The Alioth-based facility housing production of Achilles’ new Supercruise Overcharge capable Frame Shift Drives came under attack today.

The crime was perpetrated by a small group of individuals piloting a ship loaded with high-impact explosive weaponry, seemingly with the intention of sabotaging SCO drive production.

The group piloting the ship had posed as Achilles’ Aerospace engineers and had somehow gained high-level clearance to bring the vehicle deep into the facility. Achilles themselves are unsure how this could have been possible, stating to reporters that the malicious agents would have required “incredibly sophisticated technology” to forge the appropriate passes.

The group were able to bypass the facility’s first checkpoint before the automated security robots identified them as a potential threat. The malicious agents apparently opened fire on the facility, preventing the robots from attempting a peaceful resolution.

There were no survivors of the conflict, and none of the malicious agents were identifiable in any active database.

Achilles reports that they have increased security tenfold since the incident, and that this should be considered a testament to the quality of the security robots produced by their Robotics division.

Achilles also reassures consumers that the incident has had no impact on Supercruise Overcharge module manufacturing.

The pirates attacking De Caminha have been eliminated, and supplies have been provided to prevent further attacks.

Jerome Archer offered his thanks in an announcement this morning:

“Time and time again, I am impressed by the skill and compassion of the galaxy’s pilots. Security for Federation citizens is my number one priority, and it pains me that a station in our space could be the target of opportunistic low lives, but through your efforts this station is once again secure and ready if those pirates return. Rewards are now available to those who helped in the defence efforts.”

“But I am compelled to raise the question on everyone’s mind: will this situation be better when Felicia Winters finally assumes office? A President-elect who, I remind you, seems uninterested in the security of her citizens. Who wants to shut down resources like the PDB, which has saved many, many lives already.”

“Is she a president capable of maintaining peace, when aggressors are increasingly appearing from all sides?”

“Or is she a president who puts her ideals before the lives of her people?”

“I once again urge congress to reconsider allowing Zachary Hudson another term as President of the Federation in light of Winters’ ongoing, conspicuous, absence.”

A recent behavioural change in the Thargoids has prompted urgent discussion among Aegis researchers and strategists.

Since the fall of the fourth Titan, Hadad, there are increasing reports that the Thargoid expansion efforts have been growing weaker. While Thargoids are continuing to expand outwards from the Titans, they are no longer reinforcing their spire sites. Further, independent squadrons dedicated to defeating the Thargoid threat like SNPX, AXI, and MUDD, have noted increasing ease in thwarting attempts to probe and invade systems.

Dr. Ivano Colombera, Imperial Science Academy’s director of xenological studies and Empire liaison to Aegis, gave their view:

“I have heard the strategy reports touting words like ‘weakening Thargoid presence’, and I must urge caution. I hypothesise that this change signals a strategic defensive response, not an enemy on their last legs.”

“I believe that the Thargoids are consolidating and planning, with the likely aim of reinforcing the final four Titans to prevent further losses. They may seem ‘weak’ now, yes, but everything we know of Thargoid behaviour suggests that this change shepherds something else. We are backing them into a corner, but that is when any creature is at its most unpredictable. And at its most dangerous.”

Aegis has urged pilots across the galaxy to take this warning seriously and work to end the war before the Thargoids have time to retaliate. Humanity’s war effort is currently directed towards Titan Indra.

PILOTS FEDERATION ALERT

Reports are coming in that the strained De Caminha station has been the target of increased levels of pirate attacks.

Jerome Archer has announced a growing state of concern among parts of Federation space, stating that the war has spread supplies and support too thin amongst their territories.

Archer currently remains the Vice President of the Federation until President-elect Felicia Winters returns from supporting her home planet of Rhea 3, which is still recovering from a series of devastating earthquakes.

At an emergency conference, Jerome Archer stated the following:

“The good work that the Federation is doing in the fight against the Thargoids is noble, and valuable, but it takes its toll. Our president, Zachary Hudson, has done an excellent job maintaining the Federation in spite of this, but we can only do so much.”

“It pains me to see De Caminha be the target of attacks by criminals looking to take advantage of the Federation’s continued efforts to end the war as quickly as possible, so I am calling on pilots across the galaxy for aid.”

“I urge you to hunt down the aggressors and supply the Earth Defence Fleet stationed in De Caminha with the medicines and equipment to prevent further attacks. Only by doing both will the station be safe again.”

“Any help is appreciated, and will be rewarded.”

Pilots’ Federation Alert

Titan Hadad is under siege. This is an urgent call to all independent pilots to aid in the complete defeat of the fourth Titan.

The key modules for the assault continue to be readily available at all Rescue Megaships:

• Thargoid Pulse Neutraliser – To break through the maelstrom defence wave.

• Caustic Sink Launchers – To protect your ship from caustic effects of the maelstrom.

• Guardian Nanite Torpedo Pylon – To hamper the Titan’s vents and make it vulnerable to damage.

Rewards have been requisitioned for all Commanders able to participate in ending the Titan threat.

Good luck, Commanders.

A suite of new Supercruise Overcharge Frame Shift Drives entered the market earlier this week alongside several other upgrades to the new modules.

To celebrate the company’s recent success, Dr. Namin Tirel, Achilles Aerospace’s Head of Research and Development, offered a rare interview to Vox Galactica:

“It boggles the mind, truly. We were working in secret on what would eventually become our Supercruise Overcharge technology for over a year now. We had mountains of data and plenty of theories still to test, but we were struggling to make headway on anything that had real practical application. When we got hold of some of the actual parts of the Thargoids’ drive-like technology, all that time, energy, and financial investment finally paid off. We were able to make huge strides in a short time frame, as you’re now seeing.”

“We purposefully made these drives difficult to modify as they’re still using very new technology, but, with how well the drives are holding up, we saw fit to relax this restriction.”

“Our latest firmware update also removes the prototype safety limiter on jump range which goes hand-in-hand with some brilliant fine-tuning we achieved during development. Not only are our drives capable of Supercruise Overcharge but we saw a few optimisations we could make over Sirius’ aging technology. If you want to go both faster and further, switch to an Achilles drive.”

“Finally, we have our work with Faulcon DeLacy on their Python Mk II. This is something that both companies are immensely happy with, and we want to offer this same collaborative approach to other manufacturers too.”

“Supercruise Overcharge has been a highlight of my career, and being a part of its continued development is a privilege. Thank you to my team helping to create the next phase of space travel, and a special thank you to the independent pilots who brought us the key pieces of technology that made all of this possible.”

The first ever ship built entirely around Achilles’ new Frame Shift Drive has released today, the Python Mk II. Marketing materials are pushing the tagline: “Built for Supercruise Overcharge”.

Faulcon DeLacy, the widely respected manufacturer behind this new ship, released a statement this morning:

“The original Python is an incredibly versatile ship, serving countless pilots in countless roles around the universe. For the Mk II, we wanted to create something more specialised and focused, and so we are coming to market with a ship that truly excels in battle conditions... but that’s not all.”

“Thanks to a fruitful collaboration with our friends at Achilles Aerospace, the Python Mk II has been designed from the ground up to better handle their new Frame Shift Drive.”

“It has improved heat management, better handling, reduced fuel consumption, and even better acceleration and deceleration capacity.”

“With the Python Mk II, we are breaking almost every speed record humanity has set. This is truly the flagship of a new era, and we cannot wait for you to try it.”

Faulcon DeLacy famously has a well-established relationship with the other main manufacturer of Frame Shift Drives, Sirius Corporation. Vox Galactica reached out for a comment on this announcement, but Sirius rejected the request.

Users of the Supercruise Overcharge function of Achilles’ new Frame Shift Drives have reported that the module puts ships under immense mechanical and thermal stress, often causing severe hull damage. Ship manufacturers throughout the galaxy are now diverting research towards overcoming this issue.

Stent Jackson, a ship engineering and design consultant, spoke to Vox Galactica about this new surge of research:

“Now don’t get me wrong, every manufacturer I’ve spoken to considers Supercruise Overcharge to be a great thing, but it’s also ripping our hulls apart. The good with the bad, as always.”

“Funny thing is, every manufacturer is realising all at once that there are some crucial things about ship construction that they’ve all taken for granted. When you get down to brass tacks, we assume certain thresholds, right? Before, we didn’t need to worry about exceeding certain temperatures or hitting high levels of hull stress regularly. Now that’s all out the window.”

“I haven’t seen such a single-minded focus from ship manufacturers for a long time. They’re all clawing to be first to market with a ship that can alleviate Overcharge stress, and it’s not long before one of them really does rise to the challenge.”

"My hat’s off to them, Achilles have changed the game in the industry for good.”

Titan Oya in the Cephei Sector BV-Y B4 system has been confirmed as destroyed by Aegis, leaving five still operational.

Aden Tanner, Aegis’s lead anti-xeno strategist, delivered a cautionary statement:

“I must remind all Commanders that these missions are highly dangerous and cannot be undertaken lightly. Entering a Maelstrom and flying close to a Titan requires your ship to be outfitted with caustic sink launchers and Thargoid pulse neutralisers. AX weaponry will also prove useful, as will Guardian nanite torpedoes to target the Titans’ thermal vents.”

“Be warned that your combat skills will be tested. Counter-attacks by Thargoid vessels become more frequent as the Titans take damage , and the mothership’s own turrets are deployed more aggressively. I would like to see veteran anti-xeno pilots passing on their knowledge to less-experienced pilots, to prevent unnecessary risks.”

Pilots’ Federation Alert

Titan Oya is under siege. This is an urgent call to all independent pilots to aid in the complete defeat of the third Titan.

The key modules for the assault continue to be readily available at all Rescue Megaships:

• Thargoid Pulse Neutraliser – To break through the maelstrom defence wave.

• Caustic Sink Launchers – To protect your ship from caustic effects of the maelstrom.

• Guardian Nanite Torpedo Pylon – To hamper the Titan’s vents and make it vulnerable to damage.

Rewards have been requisitioned for all Commanders able to participate in ending the Titan threat.

Good luck, Commanders.

Material gathered from the Titan Taranis wreckage has reportedly allowed Achilles Aerospace to complete the research on their prototype Frame Shift Drive.

The recent initiative sponsored by Achilles Aerospace saw over 5000 independent pilots enter the hazardous wreckage of Titan Taranis, retrieving enough Titan Drive Components to allow Achilles to allegedly design a new type of Frame Shift Drive based on Titan technology.

A spokesperson for Achilles Aerospace gave the following update:

The Achilles Corporation would like to commend every brave pilot that responded to our request. The data we are gathering from the collected materials is staggering, and our work has progressed at an astonishing rate. Our teams are hard at work getting the prototype ready for production as I speak, and we are eager to show you all the fruits of our labour very soon.

Sirius Corporation, the current sole manufacturer of Frame Shift Drives, was asked for comment on this research:

“Sirius recognises Achilles’ claims of ‘revolutionising’ an extremely advanced technology in a relatively short span of time, but we remain unconvinced of their substance. If Achilles can produce something other than words we will be happy to comment further.”

Intense investment into research on Titan travel has been announced by the aerospace subdivision of the famed robotics company.

Their research has been centred on the method used by the Thargoid Titans to travel at speeds well beyond that of humanity’s current technological capacity.

A spokesperson for Achilles Aerospace had this to say:

“For so long now, the means of space travel have been controlled by one company in a strict monopoly. Under that monopoly, progress seems to have stagnated entirely. But Achilles is a corporation built on the iteration and refinement of technology, and we intend to bring space travel into a new age.”

“We have been limited to observational data alone so far, but that is no longer the case. The remnant of Taranis is now accessible, and within it lies the missing component to our work. We urge pilots to venture to the wreckage of the destroyed Titan and try to obtain one of the rare Titan Drive Components. Achilles Aerospace will pay generously for any that are sold to Bloch Station in the Ethgreze system.” Experts warn that the Taranis site remains extremely dangerous. Caustic sinks should be equipped, and care should be taken due to reports of Thargoid ships active in the area.

Titan Leigong in the HIP 8887 system has been eliminated, following the same tactical approach used against Taranis.

Vox Galactica’s Jade Sanderlyn reported:

“Two of the eight Thargoid Titans have now been put out of action. Leigong suffered the same fate as Taranis, with its core being targeted by a sustained bombardment.”

“Aegis is overjoyed at these results. Both Professor Palin and Ram Tah are being praised for their development of the Guardian nanite torpedo, which is crucial to these attacks. And word is spreading that the Thargoid war machine has suffered a critical defeat, one that may change the entire conflict. Can these victories be repeated a further six times?”

Pilots’ Federation Alert

Titan Leigong is under siege. This is an urgent call to all independent pilots to aid in the complete defeat of a second Titan.

The key modules for the assault continue to be readily available at all Rescue Megaships:

• Thargoid Pulse Neutraliser – To break through the maelstrom defence wave.

• Caustic Sink Launchers – To protect your ship from caustic effects of the maelstrom.

• Guardian Nanite Torpedo Pylon – To hamper the Titan’s vents and make it vulnerable to damage.

Rewards have been requisitioned for all Commanders able to participate in ending the Titan threat.

Good luck, Commanders.

The recent destruction of Titan Taranis has yielded a significant amount of data that scientists across the galaxy have begun interrogating.

Science correspondent Leon Banerjee summarised for Vox Galactica:

“Research on Titans has been ongoing since their first appearance, and understanding how they function has been considered crucial to humanity’s survival in the Thargoid war.”

“I have spent time with everyone from the smallest private research bodies to the largest corporations in the past few years, and the common anxiety amongst the scientific community is still how little we truly understand about the Titans.”

“What answers does the caustic remnant of Taranis contain? What might have survived the destruction? When the wreckage is safe enough to enter, the additional data to be found there will doubtless benefit humanity in some form.”

Titan Taranis is under siege, taking major damage, and close to presenting a major turning point in the war against the Thargoids. This is an urgent call to all independent pilots to aid in the complete defeat of a Titan.

A recent surge of financial support has allowed Aegis to remove the material requirements for the following key modules:

• The Thargoid Pulse Neutraliser – the key to punching through the maelstrom’s defensive field and reach the centre.

• The Caustic Sink Launcher – a valuable tool to protect ships from the aggressive caustic fog permeating the cloud around the Titan.

This funding originated from numerous groups and individuals following the news about Ram Tah’s Guardian Nanite Torpedo technology being deployed to great effect against Taranis. Aegis wish to express that humanity will be forever grateful to those who risked their lives to make this happen.

Good luck, Commanders.

Pilots’ Federation ALERT

Aegis is preparing concerted attacks against Thargoid Titans using the new weapons now available at rescue megaships.

A successful delivery campaign brought in enough supplies of neofabric insulation, ion distributors and energy grid assemblies to mass-produce the Guardian nanite torpedoes. YZ Ceti Blue Galactic and Co, acting on Aegis’s behalf, is distributing rewards and reimbursing bounty vouchers from Clement Orbital in the YZ Ceti system.

A press conference was held by Aegis leadership, including a statement from Professor Alba Tesreau:

“The Guardian nanite torpedo is our most important invention yet. Once again, we are utilising the advanced sciences of the Thargoids’ ancient adversary. And once again, we are relying on pilots’ skill and determination to face the Titans at close quarters.”

“I am painfully aware that many abducted people are still in captivity aboard the Thargoid motherships. Scan results suggest that the majority have now been rescued, but those remaining may not survive these attacks. We are forced to accept that their sacrifice will result in fewer deaths than if the Titans are allowed to remain operational.”

Anti-xeno strategist Aden Tanner discussed Aegis’s tactical approach:

“These torpedoes must be aimed at the thermal vents on a Titan’s hull. A sufficiently large payload of Guardian nanites should paralyse these vents. The mothership will be forced to discharge the colossal heat it generates by exposing its inner regions to space. That will provide us with sensitive targets for more conventional weaponry to inflict serious – hopefully critical – damage.”

“Aegis has marshalled Allied, Federal and Imperial ships to undertake this mission, but we calculate they will not be enough. Only with the support of independent Commanders can we hope to deliver enough nanites to affect each Titan. This could prove to be the most important victory in humanity’s history… or our most devastating defeat. Now, more than ever, we need you all.”

President-elect Felicia Winters has delayed the start of her term of office, in response to devastating earthquakes on the planet Rhea 3.

The following statement was delivered by her office to a special session of Congress:

“The terrible events on Rhea 3 have not only demanded President-elect Winters’s full attention, but also brought personal tragedy. It seems that most of the Winters family, plus many close friends, lost their lives when the capital city of New Greenacre was levelled by the earthquakes.”

“The president-elect therefore requests permission to temporarily suspend the inauguration ceremony. This will allow her to focus on coordinating emergency operations, and also process the unexpected loss of her nearest and dearest.”

President Zachary Hudson agreed to a short extension of his presidential term, thereby allowing the motion to be passed by Congress. Vice President-elect Isolde Rochester will assume leadership of the Liberal Party on an interim basis until Felicia Winters is available.

Vox Galactica published an update from local reporter Len Kennelly:

“Rescue operations on the northern continent have intensified in recent days, as more ships and equipment arrive from across the Federation. I’m told that nearly a million survivors, albeit many injured, have now been recovered. But continual aftershocks are still toppling unstable buildings, leaving entire cities lying in dust.”

The Empirical scientific journal also discussed the cause of the disaster:

“High-magnitude earthquakes are extremely rare on terraformed planets such as Rhea 3. Initial geological surveys usually detect this type of tectonic instability, to avoid establishing settlements in dangerous regions. These destructive tremors prove that despite having tamed many worlds with our technology, nature can still be unpredictable.”