TullyBBurnalot

I cannot imagine what unholy, eldritch power led you to do this. Let this serve as a monument to the hubris of Humanity, not content with merely breaking the bonds of sanity in one realm and needing to spread it to others. It is nothing more than madness, a watchful moment through the looking glass beyond the plane where mortal minds were meant to tread. And yet, it is beautiful in its own, unique way; a symphony of constructive, building insanity. It is nothing short of heretical. And this is why we deserve it. Praise be.

Beg pardon if this was already said, but I haven't seen it, and I felt as if this much needed to be pointed out: As someone who's been around with the Admin Staff since around early 2015, I can confirm that while we don't necessarily have a fixed policy on Notes (as we never really had fixed policy on most of anything), we've never shied away from sharing relevant Notes with the player they were written about; provided there was an actual reason to do so. This could include, but not be limited to: Ban Appeals/Admin Complaints where the exact content of a Note is relevant, usually when it describes a given event Requests for a change to a given Note should the person in question want to/prove that it is warranted Any given exceptional circumstance deemed legitimate enough after a player contacts a Head of Staff Now, this might seem extremely flexible, and to a degree, it's designed to be. Every Admin writes Notes differently and on a different tone (mine, for instance, tend to be clinical and somewhat standardized, whereas someone like Dumbumn's might be small essays with a full description of events), on different situations and with different levels of what constitutes something "noteworthy", with variation even within the same Admin depending on extraneous factors (e.g, no one's going to Note down a civilian for breaking into Security to take their guns if all of Security is dead and there's a Xenomorph/Terror Spoder infestation; remove the infestation and we very well just might). When it comes to revealing Notes, however, there's a point to be made that "secrecy for the sake of secrecy" is hardly the reason why those are hidden from players beyond the one they're relevant to (see above). Just a few off the top of my head: No one but the player in question has any actual reason to know the Notes of any other player. Like, at all. Those are Notes referring to things the Admins have found worthy enough to remember that apply only to this player. This, of course, only applies to the more radical "All Notes For Everyone" approach, but at the end of the day, it merely pushes the secrecy line one step forward, with the player now having to be the one to keep the Notes secret, unless they wish to see them go public. Additionally, this can very easily end up in a situation where a player's Notes affect the way that other people react to them, colouring their attitude and impression. This can be easily avoided by the player never revealing their Notes to anyone, which... well, see above for why all that does is gently nudge the goalposts. And how we already give people Notes if they have an actual reason to; Even with Notes being fully visible only to the relevant player, it should be noted that Notes are not an analogue to a criminal record. There's a good reason why we keep the Ban Appeals Accepted/Declined section public, because that is what ultimately ends up being a player's record. Notes, as the name implies, are often little more than footnotes kept in place to help the Admin staff make their decisions on any actual punishment/reward; On a more "selfish" perspective, as I'm sure most here are aware, SS13 has a rather active community on Reddit, which tends to veer towards the "less than civil", often with direct attacks on our server and its admin staff (and by often, read "mostly constantly over the past several years"). Considering that our Staff have been harassed, belittled, insulted and just out-and-out treated like complete shit, we can 100% see something like fully visible notes ending up giving even more ammunition to people who have been extremely vitriolic to us over far less. We'd rather not have our Admin staff think "How will this look like on the subreddit when I write it down?"; Semi-related to the above, Notes are often very, very informal, not at all like the Ban Reasons you often see on the Appeals section. While Alffd has noted on the associated PR that he doesn't think this will lead to a situation where people will want to appeal Notes, because the system would just make him outright ban instead of spending time Note'ing people down, the fact of the matter is, thousands upon thousands of Notes exist. If we allow Bans to be appealed, there's no real reason not to let Notes be appealed for the sake of fairness, and quite honestly, considering that Notes often refer to very, very specific incidents, allowing players to contest Notes would grind down Admin bureaucracy to a complete halt. Not to mention what Alffd said to begin with: it becomes easier to just ban someone than it is to potentially open up a door for a Note contention TL;DR: We already give people their exact Notes if they have an actual need for them, providing full transparency opens far more cans of worms than it solves problems

@necaladun A) Add morgue tray/trays to, say, a backroom near the armory B) Add cremator usage in the Full-Power Vampires/Changalangs caveats in Spess Law. All-in-all, doable, since it's already done anyway.

I've... taken the liberty of redirecting this message to the Trurl's Psychological Evaluation Department. A representative will be with you shortly. Please do not resist.

