MNS - A Fever Pitch - Printable Version

Republica de Malta

Maltese News Service

'An informed society is a strong society'

A FEVER PITCH
The Leeds Massacre reaches its climax!
Plans for the Taus begin to take shape.
The 'Maltese Unitary Republic of Hispania' Explained!
By: Katie Sumner

The last few months have been times of broad ranges of reaction, from the invasion of New London to the Liberation of Tau-31, the Clash in Provence to the Glass of Leeds and all other events in between. Recent events since the foundation of the Maltese News Service have been covered with as much detail as is possible to give you, the people, the true, up-to-date information to plan accordingly to the vast, ever-changing atmosphere of Sirius. Stories are being made faster than ever before, and the climax of the Tau Conflict is ever approaching. Here are the details.

Planet Leeds, Leeds system

"It came out of nowhere. First we saw the ships overhead, then the next thing we knew they were firing down on us. Those destroyers with the huge gun on the belly, cut right through the atmosphere and started blasting whatever they could find that was worth blasting.. We only made it out because of a news crier and his paper shuttle. My family and some others were all that could fit in it...
I'll never forget that.."

Peter Harris and his family were just some of the thousands that were spared the initial blasts from the Gallic assault on Leeds. While reports have come in now that the evacuation effort has reached the millions of people, the ships continue to haul the unfortunate populace off.

The Gallic destruction of Planet Leeds, population ~7.7 Billion, has been noted as by far the most costly and most destructive genocidal attack in human history. Millions have been lost to the assault, news from Gallic Public News Sources stating that the attack has had no official Royal backing, leading theorists to believe that the attack is being carried out by a rogue element of the Royal Navy. These attacks have also sparked what is assumed to be the largest general defection in recorded history, as thousands of the Royal Navy's remaining personnel have defected to the Allied side, surrendered and have relinquished themselves to the commands of their enemies. While this does not halt the attacks on Leeds, the effort to secure the system will likely be easier with less Royal Loyalists standing in the way of the Allied counter-offensive.

Commander Donald Ross of the Bretonian Armed Forces, a member of Detachment 13 stationed out of New London, provided this to say in regards to the events of the past week.

"It's right tragic is what it is. All those souls lost to bombardment. We had the same on New London just this past weekend and the fires they say are still burning. Buckingham is a mess, my own home is gone and now we're focused on removing these buggers once and for all. We have plans to jury-rig the gate, or maybe nicker our way around through the jump hole, but rest assured we'll get the bastards responsible for this. Command already has plans to oversee the invasion."

From a geological standpoint, the analysts predict that the planet itself will not be able to stand up to the continued bombardment of its crust for long, as Christiana Llevi explained to us:

"The planetary surface of Leeds is a stressful one to begin with. As the entire planet is effectively an ecumenopolis, or a city-planet, the structure of the surface is much different than that of any other planet in Sirius. The crust is effectively two layers: The regular, planetary crust (y'know, rock, subsurface water, ores, all that stuff) and the upper crust, consisting of the arcologies where the populace works, lives and develops. As the arcologies are planet-wide, this means that they put pressure on the crust itself, causing instability in the case of bombardment. This can cause cracks along the weak points of the surface, allowing the heavier crust to breach and allow magma from below in the planet's mantle to seep up, effectively sinking the crust beneath the magma below. In the case of Leeds, where the bombardment isn't one massive blast but rather a multitude of substantial ones, the planet's crust will very likely breach in so many places that, while this relatively even bombardment of the surface will prevent the crust from sinking, will allow the mantle to seep through, wreaking havoc on the surface and killing nearly every person who can't escape. If this bombardment continues, we could very well see Leeds become an uninhabitable wasteland in our lifetime."

