MattAtlas

THE SOLARIAN PROVISIONAL COUNCIL ANNOUNCES THE EVENTUAL RETURN OF CIVILIAN CONTROL OVER THE MILITARY Article 4 of the Amor Patriae Prologue This live coverage of today's press conference by the Ministry of Defence is brought to you by the Sol Alliance News Network. Admiral Courtois makes his way to the Unity Station senate podium with two other flag officers behind him. He puts a fancy-looking binder down on the podium, with senators Hendrik Strom and Le Hanh Trang taking their positions next to the two flag poles on each side of the backdrop. This time, the room is packed with functionaries, senators, governors and representatives – practically all of Sol’s important figures are here. “In these times of uncertainty and turmoil, it’s important for our government to remain stable and be granted enough powers to see through the required radical reforms we need,” the Admiral begins, “The Industrial Reclamation Mandate was the most important of these reforms, but only a stepping stone along the way. Overtime, the government has worked to stabilise our situation, and we are now comfortable with taking steps to pave the way for the future of the Alliance.” “Today is the day we take the first of those steps. In collaboration with the senators Le Hanh Trang – who has spearheaded this project – and Hendrik Strom, we will take the first steps towards the return of the civilian government to our great nation. I’m joined by these two great politicians –” the Admiral gestures to Strom and Trang with a smile, “-- to sign into law a provision declaring that from the next legislature and forwards, the position of the Ministry of Defence, and thus control over the military branch, must exclusively be held by a civilian.” Most of the attending crowd claps at this announcement, with many standing up too. Trang and Strom also join in the clapping, looking happier than they usually do in their fiery speeches. “This agreement between the admiralty and the government has been in the making since the Industrial Reclamation Mandate, but has progressively stalled due to influence by corrupt Front sympathisers and other such traitors. We have finally agreed on the terms yesterday, and we have brought the paper here to be signed, in front of all citizens of the Alliance, for them to see that change is here. The military must not be allowed to control the nation for its whims and purposes: this simple truth was lost to us since the Interstellar War, but now that the so-called Collapse has shown us the frailty of this flawed system, it’s time to make some change. Change that will restore the people’s faith in the military, and change that will help prevent corruption at the highest level in the future.” Courtois steps back to give the podium to Trang, taking her place in the back as she prepares her own speech. “The Solarian Provisional Council has, as most of you know, been here for nearly two years, now. Two years that the Solarian people have had to endure without a democratically elected government. My friend Strom and I may have stepped up to the plate, but this situation cannot last more than it has to. No temporary measure must turn into a permanent one! And this is our first step towards embracing that commitment. Our first step that I am glad to be part of, and glad to have had the pleasure of committing my time to.” Most of the chamber applauds once again as Trang takes a pen on the podium and signs the bill. She steps aside and Strom makes his way forward. “As my colleague here said, we are well on the path to becoming whole again. There are still reforms required, of course, as Courtois here will remind you…” Strom lets out a short chuckle, “But, we must show you – the Solarian people – that we do not intend to govern by decree more than necessary. And this is our proof to the Solarian people, along with the promise of an elected legislature in the near future, that these times of rule by decree are coming to their end. Long live the Solarian Alliance!” The crowd claps with some cheers as Strom signs the bill as well, with photographers taking an extremely high amount of photos of this sensational moment. Thirty more minutes of questions being taken by Courtois follow as Strom and Trang reinforce their confidence in the Admiral, letting him answer most of the technical details while they give responses about the political side. Answers regarding the ‘when’, ‘how’ and ‘where’ of the new elections are vague at best, and both Trang and Strom make it clear that time is still needed. The camera then cuts to Céline Eylenbosch standing in the hall outside of the Senate chamber, looking exhausted from asking a significant amount of questions, by the looks (and facts, if the viewer watched the entire question segment). “What a day it is today, viewers! We have just gotten our first confirmation that the Provisional Council really is just provisional after all! Most of us are glad to know that the government is taking these steps, for a change, instead of working in the shadows as they usually do… and what’s more surprising is their resolute endorsement of the new Minister! Many of you lodged doubts in our comments sections, and we are curious to hear if today’s announcement changes your mind, even a little! This was Céline Eylenbosch with the Solarian Alliance News Network! And here’s to our next segment…”

Yeah, sure.

