{{Infobox Book| title = The Huge Plasma Accelerator III
| name = The Huge Plasma Accelerator III
| sub_title = Tides of War
| image = [[image:LRC.gif]]
| image_caption = The Azure Sunset over Capitol
| author = Elite Fans
| country = UK/AUS/NZ/OTHER
| language = English
| series = [[The HPA Saga]]
| genre = Science Fiction
| publisher = [http://www.frontierastro.co.uk/FEU/feu.html FrontierAstro]
| release_date = 2007-
| media_type = Electronic
| pages = ??
| preceded_by = [[The Huge Plasma Accelerator|The Huge Plasma Accelerator 2]]
| followed_by = -
}}

'''''Reality''''' flooded back; he wasn’t going to get revenge. Not against them. Not if half the rumours he had heard in spacer bars were true. There was no hope in hell for him. They had unlimited resources, and he was just one man.

"I’m going to cut to the chase," said Frantic. "Our organisation wants to take INRA out."

-Book 1, The HPA3 Saga

== Description ==

After escaping from the battle of rocky fields, the battered '''Azure Sunset''' must find refuge and repairs, while her fragmented crew must come to terms with what they lost, and what lays ahead.

Elsewhere in the galaxy, Mack Winston is on a collision course with his past.

== Episodes ==

Click [[HPA3 Episodes|here]] for the latest HPA3 episodes, or check the [[#Links|links]] below

==Story Summary (SPOILERS)==

===Opening===

The '''Azure Sunset''' has limped to a drydock run by Frantic's secret organisation. Frantic indicates he wants to destroy INRA once and for all. But to do that, he needs an operational HPA.

de Havilland, Veruz and Emu set off for civilised space to find replacement parts, while Norman and Sam go looking for a replacement ship, as damage to the '''Sunset''' from its last battle was terminal.

===The Next Move===

The crew splits up, each with specific tasks:

[[Norman Mosser]] and Sam Kemper head for the New Rossyth Shipyards to bid for the decommisioned '''AJN Ajax''' and '''Repulse''' which are on sale. On the way, they have to make a few stops to cement their fake ID's.

de Havilland and Veruz take Emu back to her home in Beta Hydri before heading back to the now infamous Williamson Base for new parts for the damaged Huge Plasma Accelerator.

The rest of Norman's crew stay behind to repair the ship, but are they with friend or foe?

==Major Characters==

*Sam Kemper
Norman Mosser's right hand man. The two have been friends for many years and Sam has diligently followed Norman everywhere. After the failure at Fort Donalds(See the [[HPA1]]), Mosser began to doubt himself. Knowing that Mosser required a jump start, he jettisoned Norman in an escape capsule.

Sam was captured by Alliance Intelligence and interrogated for several months before escaping and meeting up with Mosser.

After the death of Annalise Berihn, Sam became withdrawn.

*Benzedrine Moore (DECEASED)
An Engineer and mechanic, Moore suffers from slight space madness and alcoholism. His brain is slowly deteriorating.

He was imprisoned on the '''Sunset''' by Kim Stenson. He was killed in the battle of rocky fields when the section the ship he was in was destroyed.

*Annalise Berihn (DECEASED)
A weapon loving lady, Annalise was from Diso and worked with her aunty Jannah on the Long Haul Outpost. Tall, seductive and dangerous, she has the complete package. She was killed by Kim Stenson during his flight from Norman Mosser.

*Roj Warfturn
This man is worth 250,000C to the Imperials. He survived the battle of rocky fields in good shape. He remains behind on the '''Sunset''' while a new ship and HPA parts are found.

Wafturn runs engineering on the '''Sunset'''.

*John Anders
He remains behind on the '''Sunset''' while a new ship and HPA parts are found. Anders was an electrician by trade before joining Mosser's crew. He is the most stable of the crew.

*'Lucky' Wal
He remains behind on the '''Sunset''' while a new ship and HPA parts are found.

Lucky mans the astrogation and sensor stations on the '''Sunset'''.

*Frantic
Less a member of Mosser's team than an equal that often works with him. Mosser's and Frantic's friendship goes back many years. Each has their own secrets, but they often have common goals and work together.

Frantic takes command of the '''Sunset''' once it arrives in his drydock. He has schemes for the HPA and needs the help of Mosser and his crew.

*de Havilland
Discovered who the mysterious enemy were. To defeat [[INRA]], he has to go back to inhabited space to source replacement parts for the damaged HPA

With Maegil's death, he finds himself drawing closer to Emu, though something inside holds him back, knowing it is wrong.

*Michael Veruz
Is reassesing his career options as his eyes are opened to a new life of running from the law.

