Tension was palpable Wednesday night at the Ito Command Centre (ICC), where lead Federal strategists and top military coordinators were nervously following the Leporis dispute. At the same time, they were working hard monitoring progress in the Kappa preparation race, the recent point of contention between the newly crowned Emperor and Winters.

Earlier during the week, Imperial presence increased dramatically in the system in an attempt to pin down what was claimed to be “undeniable evidence of a thoroughly corrupt establishment that requires our formal attention”. It was an ominous sign for the HIP 36731 Services corporation, the Federation-commissioned extraction powerhouse that had made its success by providing Kappa with the resources it critically requires to run its high tech economy.

The company’s CEO Igor Stravinsky is being formally accused by Imperial authorities of conducting corrupt activities; as a result he’s convinced he’s on the kill list of the Emperor. Our correspondent met Mr. Stravinsky in his headquarters, at Hire Base in HIP 36731.

“Everybody knows what happens when Lavigny wants a system. Her minions compile corruption reports and doctors them to fit her self-righteous narrative. And guess what happens next? It’s a bloodbath!”, an allusion to what have come to be known as “Imperial crime-sweeps”, typically involving lethal interventions against those that are found to be engaged in allegedly criminal activities.

“First of all, nobody knows how those crime reports are compiled. Now when you look at Kappa, you can clearly see the place is mostly affiliated with the Federation. She can criticise us how she likes, and she’s welcome to do so, but she should mind her own business, let alone send her soldiers to massacre people that are not even remotely involved with the Empire. I cannot believe she calls this justice. This is nothing else but brutal expansionism.”

Despite the Federation’s strong influence mainly operating through Stravinsky’s corporation, polls suggested that the inhabitants of Kappa and its neighbours were becoming favourable for an Imperial intervention. When asked what were the explanations for such a seemingly counter-intuitive phenomenon, Soraya Felina, member of the Lavigny Legion had this to say:

“It’s clear that the citizens of Kappa do not trust Mr. Stravinsky’s Services. Unfortunately, corrupt dictators are filling the power vacuum. Backstabbing and criminal activity is no way for a modern government to function. The people want this rampant corruption to stop, and some semblance of order brought back to their lives. They see the Emperor’s devotion to justice as those who can truly bring change to Kappa.”

Unfortunately, commander Felina refused to share more details regarding the evidence piled against Stravinsky for “security reasons”.

Until very late in the preparatory race, the outcome seemed undeniable with the Emperor amassing the favor of nearly 70% of Kappa’s population. Meanwhile, her faction had to deal with one of the most intense campaigns ever seen in recent times, taking place in the strategic hotspot known as AF Leporis, a cluster of real estate previously under the control of Sirius Inc. and now the subject of a territorial dispute between the Emperor and President Hudson. According to Roy McKlintoch, political analyst working at the ICC, the Empire would have won the race by a landslide, if it wasn’t for the involvement of the Republican party that he qualified as “nothing short of spectacular” with a broad smile on his face.

“For Hudson, it was simple: we had to win this, no matter what. Everybody here at Rhea knows that he is the only one that can put up a real fight against Lavigny, so for us it was also clear that the best way we could fulfill our duty as citizens of the Federation was to assist him by taking the lead on Kappa. This forced the Imperials to make a choice: either spend all their energy in Leporis at the cost of losing Kappa, or try to secure both, spreading their efforts and giving us an even greater chance of winning both systems.”

The Shadow President, along with the Winters Wolves’ main coordinator as well as her Sky-Marshall, made a public announcement from the Ito Command Center, calling all available units to focus exclusively on Kappa.

“Within a couple of hours, we displaced over 20 kilotons of equipment, among which were construction materials aimed at establishing community adherence centers”. These centers are the signature form of involvement of the Federal Liberal Party (FLP) across its territories, with the aim of providing efficient healthcare, easy access to food based commodities and appeasing tensions between communities.

Kappa’s largest inhabited city is Poisson Orbital, which circles a tiny metallic planet. Among the prominent figures of the FLP who made public appearances at the station was Stravinsky himself, who participated heavily in the last minute campaign. In front of thousands, he declared:

“Lavigny thinks I’m a criminal. I ask her this: What is criminal about making Kappa stronger? My company promoted its growth by securing an economic model that benefits all of us. With Winters on our side, my strength as an economist and a politician will ensure that our wealth is channeled into building what matters to all of us: multicultural schools, hospitals […] and trade agreements to boost agricultural imports, so that people have enough to eat and stay healthy”.

The crowds clearly responded positively. By the end of the race, the Shadow President had managed to rally 60% of the inhabitants to her side, securing the permits required to begin building the infrastructures she promised. Back at the ICC, analyst McKlintoch shared: “The mobilisation was really impressive and speaks volumes of our dedication. Everyone here is proud of having pushed the Imperials into a tough spot, all within a matter of hours. They were smart enough to give up on Kappa; if they hadn’t, we would have pushed even more, and they would have probably lost Leporis. But things aren’t over yet. They’ll likely try to bring turmoil to our borders while we finish building our facilities.” Given the FLP’s limited resources and sole budgetary responsibility, turmoil would likely cause a stall in construction.

Imperial spokespersons have already started a campaign aiming at exposing the more obscure aspects surrounding Stravinsky’s activities. Commander Felina explains: “I like how the Federation doesn’t talk about the secluded system where Stravinsky runs his corporate agenda. He’s investing huge amounts of money in keeping HIP 36731 [where his headquarters are located] hidden from Universal Cartographics, preventing any type of political and commercial challengers to set foot. He’s basically got a monopoly in a remote and desolate system. He wants to keep it all for himself and his close circle. Winters is committing a big mistake by trusting such a large system to a fledgling outpost corporation that only holds control of its local system for lack of better options.”

During her weekly press conference, RNN asked the Shadow President whether she thought it was diplomatically sound to be working with political entities formally accused of performing illegal actions.

“Building sustainable societies requires finding compromises. You can’t just go to your neighbor, self-righteously shoot those that you don’t like and claim you’re doing him a favour. It just doesn’t work that way.”

Thanks to Cmdr NailZ, aspiringexpatriate, NRCrosby and Persephonius. This was an RNN broadcast, delivering both sides of the story.