JEDI HoloNet

The Empire has once again stunned top galactic officials and military personnel with the official unveiling of the new standardized stormtrooper phase X armour. A user feedback program led by the Imperial Infantry Trials and Development Unit (IITDU) has driven a new initiative to upgrade from the phase XI armour. Moff Gyi, acting as the high general of the Imperial Army has overseen the development of the new Phase X stormtrooper armour. Phase X has already started rolling out at the start of the year and is set to gradually replace the Phase XI armour.

So far around 14,000 units of Phase X body armour, helmets and load-carrying systems have been issued to a number of units – including members of 1st Legion, 291st Legion & 501st Legion.

The new design of Phase X mainly combats the design flaws in XI’s complete set of eighteen components that encased the body. The Imperial Department of Military Research described the problems of the XI was that issues with manufacturing eighteen different components for a variety of humanoid and non-humanoid species put stress on manufacturers. In order to simplify things, designers place more emphasis on limiting the number of individual components that made up the armour, reducing the number from eighteen down to eleven.

Helmets of the Phase X program have also received an upgrade. Now equipped with a smoke filtration system and an external tank hook-up although the helmets can still not filter toxins. Aside from providing standard protection for the wearer’s head, the Phase X helmet will possess both communication and targeting systems for the foot soldiers, although quadnoculars will still be required for any enhanced imaging. In addition, will have contained polarized lenses and night vision, but lacked advanced imaging gear in order to keep the helmet’s weight down.

Moff Gyi commented saying:

“The entire process from receiving feedback, informing the developer ,trialling prototypes, manufacture and then fielding has taken 23 cycles, demonstrating a step change in support to front-line soldiers.”

Additionally Moff Gyi stated:

“Going forward the Stormtrooper Corps will be three times more effective than what it was, giving our soon to be True Emperor an excellent force able to quell any threats to Northern Space.”

More news to follow.

It’s a characteristically warm and sunny day in the Northwestern hemisphere of Manaan where I am at, the facility widely known as simply ‘The Archology’. It was designed as a three-way effort between the Jedi Order, Galactic Alliance, and the Order of Shasa to further biomedical research and advances.

This effort has been stymied in recent months by a series of detrimental events. Following a hostile incursion from a rogue element some months back attempting to illegally gather information about the top secret projects, the researchers of the facility have suffered another major setback.

Jedi Master Ari Tolen has been leading the development of an experimental treatment to combat the effects of Gyorbitz Disease, a degenerative neurological condition in which the subject’s mental functions begin to decay. One of Gyorbitz Disease’s first symptoms is memory loss. The team’s project was using a conjunction of mystic techniques and biocybernetic implants to create a Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) treatment to prevent, and restore, the loss of memories of a patient suffering from the disease.

Master Tolen’s team had made several successful preliminary tests on animal subjects of similar neurological makeup as the preliminary volunteer patients. Unfortunately, their first live test had some serious complications, the ultimate result of which was their first volunteer patient suffering from complete memory loss.

When asked about the dramatic turn of events, Master Tolen had this to say to the press:

[Patient’s name has been redacted] was well aware of the experimental nature of the procedure and consented to the risks. They were suffering from the later phases of Gyorbitz Disease, so the neurological pathways in their hippocampal region were already seriously decayed. It’s regrettable beyond words of what happened, as all of our previous simulations indicated an over 90% chance of success. We are still processing the data and looking for any evidence of what in our procedure malfunctioned to cause this result.

Other researchers have indicated any number of possible complications. Some doctors of the Galactic Alliance point to the inconsistency of mystic meditative restoration practices as a probable result while both the Jedi Order and Order of Shasa state that biocybernetic technologies are still in their infancy, and more pre-sentient troubleshooting for biological compatibility may be required.

No matter what element of this complex procedure went awry the results are the same and it has caused a stir amongst Archology investors as to the long-term profitability of the endeavour. One stakeholder has been reported as having expressed their concern about their shares in the funding. Should more setbacks occur, many are wondering about the financial security of the future of this shared facility.

Reporting from the blue planet, I’m Chryztal Merrone.