SDNWorld Redux: Story Thread the Second

[Coyote]

CANISSIAN INVOLVEMENT IN MAROON HARVEST


The Canissian Royal Navy has been involved in the Maroon Harvest excersises, and running ships and crews hard. In a major concession to his military commanders-- who had grown increasingly frustrated with their Sovereign over the last few years over defense budgeting-- King Arik pushed for major involvement in the mock combat.

"Well, this'll get the Nationalists off my back," he said, "At least for a bit," he added, with a smile towards Isabelle. She gave a wary smile back, but her eyes were heard, and told Arik that there was going to be more "discussion" on the issue to come. One particular Nationalist will not be on her back for awhile yet to come, Arik knew.

Still, the Royal Navy was finally being given some real challenges after a long period of routine activity. Not only were the Battle Groups being put to the test, but the underway replenishment and other supply groups were being pushed to simulate wartime operations in their fields of endeavor, as well. His Majesty was also careful to make sure as many naval groups as possible were involved in the exercise, including a planned "replacement of losses" rotation that would also include Reserves where possible.

"I'm going to capitalize on this," he'd promised his Admirals later, "In two months, I want you to draw up plans for a Canissian Navy and Royal Border Guards joint exercise. I want you to focus on submarine interception, although there'll also be drills on surface boats trying to use civilian fishing fleets as cover to infiltrate terrorists and drugs. If this goes well, we'll make 'Fleethunter' a annual exercise."

So the Navy was alrgely mollified for now; since they knew that the increased wear and tear on the ships would mean a bigger cut of the pie for replenishment. But the Army and Air Force were still restless as well, and complaining that retention rates were down due to the years of routine training that had become 'predictable and dull'. Morale was down, a recent report said, and soldiers and airmen felt they weren't considered valuable anymore. As the global economy began to recover from the aftermath of the One Week War and th epathogens it released, he knew he could no longer count on the poor economy to keep soldiers re-enlisting, and using the economy as an excuse to keep military budgets down.

"I will rectify this," Arik said to his Generals, and later that evening when he went back to the Palace.






Results:
King Arik bows to pressure from military leaders.
Starts expanding military budgets; begins with massive Naval involvement in MAROON HARVEST.

***************************


Canissian Royal Parliament


"This generic drugs deal is trouble," said the Trade Minister, Rayzha Rumaclin (Labor Party, Caprica) . "Our own pharmaceuticals companies sell drugs generically in Canissia, while selling them under brand names overseas. This has allowed us to self-subsidize domestic markets."

Interior Minister Viktor Krahn (Libertarian Party, Canceron) shrugged.
"Then the costs will be balanced out, and all parties will pay the fair market share," he said. "Overseas markets will see a minor drop in price, but domestic markets will see a slight rise. And overall, let's not forget that by everyone being on the same playing field, sheer volume alone will probably lower prices in the long run."

"Either that, or the companies that hold exclusive patents will make up for lost revenue by jacking prices on their specialized drugs," Culture Minister Anoritte Barona (Royalist Party, Virgon) said. "In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if international cabals of drug companies got together to divide up the markets amongst themselves to do just that. They'll agree to respect one another's turf, and gouge evenly." Across the room, Environment Minister Myra Foxglove (Greens Party, Picon), nodded her head in enthusiastic agreement.

"Bah, you sound like a member of the Communists," Viktor Krahn said, with a nod of his head towards Myra Foxglove.
"Even a broken clock is right twice a day," Anoritte Barona said. "I want to protect the domestic industry. I'm surprised to see my compatriots from National and Labor not rushing to help."

"Well, that's because I see something more disturbing," said Foreign Minister Ren Lars (Labor Party, Libris). "This all comes close on the heels of the Old Dominion's public statement to trash the Biowarfare ban. Let's face it, people-- who benefits from biological warfare?" he asked. The room was silent. "Follow the money, people. Who benefits from biological warfare?"

"The pharmaceutical companies," Anoritte Barona said. "Do you think that some of the drug companies may have struck a deal with the Old-D leadership?"
"Don't be rediculous!" said Krahn. "That's paranoid conspiracy theory talk!"
"But isn't it true?" Myra Foxglove asked. "Big Pharma benefits from military contracts to supply troops and civil defense teams with biowar antitdotes and treatments. Give with one hand by making everything cheap with generics, and take with the other, by balancing the lost revenue with ongoing defense contracts-- and by pandering to global fears."

"This is tabloid fodder," Krahn said with disgust.

"Really?" FM Ren Lars asked, "We are forced to adjust to this new market reality," he said, "Are we going to keep selling the drugs at regular price, against our foreign, generic competitors? The Canissian Pharma industry is small enough as it is, we may as well just close up shop and expand the waiting rooms at the unemployment offices."

"Oh, you're being a drama queen," Krahn said, "Skilled pharmaceutical workers can find work elsewhere."
"Sure, but there are many other jobs that depend on the pharma industry," Ren Lars said. "And we need to maintain a domestic drug industry anyway. Unless you want to make Canissia dependent on foreign suppliers in case there is a biowar attack?" he asked rhetorically. Many of the Nationalists in the chamber frowned at that.

Viktor Krahn backed down. In the long run, he knew this was going to happen-- he just thought it was a good thing. His fellow Parliamentarians saw it as a bad tiding, however. But the Pharmaceuticals industry of Canissia would go along with the generic and low-cost trends developing internationally, and what few patents they held would become worth more.

Rather than arguing the morality of it, he knew that the Parliament would vote to join the generic trend because they saw little choice in the matter. With the open border agreement with PeZookia, nothing would stop Canissians from going across the border to fill prescriptions-- Canissian companies had to adjust or go under. The Old Dominion's holdout stance on biowar assured that people would panic-buy anyhow.

It was complicated, but overall, it looked to be a good opportunity for Big Pharma.



Results:
Canissian government passes generic drug reform as well, grudgingly so.
Canissian government suspicious about possible Big Pharma and Old D collusion on biowar scare.

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

Serenity Sentinel

Mangka Task Force Participates MAROON HARVEST

The military has sent the Mangka Carrier Task Force to participate in the MAROON HARVEST MESSwide exercises, as opposed to the popular expectations of sending Task Force Riki-O. "The Hall of Tigers have their considerations, and it has been a while since the Mangka CTF has attended MESS level exercises," said General Chi, spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense.

================

Tower Hyperion, Blue Sun HQ

"Alright, estimates of this situation?" asked Helios Bleu.

"Sir, we estimate a 32% drop in PeZookia and 38% in Canissia if we don't do something." said Apollo Blauw, director of the Biomedical Department.

"And..."

"Well I really don't think we should be worried too much. It's new and strong competition, indeed, but since people usually expect to receive the best medical care all we have to do is provide the best, on a reasonable price of course. I suggest we start talking to medical facilities, show them what we've got, in turn, they'll be able to show the patients what they've got, and let them choose."

"Sounds good. Next, Aeronautics...."

Tachibana Titan, Tachibana Heavy Industries HQ

The Biotech Department of THI, established by Miho Tachibana, was often neglected by old Ryotaro despite its massive income. His son, Kenji, followed this "tradition", so Miho found herself having difficulties bringing up a discussion on the recent generic drug policies in PeZookia and Canissia. Eventually Kenji told her to bring it up as a provisional motion, near the end of the meeting.

"The Biotech Department wishes to discuss the recent policies in PeZookia and Canissia," announced Miho.

Silence, hinting "hurry up".

"Due to both governments announcing their generic drug.." "We all know that Miho, get to the point."

"We have begun talks on insurance companies. Hopefully we can have most of our brand drugs covered by their insurances. On the other hand, I suggest we also start a generic drug line, competing on both areas."

More silence.

"I'll also contact with the Palace and see their stance on this issue."

"Good, anything else? No? Meeting dismissed," said Kenji.

Edit:
Results:
Serenity joins MAROON HARVEST.
Different reactions to the generic drug policy from the corporations.

[Coyote]

The decision had barely been made-- "the ink was not yet dry", some might say-- but the groundwork to pre-empt competition had already begun.

As millions of bottles of pills in Canissia were hastily re-lebeled with GENERIC labels, the following message went out to millions upon millions of email accounts, all over the globe on the Novaterran Intarweb:

AFFORDABLE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS at GENERIC PRICES!
People in your neighborhood right now are all saying the same thing:
"I can't believe it's generic!"
"It's so affordable!"
"Grandma can fill her prescription-- and afford heat and food!"

That's right, folks, why should you be the last person left in your neighborhood paying outrageous prices for prescription drugs!? You can get 100% safe, medically certified prescription drugs delivered right to your home at a fraction of the cost you pay at a store!

Anything you may need-- prescriptions for diabetes, penecillin, psoriasis, schistosomiasis, Shroom Nile Fever, you name it-- can be yours for low, low prices!

Just contact Canissia Medical Clearance for safe, reliable prescriptions now. Create a secure account, send your prescription information (make sure the name and prescription number of the issuing medical facility is plainly legible) and pay with credit card ir bank debit card today! With shipping and handling, you can have your generic prescriptions in your hand in just 5 days!

But Wait, There's More!
What about non-prescription needs? Cough syrup, cold remedies, Pepto Bismol and antacid? If you place a prescription order, you can also place an order for over-the-counter needs at cost! You can even order your disposable contact lenses on the web right now!

Canissian Medical Clearance is a liscensed company that complies with all Canissian prescription drug regulations. Regularly inspected by the Canissian Health Ministry, the CMC is a trustworthy, dependable company that wants to sell you your prescriptions at a fair price!

Don't be gouged by name brands when you can buy Generics from Canissia at a fraction of the cost!

Canissian Medical Clearance, LLC
1234 West Cundellini Ave.
New Caprica, Caprica Province
AC177AB099

[Lonestar]

el Presidente's Mansion, San Fuego

"Ah, Ambassador Bass, how good to see you." el Presidente Trujillo said as the Ambassador from the Old Dominion walked in. He was nervous, after all the Old Dominion had invaded his country once in the past 3 years, and with Shepistan gone he had assumed it would only be a matter of time. The Old Dominion had not made any noise about the 23rd Aviation training Wing, really a Shepistani Air Force wing, the One Week War seemed to have made them willing to drop a lot of issues.

"El Presidente." Bass nodded. He took a seat without being offered one. "Good to see you my friend, how are you on this fine day?"

Trujillo snorted. Weather in the South Seas were rarely fine, today it was cold wet and rainy…just like every other day. "I am well, yourself? Given the shortness of notice, you must have something of great import to tell me."

"Yes, of course." Bass handed over a folder. "The Lord Fairfax feels as if there have often times in the past been…misunderstandings between the Old Dominion and the Impact Crater Archipelago. He would like to rectify that. So, he is proposing a new regional organization, the structure of which is laid out in the papers in the folder."

Oh, Damnit thought Trujillo. Well, it was going to happen sooner or later. He opened the folder and glanced at some of the bullet points. The 'Organization of Impact Archipelago States'(OIAS) would have trade, economic, defense, and foreign policy managed by a legislative branch with each member nation assigned seats on a per-population basis…

"This, is a, uhm, ambitious project." Trujillo said "I cannot help but notice that a great deal of sovereignty will be ceded to this Assembly, whose seat numbers are decided by population…" he trailed off.

"Well, it's only fair." Bass said, straight faced.

"The Old Dominion has a bigger population than what's left of East Shepistan, Augustine, and the islands in the Impact Crater combined….in fact, the Islands themselves barely reach 10 million, we and Montana Plata are the two biggest, and combine we only reach 5 million people."

"Oh, I wouldn't plan on giving East Shepistan independent seats on the Assembly. There were unable to form a functioning country before the Astarian attack, why would they be able to now?"

Trujillo licked his lips.

"I must consult with my Cabinet."

"Of course," Bass said as he stood back up. "Do not take too long, all the other executives of the islands are receiving the same offer simultaneously…you would not want to be…left out, would you? We can't have people who aren't team players…" Bass turned and left the office without saying another word.

Results: Mostly I want to stir shit up and get the story moving.

[Coyote]

***SECRET COMMUNIQUE***
TO: GSK, SinTECH, PolPHarma
FROM: SE Canis & Co. Pharm, Canissia



My esteemed competitors, greetings

As you may have noticed, we have joined the Generic Drug market. We all understand what a lucrative market this is, and while we will be competitors in this arena, there is room for cooperation. I'm talking about, of course, our various proprietary drug brands.

As you know, the SE Canis & Company researchers are considered the best in the area of anti-rejection and anti-radiation medicines on all of Novaterra. This, of course, does not denigrate your own companies' excellent reputations in areas such as chemical response kits, heart medicines, anti-Alzheimers treatments, AIDS research, and other areas of endeavour where your own, individual efforts excel.

As we offer most standard medecines at lower prices, I believe we can offset potential revenue losses by maintaining a tight grip on our intellectual properties for our specialized medecines. We will, of course, respect one anothers' areas of expertise.

While the recent bio-warfare stance of the Old Dominion is a coincidence, it is a happy one that reinforces public concern. I think, ladies and gentlemen, that we can all capitalise on this concern. A rising tide will lift all boats.

I look forward to your responses in this matter.

Sincerely, your colleage,
Simon E Canis
CEO, SE Canis & Co.

[PeZook]

On TVs throughout PeZookia

An adult son sits by his dying mother's bed. We see their grief, accompanied by emotionally wrenching music.

"Your family is the most precious thing you have", a voiceover begins, "Would you really entrust this treasure to anyone but the best?"

The mother closes her eyes, and the music gets louder. The voiceover continues.

"Established pharmaceutical companies have decades of experience making safe medicine, Do not risk your family by buying cheap, uncertain medicine - there are no refunds on your family's health!"

The son gives his mother a glass of water, and she opens her eyes. He holds her hand and says "It'll be fine".

The camera pans to a box of antibiotics on her night stand, bearing several different logos.

"Buy safe. Buy branded."

Finance Tower, Orena



"Gentlemen, we've begun our ad campaign. A hundred million dollar effort to discredit unbranded drugs as unsafe, unchecked and low quality", Miles Hellbender announced to his gathered colleagues - and some competitors, too, "A massive series of newspaper articles and Internet posts will also build distrust in government-run operations in general, and there are several journalists hard at work digging up dirt on PolPharma's senior leadership. But we can do more..."

Hellbender picked up a printed e-mail fron Canis & Co.Pharm

"We can easily recoup losses we'll inevitably suffer while competing with unbranded drugs by rising prices of all propertiary medicine. And the best part? We can blame it all on the government!"

Result: Apparently unaware of the fact SinTek wishes to stick one up to Old Continent's Big Pharma by making generic versions of their patented drugs, GSK agrees to the SE Canis & Co's proposal.

[Siege]

Rival Arrival



Tri-Cities International Airport, PeZookia

The corporate jet belonging to SinTEK had landed minutes before but already a motorcade had formed in front of it. The five black Universal Motors Suburbans were armoured against RPG-fire, and the men driving them were armed and ex-military. That might be highly excessive by the standards of the civilized Old Continent – but SinTEK was used to dealing with the harsh realities of San Dorado.

When a San Doradan CEO for some unfathomable reason had to travel anywhere in the city by car, they took heavily armoured vehicles and a squad of armed Corporate Security with them. Anything less and you were a sitting duck in the unpredictable and chaotic traffic of the place. Besides, one never knew what the competition might cook up. It wouldn’t be the first time a CEO on the verge of striking a major deal suffered an ‘unfortunate lethal car accident’. Well, at least it wouldn’t be the first time it happened to a SinTEK CEO. It was ever better to be safe than sorry.



Jenna Davis briskly walked from the jet toward the waiting cars. She nodded to her chief of security as they both got into the vehicle, and the motorcade rolled away from the jet and toward the city, and the headquarters of PolPharma.

“Let’s do some business.”

Result: SinTEK CEO Jenna Davis arrives in PeZookia to begin negotiations with PolPharma.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times

Destroyer Upgrade Program scrapped.

