MattAtlas

XNS EXCLUSIVE: San Colette’s Railguns Liao Qi stands in front of a clear glass pane alongside de la Fuentes. In the distance is a Colettish defensive railgun station slowly orbiting the planet, tracking its railgun against an unknown object not visible from the window. A Colettish spacecraft detaches from the station and flies off towards an unknown point in San Colette’s orbit. “You are some of the first foreign reporters to see a Civil Guard railgun fire,” de la Fuente flatly states to Qi. “We’re honored that you’re showing us this, Leticia. You said it’s targeting a former SRF vessel?” “Yes, that’s correct,” de la Fuente taps the upper right of the window, revealing a projection of a Yincheng-class cruiser covered in Solarian Restoration Front livery and obvious battle damage. “This vessel, the River Holford, was disabled by a Free Solarian Fleets patrol last month. Another skirmish with the SRF, like what we’ve been having for two years now.” “How far away is it from us?” “It’s slightly inside the Colettish Belt, so essentially on the edge of the system. Any further out and you’ll be in the asteroid field,” de la Fuente takes a moment to listen to something inaudible to the camera on her radio set. “They’re about to fire, bring the camera up here.” Noyer, barely visible on the left side of the picture, seems to tap so being out on a PDA which causes the camera to shoot forward to the window. It centers upon the railgun as a PA system blares a countdown in Solarian Common. The railgun’s “barrel” begins to glow softly. “THREE… TWO… ONE… A MATADEIRA FIRING.” The railgun fires! While no noise is created due to the vacuum the railgun itself creates a flash of light as it shoots, and something shoots off into the distance at a barely-perceptible speed. “Switch your camera to the screen!” de la Fuente shouts. The camera quickly follows, revealing the derelict River Holford floating in space. A few seconds pass: one, two, three, four, and upon five something happens. With a flash something punches through the left of the light cruiser’s bow and punches out of the right of its stern a moment later. The ship lists to one side before an explosion amidship rips it in half with a flash. This explosion is followed by another, smaller explosion in its aft half which is then followed by a much larger blast in the vessel’s aft which essentially destroys the back of the ship. The camera lingers on the destruction before switching back to the three viewers. “What you just witnessed, Mister Qi and Miss Noyer, was a ship cleaved in half by one,” she raises a finger for dramatic impact, “round which destroyed its magazine and reactor. If the SRF or League come for us, we will be ready.”

On trial until 2FEB2023.

XNS Exclusive: The Castrejon Space Elevator A towering monument to Solarian engineering, the Castrejon Space Elevator dominates the skyline of San Colette’s shipbuilding center of Nuevo Villaviciosa. It’s impossible for us to miss on our ride down from an orbital customs station once used for tourism which now processes thousands of refugees fleeing violence in the so-called “Northern Wildlands.” Our guide, Civil Guard officer Leticia de la Fuente, is a local and has been provided to us by the government to guide us through the space elevator. “What you’re looking at,” de la Fuentes points behind herself at the gigantic space elevator, “is the largest space elevator in the Alliance outside of the Inner Ring. Most of the Civil Guard’s ships are built here by Tiscareno y Volante Shipbuilding and almost all of the city’s industries are tied to it. Biesel almost got this thing shut down through the Collapse you know. The government had to step in to save it.” “You think Biesel caused the Collapse?” asks Odette Noyer, standing off to the side of the camera. “I don’t give political opinions while I’m in uniform, I only concern myself with the facts,” de la Fuentes shoots back. “If you want my thoughts on the matter, interview me during the weekend. We’re going to have to take a ferry to the elevator itself — it’s built off of the coast.” Our boat ride was mercifully short, and we then rode up — though a fairly long platform and elevator ride — to a lower-level shipyard assembling the frame of a warship. “What’ll be done with it after it’s assembled here?” “Well Liao, it’ll be moved to a higher level for more work. What you’re looking at is the hull of a Castillo-class battleship. You might’ve seen the finished product in the gift shop below, although smaller.” “How long until this one is finished?” “At this stage? About two months. It’ll be used to defend our system from the SRF and League. Once we get enough? Maybe we can link back up with the Alliance and end this whole nightmare.”

