Dear readers, I'm Commander Greythorne, born during the Steamy Galactic Sale of Jul 3301. After developing boredom induced suicidal tendencies from countless trade runs, I tried to find the Meaning of Elite Life through GalNet (while meditating on my space toilet), only to be utterly dazed by the sparse background information and umpteen story threads scattered across 180+ pages.
Here is my own attempt at summarising some key story lines, in the hope that other new players might enjoy their game a little more.
First some background on two of the Major Factions, the Federation and the Empire.
The Founding of the Federation
The Birth of an Empire
A Clash of Titans
In short, the Alliance appears irrelevant (for now), and the two true galactic powers hate each other (what a surprise). The Federation fired the first shot back in 2324; fast forward 977 years to today, Stardate 3301, and they're *still* cheesed off at each other, locked in what appears to be a cold war.
Imperial Politics
Its 9 Jan 3301. His grace the Emperor Hengist Duval is feeling horny, and preparations begin for his marriage to Florence Lavigny. His granddaughter, Aisling Duval (the hot looking one), objects to his "chang[ing] the succession without having to appear in the Senate". We don't know what the Emperor thinks about being c-ck blocked by his own blood, because he is soon taken ill.
Aisling pursues the succession issue through the Marriage Council, where her case is overturned shortly after it is announced that the Emperor has fallen into a coma. Senator Anders Blaine, the Emperor's long serving Chancellor, continues to running the Empire as he has done for the past few decades.
Meanwhile...
On 1 Apr 3301, an attempt is made on the comatose Emperor's life. His daughter, the Princess Arissa Lavigny-Duval, leads an investigation which results in the quick arrest of the would be assassin. Her supporters then set off, conducting enhanced interrogations across Nehet, LTT 9810 and HR 706. Amidst the drama, the senators Denton 'Winter is Coming' Patreus and Aisling 'C-ck Blocker' Duval go off to share some sexy time, twice! In between sexy times, Senator Patreus teaches the war devastated economy of Kui Hsien a valuable lesson; never borrow money from Senator Patreus.
On 27 Apr 3301, news of the Emperor's Grace complicity in the Emperor's assassination attempt is made public. The next day, Princess Arissa presents evidence to the Imperial Senate, claiming that “today I will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the HR 706 Chapter of Emperor’s Grace has allowed itself to become intimately entangled... in this foul conspiracy." She fails.
Because the Emperor's Grace are Senator Petreus' men, the Senator proceeds to defend their honour, and by extension his own, with a slightly angry rant. His completely innocent and benevolent nature is soon on display for all to see, when his agents arrive at the recession ridden system of Quivira to deliver a payment overdue notice. By 13 May 3301, Quivira is decimated, and both Aisling Duval and Arissa Lavigny-Duval step in to help the millions of refugees.
Meanwhile...
On 14 Jul 3301, Chancellor Blaine announces that the Emperor has awoken from his coma. The Emperor's health and recovery was celebrated in the most tasteful way possible; WITH MOAR GUNS FOR SERFS! All pilots with active ranks in the Imperial Navy could now purchase the Imperial Courier and Clipper.
Shortly thereafter, The Emperor appears before the Imperial Senate, pledging to get some royal nookie A.S.A.P., because “as Emperor it is my duty to ensure the success of the Empire and its continuation long into the future. To that end the previously announced marriage with my good friend Florence Lavigny will proceed at the earliest opportunity". The wedding is set to take place at noon on 29 Jul 3301.
Federal Politics
The story starts with Liberal President Jasmina Halsey, who is fighting for her political life against Republican Shadow President Hudson. She is unpopular and losing control of the Federation:
The political chaos leads to civil strife, notably in Lugh. Core Dynamics is commissioned to launch the capital ship FNS Nevermore to beef up Federation firepower, but it's launch ends in disaster.
