46/199 - FET COLONY OPENS FIRE ON DTR STARSHIPS
Madonna - Years of peaceful co-existence between the Detinus Republic and the Imperial power block in the Capellan periphery were put to an end this week. DTR Nebulon Quicksilver was patrolling space lanes and orbits in the Madonna system for possible pirate activities when it was attacked without warning by the FET colony Lair. The Quicksilver sent of a distress call that was answered by over 30 DTR warships; unfortunately they could not prevent the dereliction of the Quicksilver by a chance hit to the command section, which killed Lt. Vlad Romanov and 23 crew aboard his ship.
Although the DTR rescue fleet had orders to target the naval ring of FET Lair it is believed that collateral damage effectively destroyed the entire colony, killing thousands of residents. This is the second time that a FET colony gouvernor has sacrificed the population of an ill-equipped, poorly shielded and predominantly civilean colony by prompting a military confrontation without reason. It is hoped that the FET will reconsider their overly militaristic attitude and leave policing of IMP space to the IMP fleet who will presumably have more military expertise, common sense and awareness of the legal situation. -DPB, Babylon
36/199 HOSTILE ENCOUNTERS
Venice - This week saw a dramatic increase of pirate incursions into DTR space. After their murderous assaults on DTR explorer ships in recent weeks the DTR had grown wary of the RIP. Patrols in the Venice system located a Nemesis, the 'Baloo Bear', which had attacked a Dominion Carrier in the Venice system the week before. The raider was trapped and intercepted by a detachment of the DTR Home Guard, who derelicted the ship but lost the entire bridge crew aboard DTR 'Chimaera' to an ion cannon salvo in turn. The CO, Vice Admiral Iblis, was wounded but is expected to return to duty any day now. Reinforcements to this battle had been diverted on their way to assist a DTR freighter which had come under attack from a RIP Ship-of- the-Line; RIP 'The Bear' was destroyed but all crew aboard DTR Tempest 'Cotopaxi' were killed, including the respected CO, Commodore Graham Jardin.
Elsewhere in the Venice system a lone RIP Battle Cruiser was engaged and destroyed by a strong task force with no losses to the DTR. Lieutenant Kato Konami of the aptly named DTR Yacht 'Lucky Escape' is to be commended for reporting this encounter and surviving two pirate encounters in one week completely unscathed: The 'Lucky Escape' could bypass the Battle Cruiser and proceed to the Solo system where it witnessed another merciless attack, this time the DTR Carrier 'Red Russian' was running from another RIP Nemesis. Fighter attacks to the command section killed six crewmen aboard the 'Red Russian' but no further damage was taken. The 735 DNA refugees in the cargo section were unharmed.
Nearby in the same system DTR Belter 'Long Island' was not so lucky. Assaulted by a RIP Predator and a RIP Runner with ion cannons and space fighters it took heavy damage and lost 40 crew but in the end escaped the pirates. The explorer ship even inflicted minor damage to the RIP Runner 'Flashing Steel' by attacking its engine section with space fighters.
At the end of the day, another RIP Runner chose to flee at the sight of an unarmed DTR Yacht on survey duty in the T.tauri system. It is hoped that after this week's losses the RIP will be forced to withdraw. While this week saw some successful action against the raiders we are also mourning for almost a hundred crewmen killed in the battles this week alone. -DPB, Babylon
32/199 SHOOTOUT AT OPPORTUNITY STARPORT Opportunity - Starport security personnell at DTR Opportunity boarded and seized three starships by force this week. When the dust settled the question arose why this had happened in the first place and if bloodshed could have been avoided. 18 people were killed in the fights aboard AFT Demon Speed and AFT Flensburg. Only the personnel aboard SMS Hesperus surrendered to the police without a fight, believing the situation could only be a misunderstanding.
The colony governor of DTR Opportunity claims that because of the colony's violent past security is a more important aspect here than elsewhere in the Detinus Republic and that the police only followed their orders to the letter. The ships had landed without prior permission and the starport is considered a high security area so the police action was justified, although it may have been inappropriate. On the other hand it is a well known fact that Opportunity used to be, and still is, a highly frequented trade station and that its starport was supposed to be re-opened to the general public. Strict orders to seize trespassers by force may be a precaution against smugglers, slavers and other illegal activities but incidents like this are bound to happen.
