The lone minaret of Masjid Al-Malik, one of the oldest mosques in North America, stands above the rubble of what is left of the multi-building complex housing a mosque, offices, and a kindergarten through twelfth grade school, after unknown terrorists detonated enormous amounts of explosives during the midday congregational prayer and Friday service. The blasts occurred only minutes before the Friday jumu'ah prayer service was scheduled to start. There were over nine hundred worshipers from throughout the Washington D.C. area and nearby communities in attendance, as well as nearly eight hundred students in the adjacent school complex on the same grounds. According to eyewitness testimony, the explosions occurred simultaneously in all three wings of the three part complex.

Worshipper Mariam Zewael, thirty-seven, described the explosions as rocking the entire foundations of the building before the structural beams crumbled, bringing the walls and ceilings down. "I stepped outside to call my sister in Texas," said Zewael, wringing her hands while looking between the rubble on one side of the street and the emergency vehicles on the other. "I remember standing in the courtyard, when suddenly the doors to the school opened, and this gigantic crowd of children was rushing into the courtyard, screaming in probably five different languages about bombs, and -- and everything went still, and I stopped breathing. I didn't have time to react, and by the time I thought 'Oh maybe I should run too,' there was an enormous boom. The entire ground was shaking. I could see the building shift, and I almost fell. There was fire and smoke, and I was coughing. They made me see a paramedic, to make sure I was okay. Alhamdulillah," said Zewael, using an Arabic expression meaning "praise God," "I was fine. But they said there were hundreds of people dead inside the musallah."

From up to five miles away, residents could see the smoke rising into the air. Twenty-three year old Travis Hamilton, who lives less than three blocks from Masjid Al-Malik, said, "I thought I was going to die. I thought we were under attack. I didn't know who or why, and I didn't know for at least an hour that it was just one bomb in one location. I still don't know who's okay. My best friend, Khalil, goes to Al-Malik. Every Friday. The police won't let anyone within like five blocks of the place. I can only walk on my side of the street, and if I try to get any closer, they tell me to keep back. It smells awful." His sentiments echo those of his neighbors, who crowd into the streets, alternately chatting in hushed tones with furtive glances toward the site of the bombing, and trying to peer over the yellow police tape fluttering in the wind along the entire block.

"The mosque was always there," said sixty-nine year old Fatima Goodwin, who lives on the same street as Masjid Al-Malik, while wiping her forehead with a handkerchief. "It's so strange to me, to look out the window, to stand outside, and to see only the minaret there. I never thought we would be the victims of such terror." Instead of the white marble walls rising beyond the gates -- usually kept open for visitors -- there is a pile of unrecognizable rubble and dust, with hordes of crime scene personnel sweeping the entire area for any traces of explosives. Between the crime scene personnel, rescue workers and medical personnel work to locate any still-missing people, or people who might be trapped under one of the collapsed beams.



"It was absolutely crazy, absolute chaos," said twenty-four year old engineering student Mahmoud Hosseinzadeh. "People came running out of the prayer hall, screaming, fleeing while carrying the wounded. I know there were still a lot of people inside, a lot of people dead. The guy next to me, I don't think he made it out." Hosseinzadeh sat on the back of an ambulance, holding a white bandage to his head as blood seeped through. He offered his cell phone, from which he had taken several pictures of the chaos in the immediate aftermath of the explosions. With blood streaming from their faces, and clothes whitened by the presence of dust accumulating on shoulders and foreheads, worshippers who could fled the mosque, some carrying infants or the elderly. Waiting ambulances rushed as many as they could to local hospitals to receive treatment, without regard for insurance information in a gesture unusual for hospitals, which often rely on proof of insurance before treating people.



Masjid Al-Malik was built in the late 1800s, less than a decade after the end of the American Civil War. The first building to be constructed was the actual mosque itself, which was enlarged in three major construction projects over the next century or so. The founding imam, or Muslim religious leader, Sad-ad-din Hendi, gathered artists from around the world to decorate the interior wall and ceilings of the mosque with Arabic calligraphy, primarily verses from the Qur'an. In 1947, construction began on a school complex adjacent to the mosque. The Board of Directors had raised over eight hundred thousand dollars in donations and corporate grants, and wanted to invest the money into a lasting service to the community. The vote settled on building a school. "We wanted to provide an education to children who might not have otherwise had the opportunity," explained Nureddin Abu'l Tahr in a 1948 interview.

In the most recent renovation project in 1984, when the central office building was added to connect the school to the mosque, artists painted words from the poet Rabiya Al-Adawiyya onto the ceiling in the atrium leading from one part of the building to another. "I love God," reads one of the poetic verses in translation. "I have no time left in which to hate evil." It is a fitting sentiment for the three imams who have led Masjid Al-Malik's congregation and served as spiritual advisors to the school for the better part of the last two decades. Nadir Khanani fled violence in Kashmir between Muslim and Hindu extremists; Yahya Mehanna was a refugee displaced after violence between Israeli settlers and Palestinian Hamas sympathizers; and Stephen Denari was born and raised in America on the same street as one of the largest Jewish synagogues in the country and a Serbian Orthodox Church. Police have reported Khanani and Denari missing, and Mehanna confirmed dead. Mehanna was to deliver Friday's khutbah sermon, and was standing at the minbar pulpit when the explosives detonated. He did not have time to escape.



Police gave a tentative number of close to 1,100 confirmed dead and over 200 missing. Parents of students at the Al-Malik Charter School housed on the same grounds flocked to the school en masse within twenty minutes of the explosions, gathering outside the police lines. A few mothers tried to slip under the crime scene tape, only to be stopped by the deputies protecting the integrity of the scene.

"Where is my daughter? I want to see my daughter!" A woman dressed in a red overcoat screamed on one side of the police tape, held back by her two older children. "Oh my god, give me my daughter; give me Jackie back!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am," replied the deputy, "I can't let you past this point. What's your daughter's name and grade?"

As the woman, Nancy McAteer, gave her daughter's information, other mothers rushed forward with photographs and tears, demanding to know whether their children were safe. "Sadly," said police spokesman George Barnett, "as many as three hundred of the students might be dead."



Even babies and toddlers in the mosque's childcare service were not spared by the blasts. Amina Parvez, twenty-two, who watches the children during the Friday service, could not stop sobbing as she said that at least nine babies were killed. The nursery workers took as many of the children as they could and hunkered under the indoor playground structures, preventing the brunt of the building's collapsing beams from hurting the babies.



Jamallah Shirazi, a revolutionary leader in religious education, determined that the students at Al-Malik Charter School would receive a foundation in theology and ethics grounded in Islamic values but actively critiquing the writings of scholars such as Saayid Sabiq, author of the seminal twentieth century Fiqh-us-Sunnah and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, founder of the Hanbali madhhab, or school of law. Shirazi wanted her students to be prepared for the rigors of a university education, and that included critical examinations of other faiths and atheistic writings as well as Islamic perspectives.

The school, originally founded to provide disadvantaged and low-income children the opportunities to excel in an environment usually made financially impossible, remains true to its mission. With eight hundred students in the kindergarten through twelfth grade, Al-Malik’s endowment provided books, uniforms, and teacher salaries so that the students could attend without incurring any costs or fees. Shirazi came under fire six years ago when political opponents alleged that the school also provided free education to the children of illegal immigrants. When asked about the allegations then, Shirazi had smiled and said, “All of God’s children deserve an education, no matter what their papers say.”

A lightning rod for controversy within the Muslim community itself, Shirazi is a tall, broad-shouldered woman who rarely, if ever, dresses in traditional attire, and is never seen wearing a head-covering of any kind. Shirazi went to Vanderbilt University on a full scholarship and wrote her doctoral dissertation on the integration of faith with a liberal arts educational model at primary and secondary schools, traveling worldwide to visit and observe private religious schools offering college preparatory curricula.