*Cmdr Maegil
Flew his ship, the Tenchu in the battle of rocky fields. Lead the Spartacus Brotherhood from near defeat to victory over the Imperials before his ship was destroyed

*Emu
Watches her boyfriend die in the battle of rocky fields. Heartbroken and lonely, she find solace in de Havilland, but she still grieves for her lost man.

*Kim Stenson
After his ambush goes horribly wrong on the '''Sunset''', he decides to escape. This too goes wrong. He loses consciousness as his ship goes out of control. He wakes up a prisoner in some unknown place.

== Links ==

[http://www.frontierastro.co.uk/FEU/feu.html FrontierAstro] has Chapters 1-4 of the unfolding HPA3 drama in pdf and epub formats. Keep checking back for the latest instalments...

[[Category:Fiction]]

The Huge Plasma Accelerator 2

2011-07-10T17:48:45Z

Steve: /* External Links */

{{Infobox Book| title = The Huge Plasma Accelerator II
| name = The Huge Plasma Accelerator II
| sub_title = Return of the Azure Sunset
| image = [[image:LRC.gif]]
| image_caption = The Azure Sunset over Capitol
| author = Elite Fans
| country = UK/AUS/NZ/OTHER
| language = English
| series = [[The HPA Saga]]
| genre = Science Fiction
| publisher = [http://www.frontierastro.co.uk/FEU/feu.html FrontierAstro]
| release_date = 2007
| media_type = Electronic
| pages = ??
| preceded_by = [[The Huge Plasma Accelerator|The Huge Plasma Accelerator 1]]
| followed_by = [[The Huge Plasma Accelerator 3]]
}}

'''''"I''''' lifted the object, feeling the ergonomic pistol grip in my hand. The delicately balanced trigger. The enormous
emitter array. The sheer balance of the weapon. The Vega Corp logo, and the ''Azure Sunset'' sigil etched into the
deep blue metal. The sender hadn't needed to sign it. The exquisite vellum and the fact that the object was a brand
new Deathwreaker II had the trademark of Norman Mosser stamped all over it."

-Mack Winston - Book 1 of the HPA2 Saga

== Description ==
A fan-fiction story set in the FFE universe, around the year 3309. It is a couple of years after the Azure Sunset debacle at Fort Donalds. Mack Winston is on the run, with an Imperial Princess. Norman has returned from his search for Raxxla. He wants the Azure Sunset. As events start to ripple across the cosmos, other characters become unwittingly involved in events.

The HPA2 Saga ended in September, 2007. The HPA3 Saga continues the story of the '''Azure Sunset'''

== Participants ==
*[[Norman Mosser]] (and crew)
*[[Mack Winston]] (and Maria Hengist-Duval)
*[[Cmdr Maegil]] (and Emu)
*[[Vasquith de Havilland]] (and Michael Veruz)
*[[Kim Stenson]]
*[[The Spartacus Brotherhood]]

== The Azure Sunset ==
The Azure Sunset is a Long Range Cruiser, commissioned in 3294 as the 'Abrahams Son'. She served as a trading vessel until she was brought by an Imperial Royal and along with Norman Mosser turned into a weapon: A platform for the Huge Plasma Accelerator. The weapon was assembled in secret, the entire ship turned into a fortress for Mosser.
The Azure Sunset was designed for a single purpose, but she failed in her mission and was lost in the depths of space. Many years later, after Norman had returned, ego and all, he sought out to reclaim her. As several Mosser clones had been activated, several avenues were exposed, but in the end, Mosser discovered a man named Vasquith de Havilland who had seen the ship and knew where she would be at any given time. The two teamed up and found their way to the ship.

The front third of the ship is taken up with the HPA, while the rest of the ship is utilitarian. There is a medical centre which serves as a clone depository for Mosser, in case he has any 'accidents'.

The ships superstructure was weakened when it was pulled from hyperspace as it fled the Achernar system. The ship was never fully repaired and remains in a weakened condition. The engines had increased safety margins installed to reduce the stresses on the ship.

== The Story (SPOILERS) ==

=== Opening Gambit ===

'''[[Vasquith de Havilland|de Havilland]]''' and Veruz discover, by accident, the location of the Azure Sunset. He is attacked by unknown aggresors and flees inside the ship where he learns every location the Azure Sunset will hyperspace jump to. After a brief battle onboard the Azure Sunset, de Havilland and Veruz escape in a borrowed Krait, which they take to the AAAI shipyards where de Havilland used to work. They decrypt the hyperspace coordiates of the Azure Sunset and as the city gets attacked by bounty hunters, they escape in a modified Saker Mk III with a Nano Plasma Accelerator. they set up a meeting with Norman Mosser and unwittingly become a part of his crew.