New London Orbit, New London system

Support for New London has also begun to flood in from the surrounding communities as the planet finds itself in complete and utter turmoil. The surface of the planet, particularly in the Westminster District of the main city center, has reportedly been completely wiped out, as well as many of the other cities across the surface. Maltese relief efforts have been small, but critical in the containment of the fires and the rescue of survivors. Other reports from the New London front indicate that the remainder of the Gallic invasion force has been routed, the wrecks of R.N.S. Castres, R.N.S. Nogent-le-Rotrou, R.N.S. Ambazac, and R.N.S. Le Cendre scattered around the main battle area. At the cost of three allied warships, L.N.S. Gettysburg, H.M.S. Suffolk, and H.M.S. Warwick, the advance has been turned into a staggering retreat, leaving only two warships the ability to leave New London, R.N.S. Dax and C.N.S. Athos, the latter of which being reported as the only one retaining its battlegroup alongside the flagship.

The invasion, through hard effort and countless lives, has been turned around, and the Allied counter-offensive has begun. Despite the overwhelming force put against the Capital, New London, damaged as it is, stands in triumph against the oppressors of Gallia. Experts predict that the counter-offensive will be swift, as the Royal Navy retains at most three warships in reserve, substituting most of the Montmorency Flotilla to the bombardment of Planet Leeds. Allied war doctrines suggest that by the week's end, Leeds will be liberated, and the Gallic War effectively put to an end.

The Tau Conflict, the extension of the Gallic invasion, continues regardless. With Crayter's acquisition of the Tau-31 system and lockdown of the system's gates and lanes, the final removal of the Royalist stench from the system is taking place and should soon be reality once more. Expectations for the Crayter offensive into Tau-23 under assistance by Armed Forces personnel is expected to begin within the next few weeks, and Battlegroup Imperium has started to prepare forces to mobilize for Tau-23 at large.

With the Crayter counter-offensive into the Taus, and the Nationalist invasion into Crayter space to the south, the Armed Forces expects Operation Cathedral to collapse upon itself. With the recycling of the jump anomaly network,

Dreadnought M.N.S. Basilica

M.N.S. Basilica and her battlegroup remain trapped behind the new Crayter front line, and it is expected that the dreadnought will find itself on the receiving end of a Crayter assault akin to that which destroyed C.F.V. Helios almost a year ago. Maltese analysts expect the assault to be swift, as Basilica has no route of direct supply, leaving it vulnerable to whatever it is at mercy to.

Regardless, the Armed Forces expects the fall of the Basilica to be swift, and the counter-offensive against the Nationalists to be efficient and well executed. Cali Base has been deigned as the target for the Armed Forces in Tau-23, leaving whatever other stations in the system to the Crayterians, cementing it as a new foothold against the Nationalist advance and cutting their supply off through from Tau-37. In addition, efforts by the Maltese Foreign Affairs Department have revealed efforts to broker peace between the Republic and the Empire of Kusari, allowing for a further cemented line of access for the Republic. While unorthodox, peace between the Republic and Kusari would offer a solid advantage over Nationalist factions operating within the Tau cluster, and while being noted as costing the Republic its claims over the Kusari Region as a whole, most importantly Planets Tokioka and Miyazaki, 'the knowledge of an honorable and strong force such as Kusari having no quarter with the Republic would be the best possible outcome under the circumstances provided', said Secretary of Defense Randall Santiago.

Additional efforts are being made to ensure the proper supply of the front line for the Tau Reconquest, which is expected to take precedence over the other conflicts Malta is engaged in. However, it has been promised that Armed Forces personnel and ships will remain in controlled space, especially the Tau-44 corridor, to ensure a sound link between home and the front line.

"We're very dedicated to the war for the homeworld, but we are very conscious of the homes we have made already in our exile. With the blueprints acquired from the daring raid on Valetta to acquire the Republic's flagship, the Defense Department has plans to construct brand new, advanced warships to turn the tide against the Nationalists and their puppets. Rest assured that the safety and prosperity of our citizens are our highest priority, and each action is taken with the consideration of the well-being of each and every Maltese individual. While this does not always extend to our misguided Nationalist brothers and sisters, attempts are made at all times to oversee that they are brought into thought as well. The Republic's eyes on

Cali Base, Tau-23 system

Cali are a very formal goal, much less militarily. We have no intention to siege the station, but more to convert it, to utilize it as a waystation and border guard against the Nationalist advance. While those on Malta may see it as invasion, we see it as liberation."