The Lugh campaign is proves to be a military and political disaster for President Jasmina. Miscommunication and incompetence results in the Navy annihilating a refugee convoy from Lugh 6, causing an estimated 9,322 Federal civilian casualties. The Federation's key outpost in the system falls to seperatists, causing the Navy to withdraw from Lugh in defeat. Hudson uses these events to further undermine the President, openly calling for her dismissal. The President belatedly denies accusations of incomptency, but her popularity continues to fall. To make matters worse, the War on the Onionhead drug still rages on, with no end in sight.
On 28 Apr 3301, the President announces a tour of Federal frontier systems to shore up political support. Hudson attempts to derail the President's efforts, challanging her to a live policy debate. Risking the appearance of weakness, she refuses Hudson's demands, and embarks on her tour aboard Space Flight One on 13 May 3301. The tour is expected to cover Hip 53688, Tinia, Aleumoxii, 78 Ursae Majoris, Dietri, Su, Furuhjelm I-645, Saga, Delphin, Nanomam, Coriccha and Ross 860.
Events take a strange turn when on 24 May 3301, when Space Flight One announces an unscheduled detour to Azaleach, only to disappear whilst in hyperspace at 0300hrs on 26 May 3301. Secretary of State Felicia Winters quickly assumes the role of Acting President amidst investigations and speculation. Consiracy nuts come crawling out of the woodwork, whilst Hudson lives up to the politician's stereotype by immediately using this opportunity to further descredit the remnents of President Halsey's administration. By 29 May 3301, Hudson calls for a vote of no confidence on Halsey’s administration, and is overwhelmingly voted in as the new President of the Federation on 2 Jun 3301. That same day, the official report into the Starship One incident is released, concluding that the cause of Starship One’s loss was a complex multi-stage engine failure.
Despite the political turmoil, the situation on the ground actually stabilises, and President Hudson begins implementing his policy agenda on 9 Jun 3301, beginning with a crackdown on smugglers and increased military spending to counter the perceived Imperial threat. Ex-travelling salesman, Brad Mitchell, is appointed Vice President.
While President Hudson's popularity is rising to new heights, Shadow President Winters is getting support from unlikely allies, with Princess Aisling recently announcing her support for a peace treaty with the Shadow President, stating that they both "stand for a cleaner more moral government" in their respective factions.
Aliens
The mythical Silver Comet is purportedly sighted in the Alioth System on 27 Jan 3301. To date, there's no further news on this mysterious object.
A month later, on 10 Feb 3301, Alien Artefacts begin surfacing at auction in the Ngurii System, but its uncertain if this is genuine or simply a hoax. On 4 May 3301, an actual Unknown Artefact is recovered from a Federation vessel by Dr. Arcannon, et. al. Research on the artefact intensifies, but yields no results. Dr. Arcannon appeals to the Federation to "come forward and tell us what they know of this object and its origins".
Dr. Arcannon's appeals go unanswered, but by 18 May 3301, reports indicate that similar relics have arrived at labs on both Mars and Sol for further testing. The Doctor perseveres with his research, and by 10 Jul 3301, discover that the artefacts emit a distorted but audible signal in morse code. Its speculated that these artefacts are in fact homing beacons, but its real function remains a mystery.
The Kumo Crew
14 May 3301, the Kumo Crew under Warlord Archon Delaine begins sweeping through the Pegasi Sector. His background is brutal and bloody, beginning at the tender age of 15 in 3264, when he rose to prominence after brutally beating the Kumo Crew’s previous leader to death with his bare hands. After pummeling more of his enemies into submission, the Archon oversaw a massive restructuring of his ‘family’, and the Kumo Crew have gone from being a feared local drug cartel to one of the most influential criminal syndicates in the galaxy.
On 11 Jul 3301, 7,300 graduates from the Naval Academy of Achenar join Operation Davy Jones, an elite Imperial vanguard operating to liberate the Pegasi sector.
The Fuel Rats
A heroic group of independent pilots who will save your bacon when you run out of fuel in the middle of nowhere. They're on duty all galactic day, just scream for help on their forum thread. They've saved over 190 stranded pilots, including most recently this dude who was too cheap to buy the extended warranty on his fuel scoop.
A Final Note
Do keep track of the community goals; these reflect the in-game activities based on certain stories on GalNet. If you have an exciting story from being part of the events mentioned on GalNet, please share your stories below and link to the relevant GalNet news item!
Well, that's it for now, have fun! Let me know if you enjoyed this, and I'll try to update this post when more news comes out.
p.s. If any Devs read this, please please please make your lore WEBSITE more user friendly and accessible for new players. Its a shame that your writers' efforts are stymied by a website designed in the 1990's. Please add more background stories, especially on key actors/actresses and the Alliance, preferably with separate links that are not lumped in with regular news items. It would also be nice to be able to scroll through all the news items chronologically, as its a massive pain to INDIVIDUALLY click through 180+ new items. Lastly, stories organised/tagged by topic would be great, and direct links at the end of each news item to preceding, related news items would be very helpful.
p.s.s. Why is there only 1 Asian leader when half the stations, especially in Empire space, appear to have crappy Asian accents? I keep expecting to be asked if I want to be loved long time with a side dish of flied lice... C'mon, break the racial stereotyping already!
Here is my own attempt at summarising some key story lines, in the hope that other new players might enjoy their game a little more.
First some background on two of the Major Factions, the Federation and the Empire.
The Founding of the Federation
The Birth of an Empire
A Clash of Titans
In short, the Alliance appears irrelevant (for now), and the two true galactic powers hate each other (what a surprise). The Federation fired the first shot back in 2324; fast forward 977 years to today, Stardate 3301, and they're *still* cheesed off at each other, locked in what appears to be a cold war.
Imperial Politics
Its 9 Jan 3301. His grace the Emperor Hengist Duval is feeling horny, and preparations begin for his marriage to Florence Lavigny. His granddaughter, Aisling Duval (the hot looking one), objects to his "chang[ing] the succession without having to appear in the Senate". We don't know what the Emperor thinks about being c-ck blocked by his own blood, because he is soon taken ill.
Aisling pursues the succession issue through the Marriage Council, where her case is overturned shortly after it is announced that the Emperor has fallen into a coma. Senator Anders Blaine, the Emperor's long serving Chancellor, continues to running the Empire as he has done for the past few decades.
Meanwhile...
- Denton Patreus, Senator for Eotienses and part time loan shark, annexes the Durius System for defaulting on loans. He demonstrates his hawkish nature by agitating for a stronger Empire, warning of 'wolves at the door'. He may also have designs on the throne, attempting to force the issue of the Emperor's succession (which the Chancellor deflects).
- Aisling Duval starts the first of her many attempts emancipate Imperial Slaves. Her ire eventually focuses on a powerful supporter of slavery, Senator Zemina Torval, leading to direct competition between the two. Aisling loses the competition, reaffirming the Empire's continued support for their tradition of slavery. Torval rubs it in Aisling's face with a massive slave sale, only to end up looking dumb when her minions run into a scheduling conflict.
- Lady Kahina Tijani Loren (Senator for Prism), begins her diplomatic mission to core Federation worlds. The pro-murder, pro-slavery 'diplomat' barges into Federal space without a valid itinerary, and is duly interdicted by the Navy, for which she expects and apology. Strangely, dozens of pilots (maybe high on the Onionhead drug) think that the Senator was shabbily treated, and proceed to give the Senator a welcoming escort.
On 1 Apr 3301, an attempt is made on the comatose Emperor's life. His daughter, the Princess Arissa Lavigny-Duval, leads an investigation which results in the quick arrest of the would be assassin. Her supporters then set off, conducting enhanced interrogations across Nehet, LTT 9810 and HR 706. Amidst the drama, the senators Denton 'Winter is Coming' Patreus and Aisling 'C-ck Blocker' Duval go off to share some sexy time, twice! In between sexy times, Senator Patreus teaches the war devastated economy of Kui Hsien a valuable lesson; never borrow money from Senator Patreus.
On 27 Apr 3301, news of the Emperor's Grace complicity in the Emperor's assassination attempt is made public. The next day, Princess Arissa presents evidence to the Imperial Senate, claiming that “today I will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the HR 706 Chapter of Emperor’s Grace has allowed itself to become intimately entangled... in this foul conspiracy." She fails.
Because the Emperor's Grace are Senator Petreus' men, the Senator proceeds to defend their honour, and by extension his own, with a slightly angry rant. His completely innocent and benevolent nature is soon on display for all to see, when his agents arrive at the recession ridden system of Quivira to deliver a payment overdue notice. By 13 May 3301, Quivira is decimated, and both Aisling Duval and Arissa Lavigny-Duval step in to help the millions of refugees.
Meanwhile...
- To sighs of relief from Federal bureaucracy, the Lady Kahina Tijani Loren departs for the Empire. Upon returning to the Empire, the Lady Kahina proceeds to make significant modifications to her Imperial Courier, the ‘Seven Veils’, including a state of the art fuel scoop and a custom built Gutamaya discovery scanner.
- While speculation on the Imperial succession grows increasingly urgent, Lady Kahina refuses to align herself with any potential candidates, preferring instead to disappear into thin air. Her Imperial Courier, still at the Capitol spaceport, was found to be completely stripped of all valuable equipment, with the apparent modifications discovered to be carefully crafted fakes.
On 14 Jul 3301, Chancellor Blaine announces that the Emperor has awoken from his coma. The Emperor's health and recovery was celebrated in the most tasteful way possible; WITH MOAR GUNS FOR SERFS! All pilots with active ranks in the Imperial Navy could now purchase the Imperial Courier and Clipper.
Shortly thereafter, The Emperor appears before the Imperial Senate, pledging to get some royal nookie A.S.A.P., because “as Emperor it is my duty to ensure the success of the Empire and its continuation long into the future. To that end the previously announced marriage with my good friend Florence Lavigny will proceed at the earliest opportunity". The wedding is set to take place at noon on 29 Jul 3301.
Federal Politics
The story starts with Liberal President Jasmina Halsey, who is fighting for her political life against Republican Shadow President Hudson. She is unpopular and losing control of the Federation:
- Her navy, under Admiral Vincent, bombs Panem without her authorisation, in an ultimately futile exercise to eradicate the Onionhead drug supply.
- Her Vice President, Nigel Smeaton, dies in mysterious circumstances. To date, the murder remains unsolved.
- Dozens of frontier systems agitate for independence.
The political chaos leads to civil strife, notably in Lugh. Core Dynamics is commissioned to launch the capital ship FNS Nevermore to beef up Federation firepower, but it's launch ends in disaster.
The Lugh campaign is proves to be a military and political disaster for President Jasmina. Miscommunication and incompetence results in the Navy annihilating a refugee convoy from Lugh 6, causing an estimated 9,322 Federal civilian casualties. The Federation's key outpost in the system falls to seperatists, causing the Navy to withdraw from Lugh in defeat. Hudson uses these events to further undermine the President, openly calling for her dismissal. The President belatedly denies accusations of incomptency, but her popularity continues to fall. To make matters worse, the War on the Onionhead drug still rages on, with no end in sight.
On 28 Apr 3301, the President announces a tour of Federal frontier systems to shore up political support. Hudson attempts to derail the President's efforts, challanging her to a live policy debate. Risking the appearance of weakness, she refuses Hudson's demands, and embarks on her tour aboard Space Flight One on 13 May 3301. The tour is expected to cover Hip 53688, Tinia, Aleumoxii, 78 Ursae Majoris, Dietri, Su, Furuhjelm I-645, Saga, Delphin, Nanomam, Coriccha and Ross 860.
Events take a strange turn when on 24 May 3301, when Space Flight One announces an unscheduled detour to Azaleach, only to disappear whilst in hyperspace at 0300hrs on 26 May 3301. Secretary of State Felicia Winters quickly assumes the role of Acting President amidst investigations and speculation. Consiracy nuts come crawling out of the woodwork, whilst Hudson lives up to the politician's stereotype by immediately using this opportunity to further descredit the remnents of President Halsey's administration. By 29 May 3301, Hudson calls for a vote of no confidence on Halsey’s administration, and is overwhelmingly voted in as the new President of the Federation on 2 Jun 3301. That same day, the official report into the Starship One incident is released, concluding that the cause of Starship One’s loss was a complex multi-stage engine failure.
Despite the political turmoil, the situation on the ground actually stabilises, and President Hudson begins implementing his policy agenda on 9 Jun 3301, beginning with a crackdown on smugglers and increased military spending to counter the perceived Imperial threat. Ex-travelling salesman, Brad Mitchell, is appointed Vice President.
While President Hudson's popularity is rising to new heights, Shadow President Winters is getting support from unlikely allies, with Princess Aisling recently announcing her support for a peace treaty with the Shadow President, stating that they both "stand for a cleaner more moral government" in their respective factions.
Aliens
The mythical Silver Comet is purportedly sighted in the Alioth System on 27 Jan 3301. To date, there's no further news on this mysterious object.
A month later, on 10 Feb 3301, Alien Artefacts begin surfacing at auction in the Ngurii System, but its uncertain if this is genuine or simply a hoax. On 4 May 3301, an actual Unknown Artefact is recovered from a Federation vessel by Dr. Arcannon, et. al. Research on the artefact intensifies, but yields no results. Dr. Arcannon appeals to the Federation to "come forward and tell us what they know of this object and its origins".
Dr. Arcannon's appeals go unanswered, but by 18 May 3301, reports indicate that similar relics have arrived at labs on both Mars and Sol for further testing. The Doctor perseveres with his research, and by 10 Jul 3301, discover that the artefacts emit a distorted but audible signal in morse code. Its speculated that these artefacts are in fact homing beacons, but its real function remains a mystery.
The Kumo Crew
14 May 3301, the Kumo Crew under Warlord Archon Delaine begins sweeping through the Pegasi Sector. His background is brutal and bloody, beginning at the tender age of 15 in 3264, when he rose to prominence after brutally beating the Kumo Crew’s previous leader to death with his bare hands. After pummeling more of his enemies into submission, the Archon oversaw a massive restructuring of his ‘family’, and the Kumo Crew have gone from being a feared local drug cartel to one of the most influential criminal syndicates in the galaxy.
On 11 Jul 3301, 7,300 graduates from the Naval Academy of Achenar join Operation Davy Jones, an elite Imperial vanguard operating to liberate the Pegasi sector.
The Fuel Rats
A heroic group of independent pilots who will save your bacon when you run out of fuel in the middle of nowhere. They're on duty all galactic day, just scream for help on their forum thread. They've saved over 190 stranded pilots, including most recently this dude who was too cheap to buy the extended warranty on his fuel scoop.
A Final Note
Do keep track of the community goals; these reflect the in-game activities based on certain stories on GalNet. If you have an exciting story from being part of the events mentioned on GalNet, please share your stories below and link to the relevant GalNet news item!
Well, that's it for now, have fun! Let me know if you enjoyed this, and I'll try to update this post when more news comes out.
p.s. If any Devs read this, please please please make your lore WEBSITE more user friendly and accessible for new players. Its a shame that your writers' efforts are stymied by a website designed in the 1990's. Please add more background stories, especially on key actors/actresses and the Alliance, preferably with separate links that are not lumped in with regular news items. It would also be nice to be able to scroll through all the news items chronologically, as its a massive pain to INDIVIDUALLY click through 180+ new items. Lastly, stories organised/tagged by topic would be great, and direct links at the end of each news item to preceding, related news items would be very helpful.
p.s.s. Why is there only 1 Asian leader when half the stations, especially in Empire space, appear to have crappy Asian accents? I keep expecting to be asked if I want to be loved long time with a side dish of flied lice... C'mon, break the racial stereotyping already!
Last edited: