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| - After days of round-the-clock bombardment, the ground campaign in Taetrus' Diluvian Wildlands is underway. The swampy terrain has colonialist forces depending heavily on the Jiris infantry fighting vehicle, a hovercraft capable of navigating swamps with ease. At this hour, fierce fighting is underway on the shores of the Talae River, where separatists have taken cover in the undergrowth and are firing armor-piercing missiles at both the ground forces and the air support that aims to clear them out. Earlier, a cabal of biotics took a stand but were quickly wiped out by vehicles that flanked them and saturated the area with antipersonnel frags. Asked if he expected the ground campaign to result in less collateral damage than the air maneuvers, General Partinax responded, simply: "No."
- Umsung Holdings announced today that it has completed the buyout of Sonax Industries in a friendly takeover. Umsung will provide approximately 119 billion credits in debt and equity financing for the purchase of the company and future funding commitments. The move is expected to significantly boost Sonax's share price, which has been falling precipitously after perceived missteps in the war on Garvug. Asked if new management will result in a change of direction on that planet, CEO Iseul Rhee replied, "We have conferred with Admiral Speight and see great potential in Garvug. The infrastructure of the occupied areas is unharmed and is beginning to turn a profit. The correct move is not to withdraw, but to commit fully to establishing a permanent peace zone on the planet."
- Controversy brews tonight over the decision to continue the war on Taetrus. Analysis by a Second Star Broadcasting reporter reveals that the colonialist army has captured or killed 21 of the 24 top Facinus leaders. Casualty estimates from across Diluvian lands run from 15,000 to 18,000 uniformed fighters and 45,000 to 80,000 citizen insurgents. Deaths of noncitizens, which include children, the mentally incompetent, and those unfit for duty, are estimated between 7,000 and 8,000. While these numbers indicate significant progress in the war, General Partinax is quick to say major combat operations are not complete. "Our estimates are that 60-70% of the population has made it to the safe camps," he announced. "That is a significant number, but the unknown factor is the number of citizen insurgents who will continue to resist. This war's prolongation is on their heads."
- More questions arise tonight in the death of journalist Grant Keyes. Turian colonialist forces on Taetrus are now claiming Keyes was held for eight days, during which time he refused water. Keyes' producer at the Future Content Corporation refutes this, saying he was in contact with Keyes just four days ago. Keyes' camerawoman Letha Maragos is also missing; the pair's abandoned aircar has been found on an Iratianan street with damage to its top and bottom, indicating the car may have been forced to the ground. Commander Lahere Dianix promised a full investigation, saying, "The acts of my subordinates are my responsibility. If foul play was involved, it will be discovered".
- A disturbing find on Taetrus this week reminded colonialist troops of the consequences of failure. Army units seized a house in the Diluvian city of Madra; in a work shed, they discovered two improvised FTL plotters in the late stages of weaponization. The shed belonged to Ulrixen Ravidus, a suspected Facinus supporter. Described as having "few skills in the astrophysics department", authorities believe Ravidus may have harbored Vamire Squaron, the pilot who allegedly launched the hypervelocity craft that caused the Vallum Blast. Further evidence in Ravidus' residence suggests that Facinus tried to use a ship as a weapon on military targets in the early stages of the Diluvian invasion, but the vessel was shot down by colonialist forces as they began to establish air and space supremacy.
- Today on Taetrus, General Partinax took time out from his usual press conference to address what colonialists are calling "misconceptions" about the Hierarchy's role on the planet. "There are persistent rumors that we are nationalizing businesses of the dead in order to pay for the war", he said. "That is simply untrue. What we want is the population coming to the safe camps, surviving the war, going about their business, and paying their taxes. The deaths are of those that give us armed resistance". Asked if he knew that the Diluvian Wildlands had iridium deposits, he said, "All colonies have natural resources, but economics are only one element of war, not a sole cause. We are here because we were attacked. End of message".
