Fighting on Cloneworld as coup attempted

Fighting has been reported at over a dozen locations across Cloneworld as troops loyal to Field Marshal Agentis, the head of the Ailier Military District, have tried to seize CDF GHQ, the main military communications hub and other strategic positions in central Ailier.

Elements of two armoured regiments and three infantry regiments have been deployed by Agentis, though air power he tried to use was quickly stopped. Clone Naval Air Service and Clone Air Force fighters have attacked coup forces positions. Unconfirmed sources say the coup is going badly and none of the main objectives have been achieved.

Admiral Anderson has called on the coup forces to surrender or face "elimination".

Explosions reported at CDF GHQ, suspected coup underway

There have been explosions reported at the CDF GHQ on Cloneworld and the Clone Army HQ north of Ailier City. Admiral Anderson has ordered a full lockdown of all Clone Defence Force sites on Cloneworld. The media has also been completely shut down.

Dino sources have said there may be a military coup underway. Several airstrikes have been reported by Clone Naval Air Service fighters against undisclosed locations on Ailier.

Anderson's flagship attacked by drones

The Clone Navy helicopter carrier CNS West Clone Republic, which is currently the Imperial Command Ship - Admiral Anderson's floating HQ, has been attacked by dozens of Molab type drones. The ship is supposed to stay over 100km off any coastline while Anderson is in attendance but for some reason the ship had approached the coast to be within 10km of the Ramiri area along the Ailier coast.

The ship was attacked by several dozen Molab type drones. The defences of the carrier and it's two escorts were were overwhelmed. All three ships have suffered damage, two Z26 helicopters were also destroyed, one while trying to take off. Admiral Anderson was not injured though there were six fatalities and a number of injuries.

Anderson has been taken to a secret location. An investigation is currently underway as to why the carrier was bought near the coast against protocol.

Clone Naval Air Service and Clone Air Force fighters attacked the launch sites of the drones though later analysis revealed the site had already been evacuated.

CNAS planes strike targets on Ailier northern coast

Clone Naval Air Service K45s have struck two targets on the northern coast of Ailier. It is thought they were launching sites for another drone attack. Few details have been given by the Clone Navy though a local report states that a Clone Air Force Mustang reconnaissance aircraft discovered the launching sites and was able to direct four K45s launched from a nearby aircraft carrier.

Clone Marines are now thought to have secured both sites. It is not known if there were any casualties, one report states that remains of several drones were recovered.

Naval bases hit by drone attacks on Cloneworld

Two small naval bases along the northern coast of Ailier, Cloneworld plus a Clone Naval Air Service base in Micom have been attacked by Molab type drones. Each base was attacked by around a dozen drones. All of the bases had working anti-aircraft defences. The Clone Navy is reporting that most drones were shot down though there was some damage caused to the facilities of one of the naval bases. There were some minor injuries, no Clone Navy ships or CNAS aircraft were damaged.

An investigation into these attacks is ongoing. It is thought that members of the Clone Defence Forces opposed to Admiral Anderson may be behind, or at least assisting, the drone operators.

Future of propulsion will merge hyper and worm drives, says Dr Forbidden

The Head of UNDF Research, Dr Forbidden, has said that in future the two separate methods of spaceship FTL propulsion - hyperdrive and wormdrive - will merge into a unified engine which can handle both modes. It is speculated this is the core technology behind the x-Core engine which is in early development and could replace n-Core sometime in the 2140s.

Dr Forbidden also said UNDF is working on it's first upgrade to the W1A worm drive, which will offer a greater speed in equivalent c (ec) thanks to refinements in the subspace tunnel and power management. DF are currently preparing to build a prototype of WX drive, this may be ready to enter service by the end of the decade.