NewOriginalSchwann

Hello, thank you for your application. Following discussion amongst the human lore team we have decided to deny it as it is unwanted.

GADPATHURIAN SUPPORT FOR THE LEAGUE REVEALED! Act 1 Article 16 of the Amor Patriae arc A particularly smug and triumphant-looking Strom begins to talk from his podium in the senate room. This time, more Army military police are present in the room. “As we all know, some grudges are eternal, like Gadpathur’s,” he says, “Just a few days ago, Alliance intelligence revealed to us that the Gadpathurian government has been providing the League with war materiel this entire time. Guns, ships, war supplies - you name it, they’ve sent it.” Strom’s audience almost collectively gasps at the revelation. “Essentially, they were trying to fund their own little warlord puppet state behind our backs. I forwarded this intelligence to my counterpart on Xanu Prime - Miss Sianne, a lovely woman - and strongly demanded action on the subject. A major member of the Coalition trying to start another war? We’d never have it!” “After a few days of drawn-out negotiations with Miss Sianne and a neutral Assunzionii mediator, we’ve found an agreement. Gadpathur is as of now completely shut out from the Coalition warp gate network, and isolated for their reckless actions!” The tribune claps, and Strom nods a few times, clearly enjoying it. Trang looks less enthused, but nonetheless contributes to the clapping. “The Gadpathurians will remain locked out of the Coalition’s gate network until they stop supplying the League.”

Office of the Prime Minister Responds to Ongoing Conflict in the Former Solarian Alliance Act 1 Article 15 of the Amor Patriae arc The camera opens to focus on an Elyran woman, dressed professionally in an orange pants-suit, sitting in a chair opposite an older Elyran man in a black suit with a small Elyran flag pin on his lapel. Habitual viewers of the ENN will easily recognize the woman as Nathifa Sabir, host of its famous Jewel’s Eye political talk show, by both her suit and habitually messy curly hair. The man across from her is Doctor Bahir Yousif, a relatively well-known member of the Prime Minister’s advisory team and Elyran foreign policy scholar. “Thank you for tuning into the Elyran News Network!” Sabir begins with a smile. “Tonight I’m joined by a very special guest, Doctor Bahir Yousif of the Prime Minister’s office!” The audience claps. “Thank you for having me.” “Of course. Now, Doctor, many Elyrans are concerned about growing unrest in the Wildlands, particularly in the Northern Wildlands. Does the Prime Minister have any plans to address the situation, particularly as San Colette is of relevance to the Spurwide phoronics market?” “As of now the Republic has no interest in the Alliance’s problems,” Yousif responds. “While it’s true the Colettish phoronics industry has an impact on the wider Spur, its impact is barely felt in the Serene Republic.” “Do you believe the impact will be mostly localized?” “Most of San Colette’s phoron was sent to Biesel, which has long been a major consumer of it. How the Alliance will be impacted remains to be scene, as they've taken steps to reduce their phoron dependency.” Sabir nods her head. “Thank you, Doctor. With that said, do you have any thoughts on the recent Dominian announcement concerning the situation?” “I do. If the Empire thinks it can disguise its efforts to undermine our sovereignty such as how they did at al-Hamid Square, they are mistaken. The Serene Republic is fully prorated to counteract any efforts to spread Dominian imperialism into regions of national or strategic concern to us.” Sabir nods approvingly! “Thank you, Doctor. Unfortunately that’s all the time we have for now. The Elyran News Network will return after a short break with the latest news from across the Serene Republic!”

