• Leaked Imperial document: Phekda crisis premeditated
• Unrest in Valhalla
• Whatever happened to Bevegre?
• Imperial travel laws challenged
• Demon's Gate: Down and out?
• Around the Web
• Louis -vs- Smart: situation continues to rumble
 

Alliance Atlas: Phekda

Frontier News: Issue 9

Frontier News: Issue 6

Frontier News: Issue 3

  Damning evidence has been uncovered that the recent Phekda crisis, sparked after an Imperial raid on the Federation in retaliation for a Federation strike against an Imperial base, was actually not all it seemed. The evidence shows that the confrontation was stagemanaged by both powers from the start, in an effort to justify making a grab for the system. Phekda's class B blue star and the proximity of Phekda 1 to the star mean that the system is an ideal location for the production of military fuel. Since the early technological days where fossil fuels were important natural resources, much military action has been predicated on grabbing natural resources, and it turns out that the recent attack on Phekda was not an exception.

  The evidence shows that the battles between the Empire and Federation leading up to the crisis were all faked. The end game scenario was that the Empire retaliated to the original "attack" by the Federation via Phekda so that the Federation could justify attacking Phekda, and the Empire could justify defending the system. The documents obtained shows that the Empire and Federation were going to divide the system between them, much like Alioth was divided during the occupation. The miscalculation on their part was the assumption that the Alliance would not act to defend the system. It is known that for a long time that the Empire has considered the Alliance to be "fairies", and did not expect the Alliance to do anything except register a protest.

  It turns out several things went wrong in the attempted Federation/Imperial joint grab of the system. Firstly, it appears that the age-long mistrust between the Federation and Empire flared up, and the forces stopped co-operating with each other, and started some genuine battles en-route to Phekda. The Imperial force mostly turned back, since their supply lines were too stretched. At this point, the Federation decided it would singlehandedly plunder the system. When the small Imperial force and the rather larger Federation force arrived in Phekda, they were rather surprised to discover several battle-ready AJN warships.

  The President of the Alliance of Independent Systems, Margaret Stonecipher, issued a strong personal rebuke to both Emperor Duval and President Winters of the Federation. President Stonecipher told the Frontier News, "It's unbelievable that they would try a stunt like this. Hopefully they both have got the message that the Alliance will protect its members by whatever means are necessary."

  Tensions are once again running high at Valhalla, Tiliala (-4,-1). Valhalla has been a trouble spot since the early 3250's, when the Rasts were assassinated. The planet has been in a period of relative calm for the past few years, with a mixed force of Alliance, Imperial and Federation peacekeepers attemptimg to maintain the peace.

  The Valhalla Liberation Army (VLA), who all but disappeared after the Rasts were killed, has formed once again. The new VLA has demanded that the peacekeeping force leave the system, and allow it to govern the planet. Although the VLA has not made any threats or caused any violence so far, the VLA's opponents have already begun a campaign of violence to try and ensure that the VLA does not come to power. The main antagonist, the People's Democratic Republican Party of Valhalla, began the renewed troubles. Several isolated fights have broken out between the PDRP and peacekeepers from the Alliance and Federation. The 27th Tactical Division (Miandin) was pelted by low-tech missiles by the PDRP. The soldiers were forced to retaliate with tear-gas, and 28 members of the PDRP were arrested. The 4th Peacekeeper Division (Eta Cassiopiea) were caught up in a similar altrication. Both incidents occurred in the vicinity of Austin Starport.

  Like all People's Democratic Republic parties, this particular one wants to set up a communist dictatorship. One of their assassins was responsible for the murders of the Rast family, and understandably, the new leaders of the VLA are rather nervous that the PDRP still exists after all these years (the PDRP used to be the VDPP - Valhallan Democratic Peace Party, also inaccurately named since they wanted neither democracy nor peace). Despite claims made by the Empire and Federation during the 3250's, Rast's assassin was never caught, and it is possible that he or she is still around, waiting to assassinate the leadership of the new VLA.

alt.fan.elite

  Back in 3250 - in fact, the 14th March to be precise, there was an alien artefacts sale in Bevegre
(-10,0), according to the smaller news outlets. However, this has raised some questions for historians.

  Commander Diomedes brought up the subject in alt.fan.elite. No records of the sale could be found. This is not surprising since the system has no registered settlements. Bevegre 3 is rich with alien life, none of which can be considered even remotely sentient. Looking back through the news, the only alien items sale reported in the mainstream press was the Alien Artefacts Auction, at Discovery, Arcturus.

  The Bevegre sale was probably a con job by a confidence trickster to get commanders to part with their hard-earned cash. Whilst it is certainly true that there's plenty of "alien items" there, none of them can really be considered "artefacts". Much like the antiques market, the alien artefacts market is awash with fakes, lying around to catch out the unwary and inexperienced. A search of police reports show that several people were lured to their untimely fates in this system. Interpol never did manage to catch up with the main suspect, William Matthews of Canopus (6,6).

  The draconian laws of the Empire received scathing criticism from Amnesty Interstellar last week. The latest law to be enacted by decree of Emperor Duval is designed to restrict the travel of people from the provinces to the rich capital, Achenar. The new system will brand Imperial subjects with their place of birth, putting a massive amount of bureaucratic red tape in the way of a person who wishes to move to another part of the Empire. Already, Imperial citizens must go through a gruelling process to be allowed outside of the Empire.

