Inner Sphere News Thread

[DXM]

Excerpted from The New Frontiersman News Journal
Article: "Republic Seeks International Recognition" (W. Kovaks)
Source: New Apollo


In a sure sign that the paradigm is beginning to shift, the Rim Worlds Republic has decided to go public.  In addition to requesting (and receiving!) ComStar sponsorship of HPGs on our "hidden worlds" here in the Rim, President Pro-Tem (she insists of the term, but seriously -- we'd elect her President-for-life is she'd let us!) Daphne Rowe has also taken a giant step forwards for the Republic by announcing that she is publicly seeking foreign recognition of the legitimacy of the Republic's government.  This is key because if we can get even a single one of the Great Houses to sit up and say "Yes" to it, then that means we're no longer some trumped-up revolution.  We can claim to be a nation.

And apparently, we're one step ahead in that game anyways.  Ms Rowe released a written statement that claimed that an ambassador from the Rim has already been dispatched to Atreus, capital of the Free Worlds League, and that an "aide package" is in the works between us and them.  Now, a lot of our people -- including the folks from Bolan who came late to the party -- don't like the Mariks very much.  Three centuries of open war will do that, I guess, especially when they just tried stabbing us in the back not six months ago.  But frankly, I'm willing to set aside my dislike if it means that Marik troops are helping us kick the Clans off of Ender's Cluster, Apollo, and Somerset.

But now we can throw a wrench in the works: House Steiner has been decapitated and the Lyran Commonwealth is leaderless.  Ok, leaderless is the wrong word; let's just say that all of the Indians want to be Chiefs nowadays.  Skye, Alarion, and Arc-Royal all claim to be the current capitals of the Commonwealth, we've got two claimants to the Archonship, and now a wannabe-Estates General spouting drivel about political solidarity and the CAPITAL-LETTER EVIL OF THE RIM WORLDS REPUBLIC.

Why can’t everyone get past this whole Amaris thing?  The man was an asshole, yeah, but he’s dead and so is his entire family.  Its not like the House Lords are any malfing better!  Jinjiro Kurita ordered the entire population of Kentares IV exterminated, resulting in over 50 million deaths.  House Liao was a police state for centuries; more Capellan citizens have been killed by House Liao than by Davion soldiers.  There’s a new Terran Hegemony; what’s wrong with a new Rim Worlds Republic?

Anyway, back to this whole Lyran Collapsing-wealth -- I mean Commonwealth -- thing.  If the Arc Royal Estates really wanted to prevent this familial spat from degenerating into a civil war, they shouldn’t be trying to push us away.  They should inviting us back in!  The Republic just inherited a fair swath of territory.  If they could get President Rowe and Robert Kelswa to sit down on Arc Royal for a summit, then perhaps we could hash something out.  But nooooo, they want to emulate Little Debbie Mac and her Union of Independent Worlds by turning bigot on us.  Not cool, Debbie.  You’re coming off our Christmas Card lists.

But that’s beside the point.  What I’m saying is that the Republic is entering the limelight.  For good or ill, we’re putting ourselves out there and saying, “Here we are.”  We’ve been living in the shadows for a good long while now, keeping New Apollo and The Dales and all of our other colonies secret.  We’re stepping out into the light, showing the world our true face.  It’s a beautiful one, but that’s all in the eye of the beholder.

[Cannonshop]

News from the Edge

In a surprise press conference this evening, Archduchess Debra MacAulliffe clarified UIW foreign policies...

