Inter-Galactic News

February/March 1997 Issue 28

Anything for inclusion for future issues of the IGN should be sent direct to me at the following address:
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Outer-Comm.

To: All
From: Judas Boxleigtner, Confederate Consul (1872)

CNF Statement on status of the Falconian Empire - With effect from week 7
ALL Falconian Positions are denied access to ALL Confederate Systems (Kastor to Darkfold inclusive and Arachnid).
WARNING - ANY and ALL Falconian positions sighted within said systems, will be Posted and destroyed immediately. This is NOT a declaration of hostilities, the Confederacy has no wish or intention to enter, explore or colonise any Falconian system/s, or to commence any form of conflict with the Falconian Empire. Nor does the Confederacy wish to enter into any negotiation, treaty, trade agreement, or relationship of any kind with the Falconian Empire. Any Confederate position found within any Falconian system/s will be deemed to be operating without Consular approval and may be dealt with by the Falconian Empire in any manner they see fit, without fear of reprisal by the Confederacy. Falconian shipping WILL be allowed free access to the Wormhole when it is within the London system. However they are cautioned to use ONLY the Space Square of the Wormhole for Jump Links. Should Falconian Positions be sighted in any other part of Confederate space, without express Consular permission, then this access will be terminated.

To: Simon Pheonix, Chief guy RIP Portes d'enfer
From: Marushka Smirnoff, CO DTR Bloody Mary

You had a Patrol Cruiser with 120 Photon Guns. I had an unarmed Supra Freighter. Yet you didn't manage to kill me. Next time I meet you it will be with an armed ship, putting us at even odds. I'll find you. And you won't like it...

To: All
From: Jarlia Alarn AFT Master Trader (4640) 197.7

I thought it might be useful if I outlined the basic principles of the AFT for everybody...

1. COMPLETE NEUTRALITY
We are an independent and neutral organisation. We abide by the laws of the local authority and respect the rights, customs, beliefs, rituals and other ideological principles of ALL our trading partners whatever they may be. This implies that we will not partake in any conflict other than to defend our own possessions and that of those trading with us. Indirect use of our merchandise or use of humanitarian (starport) facilities is not considered involvement in a conflict.

2. COMPLETE TRUST
We are bound by our constitution to comply by the terms of ANY treaty or individual contract that the Trade Council or a member thereof is a signatory to. This applies to ALL members equally. Individual members are bound to complete/comply with ALL contracts that they are personally a signatory to, in addition to any treaties that the AFT has agreed to. We will not, and individual members cannot, sign any offensive military treaty or other pact that will harm our status of neutrality.

3. COMPLETE FREEDOM
We are an affiliation set up by and for its members and we do not dictate ANY moral, religious or ideological principles to our members. Individuals are under the protection of the Association but are not obligated to it beyond the fulfilment of the official treaties and the by-law principles indicated.The activities of a member in one Periphery cannot be made accountable elsewhere, unless it violates an official treaty or individual contract.

4. COMPLETE STABILITY
We are dedicated to maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for the prosperity of individual members and the local sentient life form. We encourage ALL sentient life forms to settle disputes between themselves peacefully through diplomatic channels and discourage the use of force by ALL. To this effect the AFT is ALWAYS available to act as an unbiased and unprejudiced arbitrator for any sentient life form(s) in their conflict(s) and will offer humanitarian aid where possible.

To: Dominion Leadership
From: Judas Boxleigtner, Confederate Consul (1872)

The DOM have permission to operate within Confederate Systems (Kastor and Arachnid to Darkfold inclusive) under the following restrictions -
The DOM may enter and trade with all Confederate Colonies on a Pre-Arranged basis ONLY.
The DOM may use the Wormhole when its Terminus is within the London system.
The DOM may NOT Explore, Prospect, set up Outposts or Colonies within Confederate Space.
Any DOM positions suspected of breaking these restrictions may be Posted and destroyed.

To: Governor of AFT Return
From: Judas Boxleigtner, Confederate Consul (1872)

May I welcome you to the Confederacy, I hope that the arrival of your colony will be the beginning of a new era of mutual trust and co-operation between the AFT and the member Affiliations of the Confederacy. Please announce your Market Report at the earliest opportunity as there are many Star captains and Governors eager to commence Trade with your establishment.