It would seem her vision has been struck a serious blow by the bombing, but Shirazi, who was not in the building at the time, remains determined to provide an education to as many disadvantaged children as she can. “We don’t have a building?” she said, shrugging. “So what. We have teachers. We have will. We have faith. We’ll meet on the sidewalks if we have to. Terrorists will not stop us from serving our communities.” Her statements echo the sentiments of most of the worshipers who survived the blasts. It seems that even in the midst of tragedy, there is hope and resilience.



Within half an hour of the explosions, some of the survivors of the attack gathered a few blocks away in the street to pray. Georgetown University student Younis Zain served as the prayer leader for a group of twenty or so worshippers who were insistent on performing the ritual prayer even in the absence of the usual building. "Terrorists will not stop us from worshipping God," explained Zain after the prayer, which took around fifteen minutes to complete. "All around the world, we ask our brothers and sisters of all faiths, and of no faith, to join us in mourning the loss of our children and families, and in condemning any kind of terrorism or violence in the name of religion. Insh'Allah, God will hear our prayers."





After a rousing speech last Friday by the Hon. Rubano Malijin, Chairman of the Center-Rightist party bloc, Parliament voted this Monday to pass the Xenia Compromise as proposed, with twenty in favor, seventeen opposed, and three abstaining. "This is a disappointment," said the Hon. Maria Gracia Cabral of the Social Democrat party bloc, shaking her head. "Now foreign militaries might be permitted to keep troops on Terra. Why can't we move away from militaristic aims and promote real peace? Peace starts in communities, with people who want to work together to create positive change; it doesn't start in war rooms."

"It's a great day for our honorable Parliament," Chairman Malijin cheerfully stated after the vote, "at last we have a functional system that allows for limited allied aid while maintaining Terran sovereignty. The passing of the Xenia Compromise is Parliament's first step in moving towards a more prosperous Terra." Chairman Malijin declined to further comment, swarmed by mobs of reporters as he exited the Parliamentary Chamber.

During the same Parliamentary session, Parliament overwhelmingly approved a measure to open trading negotiations with the Jackalite Confederation, pursuant to a communication made available through subspace network relays. The Hon. Mwesigwa Museveni, Minister of Finance, is expected to spearhead trade negotiations within the next week, with hopes of creating closer international ties and cementing Terra's place as a center of intergalactic commerce.

"I'm only worried," said Prime Minister Ed Cranford, "that if we develop too close ties to other nations economically, we'll create a financial dependency, or worse, we'll be forced to more strictly regulate commercial transactions, which goes directly against the principles of liberty. Free market means little government interference. My hope is that these negotiations will pave the way for traders on Terra and from the Jackalite Confederation alike to more easily buy and sell goods and services, without the unnecessary hindrances of government regulations." The majority Libertarian-Conservative bloc has been aggressively pushing for limitation of government regulations in regards both to civil liberties and personal freedoms and the economy.




Luis Galdámez

There are idealists among us who believe that with the unification of Terra under a single world government, previous religious or ethnic lines of tension or conflict have disappeared, or will fade very quickly. These people are wrong. They are blind to the truth.

Look at the Balkans. The Serbs and Croats have been eying the amorphous borders of the former Yugoslavia, making the Albanians and Bosnians quite uneasy. The Kurds and Uighurs have formed denser ethnic “neighborhoods” in their traditional homelands, and the Israelis and Palestinians are nearly at the point of more armed violence. The Bantu and Arabs in the Sudan have formed battle lines. The Christians and Muslims in Nigeria have grown less willing to engage in mutual community building.

Our government needs to shift a significant amount of the time it spends staring at pretty paintings while avoiding the tediousness and sweat of actual work towards addressing domestic issues and developing actionable plans to rectify problems where they occur. It seems our government has not yet settled truly into the business of governing. Showy, large actions like the Xenia Compromise are about all we have to show for our development as a nation.

Where are the peacekeeping troops? Where are the ambassadors? Where are the civil servants working among the communities and people whom they are supposed to serve? The face of our government is not the face of the everyman serving his neighbors on the day to day basis; it is the members of Parliament, and it is Arianne Drulović. That is not acceptable. All that that shows is that our government is utterly incompetent at actually governing.

I have instructed the Prosecutors General across Terra, who work within the Ministry of Justice, under my supervision, to spend at least one day each week in their communities, building relationships and dialogue with community and religious leaders so that they integrate themselves into the communities where they are working. Why? Because that is an effective business model, and it’s an effective government administration model. Have people on the ground, and make sure that those people are in direct contact and establish working relationships with the people you are supposed to be serving.

Perhaps a more compelling argument goes back to the heart of the matter. If we do not start doing that now -- and believe me when I say that starting now is already far too late -- we will have absolutely no chance of working towards removing barriers and encouraging pluralism on our world. And if we allow these ethnic and religious tensions to continue (and the examples I listed are a very small sampler of those that are erupting across our world), we are allowing our nation to become destabilized and ultimately more vulnerable to foreign espionage and influence.

It is possible to have religious and national pluralism on Terra. But until our government shoulders its responsibility to its peoples, that will not happen in a meaningful and constructive level.


Luis Galdámez is the Attorney General of the Terran National Government. He completed his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1976 and a second doctorate from the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1986.




Confused? Don’t have any clue what people mean when they say the “SocDems” or the “LibCons” or the “liberals” or “conservatives” or the “center-leftists” or “center-rightists” (which we all know are god-awfully vague and ambiguous terms)? Have no fear! The Independent’s editors took a decidedly satirical turn today in an attempt to recover some small amount of humor in the face of today’s tragedy, and have taken about fifteen minutes to provide you with a brief summary.


The Social Democrat party bloc is comprised primarily of Communist and socialist factions, and is further splintered among Marxists, Titoists, and nationalist Communist blocs. This coalition was formed in order to present a united front and a potentially more influential vote on key matters coming before Parliament, despite bad blood among different types of socialists and Communists over the last several decades worldwide.

The Leftist party bloc is comprised primarily of political liberals who favor tight government control and regulations over industry and the economy and little to no government regulation of civil liberties or personal freedoms, such as defining marriage, outlawing substances like marijuana, or prohibiting abortion or birth control. They generally oppose the presence of a standing army, offensive strategies, and large portions of the budget going to national defense.

The Center-Leftists favor government regulations of industry and oppose regulations on personal freedoms, but also tend to support national defense measures, including increasing the size of the military and its budget. This coalition was formed by disgruntled would-be Leftists or Centrists who felt that they did not quite belong in either party.

The Centrists favor moderation in all affairs, including minimal regulations on industry to prevent abuses like child labor or unfair wages, and limiting abortion to the first term of pregnancy. They tend to favor a large defensive military force, little government spending, and focus primarily on domestic affairs, while encouraging the formation of trading partnerships with other nations.

The Center-Rightists oppose all but the most minimal regulations on industry, and generally support measures to limit the availability of abortion, better globalize culture, and create laws to address moral issues. They favor a large military with both defensive and offensive capabilities, and increasing spending on the military and national defense.

The Rightists oppose nearly all regulations on industry, and often clamor for laws to address moral issues, force assimilation of immigrants, and encourage globalization of Western culture, particularly in Asia and Africa. They favor strong national defense policy, and a military that focuses on offensive capabilities while establishing strong defensive supports.

The Libertarian-Conservatives oppose all government regulations of industry or the economy, as well as any laws addressing moral issues, which they see as matters of personal choice. They also favor a strong national defense and the formation of a distinctly Terran identity.

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(OOC: The photograph of the mosque was taken by Dom Martin, whose photo essay on the Palestinian situation and original description of the photography can be seen here. The first photograph of people fleeing while carrying someone in a makeshift stretcher was taken by Alice Fordham of London Times, and the article from which it was taken can be read here. The second photograph of the girl holding the infant in front of rubble was taken by Mohammed Salem of Reuters, and the article from which it was taken can be read here. The third photograph of the man and child was taken by an Associated Press photographer, and can be viewed in context here. The fourth photograph of the three babies was taken by wafa_4, and can be viewed here in context. The Jamallah Shirazi photograph is of Iranian writer Shahrnush Parsipur, and was obtained from Brown University’s website. The last image, of the prayer, was, sadly enough taken from a right-wing blog called Islamization Watch. I do not have the link anymore, but I'm sure you could find it if you truly wanted to do so.

The events in the first part of this post were roleplayed and can be read at At the Edge, a sequence that Alasund De’Astio and I are writing together. The Xenia Compromise refers to a plotline that Nemo [R0NlN] and I have been developing. The paragraph with the quote from Rubano Malijin was written by Nemo. If you are interested in learning more out of curiosity or out of a desire for in-character involvement, please contact me.)

After an unidentified individual entered the pediatric oncology ward on the fourth floor of Mercy Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, an impromptu mass evacuation of the building ensued. Less than twenty minutes later, explosives detonated throughout the hospital, bringing the building crumbling to the ground in a heap of debris. Official police reports tally at least two hundred dead and four hundred wounded. There are close to three hundred missing.

NPA technicians suspect that the explosives were wired into the electrical conduits of the building, but refuse to release any other details of the investigation except to state that they are pursuing all possible leads. When asked whether the attack on the hospital might have been related to the attack on Washington D.C.’s Masjid Al-Malik mosque and school last week, the NPA spokesman did not comment.

Family members mourn loved ones outside Mercy Hospital.


“It was unreal. People were screaming,” said Dr. Manish Mooganur of the pediatric oncology ward. “We had notice to evacuate. ‘There’s someone with a gun in the building!’ That’s what was screamed. We took as many of the patients as we could outside. Someone called emergency services. But there were already ambulances there, of course.”

Built in 1956, Mercy Hospital has beds for close to 1,500 patients, including a fully-serviced psychiatric ward. The mission of Mercy Hospital, funded in large part by the Roman Catholic Church, was to provide quality healthcare to as many people as possible. Patients came in huge numbers from the immigrant and indigenous communities of Australia, with donations pouring in from foundations and corporations throughout the Oceania and Pacific region.

“Now that the building has been destroyed,” said patient’s mother Mia Lee, “I don’t know what we’ll do if my husband has another heart attack, or my son’s cancer comes out of remission. We can’t afford to go anywhere else. Mercy Hospital was the only place we could go, where the doctors cared about us as people and not how much money we could give the institution.”



Judy Hollahan, identified as Hataf’s Australia Division Leader, in an undated file photo



Within hours of the bombing of Mercy Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, local police discovered the body of Judy Hollahan, long-known as terrorist group Hataf’s Australia Division Leader, in a graveyard less than four blocks from the hospital. The body had been laid carefully in a grassy patch in the center of the cemetery, with a folded note tucked between the fingers. Police have not released the contents of the note.

Observers noted a bullet wound in Hollahan’s head. “It’s got me thinking,” said Brisbane resident David Ferguson. “Why didn’t our government go after Hataf here? Whichever vigilante was responsible for this, I want to buy him a drink. Or her. We don’t deserve to live in fear. It’s obviously the work of terrorists -- bombings like the attack on the hospital. No other person could commit such an inhuman, barbaric crime.”

Hollahan was believed to be responsible for a series of terrorist attacks in Australia in 2002, and has since been named Hataf’s Division Leader for Australia in subsequent publications from the terrorist group’s public relations office. She held an M.D. from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and was known for devising chemical and biological attacks. She largely disappeared from public life in April 2000 after Hataf struck at a power plant in Melbourne.

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(OOC: The above posts were collaborated upon by Alasund De’astio and I and can be read in prose here. The images are, in order, from Linda Ikeji and deviantArt's ~aniaw. I welcome ideas for involvement and collaboration, so if you are interested, please contact me or Alasund De’astio.)

This evening at about half past six, Acting Director Abdalhaq Mulavi of the National Police Agency announced the arrest of Terran Intelligence Director Arianne Drulović on charges related to the disappearance of Kendra Shaw, the Aschen officer responsible for the genocide of several billion Terrans.

Drulović faces charges of dereliction of duty, insubordination in an official capacity, accessory, harboring a fugitive from justice, and kidnapping. She is accused of playing a major role in Shaw’s disappearance from Terran custody and reappearance inside the Taiyou Empire, smuggled to Niihama by officials of the Gemonese government. The NPA has not disclosed what evidence they have against Drulović, the spokesperson declining to describe the case on grounds of security.

A preliminary court date has been set for next Monday. Drulović is expected to be released back into the community and ordered to surrender her passport. Without a conviction, however, she will remain in her position as Director of Intelligence unless and until the disposition of the case results in a conviction on the charges, in which case Parliament may exercise its power to impeach. Government correspondents widely expect the TIB’s daily administration to fall to Drulović’s senior aide, Ahmad Fazari, who has frequently assisted the Director in policy development and internal agency affairs.

Kendra Shaw disappeared from Terra after having been taken into custody in a widely-publicized case. Shaw has been indicted by the Special Court for War Crimes on charges of crimes against humanity in her role in the execution of the genocide caused by the glassing of close to seventy percent of Terra’s surface. There was general public outcry about Shaw’s disappearance, and pressure on the Terran government to produce answers, particularly after Shaw publicly emerged on Niihama.

Drulović herself seems far from intimidating. In person, she stands at a fairly short stature, with closely cropped dark hair. She is almost always seen wearing a woven pashmina scarf and a gold icon of a saint around her neck--not the usual stereotype of the appearance of a traitor or a criminal. Yet Drulović holds arguably the single most powerful and influential position in the Terran government.

Drulović has served as Intelligence Director since the formation of the Terran National Government after the dissolution of the Tripartite Alliance and the end of foreign occupation of Terra. Originally appointed by Lelantus Haima, Drulović has continued to serve under the administration of Prime Minister Edward Cranford, receiving many accolades for her service to the Terran people and her role in preventing incursions onto Terran sovereignty.

Drulović made headlines again earlier this year when Tauron mob boss Georgio Fazekas announced a bounty on the Intelligence Director’s head, and later kidnapped and tortured Drulović before she and several other hostages were repatriated to Terra. All of this occurred after multiple highly-publicized attempts on the Director’s life. She has survived multiple hospitalizations.

Nevertheless, despite repeated praise for acts of heroism, Drulović has also been a controversial figure for some time now. Rumors about improper influence over Cranford and other members of Parliament have stained an otherwise illustrious career that began under the former American CIA and has spanned many years since its beginning in 1964. These rumors were further cemented by an op-ed written by Terran Attorney General Luis Galdámez earlier this year, which claimed that Drulović’s TIB has engaged in very little information sharing with other parts of the government.

With today’s arrest, the controversy surrounding Drulović’s position and role within the Terran government will continue, with even more vigorous debate sparked about the future of Terran sovereignty.

A spokesperson for the TIB stated that Fazari has assumed the role of Acting Director while Drulović is held at the NPA Headquarters in downtown Wing City, and that intelligence operations are expected to continue as normal. The spokesperson would not comment on the allegations against Drulović. Drulović is not expected to make a public statement if she is released pre-trial. In the past, the Intelligence Director has generally refused to make public comments.

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(OOC: The above article was based on events collaborated upon by barney_fife, Nemo [R0NlN], AzricanRepublic, and I, and can be read in prose here. The image is a still from a video filmed by Mark Kammel in 2009. See Drulović’s profile for more information about the images I use for her. I welcome ideas for involvement and collaboration, so if you are interested, please contact me.)

Fatal Car Wreck Claims Lives Officals Close Hildre At Main

"Wing City News Network Speical report, I'm Harly Cairns. Officals have closed Hildre Street at Main Street due to a nine car pileup that claimed the lives of three Wing City Citizens and sparked two fires, one of which caused two store fronts ot be destroyed, City Officals currently do not know for curtain how the crash began or why, this is currenty under investigation." The picture shifts slightly showing a live video feed at time of the car pilueup "it is believed that these two humvees were the cause of the crash, this is yet to be confirmed at this time, anyone with information regarding these two viechles is to contact WCGO at MAin 2468."

YUKIKAZE-SHI In the mountains to the north of the city of Yukikaze, our Glorious Emperor has wed a wife. Former Aschen Fleet Admiral, Kendra Shaw in the last several months came to Niihama searching for refuge from the evil foreign barbarians that attack us at every opportunity. In her humility to the Empire, she beseeched the Emperor's protection. Generously, the Emperor granted her refuge within the Empire and the Niihama Palace. In the following months, it seems that generosity turned into affection and love, and our glorious Emperor made the decision to make Kendra Shaw his wife, as she became pregnant with an heir for the Emperor.

The wedding ceremony welcomed both friends and immediate family alike, and security was tight to prevent the foreign barbarians from somehow harming our new Empress, immediately following the wedding was a coronation ceremony to make Kendra Takayama the Empress, to administrate and serve the Emperor at his side.

Whereas the Imperial Erutin Government has committed repeated acts of aggression against the Government and the people of the Aschen Confederation of Planets; Therefore be it Resolved by the Quorum and the House of Parliament of the Aschen Confederation of Planets in Parliament Assembled, that the state of war between the Aschen Confederation and the Imperial erutin Government which has thus been thrust upon the Aschen Confederation is hereby formally declared; and that the President be, and she is hereby, authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the Aschen Confederation and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial erutin Government; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Parliament and the Quorum of the Aschen Confederation.

SIRESS ROBIN WENUTU
Speaker of the House of Parliament, and Siress of the Picon Prefecture
COYLE R. BORON
Vice President of the Aschen Confederation and speaker of the House of the Quorum

Approved, November 21, 10th Age
LAURA ROSLIN

Hundreds of pages printed in neat black ink on plain white paper with the TIB’s seal watermarked or printed in gray in the header reveal months of detentions of some three hundred terror and insurgent suspects in three secret prisons across Terra. The memos include interrogation notes, transfer orders, and photographs of dozens of the detainees, which have only been censored where they contained information that could compromise sensitive operations such as certain names or dates. The papers were provided by a source within the TIB who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, assuming the name John.

Satellite imagery shows unassuming buildings in remote locations without access to cities or roads in the Andes mountains, Himalayan mountains, and Norway’s fjords. John suggested that the TIB had appropriated existing properties and converted them to prisons in a move to budget money, despite receiving the second largest portion of the national budget. No street view images are available due to the inaccessibility of the facilities.

Among the detainees are twenty-one year Hurreyah Jamshid, wanted for playing a major role in anti-Hindu violence in India’s Punjab in connection with Hataf; thirty-four year old Kristoffer Bjelland, wanted in connection with a series of violent attacks against European Muslims ten years ago as part of an inter-continental anti-Muslim network; forty-two year old Susanna Jehlen, sought by the NPA for her role in orchestrating violence against Black Americans and Jews in the southern America region with a resurrected version of the Klan; and twenty-seven year old Abu Habiballah Hamid bin Muqtada Al-Talkalakhi, wanted for his role in violent terrorists attacks carried out by a Syrian Hataf cell over the last few years.

None of the detainees’ families have been informed of their status as detainees of the TIB, nor have any of the detainees been allowed access to lawyers or outside observation, although John said that the TIB might consider permitting a small group of objective observers to visit the detention centers after the publicizing of the information. About half of the detainees, according to John, have been formally charged in various courts or under the TNG with crimes related to terrorism. The other half were previously unknown.

The memos contain no direct evidence of torture or ill-treatment, but John said that he would not be surprised if the interrogators at the secret detention centers used coercive methods to pry information from the detainees. Interrogations are described sparsely, with notes about a detainee’s mannerisms and times for meals and sleeping. One interrogator, identified as Sajid, remarked that a detainee was “quiet and seemed depressed, giving monosyllabic responses to basic questions” in a note typical of those in the memos.

The TIB’s press office has not released a statement and will not confirm the existence of the detention centers, nor that they are operated by the agency. Intelligence Director Arianne Drulović is not expected to make a statement and rarely speaks to the press. The Attorney General’s office has announced that the legality of the TIB’s activities and the legal limits of their powers will be examined in a thorough review; however, John cautioned that it is possible that the TIB will be found exempt from the standard legal regulations on the operation of prisons and treatment of prisoners due to their status as an intelligence agency as opposed to an agency within the criminal justice system or the military framework. The TIB’s in-house lawyer, Samantha Nebeker, is expected to file an injunction to prevent the release of any of the leaked documents to the public.




Taiyou Emperor Nobuo Takayama made a surprise diplomatic visit to Terra, bringing his newly-coronated Empress, Kendra Takayama (Shaw), former Aschen Admiral with him only to see several Terran officials walk out on the diplomatic reception, hosted at Scatterran forward operating base Darkhammer, in protest of Shaw’s presence on Terra. Defence Minister Farabundo Guzman, Speaker of Parliament Nahabed Toomajian, Diplomatic Service Chief Marian Vanderbrug, NPA Deputy Director Thane Melander, and Deputy Attorney General Soo Hyeun Na left the visiting party as soon as Shaw was announced and introduced.

The indictment against Shaw for her crimes in the glassing of Terra in Operation Inferno is still valid and pending in the Terran court system, although the Justice Ministry is unlikely to pursue action against Shaw while she is a member of the Taiyou Imperial Party on a diplomatic visit. Shaw’s case generated further outrage last month, when Intelligence Director Arianne Drulović was charged in aiding Shaw’s escape from Terra a few months ago. Shaw had been apprehended by WCPD Detective Randin D. Kaye before being turned over to NPA custody. At the time of her disappearance, the NPA asserted that Shaw was in TIB rather than NPA custody. After escaping from Terra, former Genomese Governor Gina Inviere aided Shaw in seeking asylum in the Taiyou Empire on Niihama, where she became first a concubine and then the Empress of the Emperor.

The rapid departure of government officials during diplomatic visits or speeches is rare but not uncommon in cases where the visiting dignitary or head of state causes great offense to the host nation.



This month saw Eid al-Adha, the second of the two annual Islamic celebrations, which remembers Ibrahim (or Abraham, in standard English)’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail (or Isaac in the Jewish and Christian traditions) as a show of faith in God. Observations this year came with the typical reveling, large family gatherings, and extended prayer services in mosques planetwide. They also came with a spate of ethnic riots that have continued for two weeks in the Balkans -- in Albanian-majority and Bosnian-majority regions, the Sudan -- along the Darfur border, and in Xinjian.

Conflicts broke out between Muslims and non-Muslim neighbors over right to use public spaces for celebrations, exacerbating racial and religious tensions that have marred communities in these areas for decades, if not longer. When riots began, looters took advantage of burning buildings and cars, and citizens in towns and villages sought refuge in neighboring towns only to see those towns overtaken by more sectarian and ethnic violence. Mosques across the Balkans and churches in Sudan have been closed after at least three places of worship were burned by molotov cocktails.

Tactical NPA forces and TAF Marines have been deployed to restore order in the trouble regions, but a spokesperson for the Defence Ministry expressed doubt over the long-term efficacy of these emergency measures to address the violence. At least four hundred have been confirmed dead in all three regions, with thousands wounded.




Gunshots shocked dozens of students snoring through Leftist regional Governor Muhammad Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi’s speech at Alfaisal University in Riyadh into a sudden state of wakefulness. The sight of Al-Hubaishi slumping against the lectern as his blood seeped across his white dishdasha provoked several students to nausea.

The gunshots came from a gunman in the back of the lecture hall, who was quickly tackled by a nearby student, Ibtisam al-Zahrani, and held down until university police and NPA tactical forces arrived within ten minutes to a spate of frantic calls from the students attending the lecture. Within thirty seconds, over forty tweets had been published to social networking site Twitter, and at least two uncensored photographs of Al-Hubaishi’s body were published to social networking site Facebook.

