Seven Years Later; Still No Answers

An Opinion
by Ares Kiden

(UUNN HQ)  Tomorrow is the Solrain holiday Alkotó … Founders Day . . . The Closing  . . . it’s a traditional, ancient holiday and it’s a business holiday (end of the Fiscal Year for almost every Solrain company). 

But it’s also the day the lights went out seven years ago — the anniversary of The Catastrophe —  and it seems like everyone has forgotten about it.  Five years ago there was a symposium to debate and discuss  its possible causes.  There were two groups formed from that symposium but there does not appear to be any record of a subsequent work effort from either group.

DSS Riddle Deepens

by Yaz Shanndar

(UUNN HQ) Further follow-up discussions has revealed a yet deeper mystery to the “message” on the DSS-3 recently data-recovered and decrypted by Jalil Aq’tamm and Hammer-BS.  We have now learned that image hidden within the first image somehow leads to a cryptic survey titled The Inquest (25.3.6840). 

When asked about his recent decryption revelation, Hammer-BS said, “There were 4 phases of decryption from octal numbers to text, from text to image, from image to qr-code and from qr-code to survey. Especially the hidden image was tough to find as there’s no obvious clue that it is there.”

Black-Market Factory Shut Down

UUNN Newswire

(UUNN HQ)  TRI-Security, under contract from Tens & Piney shut down a black market SportLP power plant factory on Lothars Landing today after it was exposed in a news clip by pilot GrimGriz.

“It was not much of an operation there,” said TRI-SEC officer Laiton ‘Scorch’ Masson.  “The perps took off and we destroyed the equipment they had there.  It took maybe 15 minutes.  Not sure I’d use on of those SportLPs.”

It’s not clear why black-marketers would select the SportLP as it is inexpensive and fairly plentiful.

Nelson Quietly Reappointed

UUNN Newswire

(UUNN HQ)  Without any fuss, fanfare — or even so much as a press release, Commander H.A. Nelson was reappointed by The Directorate for another four-year term as Hyperial Station Governor.

Nelson was a surprise selection as governor in 111 because he is Quantar by birth.  His long rise through the ranks in the HSS proved his loyalty, and he was made a citizen of Hyperial in 108.

DSS Duo Unveils Image Riddles

by Yaz Shanndar

(UUNN HQ)  DSS expert Jalil Aq’tamm announced last week that he had recovered an especially large, clean dataset from a DSS3 that he believed to contain some sort of media file.  Within hours, his unofficial partner, Hammer-BS, had decrypted that file and determined it to be an image.  The issue was that the image just did not make a lot of sense.

The slightly-distorted image was a red imprint with the numeral “3” in each of the corners, and a horn at the center of an oveal with words surrounding it.  According to Hammer-BS it was some sort of very ancient currency used specifically to procure communication services.

Civ-Rip Penalties Abolished! Pilots Urged to Seek Escorts

UUNN Newswire

(UUNN HQ)  All three major factions agreed today to abolish the antiquated tag system that has been in place for over a decade.  The most significant fallout from this decision is that civilians will no longer be protected by the threat of penalties against those who would shoot them down.

“The factions decided that it’s time everyone puts their big-girl pants on,” said Apreel Amadán, the Official Arbitrator overseeing the agreement.  “The only ‘tags’ left in place are the ‘Rookie Tags’ — which will now only cover pilots up to level 3.”

To help offset the added danger, the Factions will be buying TRI Corporation’s new Defense Drone Mk.III, which is much faster and stronger — and has a one-jump range — so it will hunt bounties in sectors one jump away from station sectors.