Company policy obligates me to inform you that we like our clowns and wish for them to have a good time, bless the Honkmother. pleasehelp

Greetings, Mr. Concerned, I'm almost certain I've answered a question like this before, but I'll repeat myself just in case: ultimately, it is cheaper for us to deal with the fallout of occasionally hiring/inviting mentally unbalanced individuals than it is to institute a company-wide psychological vetting process; I'm sure you can imagine that logistics and bureaucracy get a tiny bit complicated when your organization operates on a literally galactic scale. So we just hire a few crazies every once in a while, pay off the lawsuits, provide clones when needed, and that's still a drop in the fucking ocean that would be a proper psych eval vetting system. As for advice, I dunno, ask Hydroponics for some Ambrosia? Just don't get caught smoking it, we're only technically allowed to grow it thanks to some legal fiction about "medical research".

I wasn't even talking about you, but since you seem so inclined to deny any involvement, I'll make sure to notify Internal Affairs.

For the last fucking time, SINA-, no, we cannot allow military-grade IPC platforms onto any of our facilities ever since your Central Processing Committee decided to start throwing lawsuits at us for failing to provide them with basic sentient rights or, in fact, a sense of self. If that wasn't enough, then we had the whole string of incidents with the Tranzor Terror, the multiple bombings on Mars, and let's not forget the devastating Bar Boycott of 2498. For safety reasons, you get plastic, and you'll like it. And if you don't, tough shit, you aren't getting anywhere near any of our shiny shit with your shiny shit.

Greetings, Dr. Z! A complementary box of the finest chocolates our Bluespace RnD Department teleported from the chocolate factories of Sweet Tooth Inc. has been sent to your desk, courtesy of being the only person to actually give enough of a shit to ask me how I am. Keep on keepin' on, darlin'. Anyway, life here's quite a way's better than what you call life over there; we're not really stuck somewhere that keeps being contested by a bunch of terrorist organizations, and frankly, we've got a way, way bigger budget for staff vetting, on-site security, station defensive measures and Bluespace shielding, meaning that it's actually pretty safe to work around here; Taco Tuesdays notwithstanding. Pay's kinda shit, but I assume that's because my disciplinary folder is now the size of a medium-sized cabinet. Apart from that, most of my job involves sitting in front of multiple monitors and making sure communication lines are open. So, the usual, running routine maintenance checks on the Klapaucius, answering faxes and direct-link emergency messages, making sure we don't get impersonated by Changelings, yadayadayada. Really, the only negative of working on the Trurl is that the dress code is fucking terrible. You think I like dressing up like some tacticool edgelord? As for the ERT Applications, those don't technically ever close, we just don't accept anyone unless we need folks to fill in for casualties; our ERT forces are expansive as it is, and we can effectively dedicate a team to each of our installations if required. So really, if you want a good shot at getting in, wait until the Cyberiad goes through an emergency that requires an ERT being called and then hope one of the bastards dies off so you can take their spot. That's how a good quarter of our ERT force got the job anyway.

First off, I'd appreciate it if you didn't reveal sensitive information such as CLASSIFIED ERT MISSION STATEMENTS on a public mailing list. Secondly, I made sure to fix your problems within a few minutes of me noticing no one above my paygrade was around to fix the problem for me: any and all non-human arrivals to the Trurl will be redirected to the ERT Training Program. Hope you brushed up on your Sinta'Unathi.

Little known fact: it's the Communications Department that dispatches and monitors automated messaging systems. We don't receive them. Stop redirecting spam to our Department, Bill, no one's going to like you better for it.

Hello, Toodles! Glad to know you haven't been thrown out an airlock yet (again). Unfortunately, company policy forbids the Clown from holding a position with the slightest amount of responsibility while we're looking, and by sending this message, you made me look. Sorry about that, now we can't plausibly deny we had any knowledge of this. As compensation, we'll send over a couple of foam force DONK Machineguns over to your last registered extant address (sorry, but the Clown Planet doesn't exist anymore, just let it go); hopefully this will help with the crippling lack of Clown Captains. First off, we have filtered air scrubbers. Those things are literally everywhere (as per OSHA Safety Regulation 1235512.123144). Secondly, have you not noticed the multitude of "No Smoking" signs we have splattered all over everywhere remotely related to plasma research? Have you been ignoring the "No Smoking" signs? Oh boy, this again. Well, dearest Mister Warden, before we were forced to surreptitiously bury that part of company history underneath a multitude of layers of legal paperwork and a non-insignificant number of bodies, the NSS Cyberiad was once given the denomination of NCS Cyberiad, short for NanoTrasen Commercial Station. See, this was before we realized that Epsilon Eridani was a tad bit more dangerous than initially estimated, and we were forced to change the official classification (since we legally can't plop down commercial facilities anywhere that technically holds a Standard Threat Level of 5 or above. Epsilon Eridani sits at a nice 9). However, just because we changed the classification doesn't mean we need to change any of the on-site protocols in regards to who we technically allow on the station as long as it's on Code Green, and hey, all we had to do was fund further Security forces and we were all set! And trust me, regardless of how much shit they may steal, or how much of an annoyance they may be, they pay out the ass to be on the station to begin with. Net profit is the name of the game!