The plans to upgrade the existing destroyers with the new STAR combat system has been scrapped. After months of speculation, and talks between Constantinople Shipyards and the Navy Design Bureau, the Navy has decided that the best way forward is to instead build a Byzantine variant of the Imperator class Destroyer which will incorporate a number of indigenous technologies, many of which were put into the Exarch and Consul class cruisers. "Sonar systems and many other weapon systems will be based on the technologies we developed. Byzantine requirements are different from general MESS requirements. The new destroyers have been on the drawing board for many months now, and we are planning to move forward based on those designs," says a navy spokesman. The construction of the destroyers is slated to start next year, with 3-4 ships to be laid down per year with each ship having a 2 year construction time frame. The Navy may also authorise construction of CGN Pr. 1165 "Fugas" cruisers.

Reaction to the Old Dominion's refusal to ratify the Biowarfare treaty muted.

"The foreign ministry has no comments to this at this time," says Exarch Decius. Reactions from the foreign ministry and the defence ministry has been thus far muted in the light of the Old Dominion's refusal to ratify the Biowarfare treaty. "Likely, the government is attempting to see how best to react to this. The coming MESS conference might shed some light on the government's plans," says one analyst.

Byzantine Government indicates intention to attend MESS summit

================================================

Imperial Chronicles

A plane landed in the Kingdom of Serenity, and the man walked off the plane and to the waiting car. The car headed for the Tachibana Heavy Industries with a folder in hand, with plans to indulge in talks about collaboration between Byzantine Pharmaceuticals and its Kingdom of Serenity counterpart.

[PeZook]

Grand Hotel, Tri-Cities Metropolitan Area

The motorcade pulled up to the large, seaside hotel-resort where the meeting was scheduled to happen ; It was preferred that neutral ground be used for initial negotiation, which would then be moved to PolPharma's offices in Orena.

The PeZookian CEO was already waiting in the splendidly decorated hotel restaurant. He was an older gentleman, a good way into his sixties, and a veteran director of several state-run companies throughout his years. A dangerous negotiator, to be sure - but Ms. Davis knew the situation PolPharma was in, and was very well aware of the advantage this fact gave her in negotiation.

After the initial pleasantries, which included such archaic steps like hand-kissing and bowing, both sides sat down at their table, ordered their - really expensive - food, and then got down to business.



"There is one thing which intrigues me about your offer, Ms. Davis...", Kaniewski began, "...you voluntarily offered to settle for a smaller profit than usual. Why is that?"

===============================================================



Finance Tower, Orena

"Sir?", the assistant walked into Miles Hellbender's office. He was in the middle of an important phone call, and thus looked at her angrily.

"Hold on a second, please...", he said into the receiver, "What?!", he barked at his assistant, covering the microphone with his hand.

"Sir, SinTek's CEO is in the Tri-Cities. And, uh...it seems they're meeting with PolPharma's management. We just got this information."

"I'll call you back", Hellbender said into the receiver and put down his phone, "What's this meeting about?"

"Uh, we don't know, sir. We just found out that Jenna Davis landed in the Tri-Cities and left in a motorcade towards the Grand Hotel..."

Hellbender leaned back in his chair. He knew what the San Doradoan bitch was planning - SinTek was trying to enter the Old Continent's markets for a long time, always to be foiled by the established Big Pharma companies. This had the potential to be very, very serious.

"Very well...I'd like you to contact SinTek's offices in San Dorado and deliver them an offer. They're probably conspiring to get in on the generic drug craze...tell them we can offer them better terms than PolPharma ever could."

"But sir...aren't we running an ad campaign right now, which is supposed to paint generic drugs as unsafe?"

"Of course we are. But we don't actually intend to sell those drugs, just drag SinTek away from PolPharma. It they take too much time, the initiative will die."

"Of course, sir. I'll call their offices right away, sir."

Result: MORE corporate plotting!

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

Imperial Chronicles

A plane landed in the Kingdom of Serenity, and the man walked off the plane and to the waiting car. The car headed for the Tachibana Heavy Industries with a folder in hand, with plans to indulge in talks about collaboration between Byzantine Pharmaceuticals and its Kingdom of Serenity counterpart.

Miho Tachibana's Office at the Tachibana Titan

Miho's office was located at the 16th floor of the Titan, it was tidy but crowded with documents and files from various departments. Her secretary brought in some tea and cake, and the talks began...


"Welcome, what brings you to Serenity?"

======================

Serenity Sentinel

King Agrees to Attend MESS Summit

Wenyi Li, spokesperson of the Palace has announced that the King has agreed to attend the MESS summit to discuss the recent actions of the Old Dominion regarding the Bioweapon Ban.

Second Rising Sun Postponed

The Blue Sun Corporation's second Rising Sun sounding rocket launch (RS-2) was postponed today due to "mechanical failures", according to Surya Azul, spokesperson of Blue Sun. Azul did not specify what type of failure occured, but confirmed that RS-2 would be operational in a week.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

"Welcome, what brings you to Serenity?"

======================

The emissary from Byzantine Pharmaceuticals said, "We all know that PeZookia and a few others are now attempting to rock the boat with the current blitz on generic drugs. Now both our companies have received generous government funding over the last few years with respect to developing new drugs, and to some extent, we both produce generic drugs or subsidised as per government requirements.

What I propose is this: We both have our own respective patents and so forth. To prevent these upstarts from saturating the market with generic drugs and diluting our hard work, I propose that we counter this by consolidating our patents and, with our governments' blessing, and produce cheap drugs as well and market it in every country. Yes it will result in losses, though it will be offset by allowing more people to have access to cheap drugs, but there's nothing illegal about it, and we would drive these smaller companies deeper into the red. Simply put, we bankrupt these buggers."

[Beowulf]

Diary of Gwen Tate
March 18, 4708

Today was my 16th birthday. Beowulf bought me a car. It's a brand new BMW, straight from Canissia. Now I don't have to have Frank drive me around. Doesn't mean I'm free of a bodyguard though. Now I get one from the regiment when I want to go out. But back to the car. It's a 135i with a stick. Rag-top, somewhat unfortunately. I have to put on sunscreen every time I put the top down. But it is nice to have the option.

Beowulf treats me differently than all the other girls. He hasn't bought any of the other girls a car Although some of them do have their own, most of them just borrow one from the motor pool. He also hasn't screwed me, regardless of how much (or little) clothing I wear. He has no compunctions about doing all the other girls. Admittedly, I still am younger than everyone else here, so could still change.

Of course, we're still on the ski trip, so they're not going to let me drive my new car until we get back. It's cold outside, but we've got a fireplace and hot drinks to keep us warm. Though keeping warm isn't helped much by the amount of clothing we're wearing.

Mom and Dad called. Talked a bunch. Said something about a birthright, related to Dad's Grandpa. They didn't say too much about it though. It was really weird. Told me they tell me more when I reached my 18th birthday.

---

Ares Blog

DGN-52 upgrade planned
The DGN-52 class of surface combatants is expected to be upgraded with what is currently designated STAR-. This is a derivative of the STAR system developed in Wilkonia. Not much is known about this upgrade as of yet, but drawings of the upgraded ship show a much cleaner superstructure. The current SPG-62 illuminators will be removed, and replaced with the SPY-3A.

F-16 upgrade
The TXAF has announced that it will be procuring upgrades for it's F-16 fleet. The most critical upgrade is the procurement of conformal fuel tanks, significantly extending the F-16's unrefueled range.

Maroon Harvest exercise continues
The Tian Xia exercise contingent is fairly large, with a carrier strike group, expeditionary strike group, and over a dozen TXAF wings.

[PeZook]

Miranda



Comona Island, Space City, Integrated Soyuz Simulator facility

The simulator room was crowded. Astronauts-in-training, spectators, family members and technicians came together to watch final qualification runs for the Soyuz missions: astronauts who, for whatever reason, failed to qualify for the program until now would have to pass eight mission stage programs and four different emergencies on the simulator in order to be eglible to fly real Soyuz missions.

There were four of them: three had to qualify today because of illness or personal problems. One - because she failed all the standard tests.

Miranda gulped, wiping her sweating palms. The past two months were pure hell: her father attempted, several times, to influence Deke Slayton into passing her despite substandard performance. This led to a minor scandal, as the FASTA mission planner told a Shroomanian MP to go and stuff himself. The tabloids loved it...Miranda's colleagues didn't. If she failed the test today, she's forever become a 'daddy's girl', incompetent and only capable of being here thanks to her influential dad.

But she'd do it. She's been doing nights in the simulator, stubbornly learning the basics over and over again, and conquering her fears. She had a goal, after all. She had to get up there, in space. She had to get closer to the Gods.

Few people knew why Miranda's dad began pulling strings to get his daughter approved for astronaut training ; The principal reason was that Miranda, having recently converted to the Zorian norse faith, got into her head that the only way to truly meet the Gods was to go up into space. And she managed to convince her dad to help her.

Now, though, she would have to prove her dedication. Surely, the Gods were testing her.

Technicians manning the control consoles gave the go-ahead. The astronauts-in-training pulled straws, and the first one to go into the simulator was Miranda. She took a deep breath and dived in - the instructor was already waiting for her, strapped into the right-hand Flight Engineer seat.

"Hello, Miranda", he said coldly, "Take your seat. You understand this is your last chance to qualify for the Soyuz?"

"Uh...yes, sir. I understand.", she said quietly, strapping into the Command Pilot seat.

"Good. Let's get going...program 1, launch and orbital insertion..."

Two hours later

Miranda was sweating profusely. So far, so good...she completed orbital ascent, re-entry, orbital maneuvers, docking, orbital procedure and four other bog-standard programs. All that was left was one final procedural tests, and then it was off to emergencies.

She wiped her palms again and looked up at the instrument board. The final program was running - orbital rendezvous. Their target was fast approaching, and so Miranda rotated the spaceship for the final adjustment burn. But something was off...

"Uh, I can't stop the spin...", she muttered, looking at the rotation speed display. She jerked the control sticks a few times, and felt panic rush in, "Is something wrong with the simulator?"

The instructor calmly looked at the displays.

"No, the simulator is fine. You have a malfunction in the spacecraft."

The capsule was spinning faster and faster, and the g-force meter was steadily increasing. In a few minutes, the crew would be rendered unconscious and unable to recover the spacecraft. They weren't supposed to do that now!!!, Miranda screamed in her thoughts.

"What...what....", she wanted to ask 'what do I do?', but then remembered that Svetlana was no longer watching her. She was in Jerusalem, preparing for her orbital flight. And the instructor would surely fail her if she asked that question.

She said a silent prayer to Odin, and composed herself. It's just a sticky thruster..., she thought, and finally began giving commands.

"Cut fuel to lateral translation thrusters", she rasped at the instructor

"Cutting fuel...", he flipped four switches, and the capsule stopped accumulating rotational speed.

"Okay, now...bring them back online one by one, let's isolate the sticky thruster."

