From the Gamemasters
     Some reminders about how to write your turns. It is the players' responsibility to ask in their turn for results on any completed research projects, exploration flights, freighters arriving, or anything other "delayed project". We don't actually look over your past turns to see when things are due; it's your job to remind us.
     In connection with this, we're dumping the 1 page limit on turns. However, we still ask that you keep things concise. We reserve the right to simply ignore parts of your turn if in our judgement it's too long; so put the important stuff first. Anything you can do to make it easier to read is of tremendous help: divide it into sections, number each item, put asterisks or bullets next to programs which require results this turn, etc.

From the Gamemasters
     Re: FTL-3 Ship Costs (for use if and when you can build them.)
     Frigate = 4
     Destroyer = 10
     Cruiser = 20
     Battleship = 32
     FreighterValue = 20
     An ftl-2 FtrVal costs 15 MU.

From the Gamemasters
     Re: Interstellar Trade
     There has been much confusion about the ICS (formerly known as the ISE), the system set up to allow electronic money exchanges between systems. So here's how it will work in game terms:
     In order to allow electronic money exchange between two systems there must be a minimum amount of trade between the systems. For any system to be connected into the ICS, each year there must arrive from another system 1 FtrVal for each 50 IndVal in the system. Thus, for all systems (Sol, the Auroran colonies, Kuisti, Athens, Cimmer, Kalahari and Tyrell) to be hooked in, there will have to be 38 ftl-2 FtrVal assigned to interstellar trade. (Only 26 if the FtrVal is ftl-3.)
     Before the whole shebang is set up, it is possible to have smaller networks connecting a few systems together. To connect up two systems, use the above equation, but each side calculates with the IndVal of the smaller of the two partners. Thus, a minimum trade run between Kuisti and Sol would require 8 ftl-2 FtrVal. To connect together the four Auroran colonies would require only 6 ftl-2 FtrVal due to the small distances. To connect the four Aurorans with Sol would require an additional 16 ftl-2 FtrVal, the largest fraction of the above total.
     In addition to allowing instantaneous transfer of MU, this system would also increase trade income for all parties; the lion's share would, of course, go to the owner of the ships actually carrying the goods (even if that nation is a third party carrying goods for others).

From Lockheed Corporation, Office of Public Relations
     Expanding our reputation throughout known systems by collaborative efforts in research, consultations to bring FTL communications to nations, and development of starships of the highest quality, Lockheed takes a leading role in bringing cutting edge technology to all peoples, for the benefit of all systems. We hope that this can increase in the future, as nations and peoples become even more closely knit, through efforts such as the League of Colonies, which, when it is finalized, will serve to stabilize relations and bring prosperity.
     Lockheed reaffirms its commitment to being the leader in starship technology with the availability of FTL-3 starships for construction orders during 2857, to be finished mid to late 2858, due to a relationship between Lockheed and Martian scientists and researchers. Thanks you.

From the People of the One God
     The People of the One God applaud the efforts of Mars to recultivate the Earth and bring it to its "former glory". This is what the One God would want his people to do as well. We condemn the acts of Lunar citizens in pillaging our birth world, and support the efforts of CorpCo not to trade in such goods.
     We also condemn the True Inheritors of the Earth faction claiming that the Earth should be reserved for "true humans". Such racist thinking is what led to the destruction of the Earth so many years ago, and is what is responsible for the current situation of war in Benevolence. Such views are a violation of the True Way and can only lead to increased hostility between worlds.
     We deplore the exploitationist actions of those Lunar looters and even the actions of the Lunar corporations taking water from Earth to Luna, but we cannot object to their right to be there. The People of the One God feel that some definite decision must be made by the colonies on the treatment of the Earth, before it is once again too late (which could be very soon).

From Athens
     Athens is proud to announce that Kuzakland will be placed in orbit around Mars due to the generosity of the Martian Republic.
     [a commercial]

From CorpCo
     [a commercial]

From Kalahari, Office of Public Relations
     We are glad to announce that the difficulties we had experienced with out FTL transmitter array have now been corrected. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have been. Thank you.

     As the new ftl communication systems go on-line, interstellar communications boom and huge amounts of data are transferred between systems as governments, corporations, research institutes, historians, and cultural organizations begin to contact their counterparts in other star systems. Sol and Kuisti go fully on-line, while Aurora is expected to follow soon.

Earth Defenses Disassembled
     Lockheed Corporation began dismantling and removing its share of the defense satellites around Earth. The exact ownership of much of the network is disputed, since entire governments have risen and fallen since it was constructed. Most of the technology is old and dated, however, useful only for recycling materials.

Earth Rehab Continues
     Mars began reworking its old FTL communications array into a system of power collectors and transmitters to provide power to colonies on Earth. An additional 200,000 Martian colonists arrive on Earth, many of them living in sub-standard housing simply for the chance to be on Earth. The majority of them are employed in construction, building new cities and installing modular factories, or in government sponsored terraforming projects, reintroducing low level sea life and starting soil farms. Many are also employed by Lunar shipping firms, shipping food to the colonists and shipping water back.

Malloren Restores Kremlin
     Admiral Thay Malloren hired a Habber construction firm to refurbish the Kremlin as his retirement home, complete with its own fusion plant, FTL communications system, and security systems.

CorpCo Continues Expansion
     Four new CorpCo ships built by Lockheed loaded up with goods at Mars, including a Martian embassy to the Republica Aurora. Rumors are circulating throughout the financial community that CorpCo has gone heavily into debt to finance its Sol operations, and is on the verge of going bankrupt.

     A fist-fight broke out in the Senate of the Republica over the proper conjugation of a verb. Otherwise there was no news to report.

     In a series of confusing messages, Cimmer reported that near the end of 2855 an unidentified ftl destroyer appeared in their system, rapidly followed by 10 huge ftl freighters and, finally, a single ftl ship approximately 300 cubic kilometers in size.
     Speaking a dialect of ancient English, the arrivals claim to be descendants of a failed colony of Earth who decided to return when they received the FTL broadcast from Athens, refitting their ancient generation ship with FTL drives and flying to Cimmer (the closest system) with close to 1 million people in cryogenic suspension.
     The newcomers call themselves AAZ, apparently an acronym for Atlas-Ares-Zolax, the three corporations which founded the original colony. [Out of game context, we have a new player, David Altman.]

Auroran Ambassador Arrives
     Ambassador Laea Nivelis of the Republica Aurora arrived at Kuisti with much ceremony. The Priest-King greeted her at the spaceport and personally thanked her for the genetic database she had brought from Aurora.

Ship from Sol Arrives
     A ship of TIE converts arrived at Kuisti, marking the first physical visit between Sol and Kuisti since the founding of the colony.

     A Lockheed freighter escorted by three frigates successfully arrived at Tyrell, bringing transition metals for trade.
     Despite the proliferation of ftl communications, all communication with Tyrell continues to be through a single voice channel, now manned by only two persons (or possibly just two computer voices; whoever it is refuses to identify themselves). Throughout the year, news reports from Tyrell are scarce and very vague in nature. Most questions are simply not answered.

Aspect I: Constitutional Law
     Basically just saying that the government of a nation derives its power from the consent of the governed and is the voice of its populace on international affairs. A Colony run by a government without the support of a meaningful part of its constituency, or which consistently breaches international law, may be expelled from the League as a Rogue Nation; this must be approved by the Sentinel Council. Such an outlaw colony is not accorded the rights nor the sovereignty granted to the Governments of member nations.
     A nation has sovereign domain over its own territory, and the League is not authorized to intervene in matters essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of that nation.
     The space between the stars is "international space", and all of the League's laws apply here (like Earth's own "international waters"). The matter of formal recognition of property claims remains a chief negotiating point of the Charter.
     The League Extension (the executive body) governed by Aspect I is the International Tribunal of Justice.

Aspect II: Rules of War
     No nation shall initiate the use of force against any other, but a nation has the fundamental right to defend itself from any hostile act directed at it. Additionally, any member nation, indeed all of the League, has this same right to defend another member from such an act. The degree of retaliation shall be limited to that which is reasonable and consistent with the degree of the provocation.
     Also included is military engagement protocol, a kind of Geneva Convention-style code establishing what are and are not legal wartime actions, especially concerning the use of antimatter, biological or chemical weapons on planets, civilian targets, prisoners, and blockades. It represents principles of martial conduct, not limits on military technology. It does not apply to the use of retributive force against a violator of these principles.
     The League should not have any military force of its own, but the Sentinel Council will be authorized to require member nations to supply forces as they are able, should enforcement become necessary. The Council is also the only body that can formally expel a nation from the League (see Aspect I).
     The Sentinel Council shall consist of permanent members and rotating members; important matters proceed by some majority, not unanimity, of both the permanent members and the Council as a whole, alleviating the historical "veto deadlock" problems of the UN.
     LOC Extension, Aspect II: Sentinel Council.

Aspect III: Codes of Commerce
     This is the analogue of GATT (the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade); it is a body of laws that makes possible a system of international finance to stimulate and facilitate trade. It outlaws piracy, military seizure, and other forms of unprovoked coercion in all peacetime commerce between League members, and has provisions for currency conversions, tariffs, copyright laws, trade barriers, etc.
     The ICS will insure compliance with these international laws. The two chief effects of its existence, once regular shipping is established between nations, are to make possible effectively instantaneous payment between nations and corporations, and to significantly increase trade revenues, over and above normal trade bonuses.
     LOC Extensions, Aspect III: International Commerce Syndicate (ICS)

Aspect IV: Canon of the Rights of Sentients
     This section includes the "human" rights and social laws of the League. These are very basic, general rights, and are not meant to replace regional laws for national privileges and obligations. The Forum will discuss problems in this area, taken on a case-by-case basis. [Note to players: the Canon is largely cosmetic in game terms, but exists if there may be some sort of gross violation of human rights.]
     LOC Extension, Aspect IV: Forum for Social Advancement

Matters for Deliberation
     Representation: This will be partly based on population, though on a logarithmic scale; that is, larger nations will have more representatives, but not in strict proportion to their constituency. Some regions have been grouped together; their representative vote will be divided among these nations in a manner consistent with their populations and governments. It also seems appropriate that economic rank be a factor, perhaps on a square-root scale; then these two factors can be normalized to produce a final scheme.
     Recognition of territorial claims: It is hoped that there will be some peaceful method of resolving ownership of newly discovered worlds, but it remains a complex issue. A nation might presumably claim ownership of that part of an unowned world which they can jurisdict, via colonization or exploitation, but preferably there will be some consensus on territorial boundaries, new and old.