NewOriginalSchwann

Exclusive Interview with a Free Solarian Fleets Officer Article 4 of Dulce et Decorum The camera opens onto a shadow-obscured male figure in a Solarian Navy officer’s uniform. Little of the uniform is visible — he could be anything from an Ensign to a Fleet Admiral. Across from him sits Liao Qi, the XNS’ ever-present ace reporter. The image is striking — Qi is fully illuminated while the officer is entirely cloaked in shadows. “Can you introduce yourself?” Qi begins. “We’ll cloak your voice before this airs.” “I'm an officer of the Free Solarian Fleets,” the man’s voice is distorted, too deep for any natural speech -- there's no hint of any identifiable accent. However, he sounds like he's a drink or two into something, "and I'm not identifying myself beyond that. Only reason I’m providing this interview is to fulfill a favor to your network.” “What’s your opinion on the reintegration of the Fleets into the Alliance Navy?” “Don't like it being under Lunan command again, and don’t trust their promise to keep our autonomy.” “Why don’t you trust it?” “Before we go further, lemme say I'm a patriot who believes in the Alliance, okay? I’m not some Republican Fleet deserter who whores himself out for corporate money. But, you know, I’m not stupid -- stupid," a beep, "always end up dead. We’ve been independent for three, almost four, years now. We're a battle-tested unit, yeah? Cut our teeth fighting the Hoppies and commies for San-Col up north, Beauchamp's boys and whatever else we got paid to shoot down south -- we might be one of the only units in the Alliance who can say they fought the lizards, hah! We're regular interstellar tourists -- Northern Reaches to the Badlands! Anyways, what I'm trying to say, right, is they’re going to have to clamp down on our independence before we run off and cause an incident. It’s what I would do if I was in the Admiralty’s position -- slap our wrist now before you have to do a tribunal.” “Right,” Qi writes something down in his notepad. “With that said, do you have any idea what the Fleets will do now that they’re under Navy command?” “I can’t answer that question directly. All I can say is that we have orders and they aren’t exciting.” Qi nods and writes something down, then looks back to the officer. “One last question: what was it like to see the end of the space battle in Nueva Patria?” “Gotta be honest, it was pretty cool. Every officer cadet hears stories about the Navy’s dreadnoughts — the old Beowulf-class models during the Interstellar War, including that museum ship one they make us tour — but seeing one in action’s different. They’re huge vessels up close — the Gunnhildr made our heavy cruisers look like Idris luxury yachts. Plus, you saw what happened to that Frontie destroyer when it warped in -- BAM! Only awards they're getting are closed caskets," the officer chuckles to himself for a moment. "Listen, yeah? No matter what the government does or says, that's the moment for me that the Alliance struck back at the three years of humiliation Biesel and the Corps made us endure.” “Thank you for your answers and time.” “Hey, no problem. Take care of yourself, Liao. Don’t get killed in a warzone — you're alright for a Colonial, a lotta us would be sad to see you go.” “I’ll try not to.” The feed cuts out.

Secretary Courtois Announces Reintegration of the 5th Middle Ring Battlefleet Article 3 of Dulce et Decorum The commercial break ends and brings into focus Harold MacMillan, host of the State of Sol. After the SANN introduction finishes, he clears his throat and begins talking. “Welcome back to the State of Sol. Breaking news today from Luna, where the Department of Defense has announced that so-called ‘Free Solarian Fleets’ will be integrated back into the Solarian Navy as a ‘semiautonomous combat unit’ for their actions during the fight against secessionists in the Northern Reaches. We go now to our reporter on-scene, Céline Eylenbosch. Céline?” The camera changes to a blonde woman in a fashionable suit — to anyone who has watched the SANN, this is unmistakably Céline Eylenbosch, star Cytherean reporter of the network — in a fancily-decorated hallway. “Hello, dear viewers,” Eylenbosch looks excited to be reporting from Luna instead of the Northern Reaches -- she's wearing the latest fall 2466 Idris Incorporated fashion. “As Harold said, the ‘Free Solarian Fleets’ are once again part of the Navy following several days of negotiations between Secretary Courtois and former Admiral Rensburg. Any Solarian citizen who served under Rensburg is entitled to a position in the Navy, should they wish.” “And if they don’t want to serve?” “I imagine they’ll be unemployed!” Eylenbosch smiles wryly towards the camera. “They’re immune from prosecution, of course, but who knows where they’ll end up if they don’t stay in?” “Mmhm, fitting,” McMillan nods his head -- he's got a bit of a grin too. “Has the Secretary said what he plans to use them for?” “Not yet Harold, but an officer I spoke to said he believes they’ll be kept in the Northern Reaches to support the government.” “Thank you, Céline. We’ll follow up with you if this develops further.” “Thank you, Harold!” Eylenbosch gives a wave to the camera as the feed cuts out, showing a very fancy, Idris-produced watch on her wrist for a few frames.

