Just some background fragments dating to the beginning of the First Preytax War in my Epsilon series. These may or may not become part of an online project nibbling at the edges of my brain.
“UN sources today confirmed that contact has been lost with the expeditionary forces outpost at Beta Centauri. The outpost had a staff of approximately ten thousand, largely comprised of volunteer forces from around the globe. Also on-station was a large contingent of the Stellar Marines assigned to the defense of the mid-ring. The official announcement of the outpost’s loss is expected within the next few hours.
“The loss of the outpost comes on the heels of the announcement regarding the loss of contact with four heavy interstellars heading for worlds in the mid and outer ring. These ships were carrying everything from cargo to passengers, settlers heading for colonies and scientific and exploratory expedition groups preparing to travel even further beyond the homosphere. The loss of the Archimedes, the Babbage, the Al-Razi, and the Hawking was confirmed by the Office of Interstellar Expeditions and all members of crew and all passengers are considered to be missing and presumed lost as of yesterday, March 15, at 0500 hours Greenwich Mean, for purposes of legal and estate proceedings. Approximately seven thousand individuals were believed to be aboard the four vessels, though the official passenger and crew lists have not been published at this time.
“We will provide further updates as they become available.
“This has been Melissa Tolrei, AEComm News.”
“As of 2100 hours on March 17, all contact with forces and personnel stationed at Morales Station at Beta Centauri V was lost. Attempts to raise them have been unsuccessful. As such, as of 2100 hours March 17, 2111, it is the sad duty of the Office of Interstellar Expeditions, jointly with the Allied Earth Interstellar Navy and the Allied Earth Interstellar Marines, to declare the forces and personnel stationed at Morales to be missing in action, presumed deceased.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and other loved ones of the forces and personnel.
“A list of known individuals assigned to the station and ships known to have been docked there at the time of loss of contact will be posted shortly.”
– Joint release by the Office of Interstellar Expeditions, Allied Earth Interstellar Navy, and Allied Earth Interstellar Marines, 19 March, 2111.
“Sources today have said that all contact has been lost with the outpost and SolCorp-backed colony on Io. Last known contact with either the colony or the outpost came last night at approximately seven o’clock Greenwich Mean when a standard data-dump arrived from the SolCorp colony. There were no indications of trouble at the time, according to sources familiar with the situation.
“AEComm has reached out to the Allied Earth Interstellar Armed Forces and the Office of Interstellar Expeditions for more information. We will provide updates as they become available.
“This is the second loss of contact of installations in the Sol system in the last week and the third such loss of contact in the last twenty days. Of these, only the loss of Morales Station at Beta Centauri has been confirmed at this time, though there has been no further information on that situation since the official confirmation of its loss. A listing of those believed lost at Morales and the passengers and crew of the interstellars Myazaki and Reyes, which were confirmed to be on-station at Morales at the time of the outpost’s loss, is available for download at this time. This brings the total number of individuals declared missing and presumed lost by the Office of Interstellar Expeditions to 15,533 individuals across lost ships and outposts. This includes lost personnel of the Interstellar Navy and Interstellar Marines that were stationed aboard ships and at Morales Station.
“This has been Melissa Tolrei, AEComm News.”