"Evenin', it's late but ah thought ah should break this to ya without spendin' tahm on rehearsals, since it's pretty damn important.  By a vote of the majority of the Electoral Congress, it has been decided that if the Clannahs want t'take on th' Terrans, they're welcome t'do so-so long as it's kept outside the bordah of the Union of Independent Worlds.  In Clannah speak, thet means any Clannah wants t' take on th' Terrans, whose forces nearly destroyed the Free Worlds not seven yeahs ago can pass raght on through ou' space, just as long as they ain't intent on stayin, Safcon is granted for offensive operations against the Terran Hegemony, assumin' the Star Adders will let you pass through their paht of the Lyran Commonwealth.  Ou' debt t' the Terrans died with Jaime Wolf, an' if the Clannahs want t' commit suicide-by-terran, ah see no reason to impede theah progress-it's not lahk they was trippin' ovah themselves t' recognize oah independence, oah to offer us he'p in the event of futhah Clan invasions, fact is, they, lahk the Thah-Kad gov'mint, could not care less fo' us, ah see nothin' wrong with returnin' the attention, but Ah see MUCH wrong with dyin' as theah proxies."

she shuffles her notes, "On th' Othah hand, we ARE obligated t' the Free Worlds League, both fo' theah choice to Recognize oah independence, an' theah offah t' provide much-needed aid, somethin' no othah Innah Spheah powah has offah'd.  Should the Free Worlds be attacked in theah homefront, we will considah it a pra-o-ity t' rendah aid, should theah units request it, they may find sanctuarah in oah sphere of influence, so long as they do not initiate hostilities with anyone else inside oah bordahs, we ah lahkwahse indebted t' the NIOPS association, an' will come should they call with whatevah fo'ces we can muster.  As fo' the rest...well, it's a mattah of cases, but in gen'ral, with those exceptions, we are Neutral."

[august]

Mass Arrests on Arc-Royal?
Source: Newswire Kaumberg

Potentially disturbing footage has reached the office of Newswire Kaumberg, apparently showing the mass arrest of protestors on Arc Royal. While the total video runs in less than two minutes and lacks sound, it appears to display local police as well as a number of men wearing the patch of the Association of the Tharkad Martyrs violently confronting Lyran citizens and herding them into police vans. Signs carried indicate that the unhappiness with the "Emergency Acts" that the Arc Royal Estates General has declared was the cause of the protest. The video displays some fifteen to twenty arrested, but the footage implies that the protest may have been much larger and the numbers of those arrested greater.

When contacted by our bureau, Tainya Algeburg, Delegate Khartoum and Director of Communications for the Estates General issued the following statement. "I can confirm that there have been isolated incidents of unlawful gathering used as a front for dissident activity. Numerous arrests have been made, but none of the encounters have turned violent. The police and their auxiliaries are using utmost caution in identifying subversives who threaten the state. There were no 'mass arrests,' and no cases in which those taken into custody were harmed. It appears that Newswire Kaumberg has been taken in by a video clip known to us, one that was intentionally mauled to cover the shoddy editing of footage. This video is a product undertaken by dissidents who would undermine the legitimate government of the Commonwealth in order to prop up greedy village strongmen."

One local video expert, who requested anonymity for reasons of safety, disagreed with the Delegate's statement, claiming that there is no evidence of editing or that the damage might be intentional. Newswire Kaumberg will inform the citizens of any further developments.

[NVA]

Clan Wolf Reuinted.  Declares Support for Commanding General Marco Hall.

Marco Hall's election as Commanding General of the Star League Defense Force left many questions.  He answered one in a brief press release.

Many have feared the clans.  In general, this should not be necessary.  A clan warrior's purpose is to defend those who cannot defend themselves from the predation of war, not to visit it upon them.  As Commanding General, I will stand with those who have this goal to defend all.  As is tradition among the clans when one is elected ilKhan or among the original Star League, I hereby lay down my claim to the position of Khan of Clan Wolf.  However, one of my last actions was to send forces to Tamar to reunite the Wolf Clan under one banner.  A trial was fought to determine whose path was correct since the Refusal War.  saKhan Craig Fetladral has reported success.  There will clearly be a transition, but once more the whole Wolf Clan will protect the Star League from the threats that exist.  To deal with the threats throughout the inner sphere, I hereby call on any and all volunteers to join the SLDF.  If you seek to protect the people of the inner sphere, regardless of which state they may be a part of, then come and join us on this honorable path..

[Cannonshop]

News From the Edge...

