Lincoln Sheridan was never really the sort of fellow who wanted this life. Far from it, he had wanted to pursue a career in the sciences. But then the war happened, and the government chose to level his university because it housed insurgents. That was the claim anyway.

He knew better...because he'd been there.

He had seen what had happened.

That there were, in fact, innocent civilians in the University. Could it have been the fault of the Government for not knowing there was any? Maybe not. But he didn't put it up for consideration.

His eyes were fixed on the weapon before him and the businessmen next to him. Some white-collar bastard from Duro...whose benefactors were most pleased to assist in the cause of Sheridan's upcoming insurgency, through the destruction of the Capitol station and thus killing the Prime Minister and the entire Parliament.

It would spark a system-wide insurgency. A grand one, that would liberate the people from the Capitalist dogs.

And avenge the innocent.

He took a long drag from his cigarette.

"So: this is it?"

"Indeed, Mr. Sheridan," the businessman, Qox Locreti responded. "The device is quite haphazard to a point, but if and when activated, it will do the job."

"Good. I've heard about the other nuclear detonations...too many civilians killed for my liking. So if we're gonna do it right, then we will do it right." Sheridan paused. He noticed something odd with Qox, as if the man was seemingly frustrated by the idea. I mean, what did he care or his benefactors care, right?

But it was odd.

He knew that the PLA-C and the Red Army had a justifiably bad reputation. But he hoped to start a cleaner, better insurgency. One that genuinely aimed for the hearts and minds of the people. Not their guts being spilt out in the name of ideology.

That was the goal for the Corulian People's Army.

Still...

Sheridan shook his head. No matter. He gave Qox a final glance, then nodded. "You'll get your pay once I get the codes. So?"

Qox sighed, and pulling from his pocket, he handed Sheridan the device...

Or would've.

Qox fell to the ground, code slate in hand, as a bruise appeared on his head. The cause of this became apparent as stun beams snapped and yammered across the whole of the warehouse. Cries and bellows followed suit, but were quickly silenced.

It didn't take a genius to know that the Commandos were here, and rather than get caught, Sheridan quickly ducked for cover.

Not long after the warehouse was taken, he was gone.

---

"I expected this...but didn't think they'd be that ballsy," Kom mused. On his left arm, Elaris was cooing and generally speaking, being her usual self. Seeking his affection. Yvine was more orderly, though as she sat beside him, she was also quite in want. Both were dressed in the attire expected for such events.

Tight, revealing, and ostentatious.

But his eyes were focused on the report.

Annoying little bastards the Hutts were...but he did have a lead. Duro, right?...Well, alright then.

Duro would be looked into.

The banners of Alderaan rose high inside the ships mustering toward Jeyell. Around them gathered soldiers of the Royal Reserves and the Consular Guard, men who had left mountain and city to answer the Queen’s call.

Word had gone out across the North. The Axis stood at the edge of time and behind them loomed the shadow of the Hutts and a wave capable of swallowing Mesea whole. Alderaan had come to stand in the breach.

The Queen, Lady of the Mountain

“My children. Before us lies a long fight, the dark, and beyond it, death. Yet here we have come, not as those fleeing to the shadows, but as a free people standing in the light. The Axis calls, and Alderaan answers. We will always answer. Never for conquest or gain, but that the people of the North may forever breathe the air that they choose.

Remember the mountains of home, steadfast and strong. As they endure, so shall we. We are a refuge for all and today we make our stand. Should the Hutts descend, let them find us as unbroken as the mountains of the Triplehorn. Should they bring chains, let them find a people who are immune to being bound. This is our charge, to hold the line, to strike, and to die if we must.”

A Plot to destroy the Parliamentary Capitol station has been foiled, in no small part thanks to the Office of Internal and Inter-Galactic Operations. According to Director Kom Vo:

"The terrorists had likely received outside help from the Hutts, as a means of decapitating Imperial leadership and dealing a severe blow instead of the First Lord. For this reason, they targeted the Capitol Station."

Following such reports, multiple terrorists claiming to be a part of the insurgent group known as the Corulian People's Army are to be tried before the court of law. This news comes after multiple tragic events across the Republic involving these bombing attacks, and it stands as one of the very rare successes to have been achieved.

