GGG - Issue 22 - 211.29.1

Interview: Grand Duke Ravenstone, leader of House Ravenstone (RVN)
by Tess Olsen, exclusive for the GGG

Most of us still remember the list of noble houses we were forced to memorize in school: House Hayduk, House LiQuan, House Porter, etc. Now there is a new noble house to be added to that list, with House Ravenstone (RVN) being granted affiliation status by the EEM this week. We talked with Blake Ravenstone, Grand Duke of the Imperial Frontier, the man in charge of the new affiliation.

GGG: Why did you decide to start your own affiliation and why now?

BR: Registering House Ravenstone as an affiliation recognized by the EEM is a natural progression of the work we have been doing. It is good for the Empire to have strong noble houses, and we hope that our new status will have a positive impact in the expansion and prosperity of the Empire. The idea of establishing House Ravenstone as an independent affiliation has been suggested on a few occasions, but it was not until now that the conditions seemed adequate.

GGG: Would House Ravenstone be more aligned with the Imperial block or the Confederate block?

BR: Well, we hope to see those distinctions abandoned. We all serve the same Empire and, despite some eventual disagreements, we all have fairly similar goals. The war has been over for several years and there is really no good reason for using labels from the past to keep us from working together for the greater good.

GGG: What about your system claims, don't you fear upsetting the IMP and the CNF by reflagging systems that were previously claimed for them?

BR: The reflagging was done with the agreement of both the IMP and the CNF, and the Emperor himself acknowledges my role as protector of these systems. Also, as you may remember, the systems claimed by House Ravenstone were not claimed by the IMP or by the CNF when we first established our claim. Wastelands and Caribbean were unclaimed, Demon was claimed for the RIP. It was for making these systems part of the Empire that I was awarded the title of Grand Duke of the Imperial Frontier.

GGG: House Ravenstone surprised many people with the purchase of EEM Hypso (4802), a place that is an important part of the history of the peripheries. Do you have any special plans for the starbase?

BR: RVN Hypso has a rich history and we intend to respect that. We will be making some renovations but selected historic locations will be maintained and conserved as a monument to the exploration of the galaxy. The market is currently closed while we reorganize a few things but it will soon reopen for business as usual.

GGG: What are your goals for House Ravenstone?

BR: We are primarily interested in the reunification and the expansion of the Empire, by peaceful means. We hope to be a voice of reason and moderation in the political conversation, but also to take a pragmatic role in resolving important issues and in fostering harmonious relations with civilian populations.

-o-

Cheap Shots
by Kaspar Khan, exclusive for the GGG

+ IMP Viceroy Githyanki declared the orbit and quadrant of planet Midway, in the Straddle System, a restricted zone and threatened to shoot any DTR ships found there. The republican response to yet another attempt to start a war was something along the lines of "sorry, not today".

+ The GTT announced the promotion of Thomasia Payne to the Board of Directors. Rumours that it is just old Bob Bost returning to the affiliation after a sex change operation seem to be unfounded.

+ First it was the allegedly peaceful and neutral traders from the AFT spotted flying 200 Heavy Hulls warships. Then it was the allegedly peaceful and neutral traders from the MOH spotted flying 100 Heavy Hulls warships with high tech equipment. Now we are waiting to see what kind of warships the allegedly peaceful and neutral traders from the WMB will be flying.

+ The Oligarchs of Mithras, in the Persian System, have been hiring starcaptains to blow small chunks of icy rock off small comets and guide them into low orbit to create rain. Perhaps the IMP should release Demetrius "Badaboom" LiQuan from prison and let him share some of his expertise in blowing up asteroids.

-o-

GGG - Issue 20 - 211.17.1

Interview: Korpen Nygard, member of the Association of Free Traders (AFT)
by Tess Olsen, exclusive for the GGG

After the AFT offensive against the terrorist base IND Big Whisky (57700), on Mobile Bay, Yank System, we talked with the man in charge of this operation, Korpen Nygard of the AFT.

GGG: What made you decide to organize a military campaign against the known terrorist Kanji?

