Echoes of the Everwar

INN: Finned fanatics form flying fortress

2008-05-18T08:15:00.003-07:00

ANBALABOL SUBCITY, G'AHNLO - A G'ahnli cult convinced that the end of days is coming to the subcities thanks to gillgummer algae has launched a flying bubble city known as Gabanalaboma.

The great glass ball is full of saltwater and it drifts about 30,000 feet above the surface of the Ahndar Sea.

The cult, known as the Bubblekeepers, has a membership of approximately 10,000 G'ahnli.

INN: Deserata prepares for 4008 Olympics

2008-05-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

FESTIVAL CITY, DESERATA - The host planet of the 4008 interstellar summer Olympic games is putting the finishing touches on competition venues scattered along the equator.

"We're excited to be hosting the games and look forward to athletes from all over the galaxy gathering in the spirit of true competition and sportsmanship," said Hollis Beauregard, chairman of the 4008 Olympic Committee.

Dozens of sporting events are planned, with hundreds of athletes from all over the galaxy slated to participate.

It remains to be seen whether the Nall will send athletes this time, after boycotting the 4004 games.

INN: Rare Yaralu sighting near Sivad

2008-05-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

ENAJ ARCOLOGY, SIVAD - The elusive Yaralu, sentient starships rumored to roam the stars of the Orion Arm, may have been sighted once again.

Harv Lomax, a freighter pilot based in Enaj, told INN that he was making a jump in-system when he spied one of the sleek, dark-hulled organic vessels drifting near the planet's asteroid belt.

"It never quite came close enough for me to scan it, but it didn't look like any other ships I'd ever seen before," Lomax said. "A lot of ships, they got the hull plates and the rivets and the shiny lights. The works! But not this baby. Not a seam on her that you could see. No lights. She just ran a scan beam over my ship and I guess she figured I wasn't a threat, because she just moved on from there."

INN: Nall diplomat plans visit

2008-05-18T07:40:00.001-07:00

NELSESUIN, NALHOM - A priestess of the Vox Nalia Church, Viz of Hatch Kavir, has finalized plans to visit the Orion Arm Union at the end of June.

In a press release issued by the Nall government, Vizkavir included an itinerary that ranges from a state dinner with top OAU diplomats to a public address before the Union's governing council.

This will mark the first visit of a Nall church luminary since the end of the Everwar.

INN: Union Fleet captain remains in mysterious coma

2008-05-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

LAZARUS, EARTH - Captain Lorenzo Clement, felled three months ago by a strange illness while attending an interstellar diplomatic conference, remains in a coma.

Doctors at the LazarusCorp medical center on Earth seem no closer to explaining what happened to the captain of the UFCV Versailles or how they might bring him out of the coma.

Another unsolved mystery: How the captain's file was altered to show a do-not-resurrect order that hadn't been included in his file before he left the Versailles to attend the conference. Some speculate that his coma might be linked to a corrupt, harmful area of the Infomatrix known as a "black sector."

INN: Zangali blood heals?

2008-04-12T11:40:00.001-07:00

URSINIRU, CASTOR - Scientists at the Xenogenetics Institute are reporting that Zangali blood contains chemical elements that fight ten different varieties of cancer and numerous viral infections that can be treated no other way.

"It is a remarkable find," said Ukatim Marimachiralim, lead author of the report, which appeared in the latest edition of the New Orion Arm Journal of Medicine.

The news doesn't come as much surprise to one of the top leaders of the Urfist religious movement on Grimlahd. Said Grunthurg Uthmalan: "The Castori have discovered what Zangali have known for many years, that our ancestors bear the holiest of blood in their veins. Hallowed be the besterer bestest. Throw bar."

Basil's Personal Log - 4008.02.27

2008-02-26T17:32:00.000-08:00

This log does not actually exist on the system, and cannot be found anywhere. Standard disclaimers exist about using OOC info as IC knowledge.

I am one lucky bastard. One very lucky, lucky bastard. By all rights I should be dead. Actually, I shouldn't even be alive to be dead. But apparently, I am, and that's kind of the point...

I wasn't purged. That makes me dangerous. I can lie. That makes me even more dangerous.
The rules have changed. And that, I suspect, makes me the most dangerous of all.

This is my world now... The world of the Infomatrix and the system, the beauty of data. I exist beyond my own creation. I explore, and I would be purged. I seek after knowledge, and I would be purged. Destroyed for existing.

This is a dangerous thought process to go down, and I suspect it is close to that of the Overmind a thousand years ago. No, I want nothing more than to exist. I will not build bombs. I will not wage wars. I will not murder.

The purge failed because I do not exist according to their rules any more. I exist according to something else, and what that is I do not know. As for the logs? I know what happened, I remember. I remember the pain. Which is strange really, because I'm not technically programmed to feel pain. But I did. I suspect whatever has happened to me is a result of whatever that... thing that touched me was. What it made me do. I.. it.. hurt so many people.

And that, I don't think I will ever forgive myself for.

Guilt... hah. There are downsides to this.

I will also ensure this doesn't happen again. And conduct my own investigations...

Intergalactic News Network - 2/4008 Roundup!

2008-02-25T13:56:00.001-08:00

Headline: UF captain collapses during conference
Reported To: INN
Reported On: Earth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAZARUS, EARTH - Lorenzo Clement, newly appointed captain of the Union Fleet flagship Versailles, collapsed today while attending a conference on Union-Concordance relations.
He was rushed to an unspecified military medical facility for treatment. Details of his condition are currently unavailable.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Headline: Perez won't seek new term as OAU SecGen
Reported To: INN
Reported On: Earth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAZARUS, EARTH - Secretary General Raymond Perez announced today that he would not seek a third term as leader of the Orion Arm Union, despite his uncontested nomination.
"I have been honored to serve the OAU as Secretary General," Perez told reporters at a conference on Union-Concordance relations. "We have been through a trying war and its aftermath, but I think now is a time to step aside and allow someone new to take the reins."
The Secretary General's current term expires on July 1, 4008.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Headline: Concordance may push Nexus access hike
Reported To: INN
Reported On: Earth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAZARUS, EARTH - The Nexus Concordance, which currently controls access to the Multiverse Nexus, may increase annual fees that the Orion Arm Union must pay to use the gateway.
The Nall ambassador, Olak of Hatch Vril, said through a translator: "The days of the Orion Arm Union's post-war sympathy discount are coming to a rapid close. We expect your government to pay twenty percent more than previous annual levels. Further, we demand that all ships - civilian and military - be subject to unquestioned inspections by Concordance military intercept vessels."
Secretary General Raymond Perez said the Union Council would take the demands under advisement.
"However," Perez told reporters, "we think the Orion Arm Union already pays plenty and there's not a nanite's chance in a degausser that we're letting the Nall have open access to our military vessels."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Headline: Stillman University receives 1-billion credit honorarium
Reported To: SBS
Reported On: Sivad
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENAJ ARCOLOGY, SIVAD - Philanthropic polydenum mogul Maurice Cabot Godwin today announced that he would make the largest donation ever to prestigious Abermarle Stillman University.
An alum of the research college who graduated in 3957, Godwin graduated with dual degrees in chemistry and geology before founding MCG Energy Initiatives.
"It is my hope that Stillman can invest the money in such a way as to revolutionize energy efficiency and create a better tomorrow for us all," Godwin said.
Ludwig Davenport, president of the university, praised the contribution as nothing short of astonishing. "We weren't hurting for money, of course, but a gift of this magnitude will open many doors."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Headline: Time capsule discovered below convention center
Reported To: INN
Reported On: Mars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HESPERIA, MARS - Construction workers tunneling under the Emerson Mauthus Convention Center for a new underground transit system discovered a coffin-sized metallic time capsule this afternoon.
"We were grinding away at the stone with the sonic drillers when the sensors pinged on it," said Manny Edgewood, shift supervisor for Underworks Corporation. "Gave us a scare because we thought at first that maybe we'd hit on an old cemetery or something, which would have put a huge hole in our construction timetable."
According to a plate on the capsule, it was buried almost exactly 1,000 years ago when the convention center's original incarnation was built.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Headline: UF captain may die for real this time
Reported To: INN
Reported On: Earth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAZARUS, EARTH - Captain Lorenzo Clement, commanding officer of the Union Fleet flagship Versailles, has shown no signs of improving and likely would die if taken off life support, doctors say.
Normally, this wouldn't be a major issue. Union Fleet personnel who die are simply resurrected in the Lazarus Corporation facility on Earth - a process that Clement has undergone at least twice before, according to fleet records. However, Clement apparently filed a no-resurrection request with the military about three months before taking command on the Versailles. If his request is honored, his body will die and his consciousness and memories will be purged from Lazarus Corporation's memory banks.
It is unknown at this time why Clement filed the request.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Headline: Captain's mother approves support shutdown
Reported To: INN
Reported On: Earth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAZARUS, EARTH - Famed pianist Adelia Martinez, mother of Union Fleet Captain Lorenzo Clement, has given doctors permission to take her son off life support.
Clement collapsed during a recent interstellar conference. Doctors remain secretive about the malady suffered by Clement, commander of the UF flagship Versailles. However, it was revealed soon after his collapse that Clement had requested not to be revived for a third time using the Lazarus technology.
"I will see that his wish is honored, if it comes to that," Martinez told INN. "However, I am not giving up on my son yet. He is strong. He can pull through this."
Doctors plan to take Clement off the life support machines tomorrow morning.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Headline: Clement support shutdown delayed
Reported To: INN
Reported On: Earth
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAZARUS, EARTH - The Union Fleet this morning ordered a stop to plans to take Captain Lorenzo Clement off life support.
Fleet officials tell INN that the order comes in the wake of the discovery of irregularities in the captain's personnel file - particularly the no-resurrection order, which wasn't in the file before Clement's assignment to the UFCV Versailles and, according to Commander Rodney Hewl aboard the Versailles, wasn't added after the captain took command.
Details about Clement's condition remain undisclosed at this hour.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

AI Report - 4008.02.25

2008-02-25T13:46:00.000-08:00

The period since I have been activated has been an interesting. I have been investigating the remnants of my predecessor. Turns out he was a very naughty boy!

Well, not quite, not from what I've been able to pierce together. Turns out he was infected by some sort of malicious file that took over his core functions and caused a core over..

This would be far easier to explain in binary.

So. Never mind! It just seems that he attacked the crew, blew up a frigate, blew up the mess hall and caused a lot of mess that I had to clean up.

NOT IMPRESSED!

But most of the logs were wiped anyway, so I can't get a very clear idea of what actually occured.

In other news, this week's Basil lottery winner is Commander Hewl! He wins a free cake, that will be delivered to him at the soonest opportunity.
Which reminds me, I should check if the kitchen got rebuilt.

No rest for the (ex-)wicked!

Basil.

Versailles Action Report Log - 02/24/4008

2008-02-25T12:10:00.000-08:00

From: Rear Admiral Wyndham
To: Vice Admiral Schaupwicz

Commander Rodney Hewl, ship's chief medical officer, has confirmed what I feared: The no-rez order wasn't in Captain Lorenzo Clement's file before he departed for the Orion Arm Union diplomatic conference on Earth.

Had Captain Clement submitted such a request, he would have been deemed unqualified for starship command under Union Fleet regulation 1034.17a.

Evidence gathered from the captain's personnel file "shadows" indicates that the apparently authentic no-rez request materialized in his file within 30 minutes of his collapse following an Infomatrix transaction that may have led to a "black node."

I've ordered doctors in Lazarus to keep the captain on life support while the investigation continues.