PART FIFTEEN - THE CROSSROADS OF CRIME

PART FIFTEEN - THE CROSSROADS OF CRIME

Hey folks, welcome back to Part Fifteen of the Star Citizen Timeline. When we last left off in 2931, the The Kanis Caper had undermined the ambitious SynthWorld Project’s glamour and exposed the heavy burden carried by the taxpayer, particularly in the eyes of Transitionalists in Terra’s sphere of influence. Economic prospects now seem to lie in Xi’an trade. Meanwhile, the depression has lead to a spike in criminal activity in the unclaimed systems Cathcart, Nexus, Min and Hades. The outlaws residing there are in the fledgling stages of forming an independent nation, with Spider, Cathcart as its prospective capital.

B2931 - Dean Kellar is released from QuarterDeck. Abandoning his quick temper and thirst for the high of adrenaline, he has become a professional. Kellar picks up work as a block-runner and sometime enforcer for the Ligo Crew, a network of smugglers. The work puts him in the cockpit for the first time, and he takes to it naturally.

The Ligo Crew enjoys an explosion of success, amplified by the fact that Kellar spends his free time hunting the Crew’s rivals, compromising their ships so authorities can catch them.

Meanwhile, the dominance of Spider as the de-facto capital of the lawless community is being chipped away at by Nexus, fast becoming a rival hub. While the UEE keeps an eye on the systems, the inhabitants are generally keeping to themselves.

By the time Dean Kellar comes to Nexus, he has built quite the resume. Responsible for ultimately killing the Ligo Crew after a ‘difference of opinion’ over the group’s direction, he bounces from syndicate to syndicate, executing assassination contracts - specifically empty casket jobs - to accrue more and more ships, building a rather extensive bounty along the way.

2931-05-20 - An undercover Advocacy agent is under investigation for corruption, and as such a team of Advocacy agents are embedded in the Cathcart system, building a case on their colleague.

Meanwhile, Dean Kellar has been laying low for several months in the NKZ section of Spider. While drinking in one of the seedier establishments, he strikes up a conversation with another customer. It isn’t long before he grows frustrated with the man, who refuses to acknowledge Kellar’s point that Anvil’s latest line of maneuvering thrusters are basically the previous model but with a different paint job. That disagreement quickly escalates from there until Kellar executes the patron with a pair of shots.

Still seeing red, Kellar has yet to realize the two colossal mistakes that he has just made:

First, one of the foundational rules of NKZ is ‘no killing’. Failure to comply means having a landing zone full of enemies with full authorization to kill you on sight.

Second, the drunk and intractable customer now bleeding out into his drink is in fact the corrupt Advocacy agent, and the entire argument and murder has been recorded.

The other patrons in the bar go for their weapons. Kellar opens fire, battling his way to the landing pad and launching in his modified Hornet, but his bad luck is just getting started.

The Advocacy team make a move on Kellar as soon as he takes off. Now Kellar has to deal with the law along with the pirates who chase him from NKZ. The resulting battle, eventually dubbed Kellar’s Run, spills out of Cathcart, drawing in participants from both sides of the law in a messy pursuit drawing in dozens of participants.

He makes it to Taranis, where he evades a bounty hunter near Taranis IV.

Kellar then returns to Nexus. finding a hiding spot in the Elcibre Belt between Nexus III and IV, engaging in hit-and-run tactics against his pursuers. His ballistic weaponry runs dry, leaving him reliant on energy weapons, managing to hold out in this location for nearly a day, killing or incapacitating nearly twelve ships in that span.

During one of the lulls in the battle, he pulls off what would become his most publicized move. He lands his ship in a large asteroid to perform hasty field repairs, when a group of bounty hunters manage to locate his signature. They quickly cover any tunnels large enough for a ship to escape before making contact, attempting to negotiate a surrender. Kellar prolongs the conversation, using the delay to abandon his own ship and EVA over to one of his would-be captors. Completely unseen, he boards the other ship and tosses the pilot out of his own airlock, before opening fire on the baffled bounty hunters.

2931-05-20 - After seeing the spectacle on the Spectrum, Anna Flynn - a former soldier who had fallen on hard times, joins the hunt for Dean Kellar.

Meanwhile, Kellar has managed to slip away from the roving search parties and make a push back towards the jump to Taranis. Flynn manages to track and engage him. The duel lasts twenty-seven minutes until a well-placed ballistic round pierces the laminate and ventilates Kellar in the chest.

Anna Flynn is able to claim the most famous bounty in history, a financial windfall that would help get her back on her feet.
When the UEE authorities attempt to reassert control in the region, they are shocked to realize that not only does the criminal element refuse to back down, but that they don’t hesitate to open fire at law enforcement. UEE security analysts are particularly troubled by recent events, noting the inefficiency of their forces to organize en mass in the lawless systems.

2931 - Within months of Kellar’s Run, the UEE Senate approves a measure to bring law and order back to this region of space. As such, the UEE claims the Nexus system - a tactical move to drive a wedge into the middle of the unclaimed region, and they rebrand the system as Hathor once again.

A2931 - This name Hathor doesn’t stick, being almost universally mocked. Eventually the UEE concedes and officially adopt the system’s name as Nexus.

One of the first orders of business is reclaiming Nexus III. Across the naturally habitable planet, outlaw factions have moved into facilities abandoned by the Hathor Group. When the UEE assault begins, feuding outlaw crews put their differences aside to defend their planet. The Horizon Crew becomes the de-facto ringleaders and lead this patchwork defense force in a spirited fight.

Eventually, these outlaws are overmatched by the might of the UEE military. Those that don’t flee Nexus III are either captured or killed resisting.

The criminal diaspora spreads to the dark corners of Nexus such as Echo Eleven or slips into one of the neighboring unclaimed systems. The Horizon Crew attempts to set up operations elsewhere but are rebuffed by larger syndicates controlling those sectors of space. Lago’s outlaw populace grows substantially in encampments embedded into old abandoned Hathor Group quarries, and this hinders UEE efforts to reclaim the planet. Sweetheart land deals are nonetheless offered to military families in more respectable (and heavily fortified) parts of Lago.

The UEE forces turn Nexus III into a central command for the system - putting it under military classification.

Over the next four years, they begin attempts to terraform Nexus II, repurposing Hathor’s old OP Station Demien in orbit of Nexus II as a housing exchange and transfer station for the workers. It is rebranded accordingly.

A basic infrastructure is instituted in Nexus, including establishing an Advocacy presence, but conditions in the system continue to be best described as risky. Shipping lanes are mostly secure, and even businesses that avoided the system for centuries have started to establish operations. However, although much progress has been made in the system, the battle for control of Nexus is still ongoing.

Early 2930s - Maurice Vano becomes a regular at meetings and political rallies put on by Terran Political Freedom, a hardline Terran independence group based in New Austin. Vano writes several spectrum posts to the organization stating his support of dividing the Empire and the importance of systems governing themselves.

2932-08-09 - A detached UEE Battle Group in Vega, just off the heavily guarded Jump Point to Virgil, goes to action stations. After a tense twelve hours with guns ready, the force issues an all-clear stand down. Aboard the UEES Typhon - temporary home of 214 Squadron’s Bravo Flight, word quickly spreads - Virgil’s aging Early Warning satellite network had relayed a distress signal from somewhere in the system. Admiral Bonds requests permission to jump his force into Virgil to investigate, but is ordered by High Command to abandon any investigation. Remote sensing had identified a 55% probably Vanduul clan in the system, and Command is not going to risk personnel or materials investigating a system that has not been inhabited for a century.

At best, Bravo Flight reasons, command is letting a fellow pilot die, and at worst ignoring an opportunity to settle a very specific age-old score with the Vanduul. Flight Leader Tam Thackston writes a delay-send message to his CO stating “We won’t forget”. His crews universally agree to break ranks and risk court martial to come to the aid of those in need.

Running with low-emission gear, the six Gladiators of Bravo Flight launch with full comm silence, and the suspected collusion of the Typhon’s flight deck officer. Three retain their standard torpedo loadout, while the others are configured with autodocs and other S&R equipment. Passing by UEE radar stations and tracking buoys, they are prepared to meet with resistance, but are only met with encouragement and wishes of luck from their fellow starmen.

The unit makes a low-flash jump to Virgil, and once across, triangulate the signal - determining it to be coming from the surface of the innermost planet.

Thackston opts to use a larger amount of fuel and proceeds in a roundabout manner rather than heading directly to the planet and risking giving away the location of the jump point to the Vanduul. Unfortunately, his caution proves costly: the extended flight plan runs Bravo directly into an enemy patrol. A battle breaks out, with the Gladiators attempting to eliminate a quartet of Scythes and a command-and-communications ship before they can call for reinforcements. The fight is over quickly, but with heavy losses: Bravo 3 sustains a direct blade collision during the fracas, killing gunner Paul Ransom and leaving his ship dead in space. The surviving pilot conducts a difficult combat EVA and boards the S&R equipped Bravo 5.

Once past the Vanduul, the surviving Gladiators approach the planet’s equatorial zone, the apparent location of the now-silent beacon. The flight leader’s ship touches down near the source while the remaining ships provide a makeshift combat air patrol. There, the charred fuselage of a long-lost Wildcat deep space fighter is located in a clearing where its impact had knocked down several of Virgil I’s giant trees. Investigating the wreck, Thackston discovers a pair of Human skeletons, one in a tattered flight suit, both wearing Black Crow patches. This ship had been lost decades earlier in one of Squadron 214’s prior battles with the Vanduul. With some searching, the source of the signal is discovered: the Wildcat’s black box recorder, apparently re-activated in a recent lightning strike.

Thackston hurriedly buries the remains, first removing the dog tags so they can be returned to Kilian, and takes off to rejoin his flight, the Wildcat’s flight recorder securely stowed aboard his Gladiator. Believing they have permanently shamed their squadron’s honorable history, they return home fully expecting to be drummed out of the service for their disloyalty, but upon arrival they discover that public opinion has come down harshly against Navy command once news of the beacon had spread. With the sack of Virgil still a sore point in Human memory, the pilots of Bravo Flight are feted as incredible heroes for having helped put a small part of that dark day in history to rest, along with revealing the incredible fate of their fallen comrades: the Wildcat and her crew had bravely perished when they opted to stay behind and cover the desperate evacuation in Virgil’s final hours.

2932 - After years of extensive field tests, the Aegis Eclipse goes into service, serving as the unseen sentinel of UEE borders.
A2932 - The Eclipse is first used in Operation Lighthammer. An insurgent group had attacked settlements in UEE space and fled to the Banu system of Gliese. The UEE Navy, with the support of the Banu Protectorate carries out a successful air assault against the enemy population. The Eclipse’s scan-diffusing technology enables them to take the insurgents by surprise. Thanks to the bomber’s targeting accuracy, civilian casualties are minimal and the threat is quickly eradicated.

Participating in numerous stealth and tactical bombing operations over the years, primarily for defensive measures performed by the UEE Navy, the ship ensconces itself as a dependable and consistent member of the Naval fleet.

2934 - There is a relative time of prosperity and peace between the countries of Delin and Acheron, but unfortunately nature delivers a devastating earthquake to Acheron. Dellin steps forward to provide aid. Acheron subsequently build the Phyi Tower. Of course, Dellin are suspicious of how this was possible when Acheron were supposedly in need of their help. Tempers flare up and the civil war continues.

2934 - Brian Weiters delivers his Grade 5 book report on Burning Sky: A Squadron 42 Adventure, which depicts the 2910 Vanduul attack on Squadron 42 and the heroism of Lt Terrence Nolan. The book is a great inspiration to Brian, and makes him want to be a pilot and to see a nebula. Why is this significant? Well, if you take a look at the IMDB listing for Squadron 42, there’s a character called Brian Weiters. Given the time gap, he’ll be around 20 years old during the events of Squadron 42.

2934 - Jenk Gallen begins work as a ground-loader while attempting to complete his Equivalency. During that time, he meets Ada Sinclair, an educational aide at the local school. She helps him through his studies. Gallen completes his Equivalency.

2934 - Advocacy Agent Emily Walzer transfers to Lago, Nexus.

2915-2935 - There is an attempted assassination on the Newcastle Governers Council in Borea, Magnus. With most of the major Borea hospitals inaccessible in the aftermath of the attack, the injured members are rushed to a Cutlass Red that they are fortunate enough to find parked on a nearby landing pad. Equipped with BioticCorp’s Autodocs, the council members are stabilized on board as they are rushed to emergency care facilities.

Newcastle is closed to flight traffic indefinitely, with commercial trade redirected to the industrial city of Odyssa.

In a later speech, Governor Jesper Donovin specifically credits the Autodoc with saving his life and tries, unsuccessfully, to pass a bill requiring one to be installed in every government-operated building.

B2935 - During her second year at the famed Scaliger School of Medicine in Rhetor, Livia Haskel travels back to see her family on Angeli, Croshaw. Her transport crashes on approach to the landing zone, due to an EDL error.

Haskel is in critical care for seven months, suffering severe burns on the left half of her body.

When she returns to school, she embarks on a mission to find better solutions to such injuries, graduating Magna Cum Laude and entering the field of gene therapy as a medical researcher.

B2935 - Lago police officer Callum Ringi is promoted to an Advocacy field agent.

2935 - The Idris Frigate UEES Stanton is transferred to the 87th Battlegroup.

2935 - BiotiCorp approaches their next major product line - medical scanners. Upon its release, the Vitalus Pro MediScan is received by the medical community with much acclaim. Featuring advanced clinical parameters for rapid patient analysis and hosting and extensive feature set, the Vitalus Pro line provides monitoring solutions capable of meeting a wide range of acuity demands.

There is some concern that because they are so highly portable, the Vitalus scanners might be considered an invasion of privacy, since anyone equipped with one may learn a vast amount of personal information from an unsuspecting person. Lobbyists at the Empire Civil Rights Associations push for the Senate to make it illegal to scan someone without their permission, but some counter that such a law would make it harder to provide emergency care. Though the debate is ongoing, use of the Vitalus continues to spread.

2935 - Livia Haskel joins BiotiCorp, breaking into the field of artificial regeneration. Over the next 10 years, she makes significant advances, becoming the company’s chief medical engineer.

BWalzer - Outlaw pack Argul Dawn, headquartered at Echo Eleven, Nexus - comes to prominence after a number of daring raids against supply ships destined for Lago. At carefully selected spots, Anvil Hurricanes are used to ambush a convoy and eliminate support ships before they can retaliate.

2935-01-10 - The Horizon Crew’s losses have left them with only one acceptable option - to fight to reclaim their turf in Nexus. Their plan is to secretly take over OP Station Demien, fortify and secure it and then use it at a new center for their operations in the Nexus System. Essential to the plan’s success is ensuring that word of their assault doesn’t leave the station, affording them the time to entrench and notify others that the station is now under their control.

On the morning of January 10th, security personnel conduct their routine patrols around Demien, Nexus. Everything is quiet. Haulers offload supplies and stay to enjoy a hot meal outside their ship. Station staff restock vending machines and reshuffle cargo containers for pick up. And silently, a Horizon Crew stealth dropship draws nearer to Demien.

Meanwhile, in the temporary housing habs, the family of Advocacy Agent Emily Walzer receives good news - A permanent residence on Lago has been secured for them, and a military transport on supply run will bring them in tomorrow. Francis Walzer and his three children have been waiting at OP Station Demien for days. Though they knew coming in of the system’s dangers, the land deals on Lago offered to government officials and their families had been too good to pass up. Now that their lot has been secured, the family can all be together for the first time since Emily had been transferred a year prior.

The station’s security officers step away from their posts for a shift change. It’s during that vulnerable window that a small squad of well-armed outlaws take the security team by surprise. The speed and precision of the attack are such that none of the security officers even have a chance to raise their weapon.

With the station’s security apparatus under their control, additional Horizon Crew ships land. Assault teams spread across the station, systematically moving from room to room and killing anyone they encounter. Many victims are executed, a single shot in the back of the head, never knowing what hit them.

Oblivious to all of this, following a call with his wife, Francis Walzer sends his son, Arjun, to grab a few bottles of Pips while he reads to twins Joyce and Joanne. Arjun rushes out of the hab. Though only fourteen, Arjun wants to join the Advocacy like his mother. At some point in his journey to the Pips machine, he becomes aware that the hallways are eerily quiet, and that select security doors have been closed and elevators de-activated. Not long after, Arjun spots a bloody handprint, near the Pips machines.

He acts quickly, comming his mother. Incredibly, Arjun stays on the comm with her for nearly 50 minutes. With her guidance, Arjun documents the horrors the Horizon Crew had inflicted on the station and evades the assailants. Arjun’s brave efforts continue until an outlaw notices an unknown signal coming from the station and decides to hunt it down. Although the final moments of that fateful comm are known only by those who have seen it, there is one word consistently used to describe it: devastating. The bloody handprint becomes symbolic of the tragic event.

Sadly, Arjun’s demise is far from unique, as no one on OP Station Demien during the assault survives. Yet, thanks to Arjun’s bravery, local law enforcement officials receive word of the assault and launch their counterattack before the Horizon Crew can fully enact their security plan for the entire station.

A local militia is first on the scene but has little warning of what awaits them. Within moments of exiting their ships, most militia members find themselves caught in a kill zone. The outlaws’ strategically advantageous position proves to be too much for inexperienced local law enforcement to overcome, making it apparent that the UEE Marines are needed.

The Marine assault to retake OP Station Demien lasts six hours. The battle-hardened Horizon Crew fights for every last inch of space and surface. With nowhere else to go, the Crew knows their plan will either work or be their ultimate demise. Thanks to the Marines, it proves to be the latter.

After three years of perceived progress against outlaw elements in the Nexus System, the Walzer Massacre, as it comes to be called, is a stark reminder that there is much work still to be done.

OP Station Demien still stands as a symbol of the battle to tame the Nexus System, and the events of January 10th, 2935 will remain an important chapter in the history of the system. But the UEE are rightfully agitated, and eager to strike into the heart of outlaw territory.