Nygard: Quite some time ago, Kanji attempted boardings of AFT cargo vessels, fired upon others and took a few newly created outposts. Ships and troops in my employ responded at the time, destroying a ground party, several scouts and a broadsword. Kanji's followers then seemed to desist, and I cleared my lists and had my forces stand down. I was under the impression that a lesson had been learned, but with recent events it would seem the lesson had been forgotten. The recent campaign is merely a reinforcement of the earlier lesson. And despite the bluster now, I suspect Kanji is aware there are softer options open to him.

GGG: Kanji has been attacking traders for a long time, why only now you've decided to retaliate?

Nygard: I responded straight after the first round, but I was possibly a little less publicly vocal about it. As I mentioned, several scouts were destroyed, a Broadsword and such. Kanji might have been targeting traders, but he has not been targeting the AFT for quite some time. Then recently, a newly formed AFT trading company had their caravel destroyed by Kanji's followers. I took it upon myself to mete out a little comeback and, as I said, reinforce the earlier lesson.

GGG: How does this campaign fit within the AFT profile of a peaceful and neutral affiliation?

Nygard: Perfectly well, I think. Being neutral at heart and core means we have no political agenda, nor wish to become embroiled in the politicking or policies of others. Peaceful? Certainly. Has the AFT ever declared war upon anyone? Started any conflict? We wish on the whole to be able to go about our business unmolested. Empires, alliances, wars and other happenings that might be considered the "greater" happenings are for governments, not for independent trading companies. But being peaceful does not mean you won't defend yourself. Being neutral doesn't mean you won't protect your interests. I find a little irony in that the AFT came from human beginnings, with its neutral stance, and the alien races are the ones that seem to understand the neutrality, work with it, trust it, and be quite happy to accept it, while it seems to be only a handful of human affiliations that struggle to grasp the concept or that remain skeptical.

GGG: How many positions belonging to Kanji have you captured or destroyed so far, and what losses did you suffer during the campaign?

Nygard: Captured, just the one. Destroyed, I have a feeling there could be a couple more scouts way back, but certainly one small ground party, one broadsword and four scouts. Troops losses were a little one-sided in the taking of the base: 38 troops in my employ were killed during the whole operation, while Kanji, employing predominantly mercenaries, seemed to lose in excess of 700. The remainder seemed to have fled by the following day.

GGG: Did you have any difficulties obtaining permission from the KAS authorities to attack a starbase in the Yank System or did they seem to be happy with the move against Kanji?

Nygard: Happy isn't a word I'd use. The KAS agreed only because of the production of nukes, and the AFT were not to benefit from the action. The base has been handed over to the KAS authorities. We are also aiding the clean-up process with a tech to help clean the radiated sector, and my thanks go out to those able to assist with this. All told, the cost of the whole operation is approaching 300,000 stellars. The only benefit for the AFT is a diminished Kanji, and that the next time one of his captains gets an itchy finger, he or she may well think twice.

GGG: Do you plan to continue the campaign against Kanji?

Nygard: That is purely down to Kanji. I would be quite happy to go about my normal day to day business, but at this stage several of his known ships will be targeted by my few. Any others found to be acting suspiciously will be investigated.

-o-

DTR Under Fire
by Ringo Baxter, exclusive for the GGG

An unexpected number of Detinus Republic (DTR) positions have been involved in battles in these last few days. Almost at the same time that DTR forces were engaging IND-flagged Meklan forces in the Faery System, DTR ships were being targeted by pirates in Aquarius, China, and in Faery itself. Also, two DTR ships that seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time were destroyed, one by the House LiQuan (HLQ) and the other by the Felini Tyranny (FEL). No big losses for the republicans but perhaps enough to wake up some sleepy senators.

-o-

GGG - Issue 17 - 211.11.1

Interview: Black Jack, leader of the Trade Acceptance Group (TAG)
by Tess Olsen, exclusive for the GGG

It's not often that a newcomer to the peripheries succeeds in building his own affiliation instead of joining one of the already established organizations out there. Black Jack did that and created the Trade Acceptance Group (TAG), yet another merchant affiliation claiming to be politically neutral.

