*** Inter Galactic News ***
HEF fleet mobilised in the Periphery over exclusion zones; travellers advised to clear enemy lists. Slann (OLD/Aquaphids) arrived unexpectedly, seeking talks on worlds, ecologies, and migrations while staying neutral and modest in force. BHD notes rising miracle claims, including sanctuary visions and a dockside sacrifice that diverted a freighter and may lead to sainthood.OLD refused FLZ demands to leave Shiva (citing AFT-FLZ fighting risk) and got Oligarchy clarification: no permanent exclusion zones; HEF will intervene if temporary defences become monopolies. OLD stresses neutrality and focus on Aquaphid civilians.


***Submission from OLD***
The dispute over OLD vessels at Shiva has produced a useful clarification of Halo law. The Flagritz recently asked the newly arrived Old Ones to remove ships from Shiva, citing the risk of fighting with the Association of Free Traders spreading into Deva. OLD declined and referred the question to the Halo Oligarchy instead:

"Special Action/Halo Laws/HBO/Bystanders in ongoing conflicts

The captain makes contact with an HBO representative regarding the current state of affairs between the FLZ and AFT and how this is affecting bystander factions. In particular the OLD seek access to aquaphid civilians possibly looking to leave Halo worlds and this process may cause unnecessary conflict with the FLZ.

The response is pretty much what was expected, insofar as ‘No faction may monopolize any world and permanent exclusion zones are prohibited. The Halo Oligarchy will decide when it considers a temporary defensive measure to have become a permanent exclusion zone by notifying the Oligarch Execution Fleet of the offense.’

As such, should the FLZ instigate an exclusion zone, the HEF will enter the location and defend appropriately."

The ruling leaves room for temporary military precautions while reserving the larger question of access to the Oligarchy. In practical terms, FLZ security concerns do not automatically translate into control over Shiva.

For OLD, this matters because its stated interest lies with the Aquaphid population and access to civilians who may wish to leave Halo worlds. The Slann have stressed that they do not intend to take sides in the FLZ-AFT conflict.

The episode is worth watching because it exposes one of Halo's recurring tensions. New affiliations are encouraged to explore, trade and establish themselves, while older powers bring their own wars, security concerns and habits into the same space.

On Shiva, at least, the Oligarchy has now reminded everyone where the legal boundary sits.

***HEF fleet activated***
Reports from the Halo Periphery suggest the Halo Execution Fleeet has been mobilised to various locations in the Periphery in response to exclusion zones being in place. Travellers are advised to clear enemy lists - more to follow

***Submission from the OLD***
To the Editor of Subspace Static,

It seems prudent to introduce ourselves before rumour does the work for us.

We are the Slann, presently registered with the EEM under the affiliation name The Old Ones (OLD). This is not a perfect translation, but it is serviceable, and the bureaucracy appeared happier once given something that would fit inside its fields. Our expedition arrived in the Halo unexpectedly and, for some time, without dependable contact with our distant home systems. That silence has now begun to lift. We have exchanged enough to know that home still exists, that our kin endure, and that knowledge can once again move between us. Travel is another matter. The routes are long, unstable and inconvenient, and it may be some time before there is a reliable passage back. Until then, this expedition remains what it has become by necessity. Independent in action, attentive in observation, and increasingly interested in the strange neighbourhood into which circumstance has delivered us.

The peoples of these Peripheries have already taught us that names conceal as much as they reveal. We hear of Halo, Capellan, Cluster, and other divisions that seem obvious to those born among them, yet none correspond cleanly with the maps or constellations known to us. Species classifications are no less curious. The EEM has, with admirable administrative confidence, identified the Slann as Aquaphids. This is not entirely absurd. In our present forms we share much with water-dwelling peoples, though we suspect that "Aquaphid" is sometimes used as a broad convenience rather than a precise lineage. The same appears true of other categories we have encountered. The galaxy seems fond of discovering an organism, naming the drawer into which it fits, and only afterwards asking whether the drawer was large enough.

The Slann themselves are less uniform than such systems prefer. We vary greatly in size and form, and some of our elders are vast by the standards of the peoples we have met here. Mazatl-Xoq, who writes these words and presently speaks for the expedition, is young by Slann reckoning and does not claim the perspective of those who have watched civilisations rise, erode and return in altered form. Even so, certain interests are common to us all. We have long concerned ourselves with the making and remaking of habitable worlds, the movement of populations into places prepared to sustain them, the recovery of damaged ecosystems, and the slow transformation of environments that others might dismiss as barren, hostile or exhausted. Water, in particular, has often been central to that work. A dry planet is not always a dead one. Sometimes it is merely waiting for someone patient enough to alter the balance.