Apologies and condolences go to the relatives of the victims. The DTR will return the ships to their previous owners and is also prepared to compensate them for their loss. -DPB, Babylon
28/199 DESASTROUS ACCIDENT ON PASSENGER TRANSPORT Cyprus - Probably the greatest tragedy so far in DTR spacefaring occurred this week when DTR Frigate Viper suffered a breakdown of their life support systems in orbit over Cyprus. The ship was on regular passenger duty and was carrying more than a thousand colonists and fourty crew when the life support system failed. 922 colonists and 38 crew died of suffocation. Investigations revealed that the ship had only installed life support capacity for sixty lifeforms although it was supposed to carry more than a thousand which lead to a random collapse of vital life support functions throughout the ship. The reason why insufficient life supports were mounted remains unclear to this date; it may have been an oversight during the last maintenance or starport overhaul of the ship. The ship's commanding officer, Ensign Anaconda, claims that he had not been informed about any problems with the life supports and believed to have sufficient capacity to fulfill his orders of shipping more than a thousand lifeforms. The crewman responsible for supervising the life support systems, a kastorian immigrate by the name of Jast, cannot be asked as he died at his post. Rumours of sabotage could not be substantiated. In fact some believe in an underlying plot here because the Viper, although transporting colonists, was registered with the DTR Stellar Armada and not with the DTR Merchant Navy or the DTR Explorer Corps. One possible explanation for this is that Ensign Anaconda is due for promotion to Lieutenant in week 35 and was supposed to take command of a Nebulon class attack cruiser in service with the DTR Stellar Armada soon. The Magistracy of the Detinus Republic is now reviewing the incident to see if the CO is to be tried for manslaughter, negligence or any other legal offence. Regardless of the outcome our thoughts and mournings are with the families of the victims of this terrible accident. -DPB, Babylon
38/197 FET COLONY TAKES BEATING Blowton - In what they called Operation Payback, the CNF diverted parts of their 'Rolling Thunder' fleet into orbit over FET Yokosuka, the same colony that had opened fire on and destroyed the scout ship CNF Ranger 2 a while ago.
The colony gouvernor unwisely decided to maintain his aggressive stance and again opened fire on sight. Although this tactic had been successful against an unarmed scout, it proved desastrous this time as the Confederate warships happily responded in kind and completely destroyed both the military and the naval quarters as well as most other areas of the colony.
With no space or ground weapons left and some 13,000 casualties at Yokosuka the FET now accuse the CNF of attacking civileans. The counter-opinion is that a colony which initiates hostilities against a battlefleet is a legitimate combattant and that a cartel of corporations that maintains their own military assets and supports the Imperial Stellar Patrol with those mercenary forces has deliberately sold out their civilean status and accepted the inevitable loss of lives associated with that decision. - DPB, Tharbad
23/197 NEW SYSTEMS Tranquility - After months of preparation under the veil of maximum security, the Detinus Republic has finally launched waves of Explorer Corps starships into a recently discovered periphery which the DTR intends to claim as our new home.
The discovery was made when a group of students of various xeno-sciences achieved an incredible breakthrough while researching an alien artifact for their graduation about half a year ago. The artifact, which had been found at Tranquility in the Ruin system, has long been in DTR hands and has repeatedly been examined by various scientists with no result. It was considered useless and of no value and therefore given to the students for their xenotechnology project. The students managed to identify it as some sort of navigational device and retrieved some data from it which, after closer inspection, led to discovery of a jump route to a hitherto unknown system. Although the device was fused and destroyed in the process, it opened the way to the T.Tauri star system and DTR Explorer Corps ships have already found another system named Venice. It is quite possible that more systems lie beyond.
Initial surveys of the newly discovered periphery area show it to be promising - have we finally found a new home among the stars? - DPB, Tharbad
21/197 IMPERIAL SPY SHIP DESTROYED Arachnid - Whilst patrolling through the Arachnid system, the DTR White Star, a Nebulon-class warship, encountered the IMP Scavenger, a Survey Cruiser which had been caught spying in Arachnid before and therefore was on the DTR posted list. Since the imperial ship obviously paid no heed to warnings the DTR White Star followed its orders to the letter and opened fire on the IMP Scavenger. Only a single salvo was needed to destroy the enemy command section with a precise hit. The subsequent failure of vital control circuits caused an explosion in the ship's energy core that completely destroyed the ship with all hands. - DPB, Tharbad
20/197 GENERAL LULL New Tate - Little of interest seems to be happening throughout the Detinus Republic for several weeks now. Reports of increased pirate activity in the Arachnid system resulted in increased patrol activity by the DTR Stellar Armada but with the exception of the capture of the ex-RIP Frigate Six 'n' Violence had no success in locating and destroying any pirate vessels. The greater part of the DTR ships (and mostly of the DTR Merchant Navy) were dedicated to their usual cargo runs and some exploration but again, nothing of particular value or interest happened.
