VE Today

My next interviewee for the “View from the Top” series will be Merrick. Long-standing Army veteran and infamous IRC Moderator, not many people may know of Merrick, her role within the VE, or even the person behind Merrick. Well now you do.

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Hello Merrick. First of all, on behalf of the VET, I’d just to welcome you here, and thank you for agreeing to this interview.

Now, according to the roster you are Colonel Skyalin “Merrick” Tel’sha, Second in Command of the Vast Empire Stormtrooper Corps, can you tell us more about who you are and what you do?

Being second in command means that I have a number of responsibilities including generally overseeing everything that happens in the army, approving medals and promotions and being around to help any other command staff with their queries or problems. I also act as the head of the army in General Fury’s absence and have the power to approve – or not – any projects that the leaders of the squads and platoons would like to take on.

You’re also one of the chief moderators on the VE IRC channel, why did you decide to take up this role, and do you enjoy it?

Initially I took on the role as a favour to Fury, but I was not the Army Executive Officer at the time. Being in a vastly different time zone meant that I was – in general – around at the times that the other mods weren’t, and so it was hoped that I could rein in some of those who were taking advantage of these more relaxed times. Having been subjected to a lot of inappropriate banter in the channel myself, I was at the time keen to keep the channel friendly, especially to younger members.

I don’t enjoy the role, I never really have. People see me as the fun police when all I am really trying to do is keep the peace between members. I do not enjoy being forced to kick or ban people – though I have been known to do it as a joke when I know that the “victim” won’t be offended by it – as I like to think of the main channel as an opportunity to meet and get to know people from all over the world.

You’re known to take a very “tough” line when it comes to moderating, yet you also have your funny side. How do you choose your stance when faced with different situations?

It’s never easy to have power over people and there are always those who will differ in their opinion of what went on. In the end I have the trust of General Fury in all matters of channel moderation. I try my best not to take complaints personally, and to keep all decisions fair. There are times when humour is called for, but in general I choose the path that is most likely to defuse the situation and have the best outcome for all parties concerned. There are people who continually question and test my authority, and it’s a matter of course that they end up with the worst punishments – and usually the loudest complaints. There’s also the odd occasion where someone forgets that what they are saying is inappropriate and so I will choose not to be as hard on them as I might be on a repeat offender.

Obviously you would have had to have been around a long time to attain such a rank; when did you join the VE, and what positions have you had in the past?

I actually sat around in the VE channel for roughly a year before joining, as I was in a club with whom the VE shared an IRC channel. I officially joined in February of 2002, making my start in the army in Wraith squad. I can’t recall who was squad leader at the time. For a long time I sat in Wraith waiting for things to get interesting, posting and developing my character. Then when Kiption got his own squad (Jester) I was invited to join; I was still a PFC at that stage. Once in a squad that was getting somewhere, I rose through the ranks relatively quickly to become the ASL of Jester squad until I was promoted to Leader when Kiption went on indefinite leave. After a brief stint away from active duty – spent away from VE in general and on the roster as Fury’s assistant – I was promoted to the position of Executive Officer. A number of times I have held Squad Leader positions concurrently with the XO position with a couple of different squads; Jester a couple of times and Nightstalkers for a time. I recently retired once more from active duty with Jester squad, though this time simply as a trooper.

I have taken long leave from VE twice in my career, and a couple of shorter breaks. After one such long break I returned mid-story to save the day as the undercover thief that stole the plans to an important rebel military asset.

Now, these days you tend to prefer spending time as the IRC channel mod, then posting in the stories. Why did you decide to take a back seat?

It’s not so much that I prefer not to be in active duty, but that I have many more time constraints than I once had. In the end it was the good of my respective squads that has seen me leave – to make room for someone who could be more active. It’s always a tough call to leave your comrades in such a fashion, and I have never liked doing so.

Would you ever consider getting back into posting?

I have made a few attempts to return to active duty, but as I mentioned getting the time to do my squad the justice of being active is a hard hurdle to get over. I know that everyone suffers from the burdens of real life considerations, and many are much more active than I am, but I have lately lacked the motivation to make more time for VE. I hope that once my real life situations calm down this will be resolved and I can enjoy the benefits of being a more active member of the army, whether in a squad or simply as a member of the command staff.

In terms of where you are in the VE, do you have any more ambitions, or are you happy in the role that you’re in? Is there anything else you would like to do?

