Vapourware AURORA: The Clash of Cultures - Year 13 over

[Kalin]

Celestial Empire had collected the lifepods from all three Kwanzanian wrecks.

Celestials again picked up the lifepods.

See that, right there?

That is the mercy of the peace-loving Celestial Empire at work!

Despite the fanatical refusal of the Kwanzanian Navy to lay down their arms and yield to lawful authority, Greater East Asia values the lives of even the most obstinate of enemies. Following the neutralisation of all legitimate military targets (indeed, the Essex vessels were all naval designs built and operated by the Kwan military), which attempted to both violate and menace our integrity, safety and superior way of life, close to a hundred enemy combatants have been saved from what would have constituted slow and horrifying deaths in their crude escape pods.

After speedy transport to an undisclosed security facility and many months of compassionate interrogation, the Kempeitai now hold definite proof of what we naturally knew all along: that the nefarious Kwan captains - all of whom were fortunately taken out during the Meson strikes - planned to use dangerous TN-weaponry from the Kwanzanian Naval Shipyard to engage in savage piracy against the civilian ships of Miyoshi and Yates. When the speedy intervention of the Imperial Army Planetary Defence foiled their evil plans, their last resort was to crash their ships straight into East Asian civilian infrastructure as a final act of suicidal terrorism.

These facts were recently confirmed world-wide by the heartfelt public confessions of former Kwan Lieutenant Lasquisha Trayvonné and Ensign Rastus YoLo DeShawn. "Dem daym niggus gon crayzeh!", the latter summarised, and praised heaven for the merciful Meson-based interceptions, which like the holy rays of the Sun Goddess herself thoroughly foiled the murderous plan, saving untold lives in the process, both Kwan and Celestial alike.

All rehabilitated survivors from the Kwan ships have since been granted full clemency by President Caen of the New California Republic, and many now live prosperous lives in the provisional capital of Bakersfield. Others still have put their military training to good use, and now fight the good fight to restore order. DeShawn, now a Sergeant in the 1st Experimental Mitsui Cyber-Negro Unit, expanded on his choice: "Big-dawgs saved muh life, so dis da least me can do! 'sides, me aways wanted one of 'um cyber-link machetes, so daym holmes!"

Former enemies now working in perfect unison for peace and prosperity. Celestial humanitarianism at its very finest, proving once again the superiority of the Imperial Way.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Okey, all country reports have been uploaded. Please let me know if there are any problems. I won't give an exact deadline for when we'll resume, but early next week is likely. Earlier, of course, if all players issue their orders.

 

[Kalin]

The Imperial Herald
Eternal Guide to Truth and Profits
Prosperity-Net, Commlink and RK-Jack Broadcast

Welcome to the Imperial Herald! Greater East Asia is on the verge of yet another year of prosperity, glory and unhindered Imperial success. Our shipping has predictably soared to new heights, UAC is pursuing teleportation technology at full speed and the Kwanzanian liberation is, as always, proceeding ever-so-smoothly. But first, let us turn to Imperial Luna and its booming metropolis New Kyoto, mankind's most populous, well-developed and indeed wealthy space colony.

From its humble beginnings as a minor outpost of Imperial glory, New Kyoto and its suburban satellites now constitutes a true metropolis, rivalling even the great mega-cities on Earth. Its population tax alone comprise an astounding 6.72% of the Imperial annual income, which does not even begin to take into account the massive profits generated by transportation, real estate and exchange of goods and services. In addition, its population growth is astounding, as many of the Imperials who have managed to secure colonial permits now take advantage of their new-found "lebensraum" to procreate like never before, populating their utopian surroundings with manifold scions of Yamato superiority.

While the massive population on Luna has been deemed unwarranted by detractors due to the lack of TN-deposits, Director of the Planning Board Suzuki has revealed plans to utilise the illustrious Lunar-based elite for far greater tasks than menial labour. In the years to come, vital economic infrastructure, government agencies and corporate headquarters will gradually be re-located to Luna, turning the metropolis into a true financial centre of the Solar System. Much to the delight of the Lunar population, plans to begin advanced terraforming are also underway, and will likely commence in the following year. To ensure the safety of all Imperial subjects, Imperial High Command has announced the formation of the power-armoured New Kyoto Police Force, as well as the construction of a Hosho-class Meson defence fortress.

In other news, the R&D Department of military contractor Mitsubishi Electric suffered a severe blow last week as several of their leading scientists, including project lead Nakada Teruo, were assassinated by a cybernetic strike-squad. Nakada and his team, widely considered to be the top experts on sensors and fire controls in the Celestial Empire, recently earned worldwide acclaim for their revolutionary development of the 'Roguey' Active Grav Search Sensor. The scientists were reportedly working on an improved design, Roguey-2, scheduled for completion in early May.

According to the Metropolitan Police, Nakada and his colleagues were cut to shreds with high-precision laser rifles, presumably smart-linked to the cybernetic killers, and fortunately died instantaneously. Despite valiant efforts, none of the assassins could be captured alive: one was utterly destroyed by Mitsubishi Assault Troopers, two others blasted beyond recognition by Metropolitan ground forces, and the remaining pair, when cornered by Sangai aircraft, suddenly self-destructed, possibly through remote trigger.

The loss of the scientists, which momentarily threatened the integrity of the entire Roguey-2 project, could fortunately be mitigated with speedy assistance from Fuchi Electronics, ensuring a smooth transition of the research to their Security R&D Department. New project lead Marquess Mitsuya commented on the tragedy, labelling it as an "attack on civilisation itself", while painting both the KGB and semi-defunct CIA as likely suspects.

"We are talking about cybernetically enhanced operatives here, man-machine beasts worth millions of Nuyens. This rules out common gang-affiliated hit-men and the like, and in regards to motive, we must ask us this: which states would like to harm our progress the most? The Kwans and the Soviets certainly come to mind, but of course, good luck getting them to admit it! Make no mistake, however - this little stunt cost us but a day or two of research time, and our own research facilities are not as easily breached. Much unlike the Mitsubishi guards, our Corporate Security is the finest private military force in the Empire. Roguey-2 and all other sensor-related research is safe with Fuchi Electronics."

On the question of whether the corporate rivalry between Fuchi and Mitsubishi could bear any relevance to the attack, Marquess Mitsuya quickly retorted: "Preposterous, truly! We may or may not have made a profit by stepping in to secure the military sensor contract, but to equate criminal barbarism with the friendly competition of harmonious capitalism as guided by the invisible hand is nothing short of madness - the sort of rubbish you might expect from some third-world conspiracy tabloid like The Sun, or the absurd Gladius Templarius. Now, if you excuse me, I have a project to run."

Finally, the New Californian Loyalty Reward System registered its first transaction for the ultimate winner package yesterday! This fortunate and industrious winner at life, a senior Kwanzanian technician operating under the pseudonym "the Sheriff", had made commendably good use of his keen observation skills, technical know-how and moderator status on several web pages to report a huge number of anti-Imperialist dissidents to the authorities. "They all used to laugh at me, like I was nothing, you know. Well boys, hope you like your imitation gruel over in the prison camps! Meanwhile, the Sheriff is here living the life, so who is laughing now?" he proclaimed to the camera, before going on to proudly recount the details of the lengthy surveillance, undercover activities and secret reports which paved the way to his one thousand loyalty tokens.

When asked how he planned to use the massive rewards for his dedicated service, the elderly hero replied most energetically: "Why, get acquainted with my new RK "Waifu" Droid, of course! They allow complete customisation these days, so all I had to provide was a voice sample, some pictures and desired measurements - data I gathered *years* ago! It took some work, but now, finally, I have the woman of my dreams, the one I always saved myself for."

Truly a heart-warming success story if ever there was one! The Celestial Empire, ladies and gentlemen - where YOUR dreams become reality.

 

[Hellraiser]

The Horrors of the Amazon
- by James Winterfield for the December 2021 issue of Self-defense Monthly.

The equatorial jungles of Brazil are often called the lungs of our planet, they do after all recycle the majority of CO2 within our atmosphere into oxygen. But what if I told you there is a cancer within the lungs of our planet. Something wicked and twisted, a product of Man's hubris.

Just six weeks ago as of writing this article, back in early October, a secluded tribe deep within the rain forest has found a carcass. The creature resembled nothing the tribesmen have ever seen, it had red eyes and black scaly skin. The corpse reeked of ammonia and a kind of an organic feeding tube extended from the gaping mouth of the dead beast. The natives called the local university to study this odd discovery, but before the biologists ever got there a week later the corpse was gone, as was the whole village. All that remained was a strangely empty space in the dense foliage of the forest. Only minor signs of former inhabitation remained, the occasional footprints, broken twigs, a piece of handmade rope.

The biologists contacted the government office responsible for preserving the native way of life, inquiring into the fate of the village. The bureaucrats answered the village never existed, that the area has been uninhabited for at least 70 years. One biologist, who wants to remain anonymous, started looking for evidence that the tribe ever existed. Search engines on the web remained ignorant of the tribe. But he found a newspaper from 2014 at the local library, one containing an article about the tribe referencing that they were at least four tribes in the area of about 1300 square kilometer. All of them were enduring in the harsh jungle prospering even, all despite the odds. Just a few years later there are supposedly no people living within a 70 kilometer radius of the tribe's former village.

He returned home a day later to find it burning, the article, his computer and every bit of research caught in the blaze. Earlier on the morning of the same day his RK Cyberjack suffered a mysterious glitch causing all the data on it to become corrupted. He was not the first, nor is he probably the last.

An unnamed source within the genetic engineering community has issued an open letter online three months earlier, on a web community uniting the top minds in genetics. He warned that transgenics has entered a new stage in shady labs hidden from the light of day in remote regions like Antarctica, Siberia, the Amazon or even under the Indian Ocean. That there needs to be international oversight as new deadly weaponized life forms are being bred.

Duranium claw attack reptiles with gecko paws and bat ears that run as fast as cheetahs. Transnewtonian supermen with Neutronium-infused skeletons and muscles reinforced with Vendarite shots, capable of regenerating most lethal wounds within mere minutes thanks to a combination of medical nanobots, blood-infused TN solutions and genetic code rewriting. Giant living brains suspended in nutrient and oxidizing fluid hidden in lab basements around the world, their neural pathways enhanced with Mercassium. All of them connected via dark net VPN into a global hivemind, collectively researching ways to twist the human form into some kind of transhuman monstrosity.

A mere 7 hours after the post was published there was a DDoS attack on the website, the administrator was forced to restore a 3 months old backup as he found the server's primary and secondary data storage backups inoperable. The anonymous geneticist never logged in again, some say that on the very same day a sorium pipe explosion killed an intern at one of the biggest biotechnology companies in Brazil. A tragic accident, lack of proper maintenance they said. A janitor was faced with jailtime for death via negligence. Only one local news station reported the news, after first showing a clip about a local pet fashion shown. The clip was taken down from their website a mere week later, the family of the intern nowhere to be found to comment, with no one and not a single thing left to remind anyone of the "accident".

A mere coincidence? I do not believe so. Connect the dots, see for yourself. The truth is being hidden away behind a veil of Luso-Brazilian interests. What do the aristocrats of the Empire hope to bring upon humanity? Eugenics? The new Reich marching in jackboots under the flag of racial purity? Mandatory vaccines with hidden nanobots and T-N in them? This is something dear readers that we must watch out for, as the fascist leanings of the Luso-Brazilian "enlightened imperial monarchy" do not bode well for our future.

 

[Random Word]

Treaty on Lawful Usage of Trans-Newtonian Weapons:

Article 1. All use of TN-weaponry is proscribed against human populations, civilian orbital facilities, civilian mining complexes and civilian ships. Civilian ships are classified as vessels constructed in commercial shipyards, as well as vessels operated by civilian shipping lines. Note: Civilian ships violating lawful blockades or being employed aggressively make themselves legitimate war-time targets.

Article 2. All use of nuclear weapons against targets on worlds containing human populations, as well as strikes which indirectly damage the atmosphere of said worlds, are strictly forbidden. Note: Strikes against attacking ground forces which threaten to conquer a population are permissible if all diplomatic means to resolve the issue have been exhausted. Similarly, strikes against hostile terraforming are permissible as a last resort to prevent genocide.

Article 3. Enemy vessels which appear to be primarily peaceful (i.e. seemingly unarmed survey ships) must be provided the opportunity to stand down and submit as prisoners of war prior to being engaged as targets.


Treaty on Colonisation, Mining, and Landing Rights on Celestial Bodies in Sol:

Article 1. Free colonisation, mining, landing and development for all powers of Earth is recognised on Luna, Venus and Mars.

Article 2. Free Sorium harvesting from Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune, as well as free TN-mining of all comets and asteroids, is recognised for all powers of Earth.


Treaty on Mutual Recognition of Special Interests:

Article 1. All Signatories acknowledge Soviet dominion over Titan, recognising the moon as sovereign territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Article 2. All Signatories acknowledge Celestial dominion over Ganymede, Pandora, Titania and Despina, recognising the moons as sovereign territory of the Celestial Empire of Greater East Asia.

Article 3. All Signatories acknowledge Omniventures dominion over Io, recognising the moon as sovereign territory of Omniventures Inc.

The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union finds these terms ideologically compatible with the principles of Marxism-Leninism and the Constitution of the Soviet Union. Further, we find it conducive to the continued peace and well being of all peoples. As such, it has been signed and ratified as a binding international Convention and codified into Soviet law. We encourage all peace-loving peoples of Earth to join us.

- Comrade Iosef Ivanoff, Minister of Foreign Affairs

 

[Hellraiser]

We are willing to recognize the soviet proposal, including the soviet claim on Titan and it's alien ruins and Celestial claims to the mentioned moons of the outer planets, but only if Omniventures' Inc. dominion over Io is recognized by the Soviet state and others as part of the treaty.

Omniventures vows to allow outside parties to colonize Io, but on an "as we see fit" basis.

Mr. Morden
Chief Executive of the Press and Diplomatic department
Omniventures Inc. PR

 

[Kalin]

The Celestial Empire of Greater East Asia finds all three treaties most sound and constructive, and readily sign and ratify them in order to secure perpetual harmony and co-prosperity in our universe. In addition, the Celestial Empire fully backs the position of Omniventures Inc. in regards to Io, acknowledging their special interests and lawful right to oversee settlement, landing rights and utilisation of the Jovian moon. Let there be peace for our time!

- Viscount Kasamatsu Fuhito, Governor of Concordia

 

[Random Word]

Treaty on Mutual Recognition of Special Interests:

Article 1. All Signatories acknowledge Soviet dominion over Titan, recognising the moon as sovereign territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Article 2. All Signatories acknowledge Celestial dominion over Ganymede, Pandora, Titania and Despina, recognising the moons as sovereign territory of the Celestial Empire of Greater East Asia.

Article 3. All Signatories acknowledge Omniventures dominion over Io, recognising the moon as sovereign territory of Omniventures Inc.

- Comrade Iosef Ivanoff, Minister of Foreign Affairs

 

[GarfunkeL]

I'm still missing orders from Irkalla and Prussia.

 

[Random Word]

We propose the following amendment to the Treaty on Lawful Usage of Trans-Newtonian Weapons.
Treaty on Lawful Usage of Trans-Newtonian Weapons:

Article 1. All use of TN-weaponry is proscribed against human populations, civilian orbital facilities, civilian mining complexes and civilian ships. Civilian ships are classified as vessels constructed in commercial shipyards, as well as vessels operated by civilian shipping lines. Note: Civilian ships violating lawful blockades or being employed aggressively make themselves legitimate war-time targets.

Article 2. All use of nuclear weapons against targets on worlds containing human populations, as well as strikes which indirectly damage the atmosphere of said worlds, are strictly forbidden. Note: Strikes against attacking ground forces which threaten to conquer a population are permissible if all diplomatic means to resolve the issue have been exhausted. Similarly, strikes against hostile terraforming are permissible as a last resort to prevent genocide. Hostile Planetary Defence Centres armed with anti-orbital weaponry, if based in population centres, must be given a single chance to stand down. If they refuse, they become valid targets for TN and nuclear weapons until such a time as they are operationally disabled or agree to stand down their anti-orbital weapons.

Article 3. Enemy vessels which appear to be primarily peaceful (i.e. seemingly unarmed survey ships) must be provided the opportunity to stand down and submit as prisoners of war prior to being engaged as targets.

We feel this is essential to minimizing civilian casualties in the face of the practical realites of warfare. PDCs pose a significant threat to military vessels which cannot be ignored or avoided around contested bodies. All effort should be made to construct PDCs away from population centres (i.e. on nearby uninhabited moons) to prevent the massive potential for collateral damage should they be engaged.

- Comrade Iosef Ivanoff, Minister of Foreign Affairs

 

[Kalin]

The Celestial Empire is concerned that the use of nuclear strikes against Planetary Defence Centres on populated worlds would result in far too much collateral damage. In a hypothetical war situation, hostile weapon bases on populated worlds such as Earth could be disabled very efficiently with Meson weaponry, the use of which is fully supported by the existing treaty. Now, of course, if the Planetary Defence Centres would be employed to violate Article 1, and attempt to menace civilian ships and enterprises, or Article 2, and target populated worlds with nuclear missiles, we would recognise them as legitimate targets for reasonable retaliatory nuclear strikes, though we would insist that non-nuclear counter-measures are always to be given precedence.

- Viscount Kasamatsu Fuhito, Governor of Concordia

 

[Cassidy]

Although Jerusalem is deeply skeptical about this treaty being honored once the situation of mankind leads into conflicts, the League concurs with the proposed terms, with some reservations. Before any commitment, we propose some changes to the terms about use of weapons of mass destruction and the use of the same word rather than TN-weapons to ensure no loopholes:

Article 1. All use of Weapons of Mass Destruction is proscribed against civilian human populations on planets, celestial bodies and outer space settlements and human spacecrafts transporting civilian passengers.

Addendum 1A - Populations that underwent, willingly or not, severe mutations and/or genetic modifications that altered their DNAs in such away there is barely any humanity left were once human, but human no longer, and therefore they are not protected by the terms of this treaty. IE: "Real" Furries, Reviled Little Bronies: Heresy is Tragic, Cybernegroes, Chimeras etc.

Addendum 1B - Formerly human beings who had their ability of exerting free will completely wiped out by immoral and unethical procedures imposed on them are likewise not deemed human but Biological robots, because unimpeded free will also is a fundamental element in the essence of humanity.

Article 2. All use of Weapons of Mass Destruction against targets on Earth, as well as strikes which indirectly damage the atmosphere of Earth, are strictly forbidden, unless it is the only alternative left to put an end to an alien invasion.

Article 3. On Sol, and only on Sol, enemy vessels which appear to be primarily peaceful (i.e. seemingly unarmed survey ships) must be provided the opportunity to stand down and submit as prisoners of war prior to being engaged as targets.

- Gunther Fritzl, Diplomat of the Eternal League

 

[Kalin]

These proposed changes unfortunately invite far more loopholes than they claim to eliminate. The League would be free to fire at whomever it would deem "non-human", destroy civilian ships with non-nuclear TN-weapons, hunt down and destroy inter-system exploration vessels and level populated worlds such as Luna, Mars and Io with impunity. Suffice it to say that this makes it impossible to consider it in any serious manner. While the revised proposal may be useful as an indication of future League conduct, that is about it as regards the extent of its application.

 

[Random Word]

While we respect the Celestial Empire's strident efforts to avoid the use of nuclear weapons, we must point out that a nuclear armed PDC would have an effective engagement range which vastly exceeded that of a meson armed warship. A fleet so armed would be under fire for hours before it entered range to disable a hostile PDC. We believe that only an honourable agreement to stand down anti-orbital weaponry on PDCs within colonies can prevent the collateral damage we both seek to avoid.

- Comrade Iosef Ivanoff, Minister of Foreign Affairs

 

[Kalin]

The Soviet Union is of course correct that a distant Meson warships would be at a severe disadvantage in such a situation. However, surface-based and orbital Meson weapons would still be the most ideal counter-measure. If the Soviet Union would agree that for a retaliatory strike to be lawful, the defender must first and foremost employ such venues when available, and only as a last resort employ nuclear weapons to neutralise the hostile PDC, a compromise could be met.

- Viscount Kasamatsu Fuhito, Governor of Concordia

 

[Cassidy]

There was a large misunderstanding that must be addressed to prevent wrong impressions. Because of the nature of all space-based TN missiles and explosives and of the inevitable collateral damage use of any TN missile will cause on a planet, no matter how small, The League considers all Trans-Newtonian missiles as weapons of mass destruction. This is why we proposed the use of the WMD terminology instead.

Second, our counter-proposal included a prohibition against attacks harmful to civilian human populations on planets, moons, asteroids and spacecrafts transporting civilian passengers, while not impeding civilizations from securing their exclusive control over extra-solar systems and having control over information that could be used against their sovereignty by forbidding the travel of spies disguised as civilians belonging to their potential enemies in their sovereign vital space, and claims over entire star systems being enforced through arms is something that will inevitably happen in the future as surely as it already happened and is happening in a much smaller scale involving certain planets and moons in Sol.

To prevent the definition of "former human" from having any arbitrary and unclear lines and address most of the concerns raised, we have revised our proposal about the terms on use of TN-weapons with more technical, concise and clear definitions and accept some compromises. Our proposal of change on article 1 covers everything in the original article 2 as well, except for not having a too vague, inclusive, liberal, Internet Social Justice Warrior, relativist and/or postmodern definition of humanity we would never condone. We hope we can still reach an agreement under this new revision proposal:








Treaty on Lawful Usage of Trans-Newtonian Weapons:

Article 1. All use of TN-weaponry is proscribed against civilian human populations anywhere, whether directly or indirectly, even if unintentionally, through collateral damage.

Addendum 1A. Humans who underwent, willingly or not, severe mutations and/or genetic modifications that altered their genetic code to the point more than 50% of the patterns of the human genome exclusive to either the Homo sapiens sapiens or Homo sapiens neanderthalensis species are lacking in their DNA, are not protected by this provision.

Addendum 1B. Formerly human beings who had their cognition changed through deliberate means, like mind control implants, in a way that impedes them from exerting free will, are not protected by this provision.

Addendum 1C. Strikes against attacking ground forces which threaten to conquer a population are permissible if all diplomatic means to resolve the issue have been exhausted. Similarly, strikes against hostile terraforming are permissible as a last resort to prevent genocide.

Article 2. Enemy vessels which appear to be primarily peaceful (i.e. seemingly unarmed survey ships) must be provided the opportunity to stand down and submit as prisoners of war prior to being engaged as targets.

Addendum 2A. If a star system was publicly claimed by any signatory State, they are exempted from following Article 2 if an enemy vessel intrudes the same system, regardless of the nature of the vessel.









As a final note, the League more than willing to listen to counter offers and a merger of this proposal with the one still undergoing negotiation involving the question of Planetary Defense Centers, and we hope this proposal is balanced and clear enough to warrant consideration.

- Gunther Fritzl, Diplomat of the Eternal League

(OOC: Easier to extract water from a stone than to convince them to sign treaty that forbids them from doing this.

And yes, they believe in that thing Cleve was talking about

)

 

[GarfunkeL]

Prussia has contacted me and I'm coaching him a bit at the moment. Irkalla is still silent. JagreenLern are you alive?

 

[Dayyālu]

This will have to do, for now. A proper coronation ceremony requires time, sadly.

 

[Dayyālu]

(Sorry for typos, bad grammar and all.) We would like to open channels with all the world powers. We will try to make contact with our peers in some days in any case. Diplomats are welcome.

 

[Kalin]

 

[Hellraiser]

Please tell me the Cyborg Croat Commander is Hiver. He's natural Croatian ferocity at it's finest.

 

[Hellraiser]

The secrets of Mount Zion.
- by Michael Floyd for the February 2022 issue of Self-defence Monthly

Mount Zion, a holy place in the land of ancient Palestine, now part of the Eternal League of God. But few people know of the other Mount Zion, a top secret research center belonging to one of the primary agents of the NWO, Omniventures Inc. Indeed apart from the few vague references to the name appearing in leaked corporate documents from time to time, nobody really knows who is doing what and where there.

The rumored locations of this facility are numerous, some claim it's located in Antarctica, other believe it's underwater in the Indian Ocean or in a remote area of former Madagascar or the occupied Veldt in the Boereestaat puppet state. Some even say that it is located on Io or one of the remote asteroids. The only certain things about Mount Zion are its name and that it deals with the darkest of black projects, things that may very well be the undoing of man and bring the FEMA deathcamps to your backyard.

Project Edhen

One of these rumored projects is Edhen. Its name surfaced when a professor at Prosperia University mentioned the name during a lecture on influencing and steering weather systems. Soon afterwards he took a sudden leave of absence for "health reasons" never again appearing at the University. It is known that major figures specializing in meteorology, climate science and nanotechnology have been "disappearing" over the past 14 months, supposedly going on far away research projects on the other side of the globe. And yet when one tried to hunt down these great minds the trail ran cold, the supposed posts presently occupied by them seemingly never existing. Below we printed a leaked e-mail possibly explaining where they all went to:

To: [classified recipients]
CC: Zeus, Amaterasu
Title: Edhen - readjusted timetable

Project deadline for the atmospheric engineering team is now in May. Boronide catalysts design promising. Good work from the whole team, expect a bonus once field tests confirm predictions.

Could this be the fabled global cooling machines which will freeze us to death to thin down the population, allowing for the NWO to easily crack down on our freedoms and enslave us? Yes dear readers, it looks like it could pretty much be it.

Project XII

While many believe Project XII was the colonization of Io or the establishment of mines on Van Biesbroeck there has never been any confirmation. However amateur radioastronomers have recorded the following conversation back in December:

[voice 1]: This is... [unintelligible] encryption com... [loud crack] ...disabled. Sending via... [high pitched noise] unencrypted.
[voice 2]: Status report, Alpha.
[voice 1]: Major... [loud cracks] achieved factor of seven... [unintelligible] Johannah Kaciff was right. This is... [static] twelve, tell it to Johannah at Zion.

So who is Johannah Kaciff? Supposedly a woman that does not exist. But rumors at the University of Kwazulu tell of a brilliant young student, a rising star amongst her peers in T-N physics bearing such a name. One day she simply vanished, just like that. Even her roommate was baffled when she came back to see an empty half of the dormitory room, one which belonged to Johannah. The only thing that was left was a note "I got what I always wanted - J".

Project Wurmmeister

Did you try buying corundium optic fibre, mercassium MCPs or even good old sorium cooling systems recently? You'll notice that all of these have became more expensive, indeed they have quadrupled in price over the last 6 weeks. Why? Because there's a large buyer but nobody really knows who it is. Various minor new companies making orders, paying their invoices ASAP and just vanishing. Somebody somewhere is building quite possibly the largest quantumtronic neural network known to man, requiring the majority of the world's limited quantumtronic T-N component production.

So what could be the reason behind this? Wurmmeister, an IT project mentioned during one of the many IT department presentations at the Omniventures Inc. HQ office in Prosperia's Babel. The meeting was behind closed doors but one journalist managed to sneak in a camera. Outside of the usual IT and corporate gibberish there were two important things mentioned "breaking the cognitive threshold" and "enabling the singularity at Zion." The leaked video was quickly removed from Twatter and Life Auditor but copies still float around the dark net. Could this be it? Is Omniventures developing sentient AI? What could they be doing with it? How does this machine fit into their nefarious agenda? Is this how the new holocaust is supposed to happen, guided by "intelligent" machines using the optimal algorithms for genocide?

 

[Cassidy]

 

[Random Word]

We must reject the Aeternum Foedus Dei's amendment to Article 1 as written, as we reject the fallacious notions of genetics and race. All members of a species are born equal, and through hard work and dedication to the ideals of Marxism-Leninism may succeed in any endeavour.

We accept the amendments of the Celestial Empire. All non-nuclear options must be exhausted before nuclear weapons are employed.

Treaty on Lawful Usage of Trans-Newtonian Weapons:

Article 1. All use of TN-weaponry is proscribed against civilian human populations anywhere, whether directly or indirectly, even if unintentionally, through collateral damage.

Addendum 1A. Homo sapiens sapiens and Homo sapiens neanderthalensis which retain their natural capacity for free will are protected by this Article. Any signatory may call for an indepdent tribunal of signatories to establish whether this Article applies to a specific population, and must do so before violating Article 1. So long as any portion of a population would be covered by Article 1, all members of a population are protected.

Addendum 1B. Strikes against attacking ground forces which threaten to conquer a population, hostile terraforming, or PDCs armed with anti-orbital weaponry are permissible if all diplomatic means to resolve the conflict and and non-nuclear means to neutralize the threat have been exhausted. A single demand to stand down anti-orbital weaponry must be issued to a PDC as a last resort. Should they refuse to comply, they void their protection under Article 1 until such a time as the anti-orbital weaponry is confirmed destroyed or signals its surrender.

Article 2. Enemy vessels which appear to be primarily peaceful (i.e. seemingly unarmed survey ships) must be provided the opportunity to stand down and submit as prisoners of war prior to being engaged as targets.

Addendum 2A. If a star system has been publicly claimed by any signatory State, this claim has been accepted by at least 2/3rds of all signatories, and it has been publicly stated that civilian access to this system is barred, then they are exempt from Article 2 and may destroy an enemy vessel without warning during a time of war.

- Comrade Iosef Ivanoff, Minister of Foreign Affairs

 

[Kalin]

The Celestial Empire rejects the League proposals in their entirety, and refuses on principle to sign anything tainted by their unenlightened fundamentalist rhetoric. The allegations against direct neural interfaces and cognitive-enhancing cyberware such as the splendid RK-Jack, Toshiba Cyberlink Monocle and Mitsui 'Updated my Journal' Memory Module are nothing short of preposterous, and the fact that the League considers itself capable of evaluating what constitutes "free will" to begin with is simply laughable. The attempt to label the proud Cyber-Negroid defender race as non-human is similarly outrageous, and the discriminatory hatred against citizens who utilise sophisticated fleshcrafting and furryfication services provided by Sumitomo Genetics, Hasegawa Industries, the SMA Group and many others can only be seen as a vicious attack on the free market and civilised society as a whole.

In regards to Addendum 1B, the Empire would find the Soviet proposal acceptable, provided that the wording would be modified to reflect that only PDCs on populated worlds which actually fire their anti-orbital weapons become valid targets for nuclear-based neutralisation. As for other systems, the Empire will sign no agreements or acknowledge any claims until it has concluded its own exploration and surveying.

- Viscount Kasamatsu Fuhito, Governor of Concordia