XNS Exlusive: Liao Qi Arrives in San Colette The camera zooms in on, as always, Mariska van den Soeterik, the dedicated host of XNS’ foreign news segment. Her augmented eyes glow slightly as she reaches across the table for her holo-paper. “Good evening and welcome to XNS’ foreign news hour. I’m your host Mariska van den Soeterik. Today’s headlines include the appointment of Jee-072 as Konyang’s new representative to the Coalition following a scandal centered around her precursor’s alleged embezzlement of funds, the Solarian Navy’s continued rearmament, and our very own Liao Qi’s arrival in San Colette. We go now to Liao.” The camera perspective switches over to an obviously pre-recorded segment of Liao Qi and his team proceeding through Colettish customs with a voiceover narrated by Qi. “Getting to San Colette was in many ways more difficult than getting to Mars. The Wildlands are a constantly-shifting place of warlords, bandits, and various microstates left to fend for themselves by the retreat of the Solarian government from the region in 2462. Few systems are as stable as this one and many refugees flock to it, making the process of crossing into it even more complicated.” Qi is shown talking to a middle-aged Colettish woman wearing an ID card in a professional skirt-suit for a moment before she calls over what is clearly a Civil Guard officer, who then begins speaking to Qi and indicates to him to follow him. “This man, Captain Maximiano Penaloza, would prove to be a great help to us in our attempt to cross into San Colette. After informing him that we were journalists from the XNS he seemed surprised and asked to see our ID cards, which we provided to him. He then saw us through the gate and provided us with a guide, which he explained was a condition of our stay in San Colette.” Penaloza is shown speaking into his phone for a moment and a younger Civil Guard officer, this one female and of a different rank judging by her uniform, walks through the door and has a brief conversation with him. She does not seem happy with the outcome. The camera then switches to her sitting across from Qi and looking less obviously displeased but still somewhat irritated. The officer shifts uncomfortably in her seat and begins speaking. “I am Corvette Lieutenant Leticia de la Fuente, or simply Lieutenant de la Fuente. As an officer of the Colettish Civil Guard — our local military branch responsible for defending the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette. For the duration of his stay here I have been assigned to Mister Qi’s news team as their government liaison.” “Could you tell us a bit about yourself Lieutenant?” The officer seems somewhat surprised, casting a perplexed gaze upon Qi before continuing. “Well, there’s not a lot totally unique here. I’m from a military family in Nuevo Villaviciosa and joined the Civil Guard after finishing coursework at the academy, which was a bit before the Collapse.” The camera then cuts to Qi and de la Fuente alongside Odette Noyer — longtime colleague of Qi — finally taking a shuttle down to San Colette’s surface. They appear to be traveling to Nuevo Villaviciosa as the Castrejon Space Elevator is visible out of a window. Qi once again narrates over the footage. “San Colette, our destination, is now within our reach. For the Xanu News Service I’m Liao Qi, in San Colette.” The footage cuts back to van den Soeterik who is, as always, at her desk. “Tune into the Xanu News Service nightly for more information regarding Liao’s reporting in San Colette. Now we go to Xanu itself, where allegations of embezzlement have rocked Konyang’s delegation to the Coalition.”

Extended by one week until 29JAN2022 because you've been away for a while.

Accepted.

SOLARIAN RESTORATION FRONT ACTIVITY INCREASES Article 6 of the Amor Patriae Prologue Following the arrest of Front sympathizers in the military, political experts affiliated with the Solarian Alliance News Network have highlighted an increasing pattern of spotted Solarian Restoration Front vessel concentrations close to the northern reaches of the Alliance. These squadrons are most often not battle squadrons but instead multiple supply or cargo ships meant to store pillaged resources, along with troop carriers. These “scavenger brigades”, as they have been dubbed, often represent Front squadrons moving to pillage more border systems, typically always inside non-Solarian space. Up until now these concentrations of Front vessels have numbered in the tens or dozens, reported by Navy sensor arrays in the Termina border system, around two to three times a month. September saw a record amount of 10 vessel concentrations, increasing to 17 in October and finally to 19 earlier today, with some even penetrating in Solarian space. Our affiliated experts posit that this represents an increasing need of raw materials and supplies for the Front’s fleets. It is very well known that the Front possesses by far the largest fleet of all the Solarian warlords, and such a war machine carries with it an ever-increasing need of food to feed its soldiers, phoron for its engines and many other materials. It is unknown, currently, whether this is a sign of the Front’s economy faltering or, more ominously, a military build-up.

The choice to accept or deny this application was pretty hard, but I've decided to deny it. Mainly because I think you still need to improve on your general roleplay/gameplay abilities. In that post you made about things you were improving on, a lot of them (like Zelmana pointed out) are things you should already know how to do. Reapply in a month or two when your abilities are more solidified.

Second permabans can't be appealed, unfortunately.

XNS EXCLUSIVE: LIFE IN THE NORTHERN WILDLANDS The camera cuts to a well-dressed woman appearing to be in her mid thirties sitting behind a desk. A screen proudly displaying the XNS logo is behind her. The label “COALITION TRANSLATION SERVICES” flashes briefly at the bottom of the screen. “Hello, and welcome once again to the Xanu News Network! As always I am your host, Mariska van den Soeterik,” the woman begins in Freespeak. “Today we have a very exciting announcement from one of our star reporters, Liao Qi.” The camera pans over, revealing the aforementioned star reporter. Qi is a fairly typical looking man, likely also in his mid thirties, and sits opposite Mariska. “Thank you Mariska, I’m happy to be here.” “First, let me congratulate you on your engagement!” “Thank you,” Qi smiles politely, but shifts somewhat. Mariska’s expression barely changes from her previous smile. “Now,” she clears her throat, “after your recent trip to Mars many people were eagerly looking forward to your next outing and you seem to have finally arranged one! Could you tell us a bit more?” Qi immediately becomes far more animated. “Of course! As you and the rest of the XNS know we’ve been hard at work attempting to make inroads into a region which hasn’t been covered in depth: the ‘Solarian Wildlands.’” “Right. And what are the Wildlands for our viewers, Liao?” Qi nods. “In short they’re formerly Solarian regions which the Alliance essentially abandoned in late 2462, shortly after Violet Dawn, which weren’t able to join another nation like Konyang or Mictlan. Much of this area is ruled over by former officers of the Solarian Navy known as ‘warlords,’ who have a variety of motivations.” “Right, that makes sense. And you managed to gain access to one of these warlords?” “That’s correct!” Qi once again becomes animated, now done with his likely-rehearsed introductory speech. “It’s not quite a warlord in the traditional sense though.” Mariska nods in response but otherwise allows Qi to continue. “Now,” he clears his throat, “—sorry. What we were able to gain access to is the capital of a loosely-aligned group of systems in the Wildlands known as the ‘Middle Ring Shield Pact.’ The name comes from their location in the Middle Ring of the Alliance, most of which was lost. Nominally, they’re still part of the Alliance which made our access a bit difficult. But we’ve gotten it!” “And where will you be going in this Pact?” “We’ll be heading to the Solarian Republic of San Colette, its nominal capital. It’s a relatively stable system known for being a Solarian Navy stronghold and major transportation hub prior to the Collapse.” “How has it managed to stay stable in the years since?” “In the years since it’s been selling off parts of a strategic stockpile the Navy built prior to the Collapse, and is one of the few places with phoron-refining facilities in the Spur. It hasn’t reunified with Sol yet due to being wedged between warlords, but it’s one of the best places to see what daily life is like in a post-Solarian area.” “That sounds fascinating!” Mariska appears to be genuinely excited. “When are you departing? “Hopefully? By the end of the week.” “Exciting news! That’s all the time we have right now Liao, so now let’s head over to our sports correspondent for the latest on the ongoing Jovian Football League.”

Sorry for the delay, somehow didn't notice this in the midst of all the other unban requests. Unbanned.

On trial until 23JAN2023.

Looks good. On trial until 19JAN2023.

Your real life example would be applicable if he sold them to the same entity that is now hiring them, which is not the case -- don't gloss over that he sold schematics to recognised terrorists. This is to say that Lovad cannot be a head of staff. This application will be accepted once you select a new character.

2014 might be the most ancient ban I've seen in a while. Unbanned.

Accepted.

Accepted.

Accepted.

Accepted.

This is never being accepted. Find another server.

On trial until 10JAN2023.

Follow the format, please.

On trial until 3JAN2023.

On trial until 3JAN2023.

On trial until 3JAN2023.