This is why our expedition has taken such interest in the worlds and peoples of this region. We have already found dry worlds where others are attempting to bring rain, water worlds where old civilisations have left prosperity and cruelty entangled together, displaced populations trying to establish themselves among unfamiliar neighbours, and species whose habits and histories are entirely new to us. We have also encountered an unexpected amount of generosity. Ships have been offered, routes explained, facilities opened, and advice given by those with no obvious obligation to us. The Slann notice such things. Hospitality tells us something about a people that treaties rarely do.

We are not here to announce dominion, nor to pretend that the Peripheries have been waiting for our arrival. They plainly have not. We are here because we find ourselves here, and because curiosity is one of the few virtues that improves with age. We wish to understand who inhabits these regions, what they are building, what they have lost, what they fear, and which of their worlds might become something greater than they are now. Those engaged in planetary development, ecological work, migration, exploration, long-term settlement, unusual population projects or the restoration of neglected places may find us especially interested in conversation.

For the present, our numbers and resources remain modest by our own standards. That will change only slowly. What we possess in greater quantity is memory, and in time renewed contact with home should allow us to draw on knowledge accumulated far beyond the reach of this expedition. Until then, we will continue to learn the local currents before attempting to redirect them.

If you encounter our vessels, speak to us. If you possess knowledge of unusual worlds, recovering ecologies, displaced peoples or places where patient intervention might matter, we would hear of them. If your people have stories they consider important enough to preserve, we would hear those too.

The Slann have arrived in your Peripheries without intending to. We may as well make the accident useful.

Mazatl-Xoq
Voice of the First Design
The Old Ones (OLD)

***Submission from the BHD***
Over the past five years, reports of miracles have surged across the star-systems. While papal inquisitors dismiss most, a fragile remnant of the truly inexplicable remains, divided into two distinct categories:

Sanctuary Visions
Within consecrated walls, entire congregations continue to witness baffling phenomena:

Celestial Echoes: Sudden roars of trumpets in airtight cathedrals.

Manifestations: Fleeting visions of angelic forms or aspects of the True One.

The Unburning Flame: Roaring holy fires that sweep through pews and altars yet leave flesh and timber entirely untouched.

The Miracle on the Brink
Far harder to dismiss are isolated events altering physical reality. One such tragedy has opened the genuine possibility of sainthood.

An out-of-control automated freight shuttle hurtled on a collision course with a densely populated public orbital station. Standing on the exterior gantry, a solitary figure invoked the work of the True One against the oncoming metal titan. At the final fraction of a second, the crippled shuttle violently veered off course, crashing harmlessly into deep space.

The divine intervention saved thousands, but the searing tail burn of the thruster caught the individual directly, ending their life instantly.

As inquisitors debate whether it was a freak glitch or true divine intervention, the faithful have already found their answer in the sacrifice at the docks.

*** Affiliations ***

AFT Association of Free Traders (54) - Drax
BHD - Brotherhood (63) - Dracolith
CAT - Catchan Felini (55) - Elisa Purr
CIA - Combined Intelligence Agency (64) - Laton CIA
CON - Continuum Collective (24) - Veridian
DEN -Dewiek Elder Nation (67) - Aadolf
DNA - Displaced Naplian Alliance (66) - Wodenzoon people
DTR - Detinus Republic (58) - Morley Decker
FCN - Falconian Republic (70) - Writ N Anser
FEL - Felini Tyranny (49) - Kr'Shan
FLZ - Flagritz Republic (47) - Kayxaer
FET - Frontier Exploration & Trade (56) - Cu Chulainn
GTT - Galactic Trade & Transport (52) - Xavier Fox
KRL - Krell (30) - Namica
KRT - Krell of the Reverence Temple (37) - Cyn
KST - Kastor Kastorians (12) - Kastor
MOH - Mohache (73) - Listens
NHS - Noble Houses (41) - Roy Roberts
NLF - Naplian Liberation Front (38) - NLFHQ
OLD - Old Ones (31) - Slann
RAT - Raiding , Acquisition and Ttrade (17) - Harry Hawker
SMS - Stellar Mining and Smelting (53) - MikhailM
WMB - Wimble Nations (25) - zz
WOD - Wodenzoon Industries (61) - Wodenzoon people

* Leader MAY be inactive, affiliation may be active
** Only known contact, please update us if this is incorrect.

NPC / FoC: ARC, CIV, CGT, FRE, HBO, HEF, IND, ISP, JCN, MEK, MRC, PIR, PRV, TCA, TRN, KAS
Inactive: ANT, COD, DOM, GCE, HEX, HVE, IDC, IMP, RIP, RCF, SKW, TAG,

*** Submissions ***

By private message to SSS Associate Editor or via Mica if you prefer to remain anonymous.