2465.03.07 Crown Princess Condemns Ongoing Violence in the “Wildlands” Act 1 Article 14 of the Amor Patriae arc Following the Imperial News Network’s traditional opening bells, and part of the Imperial anthem, the camera fades into a view of a Morozian man in a suit typical to the Empire’s lower nobility, though it lacks the ornamentation of any of the five great houses. “Good day, and praise the Goddess in all you do. I am Valentin de Blanchet, your host for this event. Over the past months as our glorious Empire has contributed to prosper, and we have given thanks to both Goddess and Emperor for their wisdom in avoiding the poisoner chalice of phoron, much of the former Solarian Alliance — known as the “Wildlands” in their dialect — has been wracked by the scourge of violence. The heir apparent, Crown Princess Priscilla, has been chosen to speak on behalf of His Majesty, who is currently recovering from an illness. We now go to the palace, where the Crown Princess is preparing to speak. The camera switched to Priscilla Keeser, who is currently seated in a quite nice-looking chair with one leg crossed over the other. She is, as perhaps expected of royalty, poised and elegant in both her posture and garments, which appear to be a high-quality noblewoman’s dress in the strikingly red colors of the royal family. Two guards, one male and one female, clad in the dress uniform of the royal family’s bodyguard, stand behind her at attention. “Citizens of our glorious Empire,” the Princess begins. “I and my father wish you good health and hope you have kept both Empire and Goddess in your hearts as we approach the Feast of Faith. “Our Empire has much to thank Our Lady the Goddess for, as it is through Her wisdom we have avoided much of the suffering which has blighted the Spur since the start of the phoron crisis, which has direly impacted many nations of the Spur which do not heed Her wisdom as our Empire does. “Perhaps no area has been impacted more by the crisis than the northern Solarian Alliance. This region has recently fallen into a civil war which threatens to draw the broader Spur into a conflict perhaps more destructive than the Interstellar War. Much of the blame for this can be placed firmly upon the shoulders of men and women whose ambition is untempered by faith and the compassion which grows from Her.” The Crown Princess pauses for a moment before speaking again, seemingly to let her previous words sink in. “Rest assured as the Empire, through both Her wisdom and that of the Emperor, shall not involve itself in such a conflict. We will remain resolute in the defense of our borders against any aggression, and we shall seek to bring Her guidance abroad, but we shall not become involved in a Solarian conflict. Thank you, and praise the Goddess through both your words and deeds for without Her, there is no Empire.” The broadcast fades out to the polite clapping of several unseen dignitaries.

Live Updates: War in the Northern Wildlands Act 1 Article 14 of the Amor Patriae arc The traditional XNS jingle plays, heralding the revealing of Deschamps, Gopal, and the map. The black section, marking the Front, has increased. The League’s portion has not. “Good evening and welcome to another of our segments on the ongoing Northern Wildlands conflict,” Gopal begins. “Dire news has reached us from the Victoria System, where Pact defenses fell earlier today in the face of a Front assault. This video discovered on Chirper shows some of the moments leading up to this event.” The video switches over to a recorded feed from what appears to be a spacecraft’s external camera, which is pointed at a large orbital structure containing a warship. Military-minded observers will recognize this as a Hephaestus-produced orbital dockyard partway through the construction of a Taipei-class heavy cruiser. The camera has no audio feed but does observe a small craft — perhaps a shuttle — flying away from the structure. A few moments of utter silence pass before the camera is shaken by something and six thin objects appear below it, rapidly moving away from the camera and towards the dock. The missiles strike the dock in the traditional eerie silence of space combat, and the dock itself is consumed in a series of explosions too large for the yield of the missiles. The Taipei-class hull violently cracks in half and its fore is tossed clear of the explosions by concussive force, then is itself destroyed by another missile. As the dockyard breaks apart into useless chunks and begins falling into the planet’s atmosphere, the feed cuts out and switches back to the analysts and their screen. “Our best estimate places this as having been shot by the FSF Caravaggio at 1800 GST yesterday,” Deschamps says, looking at Gopal. “Similar destruction has been reported at the New Peoria warp gate in the system, which was allegedly destroyed by a nuclear device launched by the FSF Borgia.” “And the Front now controls the system?” “Correct. This video was posted to 64tan by what we assume is one of their marines. A warning to our viewers that this is graphic content.” The camera switches to footage of an unknown man in a SRF gargoyle voidsuit with “SGT PORTER” written on its forehead seemingly recording himself on a camcorder. Muffled speech which sounds like Nral’Malic standard is cut off by a gunshot which lights up the dark room in a brief flash of light. The Sergeant barely reacts. “Guys,” he begins, his voice muffled by the suit, “we’ve taken back New Peoria for the Alliance!” he flashes a thumbs-up, then briefly spins the camera around to look out a window. The SRF’s flag flutters in the breeze, standing above a mostly-ruined square littered with destroyed civilian vehicles. An anti-aircraft emplacement sits destroyed next to what appears to have been a spaceport until recently. “We drove the aliens out and killed all the,” a loud beep, “we could find!” Porter then flips the camcorder around. “And we’re coming for their sponsors next! San Colette! Your days are,” another loud beep, “numbered!” The feed cuts, returning to the analysts. They look grim. “With Victoria and New Peoria lost,” Gopal begins, zooming out the map and zooming it back into another system surrounded with Pact, mercenary, and Front markers, “it’s likely the Pact will likely have to retreat to the Igman System, another industrial system like Victoria.” “Can they hold?” Gopal sighs. “We’ll see. They’re still holding the League at Hudson’s Star, so we’ll see. Unfortunately, we need to take a brief commercial break. Up next is the renowned Mariska van den Soeterik.” The XNS goes on a commercial break. This one appears to be dedicated to a smaller local company producing household goods. Nothing too exciting.

