The Ides

The Ides

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Chapter 6: "The Ides"
Major players
Vote outcome
Major events
Timeline Chronology
Previous Chapter	Next Chapter
"On the Brink"	"The Void"

Summary

While the Universal Council continued to monitor the situation on Mímir, as well as conduct investigations into both the Pinnacle and the disappearance of the Crimson Wolves’ command ship, tragedy struck. Imperial Councilor Julius Lycanis was found dead in his personal cabin when his ship reached Eden Lycanis, having departed from station Ignis after the previous conference. His wife, Marcia Lycanis, was able to open the gene-locked doors when she found him stabbed in the back with a curved dagger.

Preliminary investigations revealed that his voice had been looped through the ship’s comms to reassure the crew only moments prior; additionally, forensics suggested that the dagger was not the main cause of death, but rather a poison found in Councilor Lycanis’ bloodstream, primarily manufactured in the Federation. Investigators also found that while Lycanis’ room contained a panic button, and the position of the body suggested that it was well within his ability to trigger the alarm, no such alarm had been raised.

Investigations into the records revealed that two persons of interest had entered Councilor Lycanis’ cabin while the ship was docked at Station Ignis, shortly before his death - Imperial Councilor Moira Craine, and Ana Plíšková, assistant to Federation Councilor Victor Huxley; Plíšková had also been the last person to enter Lycanis’ cabin. Upon consulting the Oracle, who revealed that the murder ‘did not come from within’, House Lycanis immediately appealed to the Universal Council to hand over Plíšková to them.

The Empire, however, submitted two proposals to the Council: should House Lycanis be compelled to, they could conduct a DNA scan on the knife - though that risked further angering the House. On the other hand, should the Council agree to hand over Plíšková, the Empire was amenable to allowing the other factions the aid of the Oracle for a single vote in the future. Faced with these proposals, the Council brought the matter to a vote, with the seated Councilmembers briefing their respective factions accordingly.

With all three factions coming to a unanimous agreement to conduct a DNA scan, a fleet of forensic scientists was dispatched to Eden Lycanis to perform the scan and correspondingly update the results.

Transcript

Report from the 22nd conference of the Universal Council: time of ζ Sagittarii 3.32
Held on board station Ignis, in the neutral center of the Core Systems.

Councilmembers for the Empire: Ji Young-Joo, Moira Craine
Councilmembers for the Federation: Kim Lee, Victor Huxley, Elijah Burke
Councilmembers for the Union: Aish Fenix, Mandla Bankole, Trice Chavos

The following is a transcript of the briefing on the relevant vote for those involved in the Explorer program:

…It seems the activity around Mímir is increasing. The bursts of light are more frequent, and cover the entire planet. Now that the evacuation of Kepler-7 is complete and investigation into the Pinnacle’s malfunctioning Quantum Drive can begin full force, the Universal Council will send reinforcements to the Panopea as soon as it can.

Our crew analyzing the disappearance of the Crimson Wolves’ command ship has isolated the Quantum wave data from before the ship vanished. At first glance, this data appears similar to the most recent readings from the Pinnacle. Further research will hopefully shed more light on this.

Moving on to our main discussion for this week. Most of you will already know this, but Councilor Lycanis has been murdered. Before we have the time to mourn his tragic passing, it falls to the Council to make a decision. Julius Lycanis’ death was no accident, that much is clear.

His ship departed station Ignis directly after the 21st conference, returning to the Eden planet of house Lycanis for the execution. Slightly before arrival, the crew checked on Lycanis, who had been in his cabin the entire journey. Through the comms, Lycanis assured them that he was doing fine, and asked the crew to leave him be. As the doors to his cabin were gene-locked, the crew waited until arriving at Eden Lycanis before having Marcia Lycanis, Julius’ wife, open the door.

It was there that Julius was found, stabbed in the back with a curved dagger, his robes drenched, a pool of blood around him. Upon brief examination of the comms, the crew found that they had been wired to loop the same audio. The particular nature of the veins in Julius’ forehead identified that the dagger was also not the main cause of death, but rather a poison manufactured primarily in the Federation. Another peculiarity of this incident is that Councilor Lycanis’ room contains a trigger for raising the alarm. The position of his body suggests he would have been more than capable of using this, but did not do so.

Records of entry to Councilor Lycanis’ room show only two other occupants in the time before the ship departed station Ignis: Councilor Craine, and Ana Plíšková, assistant to Councilor Huxley. Ana Plíšková was the last to enter the Councilor’s room, only an hour before his ship left the station. After hearing this, house Lycanis consulted the Oracle, which assured the Emperor that the murder “did not come from within”. House Lycanis is now demanding the Council hand Ana Plíšková over to them, so they may put her to justice.

Other factions, and even some of the Imperial councilmembers here, are somewhat sceptical. The Empire often eschews DNA-scans, believing them a disregard for the Oracle’s insights. However, if ordered by the Council, House Lycanis could be made to conduct one on the knife that stabbed Julius. Additionally, though the Emperor continues to distance himself from this issue, councilmember Ji Young-Joo has assured us that, if the Council chooses to place its trust in the Oracle in this instance, the Empire will offer the aid of their artifact to the Council for a single vote in the future. Thus, the vote placed before the Council is as follows:

Does the Council offer up Ana Plíšková to house Lycanis to prevent further escalation, in return for a single use of the Oracle in future, or does the Council order that a DNA-scan be conducted on the blade that stabbed Julius Lycanis, and risk angering his house further?

Your faction contact will issue a statement shortly in your respective vote channels before the commencement of the vote, twelve hours from now.

