During the course of the protest, the Bullseye inventory also disappeared from public markets. Pilot Me_1 has contended that he was not responsible for their removal.

While many pilots tried to reason with Me_1 many others vowed to let their guns do their speaking. On 107.4.27  Me_1 finally agreed not pursue his "protest" further.  Two weeks later -- one month from the initiation of the protest -- approximately 700 Duelists were returned to the public market. In the aftermath, emotions continue to run high and retribution threats have continued.

An independent psychological analysis of Me_1’s original complaint and subsequent behavior patterns  indicated that he may be suffering from a unique version of Whynar’s Syndrome, or alternatively, may be the result of an imperfect genetic alteration procedure, resulting in minor brain damage with each jump he makes.

Several of the attacks have focused on Cornea Station sector, where the Sabre nuclear missile production facility is currently being rebuilt. With all other nuke factories having been destroyed, the partially-built Sabre facility is a critical link in the ability to fight off Conflux incursions. Other attacks have focused on Hyperial where the Insight and Burglar are manufactured – both critical to pilots’ ability to harvest the Conflux Biomass used to produce nuclear missiles.

Other attacks have targeted the Plutonium factory in Oct Core and the RB-4 manufacturing facilities in Quantar Core and Oct Core. In another instance Conflux "suicide runs" against Cornea station resulted in the destruction of approximately 500 units of Aluminum when outer bulkheads were breached – Aluminum that was being used to reconstruct the Sabre facility.

While conflux attacks in the past have often been based on brute force and general disruption, the recent incursions have shown a disturbing amount of detailed strategy with precise surgical strikes aided by tactics that misdirect, separate and isolate defense forces.

On pilot commented, "These things were always fast and powerful. Now they’re getting smart. It sucks!"

OPL Under Fire;
Marcian on the Run

With its executive team under arrest, and its CEO a fugitive, the massive weapons and equipment manufacturer finds itself at the center of a complex web of murder and subterfuge involving betrayal of its own faction as well as ties to Letifer’s STCC splinter group and to the Hyperian dictatorship. As more and more details were revealed, Quantar contentions that OPL was "up to no good" have become more and more credible.

For now, OPL remains under a military management team led by Legate Triarius.

Click HERE for a sidebar story: "Remarkable Connections"

An Improbable Peace

While Quantar has resurrected the office of "High Priest/Protector" last held by Orrus the Lion at the time of the first Jihad ‘al Din, relations between the historical enemies could now be called peaceful coexistence. There has been a noticeable absence of military and political rhetoric, which is extremely puzzling given the historic enmity between the Hyperian and Quantar governments.

Recent allegations that Zoe Vexel was murdered at the direction of OPL senior management could inflame the situation once again if Hyperial is somehow implicated. News that OPL had obtained live virus cultures, patient blood and DNA samples, and prototype vaccines from laboratories on Hypsos indicated such a link.

The new, secret location of the HQ for the High Defender of the Faith has not yet been disclosed or discovered. The location of this facility could be politically telling.

As Seen Around Space . . .

It appears that rumors of the rodent coup at JPR may be TRUE.