---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Stargazer Vol 4, Iss 3
THE News for the Dragon Quadrant
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Your UDA news source, quarterly news journal.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
The 2nd Day of Tredecim, Year 3505. | Sponsored by TriTeq Industries, Inc.
Issued on September 29, 2000 RL Time.| "When you want the best, get Teq."
-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------
In this issue:
--------------
TOP NEWS
FUEGO TEMPLE MARKET OPENS TO RECORD CROWDS
UDA News
Personnel Changes Present Fresh Opportunities
Business Universe
Robotic Companies Assemble in Triple Merger
Business Digest
Cutting Edge
Old Tech for New
Xenoculture
Chasing the Ultimate New Lease on Life
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TOP NEWS
========
Fuego Temple Market Opens to Record Crowds
------------------------------------------
The Grand Opening of Fuego Market aboard the Temple of Days could not have
been a bigger success. This tourist attraction, run by the hitherto
reclusive monks of the Cult of Days, boasts one of the widest ranges of
stores and attractions from among the quadrant's cultures. "Every known
race is represented," said Gilford, a well-respected Belarth botanist whose
shop opened at the market on Saturday. "I couldn't imagine a more diverse
selection of fine commodities," he added, "this is the only place in the
quadrant I've seen that's fit to market my Champion Curchenia." Many of
the other shopkeepers echoed Gilford's sentiment. "This is the perfect
place for the young as well as the young-at-heart," remarked Roy of Roy's
Toys, which occupies space on the eastern side of the grand Market Court.
"Complete automation of the basic services coupled with a personal touch is
the key," said Lancet, Manager of Laukhi Chic. "The Cult has spared no
expense and missed no detail to make this a truly sumptuous shopping
experience." Indeed, from the white marble floors to the black columns
supporting the vaulted ceiling, the environs are impeccably maintained.
Even the custom cleaning bots (seemingly made of black crystal) have been
engineered to enhance the surroundings. Other bots quietly tend the
luscious plants that absorb the normal crowd noise that often makes other
such bastions of capitalism a cacophony.
The monks of the Cult of Days score points as well for their well-scripted
holo show, which is free to all visitors. In a brief explanation of the
cult's history, visitors can see the trials and tribulations of the Maria,
and the wise guidance of the young monk, Vim Fuego, who guides the cult's
spiritual quest to this day.
The Temple of Days is the largest and most ambitious project undertaken by
the cult since they were discovered by a Khrenesch exploration team some
sixty years ago. The Temple conforms to the now renowned pyramidal shape of
the Cults many smaller stations. The new and ambitious Llylix Solutions
has acquired the contract to supply DranTran shuttle access between SDO and
the Temple as well as the rights to provide galaxy-wide publicity for the
Cult. Limited private docking is available for shoppers with the available
means, and the Galactic Positioning Service has updated its database to
include the Llylixian system at 6, 1, 2 where the Temple of Days is
located.
-Myren Noramo
UDA Newswire
UDA News
========
Personnel Changes, New Commerce Present Fresh Opportunities
-----------------------------------------------------------
Recently Science Officer Mhanshardt Goeta announced that he would no longer
be able to take on apprentices to learn the Biologist trade. At press time
he was unavailable for comment. In related news Dr. Shanul Arakgil arrived
on station and immediately took up duties in the SDO Medical Laboratory.
Rumor has it that her Ph.D. is in medicinal botany.
In other news, Kaslia Smodinton, RDO trainer of the summoning sphere,
announced a breakthrough in summoning earth elementals. Smodinton had this
to say, 'It is too early for us to provide a complete report, but the
immediate effect is that all beings trained in "animate rock" should
instead begin using "geogenesis."' In addition Smodinton provided new
documentation to help the adjustment process. See 'help geogenesis' for
more information.
-Andriel Calegon
Business Universe
=================
Robotic Companies Assemble in Triple Merger
-------------------------------------------
In an unprecedented move, DroneTeq, Inc., UHOTR Aerospace Technology and
LHOTR Terra Systems have announced a three-way merger of their robotic
technologies.
In Stargazer V4I2, it was announced that DroneTeq, Inc. was filing for
Chapter 11 due to pirate raids of their merchandise which was being
delivered to RDO. Also filed at that time was a lawsuit against the UDA
government for "an inability to maintain law and order". This lawsuit was
settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. When pressed for details,
Tachaerra Cardol, spokeswoman for DroneTeq, Inc., said, "All I can say is
that we reached an agreement that was satisfactory to both sides." The
settlement appears to have been just enough, just in time.
UHOTR Aerospace Technology, whose flagship product is the Upper-Half of the
Room 'Cleaning Bot,' and LHOTR Terra Systems, whose flagship product is the
Lower-Half of the Room 'Cleaning Bot,' have agreed to join forces with
DroneTeq under the name BotTeq, Inc., which will then market all types of
labor robots. This merger, if approved by the Galatic Trade Commission,
would give the new company a 45% market share including the lucrative
Dragon Contracts (the contracts supplying the various UDA facilities,
including the SpaceDock, SDO, RDO and EDO) for the next 23 months. By then
they plan to be in a strong position to win the next bidding process and
renew the contracts.
"We believe that our manufacturing facilities and the shipping network of
the UHOTR and LHOTR companies will create strong synergies within our
companies, allowing us to leverage our infrastructure in a whole new
paradigm," commented Cardol. "We are very excited for our future."
-P.R. Bot 4000
Business Digest
---------------
--Somewhat overshadowed by the opening of Fuego Temple Market, the UDA was
nonetheless pleased to announce a new merchant opening their doors at the
Spacedock Mall. "The Cabal," as it is known, caters to 'strange and
varied tastes,' according to new owner, Asura, who declined to give a last name. Although the confirmed proprietress of the shop, Asura appears
to have no corporate ties, a curious affair at the least. In related
news, the source of the large amount of curiously placed items such as
flasks and rocks that anyone could find lying around the quadrant seems
to have dried up. Most environmentalist groups expressed delight in this
development.
--In an effort to placate an irate customer base, Rheleign researchers at
Beckon, Inc. released into open source a slight casting modification to
the "Lizardman Bodyguard" summoning spell. Fighting the backlash of
public accusation when a renegotiated contact resulted in fewer of these
beings at hand for general user, the Beckon, Inc. press release stated
that the new modification would match the summoned more closely with the
skill of the summoner.
--An anonymous source has told the Stargazer that Jomu spellcasters can
expect to find more variety in the spells that B'Scoun the Jomu Sage
offers to supplicants.
-Leidar Minllen
Cutting Edge
============
Old Tech for New
----------------
It's been the dream of alchemists for untold ages and on countless worlds:
turning a base metal into something precious. Yesterday's dream has become
today's technology with a twist with the announcement from Dr. Juanita
Rosario. "I am not at liberty to reveal my sources at this time," she said
at a UDA press conference, "but it was through the primitive attempts to
turn lead into gold that gave us the final piece of the puzzle." Dr.
Rosario refers to the now touted ability of UDA scientists to breed a
"super bug" from the rare cimexicis aurarius or golden bug. "The key was
thinking outside the duality form most creatures follow in breeding," she
said, "after our first confusion over whether these were creatures or
artifacts, it should have been obvious that we couldn't expect their
reproduction to be anything like what we'd seen before."
Speculation on the source of the formula base for this new advance in
genetics has centered mostly around a crude lab rumored to be somewhere in
the Arthur system. In a preview of the paper to be published in the UDA
Medical Review, the source remains a mystery and the method only vaguely
outlined. The peer review of Dr. Rosario's research indicated that a
minimum of three ordinary golden bugs are needed before the genetic
assemblage of the superior bug can be accomplished.
-Andriel Calegon
Xenoculture
===========
Chasing the Ultimate New Lease on Life
--------------------------------------
Want to live forever? Con men and true believers alike will tell you the
same story...You must search the universe to find the mysterious portal,
risk not only your own life, but the lives of countless others. To make
your way through the mysterious place known as Dragons' Rock to a final
confrontation with a Great Wyrm, probably the most dangerous challenge
you would ever face in your life. All of this for the chance at a single
one of its gem-like scales... all for the chance at a new life.
Mythologies from all corners of the Dragon Quadrant contain elements of
this story, but now anthropologists say the "wyrm story" has taken a
modern twist, one more in line with current culture.
"That the modern being in this age of faster-than-light ships, cloning
technology, and cybernetic implants would incorporate the archaic idea that
a particular tissue from a mystic beast is the key to a reincarnation of
themselves is evidence of the adaptability of intelligent life in the
universe," said Llylix Institute's Dr. Maak Rainori. His historical
research and theories on modern Gem Dragon mythology have created quite a
buzz in academic circles around the quadrant.
The interesting development in the recent genealogy of this archetype is
that the modern mind has embellished the story with a division in the
reward cycle conclusion. "The old story of the hero returning to a native
land to live out an apportionment of days before rubbing the wyrm's scale
to begin the cycle of life again but on a higher plane has been modified,"
Rainori pointed out, "to include a scenario more fitting to the rush-rush-
hurry pace of modern life."
That scenario includes a declaration by the adventurer-seeker, said Rainori.
The Ulari Sect on Khanvar and the Tarvins of Duniya have the most
fully modified version of the story. "In it, the hero in question does not
simply seek over and over until fortune favors him with the desired
object," said Rainori. "The hero must declare that which is sought before
ever having the opportunity to test his mettle against the dangers and
snares of the path he chooses."
Roughly translating from the Trackno dialect, Rainori said that the hero
must declare that he seeks 'knowledge' or 'power'. Choosing the latter
will allow the expedition to proceed as legend has dictated for a thousand
years.
"The singularly interesting variation, however, is on the choice of
'knowledge'," Rainori said. "These new stories tell that by choosing
knowledge, the Diamond Dragons acknowledge the wisdom of the choice by
guaranteeing that the expedition will find the requisite scale at the end
of their chosen path." This new twist goes against thousands of years of
legend.
Rainori pointed out that the Diamond Dragons have never been portrayed
as particularly naïve. "So the story continues that the choice of knowledge
eliminates all chance of the existence of other artifacts that a hero might
have brought back from such an adventure. Also, choosing this knowledge
option will, according to the tales, produce a scale that has a limited
lifespan, making it near impossible for the hero to return home with tales
of triumph."
"My research shows," Rainori concluded, "that just as humans reformed 17th
century leprechauns into 20th Century little green men, so do all
intelligent beings adapt their mythologies to sound 'reasonable' in a
modern context." Dr. Rainori's theories will be published this month in
the journal "Cultures".
-Lyla Springbow
UDA Newswire
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Editorial Staff
Editor: Domino
Publishers: Infoteq, Trillian, Dranor
Reporters: Andriel Calegon, P.R. Bot 4000, Leidar Minllen
Guest Reporters: Myren Noramo, Lyla Springbow
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.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Back to Archives