XNS Exclusive: With the Shipbreakers of the Northern Reaches Article 2 of Dulce et Decorum The camera opens to a view of a wrecked Solarian warship, somewhere in the void, being held by smaller vessels with large champs wrapped around the warship. The dull white light of plasma torches can be seen throughout the wreck as shuttles travel by it. Most of its bridge and midsection are missing, with only its two “arms” left. “Here we see,” a male voiceover identifies as Pierre Vermote begins, “the ultimate fate of the Solarian Restoration Front vessel Zhang Fei, destroyed in spring 2464 by the Solarian Navy. To get a closer look at the process of breaking these vessels we spoke to Cao Vinh Doan, an independent shipbreaker employed by the Solarian Navy as a contractor.” The camera switches again to a typical middle-aged Hai Phongese man with a mustache and slicked-back hair in a voidsuit, though with the helmet removed and held in his hands. A label on it marks him as “C. VINH DOAN O-.” The scene seems to be set in a cargo bay, and a label on the back wall in Solarian Common and Freespeak notes that depressurization is possible. Doan appears to already be speaking before the audio starts. “Right, right. So the vessel we’re breaking is a heavy cruiser — a Taipei — that got hit by one of the Coletter railgun rounds right through the midsection. Ran right through, like a cua quy’s pincers just stabbed it amidships. They’re big ships — larger than anything you’ll see on the civilian market — and hard to break down.” “What makes them so hard to break?” Vermote asks from offscreen. Doan considers the question for a moment. “It’s the reinforcing. These things were meant to withstand artillery,” he raps his knuckles on the hull, “so the internal hull’s a lot thicker than ours. We need to use plasma torches and diamond saws to cut it, which have oxygen and power needs respectively.” “Most of the salvage work not given to the Navy has been given to smaller companies like yours rather than megacorporations. Why do you think the government’s done that?” Doan snorts, then rubs his mustache for a moment — he’s clearly grinning at the question. “I’ll give you my broadcast-safe version.” “Thanks.” “It’s because the government, officially, wants to help out the little guy — the common Solarian people like me, who own our own business and are trying to stay afloat with corporations breathing down our neck. Plus, it being Strom’s idea might help him win a bit of Phong’s voters.” “Has he won your vote?” “No way — I’m with Trang. She tried to take Hephaestus down. That’s worth something.” “Thank you for your time, Mister Doan.” “Pleasure! If you need any ships broken, especially since Konyang’s yards have issues right now, you know where to call me.”

