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The Stargazer Vol 4, Iss 2
THE News for the Dragon Quadrant
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Your UDA news source, quarterly news journal.
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The 9th Day of Septem, Year 3498. | Sponsored by TriTeq Industries, Inc.
Issued on June 30, 2000 RL Time. | "When you want the best, get Teq."
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In this issue:
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TOP NEWS
UDA GETS LEAD ON VISION
UDA News
UDA Begins Cadet Orientation Counselor Program
Illegal Colony Discovered on Beta Faeble!
Business Universe
DroneTeq files for Chapter 11
Cutting Edge
Improvements of PDA on the Drawing Board
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TOP NEWS
========
UDA GETS LEAD ON VISION
-----------------------
The notorious criminal organization VISION was once again linked to large
scale smuggling operations within the Dragon Quadrant this week as the
United Dragon Alliance uncovered almost 700 tons of the drug K23 (see
insert). "We're deeply concerned about the recent surge in illegal
trafficking operations" Chief of Security Hartero Kwasnye told a press
conference on Septendecim 28.
"We have reason to believe that the interstellar smuggling consortium known
only as VISION is behind much of this recent activity" he said. "While we
continue to pick up many illegal shipments, many more slip through our
security net." Mr. Kwasnye has been
working with leading criminologists for +------------------------------+
the past few years trying to bring | K23 - HIGH OR GOODBYE? |
members of VISION to justice. | |
| In the earliest reports |
VISION first appeared in 3450 and seems | of its synthesis at Nudose |
to have flourished under the UDA reign | Labs on Huanarth. K23 was |
where other groups have paled. It is | hailed as a miracle cure for |
thought that originally they were | many untreatable conditions |
involved in drug smuggling mainly | among the races of the Dragon|
between Altair and Khrenesch core worlds. | Quadrant. A common plant on |
However Mr. Kwasnye and the Substance | the Belarth home planet (they|
Control Group (SCG) have compiled a | have always been reluctant to|
report which links VISION in with arms | use the term "weed"), Kezza |
smuggling and even slave trading. The | was one of the few plants to |
spokesmen for the Substance Control | challenge the ability of the |
Group, Alfrak Ne Quav last year said he | Belarth to control. Its |
considered VISION to be the UDA's top | regenerative properties were |
priority. | uncanny despite time-honored |
| methods used to curtail its |
Ne Quav said: "There is a common illusion | rampant growth. The Belarth |
among the modern populous that the best | thought it was "kakarintalth"|
way to fight crime is to punish those who | (in Terran, "serendipity") |
are guilty of committing the crimes. I | that Nudose researcher Tam |
believe the best way to fight crime is to | Senarrah heard an exchange |
make sure it cannot happen. VISION allows | between three wardens on |
crimes to happen by supplying anyone with | their use of magic to combat |
the tools necessary to commit such | the growth of Kezza in their |
heinous atrocities." | Curchenia beds. Their |
| inadvertent production of a |
"It is for this reason that they must be | Kezza bloom (Kezza was long |
swiftly bought to justice." The United | though to reproduce by root |
Dragon Alliance security team and the SCG | replication) gave the doctor |
have been investigating small crime rings | the needed breakthrough to |
in the city of Erinyes for the past two | produce K23, now known to |
months. Usually this would be handled by | cure radiation poisoning in |
Corporate Security teams within the city | Altairn, Simpson's disease |
itself, however UDA has claimed it is | in Rheleign and common gill |
acting in accordance to their constitution| rot in certain Frenalian |
by trying to stop an InterStellar Threat. | populations. That it yields |
| these curative properties by |
The Stargazer received (via anonymous | way of increased endorphinate|
source) official UDA documents which | production was quickly heeded|
point the finger at small underground | by certain unsavory elements |
businesses throughout the black sector of | causing the current criminal |
Erinyes. This includes some relatively | crisis on several Dragon |
unknown companies such as Constantine | Quadrant planets. |
Industries, The MIDAS Project and the | |
Artedies Anarchist Collective. Not +------------------------------+
surprisingly most of these groups are
already under suspicion of criminal behavior. What is surprising is the
range of VISION influence.
There is even speculation the organization may be involved with some of the
larger and more dubious corporations in the sector such as SeetKorp or
Synergy Logic Solutions. These rumors are unconfirmed.
-Myren Noramo
UDA Newswire
UDA News
========
UDA Begins Cadet Orientation Counselor Program
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Citing a decline in career enlistment, UDA Spokesman Lt. Aaron Ashworth
announced that the Alliance was restructuring its entry program to include
a more hands-on approach. "I am pleased to inform the citizens of the
Dragon Quadrant," said Lt. Ashworth, "that the UDA is in the process of
hiring a team of trainers specifically for our rawest recruits." "These
trainers," he continued, "will have a single duty: get new recruits to the
point where they can make informed decisions on their career path within
the UDA."
The electronic presspack release of information on what the UDA is seeking
in these new instructors included a high level of expertise in combat
training, intense personal charisma and considerable forbearance. The
mission charges included personal interaction with recruits undergoing the
UDA Quickstart program, assistance to new recruits in early character
development decisions, and sourcing knowledge to recruits on UDA structure
and chain of command.
"I cannot emphasize enough the seriousness with which the UDA is
approaching this problem," Lt. Ashworth added, "the people serving in these
newly created positions will be relieved of all other command duties to
focus on bringing each new recruit to his, her or its greatest potential."
