gist of the meeting, dear viewers,” Céline Eylenbosch, the familiar blonde-haired Venusian reporter tells the camera, “It seems like the Alliance is still holding back, despite public polling showing an all-time high support for San Colette! Madness, isn’t it? Luckily, we have a special guest here with us today that might be able to shed some light on just what the Government is thinking,” she says, turning with the camera to a Navy officer to the side, a middle aged brown-haired man of Hai Phongese origins, “isn’t that right, sir?” “Obviously I can only tell you what I’ve been authorised to say,” the officer, a Rear Admiral of some sort, begins with a disclaimer. Céline looks annoyed, but pushes on, “Right, of course. You’re all like that. How does it feel to be moved to the front, then? It’s the first big movement in the Navy since the Civil War started, so it must have you guys jittering, right?” “Like the minister said, these maneuvers aren’t a source of worry. We’re essentially moving to make sure nothing happens on the border. A lot of our fleets and battlegroups were rearranged over the past year, with all the changes to the command structure, so we’ve been getting shuffled around all over the place. Now, we’re getting orders again, and we’re all happy to be on the move.” “Do you think you should intervene in the Northern Wildlands?” “I can’t really comment on that,” the officer says, keeping their poker face. Céline looks frustrated, and then moves on. “Alright, alright. So, a good amount of our public won’t really understand what this reserve fleet business actually means! Can you explain it to them?” The officer mulls over his response, and then replies, “The Reserve Fleets are being moved to the border to reinforce existing defense systems. While normal battlegroups would handle offensive actions, our formations are purely defensive. We stay behind, garrison, and assist in defense as needed, while proper battlegroups do the dirty work. A lot of people sneer at us for having Reserve in our names, but we’re still top-class.” “Does that mean that the Alliance is expecting hostilities?” “Expecting? No. But in case anything happens, we want to be ready. We won’t let our border come under any sort of risk. Every single citizen will be protected.” Céline turns to the camera, looking satisfied, “And what an explanation that is! That’s enough from us, thank you for your interview, Rear Admiral. Any last words you want to give to our dear viewers?” The Rear Admiral turns to the camera, intrigued, and puts up as serious of an expression as he can manage. “If any San Coletters are watching – hold, fight, and win. Don’t give them one inch, and keep your faith.”

48 Injured, 258 Detained After Protest on Callisto Turns Violent – Navy Garrison Under Fire by Local Officials! Act 2 Article 3 of the Amor Patriae arc NEW EDINBURGH, CALLISTO – Recent protests in the Northern Shield District of Callisto over perceived Navy inaction regarding San Colette turned violent several nights ago, with Navy riot police breaking up a crowd of Callistean protestors following what Navy security officials have described as a failure to disperse when ordered by security personnel. A brief clip plays of the riot featured several days ago, apparently recorded by one of the protestors on their phone. A Naval riot control officer is seen bringing his baton down on a standing protestor attempting to shield himself with his arms. The protestor, against all odds, manages to get a grip on the baton and the two disappear into the crowd, still struggling over the baton. Commander Hedwig Krämer, the highest-ranking officer of the Navy garrison stationed at Tsushima Naval Base near Callisto, praised the Navy’s response to the events. The camera switches to a Lunarian man standing behind a podium and wearing the uniform of a relatively high-ranking Navy officer. He appears to be in his middle age and has a sheathed sword on his belt, indicating he is the commander of either a naval facility or vessel. “--I am very pleased with our security personnel’s response to a situation as complicated as a riot,” Krämer says, looking out into the audience. “Our professionalism and respect for the Alliance citizens we serve, even if we are placed in opposition to them, is what makes the Solarian Navy the greatest fighting force in the Orion Spur. Our counterparts in the Republic of Elyra would be well served to learn about how to handle civil unrest without unnecessary bloodshed.” Callistean officials and residents have been less enthusiastic about the Navy’s response to the unrest. The camera switches to a Callistean woman in a suit with a dignified appearance standing in front of a crowd of reporters. A caption identifies her as Senator Anastasie Renaud, one of the moon’s senators. “I mean, frankly, this is totally unacceptable,” Renaud says. “How can the Navy live with itself doing this? Beating honest Solarians with truncheons while there’s millions suffering in the Wildlands. It disgusts me.” The Solarian Navy declined the Alliance News Network’s request for comment. As of our time of reporting, most detained protestors are slated to be released into the custody of the Callistean Metropolitan Police Department for further processing.