On trial until 30SEP2022.

On trial until 30SEP2022.

Accepted.

To be clear, I'm only looking at this complaint from the lens of "was the ruling fine". I'm not abscribing any sort of label like "fragger" or "CM player" to you, nor do I intend to -- if we thought you were beyond redemption or anything of the sort, it would've been an unappealable permaban. But it isn't, and you're free to appeal it and say that you understand the problem. Maybe Cybs will require some additional playtime, but at the end of the day, we all know that these things happen to everyone. Most staff members have had a note or warning for accidentally going nuts once too.

This semantics problem is a misunderstanding and I don't know why you took that specifically from my statement. Here is what I said: This whole paragraph focuses on executions, not decapitations, which are written just as a synonym of an execution (which is what you did). You killing someone by bursting them 25 times in the chest would have prompted the same paragraph, except with the words "bursting them 25 times in the chest" instead of "decapitation". If you were to remove their chest armour and do that, I would still focus on you removing chest armour, because that means that the execution wasn't an urgent necessity. Roleplay justifications only work in certain contexts -- let's say maybe you're playing an antagonist, someone kills your character's best friend and you want to blow their brains out. That's totally fine. You're a mercenary and someone's trying to actively kill you no matter what, they got back up after going down and are shooting on you? Sure, you can assume they're a threat that can't be contained. You need to kill an officer because it's 1v4 and you can't afford ANYONE getting back up? Depends on round context, but that can be fine. Starting a firefight and "wanting to finish it" isn't something I would consider a reasonable roleplay justification, personally, especially considering the giga gear you guys had: if we allowed this kind of thing, executions would snowball a lot. They would become way more common simply because people would be able to justify it with "I want to finish the firefight and it's the natural conclusion", or some variation thereof. The mercenaries are firing at security? Security would be able to use your same exact excuse and get away with it, simply because we'd be setting precedent that executions are the natural ending to a firefight. And, like I said many times in the past, precedent-setting is something that does happen in complaints, and a lot. The benefit of the doubt goes both ways. Security has to give the antags the benefit of the doubt by not instantly executing them with flimsy reasoning (we bwoink people for this, a lot, before anyone says we don't). Antagonists should also keep in mind the round flow when considering whether to execute people or not -- gameplay is much enhanced when medical has something to do instead of just bagging people up. And there are other ways of making sure that security doesn't come back, mind, such as taking their guns/armour, which you all were in the position of doing. If a traitor, for example, wanted to take out an officer and had no choice but to execute them because they don't have the time? That'd be fine. But when it's 3 mercs with ultra armour up against security who is 2-3 officers down? That reasoning can't be applied. The shootout by that point was already over and I don't see the need for kill confirming, basically, nor do I think the given justification is particularly appropriate. Normally, escalation-wise this would be a temporary antagonist ban, but the fact that you didn't see the issue in the ticket is what led to it becoming a permanent one. And I can't say that justification is wrong, really. Accusing modmins of being personally involved and they're the person you killed is also kind of just bad faith as well. You shouldn't really be saying that. Furthermore, the ending of the ticket where you were calling Cybs hypocritical is also not okay. Each case is different and just because one wasn't handled due to the modmins being busy or because it was ruled okay doesn't mean you can just go around calling staff hypocritical with no context. This is also a major assumption on your end, that they would treat their wounds and immediately shoot you when they were basically knocking at death's door. Just because someone shot you before doesn't mean they'll do it again instantly and we generally tell people to have some restraint in these cases, as mentioned before -- you have the means to do so as an antag, by aiming at people and telling them to stay down, for example, none of which were explored. Keep in mind also that these people had 7.62 wounds and those are GRIEVOUS to the point where you are ENTIRELY DISABLED and functionally cannot go to the medbay alone, hence the need for them to treat themselves right there or kick the bucket. Doctors also aren't expected to go into active combat situations to treat people, as a 7.62 round will basically game end them as a stray. I can see in the logs that a non-combatant was also shot, hence why people were reluctant to go and roller bed security to medical or whatever. This complaint is considered handled and the ruling is sticking. I will be closing it in 24 hours.

