[ADVERT]

A NEW START!

Are you tired of cramped living conditions? Industrial skylines, pollution and stress gnawing away at your happiness? This is your chance to carve out a new future for yourself and your children, away from all the chaos of the interior. Act quickly though – this opportunity is strictly time-limited!

Xaime is the newest addition to the SLA Industries family. It’s an outstandingly beautiful planet out towards the galactic rim, an eternity away from all the hustle and bustle of modern life. Unoccupied for the last few hundred years, it has reverted to an entirely natural state – a lush, virgin paradise waiting just for you.

The lucky citizens who are chosen will get the chance to help SLA Industries polish this new jewel in the World of Progress. Enterprising men and women are needed to help settle Xaime, starting with the beautiful spacious town of Morania. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have, there’s a place waiting here for you.

We’re going to make it super-easy for you!

If you’re human, and aged between 18 and 35, just call the number at the bottom of this poster. If we still have spaces in the first wave, you will be accepted. Whoever you are. It’s guaranteed. Even better, there’s no need to leave anyone behind. Once you’re accepted, you can bring along up to eight other family members – no matter how young or old they are! Come and join the fun of your new FREE wealth. As a settler, you’ll qualify for sole ownership of a substantial area of land on Xaime, including your very own brand-new home.

It gets better, though. Not only are we giving you a gorgeous new home, we’ll even transport you all the way from your port of origin right to your new home’s front door. All we ask is a minimal deposit to cover costs, and you don’t even have to pay up front – special unsecured settler loans deal with all expenses! That’s right. Just phone NOW, and open the door to a life of home-owning luxury.

Come and discover yourself in the new paradise of Xaime. Realise your true potential, and join the elite as a new home and land owner. Act quickly, though… Places are running out fast! Call the number below NOW and start your new life in paradise.

Xaime – It’s The Only Way Out

 

[LETTER]

CLASSIFIED: SCL 7A

From: Oswald Teign, XDC, Morania City, 18/4/354

To: Hilary Koen, Cloak Division, Mort Central

 

Dear Hilary,

Thank you for your most generous offer. I’m delighted to be in a position to hold it in reserve for the time being. The settler drive has been even more successful than HCL predicted, and we have more regular recruits than we know what to do with. Those New Parisian boys really are brilliant!

I accept your point about the hardiness of the lower social elements. You’re absolutely right – criminals are tougher, and better used to regimented discipline. They’re also more resourceful though, which could cause problems later on. The poor and desperate tend to be less resilient, which actually suits our purposes better. I may take you up on a batch or two anyway though, to form the core of the militia, if we can work out a suitable training program. Thugs and murderers make excellent policemen.

You asked about the Xaime Settler Program. It’s a fairly simple process. Applicants accept a standard loan package as part of their sign-ups. While the sum itself is reassuringly minimal on paper, the settler has to work for the Xaime Development Company while the account is in debt. Naturally, we set the ‘fair’ recompense. To prevent bad debts, legal and medical rights are suspended whilst in default, and travel papers are confiscated. Fees for interest on the Settler loan – and charges for food, water, air, and power – are ‘subject to revision’. By keeping interest & fees just a whisker above earnings, we can ensure the debt is never discharged.

We are currently looking at a number of reward schemes to allow ambitious and malcontent Settlers to do better in return for special services. This should give them a pressure-release valve and stop them becoming seditious – and besides, the plants will need managers and supervisors. Give a little man a little power and he’ll be yours for life. I’ll keep you informed as to how the reward schemes progress; we don’t really have any firm ideas just yet. We’re thinking along the lines of enlistment bonuses for encouraging friends and family back home to sign up, or maybe taking part in unusually dangerous, degrading or disgusting tasks.

To answer your primary concern, yes, I regret that there has been a small amount of unrest – mainly instigated by Settlers who were formerly low-rank Operatives, unsurprisingly. We’ve kept it under control by shooting vocal critics and saboteurs, and things are running smoothly. I have a team investigating less wasteful options for keeping unrest down, and will most certainly share all details with you. Who knows? We might even find something that could be useful for you back on Mort!

I’ll talk to you soon.

Os.

PS: I’ve just been informed that we’ve passed the million mark! Cause for celebration, I think!

 

[ARTICLE]

THRESHER ATTACK NO THREAT TO CERAMICS INDUSTRY

Parathrom Production Unchallenged on Xaime

by Wally Cross, 3ird Eye News, 16th March 893

 

Armour giant Power Projects remained bullish about prospects for a good quarter today despite reports that intensified Thresher offensives against the industrial world Xaime had finally earned the planet ‘War World’ classification. Local sources were defiant. Clive Rattan is director of defense for the Xaime Development Corporation: “It’s business as usual! Thresher have been nipping at our heels for the best part of a decade, and they haven’t managed to upset us yet. This new status is very positive for us, opening the way for greater SLA involvement. We’re going to scour the bastards right off the planet.”