“It was absolutely crazy, unbelievable,” said al-Zahrani. “It took a few moments, but then people started screaming, and some students tried to run from the lecture hall, but by then, the police were already there.” Asked about her act of heroism, al-Zahrani smiled shyly and looked away. “I just did what any good citizen should do. I was trying to make sure he wouldn’t hurt anyone else.”

The gunman was twenty-five year old Muhammad Jibreel Abdel-Jaleel Al-Hateybi, a suspected member of terror organization Hataf, which released a statement claiming responsibility within eight hours that was widely disseminated to news networks across Terra and the intergalactic news sphere. Al-Hateybi was taken into NPA custody and has been charged with murder in the first degree, conspiracy to commit murder, murder of a government official, and terrorism. He will appear in court tomorrow.

Al-Hubaishi had been elected as regional governor after months of protests demanding greater political and civil liberties throughout the Arabian peninsula, and it was widely thought that his Leftist platform would lead to great social change. He already started or expanded several programs building on his history of work to diminish poverty and provide opportunities for people with disabilities. The provincial legislature in the Arabian peninsula appointed Taher bin Hassan Zewail, a close friend of Al-Hubaishi, to serve as interim governor. Zewail is also a leading cleric in the liberal Hanafi madhhab, or school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence, known for his unorthodox views on women’s rights and inter-religious dialogue. He is expected to give a speech at Al-Hubaishi’s funeral tomorrow at the Grand Mosque of Riyadh.



In a surprise announcement, Hataf's public relations office disseminated a press release last night naming Senior Councillor Rabiya Dölet as the organization's Supreme Leader, a position which has remained vacant since the tenure of Tahira Ali Almontaser, originally appointed in 1976. The terror group has been responsible for a series of deadly attacks against various regimes on and off Terra over several decades, including assassinations, bombings, hijackings, kidnappings, and targeted assaults. Believed to be financed through a complex interweb of nonprofit organization, corporate establishment, and criminal enterprise fronts across Terra, Hataf announced in the same press release a threat to execute a new plot within the next few months. Dölet may be a pseudonym, says an NPA analyst who asked not to be named because she was not allowed to speak about the intelligence. "Typically, Hataf's Senior Councillors have used their real names on official and public communiques, but there is no evidence to suggest that 'Rabiya Dölet' is the name of an actual individual." This would be a strange deviation from standard operating procedure for the terrorist organization.

Recently, two deadly attacks against the Masjid Al-Malik mosque and Al-Malik Charter School in Washington D.C. and the Mercy Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, were thought at first to be the work of Hataf until no victory statement or ultimatum was issued. Hataf's standard practice has been to release a statement claiming responsibility for its attacks within one week of executing them. Terran officials have been investigating possible perpetrators of both attacks, but in the absence of any statement from Hataf, investigations have become increasingly complex. Hataf has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in the decades since its 1965 founding, including attacks against the Aschen Confederation, the United Coalition of Organized Nations, and the Democratic Coalition, as well as those against the Terran National Government.





A foul stench permeated the air around Wing City Lake before police officials took notice of the three day old body floating in the lake. A soggy corpse with thoroughly soaked clothing was taken to the local morgue and identified as Kareem Rahil, a resident of Wing City who regularly attended services at the Islamic Center of Wing City. Rahil’s record shows a number of minor run-ins with police for gang-related activity, but no convictions or serious charges. Police refused to divulge further details of the crime or grant access to the crime scene to the public, which was still being processed this afternoon.




After Operation Inferno, when Aschen commander Kendra Shaw glassed seventy percent of Terra’s surface, massacring billions of people, Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of the Middle East were the most severely affected areas of the planet. Finance giant Bennington-Gray Enterprises announced a government contract with the Ministry of Development to rebuild devastated areas, including former cities and rural villages. Bennington-Gray will restore infrastructure and rebuild schools, hospitals, and homes destroyed in the glassing. Chief Executive of Corporate Responsibility Cora M. Segura announced the contract in a press conference this morning along with Chief Operating Officer and President Soha M. Alfarsi.






After suffering a stroke following rescue from being held hostage on Hadante, the remote Aschen prison world, NPA Director Jamal Morrison Lebrun has returned to work, displacing Acting Director Abdalhaq Mulavi, who has served in Lebrun’s stead for the last several months. The announcement was made by the NPA’s public relations office earlier this morning, and Lebrun made an unceremonious entrance to the Roosevelt and Saif Building on Main Street where the NPA is headquartered.














The annual National Security and Public Policy Conference hosted by the Drulović and Durrani Forum on National Security and Public Policy in Washington D.C. saw a surprise keynote address from Intelligence Director Arianne Drulović. (The Forum is named for her former husband, Nenad Drulović, its founding director, and former CIA Director Omar Durrani.) Since her arrest last month on allegations of freeing Kendra Shaw, Drulović has been seen even less in public until the speech, which was not announced until five minutes prior to Drulović mounting the stage.

Drulović’s former husband, Nenad Drulović, was also present at the proceedings, and was seated behind the Intelligence Director during the keynote address. Nenad Drulović was originally programmed to deliver the keynote address, but rumors of possible substance abuse and a recent hospitalization may have led the Forum to seek an emergency replacement. Drulović spoke about building intercultural relationships between government employees and community members to lay the groundwork for effective intelligence gathering.

During the conference, the Forum announced the launch of Terrorpedia, a print and online compendium of primary and secondary source material about historical and contemporary terrorism. Terrorpedia contains speeches, letters, intercepted messages, videos, audio recordings, government memos, briefings, profiles, wanted posters, theses, dissertations, and other scholarly works pertaining to terrorism. Access to the physical location in D.C. is restricted to Forum members, university researchers, and government employees or elected officials. Online access is freely and publicly available.





Prime Minister Edward Cranford and Foreign Affairs Minister Jonathan Ashkenazi hosted a banquet for Eid al-Adha, the Islamic festival marking the end of the hajj season, at Government Center in the State Reception Hall. Over two hundred dignitaries, leading clerics and thinkers, and community leaders were invited to the banquet, which was presided over by Shaykh Taher bin Hassan Zewail of Riyadh.






We make it a habit to be as objective as possible in this publication, but sometimes events call for a good, large dose of sarcasm and cynicism. This is one of them.

In the last few months, two major terrorist attacks occurred without any terror organization claiming responsibility. The first was at the Masjid Al-Malik mosque and school in Washington D.C., and the second was at the Mercy Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Both attacks prompted days of headlines about the continued investigations and recovery of the surviving victims. But in neither attack has anyone been brought to justice or even named as a suspected perpetrator.

The NPA is too busy trying to make a name for itself with international arrests, like that of Kendra Shaw a few months ago, or Georgiou Fazekas before that. It hasn’t put any serious investigative effort into the two terrorist attacks. No one has any idea who the perpetrators might have been. And families are crying for justice! Shame on Mulavi.





It’s time for the rhetoric to stop.

Parliament has been keeping a tight lid on any press releases or resolutions -- or god forbid, actual directives -- on regional and ethnic violence across Terra. We have repeated conflicts in the Sudan, in Palestine, in Sri Lanka, in Kashmir, in Chechnya, in the Pakhtunwala, in Kosovo, in Xinjian, in the Niger Delta, in Colombia, in Somalia, in Yemen, in Mexico, in Indonesia, in Laos, in the Maghreb, in Baluchistan, and in Peru. Yet we have heard precious little about these ongoing conflicts and wars.

Why?

This could be attributed to several possible reasons. Firstly, Parliament wants to create the appearance of an effective transitional government moving from newly-sovereign state to establishing legitimacy -- discussing weaknesses and failures generally does not promote the image of competence. Secondly, Parliament does not actually know how to handle these conflicts -- it is usually considered intelligent to avoid blundering when lacking sufficient knowledge. Lastly, Parliament may not want to exercise federal power -- the Libertarian-Conservative ruling party is well-known for its stance on leaving nearly all issues and rights to individual regions and even smaller communities in order to avoid amassing too much centralized or national power.

There are multiple problems with these arguments.

Parliament will not work toward establishing legitimacy unless it addresses regional and ethnic violence. Parliament must create and enact an actionable plan to both stop current violence and work toward preventing future violence. It needs to address racial and religious tensions that have existed, simmering before erupting recently, for decades and in some cases, centuries. It needs to establish multilateral working groups of people on the ground to work with youth and civic and religious leaders. It needs to create frameworks to encourage those dialogues and integrated schooling and communities.

Parliament needs to educate itself -- and quickly. By law, the Intelligence Bureau answers to Parliament, and its vast resources need to be used, at least in part, to provide Parliament with current, accurate, and necessary information for its policymaking and executive powers. Drulović worked for the CIA for over four decades. The people in the TIB’s administration have great experience both administrative and on the ground. Parliament needs to take advantage of that wealth of knowledge and information.

Parliament needs to fulfill its mandate -- to protect and serve the people of Terra. It cannot do that by refusing to take any federal action. The Libertarian-Conservatives might do away with national social programs all they like, but they cannot leave terror investigations to regional and local police forces, especially when there are terrorist networks that threaten both the government and people across the planet as well as elsewhere in the galaxy. Parliament needs to seize upon its power to act and act.

The continued violence across Terra will only come to an end when Parliament takes on the responsibility of addressing it and not a moment sooner.

Luis Galdámez is the Attorney General of the Terran National Government. He completed his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1976 and a second doctorate from the Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1986.



Long ago, before time began, there was a Thing. It was one of many in the endless void of nothing that was the pre-multiverse, before the first universe began. But this one found no home in other universes, nor did it create its own. Rather this Thing saw that which was all universes, the Multiverse, and it decided to be the centre of all Things. On a planet that would later come to be known as Terra, on a location that would later be known as Gambit’s, the Thing made its home, in the centre of the Multiverse.

For the longest time the Thing sat, dormant for an unfathomable number of years, so many years that even the oldest of creatures could not comprehend the smallest part of this time. But the fateful day soon came that life would come to Terra. Awoken from an eternal slumber, the Thing was conscious and aware. It saw these beings, so lowly, unintelligent and helpless, and it took pity on them. But at the same time it saw food.

The beings of Terra did not know it when they first discovered the Thing, but it provided ‘plenty’for them. Sustenance. And foolishly in return they gave their lives, emotions, souls, time and thoughts to the Thing. It fed and grew, but it did not go unnoticed. Walls were given to the Thing, providing it shelter and a place to store its great gifts. The creatures that lived around came to worship it as a god.

This is the first known appearance of the Cult of Gambit’s.

Clans heard of the makeshift shrine of the Thing, and they came to claim its bounties. Soon the rulers of the Thing came to be the strongest tribes in the area, who also stretched out their influence to conquer the nearby world.

The Thing was not oblivious. Often it would orchestrate the events, subtly, unnoticeably, but definitely. Time passed, as time does, and the shrine became a temple and the land became a city, with the Thing once more in the centre. And then the final war came. Terra was ravaged, bombs were dropped, trenches dug. The landscape was reshaped and reformed plenty times. It seemed to be the entirety of the world who opposed the Cult of Gambit’s. At the end, the cult was forced into hiding, and the winners of the war claimed Wing City. They discovered the temple and ransacked it. They burned down the symbol that stood at the centre of the city. But the Thing had planned for this also.

Whether the infamous owner sharing the name of the notorious structure which followed was aware of the Thing, had been influenced by it or influenced by the cultists is entirely unknown. But nonetheless, the bar soon followed.

Gambit’s Bar.

And now to the modern day. With an alleyway on one side and no entrance on the other, it is a wonder where Gambit’s gets its supplies. No trucks pull out the front to deliver food, drinks or other services supplied. Often the bar seems to have space far beyond its actual size. Ten stories yet infinite rooms, each large enough to house a person comfortably.

What does this tell me? The Thing is a real entity, incomprehensible to us mere beings that exist in the Multiverse. It has a powerful hypnotic force, capable of overpowering any beings. It makes itself seem valuable, provides everything a person could need so they have no reason to leave. It feeds on the soul, the mind, the emotions… the energy of living or dead creatures.

And look about Gambit’s, and you can see the truth in this wild tales. Those who have been there the longest seem apathetic, cynical even. They lose their love for the things they once enjoyed, becoming more sober, more sombre and dryer until all that remains is an empty shell, who exists merely to mock the others in the bar. Some manage to break free of the creatures hold and can fight this spirit, but others will continue to be drained until one day they just disappear entirely…

There is no recommendation to this. If you pay attention entire nations struggle for the control of Terra. Whatever reasons they might put forth are just excuses to the true fact, they are under the control of the Thing, and they are drawn to it as any other. There is no way out of this fate. If you are in the Multiverse you can merely hope to fight fate for as long as possible, denying the inevitable by living your life to your fullest. Avoiding Gambit’s will do little ultimately. It is too late for you if you read this.

But at least now you have an excuse for why you’re in Gambit’s all the false god blasted time.

Drakus Flavaar is a merchant and dragon-breeder local to Terra.





BORGEN — CHARLES
Mr. Alexander Charles and Mrs. Theresa Hagerty of College Park, Maryland, announce the engagement of their daughter, Juliana Anne Charles, to Marcus James Borgen, son of Mr. Kjell Borgen and Mrs. Thelma Borgen of Buffalo, New York. Ms. Charles received her Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Maryland College Park and her J.D. from Boston College Law School. After working as a Prosecutor General in Wing City, she now works for the Legal Office of the National Police Agency. Mr. Borgen graduated from Connecticut College, and is currently studying theology at the University of Wing City School of Divinity, where he lectures on Buddhism and modernity as an adjunct for undergraduates. A February wedding is planned.

TOOMAJIAN — DVOŘÁK

It is with great joy and pride that Mr. Božidar Dvořák and Mrs. Jelisaveta Dvořák (Drulović) of New Delhi, India, announce the engagement of their daughter, Ivana Dvořák, to Barkev Toomajian, son of Demirj and Srpouhi Toomajian of Yerevan, Armenia. Ms. Dvořák, a graduate of Tagore International School, the University of St Andrews, teaches in Tennessee while studying special education graduate program at Vanderbilt University, and lives permanently in Newark, New Jersey. Mr. Toomajian, an alumn of Phillips Academy Andover, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University, attended law school at Georgetown University Law Center, and works for the government. The wedding will be held on the twenty-third of January two thousand and twelve in Ripton, Vermont on the grounds of Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf campus by Bread Loaf Mountain. A reception will follow afterward at the Mountain Top Inn & Resort in Chittenden, Vermont.

RAHIL — MAQSUD
Mjr. Rahat Maqsud and Mrs. Quratulain Shaikh of Karachi, Pakistan, announce the engagement of their daughter, Noreen Rahat Maqsud, to Ashraf Abdal-Aziz Rahil, son of Dr. Abdal-Aziz Fatih Rahil and the Hon. Zainab Khan of Lahore, Pakistan. Ms. Maqsud, a graduate of Stanford University, is studying medicine at the University of Wing City School of Medicine, where she specializes in neurology and developmental disabilities. She works at the University Center for Developmental Disabilities and Social Justice in Wing City. Mr. Rahil graduated summa cum laude from Yale University, and studied Islamic Studies at Al-Azhar University, specializing in Islamic jurisprudence. He works for the Islamic Fiqh Council of Terra in the Wing City office. A March wedding is planned for Karachi, Pakistan.









