• Louis J.M. -v- Smart: War imminent?
• Phekda situation stabilizes
• Alioth.Net launched after a shaky start
• New list started for Frontier Elite Universe webmasters
• Elite Club starting soon?

Louis J.M. -v- Smart hots up once again

  A deepening crisis is brewing between the leaders of two independent systems. Mizar and Alcor (0,5), two small systems containing no planets, but about 2,000 asteroid miners and rock hermits, are potentially about to start a war with each other (albeit a rather small one). Louis J.M, leader of Mizar, has been alledgedly bating Derek Smart of Alcor over an issue of a faulty battlecruiser that was supplied by Alcor. The two systems are so close that they could almost be binary stars.

  The latest moves come as Louis J.M. published the coordinates of Smart's asteroid after an alleged chase that occurred in the vicinity of Alcor. Louis claims that Smart followed his inteplanetary shuttle in an Asp, whilst members of his family were on board. Smart denies this, and said the meeting was just chance, and "didn't know what Louis flew, and what he looked like anyway". Unfortunately for Smart, someone searched DejaNews on the Galactic Information Network and found a prior post where Smart claimed to know what Louis looked like. Last week, things hotted up even more when Louis made the simple claim that he owned a Cobra Mk. III with a 4MW beam laser. Smart said he felt threatened by this, and said he would get the Federation involved. Apparently, the Federation visited Louis's bunker in Mizar some time last year at the request of Mr. Smart. Louis denies that anything came of this visit. Smart alleges that Louis committed interstellar mail fraud obtaining the battlecruiser in the first place.

  We asked the Alliance whether it would intervene should a shooting match between the two systems start. An Alliance spokesbeing said it was watching the situation with interest, but it wasn't in the Alliance's jurisdiction anyway, and that the Alliance wouldn't get involved. When pressed on the matter, the spokesbeing explained that the Alliance does not get involved in squabbles between non-Alliance members when it doesn't threaten the security of the AIS.

  Whatever happens, it seems like Louis J.M. is gaining popular support from other independent system leaders, notably Matt Dibb of Ethliaess (1, -7) and Matt W. of Canopus (6, -6). However, if armed conflict does begin between Mizar and Alcor, Louis's supporters are simply too far away to be of any assistance.

Phekda situation stabilizes

  Phekda (2,5) has long been acknowledged as a system that most traders stay away from. The system has been torn by anarchic strife for the last 150 years, and it has been a dangerous system to trade with. However, developments over the last month indicate that this state of affairs could be shortly over.

  Bounty hunters in the system have reported a massed insurrection against the corporations that have attempted to rule Phekda. The largest corporation, Foam Metals Inc. run by Senator Ellen Johnson was razed to the ground as the population organized into a people's army to liberate the system, much like Alioth was liberated in 3230. A new democratic government has been reported to have formed. Early reports show the new government's first missions are to establish a constitution, and continue on to fulfil the requirements to join the AIS.

  Already there is a little dissent with a fringe movement claiming the AIS is an imperialistic power no better than the Federation or Empire. The new government of Phekda is reported to have strongly denied this, pointing out that unlike the Federation or Empire, the AIS never forces a member to join, and the AIS does not intefere with the running of a member system. Further, they have stated that AIS membership will guarantee that the Federation does not try to annexe Phekda.

Alioth.Net is founded, after a shaky start

  The Alliance improved its presence on the Galactic Information Network last week, with the creation of Alioth.Net. However, this was not after an inauspicious start to the service.

  Alioth.Net was established after the former Alliance Joint Navy's system, icct.net/~dyls, ran out of webspace. James Winston, leader of the Turner Space Combat Academy said to the Frontier News last week that the new network would allow Alliance members much more flexibility over how their information is published.

  There was one teething problem with the launch of the new network. When James Winston registered the new domain, he mis-spelled Alioth as "Aolith". Undoubtedly this caused a great deal of anguish, but when we contacted Alioth Information Systems, they said no action would be taken against the TSCA's commander. Victor Cherney, the AIS Information Systems manager said to reporters, "It's all very embarrassing, but no one was hurt or put at risk, so we can just put it down to experience."

   In the meantime, James Winston has put in a request to rename the domain, which will be propagated about the Galactic Information Network by the middle of next week. When we asked James Winston about it he said "Thanks to Paul Roberts for pointing this one out. I've been unwittingly spelling Alioth wrong all my life, but never noticed".

New listserver for webmasters

  Dave Bett, leader of the Demon's Gate in the Vebein system has started a new service for webmasters in the Galactic Information Network. The list server will be used to dissemenate information about changes and updates to information sites on the Net. To keep abreast of the world of website happenings, sign up on www.onelist.com/community/frontier-elite-sites.

Elite Club on the horizon

  The News has observed evidence that the new Elite Club is on the horizon. Stations that carried copies of Frontier and Frontier First Encounters have been asked to stop supplying the downloads, since the Elite Club will be made the focus of this activity. The latest system to remove the downloads was Yikes Station, run by Tom Morton. The Elite club is eagerly anticipated, since it is reported to be releasing the source code for FE2 and FFE. Many people in the galaxy are of course hoping for a Linux port, but we'll have to wait and see.