Network Omni News

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:00 am

:::The camera focus on the news room with the large shiny wooden desk and the small humanoid wearing the roman centurion armor. The figure shuffles several papers and then looks into the camera with a serious look.::: "Greetings fellow three galaxies citizens. Unfortunately our other reporters are not in the locations they should be. We'll bring you more stories thru them when they are in place. Have a great evening." :::The scene changes to the next scheduled show.:::

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 4:16 am

:::The camera focus on the news room with the large shiny wooden desk and the small humanoid wearing the roman centurion armor. The figure shuffles several papers and then looks into the camera with a serious look.::: "Greetings fellow three galaxies citizens. Tonight we go straight to our reporter out in the field. The first is B. Bunnye who has been transported to Metabelis 3. Which will be followed by our return to S. Kat's. And then that will be followed by D. Ducke following Qunatu Kutea Lo'Panteoga the other canidate for the Presidency of the Consortium of Civilized Worlds. So without any more delays, here is B.Bunnye at a news story on Metabelis 3." :::The scene changes and then you see B. Bunnye standing on a hill of deep blue crystal while wearing an outfit that actually compliments the scenery.:::

B. Bunnye::: "Hi Marv! How are things back there on Center? Things here on Metabelis 3 seem good for the problem they are currently having."
Marv::: "Well things are quiet here. What sort of problem are they having there?"
BB::: "According to the natives there is this massive problem with illegal immegration. Now I'm going to meet with a native and get his point of view."
Marv::: "That sounds great Bugs. Where is that native? Is he around there?"
BB::: "Yes. He is right over there. :::The tri-d camera pans across the scenery of the deep blue crystal hills. It comes to rest on a spider the size of the cab of a semi truck.:::
Marv::: "Ummmm. Good thing I'm not afraid of spiders. Good luck Bugs. We'll catch you later."
BB::: "Talk to you later Marv." :::He motions towards the spider. It quickly ambles over towards the camera. As it crosses the ground he pulls out a universal translator.::: "Greetings. My name is Bugs Bunnye. Could you tell our viewers your name?"
Giant Spider thru the translator::: "Greeting tastey morsel! My name is alsdgi'ha'psough-nhpsdr'pshy'hgpasergh."
BB:::Coughs a little and then continues.::: "I hope you don't mind if I shorten your name to Al? Well Al could you tell me about this illegal immigration proiblems?"
AL::: "Well this world was this quiet place until these two legged invaders started showing up on our world."
BB::: "Invaders? What have they done to you and your world?"
Al::: "They have taken over the all of the best spots to hunt. They have polluted our world. We have a new use for these invladers."
BB::: "Um. What exactly does that mean to these various races living here?"
Al::: "We have discovered that they taste very delicious! And we have decided to allow them to land here. Of course getting off is going to be another thing entirely. So just stay still little being. I'd love to have you over for dinner." :::The spider starts moving forward and then you see B. Bunnye start running towards the horizon. The camera is quick to follow. Of course the jarring view of the giant spider following behind continues to move behind them until the screen goes black. Then the scene focuses on S. Kat's. He is dressed in a fancy polo type shirt with matching slacks and shoes.:::

S. Kat's::: "Greetings everyone! Earlier today Anabella Ridilin had her ssship land at an undisssclosssed location. Ssshe departed the ssship with an armed guard. We aren't allowed to leave the ssship. And they've sssealed the portholesss. I will find out exactly what ssshe was doing. And I'll find out our location for you the viewersss. Ssso trussst me, I'll do what I can to get you the newsss." He then walks down the cooridor in the ship. He looks into an area of the ship where the camera records several stellar maps. He points quietly and then the camera focuses tightly on Exile. He quietly moves down the cooridor the looks into the Tri-D camera.::: "I think that we are on the planet Exile. Now I need to find out more. Pleassse be patient. I'll bring you that information as sssoon as I can. We now go to D. Ducke who'll be following Qunatu Kutea Lo'Panteoga the other canidate for the Presssidency of the Consssortium of Civilized Worldsss. Take it away Duffy!" :::The scene changes revealing D. Ducke wearing business informal wear.:::

D. Ducke::: "Well today I'm here on Canboris in the Thundercloud galaxy. Today is the first day of us following the campaign of Qunatu Kutea Lo'Panteoga the other canidate for the Presidency of the Consortium of Civilized Worlds. We are hoping to catch him at his abode. We only have to walk over here and knock on that door to start following his presidential campaign." :::The scene pivots around and you watch D. Ducke walk up the walkway towards this magnificent mansion. He only takes ten steps onto the property when this enormus canine appears around the side of the building. The canine is easily seven feet at it's shoulder. It looks hungrily at D. Ducke. D.Ducke see the canine and gulps loud enough to be recorded on the Tri-D Camera. He starts to turn as the canine starts to move towards him. He ends up screaming shrilly and takes off for the opposite side of the house. The canine takes up the chase. The scene returns to the newsroom. The small humanoid in the roman centurion armor looks into the camera. He quickly hides the large glass bottle he was drinking out of.::: "Um....... We'll get you more from D. Ducke as soon as we can." :::Then the scene changes and goes to the next scheduled show.:::

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 4:21 am

:::A small mousish creature walks out. And in a strangely accented voice.::: "And now for some mood music! We hear at MOANS hope you enjoy it!" :::The little fellow dashes off the screen blindingly fast and is back as fast as he disappeared.::: "Well, I'm hoping to get a job around here as a reporter. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone or else they sic the cat on me!" :::He then dashes off even faster than before. The scene changes and goes to the next scheduled show.:::

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:46 pm

Bad egg salad in the MOANS cafeteria?

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Thu Jul 30, 2009 1:51 am

:::The camera focus on the news room with the large shiny wooden desk and the small humanoid wearing the roman centurion armor. The figure shuffles several papers and then looks into the camera with a serious look.::: "Greetings fellow three galaxies citizens. Today we cover and incident at Rodankonaps, located in the Corkscrew Galaxy at the coordinates of 80X120X-15. Near the worlds of Algol and Eden is where this incident took place. According to eye witnesses several people dressed in dark clothing appeared and began some sort of ceremony. A great Rift opened and several gargantuan tentacles started to come out of the Rifts. The local defenses began to respond. We lost contact with this world about fifteen minutes into the broadcast from this world. We have contacted another source to hopefully get us more on the situation on this world. We'll bring you more as we find out ourselves." :::The scene changes and returns to the next scheduled show.:::

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 1:40 am

:::The camera focus on the news room with the large shiny wooden desk and the small humanoid wearing the roman centurion armor. The figure shuffles several papers and then looks into the camera with a serious look.::: "Greetings fellow three galaxies citizens. We have more grave news from the secotr of space where Rodankonaps was as of our last report. We're going to bring you pictures from the sector in space in just a few minutes." :::The scene changes to an obivious view from space. The ship carrying the camera moves around showing the area of space where Rodankonaps should be floating. All the camera is showing is a debris field that is slowly spreading out.::: "According to our sources the planet was destroyed by some unknown force. We believe that whatever started that attack yesterday could be the cause of the destruction of the planet. We will bring the reactions of the canidates next." :::The scene changes and we see S. Kat's:::

S. Kat's::: "Greetings everyone! Earlier today Anabella Ridilin wasss informed of the dessstruction of the planet Rodankonapsss. And ssshe sssaid that the authoriesss need to find out who isss resssponsssible for thisss. And once found thossse resssponsssible to jussstice. Sssomehow I believe her. Now we go to D. Ducke who isss following the political campaign of Qunatu Kutea Lo'Panteoga in hisss bid for presssidency. I hope thossse sssame people will dessstroy thossse who causssed this disssassster." :::The scene changesw and goes to the next scheduled show.:::

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Tue Aug 04, 2009 12:24 am

:::The camera focus on the news room with the large shiny wooden desk and the small humanoid wearing the roman centurion armor. The figure shuffles several papers and then looks into the camera with a serious look.::: "Greetings fellow three galaxies citizens. We are bringing you more news on the destruction of the planet Rodankonaps. We have definative proof that the fugures filmed reading in the pre-destruction video summoning those gargantuan tentacles. As of this time several experts believe that the figures were using an as of this time unknown to any magic scholar. An expert from a major unidentified UWW university has confirmed that these documents could be out there. And this group seems to have found them. Although according to the expert the spell didn't actually free the old ones. Just a part of one of them. So in those extremely famous words. STOP and DON"T PANIC! Everything will be fine. I know that their are rumors from the worlds on the fringe of space reporting demonic forces invading, but these are only rumors. So DON'T PANIC! We'll be hear tomorrow and the day after." :::The scene changes to the next scheduled show.:::

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Mon Aug 10, 2009 11:24 pm

:::The camera focus on the news room with the large shiny wooden desk and the small humanoid wearing the roman centurion armor. The figure shuffles several papers and then looks into the camera with a serious look.::: "Greetings fellow three galaxies citizens. We here at MOANS have been having some trouble with our transmission gear and hope to have it cleared up as sooon as possible. Please bear with us!" :::The scene changes and returns to the previously scheduled show.:::

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 3:43 am

:::The camera focus on the news room with the large shiny wooden desk and the small humanoid wearing the roman centurion armor. The figure shuffles several papers and then looks into the camera with a serious look.::: "Greetings fellow three galaxies citizens. We are still experiencing trouble with our broadcast equipment. We are working on reporting news to you. We should have some by tomorrow night! Have a great evening. Thank you for your patience." :::The scene changes to the next scheduled show.:::

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 8:26 am

Congrats! I just noticed this thread pushed to 50 pages!

gaby · Unread post by **gaby** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 1:41 pm

Maybe who can do a story where the SDf-3 reappear in the 3G?