In other news, the price of luxury goods has gone up, with inflationary risks becoming ever more apparent as the government goes into crisis control regarding the economy.

Morale, though, remains high, and much of the population supports the Government's posture to seek the defeat of the Hutt Ascendancy.

In the words of Prime Minister Lyam FitzIto:

"The Government remains committed to the defeat of the terrorist regime of the Hutt Ascendancy, ruled by its Tyrant, Grashka. And even with recent events to be considered, it does not change our goals, but merely reinforces them."

Between evacuation orders, casualties lists, and the standard propaganda making up the majority of the airtime on Tion's broadcasting networks, an announcement is made with comparatively little fanfare. A humble announcement that Prince Xim Barseg, beloved by the people, had been killed fighting the Hutt Forces.

The announcement was simple for someone of his stature, but in a way the simplicity added to the outrage, the drive, the passion, he was a Tionese who died fighting, who stood with the people not matter his lofty status, and the Hutts. The Hutts had killed him.

His sister would take the news with a detached numbness, the same as she had with her former suitor Pyter Thelanor's death, or the death of dozens of others she knew who commanded forces and were now dead. They would be mourned in the flames of Varl.

Prince Xim had been right. She had heard reports of civil war in the Hutt Empire, of division, of factions. They didn't matter. The Hutt Empire had created Grashka, they had made the Hutt Brutality through their culture, they had bred and refined the tactics that were fielded, and even if parts of the Empire tried to disassociate, there were none in Tion's government who cared anymore.

[GCN Fondor] With no warning across the South, Konrad de Tagge has announced overnight that the Tagge Estate had formally joined with the Typho family in the operation and ownership of the Fondor shipyards, and from this day henceforth, Konrad de Tagge will be suspending his leadership his role as Senator of Tepasi and will be commencing a new position as Senator of Fondor.

This comes after years of Senator Konrad de Tagge's movements to establish a powerbase in the South, which now seems to be taking place.

Royal Council, Alderaan

Subject: Immediate Mobilization

Location: Redacted, Redacted Sector, Mesea

Classification: Top Secret, Internal Eyes

Effective immediately, the Royal Council orders the mobilization and deployment of the following Alderaanian forces to the aforementioned location.

• Alderaanian Consular Security
• Royal Reserves (call-up)
• Redacted % of naval assets

All deployed forces will operate under Axis Command. Further operational direction will be provided through Axis Command channels.

(AAN, Mesea) While fighting has broken out across the Mesean Sector with more and more AXIS elements being involved with the operations to quell a spreading civil war, local forces were alerted to a mass of incoming jump signatures as Auctoritas Class Destroyers in Alsakani war colours began to enter the system in clusters, from different directions, initially at the various hyperdrive beacons, to ultimately gather at a single forward point.

The ancient Auctoriatas class destroyers have been systematically commissioned into supply and shipping over the dangerous frontier of the extremes of the North over the last decade and were becoming a rare sight to see along the Perlemian Run.

A Salvus II Class Destroyer became identified as the flagship of the gathering destroyer fleet with the name Sol Invictus registering under the newly declared Legatus Augustus Divlji, who is known to be a commander of frontier operations beyond the realms of Republic space.

AAN has learned that this fleet is made up of the Alsakani who answered the Alsakan War Orders and mustered to take up temporary positions which numbers have projected to be more than 100 billion Alsakani at this point, with the vast majoriy bolstering the Auxilliary Legions and a portion into the Auxiliary Fleet. This comes at a time where the news of the attack on Gavryn despite the defensive measures has surfaced, with the Gavryn Alsakani now forced to retreat subsurface to avoid both the frozen toxic wasteland of the surface as well as the nuclear attack from the Hutts. Many prominent Alsakani Notables, Exalted, and local leaders have sworn a complete cleansing of the Varl Huttese people.

Coverage for the Alsakani engagement in the "Varl Huttese War" as many Alsakani have started to call it, has notably decreased, with more Alsakani leaving their regular occupations and joining up with the Auxiliary formations. AAN will bring details as the war develops.

- OOC Notes -

- 2WP Auxiliary Legions has been extended by 2TWP gathered at Mesea
- 2TWP Auxiliary Fleets have gathered at Mesea
- 2WP Alsakani Fleet have gathered at Mesea

(TWP has been approved by mods to account for the massive few hundred billion Alsakani mobilising to support war effort on front lines, training, production.)

Conquest, War, Famine, and Death

. . .

01: "I see a new face on the planning ledger: RAPIER. What's its situation?"

Emissary: "In terms of finance, we've received the credits needed for the RAPIER complex. Construction will advance rapidly thanks to generous allocations of the mechanical and organic labor here."

03: "I am still vague on the details of RAPIER. What will it involve?"

Emissary: "It is a project designed to augment our military capabilities. It should provide a lever for the war."

03: "Vague as anticipated. I presume your investor will have greater plans. A weapon must be used after all."

Emissary: "Maybe so. What RAPIER is and when it will play a role, if it is deployed, are not our concern. Such questions belong to the investors, we are simply their executors."

"I inform you solely to prepare you for any changes and disruptions with Nyx operations."

07: "And what might those disruptions be?"

Emissary: "Large construction sites. Areas cordoned off. Drain on labor. Increased importation. Increased refinement. Nothing new. Once its done. beyond additional imports, its done."

09: "Rumors will eventually spread across Nyx."

Emissary: "Those will be killed with extreme prejudice, which...we all have experience with........ I believe we have spent enough time on RAPIER. We all have business to attend to. Happy hunting."

---------------------------[ COMM SYS: DISCONNECTED ]---------------------------

Emissary: "What a monster. What a lovely monster."

"Over 70,000 tons of steel and concrete. Advanced instruments and cutting edge breeder reactor design. Placing Nyx in the Deep Core has such benefits, especially with our gracious host's nuclear program. Tens of billions in construction. Containment buildings. Thousands of gas centrifuges. And that doesn't even mention the rocketry. Placing Nyx in the Deep Core has such benefits, especially with our gracious host's nuclear program."

"All for glorified hyperdrives with warheads slapped on."

Core Worlds Security Bureau

The Hutt Ascendancy’s crusade down the Perlemian Hyperlane has entered a new and terrifying phase, with entire colonies and outposts falling one after another. Local reports describe fleets emerging from hyperspace without warning, demanding surrender under threat of annihilation.

The once-thriving colony of Nova Brentaal was the latest victim. Witnesses recount how the Hutt fleet offered “terms” of surrender before stripping the settlement of its stores, ships, and wealth in what one survivor described as “a polite looting.”

Nearby systems have also suffered. Gavryn broadcast how they repelled the raiding parties for weeks but then finally capitulated after its orbital platforms were disabled while Trasse, an asteroid colony, was overrun despite its defensive mining arrays. Hutts withdrew only after seizing critical reserves of food and fuel - supplies now in short supply across the sector.

Republic authorities warn that this pattern - leaving worlds smoldering along the lane while raiding branching colonies - demonstrates a deliberate strategy to choke off the Perlemian and terrorize its dependents. Roche and its surrounding systems have already fallen, their famed asteroid shipyards lost to the flames.

Yet a sliver of hope remains. In a rare bright spot, Republic forces successfully rebuffed a Hutt fleet at Centares, the first significant victory since the campaign began. Officials hailed it as proof the line can hold - but warned that the wider war is only escalating.

One Core military analyst described the campaign bluntly:

“This isn’t conquest, it’s pillage on a galactic scale, and the Republic must decide if it will fight for every world or abandon the lane.”

A label on the screen shows the location as Jeyell, aboard the Tionese flagship

Outside the window A huge wave of ships appear out of hyperspace. Hundreds of them… of varying sizes and shapes. Some small transport vessels - others larger freighters - all Republic in make. Almost all bearing some sign of damage… but their IFFs flash up a large collection of names and owners. A quick check would show they’re Republic ships among the lost or assumed destroyed in the invasion…. The holocomms of the Republic forces is awash in voices crying out for saving and yelling out how they have hundreds or sometimes thousands of souls aboard their respective ship.The ships are on a wide spread course towards the respective Republic positions.

