Travellers’ Aid Society Advisory Report 02-048-1105

Reports received from the Regina subsector in the Spinward Marches tell of an unidentified starship of markedly unorthodox design which has been making use of unauthorized transmission frequencies. Originally sighted in 1103, the ship immediately came to Imperial attention by standing off Heya (0802-B687745-A) and transmitting on a restricted military band. Interceptors scrambled immediately, but the ship jumped outsystem while the fighters were at extreme range.

Later reports have placed the ship at Kinorb (0602-A663659-5) where it stood off for nearly five weeks without any contact, then jumped. The lack of local bases or traffic made interception impossible.

Last known contact took place off Dentus (0601-C979500-A)]] where the local scout base immediately set five Type S scouts on contact duty. Although the unknown immediately jumped, some basic data was recovered from scanners.

Reports of additional sightings should be forwarded to the local Travellers’ Aid Society for central consolidation.

SCANNER DATA

• Mass Displacement 500 – 800 tons
• Jump at least 2
• Maneuver 2G(?)
• Armament unknown

TNS 319-1104
Heroni/Mora Over the last 25 months, Selim hault-Sevigny’s travel schedule shows visits to a Jenghe oceanic trench, the treacherous out-dome badlands of Boughene, and a fly-by tour of Trin’s Veil. As his fellow members of the Travellers’ Aid Society will tell you, it’s a schedule that would challenge the stamina of even the most robust traveller. However, hault-Sevigny doesn’t mind the frequent shifts in gravity and atmosphere – it’s his ashes which are journeying across the Marches, courtesy his fiancée and his friends in TAS.
Tiny portions of hault-Sevigny’s ashes have been making their way to various sites of scenic or historic importance across the Marches since his death in 1101, each visit meticulously logged by the TAS member carrying them. In some cases, where permitted by local law and custom, the ashes have been scattered on location. Another set of ashes is slowly making its way along the Spinward Main, with a stated goal of visiting each world along the fabled trade route. “Rather than having people mourn him, he wanted to motivate people to have adventures,” stated his fiancée, Chloe Virkusshagan. Hault-Sevigny certainly lived up to that goal himself, having served as an Imperial Marine, founded a space-jumping school and working as a cameraman for several holoseries production companies.

TNS 004-1105

Rhylanor/Rhylanor A shuttle on its way up into orbit was yesterday forced to turn around and perform an emergency landing because 72 farting porkers — a genetically enhanced species of meat animal derived from Terran pigs, but weighing about 800 to 900 kg apiece — activated the shuttle’s fire extinguishers. The shuttle was also carrying about 300 people when the porkers’ urine, stomach gas, and body heat created a crisis in the stratosphere. 15 award-winning pedigree porkers were asphyxiated when the cargo hold’s automatic fire extinguishing system went on. A member of the crew later described the resulting smell as ‘_indescribable_’.

TNS 018-1105
Regina/Regina ≡ The IISS scout cruiser Normal Victory has failed to return from an extended survey and is presumed missing. Its crew of five was making detailed planetary surveys along the Imperium-Zhodani border. A Naval task force has been dispatched along the Victory’s planned route.

Rumours & encounters – Forboldn

 In the warehouse district of Ashar City, where you go to meet old man Rueshu, you overhear two local farmers arguing about the Forboldn Constabulary while they make deliveries of produce. One thinks the new commandant really has cleaned them up. The other thinks it is just a sham and that they are as corrupt as they’ve always been.

 You pick up a newssheet in a cafe; it reports the eco-guerrillas have stepped up operations lately. Government offices have been bombed and police patrols ambushed.

 On an Ashar City street corner, you pass a small, boisterous crowd grouped around an earnest young man on a soapbox. He is loudly declaiming that the project to decrease carbon dioxide levels in the air will ruin large parts of the Forboldn eco-system and must be stopped.

 You’re in a restaurant when two offworlders try to order tree kraken livers. They are disappointed to be told that they are a protected species. In the ensuing discussion, you gather that tree krakens are a family of arboreal animals native to Forboldn; different species can be found at all altitudes; and their livers are a source of health, vigour and long life.

Rumours and encounters

 At Hefry starport, a mercenary captain (former Marine) enquires about your destination and says that he is en route to Efate (Regina 0105) to join a mercenary operation locally organized to put down a minor rebellion.

 In passing in a bar, you hear the term ‘Imperial Stationery’, as in “I wouldn’t take your IOU if it was written on Imperial Stationery and countersigned by Strephon himself!”

TAS News Brief – Regina

Regina/Regina (0310 A788899-C) Date: 087-1105
The Federated Ship Builders Union has expressed cautious optimism at news today that planned redundancies at the General Shipyards main facility in Regina have been averted. The announcement was made to workers this morning.
In the past year General Shipyards, a Spinward Marches subsidiary of General Products, LIC, has had a number of contract cancellations. Neither the Imperial Navy nor General Shipyards has commented on these cancellations; however there is widespread speculation that this has been due to poor quality work by General. As a result of the reduced demand, General Shipyards had been planning to mothball parts of its main yards on Regina and generally down scale its operations.
Today’s announcement must mean that General has secured new purchasers for its shipbuilding services. Industry commentators have speculated that General was looking to commercial operators for new ship orders. No major contract announcements have been made at this time however.

Regina/Regina (0310 A788899-C) Date: 087-1105
In the Credo City Court today, Kiranon Urthak was found guilty of orchestrating an attack on the computer systems of Credo Heavy Engineering Co. The remotely triggered attack was made in mid 1104 and against the networked computers. Credo Heavy Engineering stated that it caused 6 days downtime and an estimated Cr 500,000 loss to the company.
Kiranon was a contractor who had previously worked for the company. He has been sentenced to 3 years imprisonment and was transferred to the Zaralban Correctional Centre where he will serve his sentence. 4 other suspects in the case were released from custody on the completion of the successful prosecution. They had been held for between 17 and 23 weeks.

Regina/Regina (0310 A788899-C) Date: 097-1105
Officials of the General Shipyards on Regina today announced that they have completed negotiations with Tukera Lines to manufacture locally L-Hyd drop tanks for use on high capacity commercial vessels. The first production examples are expected to be available within six months, at which time Tukera Lines will begin high capacity service from the interior. Component assembly will be carried out at General’s more modern facilities on Pixie (2307-A100103-D).
L-Hyd drop tanks are not re-usable and thus increase the absolute cost per jump. However, experience has shown that the increase in cargo tonnage resulting from the elimination of internal J-fuel storage more than makes up for this, the press release explained.
The joint press release concluded by stating that local manufacture of L-Hyd drop tanks marked the dawn of a new era of commerce and prosperity in the Regina subsector. Following that announcement, common stock in Oberlindes Lines plummeted 27 points on the Regina exchange before trading was suspended. Officials of the Oberlindes Lines were not available for comment.

Regina/Regina (0310 A788899-C) Date: 101-1105
Close on the heels of the joint announcement by General Shipyards and Tukera Lines that L-Hyd drop tanks would soon be manufactured in the Regina subsector came word by express boat (X-Boat)from the Imperial core that a decision has been made to deploy Jump-6 L-Hyd drop tank express boats on all major express boat routes. Initial feasibility studies indicate that such a system could average jump-5.5 per week by executing maximum jumps where possible, leaving current xboat units to disseminate information between the major new relay points.
The system is expected to cut communication time to the Imperial hub to under 25 weeks. The Initial System Deployment Schedule indicates that the Regina subsector can expect to be fully integrated into the network within a decade.