Operation Pedestal is expected to be underway by the end of the season.

Finally, we go to recording for the rest of this article's runtime as we discuss the elephant in the room that showed itself almost three weeks ago: The Maltese Unitary Republic of Hispania. As the fourth Maltese governmental system set in place after the fall of the Council of Dons, the 'Murro' as it has been coined is self-proclaimed to be a progressive society based on the inabilities and progress of the past incantations of Malta. Nationalist led, the Murro is expected to be a thorn in the side according to Republican officials. We sat down with Secretary of Commerce Gabriella la Huerta on Thursday to talk about the Murro, as well as questions asked directly to the Speaker for the House of Dons Hernan Escudero by MNS's own Arthur Perez.

*Below the text sits a clickable video link, the playback beginning with revealing Katie Sumner and the Secretary of Commerce Gabriella la Huerta sitting in stools on stage across from one another, Katie to the left and Gabriella to the right. Katie holds in her hands an array of classic white printer paper, about four pages thick, with a metal staple holding them by the corner. She smiles and looks to the Secretary*

"Ms. la Huerta, thank you for joining us tonight."

"It is my pleasure."

"I'm sure the people and our audience appreciate that you could take time from your duties to speak to the public like this, and I hope we can certainly learn a few things about the climate we've found ourselves in. Shall we begin with what we know about the.. 'Murro'?"

"Si, let's. What we know of the 'Murro' as we call it, a phonetic pronunciation of the acronym of its name MURoH, extends primarily from the broadcast they put out almost three weeks ago. The Murro is appears to be a coalition of sorts, acting as the amalgamation of what we in the Republic see as right, except.. with all the wrong. We don't know if slavery is still prevalent, though with these Nationalists it most likely still is, or whether or not the people of Malta have a say in anything. Cardamine is still a very real trade within the Murro, as that has never stopped being the status quo of the Nationalist regime, so we can still expect these cartels to keep pumping shipment after shipment into our border guard. Honestly, not a lot of it is different from the National Council before, and even through Mr. Perez we have confirmed that they are, in fact, still utilizing the National Council's array of laws to control the Maltese people."

"Is there anything that tells us that they aren't just a second birthing of the National Council? Do they participate in diplomacy? We've heard from government officials that the 'Legion' are against any diplomacy made by the National Council, but apart from them the Council strived to take diplomatic approaches to each issue they came across."

"In most forms, no. The Murro take part in diplomacy and seem to readily accept it, as evidenced by their acceptance of the Crayter Republic's neutrality in regards to the Treaty of Coronado. They may have a stronger urgence to prefer their cartel businesses, but aside from that there doesn't appear to be much difference."

"Will this be any issue to the Republic? Several faction make up this new Murro. Will Crayter and the Republic be enough to stand against whatever this new governing body has in store for the Maltese people and those of Sirius?"

"We don't know, to be honest. There are plans to counter their strengths, but aside from these it's still too soon to know."

"Then we'll leave this matter to the future. Next, there is much debate about the so-called 'Basilica Treaty' elaborated on briefly by Mr. Escudero. Is there anything you can tell us about what we can expect this to be about?"

"There is, actually. Mr. Escudero was very vague about the details of this treaty, perhaps leaning towards the idea that this treaty may not be profitable in the eyes of certain individuals or factions. Over a closed channel, Mr. Escudero even exercised the term 'secret', which in the political world typically translates to 'dangerous'. I actually have a small recording of this segment from his transmission that was provided by Mr. Perez himself that I prepared for this interview. Here it goes."

"Basilica Treaty is a treaty concluded between the then Nation of Malta and the Kingdom of Bretonia, re-formalising peace and cooperation between the nations, coordinating the warfare against the Gauls on the common Tau front, and providing basis for post-war regulation of the borders in the Tau sector, and means for preserving peace in Taus after the war. The secret part of the Treaty, obviously, is not for public eyes but I assure you it serves the stellapolitical interests of Maltese Hispania."

