The flare-up in poor relations between Louis J.M, leader of Mizar and Derek Smart, leader of close-by system Alcor, seems to have quietened for now. The two small independent systems looked set for all-out war, with Smart threatening Louis with a deadly missile known as the Lawyer Mk.3. As reported in last week's edition, the argument over faulty battlecruisers supplied to Mizar by Alcor had stirred up a very ugly situation.
The war of words, which was becoming increasingly nasty, got unexpectedly sidetracked early last week, and became a more-or-less benign argument about religion. The debate between atheists and theists managed to hijack the entire battle between Louis and Smart, misdirecting both parties attention. Rumours abound that an interstellar peace group deliberately stagemanaged the controversial religious debate to distract the would-be combatants from war.
However, observers are quite confident that this will only be a temporary lull in the conflict. The posturing between the two independent systems has now been going on for years, and it's doubtful that this will be the last we hear of Louis -v- Smart. Julius Ammons, the MP for Alioth 4 region said "They both need their heads knocking together like two kindergarten children. The whole Ursa Major cluster region is sick to the back teeth of this bickering pair".
In January last year, the AJN Rochester, a Valiant class
capitol ship assigned to the Ethwain system had to be abandoned after the
centre prime-mover broke free of its mountings, breaking the rear pressure
bulkhead. Accident investigators have at last finished their analysis of the
ship, and found that a fatigued duralium (aluminium/buckminsterfullerine alloy)
engine mounting had caused the problem. The rest of the ship checked out fine,
so now the AAAI are finally starting the refit. A new type of engine will
be fitted in place of the existing engines, and the Rochester will be the
vessel that proves the spaceworthiness of these engines. The new prime-mover
technology gives the same amount of thrust in a smaller package, leaving
more room for fuel, crew or supplies. The AJN is expecting the ship back
in service within a couple of months, once the engines have had a fair
workout.
Fatigue worries with the older Valiant class ships have been increasing in recent years. In 3288, the Enterprise had to be scrapped after extensive stress cracking was found in the superstructure during a routine inspection. Other members of the fleet have had minor structural repairs made to them after cracks were found during inspections. Some Valiant class ships have been in service since the late 3100's - all Valiants are actually converted civilian long range cruisers.
Hot on the heels of the findings into the AJN Rochester, the
AJN awarded the contract for two new Victor class starships. After fierce
competition between several shipbuilders, the contract was awarded to
two companies.
Vosper Thorneycroft Shipyards of Titcan (-2,5) are to build the superstructure
and internal fittings, whilst AAAI of Alioth (0, 4) will build the hyperdrives
and prime movers. The deal is worth some 17M credits per ship. Both
craft will be fitted out with the latest technology. One of the ships
is destined to become a research craft (replacing the AJN Lion, which
was lost under unusual circumstances several years ago),
and the other will complement the carrier fleet.
An AJN representitive said "These new ships will be a welcome addition to our fleet, since we are expecting three systems to shortly be joining the Alliance".
There have been three reports of a rather disturbing development in hyperspace travel over the last week. A bounty hunter and two traders were apparently attacked whilst in hyperspace transit leaving the Endlia system (1,5) for Phekda. None took any damage, but we have to wonder whether ships are getting destroyed during these attacks.
Commander Lisa Stevens, a bounty hunter, was making an emergency exit after being attacked by an Imperial Courier. She hyperspaced to Phekda to escape. "When I hyperspaced, all of a sudden there were four pink returns on the scanner and the attack alarm went off. I never did see the ships", she told the News.
When she left hyperspace, in addition to her Cobra Mk.3, four mines and a cargo canister hurtled out of her hyperspace exit cloud. The flight data recorders of all three ships show a similar event. None show any weapon hits from the attackers, but they all register the firing of weapons.
"We just don't understand what's going on here", said a representitive of the Continental Drive Company. "Normally it's impossible for two ships to travel in the same part of witch space unless they are physically bonded together".
Of course it's known that the Thargoids used to interrupt a ship's transit through witch space by unknown means. However, it now looks like a pirate group, or more probably INRA, is potentially mastering the same technology - something that is extremely worrying. New Rossyth Research and Development began an urgent investigation to see whether this could be a possibility. "We don't know yet - it could be a freak of nature. We still don't fully understand the nature of witch-space", said an engineer from the company.
Preparations for the Elite Club continue in the federation capital, Sol (0,0). However, news that came as an annoyance to many galactic citizens was that the top tier of membership - where the source code can be obtained - will be limited to people over 18 standard years.
Not surprisingly, legal objections were the culprit. However, some people have suggested that a legal guardian or parent could sign for an under-18 member, since many people of that age have time on their hands that could be well employed by improving FFE instead of going off in spaceships and causing a nuisance to police forces across the inhabited galaxy. Since the Elite Club hasn't had all the details worked out yet, it remains to be seen whether this suggestion will be taken up by Frontier Developments.
Telemarketers are a continuous nuisance to anyone on the galactic information network. There you are, ready to dispatch a pirate in a Cobra Mk.I, and what do you get? Incoming message. Thinking it's important, you answer and it's someone trying to sell you spacecraft insurance. Just at that moment, you receive hull damage as the distraction causes you to ECM a missile too late...
The 'News' has found a great site on the Galactic Information Network with ideas on how to annoy, play games or just plainly block out these interstellar annoyances. Some of the methods are pretty inventive, and next time your editor gets a telesales call, he's going to try some of them out. Go to The AntiTelemarketer's Source to find out how to deal with these hoodlums of the phone network.