Live Updates: War in the Northern Wildlands Act 1 Article 11 of the Amor Patriae arc Following the typical XNS jingle the camera focuses on a screen displaying the Northern Wildlands flanked by analysts Ajit Gopal and Delphine Deschamps. The right side of the map is more red than before, and the left is more black. The gray Pact-labeled chunk in the middle has shrunken slightly. “Good evening!” Deschamps begins, “And welcome to another session of XNS analysis regarding the ongoing conflict in the Northern Wildlands. Today we’ll be focusing on two recent conflict zones confirmed through analysis by Amit’s team.” “Right. The first one,” Gopal taps the screen and zooms into a section of the SRF-Pact Front. Various symbols marking FSF, MRSP, and SRF units can be seen. They seem to be concentrated around a single point. “—is the Victoria System, which is home to shipbuilding yards built by Hephaestus in the orbit of New Peoria. Currently it’s being effectively held by a mixed Pact-mercenary force against a Front assault, and has become a focal point of fighting in this area.” “Due to the shipyards, right. Any other reasons?” “There’s a couple. The most obvious one is the shipyards, which have to be either demolished or moved, and are presumed to be the main reason the Pact’s dug in so hard here. The other reason’s a less economic one: New Peoria’s got a warp gate leading straight to San Colette and has been a major hub for refugees fleeing the Front’s offensive for San Colette proper. The Pact can’t easily give it up and is likely trying to get as many people out as it can before they need to destroy it.” “It sounds dire.” Gopal nods grimly. “It’s a humanitarian crisis in the making. There’s another system like this on the League front you found, right?” “That’s right. On the opposite front,” she taps the screen a few times and brings up a similar screen to the previous one, but with different borders and colors. “—we have Hudson’s Star. Before the Collapse it was a relatively prosperous industrial system with a heavy orbital mining industry, but that’s likely not what the League is intent on taking. They’re likely attempting to secure the Solarian Navy compound known as Baffin Station, which is rumored to contain repair facilities the League presently lacks.” “Is it still intact?” “Unfortunately, we don’t know. FSF vessels in the area have been unusually quiet compared to previous weeks of the conflict and nobody can speak as to the quality of the facilities, or if they’re even still intact! It wouldn’t surprise me if this is simply a stalling action by the Pact.” “Well, that’s-“ Gopal reaches up to his ear again. “—something to discuss after a word from our sponsor, Einstein Engines! We’ll be back shortly.” The crushingly disappointed face of Deschamps fades out and is shortly replaced with an ad for shell-safe nanopaste built on Konyang. What a deal!

LIVE: Coalition Special Committee Discusses the Wildlands Crisis Act 1 Article 10 of the Amor Patriae arc The camera opens onto a meeting room on Xanu Prime filled with the same faces as the last meeting, almost all of which appear to be some form of irate. Thaman, Gadpathur’s delegate, is shouting something at his Konyanger counterpart. “—that’s quite enough out of you!” Magar shouts, banging his gavel for emphasis. Thaman sits, and Magar turns to the Konyanger delegation. “Now, your evidence you wish to present.” “Representative Magar,” Gim stands, holding a folder of papers and walking toward the chairman. “These documents contain communications between Gadpathur and the League intercepted by the Konyang Armed Forces. I’m certain you’ll find them quite interesting.” As Gim places the papers down Thaman practically erupts from his seat, causing the Konyanger officer to react a bit too quickly for a human as she reaches for something which should be at her hip but is not there. “How dare you treat this as if it is negative!” Thaman bellows, to confused looks by most aside from him. “Only Gadpathur is willing to intervene in the Wildlands, and we are not ashamed to do what is necessary!” “You’re nothing but a fool!” Seok shouts back, pushing himself up from his chair. “You’ll bring us to the brink of another Interstellar War if the Alliance opts to intervene in the region!” “Let the Solarians come! We will defeat them once again!” “Representative Thaman, has Gadpathur forgotten the economic damage of the War?!” Magar shouts back, looking more irate than he ever has. “You must cease this madness at once!” Thaman snorts, sneering at his counterpart. “Your planet’s economic relations with the Solarians have made you weak, Rohan. Only we have the strength to do what is necessary!” “I will see your planet expelled from the Coalition!” “You will be no better than the Solarian!” “Enough!” Violante stands, interrupting the screaming match. “By the Light of Ennoia are we granted the wisdom of cooperation and Coalition, and entrusted not to stray from this course. I implore you all to come to your senses and see no enemies are in this room — only misguided allies.” Thaman considers this for a moment and promptly storms out of the room, slamming the door behind himself. His colleagues watch him leave with expressions of confusion. “Most honorable chairman, I move to permit a recess,” Violante stated after a moment of awkward silence. “Right,” Magar resumes, adjusting his glasses — perhaps out of reflex rather than any real need. “The committee is adjourned until further notice.” A bang of the gavel signals the end of the broadcast.

