Volume 23

All the news that's fit to print, first!
From the Editor's Desk
I'd like to welcome a few additions to the TWITE family. Whane the Whip will be joining us to report more on Ska as editing takes more of my time. Baron Ghearaz Fezdan who has contributed in the past will be joining us on a more regular basis and contributing more opinion pieces. I think most will make a fine addition to the team. I'm still looking for a talented cartoonist.

General News
This week the Emperor has crowned a new Prince! Prince Kevorkian has ascended to the title of Prince after extensive proving of himself in the service of the Emperor and a thorough background check of his breeding. Congratulations to Prince Kevorkian!
The Federation rebels also promoted a new admiral to their ranks. Admiral Zeris was promoted to keep morale high after the Empire's recent wonderful news. This promotion could never outshine the crowning of a new Prince though.

Famous Pirates and Space Dragon Queen's. Until now they have had very little in common, but recently both have taken to roaming their territories to search out their victims and prey on the pilots that hunt them. The Space Dragon Queen is the most startling news as now no one will be safe in a dragon den, hunting the Queen's offspring.
The Famous Pirates will put a damper on trading in sectors like Quana and Inliaa, where the starbase lays within the territory of the pirate. Traders beware!

The advanced training schools for trading pilots have been suspended. It was found that tuition being charged was too low, and the schools could not support themselves. Tuition fees are being revisited and it is hoped that these institutions of higher learning, teaching advanced business techniques, will soon reopen.

Famiso III - Conglomo gets tough
Mutant Enemy have long been allowed access to Famiso and "The Seven" sectors that Conglomo protects. This week Conglomo decided to revoke that permission from the piratical group. Unfortunately they closed the gates with a few Mutant Enemy pilots inside. Forces have been called in to eliminate the threat and hopefully return the situation to normal. Tensions will likely remain high though for a long time to come. Conglomo has hopefully learned from past wars to keep those MO's stocked.

Wormhole Monsters have mysteriously arrived in the South Pardus Rim. Little is known of these beasts that disguise themselves as the portals of the galaxy. Travelers beware! You have been warned.

The Keldon Report - by Frozen
The baby boom in Quator is over. There are reports of thousands of new born but they don't seem to be there. Normally everyone would expect a big growth in the population but the population of the planet is not much higher than before the baby boom. I wonder what happened to all those new baby keldons that were born... Maybe we should ask The Chaos Order about that... hmmm, or maybe we shouldn't...

This week a discussion about the Freeholders Alliance MOs in Keldon has stared. It all started when a Scorpion Guard member asked publicly why the Freeholders Alliance is blocking access to Vewaa. For those who are not so well informed, the Freeholders Alliance has MOs that are blocking access to the sectors Exackcan, Vewaa and Wolf. Normally the MOs are only blocking pirates and all other loyal pilots of the empire have access, so the MOs aren't really a problem. It's no wonder that the Scorpion Guard doesn't have access as they sell their soul for money and they can't be trusted. They have attacked some members of the Freeholders Alliance and have therefore restricted access. However the Scorpion Guard claims that they only attacked Federation pilots during the war. If that is true then there is no real reason to block them. The discussions are still running and the question remains what will happen next. Whatever happens we will keep you up to date...

The Ska Report - by Whane the Whip *NEW*
Mysterious wave of discontent threatens to strike Ska.

It began last month with the involuntary retirement of Das Mikechen and Addy that resulted in the abolishment and subsequent reorganization of Daboo Corp. Days after, Quana was riddled with the ruins of once-proud smelters, robot factories, droid assembly complexes and other buildings including a pilot owned Starbase. Daboo shrugged off this blow with a professional stance that will no doubt remain a model for other alliances in the future. But the story doesn't end there.

Apparently this wave of discontent has found route into Tiexen, an adjacent sector South East of Quana. Tiexen is home to Tiro and has suffered a recent "uprising". Jesus Nix, a trigger-happy Imperial with a checkered past that includes "accidental" and intentional acts of piracy, with the aid of Mia Rairiki, hatched a plot to instigate an uprising within Tiro. Though Jesus Nix cites personal reasons, the uprising was launched the day after Tiro members began to draft a formal anti-piracy policy for their alliance. Today, Jesus Nix and his followers can be found colonizing the Beseox sector under the name of a new alliance called The Order of the Crimson Knights (CK).

In the wake of this wave of discontent, the storm appears to be moving South East rendering Ska, the Ska'ari Home world sector its' next target. Is this wave an imagined storm or perhaps something left over from the war? According to those that support the storm theory (Stormers), we'll know in about three weeks - the estimated time it would theoretically take for the storm to reach the North Western quadrant of Ska. Time will tell.

The Imperial Soapbox - by Baron Fezdan.

The Cease fire...

Peace they say? Hardly.

In the weeks since the Emperor ordered the cease fire there has been a lot of talk, from both rebel and Imperial pilots, about the dawn of a new age of cooperation and peace. This talk would be funny if it wasn’t so dangerous. THE WAR IS STILL RUNNING. Make no mistake, the issues that brought us to conflict have yet to be resolved.

What have we learned? Well essentially all we know is that the technology that was used to destroy Usube is completely unknown to us. This is hardly uncontroversial evidence that the rebels are not responsible. If they have developed new planet-killer weapons then we may not recognise this technology as Federation. When I look at the bigger picture however, I can’t help but think that the identity of the culprit at Usube is not as important as what it tells us about our security in Pardus. If forces known or unknown can visit this level of destruction at will then we must bring all corners of the galaxy under Imperial scrutiny. The imposition of Imperial security and Imperial law in all sectors would seem the best way to find and remove the threat we face. It makes sense for all Pardusians. Of course I doubt that the rebels will see it that way and this is why we must not forget that war is still upon us.

The Emperor has not ordered us to seek friendship with the rebels, just to refrain from shooting them while the new information concerning Usube is being examined. Naturally, as a loyal Imperial pilot, I obey the order but at the same time I am working to prepare for the escalation of hostilities. While not inevitable, it does seem likely to me that we will be at full-scale war again soon. We would be remiss in our duty as warriors of the Empire if we failed to use this time to adequately prepare.

For the Empire,
Baron Fezdan.