UUNN Newswire
The following is a recorded statement made by Sarath V, the former Fifth Prime of The Reconstruction. Sarath V led TRI before its privatization — when it was a quasi-governmental entity, leading the efforts of The Reconstruction. Sarath V, now age 89, is rarely seen in public, but still resides on Solrain Core station.
By Thane Carios
(Barnard, Hypsos) Nearly a year after the three-day symposium held to discuss the event that has come to be known as The Catastrophe, there is still no consensus about its cause. But several Hyperial physicists lead by Dr. Veron Ni’bur, the Astrophysics Chair at Barnard University, have drafted a report speculating that dark matter may have played a role. Dr. Ni’bur agreed to release some of the report findings to UUNN because so little progress has been made, and no consensus has been reached, by the research community at-large
“We know that The Great Collapse, 2100-plus years ago, was like a huge galactic earthquake with tremendous amounts of gravitic, electromagnetic and kinetic energy,” said Ni’bur. “It resulted in widespread and catastrophic death and destruction, and as we know, a thousand-year dark age for our peoples. We still don’t know its cause, but we are pretty certain of its nature.”
“But The Catastrophe on 114.4.30 was very different,” continued Ni’bur. “It was more like a huge lightning bolt – an electromagnetic event with as much as 10e26 GJ (gigajoules) of energy! This resulted in huge disruptions, by effectively frying all varieties of electronics – which, of course, permeate everything.”
The Ni’bur report hypothesizes that the huge energy release was caused by dark-matter lensing of energy released by an undetermined quantum event. The focused energy somehow propagated through the TRI Corporation jumpgate network – eventually burning it out, but taking approximately forty-two hours to do so.
With all instruments disrupted and recorded data destroyed or badly corrupted, all of the scientists and engineers working on this mystery have struggled to explain the event or its effects. It does appear that the energy fluctuated significantly throughout the event and then cut off abruptly. The initial waves were not the strongest, allowing the lifepod systems to continue to operate, and return many pilots to safety before the collapse of the jumpgate network.
“The biggest question we have right now,” said Dr. Ni’bur, “is why all of the jumpgates seemed to instantaneously propagate the event, rather than occurring as a chain-reaction event — which might have helped us identify the source. There was some tiny variation in gate damage, and a very small number of gates in fringe sectors actually remained functioning – though with TRI systems completely destroyed that did little good.”
None of the factional governments, including Hyperial, have yet endorsed the work of Ni’bur and his team. “Ni’bur uses too much voodoo-physics and allows for a gazillion amazing coincidences in his equations,” said one un-named Hyperial official, who added: “He seems to want to avoid the real possibility that this was an intentional attack.”
The Ni’bur report remains a draft and will not be released. No timetable has been set for a final report.
UUNN Newswire
The STCC has announced that Wake Station will once again host the annual Alkotó (Founders Day) celebration this coming Thursday: 115.4.30. The traditional “Nuking of the Gate” — basically a replication of fireworks displays held dirtside on Soria, Hellion and Amanra — will go off at 24:00 GBS Time (24:00 UTC; 20:00 EDT; 01:00 BST; 02:00 CET). The gate to be targeted has yet to be announced.
Pilots are urged to participate in the Solrain faction Mission to bring supplies to Wake for the celebration. STCC contacts indicate that the mission will be available shortly.
By pilot Hifly and Thane Carios
(UUNN HQ) For several days a band of pirates from the squad OneEightSeven had rampaged through system after system, attacking honest traders in both unregulated and factional space. Reports indicate that the pirates have been seen working either as a group of three Solrain Intensity fighters for extorting credits; or with two fighters and one heavy miner equipped with Insight and Burglar for stealing cargo. Any refusal to heave-to for cargo removal or a slow response to pay the a “Pay or Die” (PoD) extortion demand results in a quick lifepod ride back to your base. One report indicated that one pilot’s ship was destroyed when he engaged autodocking computer and was not paying attention to comms, and not seeing the PoD demand.
Bounty hunters quickly took notice when the OneEightSeven gang targeted MadamRed – owner of the popular Bordello station in Diluted Reaches sector.
“I jumped into the Corridor Station sector to rearm missiles,” said MadamRed. “While sitting in the jumpgate, I saw 2 Solrain pilots wearing pirate tags. They flew towards me while announcing in sector comms that they were ‘robbing’ me. They were demanding I exit the jumpgate. I don’t know how they did it, but they managed to burgle approximately 30 units of my cargo before I woke up, docked at Corridor.”
Since the attack on MadamRed, a number of Mercenaries have been on patrol, looking to collect the OneEightSeven bounties. TRI-Security has also been on patrol to ensure safety of the spacelanes, but Bounty Hunters have protested complaining that TRI-Enforcers are interfering with their ability to make a decent living.
“The bounty hunters would be well advised to quit whining and do their job so I don’t have to do it for them,” said TRI-Security pilot Thaddeus ‘Ace’ Adder. “I saw the pirate PoDing someone in Tripoint sector. So I attempted to make an arrest. After a brief engagement, the pilot ran for a POS in Tictacs and I was, unfortunately, not able to catch or destroy him. Maybe if the whiny bounty hunters had been around they’d be a bit richer AND we’d have the pirate in custody now.”
Pilots are strongly encouraged to keep beacons tuned in their faction space, to enable tracking of these criminals but both authorities and bounty-hunters.
by April Trottel
(UUNN HQ) Today a conflux sentient was sighted by several pilots cruising though unregulated sectors broadcasting a message on the F3 sector channel: “we surrender.” The sentient was a previously-unseen conflux type cruising at 670v.
Some believe this is a trap being set by the conflux. Others believe that the conflux have finally tired of the fight, and that we have finally won.
None of the factional governments have released official statements as of yet.
UUNN 