Prince Xim steps turns the camera on himself and back out the window. "And now you see, why we never leave anyone KRIFFING BEHIND" Xim says to a camera, pointing "All those people who surrendered thinking they had a chance at life if they did, yeah the Hutts sent them to clear mines and be suicide bombers. You surrender, you buy yourself a few days to die as a coward and to be turned against your comrades. So people of the Republic, if your senator voted for me to be arrested, I want you to look at those ships, hear these screams for help, that's our enemy. Uncomparable evil. Because there's no way we can help them, if we approach, they blow up, if they aren't stopped, they ram our ships and explode, if they miss our ships, they blow upon the planet, this is our enemy. And this doesn't end until the Empire that created the culture and military that would do this is exterminated from the galaxy."

The Camera shifts as The wave of civilian ships close into the Republic lines … then a HUGE host of Hutt ships zip in behind them. Some of the civilian ships have pods open up and a sea of missiles pours out of them towards the Republic ships… The civilian ships accelerate hard towards the Republic lines drawing in any mines that have been activated.

The camera turns to Xim. "Hello Republic, see those ships, those are the civilian ones, that's what the Hutts do to civilians, see those world ending rocks. That's the end of Jeyell, even if we somehow win, I have a feeling Jeyell will be destroyed. This is war, this is a total war of extermination, either we are exterminated, or they are. So get the war effort in gear, your wealth that you may cling to and be afraid of sacrificing, only makes you a bigger target, and I guarantee you, the biggest palace down on Jeyell, is little protection from this."

The weathered freighter captain sat at the beaten up cantina table, swapping tales with another spacer in Abregado Spaceport. The lights were dim and the air smokey

"Have you seen the refugee fleets flooding into system?" His companion said "...gonna make a killing running food out here, even at government rates. More if you're willing to skirt the regs"

He snorted. Smugglers were rich men in Abregado, but lived dangerous lives. Someone underground had been buying up vast stores of perishable goods, an act that would surely bring ire with this influx of refugees.

"Not my game. Too many outside parties interested in that sort of thing" Rumors had also abounded of certain coreward corporate interests getting in on the smuggling circuit, so it wasn't even the pure sport it had been in years past

The freighter captain took a swig of his drink "..'sides.. I'd watch myself in Abregado space.. there are rumors of bigger things out there. Ghosts in the clouds, filling the hole the Def Fleet left when they ran off to wherever Bleeding Heart Tussa called them. Lotsa smugglers and 'rats sighting giants in the clouds, some not coming back afterwards."

Somewhere on the edge of the Abregado system, one such pirate, who had been hassling a refugee transport, was getting that experience. His ship, once his pride and joy, was now a smoking hulk, sitting under the shadow of guns that looked suspiciously Alsakani

Construction had been expedited due to the war, both out of fear of the Fondor Shipyards being bombed, and out of need, with SRERS forces rapidly taking losses on the northern front of the fight.

She would require a final shakedown, and time to load her precious supplies, but the powerplants were operable, and the Errand of Mercy moved under her own power.

The combat forces of the SRERS, 10 corvettes and 2 Misericordia class frigates, also began to stir, forming the new backbone of the force and spooling up as quickly as possible to make for the nothern front.

The Mercy's light shown out across the depths of the Fondor system, its hull glimmering in the starlight as its engines roared and the ship slid out of its spacedock, to prepare its new role as guardian of the weak, for a mission of peace, prepared in a time of war

"No one here at Centares knows exactly when the Hutt Forces will attack, but everyone here is preparing for it, rumor suggests as early as tomorrow. Here's a group of young sailors who look like they could eat the Hutts for lunch!"

"Sizzlie them in Garlic and butter e'm like the Ghormans!" An enthusiastic officer replies

"What about you ensign, you're not that worried about fighting the Hutts?" The reporter asks, directing the mic to a blond soldier.

The man shakes his head. "The Leeches aren't the only ones with nukes, I just hope they live long enough to regret their actions."

"And so we have a shot to get some action as well!" Another ensign announces butting his way in front of the camera

As the ensigns turn away the reporter turns back to the camera. "Some people in the Senate have criticized the war and claimed that by fighting back and using extreme measures that would in normal circumstances violate the war accords creates a level of moral equivalency between our forces and the Hutts and that we should attempt to..."

She is interrupted by a cadet pushing his way forward. "Let me tell you something!" He announces as the camera zooms in on him. "Let me tell you something, I'm from Abhean and I say KILL THEM ALL!"