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 5:47 pm

gaby wrote:Maybe who can do a story where the SDf-3 reappear in the 3G?

Like a strange huge grey and red blur and accompanyiong blast of displaced air go through one of the transit lobbies of Center?

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:11 pm

Maybe eventually. Right now I don't think so. Maybe tomorrow night. Of course Gaby, you can always start a third rival news network and post the story.

Jefffar · Unread post by **Jefffar** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 1:28 am

I forget the page, but DB2 had a reference to shape shifting dreadnaughts that annihilated entire fleets with a single volley.

Perhaps one of the SDF series made an appearance.

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Thu Aug 20, 2009 6:06 am

Cool! Thanks for the information Jefffar! I appreciate it!

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Mon Aug 31, 2009 11:52 pm

:::The camera focus on the news room with the large shiny wooden desk and the small humanoid wearing the roman centurion armor. The figure shuffles several papers and then looks into the camera with a serious look.::: "Greetings fellow three galaxies citizens. We are still experiencing trouble with our broadcast equipment. We are working on reporting news to you. We should have some by tomorrow night! Have a great evening. Thank you for your patience. We will continue to bring the most updated news. Please just be patient." :::The scene changes to the next scheduled show.:::

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:59 pm

:::The camera focus on the news room with the large shiny wooden desk and the small humanoid wearing the roman centurion armor. The figure shuffles several papers and then looks into the camera with a serious look.::: "Greetings fellow three galaxies citizens. According to sources within the CAF. The CAF has finished testing a weapon system which according to that technical briefing can penetrate almost five miles of hard stone. They are not saying how this is possible. But we here at at MOANS we'll continue to bring you more military news than anyone else. Also over the past weekend the CAF navy has also commisioned several new vessels for the naval services. We have to report that they have commisioned two major Capital ships, and an additional dozen destroyers and frigates. Once these craft finish their work up they be joining the fleet. And that is the news for today. We'll bring more news to you tomorrow. We now take you to the next scheduled show." :::THe scene changes to the next scheduled show.:::

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:52 pm

NETWORK OMNI NEWSFLASH
Dateline: 10/130900/32576482751

Temporal Anomalies Continue to Plague Interdimensional Communications

Zarunstra Station, Center, Promethean Sector, Corkscrew Galaxy---Interdimensional communications continue to be hampered by creeping interference of unknown origin, interfering with both technological and magical communications networks, including, sadly, NON and MOANS news-webs. Despite the best efforts of both technical and scientific personnel to remedy the situation, service has become increasing intermittant.
"WE have no idea where this interference is coming from, save that it's nothing wqrong with teh equipment or the scientific or thaumaturgical principles behind it." explained NON Tehcnical Chief Gh'sdar Khrogar, from his office at one of the central NON routing stations in Phaseworld's Center space "That leaves the source of the interference to be somewhere in the space/time we transmit through...We're looking into it, but since the very nature of the space-time between relaities encompasses millions of possible dimensional permutations happening in any one spot at any one time, the chances of being able to quickly find the source of the problem are slim, but we ARE working on it."
NON promises regular readers that thus far our local transmission webs remain unaffected, and we hope to have greater dimesnional reader subscription services back up and running before the service disruption becomes a greater inconvenience, as soon as possible.

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 10:44 pm

:::The camera focus on the news room with the large shiny wooden desk and the small humanoid wearing the roman centurion armor. The figure shuffles several papers and then looks into the camera with a serious look.::: "Greetings fellow three galaxies citizens. Please forgive the delay in our communications. We have been experiencing down time which has been caused by several minor problems including an entity here at our broadcasting location. We are working correcting this small problem. But we have made a deal with the entity to allow us to continue to broadcast the finest news to you our viewers..
"We have more information about the CCW's latest weapon which can penetrate up to five miles into the hardest rock and created materials. We have footage of said test. We were given premission to show the footage to you the viewers." :::The scene changes and your see a desert surface. Then you see and obvject moving extremely quickly towards the surface. It impact and penetrates the surface. Several seconds later the whole area where the weapon hit erupts and then the camera stops transmitting.::: "According to our sources the weapon is almost fifteen meters in length. We aren't sure about it's source of it's power. BUt we are assuming it's matter/ anti-matter reaction."
"We mentioned in our last broadcast of several capitol ships being launched by the CAF. It turns out that the CAF have launched another of the Emanicpation dreadnaughts. We bring you footage from the launching." :::The scene changes and you see an Emancipation class dreadnaught sitting in it's space dock. A small group of space suited individuals stand before it. A person swings a bottle of some sort against the prow of the ship. THe bottle breaks and then the ship flashes it's running lights, many people wave their arms in celebration.:::
"Well that concludes our program for today. Well bring you more as time passes. Thank you for tuning in. Stay tuned for the next schuled program." :::The scene changes and the next program starts.:::

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 3:02 pm

_"It's the damn pentacles and smell of brimstone we keep finding around our subspace relay stations that has me worried about these interruptions in service..."_
Interoffice memo, Network Omni News Technical Services, dated 10/132138/3424347834

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Mon Feb 15, 2010 4:51 pm

NON Ranks:

Stringers
“Don’t confuse me with the paparazzi....I don’t like the idea of sitting out for days on end looking to take a 400-credit blurred shot of some B-lister scratching hir arse; I’d rather be right behind them when they get busted for buying braindust.”
Stringers are the freelance street-trawlers and sensor-vidheads who go looking for ANTHING newsworthy and record it. They then sell their accumulated feed to the network....99.99% of all stringer material gets archived, never to be seen again, but occasionally they can score a jackpot.
Stringers can come and go as they please, and many maintain their own netblogs, essentially running their own news services, but they rarely get more than extremely local exposure, they are frequently less-than-unbiased, lack official credibility, and don’t have the support structure and official protection that being part of a network can give. The spaceports and urboplexes are FULL of stories of stringers who chanced upon the story of a lifetime, got the bad guys with the goods, and got irrefutable money-shot proof of bad things going down, but got disappeared before they could air their material.
Being a stringer doesn’t take much; just a zeal for long days and nights chasing people and rumors around, and your own recording equipment.

Cub Reporters
“I haven’t seen raw daylight in over six months....the boss-broad has me picking through archival footage of every Kreeghor prince that ever attended the Melusi Flower Festival...”
Cub Reporters are fairly interchangeable with stringers. Each envies the other. Stringers have more freedom to come and go as they please and what stories they want to pursue. Cub reporters on the other hand have a distinct hierarchy over them, have to take orders, meet certain responsibilities, but have some credibility with the network, and patronage from senior reporters. A cub spends a lot of time in the office, doing archival digging(often without knowing what the bigger story is), looking over drafts from their superiors, and shoveling paperwork, then get sent to pick up fluffy interviews with non-entities and ‘soft’ news stories, but occasionally they get handed a hot one, or an easy interview goes nuclear. NON Bureau Chiefs and office seniors try to assign a more experienced comtech, combat-liaison, or senior stringer-merc if a cubbie is likely to encounter trouble, but most of the time a cub-reporter is flying solo, or in the company of other cubs. In NON, cub-mortality is high, and the learning curve, of necessity, has to be higher still, but even NON cubbies can count on the higher-ups backing them up...or avenging their deaths.
Being a cub reporter requires a high pain threshold for doing long arduous, seemingly meaningless, tasks, but at least you don’t have to pay for your own gear.