Pro-Intervention Demonstration on Callisto Turns Violent! Act 2 Article 3 of the Amor Patriae arc The camera opens to a view with two groups of people, each standing opposite of one another. On the left stand an assembled crowd of very angry-looking Callisteans waving a variety of flags – some Callistean, some Colettish, and others the flag of the Alliance – and shouting at the opposite group. Said group is clad in Solarian Navy riot gear and standing in a long line four deep, with a few Industrial positronics scattered throughout and also wearing riot gear. Most of the Navy personnel are holding riot batons and all are wearing gas masks. Behind the Navy personnel, an APC in Navy blue sits with its engine idling and spotlights trained on the crowd. The camera is clearly set up on top of some kind of vehicle and a few more lightly-armored individuals clad in the duty uniform of the Callistean Metropolitan Police Department can be seen observing the situation. “Earlier today,” an unseen narrator begins, “protests developed near this Navy facility in the Northern Shield District of Callisto – known locally as the Ringpole District – over the Navy’s seeming disregard for the welfare of Solarian citizens in the Northern Wildlands, which has recently become the site of intense conflict between several breakaway states. These protests are rooted in a belief held by many Callisteans that the Navy holds no interest in intervention, and instead wishes to profit off of profitable trade on Callisto.” On top of the APC, a Navy officer pulls out a megaphone and yells into it. “DISPERSE AND RETURN TO YOUR HOMES!” he yells, his Lunan accent apparent even while shouting. “IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY YOU WILL BE REMOVED BY FORCE! DISPERSE AT ONCE!” The Callistean crowd jeers and yells at him. Somebody In the crowd starts up a chant of “SAVE OUR ALLIANCE! SAVE SAN COLETTE!” and the entire crowd begins to join in, yelling it in near-unison. “THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING TO DISPERSE!” the officer yells. The crowd continues its chant, which grows louder. The offer puts away and blows into a whistle around his neck, the loud FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! piercing even the noise of the crowd, and pulls his mask on. As one, the Navy riot personnel take one step forward and begin to beat their batons against their opposite hands in near unison. The slamming fills the air and some in the crowd take a step back, but most hold their ground and continue to chant. After a moment of this a man wearing Solarian Army surplus equipment dashes out of the crowd. He scoops down and grabs a rock, then throws it at the line of riot police as the crowd cheers. The rock strikes true, bouncing off the helmet of an officer. The man shouts in triumph and runs back into the crowd. A second after the rock impacts, all hell breaks loose in the street. The officers surge forward, batons raised, and begin fighting with the assembled crowd, who start fighting back. The APC shoots several grenades, which appear to contain some form of gas judging by their trails, into the crowd with the loud THUNK-THUNK-THUNK of a mechanical grenade launcher. The CMPD officers near the camera ready their weapons and one speaks something inaudible into her radio, then gestures back at the camera. The fighting continues for a few more moments before the camera’s view is obscured by smoke. Sirens, presumably from CMPD vehicles, can be heard in the distance before the feed cuts out. “The Sol Alliance News Network will keep our viewers updated as this story develops.”

Unbanned, but for the love of all that is holy, please don't fall into discussions you usually get trouble with, because the next permaban is unappealable.