I recently made an attempt at the Dark Jedi Order, but as I mentioned time is not something I have in large quantities. I think that any part of the Vast Empire deserves more dedication than I can give it at the moment. So I guess my ambition is to become more of an asset to particularly the army, but also to the VE as a whole. Who knows, perhaps I will one day succeed Fury as the Prefect of the Army.

And finally, as some of our readers may not know, you currently reside in Australia - What is it like living in the future?

I don’t live in the future, you guys just live in the past.

I love my country, despite the recent government changes. I have considered living in the United States but in the end this is my home. I’ve lived in many towns and cities throughout the country, and realised that the particular city doesn’t matter so much as the people I am surrounded by. I also love my job too much to leave it and I think that I lack the strength of character to be content if I were to move such a great distance from everyone I care about. While I have some great friends in America, they are spread quite far from one another. Besides, it gets way too cold in most US states!

Once again, thank you for agreeing to this interview, and we look forward to seeing you around on IRC.

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Stay tuned for more interview’s in “View from the Top”. Thanks for listening.

Yesterday the marks the day for the launching of the new satellites by the space program called ISOA, or the “Intergalactic Space Observation Association.” They are an old but very important space program that has circled the universe for centuries observing everything they can. To them it is a big deal to observe space, its unlimited sources of life, and just about anything about space and such.

Many things we know about space today are because of the ISOA and their uncanny abilities for finding rare and very useful information. The ISOA has launched the satellite, or rather 20 different satellites to circle the universe for the next century. The ISOA have several rather big bases all across the universe, and several space stations some which are also mobile. As stated before, the ISOA gather thousands of terra-bytes of data in only one year. The data they gather happens to include some things such as anything related to space, its living/non-living beings, etc.

Last year they launched the new UPS, or Universal Positioning System, which has out dated any thing like it. UPS is made up of millions of rather small satellites and planetary satellite bases which work much like Earth’s own GPS system. The only differences are among the fact that it covers most of the universe instead. It has been a revolution for any pilot that has been able to acquire it for no longer will they be lost in the cold oblivions of space.

These new satellites will not only attribute to the UPS, but also gather massive amounts of data as well as many other very useful things too. Each one is auto-controlled by the main ISOA base. Data is collected by these satellites and then relayed all the way back to the ISOA main base, then distributed to all the other bases across the universe. We can not disclose the location, or rather locations of these bases for most are unknown, and the few we do know help us out quite a bit, and it would be a great loss to lose them.

Intergalactic medicine has been revolutionized because of the ISOA, so has technology, resources of all kinds, life all over the universe, as well as many more things that have also forever been changed because of this organization. Anything put out by the ISOA is usually heavily guarded and always highly revered by many. The projects put out by the ISOA have always been able to help many numerously.

The project has taken an estimated 150 billion credits to do, and has been building up to this point for just over a decade. These satellites have very high and dangerous security features for those of you who get any cute ideas. These satellites have been equipped with nano-technology to self-repair themselves, and such. The Empire has put some credits of their own into this massive project so that they too can have access to some of these gargantuan satellites.

The President of the ISOA made a quick statement at the unveiling today at the unveiling after celebration as well: “I as the President of the ISOA am getting old. But to know that a project that I have overseen has once again been completed, especially one on such a massive scale, well it has been a pleasure. May future generations be able to prosper from this project, and let us hope we ourselves also benefit as well.”

The President of the ISOA did not stick around long after his speech, but at least he gave one. These past few years it has been reported that the president has been quite ill, and he may not be around these next few years. It has been a tradition that when the president dies, his vice president will take his place, so there is no worry on how or if they will get a new president though.

These satellites will hopefully enlighten all future generations, but it may be hard when some people have actually taken to destroying these multi-million dollar satellites. Since the unveiling of the satellites, and the launch, 3 of these massive monuments have been destroyed. This puts the lost credits still piling quite high, so to counteract this extra measures have been applied because of these profane acts. But there is no telling even with all these precautions whether or not these great satellites will still be safe.

When the thought of these satellites actually being destroyed ran through the Presidents mind, he then sent out his own private navy, which isn’t quite as big as the empires though. But several planets and solar systems have offered up their own troops to contribute to the mighty cause and its protection to make the protection for these satellites that much better. One thing is for sure, nobody knows who is doing the destroying, but they will indefinitely be punished.

The satellites normally are able to take a full scale, high quality hologram recording of anything around them which includes potentially dangerous foes. But even the fact that the three satellites were blown up, should not have stopped the CPU’s ,and the other most critical components of the satellites from being lost in the explosions for they have been encased in several hundreds of pounds of the strongest metal the ISOA has access to. Plus after the blast a homing device goes off to alert the ISOA that the encased components are floating around in space.

Right after the destruction of any of these satellites, it is standard procedure that a highly specialized team would dispatch from the ISOA to recover the data. It also just so happens that inside would also be the hologram recording of the destroyers for use of evidence in a galactic court. Strangely the homing device went off, but when the team went to recover the data from the satellites, the encased shells from all three satellites were gone. This was strange, but even so after the first time it happened they simply dismissed it. But when it happened a second and third time, the alert went out, and investigations began.

Currently many are investigating this issue so that those who are responsible will be apprehended and dealt with by the galactic court of law. Little is still known, but the info is however growing at a fairly steady pace. Officials hope that within a few days or even weeks enough information will be known to put any responsible for the destruction of these gigantic satellites are put behind electro-laser bars in a galactic prison.
We hope that no more of these great monuments of space will be destroyed, but only time will tell. Wishing the President of the ISOA the best wishes,and the investigations being put out, this concludes the article.

Stunning reports show a devastating attack on Vega Minor, a small but significant planet just on the outskirts of the empire. It supplies much of the galaxies metallic ores for the building of ships, buildings, and just about anything else our galaxy uses for metal. We still have no idea why the Republic would do such a thing when they themselves are supplied get one fourth of their supplies by the Vegans. This is a huge movement for the republicans and only time can tell how this can really affect our galaxy.

Reports are showing that the Vegans are in turmoil trying to repair what little they have. Local planets around Vega Minor are sending the Vegans supplies and help, but it may not be enough. Vega Minor is a small planet, about the size of t the Milky War galaxy’s planet Mars. Vega Minor is a planet with very little usable land. Instead the Vegans found extremely rich metals on what little land usable on Vega Minor, so they built massive robot controlled mines to get the rich minerals, ores and such.

Where do the Vegans live? Well they have built structures much like the cloud cities on Bespin. The air on Vega Minor is toxic to everyone but the Vegans who have adapted to the planets harsh conditions. The rest of the planet is covered in molten lava, though the bodies of lava are far enough away from the mines that the ground is cool enough to walk on though.

Vega minor is now in ruins, most the air-cities are now disintegrated in the lava. Few cities managed to stay air born, but half did not. Only just over a fourth the population of the Vegans was killed. Those who were not killed escaped from their cities in time. Only less than a third of the mines were destroyed, but the damage had been done. Vega Minors government is and has lost billions of credits, but they are rapidly trying to regain what ever they can.

More reports lead to suspicion of a new separatist group that may be forming up inside the Republic itself. In the Republics own reports shows that a separatist group is indeed forming, and that they are showing radical activity. For now this group is definitely nothing for the Empire to worry about, the new group is the Republics worries not ours. However the Vegans are indeed something for us to worry about.

Somewhat recent studies have shown that much of the empires metal resources come from the Vegans, not directly of course but still the resources originate from Vega Minor. This could affect the empire quite a bit in the very near future, but we can always try to gather resources from other systems and planets, just maybe with a higher import price. The Separatists even took all the resources from the mines before they destroyed them.

Vegan air forces were finally able to get the Separatists out, but not in time to save most of their air structures or mines. Local authorities are however investigating the attack that surprised everyone so far. They want to be able to find out this new group and if possible they want to exterminate this new group before it gets any more cute ideas. If this new group that calls themselves Separatist X, who will son be classified as galactic terrorists if they do not cease their radical behavior.

Republicans say themselves they are tired of the new group who has vandalized much of their buildings. The group is not growing as fast as it was, and its growth has slowed down quite a bit. But the fact remains that it is a fairly large organization. This takes us back to the empire wanting to investigate the group themselves, and if needed take down this Separatist X.

They have never been reported to have done anything as radical as this attack, and some fear that maybe they will get out of hand. But once again they are still not too much of a threat to an empire. But the question still remains; will they do anything like this again? If they do, who will they dare to attack? Will they grow to be a larger organization? If they do attack how might it affect us and the rest of the galaxy?

These questions have been in hot debate for days now, and nobody is any closer to the truth than the rest of us. One thing has become certain: recently recovered intelligence reveals that another planet may be in danger. Certainly Separatist X has gotten some what larger, and of how will another attack on another planet affect us? If they attack another important planet like Vega Minor, then how exactly that will affect the empire.

Already prices in metallic resources have risen significantly, and can everybody afford another attack. Planets that have agreed to help the Vegans are slowly wiping themselves out as they continue to supply such a needy planet. Vega Minor may be small, but it has a fairly vast population, and the air-cities were not just grown on hypo genetic trees you know.

So what can we do? Well at this moment maybe nothing, except maybe try to find this groups base, investigate, or even just bring them down. No they are not a direct threat to the empire, but they are a threat in a ways. By taking out one planet that definitely is needed by the empire, they sure can affect us indirectly, but surely. We need to try and prevent this group from spreading and growing, and definitely from attacking again.

While authorities do not have names or places yet, the organization does hold some power over the planet Estillar X. It is an icy planet that holds colds so extreme extensive care must be taken, as well as specialized gear as well. This clue allows authorities to do a minor and quick scan to most cargo ships, just in case they might be smuggling this gear. Finding these ships could lead to a big break through in the case.

All in all this can be a very serious matter, and also a matter with very little significance to the empire, at least for now. So as we go about our lives, lets remember this new Separatist X, and hopefully take them down.

Citizens throughout the Vast Empire have come together this week to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the Third Outer Rim War, a conflict that cost the Empire dearly and one that shall never be forgotten. Shorter than most wars, the third battle for the Outer Rim, which was localised in the Subterrel sector lasted only two months, but it was a bloody 2 months. The Imperial coalition lost over 2 million lives in total, and as many wounded. Most of these lives were lost when the planet of Teyeong was re-taken from Imperial forces. Several VET reporters were also killed in this battle.

The main confrontations were between Imperial and Rebel factions; however a third faction soon entered war, hell bent on claiming the area for their own dark desires. These mysterious invaders are known only as the “Sith”, and little is known about who they are, what they want, or what they do. Anonymous reports sent to this paper have hinted at links between the Sith, the Jedi, and a rumoured “Order” that exists within the VE. Unfortunately we can confirm none of this, and so must sit back and pray that the brave men and women who were lost in the war didn’t die in vain, or at the behest of some secret agenda.

As the name suggests, there had been two previous wars in that sector, but the Vast Empire didn’t get involved until this conflict, answering the call to arms from its valued allies amongst the other splinter factions.

The week’s Remembrances started with a minutes silence at noon to mark the first day of the conflict, with another one scheduled later in the week to honour the Second battle of Teyeong, where so many servicemen and women were killed. The intervening time will be filled with a multitude of honour parades, and solemn services by local parishioners. Ceremonies will also be held to honour the living heroes of the war. Commander Shodon, captain of the ISD Suspense will receive especial accreditation for his actions at the Derxes route, a battle that saw the Imperial Coalition firmly routed from the sector. This will be broadcasted live on the Holonet.

Grand Moff Kadann has announced that the day marking the Imperial rout from the sector will be claimed a public holiday, dubbed “Derxes Day”, and no-one is obliged to work that day.

We here at VET will honour our fallen comrades by reciting a motto that we believe sums up the Vast Empire, and all who serve in it:

Loyalty, Honour, Courage.

Recent news updates tell of a possible alliance of all pirate lords throughout the universe. If this is true then the universe as we know it may be in some very serious trouble. It has been centuries since an occurrence like this has happened. It seems that all around the the universe pirates, assassins, criminals, mercenaries, etc are all pouring into the Xellon Nebula. This nebula was for decades abandoned, once the base of the last alliance of pirates, criminals and so forth known. Officials have tried for just as long to figure out a way to get into the nebula and have been unsuccessful every time. Many are starting to feel worried about what this could mean.

Are the pirate lords really uniting? What for? How will it affect us? Well, officials from all over the universe are all holding a closed conference to discuss the matter. From all over the most ruthless, dangerous, sly, devious and deadly scum are gathering into the criminal nebula. But what for? Well top secret sources have shed a little light onto this dark and disturbing subject. It appears that the fall of Xavior the Ruthless was more than we ever though it would possibly be. As you may know Xavior was the ruler of the most ruthless and powerful criminal gang of our time. Once Xavior was captured the PCM Alliance fell into turmoil and utter chaos. Everything they had ever known was brought to a complete and abrupt halt. We soon found that without their leader the organization was helpless, everything had almost completely depended on Xavior. But the chaos was son capsized and finally order was brought to insane criminals.

Some how a very sly mercenary who’s name is still unknown was able to rally the organization into order. Even more surprising he immediately won them all over with a small speech. The whole organization seemed to be once again rising back to power, and indeed it was. The mystery mercenary seemed to have calmed down the ruthless gang, and even more he seemed to have gained their respect, and himself a very powerful position. The only name we could find for the devious mercenary was a name he might have gone by many years ago which we believe the name to be X. Krozor. It took a while to dig the name up, and even longer to find what little information we have about him. Krozor is a highly dangerous criminal, who may have been some sort of a former politician who later became a very powerful, and not to mention successful mercenary. Officials have issued an arrest warrant for this man, and all are suggested to take extreme caution with this situation. With such a dangerous gathering things could get dangerous and chaotic quickly.

For more information on the recent pirate gathering, it has been discovered that soon after Krozor’s quick rise to power he then made his position official, and possibly permanent. Surprisingly there seems to have been little objection to this sudden and maybe even potentially dangerous act. Although we do not at this time know much about Krozor’s plans, we hope that they will not affect us all too direly. Then after Krozor made his position official, he then did the one thing that nobody would expect, he called a universal meeting for all pirates, mercenaries, scum, criminals, assassins, well I think you get the picture. Not only are all the pirate lords attending this mysterious meeting, but they are also bringing all of their own personal legions and armies of pirates and so forth. The nebula is vast, but nothing on the inside has ever been seen by officials, so they have not even a glimpse of hope to solving the situation.

It seems inevitable that every single pirate lord and all other leaders of scum will arrive to the meeting. But this could like said before bring immanent danger to all citizens in our galaxy, for the nebula is just outside the empire itself! We have no doubt that as the criminals arrive they will attempt to vandalize anything in their paths. With such a gathering even the empire could meet its match. Forces from all over the galaxy are also coming in hopes to capture some of these famous and ruthless titans of chaos. Even bounty hunters are pouring in also in hopes to claim numerous bounties. But it seems that the pirate lords may have anticipated this as they are hiring highly trained guards from the best of their very own ranks to guard the nebula even as we speak. Some predict that a great war may break out, and if one does, it will not be very pretty at all.

Officials from all over are issuing warrants to anybody brave enough try to capture these criminals, but can any of them be captured? With such a vast number can they even be stopped, or will we have to wait for the plan to unfold? Well much to our dismay it seems that this may be to much to handle. Already thousands of reports from several hundreds of planets are spreading about. It seems that the not all the pirates just want to attend this meeting. They also seem to be taking this as a very good time to plunder any place they can possibly reach. They have left several large numbers of cities on planets from all over the galaxy in ruins from the shear numbers of criminals pouring into our galaxy. Already galactic prisons are filling up from all the pirates and criminals that officials have been able to capture. But even with all these captures, there are still more than almost four fifths still out there. Despite their efforts compared to the number caught and the number out there still, sadly it seems the officials really don’t have much.

But there still may be some hope. Galactic Patrol forces from all over have also been uniting in an attempt to secure our galaxy, and maybe even more as well. Things in this situation are happening on such a massive scale, it is really hard to picture what is really going on. Patrol units are trying to secure all areas in order to try and stop any more of the masses of criminals from getting anywhere near the Xellon Nebula. Whatever Krazor may be up to, it no good can be made of it.

Recent reports of a deadly pirate lord yesterday stated that the famous pirate “Xavior Alekaine,” also known as Xavior the Cruel was finally brought into custody. Xavior was known for capturing helpless victims and holding them for ransom, among many other devious things. Xavior has been classified as an extremely dangerous criminal for years, and has evaded capture for even longer. Xavior is also the founder of the ruthless criminal, mercenary, and pirate organization called The PCM Alliance. F.W.I. by the way, PCM stands for the Pirate (the most ruthless), Criminal (of the highest rank), and Mercenary/Assassins (of the very best), all formed together as the P. C. M. Alliance. The PCM Alliance has plagued the galaxy for decades, and not even the Empire has been able to do much about them. A governor of a nearby planet, Alekai Dromak once stated, “The PCM Alliance has grown too big, they are buried to deep in the societies around the galaxy. They have become a part of the galaxy whether we like it or not, all we can do is fight and keep our ground, then hope they do not grow so big they can take over the Empire.”
But as you can see, that really won’t be happening any time soon anyway, and probably never. Although The PCM Alliance has grown to a vast number beyond what anyone would have imagined, the Empire is still very much larger and still growing just as fast. Plus the Empire will not go down without giving a hugely considerable fight back. The Empire has lasted this long, why would it not last even longer? Like many we feel that the Empire is going nowhere, so what is there to worry about again? There will be many organizations, alliances, etc, that come along, but unlike all of them, the Empire is going nowhere. It will be here longer than any organization, or whatever else apposes us. Now for the latest news on Xavior:
It has been revealed that Xavior was arrested in Corellia. Apparently he was heading to a “business meeting.” Reporters later discovered that Xavior was actually one of the key contributors to the Human League Organization on Correllia. In fact he was actually meeting with the one of the highest ranking officials in the Human League, and his meeting was in a way was after all, “A business meeting.” Apparently Xavior and his multitude of deadly pirates, criminals and assassins had formed a treaty with the Human League, supplying it with weapons, armor for the wars, money, and much more. You can probably see how this could potentially be a problem for the Empire, and the rest of the Galaxy. But lets not forget of course the Corellians, who have been affected most of all by all of this.
While the Corellians in the Human League announced war with various races, and planets, Xavior and his gang supplied everything including back up when things got troublesome. Xavior has never been known to make any kind of deals with anyone before, and hopefully later reports will be able to discover why he would even consider forming an alliance with an organization so much smaller than itself. The PCM has even recruited some of Corellias most prized assassins for their own ranks. Many fear that with the help of the PCM, the Human League may grow too strong to touch, just as the PCM Alliance itself has. One good thing out of all of this is that yes the resident Imperial government is friendly with the VE, and has not wanted to form any kind of Alliance with the PCM, or really with the Human League for that matter. They have agreed to investigate this matter further and report anything they find worth telling.
Xavior is now halfway across the galaxy on his way to the best prison possible in our galaxy. Officials want to make sure that Xavior does not escape, or be able to have anyone break him out. He is sentenced to life, with absolutely no chance of bail. He will be placed in a specialized Maximum Security section of the prison that will ensure he will never see another living being again. Officials wanted to make sure that all his crimes for the past few decades will not go unpunished, if that is possible at least. But they can at least try right? The Empire now waits to see how the PCM Alliance will be affected by the capture of their leader. Will it crumble, or will they elect a stronger more effective leader? Well one thing is sure they will probably fight for the sacred position and hopefully send the organization tumbling down. The Empire has already prepared to send troops in to help the Corellians so that nobody gets hurt.
The Corellians do have one thing to say out of all this and their words were these, “It was not easy to bring down Xavior, many died in the line of duty to bring down such a deadly criminal. But we are glad to have able to have done such a task for the rest of the galaxy.” Now as you can imagine not all Corellians were that glad to see Xavior captured, but the resident Imperial government was however very glad to have caught him. The Empire is grateful to Corellia for bring down Xavior, for we have been trying to that very thing for decades. Nobody can predict how this will affect Corellia where a lot of their population is involved with the Human League, which is then tied with the PCM Alliance, who in return supplies them with everything. Although we don’t like it the Human League is a big part of Corellia, and taking out the very thing that helps the PCM who in return helps them Human League.
This could seriously damage their economy if you think about it. But, however, the VE has agreed to help their Government when need be. This is quite a relief for the Corellians and perhaps it will strengthen our ties with them. But as you probably know only time will actually tell though. Hopefully we can help Corellia get themselves back on their feet. The Empire does do some trading with the planet and it would be a shame to lose all of that because of what all this has done to them. Well that concludes this article for now. We will have the next update on the growing situation soon. In other news keep on the lookout for the wanted Kale Anon, the Empire wants him in as soon as possible.

Navy High Command just moments ago have issued an arrest warrant for Kale Anon.This is the first such warrant since the Istivaan V incident.

Little is known about Kale Anon, other than that he is a high ranking mercenary among the pirate clans, and that he sells his services to the highest bidder. Strangely enough though, he has never worked with an Imperial employer, suggesting some old animosity towards us.

Information on his movements as of late is scare, however scattered reports placed him in the Xyouju system a few weeks ago, and other unofficial sources have put him on the planet Volek, a well known hideout for Pirates.

Rumours have also been circulating around the Government, suggesting that this warrant is connected to the supposed disappearance of Rear Admiral Riel Fury, the Naval Executive Officer.

Whilst it is true that the Admiral has not been seen in a few weeks, High Command refuses to comment on his whereabouts.

We will keep you up date on this mystery as more information come to light, but for now, we have supplied a copy of the warrant.
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Wanted: Dead or Alive

From the Office of Fleet Admiral Japeth
Naval High Command

Name: Kale Anon
Species: Human
Known aliases: Kaan Leon, Kanon.

Description: When not using a disguise, it is believed that Kale is around 5’10, with cropped red hair, medium build, several facial tattoos, and his left hand is a prosthetic. He has Blue Eyes, with no facial hair.

Reasons: For acts of piracy against the Vast Empire and for the Murder of Vast Empire Citizens.

Details: This is an open contract, anyone may take it up, however no payment will made until confirmation. Payment will depend on the individual.

Upon Completion: Bring Kale, either dead or alive, directly to Tadath, where he will be handed over to VE Security.

The thanks of the Vast Empire High Command are with anyone who completes this task

Reports from Corellia have shown an increasing amount of activity in an ‘up-and-coming’ human supremacy movement. More and more disgruntled members of society are actively speaking out against many of the non-humans that live within Corellian space. Those of us who were more self-aware of the ‘glorious’ empire in which we used to inhabit would remember the Humano-centrism and ‘Human High Culture’ which permeated much of Imperial society.

Here at the VE, it’s hard to imagine an upper class elitist system, where non-humans were segregated and even discriminated against. Iconified as the “Non-HuMan” or nHm classification, this purist attitude started to die out after the death of Emperor Palpatine in 4 ABY. However, a group of individuals calling themselves the “Human League” are apparently trying to re-live this ideology.

With Corellia still reeling from the Battle of Tralus, and with the entire sector suffering from a post-empire slump, disgruntled individuals serve as excellent recruits for this charismatic and extreme movement. Who better to blame than the aliens?

This new move is bizarre as it is unwelcome. ‘nHm’ classifications also included females and droids, but the “Human league” seems to be more lenient with the former. The League also holds a deep hatred for the growing “New Republic”, and the self-appointed ‘Jedi’ Luke Skywalker. People who have come into contact with the League have speculated that this group is trying to iconify everything they thought the Empire stood for, as they seem to hero-worship Palpatine and Vader.

This is not to say that this group is Imperial friendly. Ignoring the fact that the VE does not condone racism or xenophobia of any kind, since the Human League at the moment is comprised mainly of Corellians, the fanatic isolationism that most Corellians secretly harbour is a key point to the League’s manifesto.

We here at VE Today have decided to issue a general warning to all citizens that frequent Corellian space. The resident Imperial government is friendly with the VE, and have said they will try and protect any visitors, but please, if for no-ones sake but ours, please be careful.

We will keep and eye on this troubling movement, and keep you up-to-date with the latest happenings.

Naval Command was put in a state of high alert yesterday when the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Suspense was damaged in what looked like an act of terrorism.

The Suspense had entered the Abrea system at approximately 10:00:00 local time, having just returned from a mission in the Rakata Prime area. Naval Command refused to comment on the nature of the Suspense’s mission, but it is believed that the destroyer had been trying to deal with the reported pirate activity in the area.

At approximately 10:45:00 local time, all contact with the Suspense was lost, and about 5 minutes later, an internal explosion ripped through the outer hull. Apparently fearing that the ship had been overrun by pirates, or worse, New Republic agents, high command dispatched elements from the local defensive fleet to surround the Suspense, and prevent it from heading any further into the system.

At 11:05:00 local time, the Victory-class Star Destroyer Desjani, along with two Dreadnoughts, the Scorpio and the Hercules, intercepted the Suspense just before it reached the orbit of Abrea. Firing across the bow, the Suspense was brought to a halt whilst a stormtrooper detachment from the Desjani was despatched to board the ship, and if necessary, take it back.

Once on board, the stormtrooper commander managed to track down the ships captain, Commander Shodon, and he was informed that the ship had not been overrun. With the situation resolved, the defence fleet retreated, and the Suspense on continued towards Abrea.

In an official statement later that day, naval high command revealed that the loss of communication was due to a simple malfunction due to ad-hoc repairs, and that the explosion was merely a ruptured power conduit. Naval XO Riel Fury commented that it was “Two simple coincidences that lead to some unnecessary and unfortunate panic.”

However, sources from within the crew of the Suspense have confirmed that after the mission, codenamed “Trojan Horse”, the Suspense had uncovered some mutineers, and were transferring them to Abrea for processing. He hinted that, whilst the loss of communication was a malfunction, the explosion was defiantly not a power conduit, and that it may have had something to do with the prisoners.

 The Suspense has since been into dry dock for repairs, and awaits redeployment. No further information regarding an alleged mutiny has turned up, and Naval Command refuses to comment on the subject.

Wars have always been commonplace in Galactic Society. From small tribal wars on undeveloped planets, too full scale engagements between empires, war is, and will probably always be, one of the few constants in the universe.

But how do we find out about them? How does a society find out about these things? Obviously there are Government announcements: friendly, reassuring statements saying everything is fine and that you’re not all going to die. Whilst these statements are about as useful as an angry wookie, they at least can guarantee that the populace are mildly aware as to whether or not they’re at war.

But what of the rest? What of the details? And how do people who don’t even care get told about these events that they are so busy not caring about? Enter the Journalist: a creature of such a rare breed, that their one single craving is information, details, events… The Journalist will strive to find out what happened, and tell you about it, whether you want to hear about it or not. Why? Probably because he or she has nothing better to do.

When it came to wars, Journalist would in days gone by simply sit on the sidelines, gleaning what information they could, and constructing a report over what they heard, or were told. Unfortunately, this still meant that the authorities were the main source of information. Whilst this would rate as slightly more useful than an angry wookie, it was still pretty poor, especially when an average Journalist could have found out more about the person they were interviewing, as opposed to the subject matter of the interview – If the public cared little for conflicts between foreign leaders, they would care even less for the detailed breakdown of sexual affairs conducted by said leaders.

Classic examples of how this style of reporting simply didn’t work can be seen from reports of the Clone Wars. Reports on the war were sporadic at best, especially when the military took over the Holonet News service in 22 BBY. Independent news networks on a galactic scale were still rare during these days, and so an overall view of the war was lacking. Some sector wide news agencies managed to get coverage, but only because it was their sector that the war was taking place in, and the coverage was mainly one sided. During a shoot of the popular talk show Coruscant Today, a guest on the show famously commented:

“Despite scouring the Holonet every day, listening to government updates, surfing the web and Vid shows, I have absolutely no clue how the war is going”

As time went one, there was a shift in attitudes towards war reporting, especially after the formation of the Galactic Empire. As atrocities such as the Great Jedi Purge and the Ghorman Massacre tried to go unnoticed, reporters were suddenly struck by a bad case of conscience. Did events really happen as Imperial Centre told us? What is the REAL story? Reporters from around the galaxy started hunting down the truth, and when the Declaration of Rebellion was realised in 1 BBY, reporters suddenly realised that there was a different side to the story. News corporations such as the newly formed Galactic Press were becoming fed up with the propaganda machine, and started to find ways to get independent reports, especially when it came to wars. And so led to the rise of the ‘Frontline’ reporter.

Frontline reporting went through serious growing pains in the early years. Skirmishes with the Rebellion were kept on the quiet-side as much as possible, so that not too much attention was drawn to their cause. Reporters who did manage to work up more objective works had their work stamped out, or simply refused distribution. A lot of reporters died during the fights, especially in later years as the Empire got more and more forceful. However, Journalists were given a break with the defeat of the empire at the battle of Endor. As the Imperium disintegrated, and the Rebels became more prominent, Journalists were given more of a free reign. The biggest break through in war reporting was with Zahn Sim, and his report of the ‘New Republics’ liberation of Courascant in 7 ABY. From start to finish, Zahn was there, giving a blow by blow account of the liberation. Once NR forces touched down on the surface, Zahn went all over the place, reporting as he went. His reports are generally considered one of the best pieces of Journalism in history.

A couple of years on, and Journalism is generally considered to be on a high. Reporters are going from place to place, tagging along with one army or another, and constructing comprehensive reports. News company owners predict a shift in how reporters are employed, moving from a more company ethic to more freelancing. HoloNet and Galactic Press bosses have especially commented that they tend to ‘hire’ people who are on or near the conflict, rather then send someone out.

What does the future hold? Who knows. Here at VE Today, the ethic is that all of our information is first hand. Many of our reporters were there during the Third Outer Rim War, telling a tale that needed to be told, and I hope that they will continue serving the people in such a selfless and courageous way.