Greetings, Mister [Sign] Now, personally, I don't really understand why either, and if you ask me, it's just political maneuvering by NanoTrasen to avoid stepping on further toes after the unmitigated disaster that was our intervention in the Third Great Clown-Mime War (the one that ended in us burying the Throne of the Honkmother under several layers of radioactive waste following orbital bombardment). While the details were never made public, one can only guess mimes and clowns are allowed in for the sake of not provoking yet another war. Obviously, if you ask anyone from the company what the real reason is, they'll give you some spiel about clowns and mimes just being regular folks who chose a less orthodox career in entertainment, but we all know how true that is, don't we? ###cd comp_schedules### ###cd med_schedules### ###type jenkins_med_schedule.txt### ### ### ### Oh, goddamnit. ###cd comp_schedules### ###rmdir med_schedules###

I'm not the Accounting Department, and even if I wasn't, I probably wouldn't have the authorization to give anyone a raise, since I'd do that to myself and end up demoted back to, I dunno, Basic Bureaucrat Class-1 or something. Pack of "Haggis"-brand chewing gum has been sent in the mail as compensation. Also yes, you do get paid in the standard galactic currency that is the Space Credit. I apologize profusely, Mister Lem, but as per your current status as a Class-[REDACTED] Priority Person of Interest, I am not allowed to know you exist. In addition, even if I had a stash of hyperzine, which I don't, I would be forbidden by Galactic Mandate 35.112, "Concerning Matters of Health" from either owning, creating and/or distributing the substance known as hyperzine, which I don't, can't and don't have any of the substance to, respectively. Finally, I should note that by contacting me via an internal office memo, you are in violation of NanoTrasen's Intra-Corporation Secrecy Protocol BTA-2112, and as such, I will be forced to send a strongly-worded letter to your supervisor, the name of which I am also not allowed to disclose that I am aware of, which I'm not. In short: suck my dick, Novus.

Company policy requires that I not answer this in accordance with my personal beliefs, so have an excerpt of the leaflet I get every time I get sent to a Species Sensitivity Seminar: ###cd useless_stuff### ###type speciesm_bollocks_leaflet.doc### ### ### ### "We here at NanoTrasen are happy to use our vast resources to facilitate intra-species cooperation and cultural exchange, via our revolutionary Post-Progressive Employee Vetting mechanism, guaranteed to maximize both worker efficiency and species diversity in the workplace! NanoTrasen is not liable for any racially-motivated incidents that may arise as a result of this process."

ERT Gallia-3 dispatched to location. Please stand by. Instructions unclear, hopefully a 3D-printed pair of safety scissors should be enough? Did you lose your gun again? Ah, yes, Peggy. ... Peggy. I'm ever so happy to report that, due to outstanding work ethic and general operational efficiency, dearest Comms Officer Peggy has been reassigned away from this shithole promoted to a position as Diplomatic Liaison with the Sol Trade Consortium. Something about wanting to capitalize on "cultural propensities for trade" or whatever. I'll make sure to relay this wonderful message and totally get an autographed mixtape from our dearest mutual friend. Also no, we're not currently hiring anyone for "diversity", we already brought a batch of soap-munchers Drask on-board and have been having fun seeing how many of them make it through the selection process. As for the random skipjack crews that tended to show up, you are aware that the only reason they did was because they somehow managed to skirt through our defense grid, right? All it took was our Bluespace nerds getting their hands on one of their ships and reverse-engineering their engine drive to block them off from approaching our installations without proper authorization. Something about "improved filtering" tech, whatever that is. To compensate, I've enclosed the full collection of "Vox Gone Wild" holovids in a physical flash drive and mailed it over to your registered address (Supply Closet BA-1422, right?). Hopefully it'll make up for the lack of dearest Peggy.