GGG: First of all, congratulations on the creation of your new affiliation, the TAG. Why did you choose to start your own affiliation instead of joining one of the already established affiliations?

BJ: I did not want to be tied to a history complete with friends and enemies. All of the major blocks come complete with a full stable of both. Even the AFT has a history of war with the IMP block so is not free from this chain. The GCE comes closest but they are a family owned business and I am in the wrong family. As my own boss, I can decide the direction of the company and how it will fare. I know I will never have the opportunities a large block could offer or the toys they have but that is fine. As a non-aligned business, I have other opportunities someone from the large blocks don't have. And the toys are mostly military equipment and our business has a firm stand on its no-warship policy so that is not really a factor.

GGG: What are the TAG goals and how does the affiliation fit in the political spectrum?

BJ: We want to become a major force in transportation of goods around the stars, modelled somewhat after the Mohache. In the short run, a mid-level organization that can take shipping that is too small for the Mohache to bother with. In some years, I am hopeful our growth will allow us to compete with the Mohache directly. On the political spectrum, we are strictly neutral and will do nothing to break this neutrality. Any base in a claimed system will support that claim without discrimination. No spy missions, no selling of information or positions spotted.

GGG: Where is the affiliation based and how far it extends its trade activity?

BJ: We are based right now on Mobile Bay where our HQ is TAG Pershing. This base is still in the growth stage but we are acquiring modules to expand its size. We have had trade runs in IMP, CNF, DTR and FCN space to date and expect to reach the Cluster and Halo soon to do business there.

GGG: We understand that you managed to pay the new affiliation fee of one million stellars by obtaining a loan from the EEM. How did you get such a large advance without collateral of the same or higher value? And if you indeed had anything evaluated in that high bracket, how did you get it in such a short period of activity?

BJ: We did have collateral in excess of one million stellars at the time of the loan. Our base on Mobile Bay exceeded that amount at the time of the loan. Now I do not pretend to understand the valuation method used by the EEM and, to be honest, I felt their valuation of the base to be excessive, but who am I to tell them that? But their valuation of a merchandising complex far exceeds the value of the 25 modules that go into that complex. The fact that I built almost nothing but merchandising complexes at the start brought in a large weekly income that I used to buy yet more modules for factories that are now producing yet more modules in a (hopefully) never ending spiral of growth. And we now even have a small shipyard area building barges.

GGG: What are the TAG next big projects?

BJ: We are currently looking at other areas of space for a second base to grow the corporation. Though this will be slowed obviously while we continue the expansion of TAG Pershing.

-o-

Cheap Shots
by Kaspar Khan, exclusive for the GGG

+ HLQ ships get attacked by pirates again, Baron LiQuan blames the DTR but offers no evidence for their involvement.

+ Krazy Kastorian Kanji invades an empty CNF hiport in the Inner Empire for the second time, and brags about his ability to steal unguarded property.

+ GTT Trade Director Bob Bost announces his retirement from the affiliation, leaving more space for éminence grise Ike Krieger to expand his influence.

+ Kasius Ven leaves the DTR after a very short stay and joins the BHD, trading the gods of bureaucracy for the gods of arrogance.

+ Allegedly peaceful and neutral traders from the AFT spotted flying 200 Heavy Hulls warships, making people wonder how peaceful and how neutral they really are.

+ RCF rebels create problems for the HLQ among the population of Jericho, Baron LiQuan expected to blame the DTR.

-o-

A note from the editor

At the time we closed our last edition, we had not heard back from Michelle Diaz, leader of the DTR, about the possible GTT-DTR crisis (apparently totally defused now). But I want to register here that Ms. Diaz did contact us later, and we thank her for that. Too often our requests for comments or for interviews go unanswered, and we are very appreciative when starcaptains or affiliation officials take time from their busy schedules to talk with the free press.

Cornelius Merryheart
Editor of the Great Galactic Gazette