It is said that a Beacon burns most brightly in the darkest depths of night - as a new darkness descends on the galaxy we offer a place for hope to shine again.

We will not lie and claim to be unbiased as other publications do, our aim is to give an opportunity to all the Humans and Aliens who oppose the darkness that has infiltrated the Empire of Man to tell their side of the story. It is up to you as readers to hear both sides of the story and decide who you believe is telling you the truth.



In the Shadows of Coreward



Over the last 6 months there has been a war going on in Coreward that has barely been spoken about. There has been the odd rumour or report of ship losses in the general press but not much has been made of the attacks conducted by ships hiding behind flags of convenience against many of the trading and alien affiliations operating in Coreward.

For a while now the Beacon team have been aware of this war going on and have been putting together as much information as we can.

What we know for sure is that the forces involved are well equipped and well organised. Operating in groups of between 20 to 40 ships all with high mark armour and top of the line internals. These forces have been able to decimate unsuspecting freighter groups and smaller anti-pirate patrols with ease. To build and support such a force would require a lot of resources.

As the attacks intensified on shipping more and more warships were seen deployed in Corewards with GCE, GTT, UCN, HEX, DEN & FEL forces spotted in ever larger numbers as the attacks continued.

While speaking with the Hexamon collective for our article on the recent fighting in Zewt they made a few comments which shed some new light on this shadow war:

“We should have realised that our forces were being intentionally drawn into Coreward by these Mercenary and Privateer forces so that when fighting broke out they would be in the combat zone.”

“After the last war with the Confederacy a number of their bases turned FRE during the restructuring to Caliphate. The ships that attacked us had been spotted visiting one of these former bases and it was assumed at the time that the base was now under new ownership. Following these recent attacks we would not be surprised if these forces still pledged loyalty to the Confederacy/Caliphate.”


Conflict in Zewt



In the last two weeks the Caliphates war against the Affiliation of Free Traders has seen a dramatic escalation as a number of alien affiliations have found themselves in the cross fires.

Looking to remain independent the AFT refused the Caliphates demands to capitulate to their control, however as a non military affiliation they struggled to defend all their assets. To try and protect the employees at their base in Arridian and also to recoup their investment the AFT sold the base to the DEN in the belief that this would prevent it being attacked as the Caliphate would not attack a sovereign alien nation. unfortunately they were wrong.

The Caliphate decided to attack the base anyway and began an orbital bombardment. What was interesting was that apparently only a fraction of the scouted Caliphate forces were committed to the bombardment while the rest remained close by.

A DEN force was dispatched to engage the forces attacking the base but when they arrived the Caliphate forces had retreated back to their stronghold in Zewt where they had set-up a 6,000 hull platform in orbit of the planet Crossonan.

With sizeable GTT ‘anti-pirate’ forces spotted in the area we have been told that the DEN had contacted the GTT and gained assurances that they would not be actively engaging DEN forces.

During this time there had been several instances of attacks by CAL and GTT ships against HEX Freighters. While most of the freighters had managed to drop cargo and escape, one freighter was destroyed by the roving CAL and GTT forces.

The DEN and HEX forces in the area combined and moved to the Quadrant of Crossonan to blockade the CAL forces. Combined the DEN and HEX forces were rumoured to be around 250-300 ships which they believed was comparable to the CAL and BHD forces in the area.

The DEN and HEX forces were attacked by a force of nearly 600 CAL, GTT and IMP warships, with over half the warships being GTT. The Human fleet was set-up to target the DEN ships with concentrated fire on key ships to take them down.

After one days battle in the quad the Alien forces had suffered 33 ships lost while only destroying 15 of the Human fleets number. They chose to retreat as many of their ships were badly damaged.

What followed was several days of ongoing battles within Zewt as the Alien forces attempted to escape the pursuing Human fleet that moved to block the escape jump routes. We have been told that another 30-40 ships may have ben nlost by the DEN and HEX during this retreat.

From the public relations chart it seems that a number of Human affiliations have changed their relations to hostile with the aliens. With the IMP involvement in the battle is this a sign of a larger war by Humanity? With the GTT so openly breaking their word and committing such large forces is anywhere safe? Has the CAL united humanity against all others? Only time will tell…

Flagritz Forces Destroyed in Coreward



Before going to press this week the Beacon team were provided with the following recording and reports from the Flagritz Empire regarding their recent losses in Coreward.


Stardate 215.11.1 – Mydoria, Beta 15

Communication between Corewards Task Force and Ghol-Tabras space control

“Silent Space to Ghol-Tabras space control. We have logged the jump routes from Mydoria to Coptuv. You will notice the variation from the original flight plan, following the sighting of the IMP warship at Beta 15 in Zewt. The Glinn wishes to avoid any possible conflict with the humans at this point. We were sent here to deter the privateer and mercenary attacks off of our shipping, not get embroiled in the Nation’s conflict. Routing via Beta 14.”

