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DaveIronside:




KING AWARDS HIGHEST MEDAL TO LEGIONNAIRES IN HIT SQUAD
The Palace have confirmed that today King David has meet, in person, with the members of Red Legion who were responsible for the operation that killed terrorist Kyle Barren. The King meet the men of Red Legion at their units HQ in Aldfield and presented each of them with the nations highest military honour, the Kings Medal. The awarding of these four medals now mean that the King has awarded five King's Medals during his lifetime, all of them to anonymous members of Red Legion. It was also confirmed that several members of the National Intelligence Agency who had sourced the information which allowed the strike to take place have been awarded the Moreland Cross which is avaliable only the civilians who have done things considered "inspirational to Morelanders". In a statement released following the King's visit to Red Legion HQ the monarch said, "I am exceptionally proud of the Legionnaires who undertook this operation. They have demonstrated exceptional skills and courage and are an example to every member of the armed forces in terms of what a well trained and dedicated Morelander can achieve. They however are only as good as the intelligence they are given and our hats must be raised to those members of the Intelligence Agency who were able to put these men in a position to carry out their mission. This nation, and the rest of Mundus, owes everyone involved a debt of thanks."

The Palace have also confirmed that the body of Kyle Barren, the self proclaimed "King of the Borlanders", has been dropped from a naval maritime patrol aircraft into "the deep ocean" however say they will not confirm the exact location nor even the body of water. The bodies of the other Borlanders killed during the attack, another six individuals, have been similarly disposed of in unconfirmed locations. A spokesman for the High Priestess of the Cult of Helus stated, "The Cult of Helus is very clear that the deeds we do in life shall determine our place in the afterlife. I am firmly convinced that Barren and all those that follow him will have no afterlife of worth, just that they shall now know the eternal pain and torment that they have caused."

DaveIronside:




KING HONOURS NAVIES LONGEST SERVING MEMBER
King David and his sister Princess Freya have today travelled to Ostlake to honour the nations longest serving member of the Royal East Moreland Naval Service. Petty Officer Bryan Charles joined the navy  as an 18 year old in 1976 as an engineer and served aboard ships until 1996 at which point he became part of the training establishment at Ostlake training the next generation of naval recruits. In 2003 he became the leading rating for the Maritime Engineering School at Ostlake and was often seconded to Portworth Royal Dockyards to consult on naval projects. In 2015 he was due to retire however the honourary post of Chief Post Master of the Navy became available and with almost unanimous backing from the leading ratings aboard each of the navies ships he was offered the role. The honourary position sees the now 66 year old welcome each ship returning to homebase with its mail as historically the holder was responsible for ensuring all postal communication was accounted for. Now the role is generally held by a member of the Navy "held in high regard by their fellow ship-mates and who serves as a first class example of naval discipline and order.". While the role is mainly symbolic the holder is given a small cottage at Ostlake and paid a small pension in addition to any other income they may have. Petty Officer Charles today celebrated the beginning of his 48th year in the Navy, setting a new record for a rating. The two royals attended a parade at Ostlake East where the crew of REMNS King David I, Bryan Charles' former ship, paraded alongside this years engineering recruits. The King and Princess presented the new recruits with their certificates of proficency meaning they have completed this section of their training before presenting the guest of honour with a model of the REMNS King David I along with the Queen's Medal which is awarded for "services to the monarchy above and beyond that expected of a Morelander." In addition the Mess Hall of the Ratings Mess in the Engineering School will now be known as the Petty Officer Charles Mess. Speaking at the ceremony the King stated, "I'm exceptionally proud to be here and present Bryan with this. He is a wonderful example of service and dedication. I have been coming to Ostlake for almost forty years and Bryan has been a fixture of those times, it is wonderful to see someone like him who clearly loves the Navy and his nation."

Following the award Petty Officer Charles said, "I have never wanted a career outside the Navy and even though my role may be symbolic I take great pride in it. To get a chance to welcome back home everyone who has gone to sea and been willing to sacrifice time with their family in service of our homeland is a great feeling. I've done hundreds of welcome home ceremonies and I've loved everyone of them. My hope is they let me carry on for a good few years yet." The 66 year old is quiet often seen rowing out to meet vessels as they return to Ostlake and the King and Petty Officer Charles later went for a row out to REMNS Portworth which is preparing to head to Bakkermaya.