Faction Storylines

Federation Storyline

Transmission from Calvin Chase, second clerk in the office of President Lee

Hey there, all you Federation Explorers! They needed someone for the transmission since Ms. Plíšková is currently being held in custody, so that duty falls into my humble hands. I’ve been fully briefed on the situation by President Lee of course, but I’m not exactly used to this kind of direct communication, so forgive me if I slip up here and there.

Oh, and concerning the developments of the previous vote, President Lee has asked me to extend her congratulations as well. I was watching the results as they were announced, and it was nail-biting! Glad we’ve got the technology back, too; I hear President Adonis is employing Tonocom to help strengthen the defenses around the border with the Union- If they have extremist splinter cells on their fringe systems, who knows what else could be lurking there?

Speaking about the current vote, I can’t tell you exactly what the official stance is. President Lee informed me the Federation was looking to procure the use of the Oracle, but then Mr. Huxley stopped by my office to tell me there was no way Ms. Plíšková was being handed over! Apparently, she was only in Councilor Lycanis’ cabin to discuss a business proposition on behalf of VasTech. Just before departure was the only time he could make it, as Julius – excuse me, Councilor Lycanis – was speaking to Councilor Craine all afternoon.

The whole station’s in a big uproar honestly, and the other councilmembers are on high alert. I don’t blame them; it’s a bad time to be a councilor right now. The only other thing I can say about the situation is this: I’ve worked with Ana, and she’s always been a little… off. Just one of those people that’s a bit unsettling, you know? Like she’d do anything as long as she was ordered to do it.

Anyway, those are my two cents, Explorers. Good luck on the vote; I look forward to seeing the results for this one, too.

Cheers,
Calvin

Empire Storyline

A directive from Ji Young-Joo, emissary of the Emperor

What a dark day this is for the Empire. One of our own, from a house as esteemed as Lycanis, has been killed in cold blood. By a Federation lackey, no less! No- we mustn’t leap to conclusions. As I have said before, Explorers, the songs of the Oracle carry much weight, but sometimes we cannot see exactly how heavy their burden is.

House Lycanis may be right, but one cannot deny that grief has clouded their vision; Marcia Lycanis is hardly in her right state of mind, and to seek direct action from the Council on such a matter is- well, the house will face consequences for it. Our glorious Emperor – may he outlive the stars – will see to that.

Furthermore, this situation has driven us into a corner. The Council would never part ways with this conniving witch if Imperator Solas had not ordained to offer the services of the Oracle, an artifact that is the Empire’s by right. I have been assured that this is so the Empire does not look weak, as petulant children begging for the Council’s grace. Of course, this is mainly a rodomontade- having to give up our Oracle to the cretins at the Council would be the highest of insults. As detestable as a DNA-scan might be, it may not be wise to let the whims of a single house influence the path of the Empire.

Our Emperor has washed his hands of this situation, which by consequence assigns you as emissaries of the Empire in this vote. Carry the Oracle’s burden forward, and brighten this dark day.

Sic itur ad astra.

Union Storyline

Comm from Aish Fenix, Union member and Vox representative

Hey there Comrades, me again. Haley’s off still; she’s helping on board the Bastion for this UC conference. The events of the past votes have been hard on all of us, but I think she’s taking it worst of all. She’s helping out the refugees from Morn at the moment, and hopefully that’ll do her some good.

I’ve seen a lot of talk of surprise and disgust within the Vox on the matter of the extremist sect of the Ojin-Kai, but I find that a bit disingenuous. I think Mandla would disagree with me – and I know Haley would – but in my opinion you can’t expect to build a unified galaxy without having to deal with a few rotten apples.

For what it’s worth, looks like the focus has shifted from our side of space for now, which – I’ll say it – is a welcome bit of relief. As for the actual vote though, I’m not sure on this one. It’s expected that Solas would find a way to slither out of any form of responsibility for the situation, but he knows exactly what he’s doing- dangling the Oracle in front of us would almost be insulting if it wasn’t so darn useful. We could use it to help Sera, could use it to locate the lost ships, any number of things. Of course, it would be up to the Council in the end, but I don’t think anything but good can come out of that deal.

All the same, whether Solas is involved or no, it’s still the Empire. Yes, the last time they more than held up their end of the bargain, but we still don’t know exactly what their motives were in that situation. Personally I don’t think the cost of potentially sending an innocent Fed to die is too much to pay for a shot with the Oracle, but that’s not my call to make. All I can say to you is: remember the tenets of the Union, and remember why you joined in the first place.

Good luck, and keep your head high.
Aish

Voting Results

The Universal Council has consolidated the votes of each of the factions: Offer up Ana 0 () , Conduct a DNA-scan 3 (Empire,Federation,Union)

The final vote is in favor of conducting a DNA-scan on the knife that stabbed Julius Lycanis. Marcia Lycanis and her house have been informed of this decision. Though the outcome has clearly angered the house, they have done nothing to directly oppose the scan. A fleet containing some of the Council’s best forensic scientists has already been dispatched, and we are expecting results from the DNA-scan soon.

The Turn

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Summary

Transcript

Story Arcs

Expedition to Mímir:	The Catalyst • The Shard • The Crossroads • The Void • Subjugation • The Cradle • Dire Straits • Last Stand
Assault on the Crimson Wolves:	The Crimson Wolves • The Ides • Groundswell
The Morn Conflict:	On the Brink
The Pinnacle Incident:	Quantum Sickness • First Steps
The Vargas Epidemic:	Blackout
The Opening:	First Contact