San Colette - One Year Later Article 1 of Dulce et Decorum The commercial break ends and brings into focus a serious-looking middle-aged man with slicked-back, graying hair and a thick mustache in a suit with a Callistean flag lapel pin. After the SANN intro cuts out, he begins speaking. “Good evening, and welcome back to the State of Sol — I’m your host, Harold MacMillan. We begin today with good news across the Alliance economically," MacMillan does not appear to be lying -- most of the companies on the Callistean Interstellar Stock Exchange ticker at the bottom of the screen have gained value, "one year after the Reunification. We go now to our reporter in Nueva Isabela, San Colette — Shufan Koh.” The left side of the camera to a typical Solarian woman standing in front of a building. With a gesture, MacMillan fades from view and Koh takes up the entire screen — it’s clear she’s standing in front of the same building Liao Qi stood by over a year ago, as San Colette was about to descend into war. “Thank you, Harold. I’m currently standing in front of a building used during the conflict as an emergency command post by a Visegradi unit. While it was hit directly by enemy artillery fire and nearly destroyed,,” Koh gestures to the building behind her, “as you can see, it’s been completely rebuilt.” “Is it similar across San Colette?” Koh nods. “It is, Harold. We spoke with a Department of the Interior official earlier — here’s what he had to say regarding the situation.” The camera cuts to a man in a dark suit labeled as “Jiahao Yeung, Carolean Expanse Section Executive, DOI” who shortly begins talking. “Across the Northern Reaches, particularly in Nueva Patria, we’ve seen a very quick recovery from the Civil War. At worst, during the invasion of San Colette itself, roughly four percent of the warp gates in the system were operational. Now it’s at roughly seventy percent — not where we want to end our efforts, but a remarkable turnaround.” “Why has the recovery been so quick?” Koh asks from offscreen. “Good question. One of the big reasons is the local expertise San Colette brings to warp gate construction alongside our Einstein Engines contractors, but most of the recovery is due to tenacity. We’ve had some of our engineers work eighty hour weeks for months on end to bring gates back online and repair infrastructure across San Colette itself.” “That’s incredible! With this pace, how long until recovery efforts are concluded?” “If we can keep this pace, efforts will be done within the year — potentially in time for the elections.” “Thank you, Jiahao. Any final words for the viewers? “Of course, Shufan. I want them to know that, no matter where they live, the Alliance won’t abandon them. We will rebuild our nation, no matter how long it may take.” The camera cuts back to Koh, standing in front of the building. “That’s all I have for now, Harold. For the SANN I’m Shufan Koh, reporting live from Nueva Isabela, San Colette.”

I’m a couple days late to feedback, whoops. I was one of the engineers in this round and it was fun from my perspective, despite never seeing an actor/antagonist. Having to go down to the planet and build a base of operations had the department working with one another to create a few buildings and make them livable. We spent a bit planning it all out and it felt really good to do something other than reacting to antagonist damage or doing a relatively minor project. My only complaint is that we can’t build roofs yet, so every building has rain in it.

Hello, I’m the original writer of Gadpathur and have helped design some of the off-ship spawns we currently have. I did not do anything regarding this corvette aside from, as I recall, telling the creator it was too well-armed for my liking. It’s got a Longbow, a very well-stocked armory, and a backup gun. The Longbow is a huge gun and this makes the corvette arguably more well-armed than anything aside from the Horizon — the only thing that comes close is the Dominia corvette, which has a 200mm gun on it. Please remove the Longbow and replace it with something smaller. If giving it flak is an issue, surely it can be given a smaller main gun (perhaps even one made on Gadpathur) and still be fine assuming the sprites are there.

free me from my Sisyphean torment

After discussion with the rest of the team, I am pleased to announce we have accepted this application. Congratulations, and thank you for your contribution!

@Ricky_the_banshee This appears to still be incomplete or otherwise missing. Will you be able to write this section in the near future?

After some internal discussion I am pleased to report that this application has been accepted! Thank you for your contribution and congratulations!

Omi’s post summarizes my thoughts on the Relay OOC channel perfectly. As lore staff, it is incredibly disheartening to see the main OOC channel of the server be a place where players, staff, and writing are often dragged through the mud and pilloried.

Hello, and thank you for applying! I have a few questions to ask — sorry for taking so long to post these, the week has been more hectic than I had hoped for. 1). Have your answers to any of my previous questions changed? 2). You, in this application and your previous one, devote a good amount of time to discussing the concepts of “KISS (keep it simple, stupid)” and “kill your darlings.” What, in your view, needs to be cut down and how would you go about doing this? 3). To build upon my previous question, would you continue to pursue “killing your darlings” if you faced opposition from the writer, or writers, of the original piece of work? 4). How would you deal with a member of the lore team who was confrontational in discussions? 5). How would you deal with a member of the lore team who refuses to work with other teams? 6). How would you deal with inactivity by members of teams, or by an entire team? 7). If you are not hired, would you be willing to continue working on wiki improvements such as the ones you suggested in your original post? Thank you for your time, and good luck!

Hello, and thank you for applying! I just have a few questions to ask. 1). Have your answers to any of my previously-asked questions changed? 2). Is there a place in our lore for less readily approachable factions or locations? Should there be a limit on how complex or “esoteric” a faction/location can be? 3). Do any of our current factions or origins have too much of a focus? Alternatively, do any have too little of a focus? 4). How would you deal with a member of the lore team who was confrontational in discussions? 5). How would you deal with a member of the lore team who refuses to work with other teams? 6). How would you deal with inactivity by members of teams, or by an entire team? 7). Assuming you are hired, would you remain in your current position or hand it off to another? Why? Thank you for your time, and good luck!

Hello! My apologies for the delay, life issues and some other events waylaid us for some days. This application is accepted! Ideally we’ll have it onto the wiki quite soon. Thank you for your contribution to human lore!

In my view, you would need to make another canonization application. Regarding the cantons: while I cannot speak for the rest of the team, I have no intention of removing them. They are a unique feature of the Alliance’s flags which immediately identifies them as Solarian for players. Without them, there will be no way to easily distinguish a Solarian flag from a Coalition or Republic of Biesel one.

Hello. The human lore team has discussed this lore application and has concluded we will not accept it without the Solarian flag in the corner as this is a trait shared by every Solarian member-state. The exception is San Colette and, as the original designer of its flag, this was a conscious choice made due to its status as a world in the Wildlands. Post-reunification updates it will have the corner flag re-added as it is a Solarian member-state once again.

I fundamentally disagree with your vision for the lore team and our setting's future, and I do not support your application. You have been the DLM more than any other person on the server, and it would be better to give others the chance to fill the position.

I will admit, I am not incredibly familiar with yourself as a person. Regardless, questions. 1). Do you believe article-based arcs, such as Amor Patriae for the human team and The Titan Rises for the unathi team, are a good addition to the lore? Should we pursue more of these? 2). How long is too long for an arc? Would you step in and tell people to hurry up, or to write less, if you saw one becoming too long? 3). What are your thoughts on new additions to the lore, such as expanding "paragraph" planets into full pages or adding entirely new locations? 4). What makes an arc personally appealing to you?

I have worked with Trio on a multitude of topics, and they are currently one of the lore team members who is most willing to cross the isle and work with other teams. He has reviewed multiple projects from other teams when they have asked for feedback, and is very helpful as a person. While it wold be a pity to lose such an adept head of the unathi team -- particularly on the heels of such a well-received arc -- he has my full support and confidence. Good luck! My questions for you: 1). Do you believe article-based arcs, such as Amor Patriae for the human team and The Titan Rises for the unathi team, are a good addition to the lore? Should we pursue more of these? 2). How long is too long for an arc? Would you step in and tell people to hurry up, or to write less, if you saw one becoming too long? 3). What are your thoughts on new additions to the lore, such as expanding "paragraph" planets into full pages or adding entirely new locations? 4). What makes an arc personally appealing to you? 5). Would you like to see corporations adopt more of their local cultures? We've seen a bit of this with the Hegemony and Hephaestus, but what about Zavodskoi and Dominia or ZH and the skrell?

I've personally worked with and alongside Silvie multiple times before on both human and synthetic lore matters -- I've never had any issues with them and believe they would be a good fit for the role if chosen. With that said, questions! 1). Do you believe article-based arcs, such as Amor Patriae for the human team and The Titan Rises for the unathi team, are a good addition to the lore? Should we pursue more of these? 2). How long is too long for an arc? Would you step in and tell people to hurry up, or to write less, if you saw one becoming too long? 3). What are your thoughts on new additions to the lore, such as expanding "paragraph" planets into full pages or adding entirely new locations? 4). What makes an arc personally appealing to you? 5). Would you make placing articles onto the wiki a duty for lore writers or for the wiki team themselves, perhaps with lore writers advising?

LVS has interesting characters and I have spoken with them before on lore-related topics. They're not the applicant I'm most familiar with, but I do not doubt they would be a good fit for the position if hired. With that said, onto questions. 1). Human lore recently ran a major article-based arc which you touched on briefly. Overall, it acquired mostly positive feedback. Unathi lore has run a similar, but shorter, arc also based around articles. Do you believe these article-based arcs, such as Amor Patriae for the human team and The Titan Rises for the unathi team, are a good addition to the lore? Should we pursue more of these? 2). How long is too long for an arc? Would you step in and tell people to hurry up, or to write less, if you saw one becoming too long? 3). What are your thoughts on new additions to the lore, such as expanding "paragraph" planets into full pages or adding entirely new locations? 4). What makes an arc personally appealing to you?

I am not incredibly familiar with you as a person, alas, but I have some familiarity with your characters and behavior. I have no concerns about either, so here are some questions! 1). How do you feel about the Zo'ra and their relationship to Biesel? What would you expand there? 2). What are your thoughts on the Lii'dra Incursion? Would you change anything with it?

I've spent a great amount of time working with Wigglesworth on Vysoka and his characters. I have known him since, frankly, about when I started on the server (2019) and he is a very passionate, motivated writer. It is my opinion that he would make an excellent writer if given the position. I do, however, have a few questions -- it wouldn't befit my position to not ask them, after all! 1). To build upon prior questions asked regarding the K'lax, how do you feel about the Zo'ra and their relationship to Biesel? What would you expand there? 2). What are your thoughts on the Lii'dra Incursion? Would you change anything with it?

I have interacted with your CMO in a few rounds and did not find him to be particularly impressive. You did not communicate with the department and it felt as if you were trying to lord over it as an absolute authority rather than serving as a leader for it. It is not fun to be threatened with failure to execute an order for disagreeing with your supervisor and my experiences with you as one of your staff, when combined with the feedback in this thread, do not give me confidence you are ready to serve as a head of staff at this time. -1.

Alliance Celebrates Victory in the Northern Wildlands – Provisional Government Announces Mandate Governors! Finale of the Amor Patriae arc The camera opens onto a crowd waving three flags – Callisto’s, San Colette’s, and the Alliance’s – while cheering and hoisting a man wearing the black uniform of a Solarian Navy officer into the air. The man throws his hat into the sky as a Lunan-accented male begins to speak as a voiceover. “This Monday brings an apparent end to a weekend of celebration across the Alliance with the end of major combat operations in the Northern Reaches, and the announcement of reconstruction in the war-torn region. The camera switches to a view of the Hai Phongese skyline, where fireworks are visible exploding in the air even through its omnipresent smog and dust. A crowd of Hai Phongers watches and observes from a balcony, cheering through their respirators and chanting Solarian slogans. It switches again, now showing a celebration on Silversun where fireworks are exploding in the night sky above a pristine white sand beach. Another camera shot shows a Plutonian street with a red banner reading “GLORY TO THE VICTORY OF THE ALLIANCE OVER FASCISM!” strung across it, from one apartment building to another. “All across our Alliance,” a Lunan-accented man narrates, “the end of the conflict has been celebrated – in many cases, for multiple days – as the end of three years of civil war. The switches to a shot of a large screen in the Susuhe District of Binyaria on Venus which is being watched by a crowd of people. As the announcement of the intervention’s end, and victory, comes into the screen a roaring cheer goes through the crowd, which begins to chant “SOL! SOL! SOL!” over and over. The chanting is quickly drowned out as the camera switches to a scene in Harmony City, Luna, where a Navy officer of the First Battlegroup is greeted by her parents as she returns home. While more demure than Venus, it is still a celebration. “From Venus to Visegrad,” the camera switches to a shot of the Freiheit Tower on Visegrad, which has had a massive Solarian flag projected onto it with “VICTORY OVER ANARCHY!” printed on it, “the Alliance will doubtlessly soon be truly unified once again, and stronger than ever before. We will rise from the defeat of ‘62. The camera switches to a celebration in Korormansk Station, Europa. Lacking a way to set off fireworks the Europans are instead laughing, singing, and dancing with sparklers in their hands as a man plays the Alliance’s anthem on an accordion. Another switch brings the camera to Unified Kunlun, Mars, where a woman with messy blonde hair who is holding a Colettish flag covered in signatures for the camera as she stands alongside a few other soldiers. The camera switches again to Earth, where a statue of a pre-Interstellar War soldier has been adorned with a banner stating the following: 600 YEARS AND COUNTING OF WINNING CIVIL WARS IN ‘65! “Even outside our borders, Solarians celebrate.” The camera switches first to Konyang, where a small pro-Alliance crowd is demonstrating and waving flags in Boryeong. The number of police and counter-protestors seems to greatly outnumber the protestors. It then switches to a public square in Hang Tuah’s Rest, a planet in the Biesel-controlled Corporate Reconstruction Zone, where a crowd is waving flags and chanting anti-Biesel slogans. Then, to a press room on Unity Station featuring Hendrik Strom, emergency governor of the Sol System. The crowd, fitting Strom’s populist style, is filled with both journalists and everyday Solarians. Behind Strom lies a line of flags featuring every Solarian member-state aside from Lycoris. Two individuals stand behind him — one a high-ranking female Navy officer AND the other a man in a suit with a Colettish flag pin on the lapel. “My fellow Solarians,” Strom begins. “For three long years, we have suffered. We have watched our Alliance be picked at by vultures who claim to have its best interests in mind. Today we have watched our Alliance say: no more! No more shall we have to grieve for our fellow Solarians suffering under the rule of despots, maniacs, and warlords. No more shall we have to sleep with one eye open, ever concerned about the Civil War escalating. Today, we declare victory over anarchy!” Strom pauses for a moment to let the crowd cheer. “Today, we announce the creation of the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate and leaders for both Mandates! Without further delay, I am pleased to announce Geraldo de los Reyes as the Governor of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate!” As the crowd cheers again, de los Reyes steps up to the podium and waves at the assembled crowd with both hands. “Thank you, thank you!” he shouts as the noise dies down. “In our darkest days in San Colette, we never lost our faith in both God and the Alliance. I am honored to accept the nomination of both Governor Strom and Colettish President Maribel Sarmiento for the position of Governor. I shall strive in all I do to build a better, more just Alliance for both our future and for those who have their lives protecting it.” The crowd claps for de los Reyes as camera shutters snap and he steps away from the podium. Strom returns to it. “Governor Reyes has my full confidence, and that of the Solarian government. Choosing the governor of the Southern Reaches was a difficult prospect, my fellow Solarians. The region has been ravaged by war, by banditry, and by the interference of Biesel. But one woman has been able to keep most of the region stable, against all odds. It is my honor to announce that Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai shall serve as the Southern Reaches’ provisional governor until the region is further stabilized!” As Strom steps back from the podium the crowd cheers and Szalai steps forward. She shortly begins speaking. “Thank you, Governor Strom. For the past three years the First Middle Ring Battlegroup, alongside Sixth Middle Ring Battlegroup, have fought to preserve our Alliance in the face of unrelenting attacks from traitors and those who would sell our country to the wealthiest corporate interest. We have beaten back every effort, and are honored to rejoin the Alliance.” Szalai receives a notably louder cheer than Reyes as she steps back from the podium. As Strom steps forward to it, he clearly looks very pleased with something. “My fellow Solarians, we have one last announcement for our nation,” Strom pauses, perhaps for dramatic effect. “First, I am pleased to announce July 17 as a new national holiday: the Day of Reunification. Officially, it will be formally celebrated next Monday for this year. Furthermore, with the end of our Civil War, the provisional government has reconsidered certain aspects of our government. I am both honored and privileged to announce that, starting on the first of September, 2465, we will once again hold free and fair elections. May the best candidate win, and long live the Alliance!” Strom throws his hand into the air, both doing V for victory signs, as the crowd practically explodes into cheering. This is an historic day.