'''[[Kim Stenson|Stenson]]''' gets a notification of an Imperial Courier (Normans type of ship) was attacked by an Interpol patrol. He puts the clues together and goes hunting for more information in Reidquat. He is attacked by a group of heavies, but survives. His clues take him to Alioth where he sees the escaping Saker mk III. he flies to Reidquat and watches de Havilland interact with Norman then follows them through hyperspace...

'''[[Mack Winston|Winston]]''' knows that everyone wants to kill him. Then Norman offers him a job. to kill Norman. Not himself naturally, just the other two of his clones wandering about. Mack takes the job as the money would go along way to salvaging some kind of a life from the wreck he currently endures. He kills one Norman and wounds another, but it manages to get away. Winston is captured my Maegil and taken on as his Apprentice.

'''[[Norman Mosser|Mosser]]''' wants the Azure Sunset. Initially, he works together with his two other clones to retrieve it, but things become untenable and each Mosser tries to hire Mack Winston to kill the others. Two Mossers go to Earth, where one is killed, while the other teams up with Maegil where he gets the coordinates for the Azure Sunset and gets a proposition to join the Spartacus Brotherhood. the original Mosser, meanwhile, heads to Reidquat where he meets up with de Havilland and Veruz. together, they travel to the then current location of the AZ, only to get attacked by the mysterious forces. They escape and form plans to meet at a small, inhabited system...

'''[[CMDR Maegil|Maegil]]''' an Federation ex-special forces officer, currently a Black-Ops undercover agent. He has a distinct and often conflicting set of morals, and wishes to teach this to a young upstart named Mack Winston, also wants to recruit Norman Mosser to his anti-slavery group known as the Spartacus Brotherhood. He had a girlfriend named Emu, who he travels with.

'''[[The Spartacus Brotherhood]]''' is an ex-slaves organization that created a semi-legitimate government and sent an ultimatum to every slavist government or system. Some think they are but brigands, but they keep military discipline in their ranks and won't plunder or murder; instead they have forsaken revenge in favour of justice and fight strictly according to the laws of war. Some of their actions until now include patrolling slavist systems and boarding ships suspected of carrying slaves (apreending them if they are), raiding starports to free slaves and invading the Quexce system to force the local government to abolish slavery. However, some of their actions were (intentionally or not) ham-handed, nearly driving the Federation and the Empire to full-scale war twice so far.

=== Showdown at Sunset ===
All the major players found their own way to the Azure Sunset, aloft in the Ioenin system: Norman and Sam flew with de Havilland and Veruz aboard their Stealthed AAAI Shipyards Saker Mk III. [[CMDR Maegil|Maegil]] and [[Mack Winston|Winston]] via Maegils Asp. Another Norman used another Normans Imperial Courier, but was ultimately killed in the enusing chaos. A series of showdowns encased the ship as the players tried to assert dominance over the others. A standoff was narrowly averted with Maegil being seriously wounded and his computer virus shutting down the auto destruct.

Now Normans crew are in charge of the Azure Sunset. All that stands in their way is an entire ship of defunct systems and a lone Interpol agent...

Meanwhile, [[Mack Winston]] leaves the ''Azure Sunset'' to find some vengeance for the death of his love.

=== Battle of Rocky Fields ===
But little do they know that someone behind the scene is pulling the strings, manoeuvring the Federation and Imperial fleets into a collision with the ''Azure Sunset'' and the [[Spartacus Brotherhood]].

The battles becomes a massive, three-way affair with no holds barred. Each group has objectives and secret instructions. the ''Azure Sunset'' just wants to escape.

On the other side of the known galaxy, [[Mack Winston|Mack]] travels to the Empire to find Maria's father. the two collude to assasinate the man responsible for Maria's death. Mack goes to assasinate the man but finds him already dead and himself framed. He leaves with a lady claiming to help him, but who puts him to sleep.

=== Aftermath ===
Mack awakes to find himself imprisoned by Alliance Security. He has two options: Spill the beans on everything related to the ''Azure Sunset'' or rot in prison with a damaged brain. He agrees to a new life and is about to move on when his presumed dead parents are found in statis.

Meanwhile, the crew of the ''Azure Sunset'' face an even greater challenge. They may have survived, but at great cost: The ship was seriously damaged. More importantly, one of the crew, Moore is missing. No one knows that a lone interpol agent still stalks the corridors of the ''Sunset''...

