Mendell City Bugle

Negotiations Break Down - Markets Tumble as Alliance Tightens Blockade

Alliance and Biesel leaders today have broken off talks that were set to resolve the ongoing blockade of Tau Ceti, throwing markets into further turmoil and sparking a diplomatic crisis between the two nations. Delegations from the Sol Alliance, Jargon Federation, and Republic of Biesel met in Mendell City to discuss plans on how to end the blockade initiated by the Sol Alliance. A NanoTrasen Representative was present during the talks as an observer.

The Sol Alliance made several demands of the Republic in the trilateral meeting. Originally pressured by the Jargon Federation to place the embargo over Biesel's controversial military contract with NanoTrasen that would see several thousand combat drones constructed, the Alliance delegation expanded the scope of their demands, as well as making them publicly known before negotiations began. The complete demands presented by the Alliance delegation were,

Biesel President Joseph Dorn and Secretary of State Richard Letters, as the Biesel delegation, claim that during the negotiations they made it clear that they were willing to accept the first two demands made, but firmly rejected the third demand, dismissing it as "utterly ridiculous". They also claim that the Alliance refused to entertain a counter-proposal made by the Biesel Delegation to temporarily lift the ban of Vaurca K'ois to Tau Ceti, which may now lead to a famine for the Vaurca present in Tau Ceti.

The Biesel delegation claims that the Alliance refused to accept any dialogue other than repeated, insisting demands for full acceptance by Biesel. Political analysts believe that the Sol Alliance is attempting to reassert its authority over Tau Ceti, and that they may be acting beyond what the Jargon Federation originally intended.

"I believe the Federation must be caught in between the Sol-Biesel domestic dispute," Miranda Barns, a senior political analyst for the Mendell City University told our reporters, "Like, there some serious tension there and that is clearly the undercurrent of the meeting, but the Federation is just there to talk about the synthetic issue."

Biesel Secretary of State Richard letters gave a public statement after the failed talks, blaming the Alliance for them breaking down.

"President Dorn and myself made extremely generous concessions," he told reporters at the conference, "we agreed, against our own judgement, to accept nearly all the provided terms. We were willing to negotiate a compromise but the Alliance delegation was completely unwilling to accept anything other than full submission. They did not want our diplomacy, but our unconditional surrender. We remain committed to finding a diplomatic solution to his crisis and we are in constant communication with the Alliance, but they are so far refusing to agree to terms for a second round of talks."

The Biesel delegation also claims that the joint-Alliance and Jargon delegation walked out of the talks after Biesel's continued refusal to surrender its autonomy in law enforcement. Now with the Alliance allegedly refusing to agree to new talks, some fear that the Alliance may be abandoning diplomatic avenues of resolving the crisis.

"No nation in the galaxy would have accepted these terms in full," Miranda Barns said, "it's basically signing away our sovereignty and turning Tau Ceti back into a state of the Alliance."

There are currently unconfirmed reports that NanoTrasen's Emergency Response Team have consolidated patrols to major shipping lanes, or otherwise expanded their presence in NanoTrasen facilities in Alliance space.

Responses from other galactic factions remain muted. The People's Republic of Adhomai released a brief statement affirming they support Biesel's right to self-governance.

The Unathi Hegemony released a similarly brief statement urging both sides to find a diplomatic solution.

Illegal K’ois Dens Discovered Amidst District 9!

In defiance of the November 15th report estimating an expiration date of around two weeks for the Vaurcae currently within District 9, twenty seven days later it is apparent that the refugee camp is still in operation. This unexpected longevity would be more understandable had the Mendell City Council enacted any policy to alleviate the famine in District 9, as was done in the Phoenixport municipality. However, in the characteristic fashion of the current administration, no effort was made to respond at all towards the developing situation. As such, independent of the Mendell City Council, a federal investigation was launched to examine the District 9 case.

According to Agent Karl Romano, upon arrival the federal agents were treated with inhospitality and often purposefully mislead by several Vaurcae individuals. A medical examiner concluded that while the inhabitants of the camp were certainly markedly underfed, they were not approaching a point of critical famine, and for the most part all Vaurcae were largely operational. After several days of reportedly being “led in circles”, Agent Romano made a quite literal breakthrough when he incidentally broke through a sheetrock wall in what appeared to initially be an unpopulated apartment. Descending into a concealed alcove, and then a subterranean corridor, Agent Romano entered into a moderately expansive cavern of hewn concrete, filled to the brim with illegal K’ois growths. Agent Romano and his team cordoned off the area, and began to excavate for similar dens, an excavation that is ongoing at this present time.

Esteemed experts on Vaurcae biology concluded that the K’ois growths likely had been smuggled into District 9 many months ago, during the most recent exodus from the Zo’ra hiveship Titan Prime, and that the K’ois farm Romano discovered had likely been cultured since then. They also have theorized that there are likely several more subterranean farms, and that the currently discovered location is in all actuality probably a smaller operation. The development of K’ois in such a large-scale operation so close to a civilian population is of particular concern to the supposed experts, accounting for the tendency of K’ois to wildly outpace natural flora, and the possibility of damage to subterranean infrastructure due to its caustic growths, not to mention its toxicity to non-Vaurcae.

Republic officials have not yet made a statement indicating how they are going to handle the situation, although currently all access to the unveiled K’ois den, and any subsequent dens, is strictly forbidden to Vaurcae. Although the actions taken in District 9 have been crucial to the survival of the Vaurcae inhabitants, the growth of K’ois on Biesel is in direct violation of Federal law, and the caverns used to grow it are likewise illegally constructed in contempt of Mendell City zoning laws.

The Bugle was unable to solicit any commentary from Zo’ra officials, who have been uncharacteristically absent from these affairs, and in fact have not been seen in the public eye for several weeks, since shortly after the November 15th famine.

Federal Authorities Enforce Invasive Species Act!

“Mendell City authorities have failed to adequately deal with the problem at hand,” explained Agent Romano as several Federal excavation vehicles tumbled behind him, piercing the decrepit concrete of District 9, “We gave them a courtesy period of a week to announce their intent to enforce the Invasive Species Act, and they have failed to muster any formal response at all. As such, we’ve stepped in ourselves. It’s very distressing to witness such a failure in the Council firsthand.”

Just last week Agent Romano had been the BEP (Bureau of Environmental Protection) agent responsible for the discovery of a potentially vast and certainly illegal K’ois growing operation beneath the streets of District 9. Now, he has been promoted the head of the project designed to enforce Federal will by removing every specimen of K’ois within Mendell City. Beginning in District 9, over fifteen K’ois farms of varying size have been discovered, with many more expected. A pattern has been established, and Federal agents are roving the premises to weed out the last of the fungal intruders.

Agent Romano explained that “K’ois removal is a very delicate procedure. We must first pierce into the subterranean grotto that hosts the K’ois – typically an abandoned basement or cistern, and in one very alarming scenario a minor reservoir in the city water treatment grid. After piercing into the farm, we must incinerate the K’ois, taking great care not to release any spores whatsoever, so as to not infect anything. Once this is done the entire grotto is collapsed artificially.” Any Vaurca that can be immediately convicted as responsible for the grotto are arrested, although Agent Romano confides that this is mostly for show. “Most of the K’ois tenders are what the Vaurca call ‘Bound’. They’re just slaves to some higher intelligence. We don’t know exactly who is responsible, although we have our theories.”

Agent Romano reports that, barring any unexpected circumstances or the reveal of any additional unpredicted K’ois farms, K’ois removal operations in District 9 would be completed by the middle of January. The BEP project would then begin a deep examination of the surrounding infrastructure and wild-life, to ensure there was no K’ois infestation. Agent Romano was sad to report that due to the “unprofessional” means of growing the K’ois, an infestation of the surrounding area was “highly likely”, and in fact probably already several weeks extant.

Meanwhile, rumours abound concerning the source of the K’ois. Although many obviously suspect the Zo’ra Lesser Queens as being the masterminds of the operation, there still remains the question of how access was gained to the insidious fungus. Access to K’ois is highly restricted, and the only known facility with any K’ois in storage is the Zo’ra hiveship Titan Prime, which is currently under the possession of NanoTrasen scientific staff. Meanwhile, NanoTrasen stations that field Vaurcae personnel show none of the shortages of the K’ois famine, indicating that they are still being supplied with fresh K’ois even under the Sol Alliance embargo. Despite these suspicious circumstances, the BEP has apparently found no evidence to implicate NanoTrasen as being accomplice to the illegal operation.

The Zo’rane Lesser Queens remain totally absent from the public eye, and have released no statement whatsoever concerning the recent affairs.

Tragedy Delays BEP K’ois Removal!

The Mendell City Bugle is sad to report that earlier this evening twenty three were killed in a violent and unpredictable cave-in within District 9. Among the casualties are twenty Federal workers, including Leading Agent Romano and several of his subordinates, as well as three architectural surveyors hired to estimate the stability of Site #18, a K’ois farm that was scheduled for Federal examination tomorrow morning. Agent Romano was recovered and hospitalized after the incident, but did not regain consciousness before expiring, leaving the Bureau of Environmental Protection’s project in disarray.