LIVE: INTERVENTION DEBATE ON UNITY STATION Act 1 Article 9 of the Amor Patriae arc A blonde Venusian woman in a red skirt suit is standing before the entrance to the Senate room, used as an impromptu meeting room for the Provisional Government. “Hello, my dear viewers! I’m Céline Eylenbosch, your beloved reporter, and we are reporting live from Unity Station, where the Government has announced a press conference… and it seems they’ve already started!” The cameraman and Céline make their way inside. Strom and Trang on their podiums look fairly exhausted, with messier hair than usual. Admiral Verhasselt is behind them with his usual grave look. “-- to answer your question, reporter, our economic progress is going great,” Strom begins, “Nationalization of corporate assets was a great challenge, the main cause of our GDP loss. It was difficult reshuffling all the industries and chains of production. A lot of corporate higher-ups fled to Biesel and took documents and information with them. It was a mess, but we’re getting out of it, as shown by our projected GDP chart.” Trang nods in agreement, staying silent. A reporter in the background asks, “And what do you think about the situation in the Wildlands, Senator Strom?” The question seems to immediately tilt Strom. The cameramen begin to push over each other to get the best angle. Everyone seems to know that things are about to get ugly. Céline looks delighted, beckoning her cameraman to get closer. “What do I think about it? I think it’s a failure! On all fronts! Those are Solarian citizens - our citizens! That’s our territory! And what’s happening to it?! It’s being razed to the ground by maniacs worshipping a dead fascist! Solarian citizens are being pushed out of their homes and murdered as we speak! And what does the Navy say?!” He lets the question hang in the air. Verhasselt does not break his demeanour, but anyone can guess that he is likely peeved. “That they’re not ready yet! That’s what we’re going to say to the families of dead Solarians?! That we weren’t ready to defend them?! Is that how the Solarian Alliance should behave! No! It isn’t! I wholeheartedly support i–...” Trang interrupts Strom at this point, raising her voice speaking over him, “Intervention is off the table for the time being,” she precises, “We can’t afford it at a moment so delicate for the Alliance. Our economy still needs time to recover, and mobilising our forces would be a risk we can’t take, especially when our Navy is probably weaker than what the Front’s rallied. Our industries still need time to re–” She is now interrupted by Strom, who raises his voice in turn, “Hai Phonger industries? And what am I supposed to say about Jintarian industries?! Well, Trang, go and tell the San Coletters that your concern for Hai Phonger industries is what stopped us from helping them! That we can’t risk our economy to save the–” “You know that isn’t what I said, Hendrik!” Trang remarks. She begins to speak, then a journalist from the tribune interrupts her. “Senator Strom is right. Can you once again tell the Solarian people right now, on air, that you will not intervene in the Wildlands crisis?” Another journalist stands up, replying, “What are you, an idiot?! With what navy? Nearly our entire navy mutinied a few years ago!” “You’re exaggerating! Our Navy’s fine!” At this point, the tribune breaks out into a full shouting match between Strom supporters and Trang supporters. Some are concerned over the Navy, others over the economy, but most about the possibility of the Front winning against the Alliance. Confidence in the Navy is at an all time low. “Well, dear viewers, it seems we’ve broken out into a full verbal melee here…” Céline says, clearly delighting in the drama. She is then pushed into a wall by another angry reporter who calls out her nonchalant and very Cytherean attitude, which is when she joins the verbal melee as well. This continues for a minute or two - shoves and yells are not uncommon. Admiral Verhasselt attempts to restore some order through his voice, but it is not enough to be heard over the various yells of the tribune. Strom and Trang have by now stopped arguing, looking at each other with a grave expression. The mess is then dispersed by Unity Station’s Army military police. No weapons were raised, but many threats of revoking press licenses were given over the megaphone. Céline exits the room after some of the reporters, looking dejected. “What a mess, dear viewers,” she says, looking at the camera, “The Wildlands affair has many people on edge, and the Government’s split! In the coming days, we will be hearing more about the intervention debate for sure, so, stay tuned!”

BREAKING: BROADCAST RE-ESTABLISHED; STATE OF WAR BETWEEN MIDDLE RING SHIELD PACT AND SOLARIAN RESTORATION FRONT [PREVIOUSLY RECORDED – RE-AIRED DUE INITIAL ISSUES WITH BROADCAST] Act 1 Article 2 of the Amor Patriae arc The camera flicks back on to reveal a grave looking den Soeterik. “Grave news have just reached us from the Solarian Alliance which has confirmed that a state of war now exists between the ex-Solarian statelets known as the Middle Ring Shield Pact and the Solarian Restoration Front. We go now to Liao Qi, our reporter in San Colette.” The camera switches to a somewhat shakier view of Qi than it had previously held. Qi is saying something inaudible to de la Fuente, who appears to be fairly upset with the situation. After a moment somebody turns the audio on halfway through de la Fuentes saying something. A loudspeaker can be faintly heard in the background and seems to be broadcasting an emergency alert. “—surd that you want to come with me!” “Look,” Qi responds. “Don’t you want your story to be told? We’re the only foreign reporters here, Leticia!” He then looks over at the camera, realizes it’s on and begins speaking to it without losing a beat. “Mariska, as you can see San Colette is already reacting to the state of war. Just a moment ago we heard emergency broadcasts begin in Little New Hai Phong,” he points up and to his right at something out of frame. The camera follows, revealing the loudspeaker, “which are advising residents of a state of emergency which has just begun.” “Will you be able to stay safe?” Qi nods. “Yes, we should be. We’re planning to continue reporting to the best of our abilities, as XNS always does.” He looks over at de la Fuente, who does not look happy. This is a fairly normal expression for her, all things considered. “I’m working with the Civil Guard to see if we can cover their actions.” “You are not going to the front line!” de la Fuente responds. “You’re to remain here where it’s safe, reporter.” “How are we meant to cover your story if we’re stuck here, Leticia? San Colette’s story has to be told by someone, and we’re the only ones here!” de la Fuentes looks at the camera out of the corner of her eye, then focuses on Qi. Her expression of neutral disapproval holds something else, but it’s hard to read. “We’ll discuss it later. That’s all I’ll say while you’ve got the camera rolling.” Qi, looking totally undisturbed by this, turns back to the camera. “As you can see, we’ll attempt to cover it to the best of our abilities.” The camera shifts back to den Soeterik, who nods. “We’ll let you get to it, then. Stay safe, Liao.” “Always.”

The sprites are great! Atteria has done work for the human lore team and I can definitely attest to them being very good to work with. They have my full support!

reported for low roleplay

If we have to lose Hephaestus, we have to lose Hephaestus. It's a sacrifice we'll have to make to ensure the role is not miserably boring to play.

Everything I would have said here has already been said (perhaps better) by others. Remove cyborgs. Honestly, remove drones and the AI too while we're at it.

By this logic we should move bartenders, chefs, and (arguably) pharmacists to operations. They all supply other departments with things: drinks, food, and prescriptions respectively.

Seconding Cybs' suggestion. Having played as a machinist (and since deleted the character because I found the role so boring) the role was dreadfully boring and overly-reliant on a department you were unable to communicate with and unable to access most of operations. Their spot is also very inconvenient to access, especially in a blackout. Making them medsci and moving them to where the charging bay currently is would go a long way In roughly ~20 rounds as machinist I never got materials before the hour mark and often did not get materials at all. My machines were also painfully slow due to having no access to upgrades. I'd much rather have to go down to operations to ask for parts than go up to science for upgrades.

I do not want to go back to the area of Gandalf the Color and Long John 9 the Space Wizard. If technomancer is bad it should be removed. The argument that there are "good wizard rounds," sometimes is the same argument that saddled us with AI malfunction for years.

Lauren was great to work with while they were on the lore team and their sprites have been a significant benefit for synthetic lore even after their retirement. I'm excited to see what they can do as a full spriter, and entirely support this application!

Peace on Mars? BREAKING: The Provisional Government of Mars has declared that all arcologies outside of the Violet Dawn “hazard zone,” have been brought under its control. This ends a two month long campaign by Mars’ Governor-General to bring the Red Planet back under nominal Solarian control. “All Solarians should view this as a victory for the Alliance,” says Amelie de Beauchamp, Provisional Government press director. “We’ve taken a situation on the verge of collapse — on the brink of mass starvation and death! — and turned it around. This isn’t just a victory for Mars. It’s a victory for every Solarian, including those suffering in the Wildlands or under illegal occupation elsewhere. The Solarian Army has stated that it will retain control of Mars’ government “until the situation on the surface becomes more stable,” according to an Army spokesman. However, it has promised to return power to the hands of Mars’ people when it is reasonably able to. “Lotta talk ‘bout how this is a victory for allaus, y’know? Big rah-hah Sol victory,” says Bill Kessler, formerly a resident of Red Gaia. “Dunno how they can go an’ talk ‘bout all this ‘victory fer liberty,’ an’ stuff while we gotta junta. But I ain’t gonna go runnin’ my mouth ‘bout the Army, y’know? Ain’t a good idea.” What will become of Mars remains to be seen, but for many the worst seems to be over. The road to recovery, however, will undoubtedly be long. For XNS, I’m Liao Qi.

On the Ground at Kunlun For many, the announcement of a terraforming operation on Mars was a breath of fresh air, and a ray of hope in the darkness of life on the planet after the Violet Dawn disaster. Many in Kunlun have suffered through a year of hardships: flight from the south as refugees, the loss of homes and relatives, water rationing, and martial law. To get the opinions of people on the ground at the center of the terraforming project I, Liao Qi, and my colleague, Odette Noyer, have flown to Free Kunlun from Red Gaia in a Solarian Army cargo plane in order to bring you firsthand accounts of it. “Personally? I’m glad to be here, helping Mars out of this mess,” says Arpit Kapil, an Einstein Engines technician employed by the terraforming project. “I’ve already lost one home, so I’m going to do anything I can to prevent somebody else from losing theirs.” “What do you mean by that, that you lost your home?” asks Liao Qi. Kapil pauses for a moment, considering his words. “I used to live in Biesel, before N-T took it over. My family had lived there since, uh, probably around colonization? A long time. My wife and I didn’t explicitly get kicked out, but we saw the writing on the wall. There was going to be no place for us in Biesel.” “I’m glad that Einstein is here and trying to end the crisis. I just want it to be over,” says Martian Madeleine Wood. “All the suffering, all the pain. I don’t care about nationalism, or Sol, or whatever. I just want to be able to go back home to see my old house and tend to my father’s grave. What good is an independent Mars if we keep having to kill one another over basic necessities like food and water?” “How much more have we gotta lose at this rate?” asks Martian Braxton McDonald. “Lost my son in the riots ‘fore Violet Dawn, lost my house durin’ it, lost my wife to poisoning after. What’s left for me, huh? What are we supposed to do?”

Aside from the Idris warden uniform, which is way too green, I like them! These are a big improvement, and it's nice to see Zavodskoi's black uniform being black rather than a kind of washed-out grey-blue color.

Added to the wiki, moving to fully accepted.

Accepted pending addition to the wiki.

Einstein Engines Contracted to Commence Terraforming Having remained untouched by the sanctions placed against the other megacorporations following their leveraged actions against the Solarian Alliance, Einstein Engines has secured its position as the nation’s dominating corporate force, having just proved so after being awarded the contract for terraforming the scarred Marian surface. Due to the relative stability of the northern territories across Mars, Einstein Engines will commence their terraforming initiatives within the archologies of Capon, Kunlun, Chicago, and Draka. With much of the freestanding sources of water having been contaminated with elements of Phoron, Einstein Engines has stated that it will, working alongside the Solarian Navy, introduce refinery plants designed to filter phoron from water. What will be done with the phoron “runoff” of these plants is unknown, but XNS sources indicate that it will likely be used as fuel for Einstein’s terraforming machines. The elected archologies for the terraforming initiative will have the majority of their workforce directed to these refinery plants, as per the Provisional Government’s ability to redirect qualified workers to fields declare vital to national security while a region is under martial law. Whether or not the terraforming effort is successful remains to be seen. Decontamination of the water sources would be a critical first step towards rehabilitating the Martian environment, and our team on the ground — reporters Liao Qi and Odette Noyer — are currently en route to Kunlun, one of the arcologies selected for the program.

