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Yamatai News (YINN) Misshuvurthyar on Shurista, coordinated attack or isolated incident?

Recent events on Shurista this morning. Twenty one hours ago, the megastructure rocked as the seven thousand year old Tskugani dome failed due to collateral damage when the Star Army engaged a Mishhuvurthyar threat that had infiltrated the ancient bastion of the elder culture. Investigations determined the threat started as a single unsecured Mishhu parasite escaped detection during a standard search and seizure to Shurista’s Port Authority some time last month. Council of Shuristan Shipbuilders spokesperson Jhuran Tusa had this to say on how a Misshu larva escaped into the ancient megastructure.

“Shuristan quarantine laws are harsh. Any dock hand can call quarantine on any vessel, call for the engines to be disabled, and all points of hull access welded closed. This is an automatic process for any vessel that refuses to be inspected, as all vessels from outside the immediate range of Shurista. General rule of thumb is that if a vessel has to perform any form of FTL jump or maneuver to get here, it will be stopped, inspected, and any biological samples not properly documented and secured will be destroyed. This includes any and all improperly annotated life forms found on the vessel. Document your critters, and secure your samples. Any known hazardous life forms will be destroyed if not properly secured. For Mishhu larvae, that’s an eighteen inch clear duroplast block container, with stasis and antipsi. These samples were decidedly not properly sealed and were destroyed by incineration as was protocol.

“Yamataian vessels are not exempt from Shuristan quarantine laws. Just as Neshaten, Nepleslian, or Duskerian vessels. Upon review of the body camera footage and ship manifests, we found that the infecting vessel was none of these. It was an independent cargo freighter delivering research samples to the Capricorn Module. The manifest indicated eighteen intact Mishhuvurthyar larvae. We destroyed them as was protocol. The fact that this vessel had evaded Shuristan port authority for five hours and attempted to bypass our port authority was an insult to Shuristan sovereignty and half an eon of preventing incidents like this. The fact that we still had a confirmed incident reinforces the requirement of these laws. Simply put, we refuse to allow invasive species on or off our ships.”

After the larva escaped into Shurista, it apparently made its way to the agricultural dome, where it consumed staple crops and livestock to grow into a three meter wide crab type. The Shuristan Civil Service claims the incident arose when they informed the Star Army of a dangerous life form. Spokesman Saliten Soren had this to say.

“As is standard procedure, we evacuated civilians from the affected sector, then sealed it to prevent the creature from escaping. We then informed the Star Army of the situation and got to work. After cornering it with standard beam cutters, we managed to find and destroy a nest, then moved on to attempt to destroy the animal itself, standard issue dangerous animal removal. We had it pinned down under heavy beam cutter fire when the Star Army showed up, and two full platoons of power armor infantry teleported in on top of our positions to fire Aether weaponry inside the dome. One round sparked off the armor and hit a support beam on the dome, causing a cascading failure. Fortunately, no one was hurt, as the only ones in there were fully suited Civil Service and Mindy clad power armor troops who were sternly admonished for using anti starship weaponry inside of a habitat. What is most amusing to me is that it was neither of our groups that actually made the kill. The creature was killed when it attempted to escape the shattered dome and found a rather incensed civilian farmer with a beam cutter on the outer hull of Shurista, who proceeded to burn four full pounds of uranium fuel rods on it before it could find cover. Civil Service command is furious at the display of force and the rampant disregard for collateral damage shown by the Star Army. Initial estimates stand at two point eight billion water credits in structural damage to the dome and surrounding Flotilla, plus an additional five point six billion water credits in lost agriculture, atmosphere, and water resources. Sixty five cubic kilometers of Shurista’s internal structure have been exposed to space, with over two hundred cubic kilometers of lost atmosphere. We will no longer be informing the Star Army when a dangerous creature is found, for fear of the Star Army attempting to ‘help.’ We will, however, inform the Star Army after the threat is neutralized. Its remains have been broken down for use in repairs, with useable meat barbecued by a local farming community. Now while the loss of one agricultural dome is disheartening for the few thousand of us who are supplied by it, it’s not that big an issue to go to the next one over. Affected residents will be offered transport vouchers to ease that cost. In honesty, this is not a big event or issue, and no one got seriously injured. We are also screening the area for further specimens, and will keep the Star Army updated. If their assistance is required, we strongly advise against the kind of force displayed yesterday.”

Due to the nature of the emergency, vessels from the Seventh Fleet were dispatched to investigate. Chujo Issus Elapide of the Seventh Fleet has made this statement. “Mishhuvurthyar larvae are dangerous, and still present a threat not just to Shurista, but to Yamatai as a whole. Personnel from Capricorn responded swiftly to news of a Mishhuvurthyar attack. We regret the loss of the agricultural dome, but a careful review has determined it was due to the ordinary risks incidental to combat with such a dangerous creature. Nevertheless, we are deploying resources to assist with repairing the damage to the dome and replacing lost assets. This attack is part of a wider pattern of revanchist Mishhuvurthyar attacks that are being dealt with. The Star Army not only stands ready to defend Yamatai, but we are taking active steps against any emerging threats.”

We at Yamatai News Network believe it would be quite entertaining to invite both representatives to a joint interview on the subject, specifically to discuss the appropriate force and tactics to deal with such a threat, and the apparently vastly different views on the results. While it’s clear the Civil Service is quite competent in this regard, we wonder what you, the viewer thinks. Included in this broadcast is a poll, asking whether you think the Senti can handle such threats on their own, or if the Star Army was justified in the sudden assistance. While the Councils have agreed to inform the Star Army of Mishhu activity on Shurista or any Senti Flotilla, they do not believe that this event was more than an isolated incident the likes of which sometimes happens, and they are still wary of assistance, as burial steel is not nearly as structurally sound as Yama-Dura or Zesu, and most ships are hundreds, if not thousands of years old, marking them as important historic landmarks vulnerable to collateral damages caused by excessive force. Moreover, while the water credit is a Senti specific currency, it is difficult to put into reference the monetary costs associated. However, adjusters from Fujiko Shipyards starship insurance company have been working with the Essia Monetary Exchange to produce this estimate in KS, adjusted for reconstruction technologies used by the Star Army.

“Images and structural scans of the damage are already underway, however, appear to be well under the one billion KS mark. Shuristan construction technology is reliable, resilient, and inexpensive, with a vast collection of resources available, primarily owing to its extremely low reliance on expensive neo alloys or supermaterials. Most of the glass was either transparent aluminum ceramic or synthetic white sapphire. The structure is made of beryllium steel or starship aluminum. All inexpensive materials, only made so by strict Shuristan regulations on construction methods and the religious significance of the material called burial steel. We have alternatives. The crops, however, will take time to regrow, and will have to be supplemented with several million KS worth of imported foodstuffs to compensate until the dome is both returned to functionality and the crops have achieved their first yield cycle. We estimate a total cost of 1.05 billion KS in repairs and aid over the course of one year. Which is truly a small price to pay considering the damage even one crab type mishhuvurthyar can do. We understand that the water credit is not so very weak in of itself, however, most of Shuristan economy relies on skilled artisans and tradespeople, rather than inexpensive and efficient automation, making everything significantly more expensive.”

Governor Khelas Nascen was not able to produce a statement, though was clearly angered by the events. Notable in her comments were that the dome held a weekly farmer’s market where she and her family attended to purchase their supplies, as is the norm. Agricultural domes like Tskugani are vital to Shurista’s self-reliance and produce over seventy percent of the population’s food supply, the rest being raised livestock or fish grown in the main water supply. Over ninety percent of Shuristans claim to frequent farmer’s markets and artisan butchers weekly, and we have been unable to find any reference to supermarkets, food warehouses, or other such establishments on the Flotilla, though street vendors, restaurants, and public cookouts are major cultural landmarks. It is also worth noting that it is not widely believed that this event will truly affect the local economy as a whole for more than one year, as Senator Shretas Natus has gone on record to state that “It is a publicly available fact that we have a certain law. Any public art installation, be it a simple statue or a stage must be constructed either on a dias or in such a way as to have a publicly accessible supply cache inside. Every segment can be removed to reveal sanitary or hygiene supplies, potable water, or food supplies. Resupplying these caches is a daily task of the parks and recreation branch of the Civil Service, and as such, usage is a good benchmark for what housing, food, or social resources are needed to be diverted to any given area to take the strain off the population. It is our task as the government to ensure our people die of old age, not starvation, homelessness, or disease.”
 
Update:

Since this article was first published, several pieces of information have come to light. While Star Army Intelligence gave no comment, other personnel from Capricorn have offered statements.

SARA's Shurista research lead, Mitarashi Gendo invited one of our reporters to accompany him into one of the halls of the Shuristan Grand Library. While Star Army Intelligence officials on Capricorn did not give any statement or comment, the following footage makes a strong case.

We now go to our field correspondent in the Shuristan Grand Library, Imosuke Sakura, to bring us more information.

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The screen cut to a yellowish metal hallway lined with shelves of media, before panning up to reveal a cavernous space of hand holds and rigging, dozens of meters, interspaced at regular intervals with shelves and computer screens. Both Senti civilians and Star Army soldiers can be seen flitting between shelves or tethered to them, gravity seeming to be simply nonexistant, here. Finally, it panned to a brunette Yamataian woman floating alongside the SARA lead as they approached the camera.

"Thanks, Sosuke. I’m here in what the Star Army is tentatively calling the Rosetta Hall with SARA’s expedition lead, Mitarashi Gendo. The Rosetta Hall holds primarily translation matrices for languages and star systems outside the sector, and several dead languages from within it. So far, the Star Army Research Administration has catalogued nearly forty percent of it over the last year. So, Mr. Mitarashi, the Civil Service and the Councils claim the ship that released that mishhuvurthyar was carrying research samples bound for Capricorn, and that the samples were destroyed for improper labeling and storage. What can you say about what happened?"

"I can't actually say a whole lot, but I can say that the ship's destination or intent was false. And that Yamataian laws on transporting Mishhu samples are even more harsh than Shuristan,” he gave a soft laugh. “We have so far enjoyed a pleasant, if competitive, relationship with the Shuristan populace. The fact that they are Yamataian citizens and thus our brothers and sisters would make any of us here hesitant to perform such research, especially near a large population center. Beside that, where else in the galaxy would you find a half million year old intact library, or operational reactors from most stages in technological development? These people can synchronize FTL drives on a scale that was not even theoretical until a few years ago, can nearly infinitely recycle almost anything, have a thriving trade and transit network of artisan handmade goods across multiple mobile megastructures, and they don't have advanced supermaterials or artificial intelligence. Their medical technology is centuries behind our own, barely capable of high resolution X ray imaging. And yet, you and I are floating past deck plating laid tens of thousands of years ago, in a hall of dead languages and cultures from sectors away. Our linguistics teams are busy enough, and Star Army Intelligence was kind enough to lend us their own far more talented personnel. It will take us decades, if not centuries to go through all of this data, even with our most advanced computing. The Star Army Research Administration has made mistakes in the past, everyone knows this. But no one ordered those samples to come to Capricorn, let alone Shurista. More interesting to me is the Shuristan response to the situation. While I was not involved in the response, it provided valuable insight into the level of training and coordination of the Civil Service."

"How so, if I may ask?"

"The Civil Service detachment that actually engaged the crab was sixteen people. Only four hundred were sent to track and destroy the creature. Within twenty minutes of engaging it, they had it pinned under fire. Another fifteen and they would have killed it, themselves, if we had not deployed. All told, from first report to the Crab finding Jimmy Freebeer with grandpa's mining laser and dying for it, the Crab survived about two hours. Unfortunately, again, this is not a question for me, but I should direct you to the Seventh Fleet representatives for that information. I'm not sure what they will tell you, but from my observations, the Shuristans treated this as a normal big game hunt, not as a dangerous adversary. That tells me that the Senti have engaged or even actively hunted Mishhu in the recent past, and I have a specialized team searching more recent Library records for such engagements. We do know that Senti and Mishhu cultures are fundamentally opposed, and neither will likely tolerate the other's existence for long. It may also benefit you to tell the Civil Service side of the story, especially considering I can't really speculate or speak further on this matter."

"Spokesman Soren was quite clear in the his statement, but I'll give it the old college try. Thank you, doctor. Back to you, Sosuke."

~~~

As stated, SARA denies any involvement in these events aside attempting to assist with removal of the Mishhuvurthyar threat.

In conclusion, the Civil Service and the Seventh Fleet have agreed to deliver this message to any Mishhu in or near Yamatai space and listening in, delivered by spokesman Saliten Soren.

"Thank you. While there is little evidence at this time that any outstanding mishhuvurthyar threat belonging to any faction exists on Shurista, we will say this to any out there. We have hunted you. We have eaten you. You are prey. Come here and there will be no survivors to tell the tale. Shurista stands ready, and grows more so by the day, to burn you from the stars as just another star plague lost to history and cleansing fire. We will make the Battle of Yamatai look like a child's tea party, and then we will hold a grand feast and deliver the leftovers to your leaders. I cannot promise much, as we have billions of mouths to feed."

In other news covering Shurista, yields are down in the Saquti, Dusanati, and Veluras domes as a mysterious blight has affected staple crops, leading to low level shortages in the area of Capricorn Module. Shuristan Centers for Disease Control is actively investigating the matter, but has made little progress so far. And the murals depicting Senti in the Star Army across the B arm of Capricorn Station are experiencing an unusual level of degradation and corrosion, leading to headaches with the Grand Library Public Records office, and the Library College of the Arts. Currently, blame is being set upon a cannonfruit field on the outer hull two hundred kilometers away in the locale of Tskugani, as the disaster at the dome prevented the timely harvesting of the crop. This caused the side of Capricorn to be pelted with the deep space tolerant fruits in what Capricorn Module Command is calling the “most fun they’ve ever had with a drill,” and reminiscent of several mobile games. Shuristan officials are annoyed at the wastage, but were pleased that the Star Army got some enjoyment out of the last few days.

Star Army recruitment of Shuristan Senti reached an all time high month, with growth modeling predicted to continue to climb over the next few years.
 
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