- An attack on a safe camp on the planet of Taetrus has, to the surprise of many human observers, increased sympathies for the invading colonialist forces. Four gunmen dressed in colonialist uniforms, presumably separatists, attempted to gain entry to the camps before their identicards malfunctioned and a firefight broke out, killing eight and wounding eleven. "These incidents are not unheard of in turian history", explained General Partinax at his daily press conference. "Their objective was to cause bloodshed within the safe camps and attribute it to war crimes. They want the camps to seem unsafe to humiliate us. But public sympathy often swings the other way, especially when the truth comes out. The camps are a place of mercy, and the public reacts strongly to anything that threatens that tradition".
- Colonialist forces on Taetrus are coming under fire today for allowing a journalist to die in their care. Grant Keyes, a human working for the Future Content Corporation, was detained by colonialist forces when he was caught filming war dead in the city of Iratiana. Commander Lahere Dianix, commander of the destroyer on which Keyes was held, explained that they were unprepared to detain humans. "We didn't have anything with levo-amino-acids on board," he says. "He refused even water and died of dehydration." However, parts of the story raise significant questions: dying of dehydration would likely have taken a week or more, and any doctor checking on Keyes' condition could have hydrated him intravenously with saline without fear of poisoning the prisoner.
- The separatist group Facinus released a video today condemning the colonialist air campaign against targets in the Diluvian Wildlands. "The cowards of the Hierarchy have betrayed the turian people, first in their appeasement of the humans, second in their oppressive taxes to support their agenda to weaken our empire, and third in the bombardment of their own kind to support their archaic institutions," said Kihilix Tanus, nominal leader of the separatists. "Their General Partinax is a craven murderer. This bloodshed could be avoided with a simple duel between the two of us, yet he would hide behind his conscripts." Asked for comments, General Partinax said simply, "I don't hide."
- Tonight: Is the colonialist strategy on Taetrus working? The killing of civilians in Earth wars usually serves only to stiffen popular resistance, but Earth wars rarely offer such a stark contrast between safe captivity and death. "The dual approach is necessary," says Lieutenant Colonel Satorim of the 3rd Infantry. "Without the camps, no one would ever surrender. Without the hastatim, we would be here for years and still get shot at." Some surrendering citizens have even collaborated with their captors. "Our most valuable intel comes from sympathizers," says Satorim. "After seeing the Vallum Blast, they know what the separatists want and think it abhorrent. They'd rather be counted as patriots."
- Turian soldiers of the hastatim, assigned to crush civillian resistance on Taetrus, are the first to argue that the hastatim are not death squads. "Our purpose is to transport people to the safe camps", insists a sergeant who asked not to be identified. "We're not the ones making the decision to fight -- they are". In order to facilitate that goal, hastatim members are trained in foreign languages to supplement translators and are issued combat ambulances to transport those who cannot transport themselves. But the soldiers are also the first to admit that they have an image problem. "The burial units are tough to look at, and the cremator smell gets to you", said a corporal, also asking not to be named. "But that's just one aspect. These people have been warned. All that's left are shooters and looters".
- Stories of civilian casualties on Taetrus pour in at this hour, following an attack on the city of Iratiana. Mass accelerators have destroyed apartment blocks, hospitals, train stations, and markets, killing dozens or hundreds with each hit. Colonialist forces appear unswayed. "Military emplacements on the continent of Eluria were built in easily defensible population centers during a civil war a few decades ago", explains War Minister Septimax. "Consequently, bombardments cause high loss of life. If I can give any advice to the people of the wildlands, it is to get into bombardment shelters and as far away from military targets as possible". General Partinax's response was more direct: "We have a saying that hopefully translates appropriately", he said. "There is no such thing as a turian civilian".
- Tonight, the ground war on Taetrus enters a new phase; citizen resistance. Military duty is the turian qualification for citizenship; as such, an invading force expects most turians to resist. The average turian family keeps military-issue small arms in their home, and demolitions training teaches citizens how to create homemade firebombs that can blind a tank or force the crew to abandon it. Earlier today, General Partinax announced the colonialist strategy for suppressing citizen militias: first, they will establish "safe camps" within the cities, a traditional turian tactic that incentivizes surrender; then, the invaders will go house-to-house and shoot virtually everyone who remains as a combatant. "Those are our terms", Partinax said in the press conference. "There will be no deviation".
- As reports of strafing runs and bombardments filter in from urban centers across the Diluvian Wildlands, all eyes are on General Partinax. Negotiations have ended in agreement upon a barrier room duel between the general and Kihilix Tanus in two days' time. In this duel type, combatants armed with pistols enter a room with an opaque retractable wall dividing them. When the wall is dropped, the duel begins. Representatives from both sides will monitor the proceedings, which will be recorded on visual media. Per turian custom, the records will not be made available for public distribution. The general's staff must now locate a neutral meeting place that is unlikely to be an ambush site for either side -- trust is difficult to come by in this conflict.
- Flash mobs rallied today on Taetrus, protesting the prolongation of the war. Safe camps were the scenes of many such rallies, where noncombatants tried to pressure the citizen resistance fighters into surrendering. "The soldiers here aren't faceless snipers", said Teheris Gaudium, organizer of the rally in Spaedar. "They are our husbands and brothers, our wives and mothers. We're marching today to show that if they want to separate from the Hierarchy, they'll be separating from us, too". Organizer Hanae Daphnon was even more blunt. "The resistance has gotten countless people killed. The sooner everyone surrenders, the sooner we can all go home".
- The ground campaign on Taetrus is proceeding with brutal speed as both sides jockey for a strategic advantage. The Diluvians' advantage lies in their fixed positions, hardened pillboxes two-and-a-half meters thick that are stationed outside area cities. Colonialist armored forces are avoiding these emplacements by sweeping through the marshlands and cutting off the Diluvians' supplies, hoping to starve them out. The colonialists' Jiris fighting vehicles have a decisive range advantage in open terrain, as their missiles can hit a target twenty kilometers away before the enemy even sees them. Knowing this, the separatists are taking cover in jungles and city streets, using the terrain to draw their enemy in. As one separatist tank commander put it, "This will not be easy for them. We are not on Garvug".
- A new development in the death of human journalist Grant Keyes has exemplified the differences between turian and human cultures. Sergeant Sanus Iheras -- the commander of the four soldiers who pulled the journalist and his camerawoman over and was allegedly responsible for their deaths -- has apparently commited suicide. He was found this morning with a fatal gunshot wound to the head, presumed to be self-inflicted. Such suicides are common in turian cultures after great transgressions and are seen to expiate family or unit of shame and failure. The act also frequently closes any judicial matter or investigation into the deceased and their actions. Asked if this brought closure to the case, Keyes' widow Lara said, "Not at all. I never wanted anyone else to get hurt over this. It's senseless".
- An epidemic of poisonings on Taetrus raises a question for the occupying colonialist forces: Are the so-called "safe camps" for surrendering civilians really safe? Hidden cameras in the Dedaris stadium-camp reveal high tensions among the occupants, as well as thefts, drug abuse, and sexual assaults. Colonel Partainis, the camp's commanding officer, took the media's questions seriously: "We suspect the poisoning incident was an indiscriminate revenge killing. We've seized a new food supply -- a louza [poultry] slaughterhouse -- just to be sure. As for individual crimes, we are not here to rehabilitate anyone. We provide an environment that is safer than the combat theater. That is all". An occupant, who asked not to be named, says he prefers it here. "It's spit soup three meals a day, but I've got so many medical problems...I wouldn't last an hour outside. That doesn't make me a traitor".
