Prophet - Your Go-To Blog for Politics, Entertainment, and Crime Tips

[Cross-posted to CrossNet Prime, DarkNet, Electronix, Undernet, Cerberus Daily News, and Erszbat Social]

Hey, ladies and gents of the Extranet. Time for another entry of Prophet.

First off, as usual, the entertainment section. This will be followed by the usual rant on batarian politics, and the usual lesson on electronics, cybersecurity and breaking through it, and then a section regarding the criminal underworld in general. Here we go.

ENTERTAINMENT

Today, I learned about a very interesting extranet site that's been down since the war ended. Apparently, someone found the old servers and restored them to working condition, and this site happens to be the old terrorist news site, Cerberus Daily News. The exact origins of the site are uncertain, but many people who frequented it thought it to be a social experiment done by the terrorist organization, Cerberus, who launched a series of open attacks against allied bases and the Citadel over the course of the war. Of course, anyone who paid fucking attention during the war knows this.

Now, onto CDN. CDN is a site I frequented a LOT back before and during the war. It's been used for everything from coordinating a raid on a Terminus slaver base to creating extranet memes to organizing illegal wartime arms-production projects. The result was interesting, more often than not, and a lot of the people I met back when the site was up, I came to call good friends. If you want to take the time to check the site out, go ahead. It's worth a laugh or four.

Just don't taunt anyone or do anything to spite anyone there. They'll fucking kill you. I'm not even kidding. Just don't, for your safety and the safety of those close to you. The site is inhabited by a clusterfuck of sociopaths, psychos, and a good chunk are mercenaries or ex-military of some kind. And that's the average for CDN. The scary ones are worse. Mind your manners, stay the fuck away from anyone who claims to be a merc or assassin or anything the least bit badass-sounding, even if they're boasting, because they'll end you.

POLITICS

Alright. As a registered voter of the Unity Party on Erszbat, I have to say that I'm finding the current political situation a bit tense right now. The Confederate member states still aren't playing nice with each-other, even though we've had a little while to get our shit together. The galactic community's rebuilding in general, I know, but you'd think the batarian people would actually shut the hell up about this problem or that and actually work to fix them. Now, I'm totally onboard with going 'fuck the Na'Hesit', and I'm decidedly in the Ub'Hesit camp, but seriously, if we need to make some concessions to make the Confederation get into a decent standing with the wider galactic community, I say do it. Whatever gets people to be more willing to do business. Several major galactic organizations still refuse to do business with the Confederation as a whole, simply because of the fact that there's some bad blood left over between the batarian race and other factions in this new post-war galactic political landscape, and the Na'Hesit slave trade isn't helping at all.

Here's my take on it. Ub'Hesit hardliners need to quit it with the constant petitions to Terminus powers to stop selling slaves to the Na'Hesit, and the Na'Hesit need to acknowledge that a lot of the old ways of the Batarian Hegemony simply aren't gonna stick around. As much as I hate to say it, pragmatism and galactic politics tend to go hand in hand. I know everyone's kind of afraid of agreeing with me when I make broad strokes like 'Na'Hesit all buy new slaves all the time and do absolutely NOTHING GOOD EVER' and 'Ub'Hesit always argue and complain when the Na'Hesit do their slaver thing', but when you consider the sheer number of sub-factions at work in these two major political camps, I simply can't break it down without trying to write a small textbook's worth of analysis into batarian politics. Point is, the galactic community isn't willing to work with the batarian people at large and the Confederation isn't doing much to seriously fix that. If we're going to fix it, then we need to do it soon, because with the spike in pirate raids on Eezo shipments coming from Thessia, eventually someone's going to have to say 'we can't sell any Eezo to the batarians at all because WE need it, and these fucking pirates keep taking the shit.'

I really don't have much else to say on this topic beyond 'our disunity and lack of serious focus on fixing the batarian race's image on the galactic stage WILL fuck us over in the long run.' So write to your local representatives and the leaders of your respective planetary political hierarchies. We need to get this shit fixed, fast. We need to show we're willing to play ball as a group with the galactic community and each-other.