Xaime is a medium-sized Industrial World out towards the edge of SLA-controlled space. The only habitable planet in its system, it has a temperate climate with very little seasonal variation. It is important because it is the World of Progress’ largest source of Parathrom™, a compound used in the production of ceramic laminates for weapons and armour.

Xaime first came to the attention of SLA planetary survey teams because the atmosphere stinks so disgustingly. A scientific examination team was brought out to analyse the air in 349SD, partly funded by military interests. The scientists quickly worked out that there was no weapons potential. The team them turned to other avenues. The stench was quickly tracked down to natural catalytic enzymes in the atmosphere. After a few more months, analysts discovered that the air-borne chemicals sped up the Parathrom extrusion process by a factor of almost 15,000%. The team returned to Mort and sought investment from major players. The Xaime Development Corporation was established in 351SD, and the new sub-company was granted exclusive exploitation rights to the planet.

Repopulation and development followed swiftly.

The first wave of construction saw the establishment of a gigantic Parathrom processing plant and a small town designed to service it. The site was grandly named Morania City. The XDC advertised job openings across all the major population centres of the World of Progress, and the plant went on line in 353SD. It was wildly profitable, and by 355SD, six more plants had been built. Morania was starting to live up to its title of ‘city’.

Demand was immense, and the XDC made massive profits year on year. They quickly established plants in other suitable districts, and worked on improving the other general facilities on the planet. For almost a century, all post-salary profits from the Parathrom operation were invested back in the planet’s infrastructure. By 500SD, Xaime boasted a more than twenty XDC cities, each controlling well over a million personnel spread across several hundred plants. The planet had several spaceports, a significant militia, regular streams of business visitors, and a growing service sector.

“The XDC has a long history of dedication to the cause,” says Rattan. “We’ve made massive sacrifices to bring cheap Parathrom to the World of Progress in sufficient quantities. We’re not going to let a bunch of jumped-up freaks in antique costumes get in the way.”

By the middle of the following century, Xaime was in complete control of Parathrom production for the World of Progress. Industrial development had always been the Xaime Development Corporation’s main concern, and the planet entered a new period of infrastructure improvements. XDC scientists carefully designed new facilities to help make sure that the massive amounts of raw materials involved could be moved around. The giant beltways and Gauss rail network were also developed at this time.

For two centuries, Xaime dominated the Parathrom industry. Thresher finally got round to designating the world a tertiary objective in 885SD, and now the conflict has finally earned the planet War-World status. Battle is limited however, and Xaime is still the most significant producer of Parathrom, even though its dominance of the market has been somewhat eroded.

 

[ARTICLE]

NEW JEWEL BRIGHTENS FUNCTIONAL CROWN

Xaime Development Corporation announce new capital headquarters

Ren Martin, 22nd July 620 for Style! Magazine

 

Light and airy, delicate and stylish, attractive yet formidable… It’s not often you hear Xaime being applauded for its beauty and elegance. The foremost producer of Parathrom in the World of Progress, the planet Xaime has been known more for its aggressive recruitment drives and lingering bad smells than for its architectural achievements. That’s all about to change – the planet that Ibn Rashid once described as ‘The Armpit of the World of Progress’ is going in for some serious cosmetic surgery!

The planet is run by the Xaime Development Corporation, and it seems that the fragrant ladies and gentlemen of the XDC have had enough of cramped concrete boxes. Details released today describe how the sub-company’s official headquarters are to be relocated to a brand new, custom-built architectural marvel – and construction on the new city has already begun.

An all-star team of New Parisian designers – including Mia Nuttick, Jess Douglas, Fleur, Bob Ronalds and Transparency – spent months planning every aspect of the new city. With such a dream-team of human and ebon sensibility, it’s no surprise that the results are so stunning. New Morania is diversity unified, a glorious rainbow explosion of playful functionality and practical delicacy in a gorgeous lakeside setting. Construction is already underway, and the results are certain to delight visiting executives as much as they charm the XDC board members themselves.

There are marvels hidden behind the marvels, however. Part of the brief was to make the city as safe and livable as possible. The design team rose to the challenge magnificently, incorporating all sorts of features seamlessly into the architecture and landscape. The most exciting – for visitors to the planet, anyway – is the lack of smell. Every peak, spire, minaret and teetering rooftop in the city contains air scrubbers, carefully ducted and vented and hidden out of the way. By the time you get to the ground level, every lungful of air is as clean as if you were on one of Kn’nth’s famous beaches. Then there’s the blistering array of air and land defences, hidden in… Ah, but we’re not allowed to tell you any more about those. You can take it from us though – even a full-out planetary assault would have a hard time getting anywhere near New Morania.