Oh, for the love o- Sigh... ###cd emergency_measures### ###WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO FOLDER IS PUNISHABLE BY SUMMARY APPLICATION OF FORCE BY ON-SITE SECURITY FORCES. INPUT AUTHORIZATION### ###USERNAME:### ComoJayDog ###PASSWORD:### ******************************************************************************* ###AUTHORIZATION GRANTED### ###run klapaucius_reset.exe### ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ###RESET SUCCESSFUL. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE###

###cd incoming_messages### ###del honeybuns.txt### ###cd incoming_messages### ###rmdir incoming_messages###

Ah, yes. This again. Now, before I say anything, I should note that Section 3, Sub-Section A-15 of a standard NanoTrasen work contract reads, and I quote: "By signing this contract, [name of employee] acknowledges that possession by, or encounters of varying damage with, hostile Xenos-class organisms shall not be held against NanoTrasen. NanoTrasen does not hold itself accountable for any incident which might result in the possession, replacement, substitution or death of [name of employee] as a result of encountering a Xeno-class organism." We figured it was easier than spending more money in screening out shit that even our Bluespace nerds can't figure out. I mean really, vampires? And shadow creatures and shit? Fuck that, it's easier to just repair the station and clone you all from the master copies. As for the agents thing, well, to be perfectly frank, we don't continuously screen people after we hire them unless they're involved in anything above a Class-Red Authorization Level, so a bunch of lower-level employees can, and often do, slip under the cracks when it comes to Syndicate blackmail. We do screen out people with existing connections to the Syndicate, but Class-Red notwithstanding, we're not constantly looking back. I mean really, we have better things to do. Ah, yes, hello Mister Warden. We apologize for your job existing, but it's cheaper than using proper surveillance and modern jailing techniques. As for your first question, I'm going to have to defer to something the eggheads over in Virology cooked up; I'm not a microbiologist, so I'll defer to people who claim to be. ###cd medi_shit### ###cd viro_stuff### ###type virus_viral_mutat.doc### ### ### ###cd response_shit### Alright, so, what it says here is that the viral strains that normally plague not only the Cyberiad but also other installations with a similar number of individuals can be attributed to a few factors: A) We routinely ship people from all around the galaxy to work together, increasing the probability that one of them might be carriers for an hitherto unknown strain of a known viral agent, and increasing the number of vectors for existing strains to mutate across. It doesn't help we also keep hiring species with substandard hygiene habits, like the goddamn chickens Vox; B) The station is constantly bombarded by radiation that is often strong enough to break through standard shielding, hence the whole rad alert thing and reinforced maintenance tunnels. Remember: radiation + time = shitty mutations; C) Virology exists. Even our own eggheads are scared of the shit they're allowed to do Moral of the story is: eat healthy. As for the second one, well... to be honest, we've stopped screening for mental imbalance years ago; it's why we just give psychiatrists a cubicle that's smaller than the Janitor's closet and don't even provide for psychoactive medication. Sure, it makes crime rates shoot through the roof, but if you look at the bigger, galactic picture, it... honestly becomes cheaper to just let that happen rather than going through the hoops of ensuring mental well-being. I mean really, why do you think we give you so many cells to work with? It ain't for decoration! So, keep on keeping on, brig those fuckers, knock 'em on the ass a couple of times, and call it a day. Make sure to flag them on the records too, so we know who to assign to Janitorial duty.

A wonderful question, Mister Maintenance. Or is it Mister "in Maintenance"? Mister Lurker? Ah, who cares. Now, before I answer that, I'm afraid I need to check if I can answer that. You see, even though company policy says I'm not supposed to be privy to a whole bunch of information that regularly flows through my workstation's console, I can't help but be a sneaky bugger and nose around places I shouldn't. Brennan's been more than happy to ignore it, so long as I don't divulge anything I'm not technically supposed to, so uh... ###cd auth_lvl### ###type danger_cyb_auth.txt### ### ### ###cd response_shit### Alright, so, according to what I'm technically allowed to say, as far as the Board of Directors is aware, there is no known reason why the NSS Cyberiad keeps being targeted by all these "strange disturbances", which I can only assume are all the Syndicate agents you keep getting infested with, or the nerds over at the SWF. As far as anyone can tell, it's probably because: A) It's our newest, shiniest station and these people are petty assholes; B) Epsilon Eridani is... let's say "contested" territory and somewhat difficult to keep fully controlled. Hence why so many of you keep showing up to work with the loaded gun of Syndicate blackmail pointed at their head Such is life when you try to slowly take over the galaxy by buying people out, it tends to generate enemies both reasonable and eldricht. This is why our insurance premiums have been going through the fucking roof in the past standard years. Unless, of course, you're talking about the random anomalies you keep experiencing, of the gravitic or pyroclastic variety, among others; those are because we deliberately put the station in an orbit that would make it pass through multiple, prearranged pockets of Bluespace distortions, in order to, uh... it says here "facilitate the endeavors of the on-board research team". Sorry about that, I guess?

###INPUT AUTHORIZATION### ###USERNAME:### ComoJayDog ###PASSWORD:### ******************************************************************************* ###PROCESSING...### ###AUTHORIZATION GRANTED. WELCOME, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER ROBERT D. JENKINS### ###AWAITING INPUT### ### ### ### ###run announce_cyb.exe### ###WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED ANNOUNCEMENTS ARE PUNISHABLE BY DISCIPLINARY ACTION. DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?### ###Y### ###CONFIRMED. PLEASE INPUT MESSAGE### Hail Cyberiad, this is the Trurl here, Comms Officer Jenkins speaking. Following the disastrous attempts at improving workplace morale via the use of mutated teddy bears animated with the latest in Bluespace technology (apologies, Captain Samuels, you'll be well remembered), the NanoTrasen Board of Directors has opted for a more... subtle method of appearing marketable approachable, and to improve general crew morale, along with... whatever "Workplace Inter-Cooperation and Teamwork Doubleplusgood" is. Pretty sure that last one's not a word. In following with company tradition of not really wanting to waste a lot of money in things deemed "Class-3 Non-Essential Company Initiatives", they dumped the job onto me, and I frankly can't be bothered either, so when they told me to come up with something, I, being the well-beloved and attentive curator of the Cyberiad's airwaves that I am, decided to, I dunno, open a direct mailbox thing? Ask me shit and I'll spill company secrets because I'm bored. Just don't ask me anything about the non-existent Deathsquads, I'm not allowed to talk about those anymore. End communication.

Field Report A-4: The NSS Ragnarok, "Shade in the Sun" & the "Jack Lean Incident" The NSS Ragnarok is one of the oldest, still operating installations in NanoTrasen's roster, its inaugural shift occurring in 2298, and the facility itself undergoing extensive structural modifications, architectural redesigns, and even a full conversion to a Plasmaman-only atmosphere for the sake of a three year-long societal study, which ended in the deaths of 76 individuals and the still-active Hanson Edict, which forbids hiring any Plasmaman individuals for work aboard stations with a Security Clearance Level of Delta or above. Nonetheless, the Ragnarok remains as one of the crown jewels of the company's research stations, and continues to produce extremely valuable research data pertaining to Bluespace, theoretical mega engineering and experimental bio-augmentation technology (notably, the first instance of the "Hulk" gene being spliced into a sentient humanoid occurred on the Ragnarok... with disastrous results). It is, therefore, not surprising that Inquiry Team B-9, codenamed "Shade in the Sun", was based on the station, seeing as it was one of the few locations capable of producing Bluespace Interdiction Alloy. This Alloy's name is somewhat misleading, as it isn't, in itself, an alloy of multiple metals; instead, it is simply lead that is, and I'm reading off a company primer here, "infused with raw Bluespace energy via a proprietary, revolutionary smelting technique". What this actually means is entirely unknown, as the secret "recipe" behind the creation of BIA is known only to select few individuals within NanoTrasen's company structure and, to the best of our knowledge, no other entity has successfully reverse-engineered the process via material analysis. However, what is known is that every facility that produces BIA is also heavily involved in the study of Bluespace itself, which might indicate that the lead metals are, in fact, subjected to Bluespace "energies", whatever that might mean. Regardless, the end result is the same: a type of "metal" that can be used to stop the movement of creatures and sentients that utilize Bluespace shortcuts to travel long distances in Realspace. It is unknown to me how this process works, but it appears it can only serve as a cage in actual practice; a Bluespace-connected creature can easily move around it, but cannot leave its interior. This is the standard containment protocol for Xenos Sanguis ("Vampires"), Xenos Umbra and captured SWF personnel. The Ragnarok itself currently counts seventeen holding pens with as many Mark VIII BIA Containment Box units, twelve of them containing Xenos Sanguis specimens, and the remaining five holding Xenos Umbra specimens. It is here that NanoTrasen currently sends all known captured specimens of the latter species, with existing individuals in containment being terminated via an in-built mechanism that produces a bright flash of light, approximately 300,000 Lux in intensity, for a duration of ten seconds; this is enough to not only kill the specimen, but reduce the body to a harmless pile of ash with minimal distortion fields around it. Despite this, the facility has produced very little information regarding the creatures, as, unlike Xenos Sanguis specimens, Xenos Umbra individuals consistently display a complete refusal to cooperate (or, in fact, communicate at all in some cases), as well as a pronounced security risk due to the complicated methods required to keep them contained for experimentation (compare and contrast Xenos Sanguis specimens, who only require a sip of blessed water to be rendered mostly harmless). On multiple occasions, captured specimens simply refused to move or communicate for long periods of time, only to escape the moment a breach occurred in the Containment Box, regardless of how minor it was, suggesting not only a propensity for "playing the long game", but also a well-developed ability to serve as ambush predators, being capable of lying in wait for long periods of time before exploiting the flimsiest of opportunities to strike. This might offer some clues as to how infection occurs to begin with. Nonetheless, Inquiry Team B-9 "Shade in the Sun" began operating off the NSS Ragnarok shortly after the end of the New Langdon Infestation Event. Initially composed of only three Bluespace Xenobiology experts, the team quickly grew to acquire several more key company individuals, including the esteemed Dr. James Woolworth, Dr. Ruth Lancaster, and the ever-controversial SWF Liaison Kingsley Grizwold (whose presence was requested at the insistence of then-CEO Timothy Heeren, due to the SWF's deep involvement with Bluespace and their still-not-well-understood eagerness to cooperate with NanoTrasen in containing the Xenos Umbra threat). B-9's assigned task was to acquire as much information as possible about their subject matter: biology, behavioral habits, Bluespace-related abilities, sentient subversion process and, of course, methods to combat the creatures in practice that could be distributed and disseminated via Standard Security Training Programs (SSTPs), which had, up until that point, been lacking in terms of how to fight these creatures in the case of any surprise infestation. While the existence and expansion of "Shade in the Sun" marked the beginning of a shift in company attitude towards these creatures, the team's initial activities were still classified under Authorization Level Epsilon+, and even today I was not given access to them, even for the purposes of this field study. The only available records, themselves still classified under Authorization Level Delta, are those produced after Work Shift 462.87.4 in 2500, heretofore referred to as the "Jack Lean Incident", the incident itself classified under Authorization Level Epsilon, and having taken me several days to obtain clearance on. This odd name was assigned by then-on-site Chief of Security Jack D. Lean, who was awarded the NanoTrasen Medal for Distinguished Conduct and "Robust Security" Award, then offered the Captaincy of the Ragnarok for his role in saving the facility during what can only be described as a state of siege that erupted during the course of that shift, and lasted for an almost unbelievable seventeen days, involving five different Red-Level