To: DEN Leadership
From: Judas Boxleigtner, Confederate Consul (1872)

Following an announcement by a Pack Lord that the DEN are unwilling to accept CNF restrictions concerning their access to Confederate systems and a DEN claim that they regard the Plague system as their territory on account of it containing a Stargate, plus a threat to Post CNF vessels carrying Stargate Keys. The CNF have taken the following action -
Henceforth the DEN are DENIED access to Confederate Systems (Kastor and Arachnid to Darkfold inclusive), DENIED access to the Wormhole when its Terminus is within the London system. DEN positions suspected of breaking these restrictions may be Posted and destroyed.

To: All Captains wanting to rid of all RIP
From: Tommy (aka R. Hawkes FET)

Fellow starship captains, place your affiliation ranks aside. I have to inform you than in recent weeks, attacks on starship captains have occurred. Soon it might be you. I hearby am issuing this plea to all starship captains who want to help rid of the RIP empire. You must have courage, willpower and be determined. No rewards will be given but I ask you to help in a battle for those men who have been already lost. Please reply to the address below soon. We can arrange what to do first. Hopefully we can have clearance to go ahead with this attack. However, if there is no great demand the fleet arrangements will be cancelled, so please write soon to: Tom, 24 Christchurch Road, Sidcup, KENT, DA15 7HQ, ENGLAND. E-mail: 101731.3624@compuserve.com Together we can work to put right what has already gone wrong.

To: Vice Admiral Roderick Blaine, CO Ship of the Line MacArthur.
From: Lord Abraham. I. Crowthorne, Speaker of the House of Lords.

Unlike the Editor if IGN, we in the DTR have no qualms of passing on the log of the now deceased Captain Sir Christopher Nash to add and sundry. We gained the logs after making derelict the Patrol Cruiser Intrepid in London over 2 years ago now. We were quite amused to see that Captain Sir Christopher Nash was awarded the Valetta Gallantry Medal for not staining his trousers when encountering DTR ships (with superior numbers), and that he received the Knight of St. George for not staining his trousers (again, the control of this wImperial officer is amazing) when against superior odds.
In addition, it is not surprising that the Imperials are always in such a complete mess since they cannot even get the ranks of their own commanding officers correct. Sir Christopher Nash, when he was killed in action, was merely a Captain, not a Commodore as Vice Admiral Blaine states. Either that, of they promote dead Starcaptains, which knowing wImperial incompetence wouldn't surprise me.
In fact, I guess that the wImperials are so desperate for new Starcaptains that they keep the dead ones on, but make sure no-one else on the ship knows. Well wImperial are not known to be the brightest people about and I'm sure it would take a few years before they realised that someone was dead. Actually, this probably explains why Captain Sir Christopher Nash received his medals for not loosing control of his bodily functions. He was already dead! Long Live the Republic.

To: FET Periphery Director
From: Lord Abraham. I. Crowthorne, Speaker of the House of Lords.

As you may have read in Sub-Space Static, we lost a ship to some angry aliens a few weeks ago. We, in the Detinus Republic, would like to complain that your class 7 ship, the Deep Explorer, was not very good at being attacked by a battery of 500 missiles. Even on fleeing it blow up round one. Please could you deliver a new one to the nearest DTR colony so we can add it to our current fleet of 2 Deep Explorers. We would be grateful if there are no brown stains on the command seats and no yellow paint on the outside of the ship. Thank you. Long Live the Republic.

To: Ian Cunningham, SMS Deputy Company Commander From: Lord Abraham. I. Crowthorne, Speaker of the House of Lords.

It is with great sadness that you have decided to perpetrate complete fiction on the SMS Internet site. I specifically mean the section concerning the history of the last 200 hundred years. It is documented, even in wImperial sources (no doubt now deleted to hide the truth), that Detinus was not a penal colony, unlike you stated. Detinus was the same as Tate and all other colonies in the Inner Empire - a peaceful colony under harsh, corrupt Imperial rule. The citizens of Tate and Detinus and tens of other colonies did not want to rebel. However, if you do not feed, cloth, house, or distribute medical supplies, which is how the wImperial treated all colonists, then an uprising will result. It is the natural will of people to live. The rebellion was of *all* colonists at New Tate and Detinus against the privileged few. Another statement of complete fiction was that we assassinated the key leaders of the Empire. The truth is quite the opposite in fact. We allowed them the freedom of the colony, which was ultimately our mistake since they sabotaged vital defence equipment allowing the Imperials to land at Tate. The Imperials then tortured and slaughtered all but a handful of Tate colonists as an example to all the other rebelling colonies. How Ian Cunningham can state that the Tate Royalists died when they were broadcast on the Imperial networks as heroes and bestowed with medals is beyond me. Ian Cunningham then goes on to state that the DTR blockaded colonies to starve the population; another falsehood. The truth is that we were protecting the colonies from the Imperials who wanted to go in and start another genocide, or start an orbital bombardment (like the one they did against Detinus). The truth of the matter shows that the Imperials are a bunch of cowardly, inhumane, murderers lead by an overblown dictator. Some people in the upper echelons in the Detinus Republic believed the SMS to be the most humane of the wImperial lackey affiliations. There was even the hushed suggestion that they would remain neutral in a fight between the Detinus Republic and wImperials. This so called 'history', unfortunately, only proves how wrong they were. The position of power has obviously gone to their heads, like it has for the past 100 years with the wIMP, FET and GTT, and they are just as cruel and inhumane.

To: All
From: Lord Abraham. I. Crowthorne, Speaker of the House of Lords and Lord Marco Ramsey, Magistrate of the Republic.

A few months ago, it was with great pleasure that the Detinus Republic launched the largest and most up-to-date internet site for all Starcaptains (at http://rummelplatz.uni-mannheim.de/~silvio/).
Since then, we have proved to the most visited and praised site of all those currently present. We aim to keep expanding this service and updating it at least twice a week. So, if your affiliation hasn't sent you any information on colony locations, ship configuration, system maps or whatever, just visit this site to have the information at your fingertips. For those in Confederate affiliations, you will be able to access restricted areas detailing battle reports and survey information, for example. All DTR players have more access again for detailed investigations of all Darkfold systems and much more besides this. We in the DTR believe in information for all. We do not want to keep affiliation members in the dark, or sensor information which many affiliations do to their members. We want you to know what is happening in the game as a whole, to know what to look for in explorations, how to run a colony properly, how to arm your ship the most efficient way to do the most destruction to wIMP ships. Just one more reason on a long list of reasons why the Detinus Republic is the affiliation to join. (For DTR members who are not fortunate enough to have access to the internet, it doesn't matter. The information will be printed out and posted to you instead). For the Greater Glory of the Republic.

To: The general public beyond the Stellar Empire
From: Detinus Republic Press Bureau, Tharbad
PRESS RELEASES...

12/197 PRESS CONFERENCE IN THARBAD
Tharbad - At a press conference at the Tharbad colony, DTR Magistrate Ramsey presented the preliminary laws of the Detinus Republic that he and his staff have been working at for months. The new laws are thought to better reflect the DTR constitution and the views and ethics of its citizens.The Magistrate then went on to explain his own future, "it is likely that I will resign from Governor of this fine colony soon. Being Magistrate already means a lot of work and I do not want Tharbad to suffer from this. My trusted advisor Counsellor Lorenzo De Medici has already taken up most of the administrative functions as Lt.Governor." The press conference then went on with more local topics, such as when Tharbad will build its much needed hospital complexes and how long the re-industrialisation program will continue. "The Republic is investing large sums in the development of infrastructures at Tharbad. In exchange we are helping with the Armada upgrade program, so I would like to ask our colonists to be patient about the hospitals. They will be built.", was the statement of a suddenly tense Lord Ramsey. It must be assumed there have been certain fractions lately on this point within the Republic. The increased RIP activity deep in Darkfold is definitely showing its signs.
- DPB, Tharbad 10/197 WHAT IS GOING ON IN ARACHNID?
Arachnid - The officials of several Darkfold affiliations, namely the DTR, the CNF and the CIA, have expressed their concern about the ever-increasing amount of unauthorised shipping in the Arachnid system. The Brotherhood has already had skirmishes with RIP forces who seemed to swarm the system in recent weeks. The AFT even moved in a warfleet that dealt a serious blow to the pirates there, although the DTR Stellar Armada is unsure what the AFT sought to protect there. Due to an error, the DTR was not notified that the AFT had been given permission to enter the system by the CNF. Any DTR communication that may have reached the AFT stating that they should leave the system should be ignored. Of course, the destruction/derelictionof pirate vessels is to be commended - we congratulate the AFT starcaptains for their bravery and success. The DTR and the CNF wish to remind all ships in Arachnid that this system is part of the Darkfold periphery and therefore under CNF judiciary and has been banned for all non-Darkfold shipping. Therefore, no ship that does not belong to either the DTR, CNF, CIA or BHD is welcome in Arachnid unless it has the express permission of one of these affiliations.
- Ministry of Military Affairs, New Tate.

9/197 MAJOR PIRATE STRIKE
Francoise - This week was overshadowed by a devastating RIP attack on a huge DTR convoy. As the DTR ships were neither armed nor escorted, the pirates had easy game with the hauler fleet. The DTR announced the loss of the Squidy Class Hulk 'Naplian Ethos' that was destroyed by enemy photon fire while two Tempest class ships, the 'Bellicose' and the 'Lady Luck', were derelicted and boarded by the raiders. Several other ships sustained damage in the attack. This is a major setback for the DTR rebuilding program and also points to a seriously light military cover for DTR shipping in dangerous areas. "What's the purpose of bleeding Stellars for a warfleet if it spends its time orbiting some backwater world?", says Lorenzo De Medici, angry spokesman of the DTR Merchant Navy. He demanded the DTR Stellar Armada to put up an armed patrol of the many forward trade routes that have gained importance in recent times to prevent pirate ships from waiting in ambush as it evidently happened in Francoise. It would seem that pirate hunting is now certainly going to gain importance for the Detinus Republic, too.
- DPB, Tharbad

10/197 DTR SHIP MISSING IN ACTION
Arachnid - The Detinus Republic Explorer Corps announced this week the assumed loss of yet another DTR starship, this time one of their valuable Deep Explorers, the DTR 'Fulmine' that went missing in Arachnid. The ship has not been heard of for several weeks; it is believed that the star captain, Lieutenant Roberto De Medici, brought the ship into a known danger-zone for unknown reasons. Any further information, namely the nature of the danger, has been classified by the DTR. A memorial service for the crew has been held at New Tate this week.
- Ministry of Trade, Colonisation and Cartography, New Tate

9/197 IND SHIP SEIZED BY DTR SECURITY FORCES
Tharbad - While relocating facilities and personnel from the abandoned New Angeles colony in the Solo system to the new Tharbad colony, DTR starport officials noticed the Fast Freighter IND Electric Tuna that had remained at the New Angeles starport for several weeks. Since the planetside- permission of the ship had long since expired, it was boarded by security forces but found empty. It is rumoured that while the ship held no suspicious cargo or systems, some data was found in the computer that has been relayed to the DTR Ministry of Military Affairs. The nature of the data remains undisclosed

- DPB, Tharbad

9/197 ION CANNONS TO BE BANNED?
New Tate - The DTR Ministry of Internal Affairs announced this week that the Magistrate is considering the ban of Ion Cannons because they are considered inhumane and violating the fundamental rights of every sentient being. While Ion Cannons are rarely, if at all, used by DTR ships, several DTR colonies have included them in their space defence arrays. The colony governors have announced that these weapons shall be removed and sold on the open market in the near future to avoid having to dismantle them after they are outlawed. To this end the cannons will all be shipped to a DTR colony at the rim of the Darkfold periphery as near as possible to the Yank system where they will be sold exclusively. Begin of sale, price and the colony that sells the cannons will be announced here.
- DPB, Tharbad

3/197 DARKFOLD DEFENCE HOLDS FIRM
Francoise - In a display of surprising audacity, the IMPerials, supported by the FET mercenaries, moved a fleet that can only be described as a war fleet, consisting of no less than 17 Ships-of-the-Line and a Patrol Cruiser, deep into the Darkfold Periphery. A quickly assembled force of Confederate and Brotherhood ships moved in to intercept and managed to drive off the invading force, taking high casualties. Although they had the Darkfold ships outgunned the Imperials retreated, surrendering the derelicted SoL 'Prince Lysander', which has since been claimed by the Brotherhood, to the victorious defenders. The second wave of Darkfold ships that raced in to face the enemy, this time including DTR Nebulon-class warships, proved to be an unnecessary precaution. Confederate and Brotherhood forces are to be commended for their quick and effective reaction. The Detinus Republic wishes to express our mourning for the crewmen who were lost in the valiant defence of the Darkfold systems as well as our gratitude.
- DPB, Tharbad

3/197 COLONY SEIZED
Cantina - The same week, the IND colony Cantina has been seized with no casualties after DTR authorities had sufficient proof that it supported the lawless RIP vagabonds.
- DPB, Tharbad

7/197 DTR SHIP SEIZED
Drougal - As has been made public only now, the DTR Yacht 'Fiume' was seized by Kastorian (KST) officials after landing at KST Drougal in the Kastor system in 4/197. The captain is rumoured to be due for execution while the crew is held captive. As of yet, DTR officials have refused to explain what the ship's mission was or how they intend to solve the situation. At the moment, however, the ship is registered as IND and it does not seem that the KST are ready to return their booty.
- DPB, Tharbad

To: All
From: AFT Master Trader (4640)

AFT Colony Mares Nest (848) Pegasus (167), space square 647 on Carrier is closing down. Many bargains are available, and more will come later! Mares Nest MR 197.15

CLOSING DOWN SALE! Hi-Port available

No Sell Price Item No Buy Price
217 10 Battle Comp (12) 0 0
10 2000 Farms (28) 0 0
1400 40 Green Troops (113) 0 0
65 75 Ground Bomber (34) 0 0
100 50 Ground Fight (35) 0 0
40 10 Jammers (15) 0 0
5430 15 Luxury Food (10) 0 0
2400 15 Luxury Goods (61) 0 0
240 10 Missiles (92) 0 0
90 50 Miss Launchers (91) 0 0
10 500 Plasma Projector (96) 0 0
40 125 Pulsar Beams (99) 0 0
24 750 Pulsar Tanks (164) 0 0
34 100 RDB (106) 0 0
14 1 Small Arms (69) 0 0
50 100 Space Fighters (94) 0 0
8 75 Thrust Engines(80) 0 0

Other Items will become available at a later date, including colonists.
Colonists are not being sold now in order to maintain the Hi-Port.

The Dominion seeks Star Captains.

We have a lot to offer those who join, both new players and experienced ones. Our special abilities include the famous hull shift of 25 MU per hull, the ability to quad-coat our ships, special research bonus and more. All star captains will receive, within two months, a Man-of-War (20/60/20) which with our hull shift bonus effectively will be 25/75/25 with a base speed of 1.4. Other ship classes are also available for our members. We also have a small number of colonies for the more experienced players and a number of colony sites for those who want set up their own. Email contact can be made direct to the DOM PD at larssto@kjemi.unit.no or via the IGN editor and assistant DOM PD at graham.orford@ukonline.co.uk.

To: The Brotherhood
From: RIP Funky Monk

Heavily outgunned the Funky Monk successfully derelicted the Battleship Blackened and a boarding party by a companion ship completed the capture. The monks who were captured are being converted to the religion of the Funky Monk, and their quiffs are growing quite nicely too.

To: All
From: Governor of RIP Terninus (2802)

As of week 20 the market at the above colony will be open for business. Items for sale include Processed Thorlium, Alcohol, and many other goodies. Goods made to order also. Contact the Governor at the following address for more info:
Tim Brooks, 11Ferby Court, 111 Main Road, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 6NL.