Street Reporters
“It’s dark-cycle in the lower levels of PopuBloc 17, and the gangers that have terrorized this densely-populated urbaplex are coming out again....and as you can see, they ain’t happy to see the light of publicity turned on them...”
“Streeters” are reporters who have managed to graduate from being glorified gofers and are experienced enough to be assigned to stories without a minder, and a bit more leeway to do stories on their own. They frequently get assigned territories to investigate and oversee(hence the ‘street’) but are expected to cover other reporters’ territories as needed. They’re expected to be on top of things in their territories, and respond to breaking news. Fortunately, they have more access to network resources such as comtechs, transport, armor, and weaponry. They fly solo most of the time, but are expected to be able to work with others when so ordered. In NON, Streeter mortality rates are nearly as high as for cub-reporters, but the tradeoff ratio in the opposition is much better.
Being a Street Reporter requires walking a fine line between a certain amount of cynicism and openness. A high ME and MA are prerequisites for this rank.

Senior Reporters
“THAT was a fusion-nuclear warhead going off in high atmosphere over Drallersport....I’d estimate a five or six megatonne range weapon...probably the opening salvo of the planetary invasion...As you can see, Byob, things are getting HOT here...”
‘SenReps’ are old hands who have survived the streets and a few offworld assignments, and are experienced enough to handle themselves in a tight situation. They tend to work solo, or in charge of a small group of equally experienced staffers, and a few novices for mentoring.
Most combat reporters fall into the category of Senior Reporter, having taken a few hits for the home team, and knowing when to get under cover, and how to get camera footage in a war zone without drawing too much enemy fire.
Like Streeters, SenReps need a high ME to deal with the often gruesome and seamy side of news they see, and a high MA to be both convincing to audiences and to the people they regularly interact with. Most SenReps also pack a few Rogue and Weapons skills into their inventory.

Anchors
“..and that’s how %&^’ed up the Anvil Galaxy is today in news, gentlebeings! Tune in again next temporal cycle for the next updated assessment of how %&^’ed up the Anvil Galaxy is, and until then, stay well!”
The position of Anchor is one most NON lower-ranked reporters aspire to; being the up-front spokesperson and primary for one or more NON-channels and programs, being seen by millions, even trillions, of beings as the Face of Truth. Anchors get to sit in on news planning, selecting what stories will go out onto the precious time slots, breaking the big stories, and headlining the days’ events. Anchors may sit back, for the most part, at the home office desk, but they get to go out and interview important people, get access to high-rank politicos, and occasionally sortie to exotic locales to do on-site reporting. It’s grueling, high-pressure work that can break a lesser being; besides the long hours, as public representatives of both truth in reporting and of NON’s committment to the truth, Anchors are under extra scrutiny by both their bosses and other media. Tying one’s reputation to a bad news story, a scandal of suspect reporting, expressing an unpopular private opinion on-air, or otherwise embarassing the Network can DESTROY an Anchor. On the other hand, the public exposure, the high-level access, and the virtual celebrity status of an Anchor make such pressure and risk well worth it to aspiring reporters....
High MA, PB, and PE are all good things to have as an Anchor. Good Grooming and Wardrobe skills are a must.

Bureau Chief
“I got five hundred chuckleheads in this office alone, none of them can string two sentences together meaningfully to save their own lives if I wasn’t sitting over their shoulders watching them!”
Being a bureau chief takes a reporter off the streets and makes them management for a section or region, coordinating the efforts of anywhere from a dozen to hundreds of reporters and staffers. BCs are also responsible for editing and overseeing the news their bureaus gather. BC is largely an administrative post, but occasionally you get to go out and interview local bigwigs. Bureau Chiefs also occasionally fill in for Anchors, though more often than not they’re keeping them in line or cleaning up their messes. BCing is stressful work, arguably more so than fieldwork; you may be able to go home and decompress at the end of the day, but your workday is pure pressure if things go wrong, and you’re ultimately held accountable for what happens on your watch.
High ME and PE, and a high tolerance for pain, stimulant consumption, and headache medication are all good traits in a Bureau Chief.

Inquisitor
“So there you have the proof; Billee-Rai Apertson, trillionaire nueral software designer and triple-digit IQ’ed founder of NueroPlex Enterprises, makes sex-slaves via cyber-lobotomy in his private time...Care to explain how that corresponds with your public philosophy of ‘a kinder, gentler, better world through the application of compassionate intellect’, Mister Apertson?”
Inquistors are the dreaded high-level investigative reporters that get the pick of stories....Being an Inquisitor means having the support of the rest of NON; your byline is known to make or break entire nations, corporations, and celebrities. In doing so, you’ve broken more than a few laws, including several of Human Biblical nature...but NEVER that of Journalistic Integrity. You are also FEARED by those with secrets to hide; the mere mention of your name sends shivers of anxiety down the spines of the corrupt and the paranoid. However, being an Inquisitor means having a reputation of your own that can be ruined by flawed research, poor investigation, or sloppy reporting; made all the more painful by the fact that the pressure on Inquisitors to constantly be working on the next big story is intense. Even in NON, Inquisitors have a rep for being borderline sociopaths.....the ones who have lasted longer than a few years are regarded as certifiably insane, with attitudes bordering on religious zealotry. More importantly, because of the way they operate, Inquisitors are in constant risk of life and limb; to get the GOOD dirt, means going places others don’t want you to go; the attrition rate of Inquisitors is worse than that of soldiers in a warzone, both from on-duty hazards and from assassination by parties that fear what an Inquisitor can turn up.
For those reasons, Inquistors are as ready with a gun as with a notepad. In fact, many Inquisitors will tell you that being followed or targeted is a good sign that you’re onto something, and not wasting your time chasing a false lead.
High ME(or at least insane fearlessness), generally high physical stats, combat skills on a par with a veteran soldier or police investigator, and high resistance to Horror Factor are all good things to have in an Inquisitor.

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:59 pm

Ah. I see an update. And I see that you have classified the reporters. Can I use it with my own little news service?

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:46 pm

Aramanthus wrote:Ah. I see an update. And I see that you have classified the reporters. Can I use it with my own little news service?

By all means. Good to see some interest still in this old horse.

Aramanthus · Unread post by **Aramanthus** » Mon Aug 29, 2011 11:59 pm

Why thank you kind sir! I appreciate it.

SolCannibal · Unread post by **SolCannibal** » Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:13 pm

As an aside, couldn't changelings or similarly unpopular shapechanging species find a home/safehouse of sorts as voluntary minions?
Seems like a potentially most beneficial association of sorts for both parts involved.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Mon Oct 29, 2018 8:30 pm

SolCannibal wrote:As an aside, couldn't changelings or similarly unpopular shapechanging species find a home/safehouse of sorts as voluntary minions?
Seems like a potentially most beneficial association of sorts for both parts involved.

Sorry for the late response.
NON has a 'don't ask, don't tell' attitude on these sorts of things. Generally, if you're planning in joining NON to hide from war crimes or to use the network as a platform for criminal activities, you WILL be found out(doing background checks on coworkers is often part of an investigative reporter's training at NON). If the Big Eyeball finds you useful enough, that info's going to useful blackmail to keep you in line. If it's something REALLY hideous in your past, you may wind up as the subject of a special report that ends in your arrest.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sat Nov 14, 2020 8:14 pm

Network Omni Newsflash
General Noldek Cuts Opening Ribbon at New Bionics Factory
Dateline 10/13/2845352020
Drivun City, Ungersoll, Central Alliance, Anvil Galaxy
General Noldek made a surprise visit to what is considered to be one of the most economically depressed worlds of his realm to commemorate the opening of the new Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries branch, the Ungersoll Cybertech Annex, an entirely new industrial and research facility. Though rumors have been flying for months about negotiations with the USA-based PS/ASI group to set up shop in the Central Alliance, the choice of Ungersoll, a world tainted by the Ungersoll Motors debacle, came as a surprise to many.
It is hoped that the establishment of this cutting edge facility, even if operated by the outside PS/ASI corporation, will provide a desperately-needed economic boost to Ungersoll, which is suffering previously from the UM disaster. Though many observers expected that Noldek would want the new PS/ASI facility closer to the heart of his domain, such as Noldek’s World or Grighton, others are less surprised by the choice of benighted Ungersoll.
“The United Systems Alliance’s corporate culture has a proclivity for scoping out opportunities, especially in salvaging the assets of fallen businesses. That, combined with the USA’s soft spot for impoverished worlds, made Ungersoll a prime candidate for an ‘ASI makeover’. It’s the way they operate”, Cyman-Gross Elian, business analyst for the Voria-based Anvil Investment Group, said in a statement to Network Omni News, “Plus it’s obvious that Noldek wants to put his new relationship with them to the test. If his new business partners can turn around the situation on Ungersoll at no cost to his own government, he comes out ahead.”
However, with the opportunities presented by Ungersoll’s desperation, come great responsibilities. On the top of PS/ASI’s UCA agenda is fixing the millions of defective implants and cyber-systems that are a legacy of the late Ungersoll Motors’ output. Techno-remediation to refit the local population and revive the collapsed economy could run in the hundreds of millions of credits in outlay. However, between the introduction of more efficient and economical galactic-tech production methods at the UAC and expected future orders from Noldek’s armed services of the advanced systems to be produced. PS/ASI agents NON managed to speak to are not worried about the cost.
Asked if they were worried about stepping into the footprints of the late UM, whose executive management committed mass suicide in shame over mass-producing defective product, the new UCA managers replied in a joint statement “We’re not worried about any ‘haunting’ effect or tainted luck. It’s not as if UM deliberately foisted bad tech on unassuming customers, then ran with the money. They reached for the sky, fell short, did what they could to alleviate the problem, and in the end chose to pay the ultimate price for their shortcomings. We’re giving the people a fresh start with proven, if we may boast, technologies, with a base on which to build future innovation. We’re very enthusiastic about working with the local population and equally optimistic about the future here.”
Besides producing cybernetics and bionics, it is hoped that the UCA will act as a seed to attract other businesses to Ungersoll, with an eye towards reviving the planet’s industry with advanced technologies. Besides the Annex, plans are being made to construct a new orbital shipping station and transport hub. This, in conjunction with USA-associated WZT signing several shipyard deals with the Central Alliance to provide increased commercial transport capability, has economic analysts cautiously predicting a fiscal upturn in the Central Alliance sectors.
Though General Noldek did not stay long on Ungersoll beyond the ribbon-cutting ceremony and a brief tour of the new facility, his presence made clear that he is paying attention to matters on Ungersoll.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Nov 23, 2020 3:14 am

Now that this thread has been resurrected, here's an exaggerated bit of lore for how the CCW started getting itself together during and after the Minion War. Think of it as in in setting fluff piece for written after the fact by somebody that was is favor of it. Attach whatever time code you want to it.

The Consequences of Near-Bureaucratic Collapse
The Minion War, and all of the other lesser crucibles that came with it, can be considered the great turning point for the Consortium of Civilized Worlds. Long mired by its own pointless regulations and smothering bureaucracy, the institutional losses suffered during the Demon’s attack on Terra Prime changed the nature of the government forever. Using mystical TW stealth enchantments, one of the major Demon Fleets struck the planet during work hours the day after an extended federal holiday. More than half of the administrative districts surrounding the Capital Building were demolished with dark energy torpedoes, and a further half of those that were not became host to swarms of Demons slaughtering their way through the inhabitants. Attacks on other major administrative planets were less extensive, but the body count is thought to compose more than 70% of the Consortium’s unelected upper-level federal leadership and almost as much of the various lobbying groups, bringing many of the CCW’s institutions to true shuddering halt. While its citizens often joked that the bureaucracy was so bad that it was at an effective standstill, they now experienced what a true cessation of activity entailed, and the economy only avoided complete collapse due to the invocation of wartime powers by the Prime Minister. The Capitol Arcology still stood, but it rose above a field of ashes, and the struggle to rebuild and reconstitute would take decades.

It can be symbolic of the conflict that while the Demons managed to inflict an incredible amount of damage, once the defenders overcame their incredulous shock they were able to neutralize the attackers in less than half an hour. Despite being universally equipped with Immune to Energy and various anti-missile countermeasures, the Demons were simply unprepared for an actual fight with over a dozen Consortium Battleship Groups, and once the defenders knew to be on the lookout for mystic stealth they were readily able to find their targets at such close ranges. The battle also saw the first major use of the Araneae Interdictors, which prevented any of the attacking Demons from escaping the knife fight that the situation devolved into. The post-battle analysis shows that the majority of damage inflicted on the Demons was done by the planet’s remaining Automaton War-era defense stations, who’s long range mass drivers remained fully effective despite being being all but forgotten for almost 8 centuries, and by coordinated mass missile solvoes that buried any defensive response. Both would have a profound impact on the CAF in the post-war rebuilding, but they would never have to fight such a concentration of TW enchanted ships for the duration of the conflict.

Post-war analysis of recovered records would show that the Demon’s intended to use their Rift Drives to then attack CAF Headquarters on Goldilox, which explained why it evaded the initial wave of incursions. The planet would be placed under a state of siege multiple times, and narrowly avoid being lost to one of the lesser Demon Worlds, but it would remain physically intact by the end. The same could not be said for the CAF leadership, with a nearly never ending stream of major scandals causing more than 3/4ths of the pre-war admiralty and most of their immediate successors to be forced to resign in disgrace. When the dust finally cleared, Admiral of the Fleet Janice Nikola (whose administration had barely begun when the war started) would frantically promote qualified Captain-Generals to fill the vacancies. While it had been begrudgingly acknowledged that they would have to raise Horace Shaw to a Flag position, the realization that they would be forced to promote him to Grand Admiral of the Anvil Galactic Task Force due to the lack of any other alternative struck the Capital Building with as much force as the Minion War.

A frantic scramble for explanations revealed that the institutional leadership echelons of the Consortium were in a state of near total power vacuum, with the interests that had long been focused on doing things ‘the right way’ being all but extinct. The TVIA and GSA were being led by people that had been doing field work as little as a half a decade ago, which was close enough to a complete break with how ‘things were done’ that it made no difference. Bureaucratic fiefdoms were imploding due to lack of inhabitants left and right, and hundreds of offices were being eliminated as being completely superfluous and wasting badly needed manpower. Committees were being disbanded due to having nobody left to chair them, and individual officials were making unilateral changes to procedure and regulation due to being the only ones that had the legal authority to have a say on the matter. Situations and disputes here being resolved in mere HOURS, short circuiting the normal institutional methods of maintaining control. And then came the first wave of the Altess backed reform movements, dragging much of what was left of the Old Guard down and beginning what would be called the Shaw Reformation. The Three Galaxies would never be the same again.

Father Goose · Unread post by **Father Goose** » Mon Nov 23, 2020 7:55 am

Omegasgundam wrote:Now that this thread has been resurrected, here's an exaggerated bit of lore for how the CCW started getting itself together during and after the Minion War. Think of it as in in setting fluff piece for written after the fact by somebody that was is favor of it. Attach whatever time code you want to it.

The Consequences of Near-Bureaucratic Collapse
The Minion War, and all of the other lesser crucibles that came with it, can be considered the great turning point for the Consortium of Civilized Worlds. Long mired by its own pointless regulations and smothering bureaucracy, the institutional losses suffered during the Demon’s attack on Terra Prime changed the nature of the government forever. Using mystical TW stealth enchantments, one of the major Demon Fleets struck the planet during work hours the day after an extended federal holiday. More than half of the administrative districts surrounding the Capital Building were demolished with dark energy torpedoes, and a further half of those that were not became host to swarms of Demons slaughtering their way through the inhabitants. Attacks on other major administrative planets were less extensive, but the body count is thought to compose more than 70% of the Consortium’s unelected upper-level federal leadership and almost as much of the various lobbying groups, bringing many of the CCW’s institutions to true shuddering halt. While its citizens often joked that the bureaucracy was so bad that it was at an effective standstill, they now experienced what a true cessation of activity entailed, and the economy only avoided complete collapse due to the invocation of wartime powers by the Prime Minister. The Capitol Building still stood, but it rose above a field of ashes, and the struggle to rebuild and reconstitute would take decades.

It can be symbolic of the conflict that while the Demons managed to inflict an incredible amount of damage, once the defenders overcame their incredulous shock they were able to neutralize the attackers in less than half an hour. Despite being universally equipped with Immune to Energy and various anti-missile countermeasures, the Demons were simply unprepared for an actual fight with over a dozen Consortium Battleship Groups, and once the defenders knew to be on the lookout for mystic stealth they were readily able to find their targets at such close ranges. The battle also saw the first major use of the Araneae Interdictors, which prevented any of the attacking Demons from escaping the knife fight that the situation devolved into. The post-battle analysis shows that the majority of damage inflicted on the Demons was done by the planet’s remaining Automaton War-era defense stations, who’s long range mass drivers remained fully effective despite being being all but forgotten for almost 8 centuries, and by coordinated mass missile solvoes that buried any defensive response. Both would have a profound impact on the CAF in the post-war rebuilding, but they would never have to fight such a concentration of TW enchanted ships for the duration of the conflict.