== Mosser's Crew ==

Although many of Mosser's legendary missions involved him alone, as his schemes grew, his need for hired help grew. His crew has chopped and changed over the years, but during the HPA2 saga, Mosser's crew includes the following people:

*'''Sam Kemper'''
Norman Mosser's right hand man. The two have been friends for many years and Sam has diligently followed Norman everywhere. After the failure at Fort Donalds, Mosser grew doubts and Sam jettisoned him in an escape capsule to jump start him again. Unfortunately he was captured by Alliance Intelligence before he could reclaim Mosser.

He escaped somehow and managed to meet up with Mosser on a distant planet, after Mosser had returned from Raxxla.

*'''Benzedrine Moore'''
An Engineer and mechanic, Moore suffers from slight space madness and alcoholism. His brain is slowly deteriorating.

*'''Annalise Berihn'''
A weapon loving lady, Annalise is from Diso and has worked with her aunty Jannah on the Long Haul Outpost. Tall, seductive and dangerous, she has the complete package.

*'''Roj Warfturn'''
This man is worth 250,000C to the Imperials.

*'''John Anders'''

*''''Lucky' Wal'''

*'''[[Frantic]]'''
Less a member of Mosser's team than an equal that often works with him. Mosser's and Frantic's friendship goes back many years. Each has their own secrets, but they often have common goals and work together.

== Weapons of the Saga ==
===Federal Marines - Special Issue Carbine===
Based on the civilian Laser Carbine, the Special Issue was repowered by the Armonitions Corporation. the resulting laser pulse is shorter, but has a higher energy level and a faster refire rate. The recoil is almost completely compensated for. A folding stock and a more utilitarian look gives the Special Issue an almost spectral look. It is cheap and lightweight, but easily damaged and no good as a bludgeoning weapon. The barrel especially is prone to damage.

===L&F Detective Special===
The Lance and Ferman Detective Special is a small, lightweight laser pistol with an average power output of 1 kilo-watt. Its small stature belies a robust weapon that will work in all environments. It is a discreet weapon that can be easily hidden, a must for detectives on the beat. Although not prone to malfunction, such an event is usually disastrous to the weapon. The main drawback of the Detective Special is the low power output.

===Colt .45 "Peace maker"===
The Colt Single Action Army handgun, also known as the Colt Peacemaker or Single Action Army, is a single action revolver holding 6 rounds of ammunition. It was designed for the US cavalry by Colt's Manufacturing Company and adopted in 1873, and it was perhaps the most prolific pistol in the wild west.

===CCH "Ambassador"===
In 2056, Churchill Combine Houver produced a weapon they called the "Ambassador". A stepping stone between the traditional pistol of the 20th century and the true railguns of the 22nd century, the "Ambassador" was a true hybrid, combining the chemical power of a bullet with the electrical power of a railgun. A new, smaller bullet was produced, which fitted into a large magazine. Although fired like a normal bullet, magnetism was used in reloading, allowing a simpler, cheaper gun, but also a dangerously high refire rate. the same Magnetism suite was used to give Molecular spin to the bullets. The nanoscale vibrations allowed deeper penetration of the target, including Spectra and High Powerered Body armour.

===Colt "Diplomat"===
Favoured by special forces in all the major militaries, the "Diplomat" is a simple, but powerful weapon. It forgoes style and class for functionality. the resulting weapon looks like it was birthed in a junkyard, but packs a large enough punch to rival the Deathwrecker. The laser focusing and emitting crystal is the only high tech component, giving unparalled accuracy. The Diplomat can be dropped, kicked, compacted, shot at and detonated, and will keep working. Despite the simplistic design, the cost of the "Diplomat" is high. the weapon is also unfriendly to the user in terms of recoil and hand damage; there is no heat dissipation componentry, although some can be brought after market.

===L&F Inspector Special===
Lance and Ferman took the famously reliable "Detective Special" and threw some more money at it. They wanted a more upmarket weapon that was as successful as the Detective, but looked great and worked better. The resulting weapon was creatively labelled the "Inspector". Although the accuracy and looks were improved, the cost also increased, alienating loyal customers. The Inspector continues to sell, despite its only moderate success.

==="Winter Moon" katana and the "Little Moon" wakizashi===
A diamond-edged duralium 'daisho' (Japanese: 'large and small') given to Maegil by his Sensei, Emu's father. It incorporates the japanese swordmaking concept of a hard cutting edge sheated in a softer, shock absorving material to prevent shattering.