Jordan Cramer,  News from The Edge Magazine, 26 August, 3069

an interview with Archduchess MacAulliffe

The drive up to the MacAulliffe farm from Grantsberg is a long one-nearly five hours passing through fields, stands of woodland, and up a narrow gravel driveway nearly two kilometers long.  As we passed the gate into the main yard, Our driver could see the famous "Stay Away" sign-the remains of the raiders have, of course, mostly decayed away, but the bones are still dressed in rags with a hand-lettered sign that says simply "Mind your Business".

What we didn't see, perhaps on purpose, were the body-guard detail that had our reporter's car in their sights from Kelway Crossing right into the dooryard of Arluna's most famous (Or notorious) resident.

The MacAulliffe Farm, of course, is now registered as a historic place-it was here that the first provisional government after the Plague was formed in a meeting that lasted nineteen days, it was here that the Star Adders agreed to leave Arluna in the hands of its people, and it was here that Debbie Mac shook the Inner Sphere by meeting with three foreign governments and dealing with them as an equal.  One might be tempted to see that winter of 3068 as the true birth of the Union.

She met us at the door, and poured Jaslisle tea, brewed with sunlight in a thick, glass jar on the porch.

The house, of course, is still the rammed-earth and clapboard two-story that has stood here practically since the first colonists came to Arluna from Donegal, Skye, and Korea.

"Have a seat." she offered me one of the folding deck-chairs, then sat down herself in the porch-swing,  "Any trouble comin' up?" she asked.  Of course, there was none-the route is rather well marked on tourist maps, though the long driveway is usually closed to traffic.

Of course, I indicated I had no trouble at all.  She smiled, and sipped her tea, before prodding me to ask my questions.

What made you decide to take the step to Independence?

Deb: "I didn't.  That decision was made...well, you could say it was made for me-Initially when the Committees asked me, I was against it, but after news of Jessenice, the wildfires on Mahone, and Pol Nguyen's stand on Kwangchowwang, and then the thundering silence from the Commonwealth, I started to change my mind-sure, they had units nearby to all those places-but those units were under orders to remain-in-place, and the High Command was pretty insistent-it was clear to me that the guys at Mount Asgard were dead set on following the McClaren Memorandum, that they would only defend 'hard points'-read, worlds whose Leaders could grease the right palms on Tharkad, and let the rest to rot-but even that didn't do it, I could still appeal to Peter."

Interesting, you use the Late Archon's first name? Were you on a first-name basis?

"Yeah, I was.  Me, Maddie Schrakenberg, Bill Kurst,  Dan Russell, we were his...ya might call it 'troubleshooter team'-find where there's a problem in the system, draft a plan to deal with it, and hand it to the Archon-but then..."

Tharkad.

"Yeah, Tharkad.  Two nukes, no waitin', killed the Estates General an' th' Archon and most of the parasite social generals lurking around Mount Asgard-at least, most of the competent social-generals.  No Peter, no chance of fixing the problem the normal way...and then, well..." she shakes her head, "They lied about it-an' it was an obvious lie."

You mentioned that you knew Daphne Rowe was alive before? and that some members of LIC thought Adam Steiner was, as well?

"Part of my work for Peter again-I came across information indicating she'd been interned at a classified military prison, and that they were still looking for Adam-even had some sighting-reports.  Pete wasn't concerned, he called it 'routine', but he DID ask me to stop looking."

What did you do?

"I was Nineteen and doing something you see in Holovids, of course I clammed up and didn't talk to him about it again...I verified instead, kept it as quiet as I could, I think maybe Bill knew what I was up to, or Maddie...next question please?"

Current Events, then... I understand a number of LCAF units have defected to the Union-care to comment?

"Not at this time-I'd as soon NOT be tellin' Sharon Mulcahy how many troops we've got, if that's alright-I know she's got people will read damn near anything, I'd as soon give her a couple surprises."

So you think the Arc Royal Estates is a threat?

"We left the Commonwealth, we're not playing condom in a war against the Clans with no suppport anymore, I expect she's foaming at the mouth a bit more than Robert Kelswa Steiner is over that, since we're not playing speedbump anymore and they'll have to actually deal with the invaders instead of tossing worlds to them as they run away."

You think that's what Arc Royal intends? They ARE on the front line, after all...

"In a word? Yeah.  I do.  I Know Mulcahy personally, I sat on the Jury in the Morgan Kell Trial, I've bumped heads with that jumped-up tax collector  a time or two...besides, who do you think those Estates General Reps are?? They're the ones that were sodding-off from work, playing grab-ass with Lobbyists and Special Interest groups, or who couldn't be bothered to show up to the Session because it interferes with their leisure time.  Mulcahy's a pretty competent accountant, a vicious prosecutor, and an indifferent leader who relies on threats, bullying, and her office or position to motivate her subordinates-in short, she's a bully, that's her character.  It's a fine one for a tax-collector or a bureaucrat, but...honestly, she's about as fit to govern as a Reaver with a sore a- I mean, toothache...yeah...one that itches...in the bum..."  she sips her tea for a moment, "The woman has no concept of priorities-nor does she have the ability to compromise or form coalitions-that's bad news for the folks out Arc-Royal way, an' it's bad news for us, too-she's going to be looking to start a war to take their minds off the one they're losing, and we're closest, we look easy, that makes her government the second largest threat we face."

What's the largest threat?

"Self Destruction.  Our greatest danger, is that we really can't afford to take missteps dealing with the Clans, or the Inner Sphere.  Our independence draws from our Neutrality-the second we chose a side, all the other sides are going to come pouring down on us like an Avalanche, and that will be the end of our nation, as well as the end of millions, or even billions, of lives.  Entangling foreign alliances are likely to be our doom-especially as a young nation in a perilous position with only a small industrial base to draw on."

What about the Rim Worlds?

"Daphne Rowe's people loosed the Arluna Flu on us, Adam Steiner drew thousands of young men and women to follow him-only instead of following him to glory, he led them to their deaths-Deliberately.  The Rim Worlds Republic has been preying on border-systems for the last two years, and I suspect they're behind the "Reaver'' Pirates that hit Jessenice-either directly behind 'em as sponsors, or indirectly behind 'em with what the covert-ops people call a 'cutout'.  Hell, Daphne's 'restitution act' was financed with selling bad parts to jumpship crews, embezzlement, bribery of Court Justices, intimidation and blackmail of officials, and financial corruption of military personnel-and they had the LIC penetrated at multiple levels to boot.  For all of that, well...I like the term Congressman Judd from Winter used-'Rim Worlds Delenda Est'- it's latin, it means 'The Rim Worlds Must Be Destroyed.'  Sooner or later, the man's going to come around for 'em, and they'll reap what they have sown."

[Cannonshop]

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[silentwarrior]

ISAP News Ticker

Capellan Empire recognizes the Union of Independent Worlds - Ambassador sent

[august]

Violent Uprising on Alma Alta!
Source: Newswire Kaumberg

Local sources report that on 29 August 3069, an angry mob descended on the estate of Count Reginald Punoru, sacking the Count's home and costing the lives of the Count, several estate guards and an undetermined number of attacks. According to a source who was close to the Count but who wishes to remain anonymous for reasons of safety, the attack was politically motivated; Punoru had originally declared for the Arc-Royal Estates General, but had become wary of their use of Emergency Laws and had intended to switch his allegiance to the Donegal/Skye region. Local reports indicate that a number of the attackers were wearing the red jackets of the Association of the Tharkad Martyrs, the “Lyran patriotic organization” founded by Arc-Royal. While the Association's leadership could not be reached for comment, it may be that the organization's vehement pro-Arc Royal and anti-noble stances motivated the attack.

Local police did not appear on the scene until almost an hour after the attack began. While some fifty-eight were taken into custody, charges have been pressed only against two of the attackers, who stand accused of looting. Local police officials released the following statement, “While we do not condone vigilante action in any capacity, our investigation of the estate has convinced us that the Count was indeed plotting treason. The mob that converged on the Estate, comprised almost entirely of dissident estate guards, placed their loyalty to the state before that owed the count. Time was of the essence in order that the Count might not place Alma Alta's security in peril by indicating local military deployments to the pretenders on Donegal. We mourn all the lives lost, including that of our beloved though misguided Count and condemn the attackers for taking matters into their own hands, however noble their aims may have been.”

Count Punoru's sole living son, Reginald, has indicated to Newswire Kaumberg that he will continue his military service on Gacrux and will not return home to claim his father's title at this time. It remains to be seen who will take the reigns of power on Alma Alta.

[august]

Editorial: Observations on our Recently Departed Neighbors
Source: Newswire Pandora

I could write a treatise on the heap of incoherence that is the latter-day "Rim Worlds Republic," but given that I'm only paid to write newspaper columns, I'll endeavor to hit just one of the high notes. The Rim Worlds Republic seems to be run by people who are motivated by the ardent belief that words don't matter. It's apparent in their name, and the lame notes of persecution that they've been crowing on account. The old periphery state had a long history, to be sure, and was a lot of things, but it's outright disingenuous to deny that what everyone remembers it for was the Usurper's genocidal war that ended the Star League and plunged us into the hell of the succession wars. Everyone knows this, remembers this and you'd have to find a professional periphery historian to tell you much more. It really does say something that even the most virulent anti-clanner and your friendly neighborhood Star Colonel can come together unequivocally and agree that the Rim Worlds Republic is a name that deserves to be cursed.

Those short-sighted cretins stitching Shark Banners today seem to forget all of this. They claim that the name is part of the heritage of their worlds, but so are the crimes of Aramis. They seem to forget that soldiers under that flag murdered a countless number of their own people on Apollo and the surrounding systems. They forget the horrors that that flag brought to the worlds of the Terran Hegemony. Why? Presumably because these are difficult things to own up to; it's safe to say that every modern state has done things that they shouldn't not proud of, but the RWR is by far at the head of the class. The tone-deaf campaign that they're running is just cowardly - they want to claim their history, but they do it only piecemeal. If they had the slightest amount of sense, or cared at all about becoming a respectable state, they'd at least take some measure of responsibility. Honestly, the only reason I can assume for their choosing the name was the discovery of a warehouse of moldy RWR flags from the days of yore. They clearly don't care what that name, what that flag means, what it has stood for and continues to stand for in the minds of everyone of the Inner Sphere and the Clans as well. It's just something convenient to heft in order for Daphne Rowe to build her own castle on the clouds.

Why do I bring this up? Certainly you've heard of the actions of the units formerly known as the 5th and the 8th Lyran Regulars. According to their public pronouncement, they were going to "liberate" the world from Arc-Royal in order to "ensure its defenses against the clans." Not a bad goal, if what they claimed had any relation to reality. Faced with opposition from our SLDF and Terran friends, the would-be RWR liberators chose not only to back down, but to desert the planet. Let's get this straight. They wanted to prevent a civil war by attacking other Lyran troops, inevitably causing collateral damage to the people of Pandora, as well as weakening the overall garrison on our world. Then, when told that if defending against the clans were really their goal, they could remain on and be pardoned, they turned tail and ran.

In short, they stated their goals, and then acted in ways completely opposite. It would be generous to call them hypocrites, really. It is the opinion of this humble writer that their words and actions were simply incoherent. They showed no initiative, no responsibility, no sense of duty to anyone at all. I wish I could say that their actions got them anywhere at all, but how they can go on respecting themselves in the aftermath is a bit of a mystery to me.

What we have in the case of the "revived" is not a state reborn, or a rebellious movement. It is a band of idiots, unfortunately armed, who expect us to believe whatever they say, in spite of their actions contradicting them loudly. It is unfortunate that the 5th and the 8th fell in with this lot - their years of capable service will no doubt quickly be forgotten in light of such tragic folly. Pandora is perhaps materially weaker against the Clans for their departure, but no one should mourn the departure of craven fools such as these.

Tamas Pulovitsky

[Dave Baughman]

FWL INVADES LYRAN COMMONWEALTH
(AGAIN)

Voice of Truth - TERRA (9 September 3069)

In a clear rejection of the peace agreement brokered by the Star League, the Free Worlds League launched in an invasion of the Lyran Commonwealth across a broad front this week. Typical to its knife-in-the-back tactics, senior diplomatic sources report that the League had only recently finished a round of harangues on the floor of the Star League Council aimed at rigidly enforcing the FWL-LC demilitarized zone. In retrospect, it is clear that this was a cynical move calculated to strip the Lyran border of defenses and open the way for a fast-moving blitzkrieg campaign.

Reports of civilian deaths already exceeding the six-figure mark could not be confirmed, but in a late-breaking development, Our Blessed Order has confirmed that Free Worlds League forces operating in the Solaris and Hesperus systems are apparently doing so in cooperation with would-be Archon Robert Kelswa-Steiner. A member of the Terran Hegemony Advisory Council from a former Skye world opined:

"I'm shocked and dismayed to discover that Robert would sell out his people so easily in the face of FWL agression. Until today I had thought he was the best candidate to reunite the Lyran state. Now I see that he is nothing but a power-hungry quisling who will do anything in the service of building his petty kingdom."

Voice of Truth has requested SLDF Commanding General Marco Hall's opinion on the situation, but was not able to schedule an interview in time for this broadcast.

We now return you to your regular scheduled programming. Peace of Blake be upon you.

[august]

Lyran Commonwealth declares War!
Source: Newswire Arc-Royal

With a unanimous vote, the Estates General of the Lyran Commonwealth today declared war on the Free Worlds League, citing House Marik's "violation of treaties, incursions into the territory of the sovereign Lyran State, and invasion of Commonwealth worlds." With early reports indicating that at least eight Commonwealth systems have been under FWLM attack, all citizens are encouraged to resist the traitorous Marik invaders and to take heart, for the might of the LCAF is being deployed against the enemy.

In a related vote, the Estates General unanimously decided to strip Robert Kelswa-Steiner of all of his titles and landholds on account of his "treasonous alliance with the invader." He is to be tried before a high court at first opportunity.

[Deathrider6]

  DBC and SNN joint exclusive.


  What have the Terrans done for the Lyran Commonwealth but force us to shed the blood of our citizens needlessly? It is true that over my objections Katrina Steiner Davion gave up a large chunk of Skye to the Terrans in exchange for mutual defense. Archon Peter in good faith ratified that same treaty on his ascension to the throne. The Terrans sit back and watch as the Commonwealth splits into smaller fragments that are now easier to swallow. At this VERY MOMENT the Free Worlds League is doing what it can to assist in the reunification of the realm. ONLY They have offered any assistance on that front.
  You people dare to assume that I want all the power for myself? Fools. If Nondi Steiner or any other claimant to the Archonship is ratified by a majority I will support them whole heartedly from Skye. In the meantime I wait for news from Tharkad. While Hesperus refuses to see the light and Arcturus is INVADED by the RasDom. I do understand that assistance from the Free Worlds League has its price but to have the Clanners  gone from the Commonwealth. I would pay it.

  There are those of you see me as a power hungry megalomaniac who cares only for myself. It is a shame that you believe everything you hear from the media. In the meantime the Commonwealth is shattered and I will take whatever help I can get to put it whole once more even if I have to invite the Free-Worlds to assist. The SLDF is too busy saving Arc-Royal to have prevented the Adders from grabbing Coventry and Alarion and even worse they did nothing to stop Daphne Rowe and her lot from taking Bolan. At least the SLDF has a valid excuse. I asked the FWL for assistance since the Terrans won’t help more than the bare minimum for SLDF support.

  It is not the fault of the Clans that the Commonwealth collapsed it is the fault of the Terrans . The Terrans are waiting for the Clans to grind themselves on the remnants of the Commonwealth then maybe they will come out and fight. Unfortunately that plan will fail as all the Terrans are doing is allowing the Clans to sharpen themselves to a level that will only allow the total subjugation of the Inner Sphere.  

   It is Ironic that an age old enemy to the Commonwealth sacrifices their sons and daughters to assist the Commonwealth in her time of need and is vilified for it while our ally sits and waits for us to be destroyed. The SLDF fights to prevent the further collapse of the Commonwealth and has even tried to encourage unity among the factions but is vilified as well. I wish to extend my gratitude to the FWL and SLDF for doing what they can to stave off disaster. I also wish to thank the Wolves who are also assisting as well. My question is save for a token force where is the mighty THAF who cause the Clans to tremble in fear?

[Cannonshop]

Inarcs, Neerabup Congressmen die in formal duel-new Elections to be held on the 4th.

-News from the Edge Magazine

The senior Electors from Neerabup and Inarcs will have to be replaced, as the previous office-holders, whose personal feud got out of hand on the floor of Congress last week, squared off with hatchets on the front lawn of Congress at 10:00 today.  Both died of wounds.  This second test of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution has generated some criticism from humanitarian organizations.

The 14th Amendment permits the Archduchess to demand two parties submit to a choice of mediation, or trial by combat, should their disagreement adversely affect uninvolved neighbours.  The personal animosity of the two Electors to Congress has stalled critical bills in the House for more than a month, impeding, among other things, budget votes and ratification of treaties negotiated by the government-treaties noted on the voting schedule as critical for the financial and political stability of the region.

The incident that provoked the latest outburst-which in turn forced Archduchess MacAulliffe's order to "Mediate, or fight it out", was Elector VanVoor's outspoken demand that visiting Star Adder officials not be permitted to address the full congress, in which he also launched a number of slanders at Elector Gerald LaRue, including accusations of marital infidelity, allegations of Mental incompetence, allegations of personal cowardice, and speculations as to the Inarcs Delegate's position in the afterlife, Duchess LaRue(the elector's mother)'s  prior professional employment, the presence of genetic syphilis, and Elector LaRue's legitimacy of birth.

Elector LaRue's counter to this involved discussion of and speculation on Elector VanVoor's relationships with under-age persons, penchant for personal relations with livestock, suggestion that Elector VanVoor's parents were close relatives, discussion as to the man's inability to satisfy his wife, questioning of VanVoor's children's parentage, sexual orientation, and liking for the consumption of fecal animal byproduct.

The fist fight that ensued on the floor provoked the Archduchess to demand "Mediate or Settle it."

The fight took twenty minutes, and according to the medical examiner, both combatants sustained more than forty deep lacerations-both parties expired of exsanguination before paramedics could determine a victor.

In the case of a "tie", the matter is determined to be settled by the rules established under the 14th Amendment.

A small deathgeld from the Treasury will be paid to the families of the two Congressmen, as permitted under the law.

[DXM]

Excerpted from The Bolan Journal
Article by James LaPierre


While I'm not the type who puts much stock in the word of folks from Arcturus Province -- or, as I'm so fond of saying, "up north" -- a recent article from a respected publisher on Pandora did raise some interesting points concerning the Rim Worlds Republic.  New Apollo apparently isn't in the mood to respond to foreign drivel, so I've taken it upon myself to provide a counter-point.

The bottom line of Mr. Pulotivsky's article is that the Rim Worlds Republic shouldn't be proud.  They say that the Republic is imposing blindness upon itself for the evils of the Amaris family -- yes, Tamas, that's Amaris not Aramis; he's one of the Three Musketeers -- and the government and soldiery that followed them.  The implication there is that anyone who joins them, ie Bolan, wants to include itself in that bloody history.

It's actually a decent point.  Yes, the Amarises were undoubtedly conniving and, in Stefan's case, grotesquely evil and quite insane.  Soldiers of the Rim Worlds Republic Military did commit heinous acts of violence and genocide against planetary populations.  I’d have to be just as crazy as Stefan to even attempt to defend his actions.  The Rim Worlds Republic of the Amarises was one of the most morally bankrupt governments ever seen in the history of mankind.  No one, not even Daphne Rowe, is disputing that fact.

But Pandora is suffering from its own hypocrisy.  They seem to saying that the Republic and its supporters should ignore all the good -- even the neutral -- of the Rim Worlds and feel like terrible people because of all the evil that the Amarises committed.  Tsk, tsk, Mr. Pulotivsky.

That the Republic is, as Lord Tennyson once said, “an auld and blood-soaked land” is not far from the mark.  Its founder, Hector Rowe, was about as far from a saint as he could be without actually sprouting horns and waving a pitchfork.  But in the case of his children, the antecedents of our President, were quite a bit different.

Hector’s son Maxwell established trade agreements to bind the nascent Republic together.  He invested in infrastructure on neighboring worlds, improving the living on far-flung colonies like Winfield and Golandrinas.  The man was a hero to thousands because he gave them roads, schools, factories, and precious water.  When the Republic bumped into the Tamar Pact, many feared war.  Maxwell Rowe instead gave them peace by signing a non-aggression agreement.

His daughter Arabella continued this trend.  She abolished slavery in the Republic, raising the poor and disenfranchised helots to full citizenship.  She further built up the worlds of the Republic, raising the Rim to the highest standard of living of any major Periphery nation of the day.  She revamped the national education system.  She was determined to defend her people, to protect them from outsiders without appearing to be a threat, so she built a powerful army but left the navy intentionally weak so as to avoid antagonizing her powerful neighbors.

These are the acts of the Rowe family.  Aside from Hector, they were a cautious and benevolent bunch who sought to improve the lot of those whom they ruled over.  They sought protection, wealth, and recognition of their own independence. . . Just like their latter-day scion, Daphne.

And while the name of the Republic remains the same as the government that Amaris inherited, many of its institutions do not.  As Mr. Pulotivsky pointed out, names have power -- and President Rowe has picked names that buttress the good and avoid the bad.  Our defense force is not the Rim Worlds Republic Military that followed Stefan Amaris; it is the Rim Republican Army, whose last act was to revolt against the Amarises.  Their revolution was so successful that it took the SLDF and the Reunification War to put it down -- yes, that’s right.  The SLDF kept the Amaris family in power.  Irony is so appalling at times.

During Kerensky’s conquest of the Republic following the Amaris Coup, many of the Usurper’s supposedly ultra-loyal, secret divisions refused to fight.  They considered him and his actions too repulsive.  Most the RWRM forces still in the Republic laid down the arms or defected at the sign of SLDF DropShips.  These are actions of men and women disgusted with their own leadership.  Patriots like Devon LeFebre, Phillip Drummond, and the Polczyk brothers -- who were all so dedicated to Aleksandr Kerensky and his utopian ideals that they would one day follow him, and his son Nicholas, into Exodus and become Khans of the Clans -- all found their origins in the Rim Worlds Republic and all were living, breathing testaments that no matter the evil in men’s souls, the righteous will always find a way to fight back.

Other names and their power abound in our new and improved Republic.  The title of First Consul has been thrown out, and true democracy has taken hold; New Apollo promised presidential elections in 3069.  ASROC, the secret hand of Amaris, is no more, replaced by the Office of Special Intelligence -- an outgrowth of our moribund Lyran parentage, the LIC.  The names of our military units reflect nationalist feelings; gone are the Amaris Dragoons and Amaris Guards and Amaris Fusiliers.  We now stand protected the Rim Fusiliers, the Republican Guards, and the Revolutionary Guards.

This is not the Rim Worlds Republic of old.  We are not denying the bloody history of this nation; all of us in the Inner Sphere, the whole of humanity, have dark periods in our past.  They are as unavoidable as they are immutable.  But we refuse to be shackled by them, as my colleague from Pandora wishes.  We refuse to not stand up for ourselves, to want freedom from an autocratic regime that has shown that it is powerless and broken and unable to sustain itself any longer.  Even now, the pieces of the Lyran government are being forced to reinvent themselves, to seek unity in any way that can -- be it violence or diplomacy.  Will we rejoin them?

If they can unite, maybe.

If they give us our freedoms, perhaps.

If they’re willing to accept democracy and republicanism, we’ll think about it.

Until those three conditions are met, we -- the people of a free and independent Rim Worlds Republic -- stand tall beneath the ancient banner of the Apollonian Shark.

With pride.