Samstag, 19. Mai 2012

Allied victory over Ta Seti Manace!

Today, the Allied forces of Araxes managed to beat back the Ta Seti invasion force. After a long and hard battle, the allied forces where victorious over the invaders. Despite all their effort, the Ta Seti where unable to get a foothold in the region know as Evangeline. They suffered heavy losses during the battle and head to retreat. A salute goes out to all fighting men and woman that defended Araxes today.

Montag, 23. April 2012

Goverment Expansion, New Defense Minister, Treason and Murder attemps rattle Araxes.

Araxes,
By order of the Sovereign, The Laandsrat is ordered to expand its membership to include houses of political and financial means. The newly expanded Landsraat Council, in order of their seating:
Dr. Eliza Karsadia Deerhunter, Regent of the Hoto Nagi Zion
Khaliifa Rashad of House Morloch, Desert Born and a House for two thousand years on Araxes.
ProConsul KrakkenAres Pleides of the Myrimidon Order.
Commandant Lux Umbra, of the SSFS and her fleets.
Calina Tereshchenko, House Shanjian
Lady Joan Al Jofar, Chief Magistrate
Khan Jubilynn Lane, Emissary of the Hengeyokai
Lieutenant Laser Rainfall of Starfleet Outpost Ouraios
Registered Companion Fā-Le Yán, Chief of Staff of Bó'ài Hónglián House.
Lady Zenobie Augusta Baxton, Countess Walsingham, House Zenobia of Albion, Union of Allied Planets
Lady Ariadne Fall, Reverend Mother of the Sinisterhood.

The Beit Dawla passed a motion to expand the number of elected delegates from four to six. The Landsraat confirmed the motion. Elections will be held in one lunar cycle (the big moon's cycle, not the little ones).

Doctor Issacs, renowned USD Scientist and longtime resident of Araxes was nominated by the Beit Dawla to be Araxes Defense Minister. The newly expanded Landraat Council confirmed the appointment. The Defense Minister is charged with organizing and regulating the armed forces for the purpose of planetary defense but not to act as a police force, but does not command said planetary defense force. Khaliifa Rashad of House Morloch and Registered Companion Fā-Le Yán of Bó'ài Hónglián House abstained from the vote. ProConsul KrakkenAres Pleides of the Myrimidon Order and Commandant Lux Umbra of the SSFS and her fleets voted nay.

Chief Magistrate Joan al Jofar announced that she was able to secure a peace agreement with the invading Ta'Seti. The Chief Magistrate is still negotiating but believes that the Ta'Seti will be purchasing approximately 75% of the Araxes Desert Spice production. This would be a great windfall to the Great Houses. Drawbacks were discussed about possible shortages, price surges, and the injuries and deaths of miners as a result of increased working shifts.

Dr. Eliza Karsadia Deerhunter of the Hoto Nagi Zion explained that the Ta'Seti require the spice to save their lives. The research is still in development and the regeneration is 2/3rds effective at this point. The Hoto Nagi Regent disclosed that she sent out a messenger to them that if they stopped attacking we would help them as they had promised, but has not received any response from the Ta'Seti.

ProConsul KrakkenAres Pleides of the Myrimidon Order, speaking on behalf of his Ta'Seti cousins claims that the Ta'Seti does not care for the spice, but merely with the distribution of the spice to humanoids reduced to 30% of production.

Registered Companion Fā-Le Yán of Bó'ài Hónglián House counseled:

And that is called paying the Dane-geld;

But we've proved it again and again,

That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld

You never get rid of the Dane.



Lieutenant Laser Rainfall of Starfleet Outpost Ouraios stated that although the Federation believes in a peaceful solution before taking any military action, but that we should not be surprised if there is a heavier Federation presence in this system as a result.

Chief Magistrate Joan Vhargon in a gesture of good faith has directed the spice masters to direct 75% of the spice crop to the Ta'Seti claiming that she can do so for up to 90 solar days without government approval.

House Zenobia proposed that Pro Consul Lord Krakken be charged with treason and that the session adjourn for preparations for his trial. Lieutenant Laser Rainfall of Starfleet Outpost Ouraios and Registered Companion Fā-Le Yán of Bó'ài Hónglián House seconded the motion.

Chief Magistrate Joan Vhargon banged her gavel on the table and commanded order in the chamber and with a mention about reports of an increase in smuggling to and from Araxes, called the meeting to adjourn.

A representative of the Space Navigator's Corpus briefly made an appearance.

Lani Yuhara handed out leaflet notices of "PACEA (Political Atmospheric Collection & Exportation Apparatus) Notice of Imperial Contract", as the public starts to leave the room about her company's new project to collect Atmosphere and export it.

However, all these events have now been overshadowed by the recent attempts of murder on those purposing the investigation of ProConsul KrakkenAres Pleides.

An attempt was made to murder Lady Zenobie Augusta Baxton, Countess Walsingham, House Zenobia of Albion, Union of Allied Planets.

Lady Baxton is recovering from the poisoning in an undisclosed location.