RAPHAEL EIRU McGREGOR

Born 2 April 1979, Raphael Eiru McGregor rose to prominence as a Fleet Admiral in the Aschen High Space Command not once but twice. Earning multiple decorations during the Caprica-Tauron Conflict, Great War of Magellan, Tal'dorian War, Chaos Conflict, and Terran Conflict, he boasted great skill and prowess as a military thinker. He was a recipient of the Crimson Star, Order of the Valiant Star (1st Class), and the Order of the Soaring Eagle (2nd Class), and was honored with the Colonial Cross posthomously for service in the ongoing Belkan Conflict. After sparking an international incident by murdering thirteen people in the United States before the formation of the Terran National Government and planetary rule, McGregor faced Triad on Langara and served time on Hadante, an Aschen prison world. After early release on probation, McGregor worked as a tour guide in a military history museum on Langara, before later finding work with the RDA paramilitary units of Tech Con, a Langara-based corporation with local headquarters in Wing City. With the heralding of the Belkan Conflict, McGregor was reinstated into the AHSC, where he took command of the Profound Solitude.

A controversial figure throughout his lifetime, McGregor received great adulation and admiration in the Aschen Confederation for his military accolades while simultaneously bearing the reputation of an overbearing, arrogant man who considered himself above the law and social norms. The charges filed by the American government in response to his crimes in Washington D.C. evidenced that ambivalence. Closely related to several influential figures in the Aschen Confederation, many of whom have held multiple posts at varying times in different parts of the Aschen government before and after reunification, McGregor was an individual who exercised great political influence as well as wielding considerable combat skill. There were claims during his lifetime that favoritism played a large role in preventing McGregor from serving a life term in prison -- a typical sentence for multiple murders.

McGregor died while commanding the Profound Solitude in combat against Belkan forces. McGregor is survived by his father, Mollem Darian McGregor of Olympia, Tauron; his mother, Marlene Erin Angel of Tawa, Sagittaron; his wife Callandra Jane McGregor (Henderson) of Dallas, Texas; his sister Teyla Marie McGregor of Core City, Molecay; and his children Denzel and Marlene McGregor of Wing City, Terra. Funeral Services will be held at the Her Divine Goddess Athena Temple on Hagan Avenue in Wing City, and a formal military funeral will be held at the Temple of Zeus in Caprica City.

KAREEM ABDAL-AZIZ RAHIL

Born 17 May 1987 in Mumbai, India, Kareem Abdal-Aziz Rahil studied computer science at the University of California - Berkeley and regularly participated in civic life at the local community center. He worked as an independent computer consultant in Wing City after graduation, starting a small company called Rahil Tech Solutions that regularly contracted to larger firms and corporations with holdings in Wing City, employing fifteen full time technicians. He became a regular congregant of the Islamic Center of Wing City, participating in multicultural community events. Kareem was named as a possible appointee to the City Youth Interfaith Council, which promotes inter-religious dialogues and events in the greater metropolis after announcing his engagement to Wardah Khanani, who practices disability law.

Kareem passed away on Tuesday. He is survived by his parents, Dr. Abdal-Aziz Fatih Sajid Rahil and the Hon. Zainab Khan of Lahore, Pakistan; his brothers Ashraf Abdal-Aziz Rahil of Wing City and Yahya Abdal-Aziz Rahil of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania; and his fiancée, Wardah Nazra Khanani of London, England. Funeral services were held in accordance with Islamic custom at the Islamic Center of Wing City in Wing City earlier this week. A memorial service will be held at the Civic Center of Wing City on Wednesday at three in the afternoon.



MUHAMMAD JABRAN ABDALJABBAR AL-HUBAISHI

Muhammad Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi was born on 24 August 1946 in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. Al-Hubaishi graduated from Harvard University after studying political science, and later obtained his doctorate in public policy from Georgetown University. At twenty-six, he founded Amal w’Salaam, an international nonprofit that provided educational, healthcare, and legal services to impoverished people throughout the Middle East, while simultaneously employing people with developmental and intellectual disabilities in integrated settings in all of his offices. Providing equal pay and equal opportunity for advancement to people with developmental and intellectual disabilities was a near-revolutionary act in an era when integrated employment opportunities for this population were almost non-existent everywhere.

Al-Hubaishi ran for the office of regional governor after encouragement from friends throughout the Arabian peninsula, and was elected after nearly ten months of protests. In less than a year, Al-Hubaishi had already established a standing regional office to provide services for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, expanded an external oversight council for all police in the region, created a tax waiver for businesses that employ women or people with disabilities in entry level or higher positions, and abolished the use of standardized testing for university admittance.

Al-Hubaishi died while giving a lecture entitled “Integrated Employment Creates Political Agency” at Alfaisal University in Riyadh. He is survived by his wife, Reem al-Busaydi; his children, Jenan, Karim, Aziza, and Nabil; his brothers, Musa Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Nuh Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Issa Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Yahya Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Yunus Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Ibrahim Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Idris Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Salih Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Ayub Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Sulayman Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Ishaq Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Ismail Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Zakariyah Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Iliyas Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Harun Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, Dawud Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi, and Hud Jabran Abdaljabbar Al-Hubaishi; and his sisters, Maryam Jabran Al-Hubaishi, Khadijah Jabran Al-Hubaishi, Rabi’a Jabran Al-Hubaishi, Fatimah Jabran Al-Hubaishi, Shawana Jabran Al-Hubaishi, Aisha Jabran Al-Hubaishi.

A state funeral will be held tomorrow in Riyadh at the Great Mosque.






Council Laboratories the Defense of Terra
Wanted: Terran seeking relatively stable job. Good pay, advancement opportunities. Various positions available, willing to train applicants. Contact Admiral Douglas Weskit.

TUTOR needed for seven year old with magical abilities. Must be able to stomach unusual situations, such as possible violence, shape shifting family members, and some minor explosions. Salary negotiable. Contact Hope Anona via the Erutin Embassy.

Wanted: Mages wanting to make a name for themselves.
There is a problem in today’s society. Mages are rarely ever allowed to serve their country or participate in battle. Well that can change if a mage signs up with the Azurian Republic. Any mage that signs on is guaranteed a role in combat and leadership. If you want glory or you just want action, come on down to the Azurian Embassy and Garrison.

Hamilton's Fix it Fast
Wanted: Terran who's needing a good job with good pay, weekends and holidays off. Must have mechanic skills, and people skills. If interested contact Christopher Hamilton.

Looking for any information relating to street gangs in Wing City, preferably member count and level of danger. Contact the Alberti Warehousing Co. in Wing City and ask for the Tokarev Brothers. Will pay any sum desired.

Startup business in Eastern Wing City currently hiring those that enjoy taking walks on the wild side. Contact Darien Blackdagger for more information and to arrange an interview.

Musician looking for job.
Will take low pay provided stable work. All hours, any day. Contact Reis, 29th Sol Avenue.

TERRA WANTS YOU!
Visit your local TNG recruitment center to enlist in the Marine Corps, Tetris, or other services. The world demands your valor. Protect our sovereignty.

Interested in experimenting?
Finding strange and unfamiliar creatures; you don't need to be a genius to do it; training is available. Contact Ciyanide for more information.

Nebula Class Cargo Transport
Excellent hull integrity if you can fix the drive you can keep it it.

Help Wanted
Looking for warrior to remove giant rat infestation from pantry, contact 6590 Sol Avenue, will pay well.

Looking for extra cash, collector willing to buy epic rarity artifacts, will pay in gold.

Good with machines?
Joe's Collision Repair and Discount Scrap is now hiring, mechanic needed to maintain service bots. Apply at front desk.

NOTICE

• WCHA will accept proposals from qualified general contractors/construction managers (GC/CM) for the sewer project at the Wing Breeze Apartments. Please see the WCHA website for more details at:
  http://www.wingcityhousingauthority.org
• WCHA will accept proposals from qualified firms for the Noise Assessment Services Terms Contract. Please see the the WCHA website for more details at:
  http://www.wingcityhousingauthority.org

Qualified soldier seeking a job as a a body guard.
Soldier is qualified in defense with a sword and daggers, is currently in training at how to used modernized weaponry but is a fast learner. Contact at this number if interested: 288-478-1989.

Church of Lzothozsh, now open.
Join us in prayer or meet other people from the community. All cultures and people welcome. Starts 10am every Sunday, followed by lunch. Lady Une Drive.

