Who Can We Really Trust? 08/25/3133
INN - Interstellar News Network
PORT HOWARD—News from around the Inner Sphere has been pouring in almost
like a series of massive tidal waves, bombarding us with more information than we
can handle and then trickling off to nothing for days at a time. We have all gained a
much clearer picture of what is going on, but still the complete picture eludes us all,
likely even our Exarch.
So, in and among all of the chaos and strife that has overtaken the Republic of the
Sphere and even the rest of the nations of the Inner Sphere, the question is: just who
can we trust? The answers, unfortunately, are far more difficult than they may seem.
Here on Towne, we’ve all experienced firsthand some of the same difficulties that are
currently plaguing The Republic. The Dragon’s Fury and their underground
supporters have caused problems on a dozen worlds in Prefecture III alone. Riots,
revolts and civil unrest are the least of the problems they’ve caused, all in the name of
bringing more worlds under the influence of the Dragon – the Draconis Combine and
its Coordinator. Then there’s the true war they’ve brought to worlds like Addicks and
Ronel, transporting BattleMechs, tanks and other heavy combat equipment to those
worlds in an effort to cow the population into submission and rid them of any other
defenses.
And who is the leader of this organization of rebel warriors? Former Prefect Katana
Tormark, a woman who once pledged her life to defending the people of The
Republic.
But Tormark and her Dragons aren’t the only threats to The Republic of the Sphere.
Jacob Bannson, maverick businessman and an outspoken man on almost every topic,
has likewise set his sights on worlds within The Republic. New Rhodes III and
Ozawa are just two worlds that have felt the touch of Bannson and his raiders, though
on the latter world, it is still unclear as to which party involved in the battles there are
most directly responsible. Galaxy Commander Kev Rosse has on more than one
occasion publicly stated that his Spirit Cats made a move on Ozawa in an effort to
release the world’s people from Bannson’s grips.
These are just the tip of the iceberg. Prefects Kal Radick and Tara Campbell, as well
as Lord Governor Aaron Sandoval, are all apparently at the head of movements with a
military component, each of which have been intimately involved in the continuing
strife within The Republic. And they are not the only ones. We’ve been hearing more
and more rumors of nominal “leaders” from throughout The Republic that are taking
more and more advantage of the current state of chaos. Word from the other side of
the Republic is hard to come by, but there are at least half a dozen worlds that have
been plunged into the same kind of conflict that we’ve been forced to deal with.
So that begs the question: just who can we trust?
Within The Republic of the Sphere, there are still many leaders that we can put our
trust into. For all of the faults that his detractors have attributed to him, Exarch
Damien Redburn has been busy keeping a handle on everything that has been going on
while traveling around the Sphere to let the people know that their leaders are still
trying their best to end the chaos and bring some semblance of order back to The
Republic. The Knights of the Sphere are working under his direction to find out just
who is behind the troubles we have all been experiencing. There are only so many of
them, however, and contrary to popular belief, they cannot be everywhere at once.
It is within the Senate and the military leaders of each of the Prefectures where most
of our distrust should reside. The Senate, always a hotbed for pointless debate and
politicking, has degenerated into a truly useless body of recrimination and buck-
passing. Rather than attempt to solve the problems that they can, they spend their time
blaming the Sphere’s problems on everyone else, including their fellow Senator.
Take, for instance, a bill forwarded ten months ago that would have immediately
released cash reserves to prevent hundreds, if not thousands, of Republic businesses
from falling into bankruptcy. The bill sat on the floor for two months as the Senators
debated the relative merits of keeping Republic businesses open and who was to
blame for the communications blackout, along with scores of topics that had nothing
to do with the economics of The Republic. Eventually, the bill died in committee,
when the chair of that particular group came to the realization that any bail out would
do nothing by then, and should have come months earlier.
That is just one instance of the Senate’s total inability to deal with the crises at hand,
but is completely indicative of that body’s current state of affairs. If the Exarch hadn’
t declared a state of emergency, the government of The Republic would likely have
ground to a halt and become just as ineffective as the Senate.
Every citizen of The Republic has his or her own views of our leaders, and in many
cases, our only ability to judge their actions and words comes from what those
leaders’ spokemen have released and from wild rumor and speculation. Current polls
place Lord Governor Aaron Sandoval and Prefect Tara Campbell as the best-regarded
leaders, at least within our corner of The Republic, even after both have been linked to
continuing fighting and unrest on multiple worlds.