Princess Freya presented Petty Officer Charles with a replica of the ships bell from REMNS King David I and added, "People like the Chief Petty Officer are the backbone of our wonderful armed forces. I'm honoured to have served in the same military as someone willing to give close to their entire life to serve their nation. As far as I am concerned Bryan should be permitted to stay in the Navy until he chooses to retire and when he finally does I for one will be pushing for a ship to be named after him. I'd like to place on record my thanks and that of East Moreland." Petty Officer Charles was also honoured by his favourite rugby team, Ostlake RUFC, who will make him their guest of honour at tomorrows league game against Keepton.

DaveIronside:




PRINCESS DEMANDS "CHIP ACT" KING KIND OF AGREES
A trip to a fast food restaurant is used by many parents as a reward for school success, good behaviour or a whole host of different reasons. The royal family is no different and with Princess Rhiannon recently scoring 100% in a school History test a trip to KFC was planned by her father. The trip however has sparked calls from the Princess for a change in legislation. The 11 year old Princess took a photo of her chips and posted it, with her father's permission, to Twitter with the caption "I work hard to get 100% but get 25% of the chips. Not fair. Dad needs to pass a law demanding better chip ratio" KFC later posted that the Princess was correct and that there should be more chips in a serving and would "remind our outlets of our standards." The incident was also referenced by the King himself when he visited the People's Council for an introduction of a proposed new law. The King spoke on what will be known as the "Microchip Security Act 2024" saying. "When I came here today I was under a great deal of pressure to put before you a very different chip act and while my daughter may be interested in the potato based ones I am much more concerned about the silicone ones but we both agree there needs to be more of them." The King went on to explain. "We've been amazed to see over the last decade that our nation has established ourselves as a leading high tech manufacturer and that requires microchips and other components. It is my intention that we will look to ensure that we have a reliable and secure supply of the required components. It is my intention that this law will make it a requirement that the Royal East Moreland Mineral Company (REMMC) be maintained in order to acquire the raw materials to manufacturer the components that we need , be that extracting them directly or by acquiring things such as mines or mining licences overseas. The nation will then maintain a set stockpile as a failsafe in case the need requires. So much of national security is now about cyber space and online that we must be as diligent securing it as we are the rest of our lands."

The People's Council seemed responsive to the proposal with Lucas Blakeslee, the Chief Councillor, saying "The act seems sensible and will promote our nations security, interests and economy. It will have my support in principle but naturally this is the first introduction of the proposal and we know that there will be many debates, discussions and meeting before any formal proposal is put before us for our advice." The Chief Councillor also spoke out on the Princess' proposal saying, "I would vote in favour of Princess Rhiannons proposal of course. I would also suggest that a trip to Annie's Burger Shack gives a much better chip to burger ratio."

Princess Rhiannon is due to head to Portworth for a week during the school holiday which begins on Friday. She is due to spend time with her mother Matilda Osman and has spoken of her excitement about learning to kite-surf. Restaurants across the Portworth region are keeping extra chips on standby.

DaveIronside:


SISTERHOOD CELEBRATE "2MILLION"

Today marked the first day of the Sisterhood of Helus first conference. The religion, considered by many to be an offshoot of the Cult of Helus, has been steadily growing over the last four years and as such its founder and High Priestess, Jinny Denman, organised a conference in Northfort to support the growing Priesthood, plan for future temple construction and allow the faithful to meet. The religion also announced that it has now got two million members however this is disputed by many. Opening the conference Jinny Denman addressed an estimated 800 members of the faith and said, "In just a short time many of you have come to realise the truth of what we are establishing. At first those of us who lead the vanguard were called cranks, morons, even troublemakers yet now we are seeing our numbers grow and grow every single day. This year we've just hit two million members of the Sisterhood, and thats just in East Moreland, we have handfuls in various other nations around the world too." In a statement later Denman explained that the number comes from the number of people who attended Temple during the Feasts dedicated to the Gods and then considered that many regions of East Moreland lack temples dedicated to the Sisterhood. While Denman puts the number of faithful at two million experts believe it is likely the faith have less than 1.5million members. The High Priestess also explained that she intends to try and expand that number in the coming year. "It is vital we do all we can to help educate those who don't follow the Sisterhood of Helus find out more about the religion and then we can welcome them. The dream is that one day the Cult of Helus is no more as they have all seen the light our faith involves."

