[Terminus] Halctis Frontier Conflict Escalates

Halctis Frontier Conflict Escalates

Tayseri Times

Anpyros Prime, HELVOST - Private military corporations such as the Blue Suns, Eclipse, Blood Pack, and Elanus Risk Control constitute a multi-billion credit industry that stretches across virtually all of known space. As of approximately three standard weeks ago, this now includes a line of battle stations and naval bases known as the Vasod Line.

Stretching the length of the Halctis Frontier, the Line is a centuries-old masterwork of engineering and infrastructure that divided the Old Kingdom of Terminus Warlord Alstius Caro in 1550 CE. After the collapse of the Kingdom in 1811 CE, the Line fell into disrepair, with individual stations changing hands or stripped to the superstructure by opportunistic salvagers.

In 2175 CE the burgeoning Pan-Helvost Consortium acquired the remnants of the Line installations and began restoring and repairing the stations, intent on using them to secure their Galactic East border against incursion. After the Crucible Event, however, the destruction of the relay network left the stations with a skeleton crew, their garrisons stripped to help restore order.

In their absence, a coalition of privateers has taken residence, forcibly evicting Consortium forces. With their fleets months away via traditional FTL, the Pan-Helvost Chancellorate has put their resources to use, hiring Myrmidon Security Services’ Second, Third, Fourth battlegroups and associate marine detachments.

Paramilitary forces under the command of Rear Admiral Tiama Esarak have waged an increasingly intense drone war over the past three days, sending waves of unmanned craft against station defenses while conducting hit and run attacks on ships attempting to enter or leave Vasod space. However, as of yesterday, 2300 hours local time, the crisis has deepened as neighboring nation Desalos Bastion accused Myrmidon of conducting an unprovoked strike on the military city-state of Tacilica.

The Desalos High Council, calling this a “cowardly and opportunistic attack on an unaffiliated party,” has pledged to seek redress from corporate forces and sponsors, though officials acknowledge that, proverbially speaking, they don’t have a leg to stand on.

“Comm buoys were severed prior to the attack and, going off what we have been able to recover, virtually every hardened military node in the colony was bombed, raided, stripped clean, then mass-driven into the mantle. So yes, we can point fingers and speculate all we like but the fact of the matter is we have no concrete proof either way,” stated Councilor Valia T’Kevo, Chairwoman of the Lower Council in a press conference today. “A ‘hot’ war with the Consortium at this juncture serves nobody.”

Meanwhile, Myrmidon officials state that while they were conducting operations in the region, their target was a largely uninhabited world on the edges of Desalos space which served as a staging point for Line interests. Operational records made public by the Admiral’s office seem to verify this claim.

Consortium representatives have declined to comment on the situation, merely stating that they have found the organization’s overall service to be “satisfactory in the extreme.”

Terminus governments at war. PMCs involved in shading dealings. Allegations of treachery and deceit. News at 2200.

Our guys wouldn't glass anything besides their target, unless it took a pot shot at them.

We're professionals, you know.

Bitch goes for the fucking easy joke instead of actually saying shit.

More at 2230.

Mercenary makes hypocritical remark, rounding out tonight's news.

You want something salient, dude? Then talk about it.

Fine, fine, fine lazy fuckers.

Imo this is probably another sneak peek at how shit's going to be in the Terminus/Abyss for the next good long while. Most govs, states, warlords, and whatever out there got chewed up really bad by the godsquid. Like, had their fleets and troopers carved apart into nice, juicy, chunks really bad.

So yeah, most of the really good contracts are going to go to the Big Three (shit like Tshombesha or Titonius) we've always had our pick of the field, but there's a metric fuckton of work out there for decently put together corps looking to make pretty cred. And once one group starts tossing out contracts for the big boy PMCs to snap up how much do you want to bet all their neighbors are going to start piling on that bandwagon? I mean the Vasod Line's a fucking major piece of work. And they're bringing in mercs to take it/privateers (basically just mercs with nice ships if you wanna be honest) to hold it. This is the kind of shit that you would only see national militaries duking it out over a couple years ago.

...which all probably means there's going to be a lot of growth. Specially when you think of all the fucking refugees 'n shit who've got nowhere else to go. Going in for some training and merc work starts looking like a pretty nice idea when you've got no place to sleep an nothing to eat.

It's news now. Like it or not there aren't nearly as many places we can get to in the galaxy, and we have no idea how quickly the rest of the relays are going to be repaired, or if they'll ever all get repaired.

I still don't want to live in the Terminus, but it's suddenly a lot bigger part of the picture now. Those little kingdoms warlords and PMCs called their own are bigger just because the galaxy is a lot smaller.

Okay, so now that I don’t have a swarm of irritating little jabbering monkeys crawling over my bar’s sofa, I can finally get around to responding to this thing.

Let me preface this with a big smacking label of “I have no idea what I’m talking about.” I may have helped design mechs for companies like yours, but that doesn’t really mean I know much more about the Blue Suns besides the fact that your group seems to attract some of the most irritating, arrogant lunkheads this side of the three-headed dog. So if you’ve got some secret division that, say, Plants Trees for Palaven or something else that doesn’t involve guns, I don’t know about it.