And what of our supposed allies outside of The Republic?
Well, again, we don’t have all of the information. There are groups like the Dragon’s
Fury and the Swordsworn that have pledged themselves towards advancing the
interests of the Draconis Combine and the Federated Suns, respectively, within The
Republic. And there are strong rumors that they’ve invaded several Republic worlds.
Yet the governments of those two nations continue to maintain impartial neutrality
when it comes to relations with The Republic. In fact, both have pledged economic
support for Republic worlds that have been gripped by conflict. Armed Forces of the
Federated Suns engineering units have already been dispatched to Addicks, and more
are on the way. Likewise, the Combine is sending civilian advisory groups to aid in
reconstruction.
Then again, both nations are traditional enemies and continue to spar with each other.
More than that, both lost worlds to The Republic of the Sphere when Devlin Stone
rose to prominence, worlds they likely still have their eyes upon. The question on
everyone’s mind is whether these nations will make an attempt to take worlds like
Addicks through backdoor politics rather than by military force. Opposition groups
have sprung up almost overnight on the worlds bordering these two nations and,
based on reports coming out of Terra, private citizens and professional campaigners
are working hard to build additional bridges to these two nations within the Senate.
The Capellan Confederation, on the other hand, seems to be on the warpath more than
any of the other Successor States. The Confederation has been pursuing systems
within the Free Worlds League for decades, and the two have fought a number of
significant border wars just within the past few decades. There are reports of
significant troop buildups on Sarna, with additional movements to Mandate and
Wazan, and while Sarna is a regional Capellan capital and a likely spot for military
maneuvers, the other two worlds are not. This could be nothing more than a normal
reshuffling of troop deployments, or it could be the prelude to a three-pronged assault
directly into The Republic—or alternately into either the League or the Federated
Suns. At the same time, the Confederation has neither offered official assistance to the
Republic nor have its diplomats attempted to develop any closer relations with the
Republic.
In fact, of any of the Successor States, it is the Lyran Commonwealth that is
apparently building the best bridges with the people of The Republic. For the last year
and a half, the Commonwealth has been working to sign new trade agreements with
The Republic, agreements that even before the communications blackout and the
resulting economic depression were quite generous to Republic interests. Since the
blackout, Lyran interests have extended loans and other forms of economic assistance
to quite a few businesses in Prefectures VIII and IX. Rumors coming out of Terra
indicate that Lyran diplomats and trade representatives have been consulting with the
Exarch and his close circle of advisors for over two months now, certainly adding to
the theory that the Commonwealth and The Republic are close to signing some sort of
treaty or agreement.
Then there’s the Free Worlds League. By all accounts, that nation is still in the
process of dealing with the chaos that befell its people, and is having numerous
difficulties bringing its own leaders together in some sort of consensus, more than in
even our own Senate. So what does that mean for us? It means, now more than ever,
that we are apparently on our own. There are those both within and without our
nation that are apparently working to help us deal with current events, but there are
even more who are apparently working to advance their own concerns. Who we can
truly trust is still up in the air. At the very least, we have a better idea on who we can't
trust.
Towne Log
+ So, what, now we’re replacing news with some writer’s suppositions and
prejudices? Rumors and innuendo? I could have read the same thing on any public
forum. Anyone want to tell me why this drek made it into the so-called “news.” :-
Romundo
+ It may not be news, but it does nicely summarize what’s been going on in the Inner
Sphere. Is anyone willing to say that Tormark isn’t looking to grab territory or that
Bannson’s motives aren’t entirely profit-related? It doesn’t break anything new to
someone who’s been keeping up on current events, but there’s a lot of information in
there that a casual reader probably hadn’t heard before. :- Dross
+ Yeah. Like what’s the deal with the Feddies and Addicks? This is the first I’ve
heard of it! :- Renko
+ That was a story that had been buried deep, at the request of the government,
specifically Aaron Sandoval. He doesn’t want anyone to know how far he’s willing to
go to. He doesn’t want anyone to know that he asked for the Davions to come in to
his old stomping grounds. He doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s got business
interests still on Addicks that will benefit directly from that assistance. But he’s not
the only one with secrets. Tormark is just as corrupt, and she’s covering her tracks
better. She at least didn’t have the gall to call in the damn Combine military! :- Synnik
+ Well, it’s a little more complicated than that. It was the governor of Addicks that
requested aid, and then only after she was turned down by the Senate on three
different occasions. Her world needed help, and The Republic government wasn’t
willing to give that help. So she went to someone who was willing. The people of
Addicks have had a long relationship with the Federated Suns. You don’t think that
was the natural place to look for help? :- WetWillie
+ Yeah? So we’ll just ignore the fleet of Feddie DropShips that have been coming and
going from the world? Or the reports of unidentified activity on the continent of
Auskel. There’s more going on than anyone wants to admit, certainly more than just
some engineers assisting with rebuilding on the world. :- FMLuder
+ And what about the Steiners? They’ve got two ways of conquering – dropping a
couple regiments of assault ’Mechs or buying someone out. Just what are they doing
on Terra with Redburn? Other than successfully doing what Bannson’s never been
able to do? :- Koop50
+ I had to read this story a couple of times to really figure out what’s going on in the
article. There’s a definite bias going on there, but it seems like the author is against
everyone except the Lyrans, though with a minor Feddie thing. Which, well, is pretty
typical for a Lyran sympathizer. This isn’t anything but propaganda. What’s it doing
on INN? :- DoctorNick
+ Getting past the whole bias thing – and, come on, don’t tell me there isn’t some
serious bias going on within INN – the article does bring up some good points. The
Senate is completely useless right now. The rest of the government is barely working.
Sure, the Combine and FedSuns are probably jockeying for position right now, but
what is going on in the Capellan Confederation? If they’re building up forces just on
the other side of the border, then we should all be worried. If they jump across the
border with troops, we’re suddenly in a much worse situation than we are right now.
The Knights of the Sphere aren’t going to be able to stop them. Who is going to
defend us, then? The Triarii, Principes or Hastati? They’re all paper tigers thanks to
continual downsizing. Personally, we’d be better off living in either the Combine or
the Federated Suns than living under Liao rule! :- CMike
INN - Interstellar News Network
PORT HOWARD—News from around the Inner Sphere has been pouring in almost
like a series of massive tidal waves, bombarding us with more information than we
can handle and then trickling off to nothing for days at a time. We have all gained a
much clearer picture of what is going on, but still the complete picture eludes us all,
likely even our Exarch.
So, in and among all of the chaos and strife that has overtaken the Republic of the
Sphere and even the rest of the nations of the Inner Sphere, the question is: just who
can we trust? The answers, unfortunately, are far more difficult than they may seem.
Here on Towne, we’ve all experienced firsthand some of the same difficulties that are
currently plaguing The Republic. The Dragon’s Fury and their underground
supporters have caused problems on a dozen worlds in Prefecture III alone. Riots,
revolts and civil unrest are the least of the problems they’ve caused, all in the name of
bringing more worlds under the influence of the Dragon – the Draconis Combine and
its Coordinator. Then there’s the true war they’ve brought to worlds like Addicks and
Ronel, transporting BattleMechs, tanks and other heavy combat equipment to those
worlds in an effort to cow the population into submission and rid them of any other
defenses.
And who is the leader of this organization of rebel warriors? Former Prefect Katana
Tormark, a woman who once pledged her life to defending the people of The
Republic.
But Tormark and her Dragons aren’t the only threats to The Republic of the Sphere.
Jacob Bannson, maverick businessman and an outspoken man on almost every topic,
has likewise set his sights on worlds within The Republic. New Rhodes III and
Ozawa are just two worlds that have felt the touch of Bannson and his raiders, though
on the latter world, it is still unclear as to which party involved in the battles there are
most directly responsible. Galaxy Commander Kev Rosse has on more than one
occasion publicly stated that his Spirit Cats made a move on Ozawa in an effort to
release the world’s people from Bannson’s grips.
These are just the tip of the iceberg. Prefects Kal Radick and Tara Campbell, as well
as Lord Governor Aaron Sandoval, are all apparently at the head of movements with a
military component, each of which have been intimately involved in the continuing
strife within The Republic. And they are not the only ones. We’ve been hearing more
and more rumors of nominal “leaders” from throughout The Republic that are taking
more and more advantage of the current state of chaos. Word from the other side of
the Republic is hard to come by, but there are at least half a dozen worlds that have
been plunged into the same kind of conflict that we’ve been forced to deal with.