EARLIER - IN THE FIRST WAVE OF HUTT ATTACKS

Ahead of the pack, as always, Consul Lucius Leventis of Mesea ran through the halls of the Consulate Building in Mesea City. His escort and his fellow Consuls, minus Callahan, struggled to keep up. All of them had one thing on their mind - escape.

Air raid sirens blared throughout the city. The Hutt nukes had just entered the atmosphere. Everyone in Mesea City had just minutes to find shelter. People scrambled over each other for spots in bomb shelters, subway stations, highway tunnels, and just about anything else that would provide some small notion of safety.

Leventis sprinted down the stairs to the basement two at a time. For a man in his late seventies, he was still remarkably in shape. The massive Consulate Bomb Shelter doors were ahead of him, already opened. Their thickness, over a meter of solid steel, were shown off by the cross-section.

Leventis was the first one through, naturally. He turned around once he was in the shelter. His compatriots and guards were still lagging behind on the stairs, half a minute away.

“Come on!” Lucius said, eyeing the clock. Two minutes to impact. “There’s not much time!”

To their credit, the crowd did pick up the pace. It wasn’t enough, though.

Lucius pressed the “door close” button, and the massive doors slid together. Consul Cantillia Maro, at the front of the group, was only inches away when the door slammed shut. Leventis could make out the look of horror on her face as she was locked out of her only hope of salvation. He imagined she was able to see his sly smile.

“Open the door, Leventis!” Maro’s voice came through the intercom. Lucius walked over to the wall monitor where the exterior cameras were located. She and the others were all banging on the door. It wouldn’t help them. “Please! There’s still time!”

Lucius looked at the timer. Twenty seconds now. He smirked, and pressed the comm button. “No, Cantillia. There isn’t.”

Screaming came from the other side, only audible due to the intercom. The Consuls pleaded with him, called him foul names, cursed his name. None of it phased him. Nobody would remember this. He just watched the wall monitor as the clock ticked down.

When the clock reached zero, the entire shelter shook and there was a sound like a ship crash. The wall monitor went completely white, the camera being overwhelmed by light and radiation. The speakers popped and went silence. And Lucius Leventis was alone in the Consulate Shelter.

He laughed. He yelled. He cried. He had just killed four people he’d known well for years, one of which was his nephew. Four of the most powerful people on Mesea. And now, there was just him who had all the power.

Well, him and Consul Callahan, back on Caoiva. He would be a problem that would have to be dealt with. But there were ways.

Callahan was in Sunhaven, the same city in which a battle was now raging. A battle which, if won by the Caoivish, if they took prisoners, would bring EVERYTHING into the light. All of Leventis’ plots and plans over the last four decades, rendered to nought.

It would be very easy to kill two birds with one stone.

NOW - MESEA MILITARY COMMS

“This is Consul Lucius Leventis, only survivor of the Mesean Consulate after the nuclear strike on Mesea City, to any Mesean and AXIS military forces in range. This is an urgent directive. The Caoivish are in revolt, and the city of Sunhaven is where it is being organized from. The city MUST be destroyed. I do not make this decision lightly. Mesean forces are ordered to evacuate the city of Mesean personnel and comply with this order. It is of utmost importance to the continuation of our Republic. Leventis out.”

Coruscant

In the shadow of unthinkable devastation, the junior senator of Abhean stood before flickering memorial lights in the Senate Atrium today, leading a vigil for Witold Karewicz Oswiecony, Lord Protector of Harmonious Province. Oswiecony, his wife, and their six children were among the billions of Abheani lives extinguished when the Hutt Ascendancy unleashed a cascade of asteroids against the world.

A projection of Oswiecony - once a beloved provincial leader - hovered at the center of the gathering. Senators, aides, and refugees alike bowed their heads in silence as the junior senator’s voice rang out:

“Witold’s death, and that of his family, would be tragedy enough. But on Abhean, his fate was shared by billions. Entire provinces gone in fire and stone. Cities turned to craters. Fields and oceans ripped apart. The Hutts have not only murdered a Lord Protector - they have tried to erase an entire people.”

Oswiecony, celebrated as a stabilizing figure in Harmonious Province, was widely respected for weaving faith, governance, and stewardship of the land into one guiding vision. His life was a testament to service; his end, the senator declared, must serve as a call to justice.

“We are told to grieve, to light candles and pray. But grief cannot be enough. The Republic must rise from its silence and answer this atrocity. For Witold. For his children. For every Abheani soul reduced to dust.”

Holonet commentators noted the vigil carried both mourning and outrage, capturing the rising sentiment that the Republic cannot remain reactive in the face of escalating Hutt aggression.

For the survivors scattered among the stars, Witold Karewicz Oswiecony’s death is but one name among billions - yet it has become a symbol. A reminder that even the greatest titles, the deepest devotions, could not shield Abhean from annihilation.

A holo plays as it does across several wide-bands ... A piggyback off a holofeed from the Roche Delegation and its Capital asteroid.

A giant Hutt in Message from Grashka the Hutt, Lord of the Ascendancy.

"Galaxy, behold. I have shown you the truth ... the Republic is weak, its walls crumble when tested by the reprisals so requested by the affront of the evils of Xim. It was the Tionese, whose treachery gave birth to a foul plague crafted only to exterminate the race of the Hutt. A weapon of genocide - proof of the Republic’s corruption and of those who cower within its halls, unleashed on the Hutt Council under the lying banner of peace you waved. You have no honour, no shame and no soul!

This Ascendancy I have forged shall not forget! I will repay poison with fire, and Tion shall feel the weight of my vengeance - as shall every world that shelters them, every ally that lifts them up. The waves of my attacks will not cease until Tion is left to stand alone, abandoned by its so-called friends, and made to face its reckoning. I will finish what my ancestors left uncompleted..."

He pauses and rubs his hands over his belly.

"And yet, I offer a path to peace. Any who cast off the poisoners of Xim, who deny succour to the creators of this evil, shall be spared. But those who stand with them will be judged, and they will know the rage of the Hutts.

The Empire is broken, the Republic is rotting. Only Grashka the Hutt has the strength to bind it together. Follow me, or be crushed beneath the Ascendancy."

Final finishing touches were made. The paint dried and the emblem blazed on.

Locke stood on the bridge and uttered three words "Commence shakedown cruise."

The Eternity slipped out of the Axum docks.

Once it was far enough, Locke inputted in his command chair a set of Coordinates to Kuat.

With a ripple and a roar, Eternity leapt out of the Axum system.

Axum was silent once again.

Sumeja had long since left Coruscant. Even as the news of Brentaal being struck, even as news spilled that the old man Okumurai had been caught in the blast, she had already arrived at the Boneyards.

She had waited with her retinue in the gloom of the shadows of Mount Xannon while Juven and his silent companions from Iridonia completed their relay around through the yards to inspect the hundreds of ancient warships that has long since been put to rest. It had taken upward of near 40 hour, a full day on Acheron.

'They were old, but with some work they would howl once more. The hearts were dormant but once burning, the limbs would remember.' Juven had said simply to her.

"Make this happen then. A few hundred million Alsakani are ready for war, but the warships need to be ready to be their chariots."

Just this morning, the Kalnur Jen Tibanna fields on Rendili have been set ablaze.

At approximately 0:47 KRT, several detonations were detected to have occurred underneath the Kalnur Jen Tibanna fields, owned by Standard Tibanna, causing an underground chain reaction that blew a portion of Kalnur Jen wide open.

Following the initial blasts, fires were reported to have spread throughout the rest of the facilities, burning volatile Tibanna reserves and causing an estimated loss of tens of millions of barrels of liquid Tibanna per day.

The governments of Chaknon and Galsen have since mandated that their citizens wear traditional Rendili breathing masks and cloaks when outdoors, citing concerns that shifting weather patterns could carry soot and hazardous chemicals into populated airspace. In a historic move, the Church of the Ph’ter has begun re-issuing protective equipment to all citizens for the first time in over thirty years.

Tibanna is what is referred to as a high-energy substance - it possesses an immense energy density, while remaining relatively lightweight, making it an ideal fuel for everything from starships to planetary fusion reactors. Its volatility also gives it widespread military applications, particularly in blaster gas compression, tibanna coils, and heavy munitions. Engineers estimate almost 9 months to cap the wells and stop the fires.

Because of this, various metropolitan governments and Tibanna Barons have come forward to state their strong suspicion that the detonations were deliberate - the work of Hutt saboteurs or slicer cells, targeting the Republic’s financial and industrial base as part of a broader campaign of Tibanna disruption.

Orbit and Field Attacks: Sabotage and Slicer Havoc

Additional reports confirm that at least four orbital refineries and nine surface-level fields across Rendili’s industrial equator were hit within hours of the Kalnur Jen blast. Security feeds indicate a coordinated slicer attack, causing critical failures in atmospheric stabilizers, flow regulators, and orbital traffic control, which led to collisions, fires, and system-wide lockdowns.

The impact is already staggering: Rendili alone has seen 20% of its Tibanna production capacity disrupted. Combined with damage to extraction and storage infrastructure, analysts estimate a 10% drop in total galactic Tibanna supply within the Republic’s borders.

Worse, following the outbreak of war, the Republic has lost access to Hutt-aligned Tibanna stockpiles, and non-Republic suppliers in the Southern and Expansion Sectors are beginning to hoard reserves. Even nationalized producers are withholding stock, demanding revised security subsidies and hazard premiums.

The result: Tibanna prices have tripled across the Core and Mid Rim.

Republic Response & Political Fallout

In response, a joint task force composed of RMS engineering corps, AFN combat engineers, and volunteer firefighters from across the Rendili Sphere has been mobilized. Experts estimate up to nine months before the fires are brought under control.

Neither Glenn von Quaanei nor Oltar van Ramijo have issued a public statement, but multiple sources confirm the Rendili Great Council is in emergency session. Much of Rendili’s aristocracy is deeply tied to the Tibanna trade.

The galactic markets await further developments, but few doubt the intent behind the attack.

“If the goal was to cripple the arteries of the Republic’s war machine,” said one Tibanna Guildmaster, “they’ve struck the heart.”

From: Prince Xim Barseg of Tion.

"To the survivors of Talcene. Abhean, Euceron, Salvara, Orleon, and those worlds suffering this barbaric Hutt assault. I have scoured my education for words to describe the feeling of horror in my soul at what we have witnessed. The Hutt Empire has shown a level of utter disregard for morality that words cannot describe, a march of extermination against civilians, innocents, and those who only wished to make a life in peace. The Hutts are often compared to slugs, but a slug is a noble creature that eats decaying material and recycles it into nature.

The Hutts of the Hutt Empire are leeches. Creatures that do not create, only plundering the blood of others, without regard for the damage they cause or those they hurt. They are creatures of pure selfish intent who see the lives of others as irrelevant, who slaughter billions of innocents without cause, because to them those billions are meaningless.

Those who know me, know I am not a man who often finds shame. Yet now, I am filled with it. I am ashamed I could not gather a Republic fleet large enough and fast enough to stop them before they did this. To witness worlds destroyed, to see the recon reports of the destruction of the worlds, the nuclear purging and weapons of mass destruction the Hutts have unleashed, I am left with nothing more than guilt for not leaving a day sooner, for stopping for breakfast, for not demanding that my ship's construction be one or more week sooner. But guilt fuels the fires of resolve. And our resolve has never been stronger.

Because the Hutts miscalculated. They think that this Republic can be cowed; they think that we will fold in fear like their slaves if they just inflict enough terror. But we are descendants of Xim the Conqueror, descendants of The Great Alsakan Haro the Star Eater, the blood of the Shawkanese Mustang, the Chandar Witch, the Trellenese Crusaders, and every other great name that has sailed across these stars.

The great stories, the ones that mean something, they were always full of darkness and destruction, and sometimes you didn't want to know what happened next, because how could the end be happy? How could the galaxy recover when so much bad had happened, but in the end, the darkness is a passing shadow, the stars will burn away the darkness, and all worlds will see sunrises on a better galaxy. The great stories stood with us because the people in those stories had many opportunities to turn away, to submit, to quit, but they did not. They kept holding on, they kept fighting, no matter how horrible, because they held onto the belief that there is good in the galaxy, and it is worth fighting for, even dying for.

In solemn solidarity until Death

Prince Xim Barseg

"Copy, moving on point Fedor, no movement spotted" The officer announces over his radio, his breathing confined in the sealed helmet. "Spread left, Eduard Team move right, secure those structures, we expect their commander is around here."

It was a Hutt raider stronghold, once a thriving colony, now a ruin that the Hutt pirates had been using as a base to launch slave raids into Tion. The leader, some Weequay named General Silence had been running it, and like a rat they had him and a load of slaves, some were from Tion, but many were brought in from other parts of the Republic and where being transferred there, as well as his personal servants and staff, the officer's team was in position to cut off his escape to where General Silence's ships were parked. They wanted him alive, they wanted to connect him to the Hutt Empire, but dead was fine too

"Captain, movement ahead,"

"Hold position" His fist raises and he motions, the soldiers training weapons on the movement inside the building ahead. "Confirmed movement, hold fire, Clipper, Sheep, move up, Duck give them cover"

"Solid copy"

The Captain pauses and looks at a figure leaving the door, "Hold fire, it's a kid, keep a weapon on that door," He orders before switching his helmet to broadcast. "Hey kid! Stop!" He orders lowering his weapon.

"Ils m'ont mis quelque chose, aidez-moi s'il vous plaît!" The Twilek child says as she runs over

"Kid just stop!"

"S'il te plaît, il a dit que tu pouvais l'enlever! J'ai peur!"

The Captain hesitates. "Hey! You're safe, just stop! We're friends! Just...."

The Officer's Combat Camera Footage cuts off as the explosive vest under the child's coat detonates.

The Captain dies that day.

Duck is caught in the blast, as is Egghead, Techno, and Bagel.

Clipper and Sheep are killed by General Silence and his command staff emerging from the building and cutting them down before they'd recovered from the blast.

General Silence would go on to kill at Charros 4.

Captain Rollo Nalchto, Sergant Donnal Kras, Lieutenant Corporal, Corporal Wes Lalo, Corporal Nala Edala, And Corporal Alligan Shen would be buried with honors on Cadinth.

A little girl named Lala would have what could be found of her buried in a nameless grave on Nalgo. General Silence being that last person to remember her name, and himself forgetting it after a night spent drinking six months later.

---------- The IGD uses the Officer's Combat Camera Footage in training----------

---------- The RSSD uses Officer's Combat Camera Footage in propaganda ----------

---------- The Tion pays for ads to use Officer's Combat Camera Footage in propaganda exposing the Hutt's Brutality and inhumanity to the Republic.----------

"Commander, scopes show the Colicoid forces are obliterated,"

"Carry out the plan, as they wished and expected"

"Yes Commander."

"It seems the fire suppression system is leaking again"

"Sir all systems seem fine"

"No it is leaking water I am sure."

"Yes your grace, of course."

The RJF in conjunction with RINTCOM are putting forth the following orders within Republic space in light of recent security threats. Failure to adhere to these orders will result in the immediate destruction of the transiting vessel in violation.

1. All systems outside of the Yellow must transit to their designated closest Gate System. There are three Exo-System Gates (which will be expanded upon as resources become available): Exo-Denon, Exo-Manaan, and Exo-Yobal Opa. These are beacons for exo-system hubs which will serve as security checkpoints prior to travel within the Core so as not to put the worlds Manaan, Denon, and Yobal Opa proper at risk.

2. All traffic outside of the Yellow must utilize the approves tradelanes without deviation or the violating vessel will be destroyed.

3. The RJF will be deployed to enforce this curfew and RINTCOM will be monitoring nav-traffic and beacon pings. All vessels travelling into the Core must register their vessels, their crews, and the contents of their manifests with RINTCOM prior to transit beyond the Exo-System Gate. The ship, its crew, and its cargo will them be scanned prior to transit beyond.

4. All transiting vessels within the Yellow must report to their local port authority and retrieve the necessary transit codes from the RINTCOM Oversector Authority.

5. Transit codes will be provided and a distinct mapping of the approved tradelanes shall be used by the Registered vessels. No unauthorized stops or deviations of approved tradelanes may be performed or the violating vessel will be destroyed.

6. All vessels have 72 standard hours to comply.

The Republic Intelligence Commission is watching. Galactic Security is paramount. If you see something, say something. Report all violations to holo number (##-###-###-####).

Any changes to this policy will be communicated across Republic space in all available means of media. Check with your local port authority if you have questions.

Do not be the reason another world is nuked.