===Ingram 350===
The preferred Federal Special Forces assault rifle, also adopted by the Spartacus Brotherhood Marines.
Its standard version has a medium powered fast rate of fire, good against soft armour or massed opponents, but has a power regulator that can be set for a slower, 350KW shield piercing output. Its modular design can be converted to a carbine, a sniper rifle or an infantry support weapon and back in a moment's notice just by exchanging its modules, making it an excellent all-round weapon. Its downsides are the the '350 is rather heavy weighted on some configurations and is definitevely not a cheap weapon.

===GVG===
Gratuitous Violence Gun, the Imperial Army mainstream assault rifle. In an attempt to level its poorly trained conscript forces with the Federation's shielded professional soldiers, the Empire created a sturdy weapon that substituted marksmanship for sheer destructiveness. Very powerful, it has an incorporated plasma granade launcher. Even with government-manipulated production prices, the only reason the Empire can afford these weapons as mainstream is that they usually outlast the soldiers...

===Vega Corp Deathwrecker Mk I===
A weapon designed to wreck death and destruction, regardless of consequences. The deathwreaker is actually a hand held micro laser cannon, sacrificing minor things as heat exchangers, safety norms and core radiation shielding, for capacitors and yet more capacitors... 200 million were released on the market before Vega corp. was forced to stop its production on account of the law suits for personal and genetic damage, but even so it's still in demand on grittier systems. Of course, the only places you can walk around with one without being stopped by the police is where battle weapons are legal, or there's no police at all...
It huge blast in a small package has another price: a power cell has capacity to fire only five times before reloading, and the lack of heat exchanger forces for a long refire time to prevent overheating.

===Vega Corp Deathwrecker Mk II===
With exquisite Achenar-style design, 15% more blast and 8% larger power cells, it can go up to 300!KW, but it also incorporates a regulation swich that reduces its power and increases the power cell life. Unfortunately, the Vega corp still wasn't able to include shielding on it and keep it a hand gun, so they added a legal disclaimer on the bottom of grip; basically it states in legalese that on carrying or firing the weapon, the user acknowleges and accepts its hazards. To read it, one just needs a lawyer and a electron sweep microscope (not included, Cr1499+tax).
The psychos who disable the safety interlocks usually find its 0.5MW 'sufficient' even for the most extreme uses... They also discover the meaning of 'severe radiation burns'.

===Vega Corp Deathwrecker Mk II - Mosser Special Edition===
The MK II with a platinum 'Azure Sunset' sigil and an exchangeable focusing and emitting crystal capable of burning the image of Norman Mosser up to 100m. Only 300 were made, and of those, many were bought by... Mosser!

== External Links ==
[http://hughesd.co.uk/elite/hpa2.asp Elite BTF] has a pdf version of the HPA and HPA2 (in progress) sagas, along with the "Past Prologue" compilations of what some of the participants did in the between.

[http://www.frontierastro.co.uk/FEU/feu.html FrontierAstro] offers a link to pdf versions of the HPA for download, and hosts complete pdf ''and'' epub versions of HPA2 & HP3, plus "Maiden Voyage" and "A Call To Duty" - stories involving some of the HPA characters in the lead up to HPA2.

[[Category:Fiction]]

File:90px-ClassicElite-IconBW.png

2010-07-16T20:55:50Z

Steve: uploaded a new version of "File:90px-ClassicElite-IconBW.png"

File:ClassicElite-IconBW.png

2010-07-16T20:55:08Z

Steve: uploaded a new version of "File:ClassicElite-IconBW.png"

File:90px-ClassicElite-IconBW.png

2010-07-16T20:52:41Z

Steve:

First Encounters

2010-07-05T16:09:33Z

Steve: /* Third party enhancements */

== Frontier: First Encounters ==

{{Infobox CVG| title = Frontier: First Encounters
|image = [[Image: FFE_small.jpg]]
|developer = [[Frontier Developments]]|
|publisher = [[Gametek]]
|version = 1.06 (Shareware)|
|released = Easter 1995 |
operating_system = Microsoft Windows|
|platforms = DOS Microsoft Windows (JJFFE)
}}

Frontier: First Encounters (most commonly abbreviated FFE) is the third game in the [[Elite]] Series by [[Frontier Developments]]. It builds substantially on its immediate predecessor [[Frontier]] and is currently the last word in canonical Elite.

The game was originally released early, under pressure from the publishers [[Gametek]], which led to an extremely buggy game. These problems were later fixed, and a fully patched version of this game (though still with some "broken" features) is available from the Elite Club [http://www.eliteclub.co.uk website].