Exactly one million residents and visitors will live, work and play in New Morania when it’s finished. The city is a masterpiece, and as befits a masterpiece, the XDC have promised not to tinker. There will be no new homes or offices, no expansions, no revisions. The team’s designs will live on exactly as they are now. Everything that those million people could need has been provided for. Offices and residences flow across extensive parks and lakes. The bustling, high-culture city centre hosts all the fine entertainments that you’d expect in a modern city. For guests and visitors, anything goes. The XDC have already announced one major break in standard policy – SLA Credits will be accepted across the city. There are also plans to exempt tourists and other visitors from many of the city’s more administrative laws and requirements.

There’s certainly no doubt that New Morania is a radical new departure for the planet. The old administrative capital of Morania City developed piecemeal as Xaime was being settled. When the first buildings were being constructed, the main concerns were cost and speed, not aesthetics – and the city’s growth was so fast that there was never a chance for architects or civic planners to get involved in its development. The result was no prettier than any of Xaime’s other townships. It barely lifted itself above the level of the hideous, sprawling concrete plants that the great bulk of the population live and work in. In fact, it’s fair to say that New Morania promises to be the first bit of architecture on the entire planet that deserves the title… but oh, what a first!

The people of Xaime finally have something to be truly proud of.

 

[ARTICLE]

PARATHROM PLANET ANNOUNCES GENEROUS NEW WORKER INTITATIVE

Shareholders Surprised as Xaime Development Corporation Implements Unexpected Benefits Package

Relti Yanish, 3ird Eye News, 3.3.626

 

Shareholders of the Xaime Development Corporation were left asking questions yesterday after it was announced that a substantial block of the sub-company’s annual profits were to be set aside to improve worker lifestyles. The measures, equivalent to almost one percent of operational profits, have ruffled feathers and provoked some stern questions from larger shareholders.

“Any sign of waste is always alarming,” said John Tassettis, Chief Financial Office of Power Projects. “As one of the XDC’s largest shareholders, we have a duty to the economic community at large to examine possible problems. The other shareholders look to us to investigate situations like this – and investigate we shall.”

Despite reasonable performance, the XDC board has come under fire several times in recent years for a series of uncharacteristic spending sprees. The first controversy was five years ago, when several million credits were earmarked for vigorously promoting the planet’s new headquarters to its own citizens. The campaign – “New Morania, Xaime’s Pride” – caused significant debate amongst interested parties, not least because of the blanket prohibition on domestic tourism.

Lowered productivity figures in recent years have been met with further expenses and promotions – reduced taxes on luxury imports, greater subsidised allocations of recreational materials and drugs, relaxation on certain local-area travel restrictions, and even productivity bonus programs. With the most recent announcement, rumblings of unhappiness from the subcompany’s shareholders have threatened to blast into a full eruption.

XDC Chief Nevin Duke has responded to critics with customary enthusiasm, offering plenty of reassurances, and convening an extraordinary AGM for next Tuesday. It is thought that Duke will need all of his famous charm in order to survive the meeting.

 

[DATA LOG]

XDC-YHII1277849JU7-MILNET.NC-LOG

628.5.23

CLASSIFIED SCL8

 

+++Command? Command! Come in. Command? Come in, damn you! This is urgent!

—Command receiving, station identified as NorthCentral Ring 3 Plant 6 confirm.

+++Confirmed. We…

—Location locked. State ID.

+++What? Listen, will…

—State your ID, Officer.

+++RXG 15776 NC 433/5. Carson.

—ID locked. Report.

+++The whole place has gone mad, repeat the whole fucking plant has gone mad. Gangs of grunts are rioting across the entire plant, smashing the whole place up. All major systems have been sabotaged. We need urgent backup, at least 200 men.

—Backup is unavailable.

+++What? Are you fucking mad? Aren’t you listening? This is urgent. They’re destroying the plant.

—Backup is unavailable at this time, Officer. All units are committed.

+++All… What? What do you mean, committed?

—All units are committed.

+++Well can we break out the crowd-control guns then?

—Massive lethal force is not authorised at this time.

+++What the hell are you up to, you bitch?

===Listen son, it’s no good screeching at the poor girl. It’s a busy night.

+++But they’re going to KILL US! Uh, sir.

===I’m sending you a file. Have you got any record this man, or any of his companions?

+++I… Yes sir. Please wait. Um, according to the ID log, Garh was here for a few hours on the 2nd, but he’s the only one, and he hasn’t been back since. But…

===Alright. Get yourselves into a small, defensible location and hole up until relief arrives.

+++What? Sir? It’ll take at least half an hour to fly people over from MidCentral! That’s no fucking good, Sir. We can’t hold them off for that long without the cannons!

===You’d better try, son. We need those grunts. MidCentral aren’t sending the cavalry either, I’m afraid. They have their own problems.

+++What?

===Like I said, it’s a busy night. A very busy night.

+++Oh Christ, it’s everywhere, isn’t it?

===Good luck, son. Command out.

+++Wait! Command? Command! Fuck!