  Under the new system, people who decide to leave the star system in which they were born must undergo a long and difficult immigration process. The penalty for illegally moving about the Empire will be several years in the slave prison camps for first time offenders, and death for later transgressions. Already, travel about the Empire without "proper papers" is fraught with difficulty, and many Alliance citizens have been arrested by the Imperial police for simply forgetting to bring their travel documents. Imperial police routinely stop people at random and check their papers. It is not unusual to be stopped twice in one day for a papers check.

  Anita Rodgers, an Amnesty representitive who escaped from the Empire to live in 70 Ophiuchi
(-2, 0), told the Frontier News, "The Empire has long been an opressive regime. This latest measure just makes the Empire a worse place to live. Amnesty will be sending an envoy to Emperor Duval's court to try and persuade the Empire to rescind this draconian law".

  The Alliance Foreign Office in Edinburgh (Turner's World, Alioth), has advised Alliance citizens to be especially careful to carry their identity at all times whilst travelling within the Empire. The standard pilot's certificate is sufficient identity.

Demon's Gate

  This week, the Demons galactic information network presence unexpectedly underwent a gratuitous total existence failure. Commanders attempting to retrieve information from the Demon's Gate at Vebein have just been receiving a flat "Stream interrupted" message, generated by the Vebein galactic information network router Alpha-71-Mike. Apparently the problem will be rectified "as soon as possible".

  This brings the possibility that perhaps the Federation finally lost patience with the Demons, and invaded. No news has been forthcoming from Vebein to either confirm or deny this possibility. The Federation has been becoming increasingly gung-ho about taking Vebein back in recent months, especially since the pirate group managed to get very close to working out how to operate the salvaged Thargoid hyperspace interrupter (see the Frontier News, issues 2 and 3 for more details).

Commander Winston's journals

Frontierverse Fiction

Aftermath

Zat Solo's DSO

SODA Constructor

Buy a nuclear silo

Mic Healey's FDL

  This week sees a slew of new journal updates, once again. At the Frontierverse, there are two new additions: a new chapter of the Kerensky Saga, and a new chapter of the Legend of Commander Alex Darius. Commander Simon Challands has also got new chapters of his story, "Aftermath". The story is set way back in the days when the Constrictor was a one-off, top-secret naval project, and the hunt to find its remains continues. Finally, AliothNet has the latest installment in Commander Winston's saga, "Deceit, Harmony and Pleasure". In Chapter 6, Albright looks like he'll double-cross his commander. However, Winston is his usual sly self and has some plans that will undoubtedly make someone live in interesting times...

  Zat Solo has now completed his site overhaul, and very nice it is too! Zat's Deep Space Outpost not only hosts probably the biggest Elite-related links directory, but has some other inventive features. The new site design has really improved the look and feel of the site, and Zat has added many new sections, plus "mood music". It's well worth a visit.

   You've probably already noticed that AliothNet has had a bit of a facelift, plus some reorganization if you've got this far! If you have links/bookmarks to specific parts of AliothNet, you will need to renew them, because almost everything (except the AJN section) has moved! In addition to the new layout and organization, we have added a comprehensive search engine, courtesy of Atomz.Com.

BRIEFLY NOTED:

• Check out SODA. The Frontier News is not responsible for the inevitable lost productivity that will be caused by going there!
• A rare 20th Century relic for sale: For CR 2.3million, you can buy a piece of history - a nuclear missile silo complete with a luxury house and a spaceport. The silo itself is hardened against a direct nuclear attack, and used to hold an Atlas missile of the long-defunct United States (an old Earth nation state).
• Commander Mic Healey's Flight Data Log for F:E2 and FFE has been updated. Version 2 is now available for download.

alt.fan.elite

Frontier News Issue 11

Frontier News Issue 1

  Tensions are still running high and shots have been fired in the latest episode of the dispute between Louis J.M of Mizar, and Derek Smart of Alcor. The dispute arises originally from the alleged supply of a faulty battlecruiser by Smart to Louis. Since this time, Louis has continuously fought with Smart, and Smart has had enough.

  Smart has often threatened to bring in the Federation to arrest or restrain Louis, and it looks like he wasn't lying when he said that they had already visited Louis at his home on a small asteroid in Mizar. It is not known how seriously the Federation are taking the complaints made by Cdr. Smart. However, Louis's Galactic Information Network service provider (GSP) apparently has taken Smart's complaints seriously.

  It seems apparent that in reaction to Smart's complaints and evidence, the GSP AllianceBell withdrew their GIN routers from Mizar. However, Louis immediately fell back to another provider he had previously used, FOL (Federation On-line). Louis got back in with AllianceBell by apparently signing up using a different method that wouldn't directly give away his identity. Smart claims that this has also been taken care of. It appears that Smart is also actively trying to get FOL to withdraw their GIN routers from Mizar's space. Apparently, these routers are rented by Louis's sister.

  It is known that Smart wants to get Louis arrested and taken to jail for his "harrassment". However, the Frontier News' legal correspondent, Susan G. Runne, said that this was "unlikely to happen."