The conference is lacking perhaps the most prominent member of the Sisterhood of Helus, Queen Stasya, who converted to the faith after moving to East Moreland. The Queen is currently visiting family in Lodja and had been joined by King David until the situation in Troyes had him recalled yesterday. Queen Stasya did however have a video message for those attending the conference saying "I'm delighted that we as a faith can now gather in such numbers to make important decisions. My role as Queen of East Moreland means I must help ensure the freedoms of religion for all within my husbands Kingdom however I obviously share Jinny's dreams. That is something I think I am not the best person to be involved, that falls to you all for you are the life blood of Helus." During the first day of talks it was revealed that the Sisterhood currently has assets worth around $300million, mainly due to donations from prominent members of the faith as well as gifts of land for constructions of temples. It was revealed that the first overseas temple, built in Semelberg is due to be completed within the next month and that two more foreign Temples should be constructed this year, one in Bakkermaya and one in Lodja. It is believed that these two locations can see some success as Bakkermaya has large numbers of followers of Helus meanwhile the appeal of a female deity who is a strong leader may appeal to some Lodjains.

Tomorrow the conference is expected to discuss matters relating to a further formulation of rules for the Priesthood.



EMAC AND PORTWORTH DOCKYARD COLLABORATE
The Ministry of Defence have today announced that they have given funding clearance to a project from the East Moreland Aircraft Company (EMAC) and Portworth Dockyard. The project, which has yet to be given a name, will see EMAC develop an unmanned amphibious plane capable of landing on water or utilising airfields. This part of a project may be considered relatively simple enough for a company with EMAC's track record however this project will have a rather unique capability. The project calls for the aircraft to be able to land, launch an unmanned underwater vehicle and then recovery it before taking off. The Kingdom's Minister of Defence, Sir Harry Samuelson stated "The project is one that at this time is focused on helping us maintain our systems designed to monitor the nations EEZ. Our military has utilised a range of unmanned technologies ranging from traditional air vehicles to our RoboGuard land vehicle. This aquatic role for such technology is perhaps a new pathway but it could be an interesting one. What we have in mind is the idea that several of these autonomous subs can be carried, the crew come round and release them at the edge of the EEZ and then almost like a week later come and pick them up and replace them. The project is in its infancy but we're hopeful of its coming to fruition quickly as the technologies already exist, its just finding ways of moulding them together." It is believed that while the system may at first be designed to patrol the EEZ it is likely that more offensive versions may be created in the years ahead. There is also oppurtunity for the system to be used to help special forces infiltrate hostile waters.

The amount given to the project has not been confirmed. 

DaveIronside:


"HOT DOG" FROM SMARTWAR

SmartWar have today released footage of one of their latest prototypes. The company that is based in Chamwick have been working on various robotic and autonomous systems for several years and today released a video showing a kind of four legged robotic device carrying a flame thrower. The device was explained by the companies CEO, Martin Dawson, who said. "We are working on a variety of products utilising the "dog" element of the project, everything ranging from medical evacuation to helping provide logistics support. One of the key military needs is the ability to move heavy weapons with small squads and clearly this is difficult for the men on the ground. We believe this, as of yet unnamed project, can solve that as it will be able to carry a variety of logistical loads and a remotely operated, or autonomous weapons system. For our demo we asked ourselves what is perhaps the most over the top system we could add and someone said flamethrower. As a result that's what we ended up with, I think it looks rather impressive."

It was however a civilian use that has potentially seen the most interest in the project. Rockhampton's Chief Fire Officer explained, "Every summer we end up having to establish spotters, patrols and various other methods to look for wildfires in the forests. We've talked for a while about utilising something like UAV's but often these don't see beneath the canopy. Its our belief we could potentially release several of these into the forest and they can wander around high risk and remote areas looking for danger. We could then utilise their flamethrowers to perhaps carry out controlled burns allowing us to ensure the safety of the woodland, the general public and private property. Its something I'll speak to Mr.Dawson about and we'll see what comes up."

The concept has however seen Minister of Defence, Sir Harry Samuelson, talk about his thoughts on "autonomous systems". "I will always back things that help our fighting men and women stay ahead of the opposition and I see a definite place for 99% of this technology. We sadly see that AI is, in many ways, replacing humans in many processes such as in the industrial markets. My fear is attempts will be made to remove humans from warfare and that's very dangerous. We've seen AI getting things wrong all the time, I mean they can't even draw a human hand without six fingers. If we are to take human life for a greater good the decisions to send that person to the great beyond can not be shirked, a human must take that responsibility." It is believed that Sir Harry is about to discuss his concerns with the monarch in the coming days.

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