The truce - 2023/06/23

Hello and welcome, this is Erin O'Nealz reporting for Sixth Sense News about the situation in New Hypatia (dont' forget to follow me on Twitter!).

It's official: Brutus and the O-12 have signed a truce.
The city is now is more silent than ever, a silence echoing what this planet may have looked like before the apperance of the first organisms: a world without death, but also without life.

The truce was signed to give Brutus - formally: the City Council of New Hypatia, enough time to evaluate the Stability Agreement formulated by the Bureau. The O-12 estimates the acceptance range of the deal to be between 95% and 97%, unprecedented numbers for this century.

Basically, they are giving Brutus what he wants. It turned out the minor city of New Hypatia was not percieved as such by many powers of the Sphere, who leveraged its anonymity to hide or deal with their dirty laundries. These kind of subterfuges have been hindering the capacity of the Sphere to work in synergy in times of trouble, as we have seen during the Durgama Takeover, and you can tell the O-12 is as angry to Brutus as to its so-called allies. 

So, yes: they are giving Brutus what he wants. And according to a noisy minorty of analysits, that's exactly why the Stability Agreement won't be accepted by Brutus. The City may in fact have reached its goals, goals that it would eventually have reached trough the winding roads of democracy and beurocracy. But Brutus's actions never were for the sake of the city, they were aimed towards the unleashing of chaos. 

As the walrus of the XIX century poem by Lewis Carrol, Brutus will now start eating his supporters - the City Council of New Hypatia to name one - to pursue his very true agenda.  This is what the aforementioned analysts expect, despite the different opinion supported by mainstream media and O-12 itself, who look forward to an abrupt peace and  prosperity. Continuing the parallel with the story, we still don't know much about the Carpenter, the Walrus's partner in crime, the schemer who allowed Brutus to reach the position where he is now. Someone is hiding in the shadow, and this truce is more helpful to this player than it is to New Hypatia.

See you in 4 days, when the future of New Hypatia will be unveiled.

Emergency landing (2 of 2) - 2023/06/21

[...]

They sped up the video as crates and crates of rocks from the Lasagna trench passed through the screen.

- It's just... rocks - murmured Chickpea.

- Oh, not that one!
Philomena nailed the finger on the screen so hard she almost broke it.
Zoom in! What does the crate says?

- Its a crate for organic materials but, it says "WARNING: high magnetic field". What the hell does that mean?

- It means we have to watch it again. But this time, show me the virobiological signature.

Crates and crates of rock passed again on the screen, along with the faint, pulsating shadows of the operators' virbio signatures until...one operator mysteriously had two.

- There it is! That's a...

But, realizing that she didn't jumped up as she wanted, she couldn't finish her speech: her armour had been deactivated.

- Quantronic attack!  She shouted out of her lungs.

Chickpea rolled under the desk as the roof collapsed under the weight of two Garuda Tacbots filling the room with the fumes of their reactors and shotgun rounds.
- Gotcha!  Screamed Chickpea, as he neutralized the enemy hacker. Meanwhile, Cajon hurled a smoke granade to assist Felix's work to reboot the Mobile Brigada's armor. Before the smoke filled her view, Philomena saw Sister Dynamite falling down, wounded. 

As the sound of battle kept growing around her, she coulnd't help but asking herself: what was a Tohaa Kiiutan Imposter doing at the Patricious Oceanographic Data Center, three months before?

Emergency landing (1 of 2) - 2023/06/19

- Did that look like a landing pad to you? It'll take me months to repair the Ugly. We were supposed to land on a landing pad, not into a building.

- Shut up Felix, blurted out Philomena, we still have a mission ahead of us.

The team was running from corner to corner towards the large silhouette of the Patricious Oceanographic Data Center.

Sister Dynamite, the ships' medic, sprinted to reach Philomena - who was running ahead supported by the steel muscles of  her armour. She deactivated her comlog and spoke to her directly, while the rest of the team caught up.

- Don't be too rough on him. I know this team's sense of duty is...questionable, but our engineer kinda has a pont here. Cajon is not the pilot he used to be anymore and...

Philomena barely listened. She passed her a pair of visors and abruptely begun briefing her.

- That's the Patricious Oceanographic Data Center. Reaching it was not our on our key objectives list but since we crash landed here we have been tasked with this side mission as they figure out a way to extract us from enemy territory. Don't ask me what an Oceanographic Data Center is because I don't know ; what I know is we don't give a damn about it but our enemies do and Motherships want to know why. It won't give us the upper hand in this New Hypatian mess but I'm just a soldier following orders so it's not like I really care.

They entered the building without facing resistance, but the place had obiously seen a lot of action in previous days. Serious monoliths of stone holding the roofs of the Data Center's halls watched the squad pass by, directed to the lower levels of the building.

- That's the place: get us in.

Chickpea, the young hacker of the Ugly Duckling, started working on the holographic interface of the Security System's door pointed out by Philomena. Two minutes later, the two were sitting on a desk, browsing through the cancelled video data that Chickpea had promptly retrieved.

-Go back to the day before the blockade: the Center was shut down that day by a sudden emendament of the City Council. And there it is: these are the mercs working for Brutus. They're bringing in some sort of...equipment? Does this look like an JY7 railgun laser pointing system to you?

- Madam, this is my first operation. I...

- Nevermind. Bring me back three months, according to the shipping data there shuld be a big load of ocean samples coming in hangar five: I wanna see what's so special about it.

[to be continued...]

A space trek - 2023/06/16

Wang Shū's comlog blinked twice. He waited, calmly, and picked up only when he felt a real O-12 space maintenance operator would have picked up.

- Babybird, this is Mama Hen. You're on the wrong panel.

- Babybird to Mama Hen: I'm streaming you my helmet's video, the section's right. I noticed that too because my coordinates don't match either: I was filling the defect report when you called.

Hacking the same ship he had served in during Operation Scaleshield carried a strange feeling, but Wang Shū's loyalty to the Jade Empire was above his duty as occasional attached Tian Gǒu orbital operator to Starmada.

- Oh, well done Babybird. I'm glad you're following the procedure.

- Never judge a book by its cover Mama Hen, I know my Ariadnan accent precedes me.

- Ehehe, no offense man, we know your zero-g maintenance squad keeps this ship together. Please submit the report and proceed with the repair. Mama Hen over and out.

- Yes sir, Babybird out.

He finished loading the explosive charges right below the reinforced armor plates while the fake recorded streaming kept showing how he performed all the repair activities. He was sure: no power that could be tricked so easily should have led humanity into the future, not after Durgama. The Human Sphere needed a failsafe, an emerging leader: that role could not be taken by anyone but Yu Jing.

Sure, what commander Cho had implied was unsettling: the failing point on Halmeoni's hull was allegedly pointed out during a courtesy visit from an alien delegate on Shentang, in exchange for details and blueprints of New Hypatia's first construction operations. Anyway: better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without. 

Yet, something kept buzzing in the background of his thoughts: the unsettling feeling of something odd going on creeped on his consciousness like a looming shadow. His mission now was to return on the light transport vector that brought him there, mixing up with the number of Nomads ships and wrecked satellites over New Hypatia  to disappear without a trace. But Wang Shū had felt that sensation before and this time, he wouldn't have let it poison his future with regret: pivoting on the suit's propulsors, he manouvered to enter the Halmeoni's maintenance docks...

Message in a bottle - 2023/06/15

New Hypatia
Day 0 of the Crisis
2 hours after the blockade announcement

The air, in the Haqqislamite embassy on New Hypatia, was electric. Ambassador Hamudd, who had been away for business and was supposed to come back that same day, had just communicated that he couldn't make it to the embassy due to the no landing zone issued by both Brutus and the O-12 and was thus taxing in high orbit.

Kadar Nazmin, senior diplomatic dignitary and true engine of the embassy through every ambassador in charge for the last twenty years, was carefully listening to Saladin's public speech about the crisis. It was the eleventh time.

"...for the darkest of our fears shall not obscure the lights of perseverance. What we have painstakingly conquered, as a society, will not be sunk in the depths of cowardice, neglecting the efforts of those who came before us, who dreamed the lives we are living now. These actions are no different from..."

The speech was still going on when Salma A'ashara, military attachè, stormed the room.

- I spoke with General Minerw'a. Their hands are still tied, officially. Risk assesment is going to define the code of the operation any minute now, but things will start rolling only after it and they can't guarantee they'll keep us up to date since, well, we're in Brutus territory.

Two young diplomatic couriers, Farah and Abbass, were just ending their breathless report:
- ...we know there's a black lab elsewhere, but this is our opportunity to enter the abandoned mall where they store the components and shut that clandestine business down once and for all!

Sayyid, the trade commissioner, sat hands in his hair, quickly scrolling and dismissising an incessant stream of notifications on his comlog. It seemed like he could not even hear any bit of the whole mess that was going on in the room.

When Saladin's speech started for the twelveth time Aisha, senior scientific attaché with years of uncredited duty in the ranks of Hassassin Barham, sighted loudly while turning her black, piercing eyes away from the screen: 

- Senior dignitary, are you going to keep playing this stuff over and over or are we actually going to react to whatever the hell is going on here?

Kadar paused the speech, calmly smoothing his white mustache. Everyone fell silent, while an ambulance flyer passed sirens blasting over their heads.

- Fellow members of New Hypatia's Haqqislamite embassy. Saladin is a man of two worlds: Haqqislam and O-12. Here, he is addressing everyone in the Human Sphere. But listening to his words I believe he had buried a secret meaning in his message. Something destinated to us.

- To us...as Haqqislamites?
asked Farah.

- To us, as members of New Hypatia's Haqqislamite emabssy. Apparently, we were using that ship to smuggle something very important to us. We - I mean: the ambassador, was supposed to be barely aware of what was going on but now, regardless of how improbable this may sound, we are the only team that can reach and retrieve the target before it's lost forever. There is no need to wait for risk assesment: this, is code infinity.

When war drums roll - 2023/06/13

Hello and welcome, this is Erin O'Nealz reporting for Sixth Sense News from the O-12 crisis center about the situation at New Hypatia (dont' forget to follow me on Twitter!).

It seems that Admiral Bocca himself has requested his staff to secure a lot inside the Chalcis Virtual Theme Park to build a land operation center, exploiting the fact that said lot is technically outside the city's jurisdiction. This lot was currently under construction to host a new attraction named Domus Cleopatrae. Leah Recalcas, Bocca's Alpha Unit & Strategic Consuelor, has been entrusted as Chief of Land Operations and is currently coordinating O-12's forces all around the park.

In a video message directed to the citizens of New Hypatia, Brutus himself has shown up from an unidentified location. He reassured the population, pledged full trust into the City's Council and showed footage of his mercenaries fighting bravely against alien intruders near Piquatchu Cliff, in the west, stating: "Our borders are homes to our hearts!" .

Yu Jing forces have succesfully exfiltrated Zinghao Chenma, owner of Chenma Pharmaceutics, from Sèlentra. The exfiltration of Chenma was stated as the reason for Yu Jing's presence in the residential area, but now it looks like they still want to keep fighting for it regardless, implying something else is going on.

Western skies - 2023/06/12

On km 45 of West Scenic Route 3 is one of the defense batteries of the strait, overlooking New Hypatia and the steep cliffs diving in the ocean below. Next to the the huge rail gun, not too far away from the road and covered with camouflage nets, two military trucks were parked close to each other, forming the typical Ariadnan fast setup coordination center.

Inside one of the trucks, an old Dozer was sweating and swearing bent over a comlog cabled to the turret itself.

Five silhouettes came out of the shadows, welcomed just with a nod by perimeter guards. One of the five was in a bag, while another was wounded. A young woman stepped over, removing her helmet before speaking.

- Team Rice reporting for duty.

The radio crackled, interrupting her report: team Wheat was informing the command that they were about to engage the enemy in close combat.

- We made contact with the aliens on the shore. Onyx I believe. They were setting up a camp in one of the coves we were patrolling.

The deep, warm voice of Captain Melchior addressesd her.

- At rest soldier. Mend your wounds.

While team Rice entered the medical truck, the officer started scanning the coast with an old visor: the sea was studded with many unidentified biometric signatures.

Suddenly, the sky over New Hypatia was lit up with tracers, prompting Melchior to join the old Dozer inside the truck.

- What's going on over there, DJ?

- Nomads ships sir. They have been teasing both New Hypatia's airspace and the Halmeoni's orbit until the entered the city batteries' range and started exchanging fire.

- How many?

- Three at least. Hotheads for sure. They seems to be the Ugly Duckling, Tunguska's Gunny Bear and the Horny Badger.

- Interesting. I reached Raveneye's Starboard Battery thanks to a lift by the Ugly Duckling. We wouldn't have held the place without their help. This is classified information, of course.
What a crazy ship, and what a crew: Philomena, Arnaud Duanra, Cuddles, Sister Dynamite...No surprise they'll get themselves killed tonight.

An interminable minute passed, punctuated by the irregular hum of the ventilation fans.

- It looks like the raid has stopped, but the Ugly made it past the defences'short range. It just emergency landed on New Hypatia.

- Crazy Nomads. Unbelievable. Anyway, let's get back to work: we've got our own probl-

Suddenly, a long and hoarse howl broke the silence of the coast.

- Perfect timing. Looks like team Millet has engaged the enemy as well. 

The silent mouth - 2023/06/09

Erin O'Nealz personal comlog.
_Classified_
_7 days after the beginning of New Hypatia's crisis_
_CameRaccoon_ON

The situation is worsening, and what at the beginning could have seemed like a neighborhood skirmish is rapidly turning into an open war, involving more and more areas of the city. The tension and the constant sense of danger have transcended the boundaries of New Hypatia, and even the Crisis Center set up on battleship Halmeoni no longer seems like a safe place.

With no small effort and the intercession of the diplomatic corps present on board, I managed to have a brief conversation with Admiral Bocca, with a commitment not to divulge the few select statements he made to me.

Admiral Bocca, a man of great moral character and a fine strategist, fears for the safety of civilians operating at the Crisis Center, which is why he has ordered that all non-essential civilian personnel on board the battleship Halmeloni be transferred to O-12 Garrison on New Hypatia.

I tried to inquire about the specific factual circumstances that led him to make this decision, in the hope that he would provide me with some details that could orient me once in the city, but he was hermetic, as indeed is expected of a military man of his rank.

Erin O'Nealz personal comlog.
_Classified_
_8 days after the beginning of New Hypatia's crisis_
_CameRaccoon_OFF

I arrived on New Hypatia, at O-12 Garrison. I was assigned a small apartment where I could barely share space with my CameRaccoon, but at least I was luckier than other civilians transferred from Halmeloni, placed in military dormitories. 

In view of Admiral Bocca's reticence, I tried to ask a few "uncomfortable" questions of the personnel present in O-12 Garrison, but despite addressing lower ranks I did not get much information. 

Some rumors claimed that Yu Jing’s undercover agents had managed to sneak onto the Halmeloni, but everyone trusts in Admiral Bocca's abilities, firm in the unshakeable belief that such a circumstance could not occur under his careful command.

My first day back in New Hypatia draws to a close and I must prepare myself...the next few days will be challenging, I am sure.

A snake's night - 2023/06/08

Rain was pouring on the streets. Huong looked up, scanning the sky for signs of Nomad ships swarming the orbit as if they wanted to have that space all for themselves, teasing and taunting the Halmeoni - surely even trying to hack and infiltrate it - waiting for the right opportunity to storm their objectives on New Hypatia and claim a seat at the table. Maybe she's up there, she thought, melancholic. But there was no way she could see through that thick blanket of clouds without the right equipment. She sighted, while someone approached her on the sidewalk.

-What you doin'here, Boomslang?

Boomslang, one of Earth's most venomous snakes: that's how Fengbao called her. No one knew his real name. Some Ikari veteran called him Fengbao once and the name just stayed. Now he was a veteran himself, the kind that gives nicknames that stick.

-I was looking for fresh air. Helps me focus.

- Ah! Can't figure what you find fresh about all this. I prefer the A/C of the worst fertilizing cargo ship on the galaxy to this stuff. Your "fresh air" is rubbish - a disease carrier, that's what it is.

Huong turned around and the two got back inside the building, a gym now occupied by their mercenary company as many other buildings around New Hypatia. Everyone was either checking their gear or chatting, making the place awkwardly relaxing.

-You know Boomslang, I read the  mission briefing: I'm glad to have you with us for tomorrow's patrol in Sélentra.

- Yeah, me too. I signed up for an extra tour when I heard YJs are swarming the place. I have an unfinished business with them, you know. It looks like they're searching for proofs of their war crimes over there, to destroy them of course. They'll find my blade instead.

Fengbao nodded. He looked like he was trying to recall something before continuing.

-We all have unfinished business with them. But the blues are also in Sélentra and they're on their toes since they have to deal with some alien POW's mess or the devil knows what. Anyway, we might have to face different threats from the ones you expect. Don't blind yourself foretasting deliverance.

Huong gave him a bitter look; Boomslang was a really good nickname for her.

-Are you really going to lecture me with the "revenge is a dish best served cold" thing?

He laughed, patting her back.

-No, but I have another quote for you: revenge is a pleasure reserved for smart people.

She shrugged his hand away.

-What would that mean?

- I bet you'll figure it out, if you're a smart person...

The fallen district - 2023/06/07

Underestimating the role of Akhua Leisure District in this crisis could lead to an even worse excalation. This is his [Brutus'] breadbasket and he's not even directly benefitting from it. What he did was exploiting an ecosystem where the mercenaries he hired could thrive, relaxing their dependancy from his checks. [...] Now the mercenaries actually want this crisis to last longer and Akhua is not even their main objective, just a side hustle: you may call it an happy incident. [laughs]

Everything started over two years ago: the involvement of silk trader Batth'o Ubelin in the fallout of Donacimiento Incident led to a rapid decline of his venues as many of them were taken over by PanOceanian management as a compensation for suffered damage. 

[redacted conversation about quality of the buffet] 

Batth'o had two businesses in New Hypatia: Akhua Leisure District and Chalcis Virtual Theme Park. Since Mena, his sister, had 80% of the park shares that was quickly put out of the picture; therefore, the Akhua Leisure District become the apple of discord. The attorneys of both parts fought bitterly in court, leading to a lengthy process. Eventually, as expected, the PanOceanian side won. However, the situation they found is far from perfect and now it's even more difficult to set foot in the district without máfan [idiomatic, lit. troubles]. There's not much to save from this deteriorated Leisure District and for PanO it has become a matter of principle to gain control over it.

To complicate things even more, it seems that the submondo has established here its center for the trade of off-the-grid cubes and industrial secrets. When an high functionary of [unintelligible], a pharmaceutical company, was  found hands in dough doing shady business in the district, the Haqquislamite embassy took the chance to express disdain and rage for what was going on here. Not publicly, of course. [..] They are directly harmed by the current situation and you can tell they want it to end as soon as possible.

- Zu Min Lou, Yu Jing analyst for sociological studies and foreign relations, recorded during a private conversation with an unidentified guest, druing the ceremony for the inauguration of Satèllite Memorial, Concilium.

Sub rosa - 2023/06/05

Shasvastii Strike Force Submarine #8 "Picasso"
Somewhere below the waters outside New Hypatia

- What reports on the human freighters?

- They are detouring as expected sir. We are detecting that some are also being escorted by manned ships now.

Ba Fashas nodded, while his attendant came in saluting.

- Sir, the connection you have required is ready.

Walking back to his office, Ba kept thinking about those ships. It shouldn't, but it surprised him to see the events unfold exactly as predicted by the Shasvastii Intelligence. Were humans this predictable? If so, how could have they withstood this well the Combined Army until now? He forced himself to dismiss such thoughts to focus on the upcoming meeting.

The crispy hologram of minister Tash Cora lit up moments after Ba had closed the door behind him.

- Ba, my friend, what else can I do for you?

The freshly appointed Brigadier General smirked. That "else" carried all the meaning the minister wanted to convey.

- Tash Cora, thank you for reaching out. I wanted to reassure you about the situation. Things are evolving as expected and I can guarantee we are in control. Our infiltrators are reaching the shores of New Hypatia as we speak and...

Ba opened up his screen to share the tactical map of the strait but Tash lift up his hand, stopping the stream of information.

- Don't get me into the military details, I won't get any of that anyway. Let's talk about politics: you want me to talk the council out of setting the base of operation on your brand new submarine. Well, forget about it. Decisions have already been made.

Ba remained silent: he had hoped to have more room for negotiation. Before he could make his next move, the minister spoke again.

- Instead, we should focus on the new opportunities we have now. There is a suspicious interest of our allies about some environmental data stored in New Hypatia. We know that some of the members of the conjuration you helped blowing up with your exploits in Durgama were assigned to this sector and I suspect these two things are linked. Keep your eyes open.

- Sir, with all due respect, I feel like we're not on the same page. You're asking me to surveil my hosts as if this was some kind of routine patrol, while I'm about to welcome on my submarine a Morat dropship assigned to no one less than the decorated Flash Wars hero Kornak Gazarot!

Tash Cora gave him an annoyed look.

- My friend, I am truly sorry but I have to leave you dealing with this alone right now: pressing matters urge me elsewhere. Remember the task I gave you and don't lose your temper.

Connection fell, leaving Ba Fashas alone once again.

- This is an opportunity, he whispered, trying to convince himself. 

When in Rome... - 2023/06/03

Notes by Phemius The Aoidos for the SSS Information Service: 

Marcus Junius Brutus, the assassin of Caesar. Despite the improvements of the last decade, these entertainment recreations are far from the quality and the complexity dedicated to the Homeric champions. However, it is evident that this Brutus is something more than a robotic puppet built to please the spendthrift visitors of Chalcis Virtual Theme Park. His quirks and his flaws are still exaggerated, but his oratory skills and his strategic vision sure surpass those of his original counterpart. Is this escalation just an unexpected turn of the events due to a faulty routine, or is someone behind all this? I have four hypotesis:

1. Nomads have always dreamed of landing on New Hypatia for trades and supplies. Maybe creating this Brutus was just a bravado of an extremist fringe, but they'll all seize this opportunity regardless;

2. the Tohaas have promptly proposed themselves as negotiators for this crisis, acknowledging righteousness on both sides. It really looks as if they were prepared for this, to shine in our eyes;

3. the Combined Army has infiltrated in the Human Sphere enough to perfectly understand our flaws. This quarrel has all the potential to crack several alliances: what if the same thing should happen on every planet of the Human Sphere? We can't rule out the possibility this is the rehearsal for something bigger;

4. things tend to go out of control when they grow rapdly and Aleph had to expand unimaginably fast to contrast the EI's Second Wave. What if by unknowingly overlapping our own strategies we had accidentaly laid down the foundations for Brutus's exploit? Our directives to seize Chalcis pair oddly with what has happened a couple years ago at another of Batth'o Ubelin's theme parks: what are we covering up to ourselves?

Postcards from New Hypatia - 2023/06/02

Hello and welcome, this is Erin O'Nealz reporting for Sixth Sense News about the situation in New Hypatia (dont' forget to follow me on Twitter!).

Fights have been going on today. It seems that the arrival of battleship Halmeoni has spiced things up rather than toning them down. Nomads ships have reportedly been refusing to leave low orbit positions, with a message from N.N. Hatsune Miku claming the three Jurisdictional Commands are "sorting things out by themselves".

Grand Master Burana, who has been in New Hypatia since before the beginning of this crisis to attend a conference about Military Orders and their role in the human sphere, has granted full support to the Sèlentra community, where many wealthy PanOceanians live, stating: "our holy swords will defend the status quo". However, it has been noted that Grand Master Burana has not been participating to the conference for the whole past week, which leaves some doubts about his real schedule in New Hypatia.

Ariadnan forces claimed to have repelled an Haqquislamite tentative to gain control of the strait to the expense of the Agile Chipmunk, a ship already battered by the strait's security measures set up with the blockade. Dignitaries from Haqquislam have denied both the event and any hostility towards Ariadna, but hadn't turned down the hypotesis of their interest in controlling the docks.

So it begins - 2023/06/01

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining me in this briefing. As Alpha Unit Stretegic Consuelor for Admiral Bocca, I am in charge of field operations during this crisis. More than the trades harmed by the blockade, we care about the people: citizens of New Hypatia are in danger and we want them to know that O-12 is on their side. 

To those puzzled by the fact that a strait blockade can cause so much trouble to the supply chain of the Human Sphere in the twentiethsecond century, let me remind you that we are talking about billions of tonnes of products and raw materials crossing the strait each day to reach spaceports dedicated for their transit. The passage of these remote piloted vessels was such a trusted part of the process we underestimated the possibility it could collapse.

This happened because we are a functioning society. We have rules, and everyday we enforce and study new ones to face threats humankind had never imagined. This blockade is unwanted, unpleasant and unexpected, but -until further notice from our beurocrats studying the matter - it's in New Hypatia's City Council right to issue it. We have strong and motivated suspects that this ill decision was suggested by a criminal mastermind codenamed Brutus, but this doesn't change the rightfulness of the City Council's decision.

Unfortunately, the Q&A session we had scheduled had been reduced to a single question due to pressing matters ahead. Vince McMahogany, from Panorama, asks - and I quote: "What is the O-12 position about terraforming proposals issued by ALEPH last year to build three new strategical straits? They have been rejected twice: will Bureau Gaea now approve them?" end of quote.

These proposals were rejected after a collegial decision of Bureau Gaea, Bureau Hermes and Bureau Ganesha, following a standard procedure. Maybe they will be rejected again in the future, despite this crisis. It's the law: this is how we choose to address our matters as a civilization."

  -Leah "Checkmate" Recalcas, O-12 Alpha Unit & Strategic Consuelor.
Press conference on day 1 of Operation Hungry Walrus.