Zenobian authorities are investigating several leads.

Speculation is this was meant to prevent her from participating in the proceedings regarding Treason Charges against Myrmidon ProConsul Krakken Ares Pleides.

Donnerstag, 27. Oktober 2011

Mysterious "Black pox" plauge on Arrakes; spreading through the system.

Arrakes, Mu Draconiss III

For weeks now, the mysterious virus, simply known as the "Black pox" has the Mu Draconis system in its iron grip and has spread to other systems. As reported in other News Sources, the origin of this Virus is more then sketchy but the USD was able to put together the puzzle and can now present the full picture of what happened on the desert planet Arrakes.

4 weeks ago, a unknown probe crashed into the territory that is known as "Wadi Emet" and was found by a citizen of the planet, not realizing that this citizen would become "Patient Zero". The probe contained vials, containing the dangerous virus. Infected with it, the person unknowingly spread the virus over the planet.

Only a week after that event, the Laandsrat gave out info about a mysterious disease spreading and that people should be careful. Only minimal measures where taken, thus the virus spread further. When the first people where send to hospitals with the black spots on their skin, high fever, coughing blood and other symptoms, it was Doctor Eliza Eaglefeather who was first concerned about this new virus and informed the USD about it. Other medical personnel followed suit.

Lt.col.John Collins, commander of the USM outpost on Arrakes reacted without hesitation and gave out orders to all personnel to wear MOPP4/HAZMAT gear and to take steps to prevent the virus from getting off world. Despite the Laandsrat telling people not to leave the planet, some did anyway, resulting in the Colonel to request a full blockade of the planet. The request was granted and only a few weeks after the initial outbreak, the planet was under quarantine.

The following days and weeks, the image was all the same: Soldiers of the USM wearing Gasmasks, full body armor and sometimes even power armor guarded the base, the landing pad and conducted patrols, while the Doctors worked to find a cure, or at least a vaccine to stop the virus from spreading.

Photobucket

The probe also was located in Wadi Emet, but was destroyed during an attempt to excavate it, thus eliminating all traces of the force behind it. However it is very likely that the probe was used to deliver the virus, making it certain that the virus is a Bio Weapon.

Meanwhile, the virus did spread after a ship broke through the blockade and other planets like Zenobia seem to be affected by the virus. At the point of writing, almost 2000 people have died from the virus and how many people are infected is unknown. The relative low number of deaths of such a deadly virus that kills you within a 2 weeks, is only due to the fact Arrakes is not densely populated like other worlds.

Taken from the Spice Report:

Dr. Demanjrick (formally known by her alias as Eliza Eaglefeather) is one of the formost authorities on the infection. The doctor was gracious enough to take some time to tell me what she knows so far. While the public generally refers to the disease as 'The Black Pox' due to the fact that the common symptoms include dark pustules which also produce a stain on the skin around them, the infection is caused by a virus known as the 'Saf' virus. Dr. Demanjrick confirmed that the viral infection is spead through aerosol inhalation of viral material from exploded pustules and also by the touch of those who have touched virally infected fluids.

Dr. Demanjrick advises that the only known way of preventing infection spreading is to cover all exposed skin and breath through masks that are able to prevent the inhalation of the aerosol particulates. She also remarks that several interesting factors have emerged concerning the virus: heavy spice users and the natives of the planet Araxes (who generally are exposed to spice doses consistently) seem to be immune from infection.

Photobucket

The doctor has recently returned from a medical conference on Zenobia where initial efforts into researching an inncoulation against the Saf virus have been discussed. It is well,-known that Zenobia has some of the best medical facilities in the sector and Dr. Demanjrick says that the advanced scans and monitoring of several infected persons there have been very useful in indication possible areas for research. She told me that in particular a regime of drinking a traditional native tea infused with spice seems to reduce the ease of the transmission of the virus and may also increase the resistance of some infected people to the infection. Dr Demanjrick is also performing final trials of a serum which can produce the antibodies that have been found to exist in Native blood samples.

Although the doctor was at pains to advise me that research for a cure is still ongoing, in the last few days there have been several claims to have a cure available. AR-Pharma, a medical research clinic based in Al Raqis, is already offering treatment that is based on the serum produced by Dr. Demanjrick. A single dose of their medicine costs 20,000 Solari which has prompted outcry amongst the infected worlds of the sector. Many of the nobles houses in Al Raqis have stakes in AR-Pharma and speaking for the governing body of the houses, the Laandsrat, Magistrate Al Jofar defended the pricing of the AR-Pharma treatment. The Magistrate explained that the houses of the Laandsrat have been heavily subsidizing research into a cure for the virus and needed to see a degree of return on their investment.

There may well be other reasons for the extortionate cost of the AR-Pharma medicine as there are rumors that each dose is distilled from blood products extracted from several liters of Araxi native blood. Other rumors abound of competing cures, usually based on spice as the main active ingredient. As always, citizens should beware of unscrupulous individuals profiting from the misfortune of others and offering cures which are ineffectual or even harmful. All we can do is hope that Dr Demanjrick's work and the AR-Phama treatment can keep this terrible infection under control and prevent its transmission further across the Galaxy.

End of Spice report article

The USD is currently working on its own vaccine and antidote to help the people on Arrakes. It will be freely distributed to the people and Nations that need it without any costs for them. "The lives of people are more important then profits" said Director of the Department of Health Gregory House. That move, however, will surely rise the tension between AR-Pharma and the USD. Still, this might be the only way to end this nightmare once and for all.

No one knows how many more lives this virus will take until a cure is found. The time is running out and we all can only hope for the best.

Sonntag, 5. Juni 2011

USD and Myrmidons sign Peace Treaty.

Al Raqis,

After long and bitter fighting and brutal armed clashes between the USM Forces and the Myrmidons, the war official came to an end yesterday with the signing of the Peace Treaty on Saturday. Last Monday, the USD and Myrmidons agreed to a ceasefire and started extensive peace talks that resulted in a Peace Treaty both sides agreed on.

This marks the end of a brutal war that has ravaged Al Raqis for some time now and marks a new chapter in the relations between the 2 powers. The Myrmidons have already reduced their military presences on Al Raqis and removed the blockage of the planet. The USM is going to follow suit.

These where the steps that are necessary to ensure peace on Al Raqis.

We all can hope that this peace will last.

Dienstag, 10. Mai 2011

Myrmidon Attack: A Report from The Constable's Office

My Fellow Offworlders,



Yesterday a large fleet of ships entered the Mu Draconis system. We now know that these ship belong to The Myrmidon Order who intended to forcefully establish a base of operations on the planet of Al Raqis. Fortunately, messages concerning the intent of said fleet were received and those space craft which were able to put up resistance as the Myrmidons entered orbit, did so. It is due to the sacrifice of these crews that the Myrmidon Order were unable to land their full invasion force.



The Myrmidons did however, mange to land an assault group at Al Raqis North Lowport, the area known to many of you as 'Splintered Rock'. They no doubt have numerous reasons for assaulting this area. The Lowport provides a perfect staging area for landing an invasion force, it is also close to the spice refining facilities. However, it seems on this occasion their main target was the newly reconstructed outpost of The Federation forces. This felt the full force of the Myrmidon assault and was badly damaged. Were it not for the intervention of the United Systems Directorate from their nearby base I'm afraid to say the Federation Outpost may well have been completley in Myrmidon hands.



Forces of The United Systems Directorate were able to push back the Myrmidon assault and drive them from the Lowport area. The Myrmidon assault force retreated to the desert and remains at large. All citizens should be vigilent. Of the utmost concern is that regular offworld spice shipments have been halted by these events. I am appealing to any Merchant Ship Captain with a vessel landed at Al Raqis North Lowport to contact me. Special Licenses to carry spice will be issued to any captain brave enough to run the Myrmidon orbital blockade. Spice must be delivered to the Universe!



Long Live Emperor Palpatino!



Constable Werribee

Sonntag, 27. Februar 2011

UFS and Orions battle again on Al Raqis/USD changes stance..

Splintered Rock, Al Raqis,

The conflict between the UFS and the Orions continues. On Friday, the UFS launched an attack on a Mining platform above Splintered Rock, alongside heavy street fighting in the town. After a pitched 2 hour battle, the Orions lost their mining platform for 7 UFS Fighters shot down. Experts say that this was a crippling defeat for the Orions and that it seems that things are not turning to the favor of the UFS.

Shortly after the battle, a indecent between the USD and the Mydrion Order put a strain to the relations between the 2 factions. According to official reports, the Mydrions attacked a USM Soldier that was out on patrol with his officer. The attack happened, when the USM Trooper hurried to the crash side of the UFS Fighters to give them medical aid.

After dispatching several attackers, he managed to take cove in a nearby cave system where he was later extracted from and bought into the medical facilities. For his heroic actions, the High Command is currently considering to award him with the "Lighting Star" medal for heroic actions during the crisis.

As of now, the Military Leadership has pressed the High Council to finally take actions and step out of the neutrality, which would result in a full involvement of the USD in the ongoing conflict on Al Raqis.

How these actions will look like, is currently unknown, but one thing seems to be clear: the time of neutrality is over.

Donnerstag, 24. Februar 2011

Contact with Samnium re-established.

After over 2 weeks without any communications with the Samnium station, the contact was re-established on Monday. According to official GSI reports, during a meteor shower the communications platform was hit among other areas of the station that resulted in heavy damage which prompted an evacuation. The damage of the station was so critical, that the whole station needed a replacement, which happened on the night from Sunday to Monday.

All personnel has returned back to the station and started normal operations again. Meanwhile Doctor Thomas Issac returned back to Acriborea where he was asked what happened but refused to say anything to that matter.

This marks the end of 2 weeks of uncertainty to what happened to the station and the people on-board. Its a big relief for all the relatives and friends to hear that everyone is alive and well.