Accepted. I just forgot about this app. Oops.

Accepted.

Okay, I'm gonna set some ground rules. 1. I do not and cannot care about any positional information here. As this is a complaint, I can't confirm or corroborate any of this beyond "he said she said", and it is on the player to make sure that their positioning is correct and doesn't lead to any misinformation in case of a complaint or if in an adminhelp where the staff member just logged on and hasn't seen whatever fight broke out. 2. I'm going to focus on the gameplay aspects of the mentioned executions, as that's the main issue we take with them -- it's generally just shit to execute people beyond where there is an actual solid need (some dude keeps getting back up and trying to kill people, like a ling or a hardsuited guy and there's no real means to immobilize them). For the record, being grabbed does not stop hardsuit users from using their integrated gun (which the Elyrans did use, a lot). So, there is no real way to stop someone in a hardsuit without killing them in this particular situation. Here is where I take issue: this was a lot more deliberate than you make it sound. [03:01:01.736] ATTACK: Ciruk/Rlfman. Al-Zaheed attempted to remove a ballistic helmet from omicega/(Azhara Shas'kui) (INTENT: HARM) [03:01:02.693] ATTACK: Ciruk/Rlfman. Al-Zaheed shot (/obj/item/projectile/bullet/rifle/a762) *no key*/(Azhara Shas'kui) (INTENT: HARM) [03:01:03.065] ATTACK: Ciruk/Rlfman. Al-Zaheed shot (/obj/item/projectile/bullet/rifle/a762) *no key*/(Azhara Shas'kui) (INTENT: HARM) [03:01:03.463] ATTACK: Ciruk/Rlfman. Al-Zaheed shot (/obj/item/projectile/bullet/rifle/a762) *no key*/(Azhara Shas'kui) (INTENT: HARM) You purposefully removed someone's helmet in order to decap them. This wasn't accidental nor a necessity (and you stated in your ticket response that you did it 'in a rush') - you had the time to sit still for 3 seconds to remove their helmet and then headgib them, which doesn't seem very necessary to me. And while it may make sense for characters to go for the permanent kill, that isn't necessarily how we judge whether things are fine or not. This is mostly a gameplay thing we're talking about, where executing people when there's no need to is basically just a net detriment for the round. And we do bwoink officers for this just as much as we bwoink antags. To take a look at another execution: This all just seems unnecessary. And I checked the logs surrounding these, by the way -- you were not being shot at. These were deliberate executions, which I do not think are okay in the context of the round. So I have to ask again what exactly the reason behind this was -- was it just preventing them from being rezzed, was it roleplay, was it driving your story? The hardsuits being handed out with NOBODY, somehow, knowing how powerful they were is a separate issue that I will handle later.

I'll be handling this complaint.