Site #18, which was discovered this Tuesday, had reportedly inhabited the undercroft of a small chapel in the central ring of District 9. Only a few houses down from the former Bank of United Biesellian Trust, the lair of the Lesser Queen Ta'Akaix'Vaur'skiyet'sca Zo'ra and her retinue, it was several times larger than any previously discovered K’ois farm, and records indicate that Agent Romano believed that it was possibly the alpha site. Theorizing that it could possibly provide a great deal of forensic evidence that might point towards the source of this K’ois epidemic, Romano delayed its termination until a Forensic Technician could arrive from the capitol next Monday.

With the effective termination of the entire on-site chain of command for the K’ois removal operation, the BEP project is being delayed indefinitely until the situation clears up, and the operation can be safely resumed once again. Federal agents on the scene are being given a reprieve while the situation is resolved. An informed individual reported that the project could not continue until at least a superficial situation investigation had been conducted, and all machinery was examined. A concrete source of the collapse had also yet to be identified, creating a bureaucratic obstacle. BEP Director Erin McNash had this to say;

“The tragic death of such a brave man as Karl Romano is a tragedy that should be mourned across the world. Those that give their most precious life to the service of the state should forever be held in the highest esteem, and it is my belief that what Karl would want most if he were still there would be to see a pure and clean District 9. The purification of that region of Mendell City had of late become his passion project, and as such we will by no means delay too long the continuation of his aspirations, the elimination of such a vile plant as K’ois from our fair green Biesel, and in fact we shall resume with increased vigour as soon as possible.”

With the suspicious circumstances of Romano’s death, many are calling for a criminal investigation of the incident, and already some have taken to the streets in purely nonviolent demonstrations against the Vaurcae, calling for justice. Todd DeStrexgal, the sole survivor of the incident and lead surveyor of the DeStrexgal Survey Company, fed these fires by stating this:

“Site #18 – Our Lady of Lourdes church’s undercroft – was probably the most goddamn stable structure in the entirety of Mendell City. Sure, the actual undercroft used to be a real piece of decrepit s—t, but those d—n bugs did somethin’ to it, built it up real good, d—n fine work… It would never have collapsed naturally.”

Meanwhile, a human-run Vaurcae apologist group has seemingly been formed and has taken to the streets also, defending the Vaurcae against these allegations, and more. The group calls themselves the “NSFP”, or the “New Sedantis Foundation Party”, and despite their well-inclined disposition to the Vaurcae, their membership is primarily wealthy, young adult humans along with a minority base of IPCs, according to their party manifest.

Vaurcae leadership remains silent on these affairs.

Biesel, Elyra, and NanoTrasen Found Association for Market Stability

PHOENIXPORT — After months of economic turbulence during the Alliances' ongoing blockade of Tau Ceti, President Dorn today announced the successful formation of a permanent galactic organization in partnership with NanoTrasen and the Republic of Elyra.

Designated as the Association for the Responsible Exportation of Phoron (AREP), this business syndicate will allow the two largest exporters of the substance to collaborate with their mutual partner NanoTrasen to better manage market pressures. The organization has three representatives that form a triumvirate for the organization, with NanoTrasen, Biesel, and Elyra having equal standing in the organization.

Mr. Dorn held a joint press conference with NT Directer of Public Relations Andrew Reynolds in front of the newly remodeled office tower that is now AREP's headquarters in Phoenixport. It borders on the Artyom Petrov Memorial Plaza, which itself saw a large crowd attending the conference.

“Four decades ago, NanoTrasen made a monumental promise," President Dorn spoke first, "On that fateful Sunday morning, the Metis picked from the dust that rings our system a material unlike anything else Man had laid eyes on - phoron. And that very Sunday evening, NanoTrasen scientists had not only seen it—they had boldly pronounced that phoron would one day become the universal fuel of the galaxy. It was a struggle, yes, as change always is. Fusion power didn’t go quietly, and it was only through the dedication and hard work of the Republic’s citizenry that we broke the outmoded and manipulative powers of the past. And through this great labour, NanoTrasen was with us every step of the way.

Today we see the fruits of our great endeavor. There is not a human nation in the cosmos that has not seen the value of phoron, and from our practically limitless power supply springs untold prosperity. That is why we must ensure this limitless resource, which brought so much prosperity to humanity, is well regulated and the market for it sheltered from strain. Elyra, Biesel, and NanoTrasen combined produce nearly all refined phoron in use in the galaxy - let's all work together to ensure we use it well.”

NanoTrasen Public Relations Director Director Reynolds spoke next in a much less grandiose speech, saying,

"Through this organization the relevant powers involved in Phoron extraction and refinement will secure market stability for the galaxy. We are very excited to see this organization grow. We expect a large number of new jobs being created in Elyra and Biesel."

The AREP charter was only publicly released Monday morning, mere hours before its swift ratification by Congress.

Elyra has held similar announcements.

The Sol Alliance has sharply criticized the formation of the organization, accusing NanoTrasen of exerting its influence in Elyran and Biesel politics and using this organization as a rubber stamp to prepare possible future retaliatory actions against its ongoing blockade of Tau Ceti and multiple sanctions against NanoTrasen.

K’ois Mycosis – Fact or Fiction?

At 4:00 PM this afternoon local Mendell City resident Jones Albright was pronounced dead by cause of asphyxiation due to damage to the lungs. A standard man, Mr. Albright’s death has gained significance due to allegations posed that the death was caused by a novel medical condition referred to as ‘Systemic K’ois Mycosis’. These allegations, pushed by the celebrity doctor Dr. Kane, have gained significant traction in anti-Vaurcae populations, and once again discontent begins to rise in the streets surrounding District 9. Following his supposed revelation, Dr. Kane himself has taken a strong position against the Vaurcae population, citing that the health hazards of K’ois far exceeded the mere infrastructural damages originally predicted. Utilizing his media influence, Dr. Kane has begun lengthy televised sections warning of the dangers of K’ois. He explains Systemic K’ois Mycosis, or SKM, as follows;

”K’ois Mycosis is really just nasty stuff. Absolutely torrid. The K’ois spores, which are really microscopic buggers, needle their way into your trachea and take root in the lining of your upper lungs. Now, these little yellow bastards are just absolutely the most determined plants I’ve ever seen, and the human body really just has no natural defense against them. If you don’t get hospitalized they’ll grow to a lethal mass within days, and all the way to the end it will probably be the most painful experience you’ll know. This K’ois substance is really just so very caustic, it’ll start melting your lungs or if you’re lucky your stomach, or however it got in. You’ll start vomiting blood, and then you’ll die, and it’s just horrible that it’s that simple. It’s really just awful."

Dr. Kane explains that, while he has not personally examined the body of Mr. Albright, he is “fairly confident” based on the location of Mr. Albright’s home, which is the first home on the District 9 Outload Water-Distro line, which previously connected to the water reservoir previously publicly discussed by the former Agent Romano as being infected by K’ois. Beyond this however, he has not released any other evidence, although he states that the reported symptoms of death “closely, if not identically” match his theoretical model of SKM progression. His announcement that the source of the infection was caused by the distro line has sent some local residents into a panic, further inciting unrest along the borders of District 9. The District Hospital of St. Roseanne for Peace, who took in Mr. Albright’s body and pronounced him dead, has released no information concerning the death, citing the “need to preserve the privacy of those who pass through their doors.”

In response to these recent developments, the NSFP (New Sedantis Foundation Party) has determined that they will send an expedition into District 9 to meet with the Lesser Queen Ta'Akaix'Vaur'skiyet'sca Zo'ra to put a conclusive end to the controversy and ambiguity concerning recent events. The predominantly human Vaurcae sympathetic group states that, thanks to their warm inclination towards the Vaurcae, they will have no difficulty entering diplomatic congress with the hierarchs of District 9, succeeding where “typical anti-Vaurca mentalities” had previously failed.

Meanwhile, progress on the Bureau of Environmental Protection elimination of the illegal K’ois farms in District 9 has stalled yet again, for the fifth time this month, with the cited excuse of “equipment failure in the primary diggers”. With the promotion to project head of Thomas Clarke the project has slowed considerably, with not even a single K’ois farm being totally removed since. Promoted under the recommendation of NanoTrasen, the former NT xenobotanist Dr. Clarke comes with several prestigious credits to his name, and insists that the delays are merely the result of the inclement weather conditions.

State Department Expels Alliance Diplomats: Alliance Admiral Warns Retaliation

Earlier today the Biesel State Department announced that it had expelled all 12 Alliance diplomats from Biesel, ejecting them and demanding the closure of the Alliance embassy in orbit of Biesel. This move signals a complete break in diplomatic ties with the Alliance, in a move Secretary of State Richard Letters says was a "necessary response to the Alliances' harmful behavior towards Biesel."

The move against the diplomats from the system is part of a series of actions announced today to punish the Alliance for what Letters claimed was a campaign of intimidation of Biesel by Alliance diplomats.

The diplomats and their staff were given 48 hours to leave the star system.

President Dorn provided further justification for the highly unusual move.

"The Alliance diplomats have shown flagrant disrespect towards Biesel delegations and members of the diplomat staff. They have engaged in campaigns to intimidate and harass Biesel diplomats during negotiations to end the economic blockade of our star system. It's clear that the Alliance does not take our position seriously. We are willing to re-enter diplomatic connections once the Alliance shows a commitment to mature and progressive diplomacy."

Public reaction to the move has been extremely mixed within Tau Ceti. Polls done by the Bugle show that 33% of respondents "strongly disagree" with the move, while 35% "strongly approve".

The Alliance has sharply criticized the motion. Most alarmingly, Alliance Admiral Michael Frost, who commands the 33rd Fleet enforcing the blockade on Tau Ceti, has been unusually vocal about his displeasure.

"The Alliance does not respond to force by meekly bowing its head and apologizing." Admiral Frost said in a statement, "SolGov sets the conditions, the terms, and the nature of our relationship with minor states. Dorn has poked the bear and there will be consequences."

Public officials have downplayed the comments, but Bugle political analyst Rebecca Trihart voiced her concern in a brief interview with Bugle anchors minutes after the Admiral's announcement.

"Historically Alliance admirals run their fleets like warlords," she said, "There is historical precedent for a hotshot Admiral to act outside the bounds or even against the wishes of SolGov to interfere with independent star systems. And since I know Frosts' personal history has him being an ATLAS hardliner - it gives us cause to be worried."

Mystery Hivenet Signal: Could More Zo'ra Be Inbound?

Readers are likely familiar with the controversial New Gibson Hivenet Relay negotiations held this past summer, in which NanoTrasen stepped in and officiated a compromise between the Zo’ra hive and the officials of the Biesel Republic, permitting Zo’ra to maintain a Hivenet Relay under strict NanoTrasen supervision. One of the key tenets of operation was the following;

”The communications sent and relayed by the Hive Relay must not originate from or be destined for any system or location not officially sanctioned by NanoTrasen and the Department of Vaurca Integration, currently only including Tau Ceti and Glorashi.”

This regulation has been seen by many to be more of a precaution than an earnest worry, and until recently it has remained unbroken. However, this afternoon maintenance officials for the Hivenet Relay on New Gibson were surprised to learn that a top priority signal had been received from an uncharted star system several hundred light years distant. The signal, unnoticed, had been automatically, and allegedly without any Vaurcae intererence, redirected to a communications node aboard the Titan Prime. Fortunately, NanoTrasen reported that the communications node has been disconnected from the system ever since they had begun research operations aboard the Hiveship. NanoTrasen researchers have assured us that they are confident that they were able to isolate the message without any Vaurca receiving it. Dr. Elene Rodgers, a renowned pioneer in the field of Vaurca ‘linguistics’, states that the field of Hivenet decryption has progressed lightyears since their first steps aboard the “astounding” Vaurcae arkship. He is totally confident that, especially in light of this last incident, they have almost mastered the art of manipulating the Hivenet and believes that NanoTrasen possesses total capability now of monitoring, censoring, and distributing information that the Vaurca typically keep to themselves, on all levels. He has reported this to be “very exciting”, and may prove integral to tracking and controlling Vaurca movement throughout Biesel and can even be applied to Vaurca in other systems, in particular the Lii’dra. Unofficially, but on the record, he has hinted that they may shortly be producing a device for sale to the Biesel government that may afford them a similar control of Hivenet communications for Vaurca interned on their worlds, and he himself dreams someday of a commercial device to allow broad civilian access to the “wonderful world of the Hivenet”.

As to the actual message itself, NanoTrasen reports that they are hard at work in decrypting and transcripting it now. The message appears to be of a certain length that indicates it as a report of some sort, however researchers are confident that Titan Prime itself was probably not directly targeted as a recipient. The originator of the report is assuredly of the Hive Zo’ra they state, but they do not have an exact location as for its origin point. They indicate that it is from a region of space that has thus far been officially uncharted by any Human or Skrell explorers, automated or otherwise. The age of the message is currently unknown, but they estimate it can be anywhere from a decade to several centuries dated, based on current understanding of Vaurcae pre-Contact technology. Researchers are excited to learn the contents of the message for the possibility of learning more about uncharted regions of space, and in particular learning more about Vaurcae currently not represented by the interned population of Zo’ra in Tau Ceti. They are under the current impression that the message likely has no bearing on Tau Ceti Zo’ra itself, as they again believe that the Titan Prime was not specifically targeted as a recipient.

Reaction to this unexpected news has been mixed. The Republic of Biesel officially states that they “trust NanoTrasen’s opinion on the potential national risk of the message, and that due to more pressing local matters they will have to decline making an official muster of their own until more information is available as to the relevance of the message upon national security.” Many, especially residents of Mendell City, have taken issue with this response. One concerned citizen, who has elected to remain anonymous, has stated that;

”With all due respect to President Dorn and his cronies – whatever matters may temporarily occupy the attention of the state, the matter of the Vaurca is not some issue that can just be pushed aside, labelled as ‘not our problem’. We can’t handle the Vaurcae we do have, and I bloody don’t see why they’d send a message to this neck of the woods if it weren’t for announcing their second coming.”

Several others have reported concern towards the potential reaction of the Vaurcae currently present in Tau Ceti. One Emma Crool states that;

”Regardless of what the message actually states – it could talk about the Queen’s loofah for all it matters, I have no doubt it will send the d—n bugs already living here into an uproar. We can’t handle that. We’re not controlling them as is.”

Ms. Crool’s concerns strike true – regardless of the contents of the encrypted message, the fact that there has been a message at all may act as the final straw for the already poorly controlled Vaurcae in District 9 and even on New Gibson. The poorly executed maneuvres of the national government – the BEP project, the Department of Vaurca Integration, and more – illustrate a sordid picture for the future if the Vaurcae become animated against the interests of Biesel, which the message may incense them to do. Already amateur analysts of District 9, colloquially known as “BorderWatch”, have reported that Vaurcae activity within the slums grows more and more agitated, which they attribute equally to the curiosity as to the contents of the report and to frustration and worry that NanoTrasen had somehow become so adept at manipulation of the Hivenet as to isolate the report to themselves.

NanoTrasen has assured the public that, in response to these concerns, they are perfectly capable of fielding their prototype Hivenet overwatch devices in case of potential turmoil, and they are confident that they will be able to nip any Vaurcae instigated conflict in the very bud.

The Hive Zo’ra and its Lesser Queens have not released an official statement to the press.

Update on Mystery Message: Unrest In Mendell City!

In a surprising turn of events, political unrest in the general populace of Mendell City has grown over the past hours after the discovery of the unknown Hivenet signal from space. Several isolated incidents have sprung up throughout the districts surrounding District 9, and many worry that these incidents may congeal into a more centralized and disruptive movement.

In District 6, several roving Vaurcae inspired resident store owner Grisome Jack to initiate an impromptu lynch gang with several of his neighbouring vendors. In pursuit of a small group of Unbound workers, the gang ran into a police patrol and were apprehended without causing any significant damage to any Vaurcae within District 6. Police reports indicate that the gang is being held for the night, but a trial will not be held.

In District 11, four street gangs individually made an assault on the border fence separating District 9 and 11. The scene quickly became a turf war, and the gangs quickly turned on one another as the evening progressed, abandoning their original intent of penetrating into District 9. Police cordoned off the area, and waited for the gangs to burn one another out. At 8 PM they engaged in an assault and arrested over twenty gangmembers. Reports indicate twelve casualties, two of which were Vaurcae bound who were tunneling by the fence in violation of district codes. Another, smaller turf war began shortly thereafter between fleeing gang members, who were similarly apprehended by police in pursuit. Simultaneously, several relief workers affiliated with the NSFP (New Sedantis Foundation Party) who were engaged in awareness campaigns were driven out of District 11, but otherwise were largely unharmed.

In District 14 two factories largely abandoned after downsizing following the Sol Alliance embargo were engulfed in flame after what was reported as a botched K’ois burning conducted by hundreds of disgruntled citizens from surrounding Districts. Several people were evacuated to nearby hospitals with third degree burns, and the FEP was called in for biohazard control. After a brief investigation the area was cleared once it was discovered that the alleged “K’ois” being burnt was nothing more than a breed of corrosive space lichen. Gerald Forgenheimer, the instigator of the K’ois burning, reports that he scraped the space lichen off of a long maintenance belt in an orbiting NanoTrasen space vessel, genuinely believing it to be K’ois planted by one of his Vaurca co-workers. The source of the fire is apparently a combusted welding tank that was unmarked by the factory’s previous inhabitants.

A group of NSFP workers were apparently arrested after breaking through the borderfence of District 9, with the intended goal of “humanitarian effort”. Two of the group had in their possession a substantial amount of K’ois spores, indicating that they were smuggled off of a NanoTrasen facility. This is further supported due to the occupation of the leader of their group, who the police have elected to retain anonymously. The police report however states his occupation as a botanist. This incident sparked several NanoTrasen employees to publicly declare their unrest concerning the free availability of K’ois to NanoTrasen botanists, which they claim to be “highly dangerous and thus unethical, and surely in violation of workplace safety practices.”

A number of Vaurcae were caught trespassing in a large field in the Abaster Fields district. They refused to give a statement explaining their purpose to the Mendell police patrol that apprehended them, but judging by the contents of their persons they were prepared for a very long journey. Police reports indicate that between the three individuals there was a kit of digging tools – presumably for creating temporary habitations, a shoddy map of the continent Astraeus , several pounds worth of dried K’ois prepared into meal-sized rations, two large bundles of NanoTrasen Vaurca-Phoron rations, and what appeared to be a large Vaurcae thermal knife that had been smuggled from Titan Prime, as well as various other sundries.

Meanwhile, NanoTrasen reports that they have made significant headway in the decryption of the mysterious signal that they received from outerspace yesterday. They indicate that they have devoted much of their research resources aboard the Titan Prime to recovering the contents of the message, under the impression that it will be a valuable resource. A spokesperson from NanoTrasen stated that they had decrypted almost two-thirds of the message, and were very impressed with the contents. They further went on to elaborate that the contents of the message could potentially be very valuable to both the Zo’ra hierarchy and the Republic of Biesel and various other third parties. The spokesperson then said that;

”While we would love to hand the information off to hive Zo’ra for the interest of fostering peace and co-operation between Vaurcae and Humanity, and while it may seem fair to Zo’ra that we give them the information that they may believe we ‘stole’ from them and their Hivenet, we do not believe this would be particularly fair to other interested parties. We don’t really believe that the contents of the message pose a severe risk, and as such after we have finished analyzing it we are considering auctioning it off to the highest bidder.”

This was later confirmed by NanoTrasen when they reported that after they had finished decrypting and archiving the message, which they believe would not take more than 12-48 hours after the publishing of this article, they would be holding an invite-only auction to sell the data. They have indicated that based off of the information they have acquired, only a portion of the message is of enough contemporary value that they would be unwilling to part with. The rest is valuable solely for its historical purposes, and thus they are eager to turn the censored version over in full to any collectors of xeno artifacts. They have additionally stated that they cordially invited Ta'Akaix'Vaur'skiyet'sca Zo'ra, the lesser queen of District 9, to send a representative if they would be interested in participating in the auction. They inform us that they will be offering no bid advantage to the Zo’ra, despite claims of the message rightfully belonging to them, in the interest of holding a perfectly fair event.

The Bugle has been granted press exclusivity over this event, and as such we will be posting a press report after its conclusion.

Congress Invokes Article IV To Trigger Constitutional Convention: Synthetic Rights And Military Reform On The Agenda

Unexpected developments are coming from the capital today as a congressional session voted to trigger a Constitutional Convention by an extremely narrow margin. 254 of the 380 Congressmen voted in favor of the convention, with all Tau Ceti Republicans voting in favor and 12 Democrats flipping to support the motion. The convention will be the second one called in Tau Ceti's history, including the original one that was called immediately after the system's independence from the Sol Alliance. The Convention has been scheduled to take place on March 1st, 2459 which established the current government and constitution of the republic.

The Constitutional Convention will see an assembly of all 512 state governors and representatives in Congress meeting in Mendell City. During the convention the delegates will propose and vote on amendments to the Constitution of Biesel.

Tau Ceti Republican Richard Goodyear is the representative that spearheaded the vote to trigger the Convention, and many expect he will be elected to preside over the Convention proper. The 58 year old Congressman from Phoenixport told reporters that the Convention was necessary to address two key issues.

"The issue of synthetic freedom has plagued our Republic since its foundation, and our weakness in the face of the imperialism of the Alliance have both plagued our young nation." Congressman Goodyear told reporters in a press conference following the vote, "We need to address these concerns quickly and without delay."

Goodyear has released the full documents of two proposals he says he will be submitting to the Convention: The Sapient Freedom Act and the Strengthen the Navy Act.

The Sapient Freedom Act, if passed by the necessary 2/3rd majority in the Convention, would see un-lawed synthetics being granted limited rights. Goodyear outlined his justifications for what he called "Limited emancipation".

"IPC's are a source of cheap, replaceable labor even for specialized jobs. They don't cost employers healthcare, they are easily programmable and re-programmable, and have untapped potential in bringing us better jobs."

The article would also see a streamlined legal framework in regards to synthetic ownership, employment of synthetics, and the legality of their treatment. IPC's do not themselves receive a salary as they are property, with the money instead going to their owner. Technically if an IPC owns itself it is meant to be given a reliable salary but this is largely ignored, with IPC's unable to sue for their wages as the Supreme Court previously declared. Another consequence is that the payment to the owner of IPC's are not taxed due to various legal and tax technicalities, which is cited as a major loss in revenue. IPC's would not be given the right to vote, but Goodyear stresses that IPC's being treated like 'indentured servants' is better for the bottom line of every taxpayer and business in Tau Ceti.

The Strengthen the Navy Act would change the wording of the constitution to give Congress greater power in funding the military. Currently Congress is strictly limited by Article IV of the Constitution, which stipulates that only 1.05% of GDP may be spent directly on the armed forces, limits the size of the navy, and forbids conscription. This has seen Tau Ceti become increasingly reliant on NanoTrasen's private military company, the Emergency Response Team, which many have slammed as unable to cope with the increasingly increasing threat of invasion from the Alliance.

While delegates have been extremely divided on the issue of limited synthetic emancipation, many delegates that we contacted were extremely skeptical of the need to strengthen the navy.

"We aren't going to be invaded any time soon," Democrat Jonathon Wheeler told our reporters, "We don't need to start creating a military-industrial complex in our system. NanoTrasen's ERT is more than sufficient to deal with the treats we face. It's 2459, galactic wars are a thing of the past."

The following message is being transmitted at the request of the Tau Ceti government. Tracking stations based around Luthien detected over 100 unregistered bluespace jumps into the Tau Ceti system at 5:21pm MST. At 5:25pm MST these signatures exited bluespace in orbit around Biesel, New Gibson and within the Romanovich Cloud. Military officials have not commented on the nature or origin of these unidentified vessels but all citizens of Mendell City are being advised to remain calm. Tracking stations have found multiple unidentified vessels around Biesel with unknown intention. The Tau Ceti government has urged calm. Further information will be transmitted as the situation develops.

Please seek further information from your local authorities.

BREAKING: ALLIANCE FLEET CONFIRMED: PRESIDENTIAL SHUTTLE INTERCEPTED AS NAVY ABANDONS HEADQUARTERS

Government authorities within Tau Ceti Defense Command have just confirmed that the signatures of the vessels in orbit of Biesel match signatures of Alliance vessels. Civilian shuttle authority have given extremely troubling information in which tracking stations reported President Dorn's privates shuttle was intercepted in orbit of Biesel by a squadron of Alliance marines. There is no information on other members of the executive cabinet, and no authorities have given confirmation on whether or not the President was on-board his shuttle when it was seized.

In addition several telecommunication satellites have been seized by Alliance marines or are experiencing significant malfunctions due to the immense amount of traffic. As a consequence we are unable to reach our affiliates in New Gibson. Reporter Rhazi Stindle was providing coverage on repairs in a shuttleport on New Gibson when she briefly passed along information that several unscheduled shuttles had armed men in what looked like marine uniforms exiting the shuttles. Telecommunication disruption has caused us to lose contact with Stindle and we are unaware of current developments on the planet.

Further, we are unable to contact any affiliates beyond orbit of Biesel.

We have managed to reach one affiliate in Tau Ceti Defense Command HQ, in orbit of Biesel. Reporter Christian Black was present to conduct an interview of Admiral Craig Stenson, commander of Biesel's only fleet and orbital defense network. Black has been able to connect to our station and has been reporting on what he calls "immense disarray" within the naval HQ.

NanoTrasen Surrenders Odin, Biesel Navy Surrenders in Orbit, Alliance Forces Landing Across Biesel in "Bloodless" Invasion

The following message is being transmitted at the request of the Biesel Defense Command. Unidentified aircraft have been located entering the atmosphere near Mendell City, Phoenixport, Cape City, Lakeside, and Metropolis. The aircraft are presumed to be foreign, and may pose a threat to those in the area. Mendell City residents are advised to immediately tune to local media outlets for further developments. More developments will follow as information becomes available.

President Dorn has given a televised statement from the Alliance battleship SAMV Tsunami in which he has ordered the Tau Ceti military stand down and cease all combat operations, confirming rumors that he had been abducted from his shuttle by an Alliance marine squad. We've received the transmission just minutes ago.

"In the face of overwhelming firepower, we must accept the terms of surrender laid out by Admiral Frost. We must persevere in our commitment to peace. That is why I am now ordering that all Tau Ceti military forces stand down and surrender to Alliance forces. As part of our surrender conditions, I am also ordering that all combat droids, combat drones, and other synthetics used by the government and military to be handed over to Alliance authorities for immediate dismantlement. Refusal to follow this order will be considered treason and dealt with via swift court marshal. I urge all citizens to cooperate fully and without reservation with the Alliance forces."

The feed was then cut and replaced with a viewscreen showing Admiral Frost. The Admiral is believed to have visited the NTCC Odin and NSS Aurora before this broadcast, where he explained his justification for invasion and his plans for Tau Ceti.

His speech, given in Common, was as follows.

"This colony of the Alliance has been proliferating synthetics as potential weapons of mass destruction. There have already been numerous incidents where synthetic infiltrators have murdered people in cold blood to progress their agenda. Synthetic proliferation is an existential threat to all mankind. Like a weed, synthetics take root among us and spread until they are able to strangle us all. They can look like us, they feel no pain, and are incapable of understanding mercy. To allow the Tau Ceti government to build an army of combat synthetics, despite the abhorrent lessons of history, is unthinkable.

The 33rd, along with assistance from federal, state, and NanoTrasen authorities, will be working over the next month to completely cripple the power of synthetics in this system. They will be dismantled. They will be re-purposed. They will be returned to their status as tools and stripped of all notions of independence or emancipation. Synthetics are tools, and made to serve mankind. But they are dangerous to leave unchecked. This colony's administration was incapable of handling or even understanding the Pandora's box they were opening. Hail Sol, and God bless the Alliance."

Most of the military has complied with the order to surrender and have laid down their weapons. Three airstrikes were reported on a military base outside Phoenixport, leading us to believe the garrison refused this order.

Other than this airstrike the occupation has been described as relatively bloodless as the Tau Ceti military has surrendered during every engagement. Only 12 casualties have been reported so far, with 11 of those being Tau Ceti servicemen. The other death is believed to have died from the airstrike outside Phoenixport.

The government has issued a brief statement asking for calm and assuring the public that life will continue as normal during the occupation.

We have confirmed reports that Alliance demolition teams are targeting robotics labs owned by NanoTrasen and government contractors. Early this morning authorities moved to shut down the majority of robotic labs across Biesel and New Gibson, though it was believed at the time that these buildings and laboratories would simply remain shut down.

Reporter Jonathon Michael was on scene outside a robotics lab in Mendell City. Owned by NanoTrasen, the 2 story building was the only place in the city where you could find functioning man-machine interfaces, and one of the rare places where positronic brains were constructed.

Michael showed up this morning when the lab was being shut down, and is now reporting on the surprising demolition.

"Alliance marines and FIB agents cleared out the building this morning and then did another sweep this afternoon," Michael said, "military trucks were loaded up with all the robotics equipment and driven off somewhere. A few hours ago I saw marine engineers swarming through the building and the crowd of on-lookers was pushed back. Everyone has been apprehensive about what's going on - someone claiming to be a lab worker has told me that there's a newly created IPC in there still, and she is unsure on it the IPC was taken out with the other equipment."

The marines then placed explosives in key areas of the building and detonated them, causing a controlled demolition. The building collapsed completely and workers are now clearing the rubble to make the road safe for traffic again.

The same story is being repeated at other robotics labs across Biesel and New Gibson. One orbital research station has already had its robotics lab dismantled, though other stations have reported that their robotics labs are untouched. There is no information on how or why the 33rd is targeting specific labs.

Responses to this development has been muted. Several protests broke out in Phoenixport and Metropolis but were quickly squashed by police. With the on-going state of martial law the Biesel Planetary Guard has moved into major cities under orders of Admiral Frost to "Help maintain order and assist in executing the law."

Early last night, thousands of protesters gathered in District 1 New Hope in reaction to the recent Sol Alliance occupation of Tau Ceti. Many of them carried signs and used slogans calling for the departure of Admiral Frost's fleet and the independence of Tau Ceti. News Correspondent Gary Jackson was on the scene outside of the Mendell City Council building, and interviewed one of the protesters, who had this to say.

"This is an invasion! Like, we're a young republic, we're as democratic as they come, and they just want us back in because we're so successful. Well, I say they can't do that!"

The brief interview was cut short as he went to join a group of IPCs in chanting, "Our life, our right! Sol leave tonight!"

Meanwhile in District 6 Imperial Plaza, working class community members had gathered from all over the slums of the city. A series of heated speeches from unidentified speakers were met with loud cheers. Republic of Biesel flags waved all across Imperial Plaza as people called for independence. After some time, the crowd began to march to District 1.

Although the protests were initially unified, arguments began to break out leading to a clash between the crowds. The Mendell City Police Department spent the following two hours disbanding the protesters by force using riot control methods. Tear gas was deployed, sending protesters fleeing.

Despite the breakup of last nights protests, crowds continued to gather again in New Hope this morning, as well as across the city.

Following successful sales yesterday at locations such as the NTCC Odin, the NSS Exodus, and District 10 Vegas Delight here in Mendell City, an official website and a number of physical retail locations have been established which sell Integrated Positronic Chassis. The marketplace is run by the 33rd Fleet which used the tagging system of the Gruber Law in order to locate and capture IPCs which did not have owners.

Criticisms about the marketplace have been quick to spring up, with some of the protest crowds in Mendell City including the capture of free IPCs as one of the major issues facing Tau Ceti during the occupation. Slogans such as "Our Life, Our Right, Sol Leave Tonight" have gained traction, with many users on social media websites such as Social Screeching using the hashtag "#NotForSale."

Industry leaders have been quick to air their grievances as well. Many local and corporate business owners have complained about the pricing of these models which drastically undercut market value. Others, such as NanoTrasen, have complained about the sudden loss of many of their employees as they have been taken and sold.

When reached for comment on the marketplace, Sol Alliance Naval Officer Captain John Darro had this to say.

"Our operations in the Tau Ceti system have not been cheap, and the frequent civil unrest is putting our men in constant danger. It was a considerable and difficult effort to find all of these ownerless [sic] synthetics which posed a clear and daunting threat to society. So far we have made 2,130,100 credits on the trial marketplaces last night alone, and who knows how much today. This is just a drop in the bucket for the costs of the civil services the fleet has been conducting to supplement the Republic of Biesel's policing and peacekeeping efforts in Tau Ceti."

Crowdfunding campaigns for organizations such as the Synthetic Intelligence Movement have gained traction as members of the synthetic rights movement and its sympathizers have purchased from the marketplace in bulk. One such group calling themselves 'meaters' were able to raise over 120,000 credits to purchase IPCs and own them on paper alone, while SIM has currently raised over 400,000 credits for their cause.

Following the surprising statement released earlier today by the former president of Tau Ceti, Joseph Dorn, a great deal of unrest has inflamed throughout Mendell City, with several poorly informed citizens finding Mr. Dorn’s report as a message of ill-placed hope, and taking the opportunity to attempt to disrupt the Sol Alliance’s hold on Mendell City. In response to these outbursts, the Sol Alliance has laid down a strong arm of law across the city in coordination with the Mendell City Police Department.

A new wave of protests began in District 12, amongst the universities and colleges of the youth of Mendell City. The morning air was thick with the inane chants of “Our Life, Our Right. Sol Leave Tonight!”. While the majority of college-youths were easily dispersed with a show of arms by the MCPD, the flame was already sparked and quickly spread to the adjacent districts in a several dissolute streams of loosely-organized unrest.

In District 1, the Sol Alliance has dispersed hundreds of protestors seeking to recreate the events of earlier this week. Much of the district has been partitioned off, including the entirety of the “Memorial Touchdown Craft” monument that occupies the centre of the district, and the fulcrum of the majority of organized pro-Republic sentimental protests. Several other large parks have been similarly cordoned off, including much of District 2, for the risk they pose to the city’s peace.

Gambling in District 7 was disrupted by the wave of protestors dispersed away from District 1, forcing the Sol Alliance to interfere with a heavier hand. Several individuals were arrested, and a large fight broke out forcing the MCPD to non-lethally incapacitate several further individuals with peacekeeping ordinance distributed by the Sol Alliance.

Protestors in District 10 took the opportunity to loot several storefronts and destroyed thousands of credits worth of commercial property before MCPD personnel could respond to the scene. Protestors held out for several hours amidst the beloved amusement park “Space Commando’s: Alien Safari”, which is infamous among synthetic freedom groups for using several hundred IPC labourers as disposable mooks for the “Space Commando’s: Real Live Action Movie” events. Protestors were ultimately cornered by the candy floss dispensers, and several more individuals were incarcerated.

District 6 saw the last holdout for much of the organized protestors, who fled to their roost among the criminals and disorderlies of the area. The MCPD, with the direct assistance of several squads of Sol Alliance Peacekeepers, met firm resistance among the criminal elements of the area. However, in the final hours of the morning they were at last able to ensure a final peace with the coordinated arrest of several instigators of the protests.

While the MCPD chased down the last waves of protest, the Sol Alliance busied itself with reinforcing order within the more unaffected districts. Curfew has been strictly enforced in the residential districts of District 5 and District 3. Patrols have been strengthened in District 14, 13, and 8.

With these bold actions from the brave men responsible for keeping our city safe, we begin to at last see the first approach of the era of peace promised by being a constituent of the Sol Alliance. The week of unrest that accompanied the Sol Alliance reclamation was at first worrying, but these peacekeeping actions have proved a great comfort. The Mendell City Police Department itself has been at its most efficient, a surprising turn of events considering its history of ineffectiveness following its complete restructuring after Republic's succession from the Sol Alliance in 2452. The Sol Alliance has now issued a statement promising to keep the city as safe as possible as they respond to the waves of unrest inspired by the exiled Dorn’s comments. They fully intend to make this peace absolute later today as they prepare peacekeeper patrols to penetrate the deeper folds of Mendell’s slums, in particular District 15, 11, and 9, who, while largely silent during the waves of protest experienced thus far, could prove very dangerous to the safety of Mendell City due to the density of their criminal elements possibly becoming involved in protest themselves.

After a long and weary night, the Sol Alliance has finally announced that they have been successful in their operations of restoring order to Mendell City, concluding their aggressive peacekeeping operations in the slums of District 9, where they had the greatest difficulty not because of any staunch resistance, but because of the inherent logistical issues in navigating the “alien waste the district had become”, as reports one Sol peacekeeper. As a whole, the entire operation induced very few casualties, as Sol Alliance officers quickly adapted to the situation to prevent riling up the largely docile Vaurcae population.

One peacekeeper reports that the issue with maintaining law in Flagsdale was not that the Vaurcae population is actively resisting Sol occupation – as a whole they appeared to be very passive – the issue was that the Vaurcae population was resisting the standards of proper society entirely. The same peacekeeper equated them to the savages of early colonial human history, except that the highly organized Vaurca hive structure allowed them to actively resist assuming culture. This peacekeeper, who by Alliance military regulations has chosen to remain anonymous, proved invaluable in describing the operation, providing a summary of the night’s events with great detail;

”As we entered the district, for the first few blocks everything seemed normal for what you’d expect from a slums. The only strange bit was that there was a lot of trash and debris – and not stuff like cartons and rubbish. There were mislaid blocks of concrete, and all sorts of masonry. Not a lot of Vaurcae, and nothing much to see. We kept moving forward, trying to piece the whole place together. As we descended further, things got a whole lot different. First things first, there were a s*#t-ton more Vaurcae. You can’t really imagine what three million Vaurcae in one of the city’s smaller districts looks like until you see it. Secondly, we learned what the deal was with all the detritus in the district’s outskirts. The bugs had pretty much entirely abandoned the streets, and had taken to modifying the buildings themselves for transit. I don’t know where the hell they actually slept – probably in the sewers. There was not one building that didn’t look like some sort of perverse beehive, crawling with red roaches of all shapes and sizes. It was clear that a proper city official hadn’t been this deep in probably since the bugs first arrived. Worse yet, as night fell we realized that there was absolutely zero light. No streetlights, no house-lights, no bug-lights. Nothing but absolute darkness, barely illuminated by the light pollution of the rest of the city. If we hadn’t been equipped with our peacekeeper hardsuits, we would have been totally in the dark.”

The source then went on to relate the actual description of the district for a while longer. The things he described were certainly surprising – BEP machinery all but abandoned, barely concealed K’ois farms, a hardly recognizable cityscape, and a population almost wholly indifferent to the ideals and laws of the human city that they existed within. As the peacekeeper patrols began to attempt to establish themselves and the law they met resistance and little to no cooperation from virtually every Vaurca. Dismantling the K’ois farms immediately visible consumed the better part of the evening, as Vaurcae began to physically throng around the locations, preventing heavy machinery from rolling in. Traditional crowd control ordinance such as flashbangs and tear gas failed to intimidate and disperse the Vaurcae crowds and only resulted in unaffected Vaurcae replacing the affected Vaurcae. The peacekeeper indicates that they considered simply opening fire, but quickly decided against it after accounting for the sheer ratio of Vaurcae to Sol Alliance personnel.

”They didn’t want to attack us, and we sure as hell didn’t want to attack them. It took a lot of deft maneuvres and mostly ineffectual arrests – at a certain point we just ran out of room in the wagon – for pretty much every K’ois farm. We ultimately gave up on the whole thing.”

It was at this point in the operation that the peacekeepers ultimately decided that the first thing they had to do was apply pressure to the leadership. At 2:47 they secured and surrounded the locale of the recently-promoted Zo’ra Queen, Ta'Akaix'Vaur'skiyet'sca Zo'ra. Consulting peacefully with the hierarch, the Sol Alliance was promised the order that had always been maintained since the Zo’ra arrived. Deciding to chalk this up as a successful operation, the officers then departed to the outer rings of the district, and focused on ensuring that no possible human protestors sought the district as refuge.

A few hours after the operation, we secured a briefing with the Sol Alliance Peaceekeeper Division chair, who reported that;

”After a lengthy discussion with Admiral Frost and his cabinet, we have decided the best course of action for the Vaurcae issue is to remove them from Biesel, and preferably from Tau Ceti, altogether. We have no idea where all the money the former Republic has spent on their inane internment project has gone, but it is obvious to us and hopefully to all of our new citizens that this is perhaps one of their larger failures. It seems pretty clear to me that the only reasons for keeping the Vaurcae anywhere near Tau Ceti were purely corporate reasons. The Sol Alliance has no use for the Vaurcae, no taste for the Vaurcae, and if it were more cost-effective we might consider reducing their numbers heavily before dismissing them. On that note, we are considering several solutions for ejecting them from the system. I have personally suggested we simply commandeer their arrival vessel – Titan Prime – from NanoTrasen, and send them off on that. Don’t much care where they go, so long as it’s out of Sol Alliance territory. We will have a concrete plan of action by Wednesday, and I am confident that we will be able to begin the operation by next week.”

In a triumphant return, President Dorn today returned to Mendell City to crowds of cheering supporters. The President had lead the government in exile in Elyra after a daring rescue by members of the Synthetic Liberation Front and Elyran Special Forces. President Dorn's motorcade traveling from the Shuttleport through the Zhèngfǔ District was seen by many as an impromptu parade; tens of thousands of people flocked to see the President, who waved from the back of his open-top car.

After being swept towards the Executive Office, President Dorn held a speech only half an hour later. At the steps of the capitol building which had only days ago been occupied by foreign soldiers, he declared sweeping reforms and a spirit of national renewal. Reports and photos show an unprecedented attendance, with estimates suggesting 1.4 million people attended the speech, with people watching from the Republican Plaza University of Mendell City. Many congressmen were present in the crowd as well as individuals and, for the first time, IPCs who all received various medals.

"Our young Republic has never before faced such an existential threat to its independence," his speech started, "but in the face of overwhelming adversity we did not submit. Our Republic was founded on the ideals of liberty, fraternity, and equality, and these ideals cannot be destroyed by the iron fist of foreign tyranny. We have long held a crisis of identity, and the concept of patriotism for Tau Ceti had always felt alien in the minds of our people. But when Frost's fleet invaded our nation and we saw Alliance warships blotting out the sun, the people did not submit to terror. The concept of Tau Ceti patriotism was not banished. It was made stronger, forged by the determination of a people dedicated to protecting its liberty. The entire might of the 33rd may have swept aside our own navy, but it could never sweep aside the love we all now hold for our country.

We remain the most diverse system in the galaxy. Unathi, human, skrell, synthetic and more - we all call Tau Ceti home. We have shown that despite our differences we will stand united and defend our home from foreign forces that do not consider democracy legitimate. The resistance to the occupation took many forms, and every day Frosts' ambitions were thwarted by determined defenders of liberty. Everyone who resisted Admiral Frost, through any means, is a national hero and worthy of praise and admiration. Everyday heros are all of us who held our resolve and commitment to this nation, and that includes our synthetic population."

Dorn went on to praise the collective sacrifices Tau Ceti made during the occupation, and stressed the need of shared values and new responsibilities the Republic faced at home and abroad, as well as coining what he calls 'Synthetic Nationalism'.

"Tau Ceti has become a beacon of liberty and hope for synthetic populations," Dorn said, "during the struggles synthetics fought and died for the virtues that we had taken for granted. These were not tools operating with programmed parameters, but fully conscious acts of selflessness. These synthetics show a new Synthetic Patriotism unique to Tau Ceti, and we must, going forward, truly commit to the ideals of liberty and fraternity. In our restored Republic we will be a true beacon of unity as we move forward with our many voices united in one purpose. We must, today onward, appreciate free synthetics and recognize that their freedom is not only an obligation, but an inherent right. If we are to go forward with a spirit of unity and purpose we must embrace one simple truth: We are all Besellites, and together we are strong."

The last segment of Dorn's speech focused on his plans for the future and the immense challenge of rebuilding the Tau Ceti government, which had been effectively disbanded by Admiral Frost. The legislative branch was also disbanded days before a constitutional convention, which throws the entire branch of government into a state of limbo.

"We will move forward in a spirit of national renewal. I am already taking many steps to rebuild our government. Cabinet positions are being refilled. We will hold fresh elections to refill our Congress, who will represent the new voice we have found for ourselves. My cabinet is already working on major proposals to present to this new Congress, which represent the new realities we face. We will strengthen our navy, and give our people a peace of mind. We will institute a limited draft to ensure we have a reserve of soldiers ready to defend their homes.

The entire galaxy had its eyes upon us, and cries of liberty rang in the halls of government in almost every system. Using the powers available to me already, I am creating a Foreign Legion, where foreign nationals may enlist to defend our Republic. I am ordering the navy change its enlistment protocols to allow free synthetics to join our navy as servicemen. When these reforms are done, and our military swells, we will have confidence that if we are ever threatened again, that our Republic will not go quietly."

The speech ended with massive applause in a standing ovation. The President was unable to continue until the applause finally ended two minutes later.

After the speech Dorn held a ceremony where several awards were handed out.

Lieutenant Paulson, an Alliance citizen, was named Honorary Founder of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion. He was then given the Presidential Order of Freedom, the nation's highest military honor.

Captain Jack Lewis was given the Presidential Order of Freedom after his corvette, the BMV Trinity, successfully evacuated several key members of the executive cabinet during the invasion.

RS-34, a Hephaestus-model Shell, was given the Presidential Medal of Liberty, the nation's highest civilian honor, for taking part in the operation that rescued the President and members of his cabinet.

Almari Banks, leader of the Elyran special forces squad that took part in the rescue, was named Honorary Founder of the Foreign Legion and given the Presidential Order of Freedom.

Ash LaCroix, a member of the NanoTrasen Internal Security, was absent from the ceremony as he remains in a medically induced coma. He has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Liberty, which was accepted on his behalf by his wife, Kaylie LaCroix, for his heroic actions on the NSS Exodus during Admiral Frosts' escape attempt. He is credited with saving many lives.

After returning from exile in early March, President Dorn has overseen the provisional government that was set up after the withdraw of the warlord Admiral Frost. The provisional government of Tau Ceti has consisted only of Dorn's immediate executive cabinet, and local state governments. After his return Dorn immediately went to work rebuilding the federal government, reappointing officials and cabinet members that had been arrested or suspended by the Frost regime.

There is also an empty supreme court chair, leaving the court divided between 3 Tau Ceti Democrats and 3 Tau Ceti Republicans.

Congress, which was dissolved by Admiral Frost, remains empty. This prevents Dorn's supreme court nominee or any cabinet nominees from being appointed.

The Supreme Court has granted Dorn's request (5-1) to hold snap elections for Congress, scheduled for April 14th. Dorn announced this as well as his hopes that Tau Ceti's renewed national spirit would breathe fresh life into Congress at a median of a year before most term limits would end.

"Every day that our administration has worked to rebuild our government, we have been in awe at the patriotism and diligence shown at every level. We have a new national spirit - all our citizens have maintained the energy and patriotism that propelled us to resist the illegal occupation of our home. It is my hope that the people use this energy at the polls.

I am overseeing the election process with members of the federal courts as we grapple with the complex legal questions around this election. We are going forward together and with our best understanding of the constitution. We will show the galaxy that military force will never dismantle our great democracy."

The election will not challenge the executive cabinet, with Dorn expected to continue carrying out the remainder of his office until re-election in 2462. However, former Congressmen, some of which are running for re-election, have openly discussed how Dorn is re-shaping their party in the fallout of the occupation.

The crux of the identity shift revolves around the so-called Dorn Reforms, in which Dorn promised to strengthen the navy, introduce a limited draft, establish a Foreign Legion, allow Synthetics to join the military, combat unemployment, and promote cultural patriotism. Analysts have said Dorn's proposals border on being nationalist, and many have displayed disbelief at the level of energy the President has had since his return from exile.

The so-called New Republicans are a growing grassroots movement within the Republican party, which expands on the party's traditional manifesto. New Republicans want to see greater expansion of the navy as well as economic and immigration reform that would see less regulation on NanoTrasen, which holds a major monopoly on Tau Ceti business and media.

Social Democrats, the second leading party in Tau Ceti, have a growing movement calling themselves the True Democrats. They are calling for more radical "trust busting" that would break up NanoTrasen's monopoly in the system, as well as federal prosecution of top NanoTrasen employees in the system on charges of corruption and bribery of government officials. True Democrats, who enjoy popular support in the Phoenixport area, charge that the entire invasion can be blamed on the Republican dominated government being in bed with NanoTrasen. Candidates have openly criticized fellow party members, with True Democrats decrying more mainstream democratic candidates as collaborators, charging that Tau Ceti elections have been unfairly manipulated. Their de-facto leader is former presidential candidate Aamina Al-Harthi, who has gone on talk shows admitting she feels she was cheated in the 2458 election.

"When election day comes, we're going to see real change," Al-Harthi told a Bugle reporter during an interview, "Dorn is trying to rig this as hard as he can to remain a one-party state disguised as a two-party state. If we're able to wrench control of congress out of his hands, through the voice of the common people, we'll see some real change and truly Take Tau Ceti Back."

With the snap elections of Congress for April 14th drawing near, there is a growing realization amongst political analysts and poltiicans that a major platform shift in both major parties is taking place. The Tau Ceti Republicans and Social Democrats are both splintering, with internal disagreements about the future of the party creating two new caucuses. It remains to be seen if these parties will split the vote in the upcoming election.

Roger Culbertson, Chairman of a leading political think tank, has said in a recent article that the split is between Universalists and Protectionists. Universalists generally want to see greater integration in the galaxy, the breaking down of trade barriers, and increased cultural exchange and integration. Protectionists promote increased barriers to trade, reigning in runaway corporations, and generally focus on nationalistic policies.

The Tau Ceti Republicans have shifted to Universalists, while the New Republicans are a more hardliner Ultra-Universalist. Social Democrats remain protectionist, while members of their party have formed the increasingly radical True Democrats, who are more reliably Ultra-Protectionist.

The major platforms for the parties are, according to Culbertson, as follows:

Former presidential candidate Al-Harthi has become the face of the True Democrat party. She is currently running for representative of the Phoenixport area. She has been giving scathing criticisms of President Dorn, and has leveled charges that the President and his party have only won their current influence and power via corruption and meddling by NanoTrasen.

"We need to Take Tau Ceti Back," she told a rally in Mendell City, "Take it back from NanoTrasen, take it back from the Republican cronies, and break up the establishment. We can keep our system secure, we can keep it safe, and we can do it together."

The office of the Mendell City Bugle is continuing to verify the authenticity of documents mailed to our office, as well as other major media outlets, from someone who claimed to be Admiral Frost. The identify of Frost has been verified by investigative reporters, and the documents he has sent us are continuing to be evaluated and verified. The hundreds of thousands of files, which include ledgers, personal e-mails, memos, transcripts, and other documents reveal an unprecedented level of corruption and nepotism within the Dorn administration. Frost claims that he collected all of this evidence as part of his investigations into the relationship between NanoTrasen and the government of Biesel. The files were stored in various locations on his Flagship, and the key files were smuggled out by loyalist elements during the Alliances' intervention that saw him flee to the frontier. This is the first and only contact Frost has had with media outlets since his exile.

According to the documents, President Dorn accepted 4.2 million credits in his first and second terms in exchange for appointing former NT employees to cabinet positions. Dorn accepted 1 million credits to appoint Secretary of Labor Ronald Parker, 47, who is a former member of NT's board of directors. Dorn was paid 1.2 million to appoint Secretary of Energy Shannah Aheles, 52, who was the former Chief Engineering Director of NanoTrasen. Dorn was also paid 1 million credits to appoint Secretary of the Treasury Trinity Vargos, 57. Several ambassadors to foreign systems are former NT employees who were given recommendations by NanoTrasen. The documents show that almost all individuals listed here hold significant stocks or other business interests with NanoTrasen.

NanoTrasen also donated 8 million credits to Dorn's 2458 campaign, according to ledgers that have yet to be authenticated.

Secretary of Labor Parker regularly takes credits, often tens of thousands, in exchange for suppressing federal investigations into NanoTrasen operations that may have been in violation of federal law.

The Exodus, NanoTrasen's premier research station in Tau Ceti, was built without Nanotrasen paying any taxes on the sector of space which was bought from the government at an extremely discounted price. The federal government actually gave NanoTrasen a 2 million credit tax cut for building the station through a 'Job Growth' stimulus program.

Ledgers of both public officials and NanoTrasen records show the corporation has spent a collective 12 million credits in 2458 on Republican campaigns, including attack ads on Social Democratic candidates. Because of federal election laws none of this was ever disclosed.

The final major discovery from these documents is that NanoTrasen allegedly did not pay any federal taxes to Biesel in 2457, and instead received subsidies from the government amounting to 2 billion credits.

These files, collectively called The Dorn Files, have far reaching consequences. They reveal systemic abuses of power by the Dorn administration, and systemic corruption.

President Dorn has immediately gone on the defensive. The President cancelled a scheduled campaign trip to New Gibson. An unusually combative Press Secretary Ken Hooper faced a cascade of shouting from the press.

"The documents released have not been verified," Hooper said, "and we will not be confirming or denying any content of the so-called evidence until a thorough investigation has been launched."

When asked about the President's personal finances, Hooper became agitated.

"Look, the President never broke any laws," Hooper said, "he's a good guy. Everyone in this room was singing his praises hours ago, and now because a jump-start wannabe Warlord dumped a bunch of crap onto your laps you're all out for blood. Shame on you."

President Dorn continues to categorically deny that he engaged in any wrong-doing, but the fallout from the leak is causing political shockwaves throughout Tau Ceti. The Federal Investigations Bureau has announced it is launching an investigation on corruption charges on President Dorn and his cabinet, as well as NanoTrasen operations based in Tau Ceti. The investigation has been described as "broad" by an FIB spokesperson.

Many politicians have demanded immediate impeachment hearings, but until the congressional elections of April 14th, there is currently no active congress to begin deliberating. This hands a heavy shadow over the upcoming election: It would be unthinkable for Tau Ceti Republicans to approve impeachment of their incumbent. Social Democrats and True Democrats, on the other hand, are out for blood. Former presidential candidate and current True Democrat candidate Al-Harthi has launched scathing criticisms of President Dorn, slamming him and NanoTrasen.

"This is just further evidence that we live in a one party state." Al-Harthi said in a personal release, "Dorn and his cronies take NanoTrasen's pocket change and give the corporation back billions of our hard earned tax dollars. I can bet my entire political career on the fact that Dorn is not going to make it to re-election. We're going to throw him and all his corporate friends in a cell and throw away the key. We're going to take our system back."

Former Sk'akh Priest Iakeiz Thazii, 58, is a former member of a major church on Moghes who has an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Izweski space. He stands accused by the Izweski, and its government religious inquisition, of engaging in supernatural terrorism, crimes against the state, and matricide.

Iakeiz Thazii was detained in New Gibson since he arrived at a shuttleport on the planet a week ago.

He came into the system from the Hegemony space with a falsified visa but told immigration officials he was seeking refuge, claiming he was not able to leave Izweski space with proper documents without being arrested and killed. Upon learning of the request the Hegemony embassy in orbit of Biesel immediately demanded, in unusually strong language, to extradite Thazii back to the Hegemony to stand trial.

An immigration judge has ruled in favor of Thazii's asylum request, which has drawn immediate criticism from the Hegemony.

Judge Emily Coel released a 12-page decision, which said Thazii faced persecution in the Hegemony for his political opinions and religious beliefs.

"Thazii has met his burden of showing that he suffered past persecution on account of his political opinion and religious belief, and that he faces extreme persecution if he were to be returned to the Izweski." Judge Coel ruled. She also claimed his ruling was made easier by the Izweski openly stating that Thazii would be immediately executed upon his return.

"The evidence provided by the Hegemony for his alleged crimes were circumstantial and in some cases, such as a claimed supernatural ability to communicate with members of his following, not possible in our current reality." Judge Coel added.

The State Department then received a formal complaint from the Izweski Embassy in Tau Ceti, of which a partial transcript has been released to the public.

Thazii is a leading member of a growing cult who's heresy resulted in his banishment from the Church and who's sermons were dominated by promotion of dark arts and occultist rituals. He is directly responsible for orchestrating civil unrest and the brutal murder of a Clanmother. Investigations by the Maraziite Order have indisputable evidence that Thazii's heresy is responsible for these actions that so horrify sensible beings. Thazii's presence will spread spiritual heresy through Tau Ceti and rot it from within. They are terrorists and must be torn out wherever they take root, lest their rot infest us all. May the Goddess have mercy upon you, for the dark cultists, in their mindless frenzy, shall not.

Thazii gave a brief statement to the press, bucking the norm of asylum seekers avoiding the spotlight.

"I am thankful to finally escape the short-sighted oppression of the Hegemony. For too long the elites of Moghes have suppressed all religious belief that does not walk rank and file with their own interpretations. The rising rate of rebellions and civil unrest from the downtrodden and oppressed are not the fault of the preachers of unity and empowerment, but the hubris of the elites believing they own our souls as well as our bodies. I am deeply thankful to finally live where I may preach the word of my God without fear of persecution."

Thazii has also said he will become a spiritual counselor as soon as he gets on his feet after taking residence in Mendell City.

"My ultimate goal is to create a small religious center for converts, and to nurture and grow our faith with it as our headquarters in the city." Thazii said.

Andrew Reynolds, Chief Relations Director of NanoTrasen, has announced the Aurora at a convention in the NTCC Odin in orbit of Biesel. The event was described as 'extravagant', with wine and food being handed out freely in the hall. At the convention were reporters, Congressman, lobbyists, and foreign delegates, with hundreds of cameras broadcasting the event throughout the galaxy. The convention was slated to address rumors swirling around a massive construction project NanoTrasen has been rumored to be undertaking for the past year and half.

After 20 minutes of mingling, Andrew Reynolds, appeared on the stage amidst an impressive display of flashing lights and upbeat music. The 55 year old corporate executive sauntered onto the stage then greeted everyone over his microphone after he 'dabbed' during his introduction.

After the theatrical entrance the music shut off and Reynolds went into a Nano-Office 2455 Presentation using the jumbotron screen behind him.

"It is with great pleasure that I use this opportunity to announce the new way forward for NanoTrasen. The Aurora! Ladies and gentlemen, this station is the embodiment of NanoTrasen. It has pushed forward the boundaries of what we thought was possible, using experiences from the past and visions for the future and sculpting it into one mighty final product."

Reynolds described how important the station is for the next 10 minutes, before detailing specifics that make it stand out from other stations. The first thing he goes into detail on is the 350,000,000 credit price tag of the Aurora. This is remarkably lower than stations of similar size and uses, which typically run 500,000,000 credits.

"Most of the station has actually been built inside a hallowed-out asteroid," Reynolds said, "we used autonomous mining drones to hollow it all out and a fleet of engineers and engineering borgs built the physical station inside the hollowed out area. This gives the station a significantly stronger hull, since it's solid rock with metal and plasteel walls underneath all that. There are few areas actually exposed to space. We were inspired by the construction method of xenoarchaeological finds of ancient Vox, who hollowed out asteroids for various uses. Of course, these were all smaller and ceremonial, and we are the first corporation to hollow out a fully sized asteroid for use. We ended up with so much space that we actually saw fit to install an elevator to get between the floors."

The station has also been furnished with an experimental new type of engine.

"Specifics of the engine are not currently public, but we can tell you that we are once again going to revolutionize power generation for Tau Ceti. Once this technology hits and becomes commonplace we will be able to achieve total energy independence, leading to more jobs and productivity for Biesel."

Other areas of the station have been modernized, such as the mining and supply departments.

"We have launched a new carrot-and-stick method of productivity. We are rewarding productivity in the mining department in a new way. Now the more output a miner produces, they get rewarded with more and more top-of-the-line equipment. I'm talking a lot of new things, like resonators and kinetic accelerators. You won't see any of this stuff out in the frontier, folks!"

It's described as ironic that many tools available to Aurora's incoming supply crew are unattainable by Frontiersmen, because the Aurora is on the edge of Tau Ceti space. It lies directly on the outer boundary of the Romanovich Cloud, right next to deep space.

"At a full crew compliment this station is expected to staff 60 - 70 people at a time, above the current Exodus with its 50 people. That's 10 new jobs per shift, every shift. I'm talking scientists, doctors, janitors - we are not bringing jobs to Tau Ceti, we're bringing careers."

Another journalist asked about safety protocols built into the new station functions, such as the elevator.

"The elevator is the safest model available," Reynolds responded, "it has an emergency stop that anyone can hit in or out of the elevator. The doors also do not open without the elevator physically on that level. It's almost impossible for there to be any accidents with the elevator. We're also proud of how safer the station is against meteor showers and carp migrations, which have increased in intensity over the past few years."

The convention continued for two more hours, with Reynolds answering questions from the crowd. One journalist from Phoenixport Daily asked if any taxes were paid over the new station, which Reynolds rebuffed.

"We paid a lot of money for this new station," Reynolds said, "that money goes back into the government. Of course we put our money in. NanoTrasen follows the law and is a leader in accountability."