ELECTRONICS

Some new toys came out on the market the other day, particularly the FS-3888 terminal, and several bits of black market equipment I'd like to not speak about until next week's Cybercrime section. So for this entry, I'll focus on the FS-3888. Fresh off the assembly lines, and fucking expensive (just like everything else these days), and with a nice little terminal speed to justify the pricetag, I have to say that the initial reports on the FS-3888's capabilities spell good news for the electronics market. But, there's been some dissenting opinions from Darknet and Crossnet Prime, namely regarding unexpected cooling-system issues and a few problems regarding processor shutdowns. Apparently a few of the terminal's systems overtax the power supply a bit, but when the thing actually runs, it RUNS, baby. I'd say get yourself one if you can afford to lighten your credit-account like that.

CYBERSECURITY AND HACKING

Hacking tip of the day, my friendly readers, and it's a fun little tip for the newbies. I actually put this one out last year on CDN, but got called out for it being a wartime situation at the time.

Pick Employers and Targets With Equal Care: The classic image of a career hacker is essentially a virtual mercenary or thief; someone hired to do something with his technical skills to a specific target or for a specific purpose for an employer, or a free-roaming marauder that occasionally robs a bank account or steals personal information. The thing is, the hacking community is rife with people who are either a direct danger to those who hire them because of what they know of their employer's activities, or those who botched a job and ended up on the hitlist of some group who is a little curious about why this guy with the computer is trying to steal their shit.

People who are not to be crossed and people who are interested in maintaining secrecy at the expense of your life are not people you want to come near. Either get powerful friends who can protect you for certain, or do your homework and research before taking any job offer or targeting any bank account. No job is worth your life. After all, what's the point of taking peoples' money if you're not around to spend it?

UNDERWORLD

Today, I'm going to talk about a thing that very many newcomers to the career-criminal business don't even consider. Everyone thinks about going out, robbing some guys, and selling the goods at the average pawn shop or to a buyer in a back-alley, but very little of this has any real accountability and a lot of newbies get killed or arrested when it turns out they didn't do all of their research. What I'm talking about is the applicability of the grey market to the underground economy.

A grey market is basically a lesser-known, legal redistribution network that provides surplus goods to depressed markets. They exist simply because of the fact that things don't cost the same amount of money everywhere. Products tend to be new, but they're occasionally new, or salvaged and refurbished. This is especially common in the case of black market computer hardware, or stuff like weapons and military-grade combat armor. The majority of this unlicensed equipment, like guns and black market electronics or cybernetics, comes directly from the manufacturers; They strip out the virtual ID code, then arrange for it to fall into the hands of a grey marketeer. The marketeer then pays the distributor an under-the-table fee using a series of false credit accounts, often with hacker assistance. Sometimes, the distributor can report the gear as stolen and recoup insurance benefits for it. This is actually very common in places like the Vol Protectorate and on Illium. It's called 'double-dipping.'

Now, why am I rambling about all this? Because it's completely possible to get everything you might need without needing to do this shady back-alley deal. Look around, ask for the grey market, not the black market.

That's this week's entry in Prophet. See you later, people. Have fun out there, do right by your fellow galactic citizens, and don't get fucked.

You madman, now the site will be overrun by "1 R L33T M3RC AND MY BFF IS A QUARIAN B1ATCH" noobs. (SU mocking me in 3-2-1)

Alright, I'll add something worthwhile. The FS-3888, yeah, the press is all abuzz here too. Something about stolen interlectual property and unveryfied rumors about geth tech, see Cybercrime. I would advise anyone in C-Space to not touch this with a ten-foot pole or else someone somewhere will go all legal up your rectum. But hey there are some suppliers that can deliver one of these into -SPace without to much hassle, but I wonder if it is worthwhile risking lawsuits (criminal or otherwise).

...thanks for the link, batarian. Wouldn't have thought to check this place if I hadn't signed up to Prophet (don't ask - there's rumours about the Sisterhood supporting some of the Confederacy planets. No ideas if they're true, but idk fucking anything 'bout blink politics, so...).

Edit: Incidentally, who'd you count as the scary ones?

in short, something something assassinations - oops i mean bizarre accidents - something something propaganda.

If I may clarify things...