Need some dirty work done?
Take out the trash? Clean those awkward and difficult to remove stains? Kick out the old lady upstairs? Contact the Assassin Society on Main Street. 277-277-46-823.

Necromancer seeking business. Relatives, children, and pets. No dark lords. Have body on hand.

Wanted
Eloquent malcontents with ambitions to change the world. Serious inquiries only--no hipsters--apply over three shots vodka in Gambit's Bar.

Professional Soldiers Wanted
Please contact the Resource Development Agency of Tech Con for more information. No training or experience required, WILL TRAIN.

Leona's Bistro help wanted
Reliable businessman who can get the job done, who doesn't ask questions. No cops.

---

(OOC: The segment regarding the Taiyou visit was collaborated upon in-character by barney_fife, AzricanRepublic, and I. The plot regarding Kareem Rahil is a current storyline with Nemo and I, which can be read in prose here. The obituary for Raphael McGregor was written by myself with assistance and some information from barney_fife, and the scene of Raphael's death was written by barney_fife and Ottoman. [You will need to ask them to see a prose copy.] The Gambit's Bar op-ed was written by Patcharoo in its entirety.

I drew the political cartoon, which is of Arianne Drulović, Intelligence Director, and Edward Cranford, Prime Minister. I have prosopagnosia, so forgive me if the figures don’t exactly match the character pictures in their profiles.

Classifieds were contributed by [in order] Marcus, DemiKara, Conumbra, silverangel_oflight, SynapticError, qbsuperstar03, Alasund De'astio, Nemo, JapanGodOfAwesome, Ottoman [both WCHA notices], Jinx911, Shpleem [four of them in a row], Patcharoo [two of them in a row], Arceius, Ellipse, and barney_fife [two of them in a row]. If you’re interested in following up on them, count which number in order it is and then do the same for the names.

The images are, in order, by Google Maps satellite view of Challapalca in Peru, Saud Al-Hilil, Shavar Ross, a still image from a film by Mark Kammel, Strong Marriage Now, barney_fife, and simple a$ refunds. I welcome ideas for involvement and collaboration, so if you are interested, please contact me or the people listed for the correct story or classified ad.)

Citizens of the Aschen Confederation...

Today is a day that will live in infamy...


Moments ago we received word through our Datalink, that the Profound Solitude has escaped the engagement with Belkan forces, and have reported that the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose was dealt a crushing blow by the invading Belkan Hegemony. This is a day of sadness and sorrow, but we must not forget those who gave their lives in the service of freedom and prosperity for the Home Galaxy.

Upon arrival into the combat theater, the Combined Fleet engaged Belkan forces at roughly 0800 Localized Ship Time. Initially the engagement was proving to be a success. That success was short lived, when the Belkan forces arrived with reinforcements, the defending fleets did not last long. We can only hope that our actions have provided the Coalition with enough breathing room to remove the Belkan power from the Galaxy and maintain peace and stability.

The Profound Solitude was facing a similar end at the hands of the Belkan Hegemony, and according to our Datalink, the Commander, or rather, Chairman Raphael McGregor ordered one last ditch collision course after evacuating the ship. The AI overrode his commands and engaged a blind jump, landing the Profound Solitude into Erutin space.

According to recordings from the Datalink, the Profound Solitude made peaceful contact with the Erutin Government, requesting assistance for wounded personnel and a battered ship. The Erutins, in unprovoked aggression, opened fire against the Profound Solitude.

In addition, following Erutin Aggression, the Solitude did not return fire, though it was capable of doing so, it did not, rather, Chairman McGregor approached an obvious act of aggression against the Aschen with another cry for peace, and even a cry for Surrender, but the Erutin refused, and they maintained their attacks against the Profound Solitude, unprovoked and with unparalleled wanton disregard for human life in a time of peace. I would like to iterate The Aschen Confederation at this time held no animosity towards the Erutin, showed no aggression, rather they were shown the olive branch of peace, and in return, the Aschen were spared no mercy in a time of need, rather, wantonly destroyed by the Erutin aggressors.

In blatant violation of Galactic Stability Treaty 128.32 the Erutins pressed their attack, and rather then allowing the Profound Solitude to flee and attempt to establish communication with the Aschen Confederation.. Entrapped the ship within some kind of jump-inhibiting network of barriers, then they proceeded to maintain their attack, forcing Chairman McGregor to respond with force. After desperately threatening the Erutins into allowing him to leave peacefully, he moved to engage their forces in complete compliance with the Shaw Protocol, and Confederation Doctrine 44. It was then his ship was attacked with some sort of energy field, the likes of which we have never faced before, and in compliance with the Shaw Protocol, he initiated a standard self destruct sequence and the ship imploded.

In response to this brazen aggressive act against the Aschen Confederation, a declaration of total war was pushed through Parliament, amended into a standard declaration of war with broad terms to bring the conflict to a termination. Rather than attempt to make amends for their aggression against a wounded ship, the Erutin Imperium chose to respond to our declaration of war with promises of genocide, enslavement, the complete destruction of our way of life, and everything we stand for. I implore our allies to stand against this oppression and this aggression, and aid us in the defense against yet another aggressor that threatens our very existence.

I now call upon the Imperial Erutin Government to consider their attacks, their aggression, and their declaration of malice and genocide against our people, and approach the table of diplomacy to spare against bloodshed, and further loss of life. The Erutins, in their wanton disregard for human life, persisted in the attacks that resulted in the destruction of their world, forced a wounded ship to make a last measure to strike at it's aggressors, had they relented, and allowed Chairman McGregor to flee the system, or render aid, these wars would have never occurred, and this animosity that our people now share, would have never taken root.

In Parliament and Quorum Assembled, the following are terms to bring the Aschen declaration of war into a successful termination...


- The Cessation of all hostilities and the opening of agreements for armistice or ceasefire

- Formal Apology to the Government and People of the Aschen Confederation

- The successful destruction of all Erutin Industrial, Military and Civillian assets.

- The Surrender of the Imperial Erutin Government

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(OOC: The background noise is intentional; I recorded five separate tracks to create it.)

Strange Purple Robots Staved Off By Smaller Black Robot

Wing City News Update; 5 December 2138.

Early last week Strange robots attacked what is confirmed to be another strange robot that was in shape of a small black pickup truck, police report that camera systems managed to take in full count of the battle and also eyewitnesses report that the black robot staved off several smaller purple robots that took form of spiky looking wheeled transports of some sort. All of these were fended off and a woman in red was also reported seen.

Eyewitnesses to the scene reported strange vibrations in the ground before the battle comehenced. Two people lost their lives in falling debris as buildings were damaged and cars were upended. Police report that of the injured none were found, Security footage found a woman injured in the leg and bleeding, it is unknown who the woman is at this time. Anyone with information is asked to contact Wing City Guard Office at MAin 2-4-6-8, or the local Underlundian Police post at USpn 3-8-1-2

The strange black robot was then joined by another much larger robot that succeeded in destroying the strange purple robots. Wing City Guard Office and and local departments have been unable to find any traces of the purple robots save for strange purple goo where the destruction was most dire. Buildings and small busineses in the area have been damaged, inital reports estimate the damage cost of around one hundred and ten million dollars.

Shortly after the larger black robot appeared two more robots appeared, one a blue and black the other dark black. both of them arrived in the form of transports. It is unknown exactly of what kind of robot we are dealing with at this time, however at the moment it is clear it is a race from another world we haven ever known about before.

Police investigating the sink hole cause have confirmed structural damage to the Undercity's Tunnel Bridge System, the 202 Highway was shut down at the sink hole location to provide police and inspection crews to investigate the area, what was found was a single HEMTT 10x10 truck, nodamage was seen on the vehicle as it was dug out of the rubble, no traces of radioactive matrial was seen at the site, Eyewitnesses reported that on the day of the sinkhole's appearance two cars were seen fleeing the Tunnel Bridge System.

Reported by Thomas DuHart, Wing City News Network.