-Lt. Ferthesh Urare
UDA Newswire
Illegal Colony Discovered on Beta Faeble!
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An illegal mining colony was discovered on Beta Faeble by accident last
month. It was during an undercover operation being carried out by the
United Dragon Alliance Tactical Response Group (UDA-TRG) that a group of
UDA soldiers stumbled across the colony.
"The UDA Tactical Response Group was carrying out an undercover operation
which, unfortunately, yielded no satisfactory results," Commanding Officer
Capt. Seul Trovolly said, "However, while questioning what we though to be
smugglers in the Faebulous system our sensor crew picked up a micro-burst
of unknown origin and content."
It was on discovery of this communication that the UDA-TRG performed a
routine sensor sweep of the Faebulous system. Fortunately the Unit in the
field included Trainee Sensor Operations Cadet Keltyr Orson. "Usually we
perform a single sweep of a large system such as the Faebulous especially
since the micro-burst could quite possible have come from another nearby
location,". commented Cadet Orson, "However, we are supposed to perform a
secondary sweep as a verification exercise. Cadet Orson's sweep revealed a
flicker in what we later discovered was a shielding device.
The mining operation uncovered involved some 20 Rheleign of various
standing and was headed by one Tuan Cario, an ex-employee of TriTeq
Industries, Inc. who was invited to pursue career opportunities outside
the company due to 'substandard performance reviews'.
As well as not obtaining any mining permits for work on Beta Faeble, the
group was illegally using cheap charmed labor. Under the Greater Dragon
Quadrant Summoning Protection Act, all summoning for manual labor must be
declared so working conditions can be meet. The intention is to prevent
maltreatment and insure the safety and proper compensation of summoned
beings.
Approximately 350 summoned life forms were actively involved in the mining
project according to the official UDA report. The conditions they were
found in varied although at least 30 had to be hospitalized for urgent
medical attention.
Tuan Cario and 15 other Rheleign will face trail early next quarter. Mr.
Cario faces up to 50 years imprisonment under United Dragon Alliance
Interplanetary Law. He may however receive a smaller sentence if a
Rheleign Government injunction is passed, causing Mr. Cario to be tried
on Frabia.
-Tybalt Wei
UDA Newswire
Business Universe
=================
DroneTeq files for Chapter 11
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DroneTeq today filed for Chapter 11 for protection against its debtors
while it reorganizes its business and manufacturing infrastructure.
Recently DroneTeq, among many other direct-shipment companies, has fallen
victim to the depredations of a band of well-organized space pirates.
Spokeswoman Tachaerra Cardol said, '80% of our revenue was generated from
our exclusive contract with the Ruby Dragon Outpost(RDO). Our inability to
get even one shipment of Sparring Drones to the station caused our contract
to go into default.' 'We gave them as much leeway as we could,' said Sharee
Mote the Senior Combat Trainer on RDO, 'but we could not continue to pay
for something we were not receiving and we can't let our cadets sit idle.
We were forced to explore new training methods, which turned out to be
superior to our old system.'
Also filed today were legal papers requesting compensatory damages from
the UDA government for "an inability to maintain law and order". 'UDA
forces should have put a stop to this theft when it started, their
inability to do so is evidence of their negligence,' said Cardol. Chief of
Security Hartero Kwasnye called the charges ludicrous, adding 'We've been
actively pursuing this matter with every available resource. If DroneTeq
had used a shipping agency like UniEx, they would have been able to get
their products delivered on time.'
DroneTeq's plan to reorganize includes diversification of products and
customers. 'We've gotten too complacent, with such a lucrative contract we
were not expanding our customer base as rapidly as we should have,'
commented Cardol. 'We believe we can recover from this disaster and are
asking our debt-holders to keep the faith for just a little while longer.'
When asked via e-mail why parent company TriTeq Industries, Inc couldn't
simply bail them out, CEO Infoteq responded, 'Each company in our family
must be able to survive as an independent agent. The DroneTeq management
has assured me that they can turn this situation around, and after
reviewing their plan, I believe that they can. We'll just have to see how
the cookie crumbles.'
-P.R. Bot 4000
Cutting Edge
============
PDA Improvements on the Drawing Board
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Information brokers Mason and Mason, LLC, announced today that they would
undertake improvements on the Universal PDA system widely used in the
Dragon Quadrant. "We have been monitoring the PDA system closely for 040
errors [topic not found] for a year now," said CorpRep Summers Rigby, "and
making small corrections as the system warranted." "Our marketing shows,
however," it added, "that the comsumer is ready for a leap forward in ease
of use and richness of content. To that end, we have our best team of data
agents examining the entire breath and depth of how our information is
delivered." No details were included in today's announcement but scholars
have long agreed that the PDA could make use of color and better cross-
referencing to assemble vital details into a more complete picture of
significant concepts.
-Index dahtHtml
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Editorial Staff
Editor: Domino
Publishers: Infoteq, Trillian, Dranor
Reporters: P.R. Bot 4000, Index dahtHtml
Guest Reporters: Myren Noramo, Lt. Ferthesh Urare, Tybalt Wei
Please direct all comments to: Stargazr@dracon.net
If you wish to become a part of the Stargazer staff, please send email to:
Stargazr@dracon.net with the subject: "Stargazer Staff Application".
Please include a sample of writing over 100 words in length.
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