That said, this whole deal along the Vasod Line reeks of “Bad Idea With Worse Results.” I know, I know, the equation goes “Traverse = Zero Borders + Warlords,” but I have this niggling doubt that the DHC would start crying foul about Myrmidon unless it had plans to either show proof or get into a better position to get proof in the near future.

Then again, I’m not big on PMC’s in general, especially if they consider this as just a Good Sign of the Times. Wars aren’t a Good Sign, they’re a Sign that Everything’s Gone to Shit and Is Getting Worse – I’d have figured that the Reaper War would have drilled this in, but I guess some people are just damn subborn.

Anyway, yeah. Hack on that however you like.

Money. Money money money money, money money money. Money money money? Money money. Money.

Money.

Y'know what they say: 'When you merc, there's more to jerk.'

Also

Fuckin' gal-stand, right there.

Hey smartass, I know this is a forum where the sound byte rules, but you wanna give a less idiotic response?

Nah, pretty boy 'bout sums it up really.

Lot of fucking creds to be made in fighting ("as long as there's two people alive someone's going to want someone blah blah blah"). And where you can make creds you've got people ready and willing to do shit to get them. I mean like,

hrm

Thing about the big players/the disciplined guys (I'm guessing the MSS is one, stupid fucking name aside) is that they're always going to be in demand. Like, especially out in these kinds of hellholes where formal military training is worth its weight in eezo. And we know it, they know it sooooo

yeah

Us and people like us kinda become the go to guys for whatever the conflict of the day is, 'cause somebody's always going to want a bunch of fighters that can follow orders for whatever and we, well, get the creds you know?

If that makes any sense? I mean, like, its not hugely complex. We're really just in it for the money.


lolno

Hmm. Perhaps someone out there needs a resupply of equipment. It is worth investigating at any rate.

This reminds me of the last time I was in the Terminus. A long time ago. There was this colony that had regressed to mere barbarism. At the top of the chain sat the local mercs, Suns, if I recall. Below them were the locals, mostly turian colonists. Well, the turians got wise and lead an uprising. Terribly dry planet, if I remember correctly, not much worth the visit, but a few of us rallied to go help this noble cause. We get there and the turians are leading riots and a practical revolution in the few large cities left on the world. Well, the turians had guns, sticks, knives, claws, and we brought some heavy gear with us, but the mercs had ships, and a very low amount of concern for collateral damage. We wound up losing about three-quarters of our men. The rest of us hid in caves for the rest of the time. It was not very fun, but the turian resistance leader, a fellow named Valliniux Pallas, he kept us going. I remember him saying "freedom grows from bloodied sands" - kind of a dark little motto, no? End of the day, the non-locals (including myself) were smuggled out by cover of a large sandstorm. I think the rebels were finished off. It was not a pleasant experience.

Anyway, enough about that. Terminus. Bloody place. Not fun for anyone. This war shall be no different.

Hmm.

This actually, not this particular conflict, but the long predicted influx of mercenary driven postwar conflict, has been on my mind for a while now, ever since Corona and some of the other mercs on the old version of the site went absolutely giddy at the prospect.

Along with how much this is going to make life suck for the people stuck in the middle of these conflicts, another concern I have about the whole mess is that, as Harrad pointed out, the galaxy is a much smaller place these days, what with the relay network being what it is. Smaller galaxy means less resources and territory to go around, and what I'm worried about is whether or not C-Space might find itself being encroached upon, or admittedly, the opposite might be true.

Either way, what I'm trying to ask is, what are the chances of one of the Citadel governments being drawn into one of the these conflicts? Three years ago it wouldn't have seemed very likely, but now, with mostly everyone stretched thin, I'm not so sure.

When I look at this I can see the purpose in my job.

The Terminus sure has not the better master plan.

Probs still piss poor. I mean, yeah we traded a lot of shit with you during the War but going from buy/sell to "military intervention" or whatever you sad sacks call it is a bit of a jump. Like, good half of the Terminus hates the other half but the only thing that everyone hates more is a bunch of C-Space shits marching in and trying to act like they own the fucking place. Aria and the Three wouldn't fucking stand for it. ATP probably wouldn't fucking stand for it. And 'lord worth his holding wouldn't fucking stand for it.


I'm sure driving a desk with your tits is totes improving the galaxy. Spirits know it's not your brain or anything or you might get the really simple fact that this kind of shit works for us. We're not C-Space, we don't want any part of your fucking "modern society".

Like, lemme break it down for you.

Here's how the Terminus works with C-Space:

Wanna do business? Go for it.

Wanna try to run shit around here? Hahahaha fuck you.

Pretty much sums it up.

It is possible, but doubtful. It's very unlikely that CSpace will deliberately get involved through military intervention or shit like that when we've got enough problems as is and it would unite the Terminus against us, but that's not the only way to get dragged into a war.

Still, it's unlikely. There's not too many Terminus nations with the military strength and the motivation to go up against a CSpace government, when they get a lot of what they want (resources, territory, whatever) from the Terminus and there's even less reason for a CSpace government to do so.

And now we know the real reason why.

Hate

Hate

So much HATE.

Arn't we an angry little merc.
It does actually, I could even quantify that for you. But a brain the size of a dick wouldn't be able to wrap around it. So happy waving.


Ha, that's why you always notice when it's too late. Or in some cases, never.

C-Space doesn't even want to run the Terminus. It just isn't the better master plan.