XNS EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Colettish Volunteers Act 2 Article 2 of the Amor Patriae arc After the initial XNS fade-in the camera focuses, as typical, on the distinctive figure of Mariska van den Soeterik. “Hello, and welcome once again to the Xanu News Network! As always I am your host, Mariska van den Soeterik. Today’s top story comes from Liao Qi, who has been in San Colette since the start of the War in the Northern Wildlands. Liao?” The camera switches to Liao Qi, who looks much less clean-shaven than normal. Leticia de la Fuente, his Civil Guard escort, stands off to the side in a plate carrier with a Colettosh SMG draped over it. Judging by the backdrop, they’re somewhere in Nueva Isabel. “Thanks Mariska. I’m here today with two volunteers, both from very different countries, who are here for the same purpose: defending San Colette.” Noyer pams the camera to the side to reveal two humans in Solarian Army gear, though one has taken the unconventional step of tying a Biesellite flag around his arm and wearing what is undoubtedly a Legion beret. The first individual, who has the text “RED DEVIL” written on her vest, speaks first. “Hey, yeah, thanks for interviewing us! I’m Alexis Watts, from Mars. I used to be in the 37th ‘til I went AWOL to come here!” “Why did you desert the Solarian Army to fight in San Colette?” Watts looks at Liao as if he has asked her the most obvious question ever. “Because they’re actually fighting against the Front? Frost fu— sorry. Frost ruined my whole planet, yeah? I figured my Colonel will be okay with sending a few of his freaks to Hell for what they did to Olympia — even if I gotta buddy up with Captain Miranda over here.” Watts laughs and claps the other volunteer on the back, who shakes his head while laughing with her. “My name’s not actually Miranda, she just gives me shit for having served in the Legion. I’m Mike Forsythe, from Mendell.” “And why did you leave Biesel for a warzone?” “It’s the right thing to do! A lot of people showed up to bail us out back in ‘62, and we didn’t do enough to pay them back. Plus, I lost some friends to the 35th back during the invasion. Figured I’d come and get even.” “Do you run into a lot of volunteers like yourselves?” “Oh yeah!” Watts responds enthusiastically. “We gotta lot of people from all across the Spur! Even got a few Elyrans and Imperials, plus Coalitioners! Our governments might not wanna do anything for San Colette, and we might be from all over the Spur, but we’re all united in believing we gotta do something!” Forsythe nods his head. “So many that we figured we’d try to organize it into a cohesive unit. That’s how we ended up forming the First Colettish Volunteer Battalion, and I ended up in charge of it.” “Have you had many challenges?” Forsythe shakes his head. “A few at the start, but it’s not too different than being a Prefect back in the Legion. Everybody’s working together for a greater cause, and most of us are human anyways. My old adjutant tagged along to help us out, and she might be the only synthetic we have. She’s up to her eyeballs in requisition forms, but that’s where shells are the happiest, yeah?” “Have you seen any combat so far?” “Yeah! We were in the thick of it on New Peoria, until we had to pull out. Fragged a whole lotta 35th goons. Say what you wanna say about the Imperials and Miranda’s boys, but they know how to shoot! Once we get done with R-n-R we’re gonna be back out there, kicking Front teeth in!” “When do you think that’ll be?” “At this rate?” Forsythe responds. “It might be tomorrow, at the rate it’s going. For today though? We’ll just have to wait and see.” Qi nods, turning the mic back to himself. “Thank you both for your time. Back over to you, Mariska.” The camera, with its view of San Colette, fades out.

You should be able to log in now.

It isn't. They told us instead. I don't believe this. There is nothing to discuss with you. Your actions speak for themselves. Correct on all counts.

LIVE XNS EXCLUSIVE: PACT RETREATS AS ENEMIES GAIN GROUND Act 1 Article 18 of the Amor Patriae arc After the traditional XNS jingle the camera zooms in on none other than van den Soeterik, seated behind her desk and wearing one of her seemingly infinite number of white suits. “Good evening, and welcome to the Xanu News Service. Today’s top story comes to us from the Wildlands, where the Middle Ring Shield Pact has confirmed it is starting to surrender more and more ground to neighboring warlord states.” The camera switches to a view of de Noi, the presidential spokeswoman, standing at a podium and reading from an electronic tablet. The feed starts mid-sentence. “—it is with a heavy heart that the Pact announces this retreat, and we are only taking it out of necessity.” “What about the refugees?” A reporter in the crowd asks, sounding similar to Liao Qi. “They’ll be provided for to the best of our abilities. The Civil Guard recommends refugees who are so willing to take up arms in the defense of the Republic.” The camera cuts again, this time showing a disheveled-looking man and woman in their early middle age. A child holds onto the woman’s coat with one and, and an IPC plushie with the other. Liao Qi, the unflappable reporter of XNS, points a microphone towards the woman, who promptly begins speaking. “We never wanted this,” says the woman, identified as Maria Wu by a subtitle. “We were just trying to make a living, and moved to New Peoria from Silversun back in ‘55 to be engineers in the shipyards. And— god!” she sniffs, rubbing her nose with the back of her sleeve, “—we barely made it out!” “You were on the last ship through the warp gate, right?” Maria nods. “We were. They detonated it after we were through. I— I felt it detonate, in transit. It felt like a— a wire brush being dragged over my eyes! I thought we wouldn’t make it, but we warped out right after the feeling began. There was a, there was this Solarian ship which defended it, I heard. I don’t remember the name!” “Caravaggio, honey. It was the Carvaggio,” the man responds. The woman nods, remaining silent for a moment before speaking again. “We should… get going, sorry. I hope the Navy comes soon. They’ll fix this.”

I mean, you're the one that threatened to leave. I'm just telling you that you should follow through with that.

Go and stay gone then. Neither cybs nor I have any intention of really engaging with you at this point when you're clearly baiting.

You posted our messages in your funny discord to get your friends to come in and argue on your side and make passive aggressive comments, and you actually think this wouldn't upset me or Schwann?