".. but does any of it mean anything?"

"The details are hidden behind the wording. See, what a trained mind can determine from this is that the treaty is the structure of an alliance, but against more than just the Royalists themselves. The words 'basis for post-war regulation of the borders in the Tau sector' may translate to splitting the gains made by Bretonia and the Nationalists after the end of the war. Many of the Republic's people may note that Crayter recently liberated Tau-31, which by the way.. well done, Crayter. While the details still aren't clear, the terms of this treaty could very well work against these liberations. Bretonia historically has not only had very real interest in the Tau sector, even going all the way back to BMM having mining operations in Tau-23 and Tau-31, as well as the Bretonian terraforming operation on Planet Harris, but Bretonia and Crayter, as early as just before the Gallic Reveal, were enemies, where Crayter claimed the entire Tau sector, including Harris and Tau-23. The Nationalists have always had a strong hate towards Crayter, and Bretonia may well be looking to redraw the borders against our allies."

"Could this treaty really be as heinous as you say?"

"Perhaps. Bear in mind, all of this is hypothetical, but in my eyes it is the most likely case. I never personally understood the National Council's acceptance of the Crayter peace treaty, as their ideals are too far apart for cooperation to become reality, as evidenced by the Legion's interference in the assault on New Tours, but this is most certainly a case of classic Maltese imperialism, regardless of the claims."

"Time will tell, I suppose. "Mhm." Finally, I suppose it would be amiss to not talk about the goals of the Murro and their supposed 'approved legitimacy' from the Kingdom of Bretonia."

"This was an issue that we in the cabinet have been having a lot of issues looking over. As far as I'm aware, this has never happened before, which suggests a very strong, very stark change in either the potency of Maltese politics or the gullibility of the Bretonian Crown, which I really don't know how to rate which is worse. The legitimacy of the government of Malta was always the Republic's key advantage over the Nationalist regime of Malta. With the recognition of the Bretonian Crown as the successors of the Hispania, the Murro has stolen our advantage from us. This won't stop us at all in our goal to reunite Malta, but it does put a very heavy weight on the inertia of the Republic's operations. After the fall of the National Council, the Articles of Succession written in 382 A.S. by Alvar Leopoli of the ancient Council of the Maltese stated that the next organized leadership of the Maltese state officially recognized by the Maltese people would, by the laws of the Articles, be seen as the true successor of the Hispania."

"How will this effect the Republic's efforts? Will we be able to reclaim this title?"

"Officially? No. Not until the Murro is replaced by the Republic on the surface of Malta at the base of the Aguja Maltesa, as is tradition. While the Republic still recognizes itself as the legitimate government of Malta, officially in the public eye this point is moot until the Republic can make ground against the Nationalist regime. Logistically, it won't make the Republic's efforts any more difficult, but in the event of a break out in fighting between the Republic and the Nationalists, Bretonia may be more likely to step in and intervene."

"Won't that bring Crayter into the fighting as well, as they are the Republic's ally?"

"Not necessarily. I won't hold it against Crayter if they refuse to participate if Bretonia gets involved, and from a political point of view it would be the right thing to do, regardless of the alliance. Supply for the Republic would likely continue, but official support would likely wane."

"I suppose for now all we'll have to do is wait and see, then. Thank you, Ms. la Huerta, for coming out to be with us."

"Of course, Katie."

*Gabriella gives her a nod, stepping off the stool, and as she begins to step off the stage the camera feed cuts out*

And that's all we have for tonight's issue of MNS. A special thank you goes to Secretary la Huerta for her appearance to clarify key issues, MNS's own Arthur Perez, and Mr. Hernan Escudero for his generous answers to MNS's queries on the subject of the Maltese Unitary Republic of Hispania. I'm Katie Sumner of the Maltese News Service, wishing you all a good night and a safe flight.