Behind the scenes, however, preparation for a major operation have been going on for quite a time. While the nature of the operation still has not been revealed, preparations are now coming to an end and the Detinus Republic will launch whatever they have been preparing for in the near future. - DPB, Tharbad
19/197 NEW TRADE CENTER Babylon - The Detinus Republic has set up a colony, named Babylon, on the planet Mobile Bay in the Yank system. It will be the main trade center for trade between the Detinus Republic and non-Darkfold affiliations. It could also become the new home of the DTR Merchant Navy central office. Babylon is expected to have a hiport by week 24/197 and is open to everybody. In accordance with the Kastorian no-fire regulations in the Yank system, it will have its enemy, defend and support lists cleared at all times. Main goods to be sold at Babylon will be manufactured goods for ship and ground party equipment at very low prices, as well as excess resources and special deals. The colony is ready to buy almost anything at a fair price. To start off the colony, however, the import of basic goods including food, colonists, structurals, farms, mines and factories has top priority. The DTR Merchant Navy is doing the greater part of this job but any merchant is welcome to join in. - DTR Merchant Navy offices, Haeremai
18/197 CNF TALKS FAILED Karakorum - In a grim mood, the DTR delegation returned from CNF Karakorum, crown colony of the Confederacy. The Confederacy had offered to cede the Arachnid system to the Detinus Republic as a new home system but no agreement could be reached over several critical points, resulting in the CNF stepping down from their offer. As a member of the delegation put it, "The talks were long and hard and it's double disappointing that they led to nothing. But with the terms the Confederacy tried to push through we would not have had Arachnid as our own system anyways. In fact we have not lost much, we just failed to gain something."
Thus, our search for a new home continues... - DPB, Tharbad
17/197 WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE REPUBLIC? New Tate & Tharbad - Behind the apparent calm of these last four weeks there appears to be something going on. The administrative staffs of the Government and Magistracy are seen working overtime. So far no-one wants to comment and it is supposed that there is something extremely important being discussed, as there has not been such a strict silence before. What this could possibly be is presently unknown.
15/197 NO BAN ON ION CANNONS New Tate - A final decision has been made this week that Ion Cannons will not be banned throughout the Detinus Republic. The official reason given for this decision is that no distinction should be made between different types of space weaponry and that it was the nature of weapons to be lethal. It could not be established that death through Ion Cannons was worse than other forms of death or injury associated with space combat. While such a decision would not have been very popular a few months ago, it is assumed that the recent increase in hostile space encounters, especially the devastating pirate attack on a DTR merchant fleet earlier this year, has gone a long way in reducing the overly peaceful attitude of most DTR citizens. With the DTR Stellar Armada undergoing a major overhaul, the DTR just cannot afford to condemn existing weapons to disuse. - DPB, Tharbad
12/197 RUMOUR MILLS WORKING OVERTIME New Tate - A new flurry of rumours is thought to originate from the offices of the Speaker of the House about the inminent claim of a home system by the Detinus Republic. Rumour specialists say that this will be announced shortly and that a large colony will be relocated there soon to house the Prefectorate of this new Province. According to the most insistent voices this colony may be Tharbad, although this would mean that another colony will become capital, since Magistrate Lord Ramsey may not become Prefect, according to the Republican Constitution. Only time will tell how much of these rumours is true and what was pure speculation.
12/197 PRESS CONFERENCE IN THARBAD Tharbad - The announced press conference was held in the luxurious offices of the Governor at the Viminale. Asked by the reporters, Magistrate Ramsey first addressed the rumours about a pending declaration of a star system to be the new home of the Detinus Republic. "I cannot comment it yet. However I can announce the presentation of the new Laws of the Republic. These have been prepared by our office and are currently under review with the Republican Government." Informed observers say that the presentation of DTR Laws is the first step towards claiming a home system.
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 reindustrialization 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 patienced about the hospitals. They will be built.", was the statement of a suddenly tense Lord Ramsey. It must be assumed there have been certain frictions lately on this point within the Republic. The increased RIP activity deep in Darkfold is definitely showing its signs.
11/197 TROUBLESOME TIMES Arachnid - A lot of unauthorized activitiy is taking place in the Arachnid system, including several pirate vessels and an AFT warfleet while the DTR lost one of their valuable Deep Explorer class ships there to hostile natives.
The Darkfold affiliations are now considering armed patrols of Arachnid with orders to shoot at unkown ships on sight to support the ban that has been laid on the whole of the Darkfold systems and especially Arachnid. Although the AFT ships dealt a severe blow to the RIP, their ships had no authorisation to enter the Arachnid system either, as neither the DTR nor the CNF had any trade with them there. While the DTR wishes to express its gratitude and respect to the AFT starcaptains for their accomplishments, we would also like to remind the AFT that they are not supposed to enter the Arachnid system either. - DPB, Tharbad
9/197 MAJOR PIRATE STRIKE Francoise - This week was overshadowed by a devastating RIP attack on a huge DTR convoi. 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
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 gouvernors 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
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
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 warfleet, 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 unneccessary 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 beed seized with no casulaties after DTR authorities had sufficient proof that it supported the lawless RIP vagabonds. - DPB, Tharbad
