Today marks the official opening of the first Deep Space Exploration Platform being sponsored by the Explorers’ Association in conjunction with Universal Cartographics. The station will initially be housed in New Yembo, a resource rich system on the outer edges of human-occupied space.

Thousands of Commanders helped provide the materials necessary to build this new state of the art Ocellus. The actual construction of the station took tens of thousands of workers just three weeks to complete, which in itself is a testament to the highly organised and methodical approach that the EAUC collaboration has applied to this project.

GalNet can also now exclusively reveal that after an impassioned round of debates between EA and UC committee members, the New Yembo starport has been given the name Unity in honour of the collaborative effort that made its creation possible.

Imperial forces have decimated the majority of the Falisci Purple Gang’s fleet, just five days after the Citizens of Tradition declared war against the dreaded pirate crew and their allies. Now only a handful of the Purple Gang’s most stalwart members remain to defend their territory against the Citizens of Tradition and the thousands of loyal citizens who have flocked to Falisci to fight by their side.

What little resistance the gang is still able to muster will almost certainly not be enough to keep the Citizens of Tradition from taking control of the system. However, reports are coming in from the region that the Federally aligned Social Falisci Partnership are currently attempting to bolster the Purple Gang’s numbers in what is surely a futile attempt to stop Senator Patreus from taking control of the sector.

The Big G Corporation, in association with the Alliance of Independent Systems, is pleased to announce that a dozen planets involved in the Alliance terraforming programme are finally ready to undergo their last stage of biochemical transformation.

The first set of planets to undergo the final stage of terraforming includes:

• Djaujas A 1 in Djaujas

• Khona 3 in Khona

• Dohkwithi A 1 in Dohkwithi

• Hip 54692 3 in Hip 54692

• Milelbis 4 in Milelbis

While the Big G Corp is expected to handle most of the terraforming process, using their patented and highly secretive World Blending Technology, independent contractors are being encouraged to visit with Big G representatives in order to take advantage of the various stock orders that the company is looking to fill.

Lugh Ambassador Éamonn Uí Laoghire, the leading spokesman for the Crimson State Group, held his third and final rally on Alioth today.

After a heated speech, in which he spared no quarter for the Federation and their mistreatment of the Lugh population (who he repeatedly referred to as 'The Sons of Conn'), Uí Laoghire was met by a standing ovation from the massive crowds who had assembled to hear him speak.

"Our children are disappearing. In the past year alone we have seen the numbers rise to 25,431 individual cases. You will not get these figures from the Federation. Of course not! But make no mistake, they know what’s happening. What are the Lugh for Equality Party really up to? They took our land and now they’re trying to take our future. The Sons of Conn will take it no more! We demand complete separation from all Federal ties immediately! One people, one system under Lugh's glorious light!”

On the fringe of the Scutum-Centaurus arm, on the far side of the galaxy, two lone deep space explorers rendezvoused at a star system called EACTAINDS GN-W C1-6.

CMDR R4nger0's mission? To cross the galaxy in a Sidewinder.

CMDR Kamzel's mission? Returning to Earth after an 8-week survey expedition along the galactic outer rim.

CMDR Kamzel left the frontier on 16th December 3300, CMDR R4nger0 departed on 7th January 3301. The meeting was the first human contact both pilots had in the many weeks they'd been away from home. Both pilots jointly surveyed the rendezvous system, shared a bottle of Lavian Brandy, and parted ways to continue on their respective journeys. The event was recorded and a vlog data-packet was beamed back toward human space. Streams of the log can be viewed by searching for ‘A Distant Rendezvous’ via your local vlog service provider.

Some observers have called for the EACTAINDS GN-W C1-6 star system to be renamed ‘Rendezvous Point’, to commemorate this historic event... the most distant deep space encounter ever recorded.

The ongoing conflict between the Federal Navy and the Polahukuna Raiders has taken an unexpected turn this weekend, following reports that the Federation have begun work on a new Farragut class battlecruiser in the shipyards aboard Hudson Dock. For their part, the Polahukuna raiders appear to have returned home to lick their wounds. However, reports are coming in from BD+03 2338 that traders bringing supplies to Hudson Dock are coming under heavy fire from a band of imperial mercenaries known as the East India Company.The Imperial Senate is denying any knowledge of the attacks.

In imperial space, the Citizens of Tradition, acting under the authority of Senator Denton Patreus, have begun a full scale invasion of the Falisci system. The initiative to secure the spaceways around Dongzi and Ngaiawang against criminal activities is being led from Dornier Terminal in Ngaiawang.

There’s war brewing in the Empire, as despite a stern warning issued in their direction by Senator Denton Patreus, the pirates of Falisci continue to plunder innocent traders as they pass through on the way to ply their wares in Dongzi and Ngaiawang.

Things could soon change however, as reports are coming in that warships belonging to the Citizens of Tradition, a group well known for their support of Senator Patreus, have been spotted amassing on the borders of Falisci.

When pressed for comment, Commander Shole of the Citizens of Tradition had this to say:

“We’ve got our orders. No traders are going under on our watch. If those Falisci scumbags so much as think about crossing this border, they’re going to wish they hadn’t.”

Imperial Commanders willing to join the fight to defend imperial space should seek out the Citizens of Tradition aboard Dornier Terminal in Ngaiawang.

Tensions have been running high aboard Effinger Port this week as doctors, nurses and scientists worked around the clock to find a cure for the Volungu Blight.

A breakthrough finally occurred on Wednesday night after medical staff supplied by Aisling Duval managed to identify the pathogen behind the Blight. Once that was done, doctors were able to develop a course of treatment to fully eradicate all traces of the disease from patients’ bodies.

While the cure comes too late for the thousands of families in Volungu, Furbaide, Liaedin and LHS 3505 that lost loved ones over the last week, the news doubtlessly comes as quite a relief to the hundreds of thousands more who are currently waiting to receive the cure aboard their local stations.

The secret is out! There’s a metal rush happening in LAWD 26, with thousands of entrepreneurs heading to the region in the hope of making their fortune before one of the big three mining corporations can establish a presence in the system.

News first broke about the newly discovered pristine mining site early last week, when a large quantity of raw gold was found aboard a Sidewinder that had been abandoned at Crook's Hub Starport in Toolfa. It turned out that the Sidewinder belonged to a Commander Hank Stone (deceased), a well known prospector who had struck it rich when he discovered the previously untapped source of metals.

Doubtless it won’t be long before the corporations move in to strip mine the area, but until they do there are some serious credits to be made in LAWD 26 by anyone willing to work hard and get their hands dirty!

Aisling Duval made her presence felt in Furbaide today, as she arrived at Effinger Port to offer assistance to overworked medical staff currently caught in the struggle against the virulent and deadly Volungu Blight. Along with her usual entourage, the Diva Duval bought dozens of Imperially trained doctors and nurses, all of whom will be offering their services for free to anyone afflicted by the Blight.

It is hoped that the biomedical expertise provided by the Imperial doctors will shed some light on the genetic makeup of the disease, whose aggressive transmission and resistance to known drug therapies has local medical staff completely stumped.

The death toll for the disease is now reaching into the thousands, and with no cure in sight the situation can be expected to get worse before it gets better.

Despite Admiral Vincent's strong words during yesterday's press conference, President Halsey has refused the Admiral's request to send additional forces for the attack on Polahukuna.

In response, the Federal Navy, in conjunction with Core Dynamics, has declared their intention to commission the creation of a new capitol ship. The new ship will be built in the recently recaptured shipyards of BD+03 2338, and the Admiral's personal contingent will remain in the locale in order to protect the construction of the new vessel.

It’s been said before, but it's worth saying again. Remember to set aside credits for your insurance excess.

Only recently Commander Gui returned home to Sol with his newly purchased Anaconda. Having equipped it with all the essentials he departed... straight in to an incoming Type 9. Without the 4 million credits to cover the excess for his ship, he was left with no choice but to resort to a budget Sidewinder. His loss for that one incident was 80 million credits.

Though many pilots can turn to creditors to cover some of the costs in case of emergency, 200 thousand credits is not enough to cover the cost of a truly premium vessel.

The moral of the story? Always check your rebuy costs in your systems screen before launching. Don't leave the space port without having the excess..

You’ve been warned commanders...

Commander Sheehy of the Reorte Chronicle