30 AUG 3304
Independent pilots have reported engaging a previously unseen type of Thargoid vessel.
The Pilots Federation confirmed that several of its members have encountered the ship in both the Pleiades Nebula and the core systems.
Commander Jing-sheng Mendez gave this account:
“My wingmate and I were both hyperdicted while travelling through the Pleiades. We assumed that together we could handle a single Thargoid ship, but this one really soaked up our firepower.”
“I managed to get away, but Leonie didn’t make it. I’ve already started retooling my Krait with AX weapons. I want to head back out there…and get some payback.”
Admiral Aden Tanner, Aegis’s chief military liaison, made this statement:
“We can confirm that this new ship – classified as the Hydra – is a variant of the Thargoid Interceptor. It is structurally stronger than the Cyclops, Basilisk or Medusa, and releases a larger swarm of Thargon drones.”
In response to this development, the Pilots Federation has sealed off the Cone Sector FN-J B9-0 system, which is believed to contain high concentrations of Hydra Interceptors. Despite this, it is understood that the Gnosis, flagship of the Canonn Interstellar Research Group, will attempt to complete its scheduled jump into the now permit-locked system
30 AUG 3304
The date of Princess Aisling Duval’s wedding to Federal Ambassador Jordan Rochester has passed without comment from either party.
Entertainment journalist Solomon Helios discussed the situation:
“Public reaction to the cancelled wedding has ranged from outrage to delight. Jasmina Halsey expressed regret at a ‘lost opportunity for long-term peace’, while Senator Zemina Torval called it ‘the mercy killing of a catastrophically bad idea’.”
“With no word from the Imperial Palace or the White House, it’s easy to imagine both Emperor Arissa and President Hudson breathing sighs of relief. But the silence from Aisling Duval and Jordan Rochester rings loudest. What might they be feeling? Was their relationship terminated against their wishes? Did it ever really exist?”
“Naturally I invited the princess to tell her story, but her previous openness is apparently a thing of the past. The Rochester family is also shying away from the media. Jarl Toredo, whose alleged affair with Aisling apparently derailed the marriage, has vanished from public sight.”
“Was this a tragic love triangle, or just a political chess game? We may never know. But what’s certain is that, before long, Aisling Duval will put these failures behind her and be back in the spotlight where she belongs.”