Features include:

* [[Newtonian modelling]] for both ships and interstellar bodies.
* Fully modelled Stars and Planets (although certain systems can still crash the game)
* [[FFE Ships|Ships]] from both its predecessors, as well as some new ships.
* A set of [[First Encounters/Journals|journals]] representing the news as seen by each of the major powers. Many clues to the hard-coded [[First Encounters/Missions|missions]] can be found within these journals.
* An overall [[First Encounters/Missions|plotline]], which can be affected by the player completing the hard-coded [[First Encounters/Missions|missions]]. Not being mandatory, this can be ignored by players who prefer the freeform nature of the game, or can be completed for fame, notoriety and substantial material rewards.
* A series of [[FFE Videos|videos]] of people on the BBS requesting the randomly determined missions. These are renowned for their bad acting, and are not considered an essential part of the FFE experience.

== Third party enhancements ==

The overall popularity of First Encounters was greatly increased by the release of John Jordan's [[JJFFE]], which allows First Encounters to be run natively in windows.

During the summer of 2006, Kolijoco released a version of JJFFE called [[GLFFE]], which uses an OpenGL 2.0 renderer, and includes new control console graphics - allowing FFE to be played in high resolution full screen.

[[Nic's Mod]] lowers the GLFFE's requirement from OpenGL 2.0 to OpenGL 1.2 and introduces some useful features, including a doubling of all planet resolutions.

Most recently, another refinement of FFE known as [[FFE D3D]] has emerged onto the scene, featuring considerably improved graphics while still remaining faithful to the original game.

=== Subcategories ===

* [[First Encounters/Missions|Missions]]
* [[First Encounters/Ships|Ships]]
* [[First Encounters/Journals|Journals]]
* [[First Encounters/Characters|Characters]]
* [[First Encounters/Equipment|Equipment]]
* [[FFE Videos|Videos]]

=== Additional Information ===

*[[AFE_FAQ3#3.23.29|FFE entry from copy of Alt.Fan.Elite FAQ]]
*[[Timeline]] Timeline of events that happen in the Game.
*[[Frontier Fiction|Fan fiction]] set in the Frontier universe]]

[[Category:FFE]] [[Category:Factual]]

Gazetteer

2010-05-31T18:46:32Z

Steve: Fixed broken links

A small booklet suplied with the Frontier Elite2 game. It features touristic highlights and additional background information on several interesting systems.

== Gazetteer Introduction ==
This gazetteer of selected worlds has been compiled for [[Faulcon de Lacy]] by Darlitz, the makers of the well known pocket holliday guides. The principle contributor was our correspondent [[David Massey]] whose tireless travelling made it possible for so many planets to be described. Such was the tight schedule for writing this gazetteer his three assistents, [[Kathy Dickinson]], [[David Braben]] and [[Ian Bell]] were called upon to contribute some of its contents. It serves as a brief introduction for the avid traveller or a source of dreams for the sedentary explorer. The [[Sol]] System is described first because of its historical importance along with the System of [[Achenar]]. Both have headquarters of the main players in the competition for galactic rule, the [[Federation]] and the [[Empire]]. To aid the reader, we have included a brief history of the early part of mankind's quest.

== External Links ==
[http://www.frontierastro.co.uk/Gazetteer/intro.html Gazetteer]

[http://www.lotf.co.uk/lib.shtml Stories of Life on the Frontier]

{{Stub}}

[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:FE2]]

User:Steve

2010-05-01T11:17:48Z

Steve: Getting into Oolite :-)

Steve is the webmaster of [http://www.frontierastro.co.uk FrontierAstro].

He first tasted The Elite Experience through the BBC (tape) version in 1984 but feels that the genre reached its heights with the release of the Frontier games in the mid-1990's.

He is unable to spend as much time as he would like on Elite and Frontier these days, owing to numerous family commitments, but still enjoys a blast on First Encounters - especially [[FFE_D3D|FFE D3D]] - whenever possible.

Somewhat belatedly, Steve has started a new Commander in [[Oolite_Main_Page|Oolite]], a game he can enjoy playing now he has changed the keyboard to a Frontier style of ship control.

Ray Mk.I

2010-04-30T18:11:23Z

Steve: Sorry, but "it's" is a contraction of "it is" :-/

{{Infobox ShipStats Oolite| title=Ray Mark I
|image = [[Image:Commie-People's_Police.png|250px]]
|dimensions = 41 x 11 x 47
|capacity = 4 TC
|gunmounts = Fore
|maxspeed = 0.40 LM
|maneuverability = Roll: 2.80 Pitch: 2.10
|energybanks = 4
|milshields = Available
|shieldboost = Available
|hyperspace = Yes
|isoxp = OXP
|isplayer = No
}}
==Background==

The Communist States are infamous in their isolationist stance towards what they see as the 'Corruption of the masses by the powers of Capitalism' to the point that they all but deny GalCop the right to have a presence in their system space. However, the Communist Party leaders acknowledge the necessary evil of allowing a space station in orbit so that traders from other worlds and governments can arrive and trade without disturbing the happiness of the good Communist citizens and polluting their minds with the seeds of doubt and dissention. With only the ability to maintain a space station, galCop is unable to carry out their mandate to ensure the safety of the spacelanes for travellers and traders.