The current state of the Confederation is that, for one, we are much more loosely organized compared to the Hegemony. We do not even have a single capital, but several. Khar'Shan due to its status as the homeworld and headquartering the Theocracy, Camala due to its wealth and eezo deposits, Erszbat due to its industrial capacity, and Lorek due to its status symbol as a bastion of resistance during the war.

At present, the two major political parties are the Na'Hesit and Ub'Hesit, the pro-slavery and abolitionist factions respectively. The military also acts as an arbitrator in the event of a legislative deadlock.

We have also granted amnesty to all batarians from the Terminus, with mixed results. The military has added pirates and slavers into the ranks to rebuild our forces, and the Ub'Hesit is hoping adding political exiles will bolster their cause.

Obviously, the situation is complicated enough that I alone cannot summarize accurately, but I hope this answers your question, asari.

Also, greetings Mekan, a pleasure to find another batarian around this site. May the Pillars guide you.

Well, that was interesting. A bit enlightening too.

Huh. Thanks for the summary - so it's kinda like the Republics, but from back in the old days of the Serrice/Armali rivalry?

Anyway, cheers. Can't imagine it's fun to be in batarian space now, but it's not really too fun anyway, hey?

I can't guarantee that I won't be killed for answering, so I'll stay nice and fucking quiet, thanks.

Mekan.

I see you've established yourself fairly well since departing the Citadel. Don't worry, I am not here to peer at possible illegal activities this time. I kind of quit.

Hey Mekan, see you're doing pretty well for yourself, already subscribed by the way, be interesting to see what's going on in Kite's Nest.

Let us know the next time we need to pull your ass out of the fire, okay?

Kross! How's AEGIS these days?

Also, HELLO EX-OFFICER WASHBURNE, HOW ARE YOU TODAY

I'M AN UPSTANDING MEMBER OF SOCIETY NOW

CAN'T YOU TELL


I actually missed this one. Likewise. How ya doing? You'll see more than a few other batarians, if enough old-timers work their way back here. Hopefully word will get out to the old community that the site's back up.

In the meantime, I'd also like to take this time to mention Prophet is a weekly blog I post with alternating sections. Every post will contain an entertainment section; this week had the politics, but next week will be conspiracy theories that have some actual backing behind them. Electronics and hacking are in every entry, and I alternate between general crime tips and a 'who's who' of the criminal underworld, usually organizations based out of the Terminus Systems.

Took more than our fair share of licks I admit, but, surviving. Going to see if we can start a recruitment drive soon.

You know, when we first met Mekan, safe to say I never expected out of the two of us, you'd be the one making a name for yourself by delivering the news. I'm very happy to se you're alive and well. You doing ok? No need to worry about monsters or mercs out for you this week, I hope?

I'm sure.

But in all seriousness, I believe I lost the right to complain about your...eccentricities some time ago, even before I actually quit. No need to be paranoid around me.

Or maybe that's just what I want you to think?

Oh hey, you're alive! Good to know. And you seem to be in business too, such as it is. Even better.

Helena! Holy shit, it's been ages. This is hardly news. I'm mostly just ranting on the extranet to a small following of people, some of whom are on this site, apparently.

And let's just put it this way - Erszbat is a crap place to live, but it's batarian space. Not gonna lie, the politics around here pretty much openly center around corruption and strong-arming the people who run the businesses around here. I picked up on how to not get involved in shit quick. You pick a party, settle in and bribe anyone who's willing to not break your fucking arm. It's basically Omega with a thin veneer of civility and more voting for show than anything.

So, yeah. It's shit, but it's home. I'm doing alright, all things considered.


I'm keeping all four fucking eyes on you, cop.

ALL FOUR FUCKING EYES. I remember what happened on Zakera.


Lyons! Hell, man! It's...good to see you? I suppose? How've you been since shit went offline?

Oh, come on, it's been a year and you're perfectly intact, let it go.

HELL NO I'M NOT GONNA LET IT GO

I ALMOST DIED

Didn't we all almost die? There were husks everywhere.

And a polite fuck you to you too, officer. Seriously, husks everywhere. WE HAD A SINGLE LANE OF FIRE TO COVER. I'm hardly a tactician and I knew that was a good position to hold. How could you possibly miss?!