So that begs the question: just who can we trust?
Within The Republic of the Sphere, there are still many leaders that we can put our
trust into. For all of the faults that his detractors have attributed to him, Exarch
Damien Redburn has been busy keeping a handle on everything that has been going on
while traveling around the Sphere to let the people know that their leaders are still
trying their best to end the chaos and bring some semblance of order back to The
Republic. The Knights of the Sphere are working under his direction to find out just
who is behind the troubles we have all been experiencing. There are only so many of
them, however, and contrary to popular belief, they cannot be everywhere at once.
It is within the Senate and the military leaders of each of the Prefectures where most
of our distrust should reside. The Senate, always a hotbed for pointless debate and
politicking, has degenerated into a truly useless body of recrimination and buck-
passing. Rather than attempt to solve the problems that they can, they spend their time
blaming the Sphere’s problems on everyone else, including their fellow Senator.
Take, for instance, a bill forwarded ten months ago that would have immediately
released cash reserves to prevent hundreds, if not thousands, of Republic businesses
from falling into bankruptcy. The bill sat on the floor for two months as the Senators
debated the relative merits of keeping Republic businesses open and who was to
blame for the communications blackout, along with scores of topics that had nothing
to do with the economics of The Republic. Eventually, the bill died in committee,
when the chair of that particular group came to the realization that any bail out would
do nothing by then, and should have come months earlier.
That is just one instance of the Senate’s total inability to deal with the crises at hand,
but is completely indicative of that body’s current state of affairs. If the Exarch hadn’
t declared a state of emergency, the government of The Republic would likely have
ground to a halt and become just as ineffective as the Senate.
Every citizen of The Republic has his or her own views of our leaders, and in many
cases, our only ability to judge their actions and words comes from what those
leaders’ spokemen have released and from wild rumor and speculation. Current polls
place Lord Governor Aaron Sandoval and Prefect Tara Campbell as the best-regarded
leaders, at least within our corner of The Republic, even after both have been linked to
continuing fighting and unrest on multiple worlds.
And what of our supposed allies outside of The Republic?
Well, again, we don’t have all of the information. There are groups like the Dragon’s
Fury and the Swordsworn that have pledged themselves towards advancing the
interests of the Draconis Combine and the Federated Suns, respectively, within The
Republic. And there are strong rumors that they’ve invaded several Republic worlds.
Yet the governments of those two nations continue to maintain impartial neutrality
when it comes to relations with The Republic. In fact, both have pledged economic
support for Republic worlds that have been gripped by conflict. Armed Forces of the
Federated Suns engineering units have already been dispatched to Addicks, and more
are on the way. Likewise, the Combine is sending civilian advisory groups to aid in
reconstruction.
Then again, both nations are traditional enemies and continue to spar with each other.
More than that, both lost worlds to The Republic of the Sphere when Devlin Stone
rose to prominence, worlds they likely still have their eyes upon. The question on
everyone’s mind is whether these nations will make an attempt to take worlds like
Addicks through backdoor politics rather than by military force. Opposition groups
have sprung up almost overnight on the worlds bordering these two nations and,
based on reports coming out of Terra, private citizens and professional campaigners
are working hard to build additional bridges to these two nations within the Senate.
The Capellan Confederation, on the other hand, seems to be on the warpath more than
any of the other Successor States. The Confederation has been pursuing systems
within the Free Worlds League for decades, and the two have fought a number of
significant border wars just within the past few decades. There are reports of
significant troop buildups on Sarna, with additional movements to Mandate and
Wazan, and while Sarna is a regional Capellan capital and a likely spot for military
maneuvers, the other two worlds are not. This could be nothing more than a normal
reshuffling of troop deployments, or it could be the prelude to a three-pronged assault
directly into The Republic—or alternately into either the League or the Federated
Suns. At the same time, the Confederation has neither offered official assistance to the
Republic nor have its diplomats attempted to develop any closer relations with the
Republic.
In fact, of any of the Successor States, it is the Lyran Commonwealth that is
apparently building the best bridges with the people of The Republic. For the last year
and a half, the Commonwealth has been working to sign new trade agreements with
The Republic, agreements that even before the communications blackout and the
resulting economic depression were quite generous to Republic interests. Since the
blackout, Lyran interests have extended loans and other forms of economic assistance
to quite a few businesses in Prefectures VIII and IX. Rumors coming out of Terra
indicate that Lyran diplomats and trade representatives have been consulting with the
Exarch and his close circle of advisors for over two months now, certainly adding to
the theory that the Commonwealth and The Republic are close to signing some sort of
treaty or agreement.
Then there’s the Free Worlds League. By all accounts, that nation is still in the
process of dealing with the chaos that befell its people, and is having numerous
difficulties bringing its own leaders together in some sort of consensus, more than in
even our own Senate. So what does that mean for us? It means, now more than ever,
that we are apparently on our own. There are those both within and without our
nation that are apparently working to help us deal with current events, but there are
even more who are apparently working to advance their own concerns. Who we can
truly trust is still up in the air. At the very least, we have a better idea on who we can't
trust.
Towne Log
+ So, what, now we’re replacing news with some writer’s suppositions and
prejudices? Rumors and innuendo? I could have read the same thing on any public
forum. Anyone want to tell me why this drek made it into the so-called “news.” :-
Romundo
+ It may not be news, but it does nicely summarize what’s been going on in the Inner
Sphere. Is anyone willing to say that Tormark isn’t looking to grab territory or that
Bannson’s motives aren’t entirely profit-related? It doesn’t break anything new to
someone who’s been keeping up on current events, but there’s a lot of information in
there that a casual reader probably hadn’t heard before. :- Dross
+ Yeah. Like what’s the deal with the Feddies and Addicks? This is the first I’ve
heard of it! :- Renko
+ That was a story that had been buried deep, at the request of the government,
specifically Aaron Sandoval. He doesn’t want anyone to know how far he’s willing to
go to. He doesn’t want anyone to know that he asked for the Davions to come in to
his old stomping grounds. He doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s got business
interests still on Addicks that will benefit directly from that assistance. But he’s not
the only one with secrets. Tormark is just as corrupt, and she’s covering her tracks
better. She at least didn’t have the gall to call in the damn Combine military! :- Synnik
+ Well, it’s a little more complicated than that. It was the governor of Addicks that
requested aid, and then only after she was turned down by the Senate on three
different occasions. Her world needed help, and The Republic government wasn’t
willing to give that help. So she went to someone who was willing. The people of
Addicks have had a long relationship with the Federated Suns. You don’t think that
was the natural place to look for help? :- WetWillie
+ Yeah? So we’ll just ignore the fleet of Feddie DropShips that have been coming and
going from the world? Or the reports of unidentified activity on the continent of
Auskel. There’s more going on than anyone wants to admit, certainly more than just
some engineers assisting with rebuilding on the world. :- FMLuder
+ And what about the Steiners? They’ve got two ways of conquering – dropping a
couple regiments of assault ’Mechs or buying someone out. Just what are they doing
on Terra with Redburn? Other than successfully doing what Bannson’s never been
able to do? :- Koop50
+ I had to read this story a couple of times to really figure out what’s going on in the
article. There’s a definite bias going on there, but it seems like the author is against
everyone except the Lyrans, though with a minor Feddie thing. Which, well, is pretty
typical for a Lyran sympathizer. This isn’t anything but propaganda. What’s it doing
on INN? :- DoctorNick
+ Getting past the whole bias thing – and, come on, don’t tell me there isn’t some
serious bias going on within INN – the article does bring up some good points. The
Senate is completely useless right now. The rest of the government is barely working.
Sure, the Combine and FedSuns are probably jockeying for position right now, but
what is going on in the Capellan Confederation? If they’re building up forces just on
the other side of the border, then we should all be worried. If they jump across the
border with troops, we’re suddenly in a much worse situation than we are right now.
The Knights of the Sphere aren’t going to be able to stop them. Who is going to
defend us, then? The Triarii, Principes or Hastati? They’re all paper tigers thanks to
continual downsizing. Personally, we’d be better off living in either the Combine or
the Federated Suns than living under Liao rule! :- CMike
| August 25, 3133 |