==The Perfect Solution==
Seeing that their spacelanes were rapidly becoming havens for pirates and other malcontents, the Communist leaders quickly decided they needed a presence in the skies above their planets. To this end, the greatest scientific minds were immediately gathered and they began designing a multi-role military vessel that had to fulfil several criteria, it had to be quick, small, powerful and usable by even the most mediocre pilot while also satisfying a meagre budget. The result was the Ray Mark I. It fulfilled all its design briefs, since the developers knew that failure in even one of those criteria would result in a lifetime in the Astromines. The final model was a simple modular hull which could be turned out in its thousands in even the lowest tech systems and then adapted for whatever purpose it was required for. Its design even included a basic Fuel Scoop and tiny cargo bay to allow the pilot to scoop and arrest the escape pods of offenders.

==The Battle for the Spacelanes==
The first ships were turned over to young pilots who had received basic flight training and were tasked with patrolling the spacelanes between the planets and the Witchpoint Beacons and the systems' stars. The battles between the fledgeling pilots and the pirates that had established themselves were brutal and at first one-sided, the pirates' superior skill reaping a grim toll on the Communist fighters. But the powerful machine which was Communist industry and manpower was not to be underestimated and the pirates soon saw a vast increase in the number of Rays attacking them. When the Rays first attacked, the ratios were 2:1 in favour of the Communist ships, odds that even the least experienced pirate could handle, but the odd rapidly shifted to 5:1, then 10:1 and on one occasion, a pirate surrendering himself to GalCop Vipers after escaping a Communist system reported odds of 30:1 when a massed Ray fleet descended upon his Rock Hermit base.

==The People's Police==
With numerical superiority came an increase in skill and soon the surviving Ray pilots were banded into a People's Police, tasked with protecting the spacelanes from those who would seek to destabilise their ordered society. GalCop, seeing a greater erosion of their power, lodged bitter complaints against the Communist Governments, but hastily withdrew them when the Communists threatened to withdraw from GalCop and form their own Communist superstate. With their spacelanes secure, the Communists began to exploit their systems' resources, building [[CZGF|Collective Zero-Gravity Factories]] and the advanced [[SLAPU|Solar Laboratory And Production Units]] to take advantage of solar power and [[Astro_Mines|Asteroid Mines]] to utilise the great numbers of convicted prisoners wasting resources and space in prisons.

==The Thought Police==
[[Image:Commie-NeuroPol.png|right|thumb|250px|The sinister NeuroPol at work]]
The Thought Police (NeuroPol) were a shadowy network of hardcore Communist activists who worked within the system rooting out those who professed anything but 'True Red' sentiments in Commie systems and made sure they 'vanished' or suffered unfortunate 'accidents' involving Polonium-210. Many a pro-Socialist activist has heard the knock on the door and been taken away by two men in long black coats and peak caps, never to be seen or heard of again.

After the well-publicised success of the People's Police, NeuroPol approached the Communist Party and through impassioned pleas regarding the dangers of contact between the People's Police and the subversive influences of traders from other systems, secured themselves a fleet of Rays so that they could monitor the spacelanes and firmly rebuke the decadent followers of Capitalism with good honest Communist doctrine.

==The Communist Military==
{{Infobox ShipStats Oolite| title=Military Ray
|image = [[Image:Commie-Ray.png|250px]]
|dimensions = 41 x 11 x 47
|capacity = 0 TC
|gunmounts = Fore
|maxspeed = 0.43 LM
|maneuverability = Roll: 2.80 Pitch: 2.10
|energybanks = 6
|milshields = Available
|shieldboost = Available
|hyperspace = Yes
|isoxp = OXP
|isplayer = No
}}
The Communist Military also use the ubiquitous Ray, patrolling extra-systemic space to counter the threat of Thargoid attack. Their Rays tend to be upgraded with advanced weapons and systems and crewed by highly-trained Spetsnaz pilots, they are more than a match for most experienced pilots and, when deployed in numbers, are a dangerous proposition for even Elite-rated spacers. It is perhaps with some satisfaction that the Premiers of the Communist States can rest easier in their beds knowing that the regions of space beyond their Witchpoint Beacons are well watched and that that the watchers are trained to fight to the death before dishonouring their planet and training. It is this 'Death or Victory' attitude that encouraged the Party Commissars to assign Military Rays to their [[Sturgeon_Mk.I|Commissariat Limousine]] escort details, knowing full well that the pilots would fight and die against even overwhelming odds rather than fail in their assignments.