Emergency Response Teams, three different Gamma-Level Emergency Response Teams, and required the hitherto unheard of activation of Asset Protection Squad "Black Rose", the existence of which forced NanoTrasen to publicly disclose the existence of what were later decried by SolGov as "company deathsquads". The "Jack Lean Incident" itself was so immense in its scope that NanoTrasen feared it would leak out and potentially end up in headlines across the galaxy; it placed the company in an almost impossible position: either publicly admit that they were aware of the existence of Xenos Umbra specimens in a PR-friendly way and hope the backlash was manageable, or continue with information suppression and not only risk having it be leaked anyway, but also risk a repetition of the event at other locations. In missives exchanged between the surviving members of B-9 and then-CEO Daniel B. Simmons, the former advised the latter that full disclosure was preferable, as it would help prevent further disasters in the future. Simmons acquiesced, and NanoTrasen made the now-famous "Stanton Declaration" at the Galactic Forum (so named due to the choice of Forum Representative being John Stanton, a man famous for consistently being the company's bearer of bad news for the entire length of his career). The "Jack Lean Incident" involved not only the aforementioned facility and ERTs, but also direct fire support from the NDV Kraków Heavy Cruiser, the NDV Sinister and NDV Tomahawk Support Cruisers and legendary NDV "Hammer of God" Superheavy Battleship, logistics support from the NRV Phobos Transport Barge, medical support from the NRV Humilitas Hospital Ship , as well as several dozen smaller vessels providing food, medication and ammunition from the nearby NCS Providence, NSS Odin, NMB Stellar and NXS Amazon (whose particular brand of Bluespace-infused mutant tomatoes were noted as "supremely useful" by CoS Jack Lean). Due to the survival of the station, and the fastidious nature of the on-site Security Staff's record keeping, there is a surprising wealth of information on the full timeline. Work Shift 462.87.4 begins without any complications or staff complaints; simultaneously, Inquiry Team B-9 begin organizing their next General Meeting, whereby members of the team would exchange all information gathered since the last one (which, at this point, was non-existent, as it had been for several of the last cycles). One of the members, Dr. Curtis P. Pendleton, is noted as having arrived late and in a state of noticeable sleep deprivation, which they explained as being the result of a poor reaction to "shitty cantina burritos", which had resulted in prolonged bouts of vomiting and extreme gastrointestinal discomfort. Dr. Pendleton is advised to return to his assigned living quarters and seek medical attention, but refuses, stating they had already contacted on-site medical personnel and acquired some stimulants which would help them function properly until the shift was over. B-9 is reported as being highly suspicious of this, considering the shift had barely begun, and another one of its members, one Dr. Cassandra L. Wellington, suggests calling on-site Security forces due to suspicions of drug usage. Dr. Pendleton becomes agitated at this point, and requests Security staff not be called; this leads to a minor scuffle when Dr. Wellington attempts to activate the intercom, ending in them being knocked unconscious, three other individuals present being severely injured, and Dr. Pendleton running into the nearest maintenance tunnel. Due to the nature of B-9's studies, Chief of Security Jack Lean is immediately contacted. Code Red is declared approximately five minutes later, and CoS Lean convinces on-site Captain Horatio Smith to broadcast an alert to the station that "hostile xeno organisms" were on the loose. All maintenance tunnels are locked and bolted down, staff are ordered to remain within their departments and the on-site Armory is unlocked, its contents distributed to on-site Security staff. Immediately afterwards, the NAS Peabody (attendant administrative station to the Ragnarok) is alerted, and an Emergency Response Team is requested. CoS Lean leverages contacts in company structure to authorize the activation of ERT Hispania-9, a Red-Level Emergency Response Team specialized in combating Xenos Mutatio specimens (so chosen due to the very real threat of deadly melee combat). Hispania-9 arrives on station ten minutes later. Despite the extremely heavy-handed and lightning-fast response, as well as the genuinely astounding organizational and leadership skills displayed by Captain Smith and CoS Lean, Dr. Pendleton is never found before he "hatches" into a Xenos Umbra specimen. Unlike all other examples of infestations, the new specimen, heretofore referred to as U-P, was heavily talkative over the radio, condemning NanoTrasen's actions and promising anyone who would join them a "glorious rebirth" in "the Father's embrace". Despite the best efforts of the facility's AI Unit, the location of the radio signal is never positively triangulated for suppression, and, fearing what a telecommunications lockdown would do to Security staff cohesion, CoS Lean allows communications to remain active. This results in several incidents of personnel attempting, and often succeeding, in breaking into the maintenance tunnels, only to be immediately captured and subverted by U-P. What followed for the remainder of the standard shift's duration was what was described as a "game of cat and mouse" by on-site Warden Ruum-Voo Tuuurl, whereby Security staff, in coordination with Hispania-9, would organize a raid of the maintenance tunnels, apprehend several thralls, lead them to on-site medical personnel, remove their frontal lobe tumors, and then be saddled with further personnel who were either captured by U-P or deliberately sought it out. At the end of the standard work shift, Captain Smith and CoS Lean message the NAS Peabody and request a transfer shuttle not be sent until the on-site threat had been properly handled. The situation on the Ragnarok deteriorates over the next several hours, as attrition begins to take its toll on on-site Security forces and other personnel. The number of thralls begins to steadily increase as the facility's ability to respond to U-P begins to wear down and fail; eventually, Security staff transport the remaining contents of the on-site Armory to the Engineering Bay, setting up a field hospital and using the department's proximity to the Ragnarok's Medbay to quickly transport captured thralls for surgery. Despite still retaining the ability to strike out from these two departments for a few hours afterwards, non-thralled staff are eventually reduced to erecting improvised barricades and barriers, and fending off repeated assaults from thralled personnel; this included the usage of several high-powered floodlight units, and a complete barricading of the maintenance tunnels that linked Engineering to Medbay, which were a focal point for U-P's direct assaults, and served as the "field headquarters" for CoS Lean for the duration of his namesake event. Due to the dwindling number of active, loyal staff members, CoS Lean orders that all captured thralls be given a Mindshield Implant after surgery, in a desperate bid to stymie further subversion; records indicate that application of the implant, while useless at halting the thralling process itself, provided individuals with the ability to resist U-P's calls over the radio. Eventually, after 24 hours of active siege, CoS Lean and Captain Smith, together with Hispania-9, storm the Bridge, capture three thralls and severely injure U-P; however, the main purpose of the raid had been to reestablish communications with the NAS Peabody. Immediately after this is done, a short briefing is provided, and a request for emergency aid is sent. The NRV Humilitas is sent to tend to the wounded (thanks to its on-board teleportation suite), escorted by the NDV Sinister and NDV Tomahawk. Concurrently, Emergency Response Teams Scythia-1 and Britannia-15, two Red-Level ERTs, are activated, quickly followed by two more Red-Level Teams, Aegyptus-11 and Cartago-8, along with Gamma-Level ERTs Zeta-3, Beta-27 and Iota-50. At this moment, CEO Daniel Simmons declares the NSS Ragnarok "Priority Defense Epsilon", indicating it was to be defended at all costs, and only destroyed if all on-site personnel were dead and/or subverted. The siege had begun. Fighting continues aboard the Ragnarok over the course of the next two weeks, with the siege escalating until the remainder of the noted support vessels and associated facilities are involved. Improvised docking bays are constructed out of scaffolding and spare construction materials to allow smaller vessels to bypass the use of the standard docking bays, which had been lost to thralled personnel, and the field hospital constructed in Engineering is eventually expanded to include two relocated Surgical Operating Rooms in order to ensure the safety of valuable medical personnel. Simultaneously, several dozen shipments of Mindshield Implants are issued to the NSS Ragnarok, and CoS Lean issues a command for all dethralled personnel to be issued one after surgery is complete. Slowly, combined on-site and ERT forces begin to push back against U-P and subverted personnel, until the former is once again forced to retreat to the facility's maintenance tunnels, and NanoTrasen-loyal staff regain control of all vital areas of the station. Local command center is shifted to the Ragnarok's Bridge, and continuous communication is established with the NAS Peabody; due to the extended siege and amount of damage caused during it, as well as the extended duration of operations, Asset Protection Squad "Black Rose" is dispatched as an emergency measure. Approximately three hours after activation of "Black Rose", U-P is found, terminated, and its body cremated. The "Jack Lean" incident is unique in its scale, as it showed what even a single Xenos Umbra specimen was capable of; Dr. Pendleton was fully aware of not only the station's layout, but of all information gathered by NanoTrasen in their studies of the creatures, allowing them to act in hitherto unknown ways in order to confuse on-site Security forces, such as subtle brainwashing via radio, use of active siege warfare instead of quiet subversion, and somehow managing to avoid creating any of the electrical and power issues common in just about every other recorded instance of active infestations. This incident also cemented NanoTrasen's belief that Xenos Umbra specimens were parasitic lifeforms; Dr. Pendleton had been a respected NanoTrasen employee for close to thirty years before "Jack Lean", and never exhibited any traits associated with infection until the day of their transformation. Additionally, it conclusively proved that newly born specimens retained information known to their hosts, indicating a semi-symbiotic relationship between the two. It was also a turning point for company policy, not only in regards to information distribution, but also attitude towards the creatures: from that point forward, standing orders would be to fight off any infestation to the last possible moment, rather than eliminating infested locations preemptively before an Ascendance Event took place; which makes "Jack Lean" even more unique, as the Bluespace distortions recorded by long-range scanner arrays were on the level commonly associated with such Ascendance Events, and yet, no such one took place, seeming to indicate that Xenos Umbra specimens can voluntarily prevent such cataclysmic events from taking place; U-P appeared to want to break down the command structure via subverting the entire crew of the Ragnarok, and though Bluespace distortion levels were so high that at times they impeded long-range communication from even reaching the station, no such Ascendance happened, suggesting that, perhaps, the parasitic lifeforms are capable of independent, goal-directed behavior outside the standard observed path. This is extremely worrying, as U-P demonstrates that such specimens may very well eschew their Ascendance for the sake of psychological warfare on a grand scale. On a more positive note, "Jack Lean" also conclusively proved the effectiveness of Mindshield Implants at providing passive resistance to subtle, potentially Bluespace-influenced, brainwashing, though NanoTrasen has yet to develop a model that can resist the creation of the frontal lobe tumor associated with the process of "thralling". Further research is required. Signed, Quincy D. Huxley ENG LOG.