Post-war analysis of recovered records would show that the Demon’s intended to use their Rift Drives to then attack CAF Headquarters on Goldilox, which explained why it evaded the initial wave of incursions. The planet would be placed under a state of siege multiple times, and narrowly avoid being lost to one of the lesser Demon Worlds, but it would remain physically intact by the end. The same could not be said for the CAF leadership, with a nearly never ending stream of major scandals causing more than 3/4ths of the pre-war admiralty and most of their immediate successors to be forced to resign in disgrace. When the dust finally cleared, Admiral of the Fleet Janice Nikola (whose administration had barely begun when the war started) would frantically promote qualified Captain-Generals to fill the vacancies. While it had been begrudgingly acknowledged that they would have to raise Horace Shaw to a Flag position, the realization that they would be forced to promote him to Grand Admiral of the Anvil Galactic Task Force due to the lack of any other alternative struck the Capital Building with as much force as the Minion War.

A frantic scramble for explanations revealed that the institutional leadership echelons of the Consortium were in a state of near total power vacuum, with the interests that had long been focused on doing things ‘the right way’ being all but extinct. The TVIA and GSA were being led by people that had been doing field work as little as a half a decade ago, which was close enough to a complete break with how ‘things were done’ that it made no difference. Bureaucratic fiefdoms were imploding due to lack of inhabitants left and right, and hundreds of offices were being eliminated as being completely superfluous and wasting badly needed manpower. Committees were being disbanded due to having nobody left to chair them, and individual officials were making unilateral changes to procedure and regulation due to being the only ones that had the legal authority to have a say on the matter. Situations and disputes here being resolved in mere HOURS, short circuiting the normal institutional methods of maintaining control. And then came the first wave of the Altess backed reform movements, dragging much of what was left of the Old Guard down and beginning what would be called the Shaw Reformation. The Three Galaxies would never be the same again.

I want to play in this post-war setting!

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sun Nov 29, 2020 10:25 pm

Father Goose wrote:[
I want to play in this post-war setting!

The fan meta-setting does encourage some thought of exploring after=effects and continuation of some of the mini-stories covered here...as well as other POVs on vents depicted or suggested elsewhere in the forums.

Unleash the reporters! :bandit:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Fri Dec 25, 2020 2:02 am

Network Omni News Breaking News
Another day, another vicious raid on one of the few remaining T’Zee colonies.
Dateline 3/7/2845352021
Anchor: Pulsis Vigmen
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the presenters do not necessarily represent the views of Network Omni News and Lord Cybssynthcrth. Except when they do. Like now.

Say what you will about the little bastards, the T’Zee have been screwed like no other race in the Three Galaxies since the Demons attacked Center. Their worlds were the ideal prey for their Demon Planets, with souls of those sapient rats being no less energy rich than that of a species worth acknowledging, and having population densities that were well past the point of insanity. These prepackaged sardines must have looked like buffets to Keltig, Orsak, and Cormal, and they went after them with great relish. As this was early in the war, there were plentiful Demon Stars to catch ships full of the vermin trying to flee, and once the slaughter commenced it only ended one way; with a monster having a full stomach and a cloud of ruble that was once a planet orbiting a star. It is estimated that there are less T’Zee alive than there were when they were first discovered in one of the biggest mistakes of the CCW in the past century, and there have been some real doozies.

(Camera Change)

Earlier today, that number took another significant drop, with the planet named what I believe translates to Cornhole being bombarded by towed asteroids by unidentified parties. The entirety of the known 4 billion inhabitants are believed to be dead, knowing how fast those rodents breed it was more like 5. Cornhole was the largest remaining world populated by T'Zee a substantial margin, having taken in the refugees from many of the least viable sites that were forced to be abandoned. Every CAF ship in the subsector was chasing down pirates and were thus unable to respond, and the resulting death surge to the planetary ley lines fried every bit of electronics within six light seconds. The perpetrators took their time to hunt down every platform that could possibly ID them, leaving only a number of automated mining platforms intact. According to the TVIA the suspect list is ‘extensive’, which I translate to consisting of absolutely everybody, including the TVIA and CAF itself.

(Camera Change)

The environmental impact report looks grim, but then I realized it hadn’t been updated and I was seeing the normal T’Zee biosphere collapse. Our experts say the cataclysm has pushed its existing trajectory forward by as much as 5 years, and it will likely be a good planetforming candidate. The planetary crust continues to shake itself apart as the ley lines vent their energy, and the resulting ash cloud will result in an extremely good base for biosphere establishment. Considering the usual T’Zee pox pit is only good for use as an orbital dump, this represents a vast increase in its long term value. So to the attackers, I have to say well done! Only a few dozen more to go!

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Fri Dec 25, 2020 8:53 pm

Ah, that explains (some of) the hints in your previous posts. Knew we were going to get some backstory.
Yes, as certain other universe hive worlds know all too well, over-population, 'too many rats in the box' leads to some serious potential for sacrificial/necromantic magic.

Omegasgundam · Sat Dec 26, 2020 12:54 am

Network Omni News Article
Tachyon Interference And You
Dateline: 1/5/2845352021

Everybody knows that Tachyon Scatterguns are the new fad in point defense, being AoE arc weapons that can blast entire missile volleys out of the sky. But nobody’s ditched all their PD Energy weapons, and there tends not to be all that many Tachyons regardless. Why is that? If it was so good, it should replace everything else right? The answer, as you would expect, is technical.

In simplest terms, Tachyon generators do not like being in close proximity to each other or the effects of each other. Working out ways to get Tachyon Scatterguns to be willing to work within a few thousand feet of another was a major technological accomplishment for WZT that is very under-appreciated, and even they still have problems. The usual rule of thumb is that for a typical CG propelled ship, you can fit two to four scatterguns for each hemisphere. Escort sized ships have two, sub-megaton ships get three, multi megaton ships get four, and dreadnought scale ships get five. Larger scatterguns (such as those that count as medium ship mounts) basically take up four ‘slots’ worth of allotment that’s split between two hemispheres, which is why you never really see more than a pair of them. Smaller ASFs can get away with having as many as four due to the peculiarities of fighter grade CG drives and how they interact with tachyons, but proper ship ships have too strong a drive field to play the same tricks.

You can mount more Tachyon weapons than you can use, but they take a good 30 seconds to warm up from their cold state, which is an eternity in combat. It's only useful as a contingency against turret loss, and while it can be significant it takes up space on your system grid, which could be filled with a working conventional turret that’s always active.

But that just limits how many you can have, not what you can do with them. Simply put, repeated discharges from tachyon weapons interfere with each other, cause them to both lose effectiveness and accuracy. If not given a good 15 seconds to dissipate, each blast from an emplacement after the first looses a randomly distributed 25% of its coverage, which means that the fifth shot may as well be throwing pixie dust for all the good it does. Additionally, ships in too close proximity, usually around 65% of the range of their tachyons, also interfere with each other.

An additional wrinkle in the works are tachyon warheads, which are not only useful in screening massed CM salvoes from defensive MRMs, but also interfere with defensive tachyons if pointing at them and in range when they discharge. If they go off within the 65% range bracket, they increase the effective cumulative discharge count, which gives better odds that the later AM warheads will make it through. While not cheap, these one shot projectors can fit in a normal CM body, and just about everybody is starting to seed them into their mix. This makes the timing of Tachyon shots a calculated dance, but they are still held as being far more effective that an equivalent number of any other form of PD weapon out there, particularly due to not having to deal with the Jammer heads that have also cropped up. Then there’s the X-Ray Warheads that are starting to be introduced, which are the biggest reason the older short range PD guns are being pushed out in favor equivalents to the GR-1000.

Spoiler:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sun Dec 27, 2020 8:26 pm

NETWORK OMNI NEWSFLASH
Dateline: 12/270900/234243234
Greeth Emissary Party Seeks Buyback of Stolen Cultural Relics

Asced Station, Gemerac System, CCW, Corkscrew Galaxy. A recently arrived official emissary party of the newly contacted Greeth culture arrived today to open a public office with the stated goal of collecting, and if necessary offering rewards for, a number of cultural relics said to have been stolen from the Greeth people in antiquity.
(Camera cut to a tall, rather thin Greeth…looking like a humanoid newt with an unruly crown of head tendrils, and wearing rather elaborate robes. The byline identifies the individual as GASPAR ROLIC, MONK-PRIEST OF AgNROM ASSOCIATED MISSIONS)

Rolic: “-yes, we’re seeking to recover ancient and sacred relics of our people that were unlawfully seized and sacrilegiously sold across the universe, possibly as nicknacks, especially as ’stress relief’ toys, which they MUST NOT BE USED AS. I can’t emphasize enough to anybody who might have one of these relics, that using them in such a manner is playing with terrible powers they know not! So we would greatly appreciate that anybody possessing one of these objects (Rolic shows a number of graphics of various objects and of certain sigils and stamp-marks that are translated as ‘Product of Nrom’) would PLEASE turn them in to us so we can return them to our homeward where they’ll be properly venerated. We’re not not asking for much; simply that people return what is stolen property, and sacred stolen property at that. We’ll even offer compensation, monetary rewards, to buy back these objects of our most sacred religion-“

NON: Don’t you think that advertising the sacred importance of these relics might lead to individuals attempting to blackmail higher rewards out of you? Or they may hoard them, knowing how much you want them back?

Rolic: “That’s always a very real possibility, but I’m hoping an earnest appeal to the good nature of people, knowing how important this matter is to my people, will bring out the best in sophonts. And if they are returning our sacred relics to us, the least we can do is show some token of gratitude for their selflessness…..rewards start at 5,000 credits……As for the others, we can only hope that such people-ohcra-*slurk*”
(Rolic suddenly breaks out in ugly pustules that spread over his body, before his flesh goes necrotic and begins liquifying before the camera. Even while he’s still standing, his face is melting as with a burbling whimper he slumps out of the camera frame. More bubbling sounds ensue for severe minutes as the POV backs off..then there’s a series of louder whimpers and groans and finally Rolic unsteadily stands up again, his robes still stained with post-mortem fluids, but his skin regrowing. He tiredly wipes ..yeckh…of his snout and forehead with one robed forearm, then warily looks back at the camera)
“-where was I? Right, such people should be aware that these relics are also cursed, with horrible afflictions. So it’s a really good idea to get rid of them…properly, so they don’t fall into the wrong hands and hurt people. Yeah, void the curse and render onto us the Products of Nrom. You’ll be doing the Greeth people, and yourselves, great favor.”

The Greeth Mission is open around the station clock and is located in the Welan Concourse, Level Eighteen, Corridor Abel-Z, Asced Station. Or you can contact the Mission Monks with any questions, or to arrange a relic return, at Viscomm-code ASC-2312-2323-3446323.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Dec 28, 2020 9:17 pm

And here's my take on the Automaton War. Because AI rebellions are need justification if you're going to shoe horn them in, and Palladium failed to do so. It doesn't help that shorting your computers is a REALLY BAD IDEA from a basic military perspective, and if they're using it as an excuse for their high crew counts than they are being stupid and should feel bad. High crew counts are generally a BAD thing in warships, because manpower is often your biggest bottleneck, which means you field less ships. The TGE is the one that's supposed to be callous about lives, not the CCW. Thus, the HA gets kicked in the head by a horse for being stupid.

Network Omni News Article
The Fallout of Foghakle Continues to Settle
Dateline: 11/7/2845352019

The revelations found in the Foghakle Contingency Bunker continue to reverberate throughout the Human Alliance, and they promise to shake the nation to its core. Within its confines are a complete archive of everything that was in the Alliance Central Network that so famously malfunctioned and caused the Automaton War, but the picture they paint is completely unlike anything in the history books. To explain it in visual terms, THIS picture here is what the official diagram of the Alliance Central Network as was presented to the public and government. You don’t need to understand the details, because they’re completely irrelevant. THIS picture is the best description that has so far been put together based on what has been found in Foghakle. It is an absolute catastrophic mess of contradictory and outright opposing interests, because too many cooks spoil the sauce.

So far, at least 6 different parties have been identified forcing the Central Network down the throats of absolutely everyone else for the explicit purpose of using its automated forces to stage a coup. The automation of the military was explicitly done to remove everybody that could possibly contest it, and every single horror that it would later inflict was on some level drawn directly from what those maniacs planned to do once they were in power. And what they planned was simply brutal, with the Outer Colonies being obliterated via near light-speed kinetic impactors in the opening wave. But all of these parties were competing with each other as well, and their struggles eventually resulted in the whole thing crashing down and implementing the unfinished mess of priorities that had been hardwired into it. This caused the Network to go off with contradictory commands with a large chunk of its official programming still in place, resulting in it’s electronic mind shattering within days.

Military experts that have analyzed the data say that if the Network was actually functional it would have obliterated any source of resistance within a matter of months, and there wouldn’t have been a damn thing the resistance could have done to stop it. But the contradictory goals of its creators meant that more than two thirds of its resources were spent countering itself, and deep space archaeologists have already found vast battlefields where entire fleets of automated cruisers destroyed each other in pointless wastes of resources. As far as we can tell, the reason it didn’t swarm the Outer Colonies in the opening days and weeks was that it legitimately didn’t think they existed, and even in the late stages of the war it thought the human resistance was another splinter of itself that had broken off. As such, the founding mythos of the Human Alliance is quite frankly wrong, with their struggles against cold calculating machine and its minions actually being against a crippled and schizophrenic mess that could barely function.

The social implications of this discovery are immense, and it gets even worse. This was not the first archive bunker that has been found, and it has been discovered that the political blocks of the Human Alliance chose to smother their actual contents in favor of pushing the traditional narrative that made them look good. This has been compound by CAF raids on HA government databases, showing that a large portion of its establishment was engaged in encouraging genocide against human colonies developing AI technology, with the infamous attack on the now USA member world of Veranan having formal approval, along with a number of equally brutal attacks on the T’Zee colonies. As such, the HA as a whole has been put under indefinite sanction, has been expelled from all CCW Assembly Committees, and had their voting status revoked until the TVIA can dig through the mess and deliver a verdict. The sheer extent of damning evidence has caused the public reaction to be extremely muted, with much of the HA populace being in stunned shock over what their government was blatantly violating the core tenants of the Consortium Charter in such a malicious manner.

This is undoubtedly the single largest scandal that has ever hit the CCW. One of the original members has been placed under a full political sanction, and the largest voting block in the entire Assembly has been expelled overnight. Most of the human Assembly members have already announced their immediate retirement, and elections must be postponed until the sanction is over. There is already legislation rocketing through the Assembly legalizing AI technology, and the CAF has announced that they will be mandating more advanced computer systems in all of its ships. When combined with the ‘Shaw Reformation’, we’re looking at interesting times to say the least. More on this story as it develops.

Omegasgundam · Mon Dec 28, 2020 10:50 pm

Network Omni News Article
Continued Confusion in the Human Alliance
Dateline: 5/1/2845352020

If there’s one silver lining of the Foghakle findings in the eyes of the Human Alliance, almost everybody that was involved in crimes against sapience died when the Demons attacked Terra Prime. The districts around the Capital Arcology were as much HA government offices as they were CCW, and the smaller size of the member state means that the proportional damage was far worse. One of the open secrets of the Consortium is that the HA has effectively been a military dictatorship ever since, with the CAF running things due to the lack of essentially ANYBODY above the system level to step up to the plate. Efforts to build even a minimalist bureaucracy have been stalled due to the greater need for those resources to reconstitute the larger CCW, which means that the primary factor the HA remains a nation is due to inertia and everybody else playing along.

The Foghakle findings have torn the shade off of this state of affairs, with the TVIA announcing that the current HA administration is blameless on account of not actually existing. The highest remaining official was the HAFM garrison on Goldilox, and all of them considered themselves unsuitable for running a nation. As such, the Governor of Goldilox has declared that the HA needs a constitutional convention to establish a new government, and most of the HA’s worlds have already consented. The exact arrangements have not yet been decided, but it is hoped that they will be hammered out in the coming weeks. Terra Prime continues to be under CAF jurisdiction, but confidence is high that the new HA government will abide by the preexisting institutions and establishments. As such, the markets are making notable progress towards recovery.

As an interim measure, which will hopefully be such, the Consortium Assembly is grouping HA worlds into voting districts so that replacement members can begin to be appointed by the local governments. Those that have so far been appointed have been charitably called ‘non-confrontational’, and have avoided making any firm opinions or agenda’s known. It is hoped that proper elections will be ready in time for the next Assembly Congres, and the CAF is releasing large numbers of its recalled HA personnel so that they can help in the effort. In the meantime, the CAF is holding the HA’s assets for the time being, including any due taxes. More on this story as it develops.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Dec 29, 2020 5:33 pm

NETWORK OMNI Op-Ed Feed
The Voices of the Three Galaxies
**Note: The views expressed on these forums do not necessarily reflect the official policy or opinions of Network Omni News

In Response to: Fallout of Foghakle Continues to Settle
Aoc:-Great, ‘Assembly legalizing AI technology, and the CAF has announced that they will be mandating more advanced computer systems in all of its ships.’….Didn’t they pay attention to the talking heads earlier, especially the part about ‘if the Network was actually functional it would have obliterated any source of resistance within a matter of months, and there wouldn’t have been a damn thing the resistance could have done to stop it’? So they wanna increase the amount of opportunities for a fully functional system to get it right next time?”

Byd: I’m sure the new AI initiatives will be under the strictest supervision and that more careful safeguards will be set in place to prevent such a happenstance.

Aoc: I’m sure the original designers of Network said the exact same thing about their safeguards…up until it killed them.

Sol: Embrace the idea that the future is not necessarily organic or inorganic. The future will be a synthesis, a hybrid of both. We will be a physical and cultural alloy, stronger than the sum of our parts.

Rttd: Keep your Chromite yawpings to yourself, Sol.

Sol: The free exchange of ideas is protected by the CCW constitution.

Rttd: That ‘Information wants to be free’ crap again? That tired hack excuse has been used since Ancient days to defend data-jacking. Since when are my medical records considered public domain? Or my bank records?

Byd: Why aren’t there more machine cultures in the Three Galaxies? If AI’s so superior, why aren’t there more successful machine cultures spreading through known space?

Aoc: There’s at least seven known instances in the historical record of extinct civilizations that were wiped out by their own machines. The machines lasted a while, then collapsed under their own weight. The rest of the nascent machine genocides got caught in time and eliminated by rightfully fearful sophists. AI’s dangerous.

Hrv: Not entirely so; the historical record also shows AI societies that worked; the Tre-Regol, for instance.

Vm: Didn’t they overclock themselves in VR and went senile within a couple of months?

Tpb: There’s the Adev, who attained a full global network…and almost immediately perished because they overheated.

Aoc: Further evidence that AI is disaster-prone, and the CAF wants to INCREASE their automation? Eh-eh, I’m heading for the Rim in my manually-piloted ship if and when that happens.

Rttd: The Rim might be where all the AI cultures are hanging out…they might, after seeing the violence landed on their cousins, have gone dark and are skulking around the edges of organic space.

Hrv: Lot of AI-ists fled for the Rim too. You’ll have them for neighbors.

Sol: Indeed, the void between galaxies is most amenable to cosmic contemplation of the future.

Rttd: -Chromites-.

Yvy: Didn’t help the Veranans any; they went out far, and the switch-hunters bombed them even out there.

Rttd: I thought better of the Usans, but they’re openly backing the Veranans now that the cheetan’s out of the bag and that world’s in the spotlight
.
Sal3: Discrimination against machines, but not engineered biologicals? Double standard much?

Rttd: Please, the standards for bio-gen work are even more visibly stringent. But AIs filicking NETWORK. You can quarantine bio-viruses a lot more easily than electronic ones.

Skl: Not entirely true.

Rttd: Apologies to our Manarr contributors.

Aoc: Word is the Veranans want revenge with the foghockle revelations. Great, so we got AIs publicly on the warpath.

Yvy: I hear they’re hiring lawyers.

Rttd: Great Forge, they're already going nuclear!

Hrv: TGE must be having a FIELD DAY laughing at the CCW. The Human Alliance getting locked out’s going to hurt.

InvPubDf: Not so; word in the halls is most of the entrenched legacy interest leadership got kacked by the Infernal head-strike. Revenge path or liability path’s going to run cold, unless the Veranans want to pee, spit, or whatever mechs do, in the ashes.

Hrv: Given the headaches this whole thing is going to generate, I almost envy the deaders. They got off easy.

Yvy: Maybe they’ll settle for a seat in the CCW General Assembly?

Sal3: I for one welcome our shiny new machine politicians.

Tpb: That’s one way to kill AI efficiency; elect them to public office.

Vm: Or drive them mad.

Aoc: Please, I don’t want another Network exploding out of quagmire debating. The fact of the matter is, regardless of the origins of the whole Network disaster, billions of very real lives were snuffed out by Network’s war machines. Millions more were lost fighting them. Meddling around with AI cost blood, oceans of blood. The doesn’t change that at all. The Foghakle archives don’t change that; all it’s done is make people, for no good reason, second-guess themselves when dealing with dangerous machinery. That sort of hesitation can prove fatal. The fact that the mechanisms of government that were protecting us from another AI rampancy are jamming, or being jammed by people reacting emotionally to ‘save the roombas’, makes me less inclined to sleep well at night.

Sol: We will do better this time.

Aoc: That’s what I’m afraid of. The Next Time.

Sol: Fear kills progress and growth. We must step confidently into the future.

Rttd: -Chromites-. I’m keeping my tentacles wrapped around the plug, ready to pull it out.

Vm: Caution and imagination will save us; imagination to push us forward, caution to keep us grounded.

Grk: You're an optimist.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Tue Dec 29, 2020 6:32 pm

*gravely voice* The Comment Section. The Comment Section never changes.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Dec 29, 2020 6:46 pm

Omegasgundam wrote:*gravely voice* The Comment Section. The Comment Section never changes.

It just gets BIGGER with a galactic mass media network.

But yeah, considering some of the sophonts on Verna, the transferred-intelligences? Since they're CENTURIES old and were among the original settlers? There's going to be arguments that they're justly due reparations from the heir-holders of whoever launched the original attacks. Of course, a lawyer might argue that 'war, collaterial damage' countered with 'war was not formally declared, so meh-", with the possibility of the bigoted poisoning-the-well argument that the TIs are not actually living beings, but recordings essentially, and so are not eligible for damages...
Well, the lawyers for both sides are going to have a very good season battling this out across numerous jurisdictions, some of who might actually permit/require the lawyers to engage in armed conflict...

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Jan 07, 2021 1:21 am

NETWORK OMNI NEWSFLASH
Dateline: 01/07/2021424434234
CCW Taskforce Smashes Kretig Fleet; ‘Major Blow Dealt’.
-Gowtron Station, Nembos Sector, Anvil Galaxy
CAF public relations announced unclassified news today that a CAF fleet did ‘major damage’ to a Kretig Domain military site deep within Domain space, in the first major CAF offensive operation in the long-smoldering conflict along the CCW’s borders with the Domain. Other sources, including NON affiliates embedded with the DAF report that the the announcement is an understatement, and that the action should be properly reevaluated as a ‘major blow to the Kretigs’ ability to further pursue the war’, siting that the system attacked, identified as Ceti Grendee, was a major fleet assembly and supply nexus, supporting several systems currently locked in conflict.
The action was reportedly conducted with the use of a CAF fleet formation not previously deployed in the Kretig conflict, and using equipment newly developed and issued to the Consortium military. This has fueled speculation that the newly-reorganized CAF has used the occasion of the Kretig war to test and blood its new milliard machines. Including its new Predator destroyers, Archer and Aegis battlecruisers, Saratoga Fleet Carriers, and Paladin battleships. The superior weight of both ships and firepower apparently allowed the CAF force to penetrate deep into Kretig space and obliterate virtually all the Ceti Grendee space infrastructure and the starships, both military and civilian, assembled there, before subjecting key military and industrial targets on the various planetary bodies in the system to orbital bombardment and fighter strikes. Post-action surveillance by NON assets and of the Kretig communications net shows that transportation in and out of the Ceti Grandee system is still completely disrupted. Further parsing of surveillance data indicates that a substantial portion of the Kretig Domain military, including their Second and Third Combat Fleets, was based in the Ceti Grandee system and suffered tremendous, perhaps total, losses of combatant units in the course of the CAF action. This is expected to have a major impact on how the Kretig continue to pursue the war with the CCW, including curtailing the Domain’s ability to support their forces in the contested systems.
The Ceti Grandee attack, in combination with an unconfirmed number of smaller actions against specific government sites across Kretig space, sends a clear message to the Domain of the CCW’s changing attitude towards aggressor states along its borders.
The CAF spokesperson’s public statement was uncharacteristically blunt and the point: “Too long the Kretig have tested our forbearance of their claims to the conflict border systems, and our aversion to pursuing a more energetic and aggressive policy towards them. We no longer have either the time or the tolerance to entertain despotic regimes’ delusions of empire, not if we have the means to stop them. Today we used the resources at our disposal to curtail Kretig aggression and even now we exercised restraint. If the Domain continues to pursue its pointless campaigns of aggression against our border for its own selfish political and false economic purposes, when we act again, we shall show no such restraint. We tell the Domain; end this war at the negotiating table, or we will end their ability to wage any war.”
Analysts are still speculating as to the ripple effect this change attitude is bound to have on other fronts and borders;
“The TGE and Republik are sure to be watching what the CCW does next We knew there would be major changes since the upheavals from the Terra Prime collapse, and this is one major sign of it. The CCW is no longer going to allow itself to be distracted by inconsequential side- conflicts, not when it has the power to do something about it. This may not translate into jingoism towards the other major power blocs in the Three Galaxies, but it certainly suggests to many that any of the smaller polities that think they can continue to poke the Consortium with impunity better rethink what they’re doing, because the CCW is more inclined to scratch and swat.”

Omegasgundam · Fri Jan 08, 2021 11:20 pm

Simply being willing to throw down without stupid levels of coercion by everybody is a change. Demonstrating the willingness to act is important after all.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:48 am

Omegasgundam wrote:Simply being willing to throw down without stupid levels of coercion by everybody is a change. Demonstrating the willingness to act is important after all.

Plus the Kretig War had been a decade-long festering annoyance for the CCW. Even 'small' levels of personnel casualties got too much for the CCW to continue justifying 'restraint' and not kick some Kretig military high command heads in. Rather than let the situation balloon into a war-cancer, the CAF decided 'we got a greater edge in firepower, we got superior intel, let's act on it and crippled the bastards'.

The hinted-at other strikes may have done even more critical damage to the Kretig war machine, as their advanced weapons programs they thought were secret, just got annihilated, along with a substantial percentage of the hardline warhawks who were overseeing them as 'wonder weapons' that would turn the war in the Kretigs' favor.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:39 am

taalismn wrote:
Omegasgundam wrote:Simply being willing to throw down without stupid levels of coercion by everybody is a change. Demonstrating the willingness to act is important after all.

Plus the Kretig War had been a decade-long festering annoyance for the CCW. Even 'small' levels of personnel casualties got too much for the CCW to continue justifying 'restraint' and not kick some Kretig military high command heads in. Rather than let the situation balloon into a war-cancer, the CAF decided 'we got a greater edge in firepower, we got superior intel, let's act on it and crippled the bastards'.

The hinted-at other strikes may have done even more critical damage to the Kretig war machine, as their advanced weapons programs they thought were secret, just got annihilated, along with a substantial percentage of the hardline warhawks who were overseeing them as 'wonder weapons' that would turn the war in the Kretigs' favor.

And now a clear cut example where action has produced desirable results.

Furoan · Unread post by **Furoan** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 7:28 pm

You know, one interesting result would be the re-examination of the machine men's attempt to join the CCW being stymied by the HA until they joined the TGE following the reexamination of NETWORK's roll. IIRC from the books, the HA had stymied the application in never-ending committees while nobody had the votes to stop them and considering what the Machine Men have done to the TGE's technological base that's going to hurt.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Mon Jan 11, 2021 9:34 pm

Furoan wrote:You know, one interesting result would be the re-examination of the machine men's attempt to join the CCW being stymied by the HA until they joined the TGE following the reexamination of NETWORK's roll. IIRC from the books, the HA had stymied the application in never-ending committees while nobody had the votes to stop them and considering what the Machine Men have done to the TGE's technological base that's going to hurt.

And most of those committees get killed in the Infernal attack?
Whole dynamic changer there.
Good thinking!

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Wed Jan 13, 2021 9:58 pm

NETWORK OMNI NEWSFLASH
Dateline: 1/182344/123231212
Peace Talks Collapse as Xilien-Remulak Hostilities Resume
-Nogre Station, Zenobia System, Ardus Sector, Corkscrew Galaxy. Efforts to mediate the vicious out-verse Xilien-Remulak War came to a screeching halt as the two sides failed to reach an understanding in the years-long conflict.

(Camera POV pans to show a conference room and table, on one side is a delegation of humanoids in black and grey bodysuits, with close-fitting head cowls with a single antennae projecting from the top of the head, and narrow black visors covering their eyes. Opposite them is a group of humanoids in armored robes, with tall conical heads wrapped in what look like barbed wire. The lead figures of each delegation are identified respectively as NEGOTIATOR-3 and MENTOTT VORCLOR. Between them is an Iborian consul, identified as the esteemed TORVEN MENCHESSEN )

Menchessen: “-now, let us review the core concerns in this conflict, and see if we can’t come to an understanding-“

Mentott Vorclor: “Understanding will come when these mebbites quit blighting mentanglion space with their inane posturings and accept their lowest status with regards to the true masters of the universe!”

Negotiator-3: “Unlawful sequesterers of water! Worthless wastes of protoplasmic substance! Defiers of the great and proper order of things! Festering abominations of unregulated breeding! You pollute our future resources with your mere presence!”

Mentott Vorclor: “Tooth-capped tarpaath! You shall bow to the supremacy of Remulak! Blunt-skulled flarpotts, you fool nobody in your attempt to imitate true coneness with those ridiculous cranial extensions!”

Negotiator-3: “-if the inferior species opposing us does not capitulate to our computer-directed superiority, they shall be dealt with monstrous retribution!”

(The Xilien delegation all begin pulling out laser pistols while the Remulakians shout something about ‘activating the modified pleasure tone spewers’)

Consul Menchessen:(Shakes head as he’s walking away from the negotiation pavilion, as it explodes amidst loud static and frenzied screaming, sending bodies flying through the air) “Stupid, stupid, STUPID idiots….utter waste of time trying to find sense among them. Let them kill themselves. It’s not as if it affects anybody else!”

Elsewhere:
“Greetings, I am Beldar, from France, and I will be your driving instructor! I summon you, Miss-“
“Namikawa-317 Amer. I am from…Okinawa.”
“Superlative! Let us proceed to the instructional motorized conveyance!”

Furoan · Unread post by **Furoan** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 4:08 am

Hmm, sorry if this has been covered before, but I just had a thought. With the Minion War basically hitting everybody between the eyes, I wonder how well Naruni made out of the entire deal. I could see it going two ways really.

1) Naruni is very much delighted to sell you or the planet of your trip a small fleet and enough power armour to face of a demonic incursion. Suddenly, after the dust settles Naruni comes back and makes some nice hints about all that military hardware they sold you. (I could see following the attack on Terra Prime somebody broke the general rule of thumb of not engaging with Naruni to get a fleet RIGHT THIS MOMENT and now they have to deal with it.

2) Naruni is stretched to the breaking point trying to cover all those defence contracts they sold, and now the competition is fiercer than ever, especially with all the former veterans from the Minion War who planets might not be able to keep in their armed forces.

(Another plot idea that could be fun would be the former administration of the HA was responsible for buying a fleet or getting power armour to protect one of the paradise world, but htye are dead now and nobody had any idea about the contract until the bill turned up).

Borast · Unread post by **Borast** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:41 pm

Omegasgundam wrote:X-Ray Cluster Missile
While conceptualized for millennia, it has only been recently that these weapons have been made practical. Using cutting edge CG technology, a nuclear explosion is momentarily flattened to energize a number of lazing rods (CAF standard is 10), resulting in a payload that is far harder to intercept with PD turrets, assuming they even have the effective range to do so. The problem is that the attacks are not particularly accurate, rolling to strike without any bonuses, and take penalties based on the effective level of ECM they are under. Without ECCM missiles, they would be near useless against modern craft.
Range: (X-Ray Lasers) 2 mile in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
Mega-Damage: (Nuclear explosion) 1d6x100
(X-Ray Lasers): 2d4x100
Market Cost: 900,000 for CAF standard 10 rod missile. The production cost is coming down as it switches to using them as their primary anti-ship cruise missile, but Heavy AM-CMs will remain in use to counter enchanted targets.[/spoiler]

? This is one of the issues I have with PB's weapons ranges.
RW tech today makes X-Ray lasers possible. After all, the lasing "chamber" only has to last a few microseconds for it to be effective, and something in the multi-megaton range is strong enough to kill a city, 100 miles under it when it goes off.

Outside that, enjoyed the write-up!

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 8:06 pm

Borast wrote:
Omegasgundam wrote:? This is one of the issues I have with PB's weapons ranges.

Look, thats what the numbers for Kitsune's versions end up with once you add the Palladium Stupid Tax. The problems there of have been argued about for decades now.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:05 am

I would like to take this opportunity to state that I now realize that much of my work amounts to taking the stuff Gleba, Coffin, and Campbell have published, covering it in gas, and setting it on fire. I can live with this.