==Download page==
This ship is part of the Commies.oxp Expansion pack for Oolite. To get this expansion, [[Commies|''click here'']].

Elite Wiki:Current events

2010-04-03T13:58:50Z

Steve:

Want to submit news? Please see the [[News Submission Guidelines]] on how to do this.

== B.U.F.F.E.T. version 2 released ==

A new version of B.U.F.F.E.T. (Big Universal Frontier First Encounters Trainer) has been released by whertz. It boasts numerous new features, including a ship manipulator, ship replacement editor and much more.

Download the new version from [http://www.spacesimcentral.com/downloads.php?view=detail&df_id=268 here]

[[User:Steve|Steve]] 14:58, 03 April 2010 (BST)

== Robert Holdstock 1948-2009 ==

The sad news has emerged that Robert Holdstock - author of the Elite novella The Dark Wheel - has died in hospital at the age of 61.

Full story [http://robertholdstock.com/ here]

[[User:Steve|Steve]] 22:15, 29 November 2009 (GMT)

== Elite - 25th Anniversary ==

It's now a quarter of a century since David Braben and Ian Bell changed the face of computer gaming with the release of Elite on the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron.

Frontier Developments have launched a [http://elite.frontier.co.uk/ 25th Anniversary Website] to celebrate.

[[User:Steve|Steve]] 16:25, 21 September 2009 (BST)

== New dev release of Oolite ==

1.72 is now out for Mac OS X, Linux and Windows. You can get your fresh copy of Oolite from [http://www.oolite.org oolite.org] now.

[[User:Winston|Winston]] 15:03, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

== Elite on TV ==

On the 22nd August a programme was broadcast in the UK all about the creation of Elite, including interviews with its two inventors - David Braben and Ian Bell.

If you missed it you can watch it [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=38455283567435786 here]

[[User:Steve|Steve]] 20:57, 2 September 2008 (BST)

== Ulite, version 4 ==

[[Ulite]], the German web based game inspired by Frontier First Encounters is having a major revision on the 5th of May, with version 4 of the game. The game is available in English as well as German. At present, no information on what the update contains. The game can be found at http://www.ulite.de

[[User:Winston|Winston]] 14:01, 24 April 2008 (BST)

== New Oolite test release - 1.71 ==

A new Oolite test release is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. There are many updates and bug fixes - see Ahruman's post here: [http://www.aegidian.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4487] . You can download a new package for all platforms from [http://oolite-linux.berlios.de|the BerliOS project page], as an exe installer for Windows, a Linux autopackage, or a Mac OSX .dmg (there are also updaters available; see the appropriate forum on the [http://aegidian.org/bb|Oolite Bulletin Board] for information for your specific computer)

[[User:Winston|Winston]] 12:00, 23 April 2008 (BST)

== Braben on the Beeb ==

[[Simon Challands]] on [[alt.fan.elite]] spotted an article on the BBC, about the [[David Braben|Breadbin]] on the BBC Micro. It's an interesting read to Braben's opinion on the machine, and computing today. You can read it here - [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7305699.stm]

[[User:Winston|Winston]] 11:09, 31 March 2008 (BST)

== Braben's impression of the UK government's attitude to the games industry ==

On a link from Frontier's website, I noticed that David Braben has strongly criticised the British government's treatment of the UK game industry. In Gamespot, he's quoted as saying, "The government has made it very clear that it doesn't give a damn about the games industry." When asked to expand on his point, Braben told GameSpot that, "As an industry we have largely slipped between the cracks until now as far as government is concerned. Certainly as an industry, we have a low profile within government; there is a lack of appreciation of the size and revenue generated by our industry, and a similar lack of awareness of the issues we face."

You can read the full article here: [http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6183562.html]

[[User:Winston|Winston]] 11:02, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

== Older news ==

You can see older news by viewing the archive pages - see [[:Category:News]]

[[Category:News]]

Ian Bell

2010-01-02T18:02:51Z

2009-04-24T21:47:02Z

Steve: Made it easier to find info on the game itself

This category contains articles of relevance to Frontier: Elite 2 (FE2). This game was released in 1993 as a sequel to the original [[Classic_Elite|Elite]].

For information on the game, see the game's page, [[Frontier]].

User:Steve

2009-04-04T11:07:34Z

Steve: