Stripes

The Ballad of Simun Arsams

The Expeditionary radio channel/:d is really useful, and is on just about every shipside headset. This is a massive boon for odysseys and just for arranging away trips. However, it's also starting to turn into Common radio 2, sometimes. It's not too often that it's to the point of being egregious, but it seems like the channel can, because everyone has access to it, sometimes pour over into just being a brighter-colored common radio channel. I can't really think of any feasible way to restrict it without banishing it to the handheld realm or making it a separate headset encryption key that just spawns in the hangar in a neat pile or box, but I think making it a more purposeful choice for you to listen into would be nice. EDIT: Actually, people have been saying it'd be much simpler to just have the Expeditionary channel start toggled off. That sounds way better.

The "wings" meat is something I'd like to see on the cargo order, as the only other source is murdering shriekers (we're not anywhere near Moghes/Ouerea) or space bats (kind of a crapshoot if they spawn. also kind of unhygenic).

Jrugl Returns From Biesel, Announces Future Cooperative Final Article of Of Pale Blue Dots arc Translated to Tau Ceti Basic Grand Councillor Weashbi Jrugl has returned from the diplomatic event within the Federal Republic of Biesel’s capital of Mendell City. Reports from the Federation’s embassy within Mendell City have reported that all staff have acclimated to their posting acceptably, and Jrugl’s own visit to the embassy was without any issue. Now returned to Kal’lo, the Grand Councillor will resume their regular schedule by next week. Notably, the corporate summit at Top of the World will now be the second key topic of future council meetings between the Grand Council, as well as the multiple systemary and planetary councils affected by the decisions reached during the meeting. Both the renewed trade agreements with Biesel and cooperation with the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate’s member companies will have quotas and labor assignments updated across all affected planets and affected state-owned enterprise labor teams immediately upon their respective council’s meeting completion. Each foreign corporation’s special economic zone expansions will come into effect over the following months, and are scheduled to have their work completed by the end of 2684-Oqq/2467 AD. Following their return, Weashbi Jrugl released an official statement to the Grand Council, as well as a recording of the statement over their official Viv-ID account. With this statement’s release, many skrell in the Traverse have shared the hopeful thoughts echoed by Jrugl’s statement. Currently, the Traverse’s collective state across the Pluat Ven’qop, Median Treqki, and Q’elpi is universally recognized as deeply troubled, particularly as the phoron scarcity continues to reduce available vessel traffic from the Core, Elemental, and Contingent systems to aid the frontier. Members of the Qehalak have also reported a generally positive outlook with regards to receiving armaments and defense technology from the coming corporate cooperation, believing that their abilities to deter Marauder and piracy activity will only be improved from these efforts. Updated instruction to the Qehalak training regimen has also been announced, particularly involving the use of ballistic firearms, non-Federation manufactured energy weapons, and loading ship-mounted weaponry. Health - Official Headtail Bun and Styling Guides Posted Over Viv-ID In Light Of Dangerous Style Fads Interstellar - Travel Advisory For Republic Of Biesel Tourism to Be Updated Culture - Projected Wulumunusha Crop Deficit to Potentially Impact Weishii Practices

Nralakk-Conglomerate Agreement Confirmed; Corporate Cooperation To Go Forward Article 7 of Of Pale Blue Dots arc A week after the extensive League of Chief Directors and CEOs discussions with the Nralakk Federation’s leader, Grand Councillor Weashbi Jrugl, both parties have successfully come to full agreement on the terms of their future endeavors together. While the Nralakk Federation has originally been notably slow to integrate the interstellar corporations into its economy and borders, today marks a landmark event in the Conglomerate’s outreach as a Spur-wide economic partner. The Nralakk Federation, now a national partner of the SCC, will be receiving competitive phoron price rates as received by other Conglomerate national partners, reduced from the more restrictive rates applied to the Solarian Alliance due to their alignment with non-SCC business partners. Corporate-specific cooperation efforts are as follows: Orion Express has been allotted resource prospecting, extraction, and refinement contracts in multiple territories in the Nralakk Federation’s frontier, known as the Traverse. A large-scale logistics depot and office branch is scheduled to be built in the Pluat Cooperative, which is the industrial heart of the Traverse. Notably, this expansion includes the reallocation of multiple facilities originally maintained by Hephaestus Industries, who will instead be contracted for work in the inner systems. Hephaestus Industries is now slated to refocus their operations on material refinement and industrial solutions towards the core systems of the Nralakk Federation, pivoting away from the frontier. Multiple expansions for their special economic zones on Aweiji and cooperation with the Federation’s national industrial workforce Qerr'Zolvq Industries on improving and expanding industrial throughput to meet the growing demands of the most populated systems. Zavodskoi Interstellar will be supplying the Traverse’s separate military force, the Qehalak, with firearms and ship-mounted weaponry. Zavodskoi will also be involved in research agreements with Tuz’qlip Researchers for future weapons development, stating that the goal of their collaboration will be to “combine human and skrell defense research for a safer, better-defended Spur”. Both the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate and Nanotrasen will receive Federation technological grants and select delegates from Tuz’qlip Researchers to work in-house under contract for an unspecified amount of time. Both corporations will begin integrating the Federation’s advanced research techniques and cutting edge technology for ongoing in-house projects, of which none have been currently named or specified beyond one particular project, dedicated towards “breakthroughs in survey technology for the discovery of phoron”. A renewed phoron survey into the Nralakk Federation’s frontier territories is also slated in the near future, with the joint-expedition being granted the Conglomerate’s most advanced sensor probes and prospecting equipment for both Federation and SCC vessels involved in the effort. Other news: Reported pirate activity in the Traverse has doubled in the last year, with Qehalak and Qukala officers reporting that the situation is “slowly being enveloped back into control, but may continue to worsen until that point”. A travel advisory in the Traverse remains in effect, and trade vessels are urged to report all movement in-system to authorities and apply for a Qukala or Qehalak escort.

kiu's last words...

New Wave Of Bills, Legal Expansions, and Cooperation Promised After Jrugl-Torvald Meeting: A New Ally For the Republic? Article 5 of Of Pale Blue Dots arc Zūn Pirzada, Political Journalist Reporting from: Mendell City, Biesel, Tau Ceti After the meeting between the Nralakk Federation’s Weashbi Jrugl and President Torvald last week, the discussed changes have since entered the Republican Congress and are pending debate, with most forecasted to have their final votes held towards the end of July throughout August. While originally discussed in the presidential meeting, the formalized articles have been expanded upon after collaboration between the Nralakk Federation’s representatives and the Republic of Biesel. Trade agreements, the legal statuses of the skrell refugees of the Starlight Zone, and Port Antillia’s ecological consultation were key points in the following discussions. Beyond the slated bills, an executive decision was put forth by President Torvald to have the Biesel Citizenship and Immigration Services department cooperate with the Nralakk Federation’s embassy to aid in the emigration of voluntary skrell refugees back to the Federation. Also covered in his decision is the delay on deportation requests made by the Nralakk Federation for a total of three months, or until a decision on the MCPD District Eight expansion is made by the Republican Congress. Each bill facing review by the Republican Congress are as follows: Finalize and adopt conditions for future trade between the Nralakk Federation and the Republic Biesel, designation of ports for new trade influx, import taxes, tariffs, and customs inspection. Expand Mendell City Police Department provisions towards District Eight’s precinct, as well as the creation of a special cooperation group between District Eight precinct and both neighborhood watch groups known as Xii’Eyes and Zrosian Watch. Alongside this bill is an expected article regarding reopening the investigations against the Nralakk Federation Embassy’s bombing of 2463. Port Antillia’s ecological consultation, specifically a ten year research project to further understand how to best adapt the colonies present on the planet, alongside how to preserve the environment while exploiting its resources with renewable methods. New legal protections toward enlisted skrell members of Tau Ceti Foreign Legion against deportation to the Nralakk Federation during and after their service. Plans to implement Nralakk Federation-provided aid and funding towards improving material conditions of Severson City and Lekan Village residents, draft and implement plans on rebuilding and improving District Eight’s utilities. Of the wave of new bills, recent political polls by the Tau Ceti Times note a 43.2% “generally supportive” view towards the trade and diplomatic expansions. “Undecided” responses rest at 29.4%, and “not supportive/against” with the remaining 27.4%. Controversy surrounds the extension of MCPD and the expansion on potential deportation against refugees with criminal history that remains outstanding after the amnesty extension, with “generally supportive” ranking at 36.5%, “undecided” at 31.7%, and “not supportive/against” standing at 32.3%. Most Read: | Health | “It went from a pipedream to my career-defining papers” - Binyaria surgeon publishes findings on significantly less invasive surgical techniques for cosmetic operations | Biesel | Displaced by rising rent, Ex-District Three residents moving to Districts Eleven and Fifteen express difficulties from culture shock | Arts & Culture | “Zorane Might Challenge” trend on Chirper results in 3 hospitalized

A lot of these replies are a little combative, when ultimately the issue is above what you could reasonably do to ask of people to show they're adults without a violation of privacy. This has been the hot button issue for everyone from internet censorship in the US to, how other servers elsewhere handle it. They handle it through you sending a (very heavily edited) image of your ID with all identifying features removed next to a slip of paper with the date on it, which obviously has its own bevy of issues from everyone with an ability to edit a photo to people savvy enough to check for metadata on images. Ultimately, there has to be compromise somewhere on the chain, and... unless someone's willing to remove their anonymity for the sake of the rule, it might just not be feasible. No one wants to provide their ID to the internet (look at how the UK is trying to enforce an 18+ check on Discord right now!) and I'd say that it'd require a top down motion, or just hoping it doesn't happen, which is unfortunately very much hoping in spite of odds after a certain point.

Ckey/BYOND Username: TheStripes Position Being Applied For: Lore Developer, Skrell Have you read the Lore Team Rules and Regulations wiki page?: Yes. Past Experiences/Knowledge: Currently non-public writing for Aurora, planet page rewrites for the Nralakk Federation, Shiptest's Kepori species development, and miscellaneous additions to Shiptest's lore. Examples of Past Work: A large portion of the Skrell + Nralakk Federation writing for the current projects (not currently public), the rewrites for the planets. 1. What do you think are the primary themes of skrell lore? If you got this position, how would you develop them? The current primary themes of skrell lore are heavily tied to their relationship with their current and sole nation, the Nralakk Federation, and how it has developed after the Glorsh-Omega period. Post-Glorsh Federation exists in a contradictory state of both yearning for the luxury and power they had during their synthetic age, while just equally admonishing the conditions and actions that brought it into being due to the endpoint of those interests creating the same thing that destroyed it. Nostalgia and fear created the current state of the Federation being purposefully unequal and stratified, creating an underclass and adopting diona and vaurca to commit towards the menial labor that synthetics once did in the name of returning to the days where skrell almost destroyed all hardship and could pursue their own desires freely. Existing outside of these systems is viewed as misguided at best, and betrayal of their fellow skrell and endangering the species at worst. I’d like to develop more on the trajectory of the Nralakk Federation as it attempts to course correct and compromise, with its precarity and all of the external pressures from allowing corporations and its involvement in Spur politics. What awaits it is something I want to expand on, just as much as I’d like to explore where skrell communities outside of the Federation have for their own divergent futures outside of its culture and reach. 2. What do you think is the strongest part of skrell lore currently and why? Skrell lore is at its strongest when it involves itself with the species’ culture. So much of the written pages for skrell culture fleshes them out, from how their relationships and social structures function, to how it has evolved since the Nralakk Federation and the Commonwealth of Three began enforcing social standardization. Modern skrell culture slowly developing newer, less conforming art as they are exposed to more of the Spur’s cultures and the rising counterculture against the enforced mainstream only adds to the species feeling “alive” in the setting. Their culture won’t be able to exist in stasis, whether they are willing to embrace that fact or otherwise. 3. What do you think is the weakest part of skrell lore currently and why? The weakest part of skrell lore is the Nralakk Federation’s total control over the species’ direction exists in a dual state of both doing what most see as essentially a present in-name-only within the setting, while also being one of the Orion Spur’s largest global powers as a nation. Most everything that has defined the Nralakk Federation’s actions are hamstrung by its importance and inability to directly involve itself due to its size and strength, instead being relegated as an entity that only exists as an implied concern. Its own nature of originally being much more isolationist relegated it further into the background noise of the setting, though this is being alleviated as time goes on and the story continues, but it still remains distant and almost unnoticeable with the story beyond being a point of origin for most skrell characters. 4. What do you think are your strongest and weakest attributes in terms of working on a team, and why? In terms of working on a team, I consider myself at my best when given a set direction with a clear set of requirements. I can really put my head down and work on something, and I like to believe I can also be concise and direct with what I’d like when I’m setting it for others. Inversely, I do tend to flounder when I’m given something looser or not really told something directly, and relying on a gut reflex usually ends up to the detriment of it. Communication is also something I have difficulty with, as I have a hard time reading others. 5. Skrell have “symbiotic” relationships with both the C’thur Vaurca and Dionae. How do you plan to continue this relationship and further develop it? Both C’thur vaurca and dionae currently exist in the Federation with varying levels of ingratiating themselves towards it, which ultimately isn’t a relationship that will last forever. Vaurca are indebted through the life support given to their queen, but Diulszi remains a point of contention through it being stuck between the C’thur hive’s new home and being a natural reserve by the Federation. Their integration, and the integration of their more controversial forms like the Cephalons in lieu of truly synthetic AI, are points of interest that I’d want to expand upon. Dionae, in comparison, exist as equally treated well and being deeply limited by the Federation. Xrim’s troubled state and the advent of Hieraethorea’s involvement with the Golden Deep invites a growing rift in the Federation’s otherwise tightly knit relationship with the species, particularly as skrell in Hieraethorea come to terms with potentially being made to interact with the synthetic nation. 6. The skrell lore writer is a position that comes with two deputy writers under them on the team. It is the writer's job to manage their team, in addition to their duties of moderating the WL. Given that, what skills do you have that you think will assist you in this? On the opposite end, what do you believe is your weakest link regarding management and moderation? Delegation with the two potential deputies is something I’d consider myself the most capable of doing, as clear communication is something I personally value the most. Moderating the whitelist as a skrell deputy is an expectation I’m more than willing to meet, as applications exist primarily to gauge and aid how people understand and extrapolate on the lore of the species. My weakest skill would have to be indecision on just how to gauge what is feasible and what interests the audience I’d be writing for, as being a lore maintainer can be freeform enough that I might get lost in just what to do next. 7. What are you thoughts on the Nralakk Federation's current geopolitical situation - eg. Federation isolationism, the Traverse? The Nralakk Federation currently exists in a way that isn’t sustainable, both in-universe and as a part of the literary setting as a whole. Getting the Federation out of its shell and isolationist practices has already been in motion to have it to involve itself in the Orion Spur, and the effects of that on both parties would be more compelling to explore. What currently exists with the Federation’s involvement with other nations, the Izweski Hegemony and Solarian Alliance being immediate examples, should be the starting point of greater change. With the Traverse, the aftermath of the Independent Traverser Movement and its growing freedoms (particularly with the formation of the Qehalak) puts it in an opportune place for conflict in deciding its own future.

“We offer our deepest apologies” | Nralakk Embassy Staffed, Jrugl Releases Official Apology, Promises Made In Meeting With Torvald Article 3 of Of Pale Blue Dots arc Zūn Pirzada, Political Journalist Reporting from: Mendell City, Biesel, Tau Ceti Today, the Nralakk Federation Embassy faces new changes with the entourage of new positions, doubling in size from its reduced staffing after it was rebuilt in 2464. Notably, new positions include an increased security presence, as well as positions for immigration and citizenship aid for the displaced skrell within District Eight’s designated refugee zone. Grand Councillor Jrugl departed this morning, and has since arrived at District 1’s city hall, where their meeting with President Torvald is set to take place. Watch LIVE: President Torvald and Grand Councillor Jrugl’s City Hall Meeting Most Read: | Finance | Zavodskoi Industries stocks back on the rise - a fluke, or whiplash recovery? | Arts & Culture | Skrell voice actor Owaqio Yuup-Ivolzi announced as new VA for future Swimstars entries as Xana, Rica Brown announced as Tau Ceti Basic VA. | Biesel | Heavy rainstorms are expected throughout next week - here’s how to prepare to keep yourself dry in style.