190/6

Pit Stop
Ronald's expedition needs to find a friendly port (The Berkivs P1)

190/5

The Debris Of A Regime
Benito is dead, what next? (Touch Base P3)

Mock terrorist attack staged at DDS City

A mock terrorist attack has been made on DDS City on Proxima 7, as part of the May Mission internal security exercise. ISSF personnel and some external contractors posed as a terrorist group akin to the Proximan Renewal Brigade who were seen preparing for an assault on DDS City. ISSF troops were sent in to intercept the "terrorists".

At the same time an ISSF cyber-warfare unit attacked DDS systems and tried to cause confusion by hijacking DDS TV news broadcasts. ISSF Commander Torus said that the DDS has reacted well to the mock-attack though there were issues identified and these would be examined by a post-exercise team next month.

• Sirikwan have ordered 60 SS-NS-3 submarine launched cruise missiles from the Clones. The land attack missiles will arm 2 new submarines being built for the Sirikwanese Navy.

Dr Forbidden : The next break throughs

Dr Forbidden, head of DDS Research

Today the DDS is on the cusp of a whole new generation of genuinely game-changing technology. Over the last few years we have been working on rebooting the powertrain at the heart of all DDS spaceships. Now the powertrain is the power system that provides energy to all ship systems and is the most vital of all systems of course. Four years ago i started a series of projects aimed at redefining powertrains for the next generation of DDS vessels and now we are starting to see these projects come to fruition. I will address all 4 in turn.

Micro-Cell

Traditionally DDS (and other) space ships are powered by an array or battery of nuclear fusion reactors. This has worked well for the last few decades but the technology is starting to show its age. Ever greater power demands plus the need for greater damage management in conflict means that the monolithic approach to power generation no longer works as perfectly as it needs to.

Thats why we have developed Micro-Cell technology. Put simply this will replace a large array of reactors (which can be damaged by one shot by an enemy crippling a ship) with a distributed network of smaller reactors. We hope to field test Micro-Cell on the forthcoming Infinity trials ship. Instead of the array as used in other Type 35s it will have 8 smaller reactors spread throughout the ship. It is hoped this will make the ship more resistant to battle damage and will also be more efficient as power will be generated closer to where it is needed in many cases.

Recycling Scoop

We have tried ion scoops before, on the Rome and Pentekonters more notably. These inject the free ionised hydrogen that exists abundantly in space, is then processed by a condenser aboard the ship for feeding into the reactor. The technology works but the density of ionised hydrogen is just too low to have any meaningful benefit and we will be discontinuing use of the ion scoop over the next few years.

The Recycling Scoop works in a similar way but is fitted at the rear of the ship and injects expelled energy from the ship's engines. The gases are then recycled and processed. We hope we can reduce fuel consumption by around 8%, which of course will have a number of strategic benefits. Field trials have already begun on a Provider transport and the results are promising. Unlike the ion scoop the Recycling Scoop is fairly small and can be hidden away by the engine outlets.

Liquid Metal Power Grid

Wires have been used to transfer energy for centuries, they work well but we think we have found a way that works just that much better. The Liquid Metal Power Grid uses a plasmic state metal for power distribution to key nodes. This will be up to 35% more efficient and can also be smaller than existing main grid wiring. We hope to begin field tests next year.

Wireless Power

Many systems on the ship are wireless, and with Open Architecture 3.0 systems auto-configure when activated, communicating with other systems wirelessly. However power is still given to these systems by wire on the most part.

Some lower power systems have used wireless power for some time but now we have perfected improved technology and protocols to allow even ultra-high power levels to be safely provided by wireless power links. This will make ships more battle damage resistant and will be the final piece in the distributed system model. We will be field testing some of these new wireless modules soon.

I'm really excited about these new technologies, each on their own will have a noticeable effect on DDS ship performance but together they could revolutionize DDS ship operation and design in the next decade and beyond.

DDS query Clone defence spending

Over recent weeks the HCS have found millions of zarks for upgrades and new equipment following a couple of years of cuts. The state of the Clone economy was at such a poor state (apparently) that they sought a bail out from the Utrek, and instead managed to negotiate a huge delayed military order from the DDS. The DDS have paid billions to the Clones for equipment to be ordered and delivered over the next few years.

The DDS have queried quite how the Clones are suddenly able to spend money on new equipment and are thought to be planning a new cruiser class powered by Dino engines estimated to cost over 3 billion zarks! Director of Operations Knobhead wondered if the Clones had overegged their economic problems somewhat in order to gain extra funding, he also wondered if an economy in trouble should be spending money on more cruisers at this time.

"The HCS Space Navy is huge and powerful, is another class of cruiser really what they need to spend their money on right now?" he asked. The HCS refused to comment.

• The government of Clone Star Empire - East has confirmed Marcus as the successor to Benito. A new Deputy Emperor will be appointed, Oojok is understood to be pushing for his son Terin to be given the role.
• Although he was unsuccessful in the last Consul election (and wasn't expected to do that well anyway) Imperial Order has shown faith in Malanson by making him the official deputy leader of the party. He has also been given a government role as a junior minister in Cruggson's Interior Minister. He will be Minister for Internal Security, though he will remain a Legate.

Benito's funeral passes without incident

Emperor Benito's funeral, amid much pomp and fascism, has taken place on Austini 55 amid one of the largest security operations in HCS history. Despite rumours of Benito's death in an explosion not being an accident (and indeed ordered by Oojok) the Emperor's iron guard, the 2nd Legion, did not cause any trouble but respectfully took their leader to his funeral pyre under secular Clone conditions while Oojok and other dignitaries looked on.

Benito was carried in a casket atop his personal T-88++ tank (a veteran of the invasion of New Rome) followed by an entire brigade of elite armoured troops. Thousands more HCS troops lined the path many carrying banners proclaiming Benitoism and various fascist sayings. Acting Emperor Marcus gave a eulogy to his old commander and promised that "Benito's spirit would live on and that he would carry out the wishes of the Benito Clone project."