- Colonialist forces on Taetrus have announced the capture of the city of Spaedar tonight after several days of fighting. Surrendering citizens are pouring into the safe camps, housing centers built during the city's initial construction for just such an occasion. These have already been supplied with cots, toilets, antibiotics, food, and medical staff. Meanwhile, gunfire erupted on the streets as citizen snipers tried to stop house-to-house killings by the hastatim, soldiers whose job more or less translates to "execution squads." The army is keeping close-mouthed about casualty estimates, and underground extranet sites say anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 people were killed today in Spaedar alone. Even Facinus sympathizers are having trouble calling the resistance a success, but they claim anywhere from 200 to 500 colonial casualties.
- Diluvian forces on Taetrus have released what they claim is the actual video of the duel between General Partinax and Kihilix Tanus. In the video, Kihilix's first shot appears to hit a kinetic barrier that springs up around Partinax, a clear violation of the terms. Colonialist forces were quick to point out evidence of digital tampering in the video and have uploaded video of the hole created in the wall by Tanus' missed shot. Asked for his reaction, Partinax responded: "It's expected that they create propaganda as part of their war effort. I can tell you that it doesn't feel good to be starring in such propaganda, but under the circumstances, it could be a lot worse."
- The weekend box office is down 17% from this time last year -- industry insiders blame the constant coverage of the war on Taetrus as competing mindshare. Still, Greek-versus-god actioner "Diomedes" speared 1.52 billion credits, holding steady from last weekend's 1.61 billion take; "Call Me Sally" opened at 1.33 billion, proving that painting an undercover asari Spectre in human makeup is still good fish-out-of-water comedy; historical drama "Farixen" cruised in at third with 928 million, a reasonable profit for the low-budget sim; rounding out the bottom of the charts is the art-house-release fourth-wall-breaker "Rodin vs Metagodzilla", which carved out 751 million. "Milk Sheik" and "Make It Look Real" survived for a fourth week with 748 and 655 million, respectively. .
- Citadel space is abuzz with the news that highly esteemed General Partinax has accepted separatist leader Kihilix Tanus' challenge to duel. General Partinax has survived seven duels, five to first blood and two lethal; Tanus' record is unknown. Negotiations continue at this hour as the general's staff narrows down a list of weapons. The general favors a turian sword called a mexta, saying it's harder to cheat in swordplay than with firearms. Tanus, on the other hand, favors a type of pistol duel known as a barrier room fight. Despite the excitement, the duel may only minimally impact the war strategy. General Partinax says the air campaign will continue during the duel: "The prize here is the life of one enemy, not the entire course of the war." It may not be merciful, but the general says it is the only condition upon which the Hierarchy would permit him to risk his life.
- Commander Lahere Dianix held a press conference today regarding the death of human journalist Grant Keyes on Taetrus. He now says that four soldiers in the Tenth Mechanized Infantry forced the journalist's car off the road, questioned Keyes, and attempted to arrest him. A scuffle ensued, and the turians' claws nicked the carotid artery of his camerawoman, Letha Maragos, while restraining her. Keyes became violent and was shot in the leg -- both humans were taken into custody where first Maragos and then Keyes died. The turians lacked supplies and human blood or a viable substitute, and could not perform a transfusion. Asked if charges will be brought against the patrol, Dianix replied, "Turians are not as litigious as humans. The matter will be resolved shortly."
- The duel of the century is on hold tonight as senior Facinus representatives refused to accompany colonialist forces to the predetermined duel site, suspecting a trap. "There were no journalists there, no witnesses, and planes were screaming overhead", said Facinus separatist Janus Pagasi. "They had tanks and armor units nearby; they clearly meant to capture us". General Partinax, for his part, said at his daily press conference, "It's not in our interests to meet the enemy unprepared. However, we acknowledge the lack of trust between us, so we must guarantee that no unfortunate accidents will befall the Facinus delegation. Media were present today; tomorrow, they will be more clearly visible so we can get this over with".
- Diluvian separatists attacked a weapons destruction facility on Taetrus today, detonating a truck bomb at the gate to the steelworks plant where captured weapons were being stored. Squads of citizen militia swarmed into the plant, trying to steal small arms and missile launchers; however, they met stiff resistance from an infantry platoon stationed at the facility. After a half-hour standoff, the separatists were forced to retreat into the city, leaving their dead and wounded behind. The fight has become a highly publicized victory for occupation forces, who have gathered more than 140,000 weapons from surrendering citizens and military units.
- Colonialist forces on Taetrus surrounded the city of Spaedar and met stiff resistance from armor and artillery units as they tried to take the Spaedar Spaceport -- the engagement was quickly nicknamed "the naval battle" due to inclement weather that dumped over 25 cm of rain onto the city. The close quarters of Spaedar streets negated many of the colonialist forces' technological advantages. Tanks, drones, and other combat vehicles hunted one another in the flooded alleys, and spotters hidden in buildings called down missile artillery on colonialist reserves. These were countered with cruise missiles from offshore ships dropping precision munitions, silencing the separatist missile artillery and blacking out wide swaths of the city. The battle is expected to continue through the night as colonialist forces attempt to press their advantage.
- The duel between General Partinax and the Facinus separatist Kihilix Tanus is over. After the separatists were picked up and driven to an undisclosed location, the combatants spent a short time testing their weapons before entering the barrier room. Video, covering the event from six angles using high-speed image capture, clearly showed that neither combatant used a kinetic barrier. Tanus fired first by about two-tenths of a second, but missed. The general did not miss. Partinax's shot knocked Tanus off his feet; as he continued to advance, he shot until his weapon overheated, by which time Tanus was dead. Tanus' inner circle and bodyguards reportedly had to be restrained after the duel, though no additional bloodshed followed. After the cameras were deactivated, the separatists -- and Tanus' body -- were returned to the pickup location unharmed.
- A bootleg video of the duel between General Partinax and Kihilix Tanus has garnered over seven hundred and ten million views on the extranet. Numerous parodies have already surfaced, the most popular being set to Lady Sweat's "My B*tch Now." In a press conference today, Partinax refused to answer questions about the duel out of respect for the dead and said only that he was disappointed but not surprised that Tanus' death was being broadcast on tightbeam. Despite the turian social taboo of showing wartime dead, it seems they do like to watch covertly; downloads of the duel in turian space were second only to the number of downloads in human space.
- The Taetrian capital of Vallum came under attack again today as a turian male crashed an aircar bomb into the kinetic barriers outside the Sevnis, a building serving as emergency government headquarters. Packed with explosives, the aircar struck the barriers and exploded, killing the driver. That driver was Alsadrus Tertius, a former sanitation worker with ties to the radical separatist group Facinus. Sevnis guard Titrinus Machaera counts himself lucky. "He [Tertius] clearly didn't know about the barriers. If he had, he'd have aimed for the gates and maybe gotten some of us guards or the crowds outside". War Minister Uvalum Septimax did not downplay the incident. "We face a determined enemy", he said, "and we cannot afford to relax our vigilance".
- It was a star-studded night in New York City as the long-awaited space epic "Nekyia Corridor" held its premiere at the Royal SimulCinema 189 in the East Village. Light & Shadow Pictures spared no expense as the red carpet took the haute couture along a bridge of carbon nanotubes over an eerie pit of holographic ghosts. A-listers were everywhere, from Ace Skidmore to Symon Eldfell. Even Lisa Ford stopped by -- the Speaker's district was home to 11 of the sound stages used in the film. Leading lady Kate First was on hand with her life partner Elyina Renezia; lightning-rod-leading man Nathan Gold made only a video appearance, as he was on Thessia for the simultaneous Usaru premiere. Director Morgan Bierster commented: "We're excited and exhausted. The sim's been getting fabulous buzz in the pirate community, and it's great to be here and give the glitterati their turn. We've got four hours to go, and then we'll know if I should cut my wrists or not".
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