MINISTER OF DEFENCE COURTOIS ANNOUNCES DISCHARGE OF 287 NAVY OFFICERS Article 3 of the Amor Patriae Prologue This live coverage of today's press conference by the Ministry of Defence is brought to you by the Sol Alliance News Network. Admiral Courtois makes his way to the podium with two other flag officers behind him. He puts a stack of papers down on the podium and the two officers take their positions next to the two flag poles on each side of the backdrop. “The Solarian Alliance has long had a rocky history with its military, especially the navy,” the Admiral begins, leaning forward on the podium ever-so-slightly, “And these cracks have recently shown themselves to be an issue that could no longer be ignored, as we have historically done. As you all know, some admirals and their crew – nothing more than traitors in our ranks – have taken advantage of a moment of weakness to plunge their knife into our nation’s back.” “The Navy has long been seen as an untouchable machination by our government – a corrupt, festering bear that should be left sleeping. Ever since the Interstellar war, we have been far too lenient with corrupt military staff, and this complacency directly led to the events of the so-called Collapse – or, better yet, the synchronised betrayal of our nation.” “This complacency ends today,” Courtois declares, raising one paper as he reads off of it. “Under the provisions granted to me by the Solarian Provisional Council and the Emergency Military Powers Act, I have made the executive decision to dishonourably discharge two hundred and eighty seven officers – among which, fifty seven admirals and two fleet admirals – found to be involved in collaboration with so-called warlords, the Front for example, or in other acts of corruption.” Many functionaries in the room start whispering to each other for a while – some gasp, while the camera flashes intensify in frequency. “These investigations were spearheaded by both the Bureau and the SIP-CPA and began shortly after the secession of Konyang. Most of these officers betrayed their country for sums of cash or were simply sold positions by other corrupt officers in exchange for their silence. As a result, all of these collaborators have been stripped of their rank and will shortly undergo trials on Unity Station. I will now be taking your questions.” A blonde woman – recognizable as the Sol Alliance News Network’s assigned reporter, by attentive watchers – is the quickest on the draw and manages to attract attention to herself first, standing up to ask a question. She speaks in a fast Cytherean accent, without the hints of exhaustion from the last press conference. “Thank you for having us, Admiral! My name is Céline Eylenbosch with the Sol Alliance News Network, and – to cut right to the chase – laying off so many of our wartime staff sounds like a dangerous choice, especially now with so many threats at our borders. Is this a potential problem, in your view?” The question is definitely asked in a pointed way, typical of Venusian reporting. Admiral Courtois nods and seems to have an answer already prepared. “It is true that discharging so many of our staff will have a short-term effect in doctrinal capabilities, if we concede a rather large assumption that our corrupt staff was any good at their job, but we have already begun preparations to replace them. For example with the upcoming new blood of the classes of 2464 – fierce and motivated new blood that has seen the effects of the ‘collapse’ on their beloved nation. ” Céline nods, then quickly passes onto another question – again, with the same pointed, disapproving tone. “Thank you for the answer! Next: dishonourable discharges are legally only allowed after a court martial. Why have you seen it fit to unilaterally terminate so many of our officers?” Courtois replies without much of a hitch. “Our circumstances have made immediate action necessary, and the Provisional Council has agreed with my decisions on the matter. Bureaucracy is not something we can afford to wait for, at the moment, especially when our military’s integrity is jeopardised. Like you have said, the threats at our border will not wait for our bureaucrats to finish their morning tea, take their two coffee breaks, and stamp out the papers we need.” Céline nods again, following up with another question. “Does that mean that you possess surefire evidence to convict these servicemen?” Courtois replies, “Yes, without a doubt.” Céline responds, “Will these trials be held with open doors, so that the public may see and judge for themselves?” Courtois simply replies, “They will be closed door trials for reasons of national security. These are very sensitive issues, you must understand. Regardless, the declassification of the evidence our law enforcement agencies have collected is not within my purview.” Céline notices that her allotted time has run out and sits down, leaving the floor to another reporter. Most Solarians could recognise them as a reporter affiliated with a social democratic paper, Our Way, notoriously anti-Navy. “Admiral, we appreciate being given the time to speak about our issues with your reforms. With so many processes happening behind closed doors with this government’s characteristic non-existent transparency, how can the public view these lay-offs as anything more than the removal of political opposition, given that your reforms are likely to be unpopular in the Navy?” The reporter gets a few odd looks from the military staff in the room, but they quickly straighten up. Courtois smiles a bit at the question, for whatever reason. “To say the least… you’re correct, no sweeping reforms have ever been popular,” he chuckles slightly, with some of the people in the room joining in slight laughter, “However, they are often necessary. I believe most Solarians have now realised that the Navy can’t continue being the untouchable juggernaut it once used to be. The inaction of the past centuries culminated two years ago, with Solarians turning on their countrymen across our nation. What hurt the most was not watching this unfold, but knowing that it could have been avoided. So many good men and women died as a direct result of this complacency – and to this day, this frustrates me to no end. I may have ripped into our Navy a lot, but it’s still filled to the brim with good men and women – good men and women that deserve an organisation worth their salt, one that will never leave them behind. One that will never again allow traitors to fester within its ranks. For this, I require your faith and your trust. The same faith and trust that you give to the Provisional Council, and the same faith and trust that they entrusted me with.” These exchanges continue for a while, with some of the more military-inclined reporters attempting to get into the nitty-gritty of these layoffs. Courtois is, however, tight-lipped on any matter that hasn’t been revealed in the aforementioned segments, continuing to cite national security as a reason. Everyone in the room seems to be sceptical or negative about this announcement, as a result – and the press conference ends after thirty minutes. After a while of showing the conference room empty out, the camera cuts to Céline standing in the same hallway as last time, microphone in hand. Quite a few military officials are busy speaking to eachother in the background, with some looking as stoic as ever, some frustrated, and some simply drinking their daily dose of coffee. “An unexpected and controversial announcement, to be sure! When we heard about collaborators in the Navy last time, we would certainly never have expected a figure this high! Could it really be true? So many double agents in our beloved Navy? Or is it all simply a ploy to get rid of political opposition? We’re certainly very curious to hear your thoughts on the matter, and what you think the future holds for our great nation! This was Céline Eylenbosch with the Solarian Alliance News Network, and now, a small advertisement break before our political segment…”

