The Voidmover Crisis

Description

In 2080, a ship entitled “CLV Voidmover” was developed, under the direction of Arya Washington, the Director of Earth Operations, for the massive MegaCorporation, that comprised the largest drone-based defense contractor on the planet, HELIOS. This ship, a Corporate Living Vessel (CLV)-Class ship, had a maximum capacity of 60,000 individuals, living in total comfort. The ship itself was meant to function as a major headquarters for the HELIOS corporation, as well as provide living amenities for the 60,000 individuals living there.

Launching

Around 2082, the ship, after extensive drone-based construction, showcasing the full might of automated drone labor, was completed, and the ship was due to be launched that year. Various delays for reasons of corporate bureaucracy caused this launch to be delayed, much to the chagrin of Arya Washington, until the year 2083, roughly 9 months behind schedule.

HELIOS-SHINJUKU Merger

Around that same year, 2082, the HELIOS-SHINJUKU Merger took place, without it carrying much in the way of news coverage. Shinjuku’s under-the-radar means of operation, and general small scale, generally didn’t bring much attention, save for in mainland Japan, where The Shinjuku Clan was known to be operating in full-force, primarily in Shibuya, Shinjuku, and The Kyoto Lower Levels (//2118).

In conjunction with Shinjuku Clan’s operations in the Kyoto Lower Level, primarily spreading the Clan influence (The Clan, not The Corp,) the two representatives of Shinjuku Clan in the area, the Saiko-Komon’s Ni Tyoko and Ichi Tyoko, were contracted by Arya Washington into a blood-bound contract, in order to protect her life, in exchange for merging with Shinjuku Corporate into a massive conglomerate.

Blackmail

In return, Arya Washington would use her massive influence, in order to make Clan operations in the Kyoto Lower Levels, such as seizing power within the Corporate Police force, and a wide scale drug-route expansion operation - but not all went as planned. Numerous instances of alleged terrorism, criminal activity, and illegal use of force, soon came to light, tarnishing Arya’s reputation. After repeated compromising of secure systems, by the hacker ‘Crest,’ Arya garnered much attention, only to vanish from the Lower Level, after a major city-wide crack-down, in the area, by local Police Forces.

Aftermath

Some have alleged that Arya Washington was assassinated, some believe that she was simply “vanished” or moved to a new area. Regardless, no contact has been made with the Earth Operation’s director, and due to this, all systems under her control came to a complete, and utter halt. Quickly, things began to spin out of control. In the process of this, the Tyokos were freed from their contract, quickly retracting their merger, retreating from the deal in a way that caused an extreme rise in tensions, between the two forces.

It is not known if Shinjuku Clan, or Corporate knows what occurred with Arya’s situation - most of it has been lost to the fast-paced flow of information, and the sudden seizure of HELIOS by The Triumvirate, in Cascadia, expressing executive authority through their incredibly expansive powers, to take control over HELIOS, and break it into numerous pieces, some of which were absorbed by The Triumvirate, some of which were left to become their own corporations, such as Mauser-Krupp, and others to be retained by Shinjuku Corporate.

Effect on the Voidmover

In the process of this, ownership of The Voidmover was not decided upon. Due to this, The Voidmover itself has become a familiar symbol of corporate-bureaucratic limbo, or purgatory, with 60,000 men, women, and children now stranded in space. During the breakup of HELIOS, the launching/landing dock for The Voidmover, the only place in the world where the ship could launch or land from, due to its massive size, and proprietary systems, was disassembled, effectively stranding 60,000 of them in space.

By 2083, 5,000 high-ranking members of the now-defunct HELIOS corporation were evacuated by escape vessel, back to earth. In 2084, another 5,000 were evacuated. And again, in 2085, 5,000 more were evacuated, leaving 45,000 trapped in space, with very little communication between them, and the planet.

The communications situation with the ship itself has been closed off to the media. The ship is not connected to a SprawlROOT, and therefore, is not connected to SprawlNET. The Triumvirate currently maintains control of the onboard AI. Numerous movements across the world, and large-scale protests, in SprawlNET-enabled cities and countries took place, which were met with extreme force, in some cases, lethal force.

In the last two years, there has been no official word on the situation of The Voidmover. No official communications, and absolutely no press-coverage, whatsoever. A full media black-out of the situation has led to multiple intelligence agencies attempting to gain information from the enigmatic Triumvirate, to no avail. It is not known how many of the 45,000 are still alive, if they have enough supplies, if their life support is functioning, or what the general state is. Multiple space agencies have been able to visualize The Voidmover, which is either too far away to get a good picture of, or if the ship still has power. Attempting to launch satellites for reconnaissance of the situation has either been met with a bureaucratic shut-down, Triumvirate-dispatched raids on facilities, and in some-cases, immediate anti-aircraft missile-fire, to prevent any sort of satellite or drone, from entering the area.

The Voidmover Today

As of 2087, nothing has been expanded upon. Some individuals have alleged that Shinjuku Corporate or Shinjuku Clan may know of what occurred, though most representatives of both bodies have simply reported that “they do not know.” Some groups of individuals directly blame Shinjuku, for either Arya’s disappearance, or the entire Voidmover Crisis, sometimes both. While the fight for answers rages on, and claims of Shinjuku and/or The Triumvirate having “blood on their hands,” no definitive answer currently exists.