Comalan's first venture into interplanetary warfare was believed by many to be an impossible campaign for a world which had never before even seen its first astronauts leaving the planet's orbit. But when a deadly threat challenges the children of the Fadalians from afar, the people of Comalan have no choice but to stand and answer this challenge. This was the guiding principle of a team of engineers at the Seres Machinist's Union, Resta's only school of engineering. Through liberal applications of magic, the team at SMU created the Occulus Program, a system of long-range surveillance that was tasked with scouting both of the worlds that Comalanians were set to explore before their arks even left the ground. This mission was met with mixed reactions from all involved in the Starlight Crusade, but The Restan Star, the kingdom's official newspaper offered the most glowing coverage of this phenomenon.
***
Excerpt from The Restan Star
Kares the 15th, 3E7
Occulus Program Launches the Eyes of the Mennon Campaign
By Phineas Desmond
While work continues in Galeon on the five vessels that will carry troops from around the world to battle in Allene and Mennon, Restan engineers have been set on laying the groundwork for the campaign.
"We can only prepare so much for an enemy who is literally worlds away. We believe it was Crane's wish for us to develop a means to study our foes," says Samuel Whitetree of the Seres Machinist's Union (S.M.U.)
This reasoning ultimately led to the unveiling of the Occulus Program, an initiative to scout targets across long distances.
"To put it simply, we have been experimenting with derivatives of Galean satellite technology for years," adds Professor Whitetree. "Once we succeeded in creating our own version, we decided to adapt the technology for long-range travel."
The system works by launching a satellite out of the atmosphere, equipped with an excess of fuel. As it makes its long journey, it will release communication relays that will allow it to transmit high definition images gathered through its camera.
The Occulus Program launched two modules yesterday at 11 p.m.. One is headed for Allene and is planned to arrive by the Month of Amora. The.second will make its way directly to Mennon, where it I'd projected to arrive in the Month of Gyanda.
***
The Occulus represented a new hope for the Starlight Crusade, which had to contend with countless precedents waiting to be set as it began its exploration of the solar system. Beyond that, it represented a triumph for the engineers of Resta, who have always been technologically outpaced by Galean researchers at the Fides Academy of Engineering. Thus, the program was introduced to the public in a storm of fanfare that Restans matched in their enthusiasm. But the goodwill gained from the launch of the these probes didn't last.
***
Excerpt from The Restan Star
Amora the 12th, 3E8
Occulus One Arrives on Allene
by Abigail Hawke
The Seres Machinist’s Union (S.M.U.) rejoiced today as they received its first signals of the first Occulus Module, reporting images of the condition on the surface of Allene.
“The success of the first module has been very heartening to us,” stated Professor Samuel Whitetree of the S.M.U. “With it, we have proven that we can carry our own weight in the field of interstellar transmission technology. The applications for our designs could be far greater than we had initially imagined. Aside from being a victory for the war effort of all of Comalan, it is a rare technological victory for Resta.”
The specific details of the collected data is classified to all but the highest levels of world leadership. This has led to some controversy in Galeon, which remains the only country not to have received any of the data.
“The inherent transparency of Galeon’s system of government makes it difficult to know who to trust with secure information,” said General Victor Swan of the Restan Army. “Once we can determine a body that will handle the data without allowing it into the hands of the public, they will get their copy.”
This news was greeted with outrage from Galeon, many of whose citizens believe that the information should be publicly available. Despite this pressure, King Baldus has backed General Swan’s decision.
***
The day that the Occulus probes first began to transmit data of conditions on the planet Allene was met with months of anticipation. Unfortunately, the premature announcement of this development came without any specific details regarding the information that the Occulus program collected. The data was quickly marked as sensitive to the war effort and kept away from the public, despite weeks of secretive debate between world leaders. Keeping the public in the dark turned out to be detrimental to morale of the Starlight Crusaders and made the Occulus project a source of scorn. Faith in the Crusade dwindled, until...
***
Excerpt from The Restan Star
Ames the 27th, 3E8
Break-in at S.M.U. Headquarters
by Phineas Desmond
The Seres Machinist’s Union (S.M.U.) reported a troubling break-in at their headquarters in Seres yesterday. The incident occured the night before, and nearly went unnoticed. The Restan Star got a chance to speak with the lab assistant responsible for discovering the break-in and he had the following to say:
“I was looking through the logs during routine maintenance and found that someone had signed in with Professor Whitetree’s credentials. This wouldn’t have been considered odd, usually, but the professor has been in Galeon for a development conference all weekend. When I looked through the supposed intruder’s activity, I discovered that they copied some of our surveillance software and the data that we have collected. On a hunch, I also checked our supplies and found a spare computer and two transmission receivers missing.”
S.M.U. Officials refuse to comment on the implications of this theft, but the assistant speculates that it is related to the implementation of the Occulus Project. The Restan Star will report more facts as we receive them.
***
News of this break-in seemed baffling, to say the least. With everyone in the world presumably representing the same side of the coming war, it didn't seem likely that the Occulus was being targeted by enemies. While many people felt vindicated by S.M.U.'s poor handling of such sensitive technology, the disappearance of the Occulus module was a source of panic worldwide. What happened to the Occulus and the nature of the program's results are a story for another time. Suffice it to say that the information it collected would prove critical to the Starlight Crusade both tactically and, for some of its leaders, personally.
***
Excerpt from The Restan Star
Kares the 15th, 3E7
Occulus Program Launches the Eyes of the Mennon Campaign
By Phineas Desmond
While work continues in Galeon on the five vessels that will carry troops from around the world to battle in Allene and Mennon, Restan engineers have been set on laying the groundwork for the campaign.
"We can only prepare so much for an enemy who is literally worlds away. We believe it was Crane's wish for us to develop a means to study our foes," says Samuel Whitetree of the Seres Machinist's Union (S.M.U.)
This reasoning ultimately led to the unveiling of the Occulus Program, an initiative to scout targets across long distances.
"To put it simply, we have been experimenting with derivatives of Galean satellite technology for years," adds Professor Whitetree. "Once we succeeded in creating our own version, we decided to adapt the technology for long-range travel."
The system works by launching a satellite out of the atmosphere, equipped with an excess of fuel. As it makes its long journey, it will release communication relays that will allow it to transmit high definition images gathered through its camera.
The Occulus Program launched two modules yesterday at 11 p.m.. One is headed for Allene and is planned to arrive by the Month of Amora. The.second will make its way directly to Mennon, where it I'd projected to arrive in the Month of Gyanda.
***
The Occulus represented a new hope for the Starlight Crusade, which had to contend with countless precedents waiting to be set as it began its exploration of the solar system. Beyond that, it represented a triumph for the engineers of Resta, who have always been technologically outpaced by Galean researchers at the Fides Academy of Engineering. Thus, the program was introduced to the public in a storm of fanfare that Restans matched in their enthusiasm. But the goodwill gained from the launch of the these probes didn't last.
***
Excerpt from The Restan Star
Amora the 12th, 3E8
Occulus One Arrives on Allene
by Abigail Hawke
The Seres Machinist’s Union (S.M.U.) rejoiced today as they received its first signals of the first Occulus Module, reporting images of the condition on the surface of Allene.
“The success of the first module has been very heartening to us,” stated Professor Samuel Whitetree of the S.M.U. “With it, we have proven that we can carry our own weight in the field of interstellar transmission technology. The applications for our designs could be far greater than we had initially imagined. Aside from being a victory for the war effort of all of Comalan, it is a rare technological victory for Resta.”
The specific details of the collected data is classified to all but the highest levels of world leadership. This has led to some controversy in Galeon, which remains the only country not to have received any of the data.
“The inherent transparency of Galeon’s system of government makes it difficult to know who to trust with secure information,” said General Victor Swan of the Restan Army. “Once we can determine a body that will handle the data without allowing it into the hands of the public, they will get their copy.”
This news was greeted with outrage from Galeon, many of whose citizens believe that the information should be publicly available. Despite this pressure, King Baldus has backed General Swan’s decision.
***
The day that the Occulus probes first began to transmit data of conditions on the planet Allene was met with months of anticipation. Unfortunately, the premature announcement of this development came without any specific details regarding the information that the Occulus program collected. The data was quickly marked as sensitive to the war effort and kept away from the public, despite weeks of secretive debate between world leaders. Keeping the public in the dark turned out to be detrimental to morale of the Starlight Crusaders and made the Occulus project a source of scorn. Faith in the Crusade dwindled, until...
***
Excerpt from The Restan Star
Ames the 27th, 3E8
Break-in at S.M.U. Headquarters
by Phineas Desmond
The Seres Machinist’s Union (S.M.U.) reported a troubling break-in at their headquarters in Seres yesterday. The incident occured the night before, and nearly went unnoticed. The Restan Star got a chance to speak with the lab assistant responsible for discovering the break-in and he had the following to say:
“I was looking through the logs during routine maintenance and found that someone had signed in with Professor Whitetree’s credentials. This wouldn’t have been considered odd, usually, but the professor has been in Galeon for a development conference all weekend. When I looked through the supposed intruder’s activity, I discovered that they copied some of our surveillance software and the data that we have collected. On a hunch, I also checked our supplies and found a spare computer and two transmission receivers missing.”
S.M.U. Officials refuse to comment on the implications of this theft, but the assistant speculates that it is related to the implementation of the Occulus Project. The Restan Star will report more facts as we receive them.
***
News of this break-in seemed baffling, to say the least. With everyone in the world presumably representing the same side of the coming war, it didn't seem likely that the Occulus was being targeted by enemies. While many people felt vindicated by S.M.U.'s poor handling of such sensitive technology, the disappearance of the Occulus module was a source of panic worldwide. What happened to the Occulus and the nature of the program's results are a story for another time. Suffice it to say that the information it collected would prove critical to the Starlight Crusade both tactically and, for some of its leaders, personally.
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