They worked through all thrusters methodically, untill they managed to find the one that was sticking. Then Miranda rotated the capsule on manual and cancelled the rotation using the horizontal translation set. After that, she performed the rendezvous burn almost as an afterthought.

"Good.", was the only thing the instructor said, "Now on to real emergencies..."

One hour later

It was done. Miranda was completely exhausted, her head hurt and she was sweating, but she's done it! She passed the qualification, and would be eglible to begin training for her real Soyuz flight.

In a short while, she would become one with the Gods, and hear their message. But now...it was time to party!

[Siege]

Grand Hotel, Tri-Cities Metropolitan Area

"There is one thing which intrigues me about your offer, Ms. Davis...", Kaniewski began, "...you voluntarily offered to settle for a smaller profit than usual. Why is that?"

“It’s a fairly common tactic amongst my nation’s megacorps. Cut profits, maybe even take losses, to force entry into a market – to earn back the money lost once a business has firmly anchored itself, either by selling new or better products or by expanding its share of the market.”

Jenna Davis leaned back in her chair. “We feel the… upheaval caused by your government’s decision to sponsor generic drugs is the ideal moment to make some headway on the Old Continent. And we’re quite willing to settle for a smaller profit – a smaller profit, after all, is still better than no profit at all.” She smiled. “As you probably know, SinTEK has tried to make headway on the Old Continent for some time. Our attempts have been less than successful however, largely thanks to the, ah, creative efforts of some of our competitors. The same competitors, I might add, who at this very moment are trying to discredit your company. Right about now you sure do look like a natural ally to me. So… What do you think?”



Presidential Palace, downtown San Dorado

"Very well...I'd like you to contact SinTek's offices in San Dorado and deliver them an offer. They're probably conspiring to get in on the generic drug craze...tell them we can offer them better terms than PolPharma ever could."

“What do you make of that?” Daphne Sinclair gestured at the fax in the hands of President Hank. Under normal circumstances the President of San Dorado wouldn’t bother with a minor business conflict like this, but then again the relation between Sinclair and Hank was anything but normal.

“I say they’re trying to undercut their opposition”, the President rubbed a hand across his stubbled cheek. “I don’t suppose you know what these ‘better terms’ would be?”

“No, but whatever they have in mind, you can bet it’ll see us competing against PolPharma instead of working with them.”

“Divide and conquer. An oldie, but it still works from time to time...” the President injected sarcastically.

“So what do you think?”

Sidney Hank massaged his temples. “Look Daphne, I don’t think I’m the best guy to ask. I have other things to consider – like, PolPharma is owned by the government. The Board has a pretty big stake in SinTEK. So, if you pull off this deal it might very well translate into political credit. Stuff like that’s not Jenna’s concern, but it is mine.”

“Hmm, I see your point”, Daphne nodded. “Well, we’ll wait until we hear from Mr. Kaniewski what he has to offer before we make a decision. I’ll keep you in the loop.”

“Thanks,” the President smiled. “And keep in mind – I’d personally rather see you work with the PeZookian government than against them. And I bet their cooperation would make that whole setting-up-shop on the OC easier for SinTEK as well.”

Result: Negotiations between SinTEK and PolPharma begin in earnest. San Dorado waits with responding to the GSK fax until the negotiations are done.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times

Launch of DSP-1 probes authorised

The Deep Space Probe project began 3 years ago as a low level study to study future propulsion technologies. Among the goals was a nuclear powered ion drive that could give significant thrust for use for deep space missions. "In our opinion, we ought to scale up the ion drive from low powers to high powers. We are studying many variations of the technology, particularly Hall Effect drives and Electrodeless Plasma Thrusters. We have tested numerous small scale drives in our laboratory and we began construction of a full scale probe last year and we will launch the probe next year," says the project leader. "We are of course very excited that we were given the go ahead to launch the probes." The probes are incredibly ambitious. They will be powered by 3 Hall Effect ion drives of the same type and it will do a slingshot maneuver around the moon before it heads on to Mars and Venus in a 6 month trip.

Series of Communication satellites launched.

Space Telecommunications Inc. has announced that a series of communications satellites has started launching from the Jerusalem space pad. The 20 satellite constellation will allow Byzantine Telecom to compete with its rivals. The satellites are said to possess far greater data rate than preceding communications satellites as well as far greater bandwidth. It is said that the military has contracted Space Telecommunications to launch some military satellites as well.

Navy draws up a requirement for specialised search and rescue vessels

The navy has drawn up a requirement for search and rescue vessels optimised for submarine rescue. The vessels will come equipped with the necessary unmanned submersibles. It is believed the Constantinople Shipyards and Byzantine Salvage and Rescue Company will jointly offer a vessel with such capabilities. The ships will likely have a civilian crew likely from Byzantine Salvage and Rescue Company.

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

What I propose is this: We both have our own respective patents and so forth. To prevent these upstarts from saturating the market with generic drugs and diluting our hard work, I propose that we counter this by consolidating our patents and, with our governments' blessing, and produce cheap drugs as well and market it in every country. Yes it will result in losses, though it will be offset by allowing more people to have access to cheap drugs, but there's nothing illegal about it, and we would drive these smaller companies deeper into the red. Simply put, we bankrupt these buggers."

"Well we've been securing our brand drugs through the insurance companies while selling generic drugs as well. But it seems that the situtation is indeed heightening. I agree with this tactic. It's a win win," said Ms. Tachibana.

=========

Serenity Sentinel

Akori Republic Passes Bill on Generic Drugs

The Health Ministry of the Akori Republic announced today that it will begin manufacturing generic drugs for the hospitals of the Republic. While originally most of the medicine in Akori were provided by the Blue Sun Corporation, the Health Ministry felt that "in light of the world trend, we need to provide medication at a more reasonable price," said Makali Aizue, spokesman of the Ministry.

"No effect," said Apollo Blauw, director of the Biomedical Department of Blue Sun Corporation, when asked of the impact of Akori's policy, "We have always considered our work in Akori an act of charity, and have been providing our drugs at a far lower price than in other nations. The people in Akori trust Blue Sun products."

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

What I propose is this: We both have our own respective patents and so forth. To prevent these upstarts from saturating the market with generic drugs and diluting our hard work, I propose that we counter this by consolidating our patents and, with our governments' blessing, and produce cheap drugs as well and market it in every country. Yes it will result in losses, though it will be offset by allowing more people to have access to cheap drugs, but there's nothing illegal about it, and we would drive these smaller companies deeper into the red. Simply put, we bankrupt these buggers."

"Well we've been securing our brand drugs through the insurance companies while selling generic drugs as well. But it seems that the situtation is indeed heightening. I agree with this tactic. It's a win win," said Ms. Tachibana.

"Perhaps in that case, I would like to propose that we consolidate our resources into a Joint Venture Company? We will then pool our resources to market our drugs aggressively through agreements with hospitals to use our drugs in preference over other drugs. No need advertising, we let the hospitals do that for us."

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

"Perhaps in that case, I would like to propose that we consolidate our resources into a Joint Venture Company? We will then pool our resources to market our drugs aggressively through agreements with hospitals to use our drugs in preference over other drugs. No need advertising, we let the hospitals do that for us."

"That would be good. I suppose you already have a name of this company in mind?"

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

"Perhaps in that case, I would like to propose that we consolidate our resources into a Joint Venture Company? We will then pool our resources to market our drugs aggressively through agreements with hospitals to use our drugs in preference over other drugs. No need advertising, we let the hospitals do that for us."

"That would be good. I suppose you already have a name of this company in mind?"

"Perhaps Tachibana Byzantine Pharmaceuticals, TBP for short?" he smiled. "It will most certainly give firmer grounding to both our countries' long history of cooperation on biomedical research. The Byzantine Government is fully behind this as well."

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

"Perhaps Tachibana Byzantine Pharmaceuticals, TBP for short?" he smiled. "It will most certainly give firmer grounding to both our countries' long history of cooperation on biomedical research. The Byzantine Government is fully behind this as well."

"Agreed. The Serenite Government has yet to express its views on this generic drug issue, but, as far as my insiders have told me, they're backing us up as well."

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

"Perhaps Tachibana Byzantine Pharmaceuticals, TBP for short?" he smiled. "It will most certainly give firmer grounding to both our countries' long history of cooperation on biomedical research. The Byzantine Government is fully behind this as well."

"Agreed. The Serenite Government has yet to express its views on this generic drug issue, but, as far as my insiders have told me, they're backing us up as well."

"In that case we have an agreement." Champagne bottles were brought out as both gave a toss to the new company's future.

(OOC: And now to roast a company over a slow fire)

[Steve]

Seattle Times-Intelligencer


Evergreen Pharmaceuticals to grant production licenses for new cancer drug.

MIDGAR, SHINRA REPUBLIC - In a meeting with leading industry members from across the continent, Evergreen Pharmaceuticals President Harold Lane announced that Evergreen's new Zithromin, a drug approved last year by the Cascadian Department of Medicine and Health, would not be produced in more limited quantities by Evergreen alone but would also be licensed out to smaller pharmaceutical companies across the world to "keep prices affordable". Speaking on behalf of his company and, according to Lane, "the Cascadian Pharmaceutical industry as a whole", Lane insisted that his company would accept a lower profit margin if it meant "improving and saving lives". "In this company, we make money so we can make lives better, not the other way around," Lane opined to the gathered. "Evergreen not only employs the brightest reseachers and pharmaceutical engineers on this continent, it is also run by them and not by simple business suits and money-men. That's why our mission is to improve the standard of life for our customers, not to fatten our profit margin."

Experts believe that Evergreen, which is headquartered in Cascadia but also has major offices and facilities in Shinra, Wilkonia, Tonkin, and Canissia, is seeking to distance itself from other major international pharmaceutical countries that are becoming involved in the developing fight over generics.



Investigative Reports
By:
Kellie Stevens


Zorian Missionaries = Fraud?



In the past few years religious authorities for the two predominant Zorian religions, Zorian Shintoism and Odinism, have been publicizing a large expansion of global numbers due to missionary activity amounting to a quarter-million between the two, even in countries where mainstream religions have been long entrenched. Independent observers took the remarks to indicate an increasing weakening of Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism, among other faiths, despite insistances by leading figures from those groups that their congregations were not appreciably diminishing.

But now figures from the 2010 Census are showing that despite claims to having expanded by 10-20,000 in Cascadia alone, there are only about 2,000 Zorian Shinto and 2,500 Zorian Paganists in Cascadia today. This large discrepancy is startling, even if one believed that the Zorian groups and a sympathetic home press were exaggerating conversion.

Julio Valdez, a 15-year old Catholic high school student from the coastal community of Costa Blanca in Rosario, was doing a project for his Theology class last year that led him to call the Odinist temple in San Magdalena and ask for information regarding their religion. The temple initially responded with a small letter outlining fundamentals, but Julio's paper required more information, so he called again and said he wanted to learn more. Fortunately for Julio's grades, they answered that a missionary had already been sent to nearby San Miguel that could answer his questions, so Julio took the bus with his parent's blessing and interviewed the missionary. "He was really insistant to me. He told me how Christianity was absurd and all of these contradictions in the Bible and in the Holy Church's dogmatic law, and how his faith was better, it was more reasonable, not as restrictive. That it encouraged people to be stronger," Julio would later recall. "I was trying to keep him on the subject of the finer points of Odinism and he would keep coming back to pointing out where Christianity was wrong." The interview lasted four hours according to Julio, though he thankfully learned enough to finish his paper and get an A.

But his involvement with the Odinist Temple didn't end like Julio thought it would. Two months after his interview in San Miguel a packet arrived in the family mail, addressed to him, welcoming him into the ranks of Odin-worshippers. The next day letters came to his family informing them that one of their own had come into the fold of "followers of Great Odin" and inviting them to join as well. Julio and his family tossed the packets aside just to be accosted by more in two weeks' time. Julio also received e-mails soliciting donations for the Temple, reminding him of his "duty" to support the spread of the Faith. His parents became concerned he had genuinely converted and insisted he spend time with the parish priest, who Julio says was amused at finding out what happened. "He was okay with it," Julio said. "He made sure my folks understood I hadn't gotten involved in this stuff."

Eventually Julio and his family managed to get the Cascadian Postal Service to return all Odinist material sent to their address, but it has not stopped his name from appearing on the Odinist Temple of San Magdalena's website as part of a list of converts. "I was just asking questions to write a school paper. If I knew this would happen, I would've left them alone."

Julio Valdez's case, under most circumstances, would seem to possibly be the result of miscommunication or error. But according to the Center for Missionary Studies in Vancouver, both Zorian missionary faiths have been recorded as inflating their convert count by counting anyone who inquires to their temples. Yvette Coor of the CMS has found accounts of similar behavior by missionaries in Shinra, Alaska, and Canissia. "They have a lot of pride back home in Zoria in their native, unique religions and practices," Coor said. "It's part and parcel of Zorian nationalism. It's mostly harmless when they do this, just a bit annoying if you're one of the people who's been declared a convert for whatever reason."

Authorities have a different view. Cascadian Justice Department officials have indicated a desire to further investigate both the Zorian Shinto and Norse missionary groups for committing "financial irregularities" and performing harrassment of people like Julio Valdez. "We are considering the situation," is the only reply to come from the Justice Department. Sources in Adams Capitol District indicate that the Justice Department is encountering resistance from the State Department, which fears that a public blowup over Zorian missionaries could balloon into a major issue that would disturb relations with Zoria precisely as a new round of talks are being considered for a Pan-Pacific economic and security arrangement.

[Ryan Thunder]

Excerpt from Mirakar Post article: Order Restored!
... The government declared an official end to the national emergency today, and it has been confirmed that the disparate warring factions that once controlled the vast majority of the countryside have come to a mutual understanding regarding their differences. This was thanks in part to a combination of intense negotiations and the application of lethal force by the Miratian Army and Airfleet where negotiations failed. ... Lord Gero forfeited his emergency powers around noon today, shortly after he was informed that the last and most ornery of the warlords had been killed by Miratian special forces. ...
... Since forfeiting his powers, Lord Gero has been unanimously elected Supreme Leader of Miratia, until his term comes to an end in twelve years.

ACTIONS TAKEN:
- Request submitted for admission to the FTO.

[PeZook]

Grand Hotel, Tri-Cities Metropolitan Area

“It’s a fairly common tactic amongst my nation’s megacorps. Cut profits, maybe even take losses, to force entry into a market – to earn back the money lost once a business has firmly anchored itself, either by selling new or better products or by expanding its share of the market.”

Jenna Davis leaned back in her chair. “We feel the… upheaval caused by your government’s decision to sponsor generic drugs is the ideal moment to make some headway on the Old Continent. And we’re quite willing to settle for a smaller profit – a smaller profit, after all, is still better than no profit at all.” She smiled. “As you probably know, SinTEK has tried to make headway on the Old Continent for some time. Our attempts have been less than successful however, largely thanks to the, ah, creative efforts of some of our competitors. The same competitors, I might add, who at this very moment are trying to discredit your company. Right about now you sure do look like a natural ally to me. So… What do you think?”

"I think we may be able to reach an agreement!", Mr. Kaniewski smiled, "Let's talk business. We can offer you the permission to brand - unobtrusively, of course - the line of advanced generic drugs, shelf space in pharmacies that carry the products, and branding on the packaging. Ourselves, we want the minimal profit margin your company can get by, licence to produce some of your patented advanced drugs in our factories, and that you mention our deal in your advertising abroad."

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Constantinople Times

War for Drug Market heats up as Byzantine Pharmaceuticals and Tachibana of the Kingdom of Serenity agrees to form Joint Venture Company

Byzantine Pharmaceuticals and Tachibana of the Kingdom of Serenity have agreed to form the Joint Venture Company to be named Tachibana Byzantine Pharmaceuticals, or TBP. TBP have indicated that they have begun talks with hospitals throughout the world, be it Messmerica or the Old Continent or the FTO for preferential rights or exclusive rights to prescribe TBP branded generic drugs. The drugs are competitively priced to make them affordable for the masses, be they cancer drugs or flu drugs. TBP will also promote other biomedical products such as new treatment methods using Stem cells. TBP will build upon the long standing relationship between the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom Serenity, both MESS allies, in biomedical research.