“Ghol-Tabras space control to Silent Space. Acknowledged. I can report freighter groups have cleared the Spur and have arrived in the Arm without incident. The Celestial Prince T-01 has just reported arriving in Arridian and is charging jump engines for Zewt. Nothing to report.”

“Noted space control. On another note, Garresh Rosh wishes to pass on his regards for that last minute delivery of greetif shank. That will make a fine dinner for the officers tonight.”

“Silent Space. The Governor merely wishes to thank the task force for their diligence in protecting this Fessin expedition, and in making Ghol-Tabras viable. Now that the civilians have invested in the starbase the system should benefit from further development.”

“Space control, we have exit authorisation from the Glinn. Corewards Task Force commencing manoeuvres. Until next time, Silent Space out.”


Sub-space Communications burst from Captain Yith Nor Da Takk to Flagritz Internal Security

“This is Captain Da Takk of the Celestial Prince T-01. Am reporting the loss of the Corewards Task Force. Arrival in Zewt at Beta 14, two standard hours ahead of the CTF. Sensors detected over a hundred IMP, GTT, BHD, CAL warships. The Celestial Prince was scanned multiple times but not targeted. Sensors detected the arrival of the CTF.
<pause>
It didn’t last long. We were far enough away to not be caught up, but sensors were overloaded by the ISR fields and energy from the... battle. We managed to pick up fragments of comms from the CTF prior to jumping. Am relaying these on piggyback. Captain Da Takk, Celestial Prince T-01 out.”

Comms fragment from SWE Red Claw

“Clearing jump field. Sensors updating. All ships reporting jump transit... Wait! What! The Master of Chaos is reporting... Incoming! Multiple contacts. Twenty Se.. fifty two, no.. they're already on top of us. Transponders showing IMP warships on intercept, no wait, they’ve opened fire. Garresh?”

“Battle stations. Manoeuvre and charge the.....ffzzttttttttt”

Static bursts.

Transmission ends.

Date 11.1:
IMP SHIP LBG DUKE OF WELLINGTON (62004) - {150 Heavy Hulls} - Attacking us.
IMP SHIP LBG BALARION (64670) - {100 Heavy Hulls} - Attacking us.
IMP SHIP LBG GENGHIS KHAN (85770) - {150 Heavy Hulls} - Attacking us.


Comms fragment from SWE Solar Shark

“Zewt arrival confirmed Garresh. CTF transponders are logged ahead of the Solar Shark. All ships in formation. Commencing charging of the jump drive.
<pause>
Garresh, I’m picking up contacts spinwards, coming from behind the fleet.”

The comms fragments as static bursts cut in and out.

Heavy breathing.

“...no control, engines offline...”

More static bursts.

Transmission ends.

Date 11.1:
IMP SHIP PENNYTHOUGHT (45243) - {50 Heavy Hulls} - Attacking us.
IMP SHIP PENNYSLAYER (76252) - {50 Heavy Hulls} - Attacking us.
IMP SHIP BRAWLER (77303) - {50 Heavy Hulls} - Attacking us.
IMP SHIP SO LONG (86146) - {50 Normal Hulls} - Attacking us.
IMP SHIP SO FAR (86604) - {50 Normal Hulls} - Attacking us.
IMP SHIP TRACTOR KILLER (90235) - {50 Normal Hulls} - Attacking us.

Flagritz Internal Security Analysis on the loss of Fessin Corewards Task Force

* * * * * REPORT COMMENCES * * * * *

Force designation: Corewards Task Force
Force composition: 9 capital ships, 13 destroyer escorts
Force function: Deter PRV and MRC forces from further attacks against Fessin shipping
Intelligence analysis: Analysis of transponder signatures embedded within the comms bursts from the destroyers Red Claw and Solar Shark confirms the presence of 661 hostiles from the IMP (23), CAL (249), GTT (368) and BHD (21). IMP ships are confirmed as having opened fire.

* * * * * REPORT ENDS * * * * *


Viziers Question Time



In a rare moment of openness the Vizier of the Caliphate allowed questions to be put to him on an open channel. Notoriously recluse the Vizier had previously only submitted official briefs and blogs which could not be responded to.

Not surprisingly the Affiliation of Free traders had some questions over the current war against them, though nothing was resolved.

It would seem that in the Viziers plans for the galaxy there is no place for neutral independent affiliations anymore.

We offer our respects to the AFT and we hope they prove the Vizier wrong.


Who Are Beacon?
Based in Yank, Halo and Corewards the Beacon team is a mixture of Human and Alien traders who fly under a number of different flags. Able to gather stories and information from all over the galaxy they have unrivalled access to the events of the day.

Can others Submitt?
While we have a team of writers we are happy to accept submissions from others outside the Beacon team. To send a submission send a PM to “The Beacon”.