These articles are being retconned by the Unathi lore team. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vmkkYFntN7EdL99zUOHXcLsqk9LA9kDk1h52H1PCXn8/edit

How influential is this Tankovy company? Due to how megacorp-focused this universe is, it's very unlikely that any influential corporation doesn't get snatched up by a megacorp immediately. For example, it's impossible to start a non-subsidiary business in Biesel. It is true that Sol doesn't have as much corporate dominance, but it is still heavily influenced by corps.

Unbanned. If you need to go on the spot just adminhelp.

On trial until 19SEP2022.

I've noticed some issues with your command play, so this trial is being extended by 7 days and will end on 19SEP2022. DM me on Discord when you're available so we can iron out what's wrong.

For the time being, this is denied. I'm going to have to see some sort of improvement in game before I can comfortably unban you. Appeal in one month after you've put in some playtime.

I'll unban you, but like you said, best to avoid the manifest at all.

Unbanned.

This isn't something that should be tied to accents but to origins.

You guys tried murdering the CMO, or at the very least tortured him. Shooting a murderer in the back isn't really what I would call unreasonable, especially if there's very little risk attached to it.

I played the engineer in question and I would say that I did follow fear RP by virtue of not instantly unloading on you on the elevator when you cornered me. That would have been complete shit, and I agree there, but I intentionally waited for you two to be nearly offscreen + I made sure that you gave me back my ID so I could run into maintenance, and thus I had the ability to run away. You didn't really need to fuck me over to not get shot, honestly. If you had taken my ID for example I would never have attempted this since I wouldn't have had an easy way out. Also, you were just 2 heisters, and if you were grouped up in a full stack I would also never have done this. Not even just that - one of you didn't have a gun at all, the other only had a sword. If you two had guns I also probably wouldn't have done this since I would've eaten shit in the maintenance tunnel.

MINISTER OF DEFENCE, ADMIRAL MARCUS CARBONERO, SACKED THIS MORNING: NEW REPLACEMENT AND NAVY REFORM PLANS ANNOUNCED Article 2 of the Amor Patriae Prologue This live coverage of today's press conference by the Provisional Government is brought to you by the Sol Alliance News Network. After thirty minutes of waiting, at precisely 18:00 on Unity Station, a man that appears to be in his late fifties rises up onto a podium, with a Solarian flag behind him. He is wearing a Navy dress uniform and has a dour, serious look. Cameras begin to flash at the man as he begins speaking. Those that are especially interested in Alliance politics would recognise this man as Admiral Yuhan Verhasselt, the head of the Provisional Government. “Nearly three years ago, the very foundation of the safety of our nation, the Navy, was shaken to the core. Parts of this organization, infested with traitors and corporate-sponsored backstabbers, began to rebel against their own kin – against Solarians – and against our great nation’s values,” he begins, clearly holding his words back to some degree. “I speak as a man that has been with the military since I became an adult. It is evident now that the Solarian Navy is no longer the organization it used to be – no longer the organization I knew it as, and the same goes for many of you. The Collapse proved to us just how unstable our foundations were and what dangers our nation faces today, and as we begin looking to the future, it is necessary to reform the Navy to bring it up to par once more. To that effect, this morning I dismissed the minister of defense. Admiral Marcus Carbonero. In his place, the provisional government has appointed the decorated Fleet Admiral of the 1st Battlegroup, Lucien Courtois.” Verhasselt steps off of the podium. After him, a man in his late thirties or early forties steps onto the podium. Still wearing a Navy dress uniform, he appears to be considerably younger with less of a dour gaze and more of a fiery and involved look. He places a set of papers on the podium and looks at the reporters in the room. When he begins speaking, he does so with a good amount of passion in his voice. “It’s no secret that the state of the Solarian Navy is shambolic at best,” he begins his speedch, eliciting a few gasps from the functionaries in the back, although they are quickly shushed, “Significant parts of our Navy were allowed to openly rebel in a state of emergency and continue to run their petty kingdoms in Alliance territory. To this effect I ask all Solarians – what is the purpose of a military, if it cannot hold together?” Nobody in the room answers. “The answer to this simple question is none. Many Solarians think that all of these traitors have left to the so-called Wildlands now, but they are wrong – the rebellions that we faced two years ago were facilitated by collaborators in our ranks. The Navy is still infested with these traitors, and it’s about time that they were brought to justice. This amount of corruption and complacency is only further exacerbated by the fact that the Navy only answers to itself, and no other individual.” The Admiral lets these words hang for a bit, but then quickly moves on… “In matters of doctrine, our Navy is not up to par either. The established doctrine is far too rigid for modern standards and needs to be adapted, especially now that ships are beginning to be outfitted with the Hammer drive. Now that we have a potentially crushing advantage over our opponents – a drive that doesn’t use phoron – tactics that make use of it must be developed. However, complacency in the Ministry of Defense has prevented any advancements from occurring in this field. While we may possess the most advanced military in the Spur, that does not mean anything if we are still using outdated tactics from the Interstellar War.” Courtois picks up the papers on the podium and starts reading from them. “Finally, this reform plan will conclude by putting all of these improvements to the test with increased border patrols and military maneuvers around our northern border. My message to every Solarian in our borders – every single one, even those currently under control by these Warlords – when it’ll be time to strike again, our Navy will stand strong, united and ready to defend you.” The Admiral says these final words looking directly at the cameras and at every single reporter, then proceeds to answer their questions for thirty minutes, before leaving with his escort. Now, the word goes to our reporter, Céline Eylenbosch. A blonde woman stands in the hallways leading to the Unity Station senate, with a large number of known VIPs, Admirals and other such figures passing through. Her expression is rather ecstatic, and she speaks with a characteristic Cytherean accent. She looks fairly exhausted -- probably from shooting rapid-fire questions to more than a few people -- and tends to pant a bit, taking a few small pauses in her words. “Thank you for passing the word to me! Fleet Admiral Lucien Courtois indeed seems to be a very qualified person for the job!... Admiral Courtois is the ex-admiral of the famous twenty-ninth fleet, the man responsible for preventing the takeover of New Hai Phong two years ago by the rogue sixty-seventh fleet! He fought a numerically superior foe and came out victorious with minimal casualties, and our battle reporters wrote many military articles on his new and revolutionary doctrine. And who else could the Provisional Government pick for a total reform of the Navy?” Céline finishes this elegy by clearing her throat. She is pushed a bit by an Admiral rushing through the hallway, whom she looks to awkwardly, but then continues. “He, as you have seen, has outlined the need for reform that many Solarians wished for… but nobody expected words of this degree! Especially after our past Ministers have always praised the establishment and never made any attempt to rock the boat. I can tell you the reporters–... all reporters in that room were completely shocked to hear his words, which I imagine came at a complete surprise to everyone! We were all pleased, but many doubts still linger on if these plans will really work… is it a good idea to rip the foundations apart now, with all these threats at our border? This was Céline Eylenbosch with the Sol Alliance News Network, thank you for tuning in and let’s hope for the best in these trying times! Long live the Solarian Alliance!”

Here is why I banned you: First of all, your last log in to the server was at the very beginning of a month ago. To add to that, you have no rounds played at all in 2022. You were never active in the Aurora discords, and thus we have no real reason to believe that you just happened to open the Relay page. You have exactly one message sent in the Relay discord, thus it is quite clearly a discord you do not pay any attention to whatsoever. Coincidentally, after we started commenting on manifest grief and someone posted a link to a new discord for the manifest, you joined it. With all of these factors considered I decided to ban you as I have a pretty good guess that you are part of whichever group is griefing the manifest. Am I wrong on any of these assumptions?