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The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgamesEARTHDATE: January 10, 2010
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IMPERIAL NAVY SOFTENS STANCE ON SHIP FIGHTINGby HazedAnyone who has studied the history of the Galaxy will know that the constant catastrophe, which felled the Interstellar Link service and confined all species to their own star systems for several hundred years, has had a lasting effect on the political make-up of the Galaxy. In Sol, the Galactic Administration and the Imperial Navy formed a truce, uneasy at times, which allowed them to dominate the Sol planets, and when access to hyperspace was restored, their domination extended to other star systems - at least to those that wanted to join the loose federation of trading planets administered by the Trading Guild. The Imperial Navy has always strictly controlled the use of weapons in space. Registered shipyards can fit weapons into ships but only with a governing system that prevents their being used in prohibited areas - and nobody with a ship bought from a rogue shipyard is permitted on the navy-patrolled spaceways. So putting weapons in your ship has always been a waste of money and cargo space. But now, the navy has changed its stance on use of weapons. It's going to drastically reduce the number of prohibited areas in space, which means that traders will be able to use their weapons once again - so they will no longer be a waste of money or space. Why the change? Well, there are two reasons. First, the Imperial Navy has responded to lobbying from the Neo-Malthus Association, a small but wealthy and influential organization who are concerned that unless something is done to curb the population of the Galaxy, we will run out of room to expand. With modern medicine and (for those who can afford it) insurance and cloning, we can all be immortal now, which they think poses a great danger to the future of Galactic civilization. They therefore advocate all kinds of dangerous pursuits such as extreme sports, hunting of deadly creatures, and - of course - ships with functional weapons. Their members have pledged never to take out insurance so these activities really are risky. The Navy probably wouldn't have been swayed if they didn't have their own reasons for wanting to change their policy. With the ever-increasing expansion of Galactic civilization, they are getting spread very thin, so the idea of armed merchant vessels out there able to fight off pirates and other rogue ships is appealing - and if a few of these new armed ships start taking pot shots at each other, well, that's a small price to pay. |
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