On the Ground at Red Gaia For the roughly past two weeks the arcology of Red Gaia – regarded by many interstellar observers as the least stable arcology following the Violet Dawn catastrophe – has been in a state of emergency due to uncontrolled rioting. Only yesterday at 04:00 GST was the state of emergency declared by the Provisional Government of Mars lifted, due to Solarian Army riot squad teams stating that they had “reestablished government control of Red Gaia in order to allow aid to be distributed.” Myself, Liao Qi and my colleague, Odette Noyer, are in the arcology today in order to bring you firsthand accounts of the arcology. “Ultimately, I think the entire situation here is nothing more than tragic. The human suffering here, the entire disaster, it’s the price we as Solarians pay for not granting more of our attention to Mars,” says Doctor Han, a Solarian Army physician from Luna who declined to give her first name on account of security reasons. “The worst part of it is that so many of them – the Martians – would rather die than accept aid from us. It’s maddening!” “Why do you think they’re refusing to accept aid?” asks Odette Noyer. Han shakes her head. “I’m here to provide aid, and not qualified to give a political opinion. If you want one, you’ll have to speak to somebody other than myself or my staff.” “I’ll tell ya why we don’t want no Blue Solarian aid,” says Maxwell Clarkson, a protestor now in Solarian Army custody. “It’s ‘cuz it was them who gone and blown up the whole damn [CENSORED] planet! I betyer just more Solarians, huh? Come to take and twist my words against Mars! Well, you can [CENSORED my [CENSORED] ya [CENSORED] [CENSORED].” The interview with Clarkson was terminated at this point. “They don’t wanna accept the aid because they think the Alliance blew the planet up. Some say it was deliberate, some say it was accidental. Don’t matter how, what matters to them is that the Alliance did it in their eyes,” says Mitchell Hansen, a Red Gaia policeman who has been on duty continuously for the last two weeks. “I mean, I ain’t a big fan of the Alliance at times. ‘specially Frost, but I’m not gonna candidly describe him on camera, don’t want you guys to have to bleep me out [laughs].” “Why is Sol causing Violet Dawn a common theory?” asks Liao Qi. Officer Hansen shrugs broadly. “It’s a justification. ‘We wouldn’t be killing one another over water if it weren’t for the Alliance,’ stuff like that. It’s a shame, honestly. Whole lotta dead Martians, and for what? Frost’s legacy? Martian independence?” Hansen sighs, pausing for a moment. “I just want it to be over.”

Provisional Government of Mars Continues to Gain Ground The Provisional Government of Mars has continued to establish its control arcologies across Mars. Larkadia, Arcturus, Azura and Red Gaia have either joined with the PGM willingly or surrendered following brief military engagements. The Solarian Navy has intensified its activities in low Mars orbit, despite accusations that its warships have injured and killed civilian refugees during its operations against armed “bandit gangs,” that control much of the non-arcology territory near the Martian equator. The Solarian Navy declined the XNS’s request for an interview. Representatives of the Provisional Government of Mars have announced that despite repeated attempts to peacefully occupy the archologies, inhabitants of Red Gaia have “descended into rioting.” Despite attempts by the Solarian Army to re-establish control over Red Gaia, much of the arcology remains out of government control. Provisional Government representatives have called for the rioting to cease, claiming that an “tragically avoidable humanitarian crisis,” will occur if the PGM is unable to effectively supply aid to the arcology, which has become a refugees hub for much of non-PGM northern Mars. The majority of the northern territories are currently occupied by the Provisional Government of Mars and Hendrik Strom, interim governor of the Sol System, has congratulated Governor-General Tereza Varvzeiva for her successes. The Solarian Navy has announced that it plans to establish additional water extraction plants to be established on the northern poles of Mars, allowing for the facilitation of increased water extraction to fulfill the needs of the remaining arcologies.