{"data":{"id":18229,"title":"Law and Disorder: The Constant Fight for a Peaceful Empire","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/spectrum-dispatch\/18229-Law-And-Disorder-The-Constant-Fight-For-A-Peaceful-Empire","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/18229","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/18229","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"News Update","images":[{"id":26463,"name":"source.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/media.robertsspaceindustries.com\/weozjmuuh3hwh\/source.jpg","alt":"","size":843046,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2019-09-19T15:49:32+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463\/similar"},{"id":27727,"name":"CAD-ToW.png","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/kll1y7prbql3nr\/source\/CAD-ToW.png","alt":"","size":1727010,"mime_type":"image\/png","last_modified":"2021-04-29T21:04:28+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/27727","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/27727\/similar"},{"id":27892,"name":"source.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/media.robertsspaceindustries.com\/w3o9r4zgppm77\/source.jpg","alt":"","size":900916,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2021-09-06T14:48:40+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/27892","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/27892\/similar"}],"images_count":8,"translations":{"en_EN":"This article originally appeared in Jump Point 8.7.\nChapter 7: Calming the Crossroads of Crime\nThe events surrounding Kellar\u2019s Run shocked the Empire and embarrassed the Advocacy. The inability of the UEE\u2019s top law enforcement agency to stop one criminal from wreaking havoc across five systems transformed them into a punchline overnight. Vids of the dramatic chase flooded spectrum. Each portrayed the Advocacy as disorganized and unable to contain the chaos caused by a single, skilled pilot fleeing from enraged outlaws, opportunistic bounty hunters, angry civilians, and local law enforcement. The following day, Advocacy director Renzo Berlanga met with Imperator Mikkel Sheriden and offered his resignation. Imperator Sheriden wasted no time in asking, \u201cDo you want to be remembered as the director who let this happen, or the one who fixed it?\u201d\n\nBolstered by the Imperator\u2019s call to action, Director Berlanga instituted sweeping reforms that would affect the agency and the empire. He restructured existing operation teams by isolating and removing agents that weren\u2019t effective in the field, raised the Advocacy\u2019s enrollment standards, increased annual training requirements for all agents, established inter-system exercises, and more. Berlanga also had an extensive discussion with the Imperator about Nexus, the figurative and literal center of Kellar\u2019s Run. Following this discussion and others within the government, the UEE officially reclaimed Nexus in 2931 in an attempt to break up the cluster of unclaimed systems. Experts would ultimately credit these initiatives with positively reforming the Advocacy, but many of the practical effects would take time to manifest. Meanwhile, crime rates continued to rise through 2932 and 2933, with Nexus seeing one of the most significant spikes in illegal activity.\n\nBy 2934, Director Berlanga realized that systemic reforms could only go so far and a more focused approach would be needed to address specific issues in each system. First on his list was Nexus. Without any fanfare, he visited the system, met with Section Chief Alesia Mowry, and requested a tour. SC Mowry quickly assembled a small team for protection and took Director Berlanga on a \u2018safe\u2019 tour of the system.\n\n\u201cTen minutes into it he told me to cut the shit and show him what\u2019s really going on,\u201d recalled SC Mowry, \u201cso I took him to Nexus III. Once he saw how entrenched gangs were in old mining sites and underground facilities, he understood that more agents and better equipment weren\u2019t going to fix this.\u201d\n\nThus began an open and honest conversation between Director Berlanga and SC Mowry about how to bring law and order to the system. While the rise in crime rate statistics could be attributed in part to additional Advocacy field agents logging more arrests and incident reports, SC Mowry believed that these low-level arrests were actually serving to increase syndicate activity. With the majority of arrests being unaffiliated or low-level operators, small and medium-sized outlaw packs either consolidated or integrated themselves into bigger syndicates that could promise protection in numbers. One Advocacy source even claimed the Supreme, one of Nexus III\u2019s most notorious gangs, had almost doubled in size since 2932.\n\n\u201cI told the Director that we should enforce UEE laws, but do so strategically by targeting and focusing attention on prominent syndicates one-by-one. I figured that concentrating resources would be more effective and hopefully spread the word that the Advocacy meant business once it set its sights on you,\u201d recalled SC Mowry.\n\nDirector Berlanga agreed with the approach and extended his stay in Nexus to strategize. He considered several plans before deciding the Supreme\u2019s expanding influence made their headquarters on Nexus III a prime target for such a statement strike. Resources and agents from other systems made their way to Nexus and, in the early hours of July 24, 2934, launched with a search warrant listing a litany of crimes allegedly carried out by members of the syndicate. No one expected the Supreme to surrender quietly.\n\nWith Director Berlanga back at Advocacy headquarters, SC Mowry oversaw the operation from a command ship in orbit above Nexus III. Advocacy Tactical Team Leader Terrance Kemp snuck an advance team into the Supreme base to disable the facility\u2019s anti-aircraft turrets. After achieving their objective, they were discovered and engaged in a fierce firefight. Their success allowed Advocacy dropships to deploy more agents, as the Supreme rallied forces and mounted a vigorous defense. Meanwhile, Advocacy ships quickly abandoned their plan to attack the radar tower after the rapid arrival of Supreme ships and the deployment of an unexpected and extremely deadly weapon \u2014 an old orbital mining laser modified to defend the base.\n\nInside the facility, Advocacy agents slowly made their way through the darkened halls, running into resistance around every corner. The still active radar tower allowed Supreme forces to skillfully coordinate their response and control the weaponized mining laser. Tactical Team Leader Kemp believed the Supreme were orchestrating their operations from a command center inside the facility, and finding it became his primary objective.\n\n\u201cThere was no time to strategize. We were under constant harassment from a force defending their home turf,\u201d recalled Kemp. \u201cEventually, we reached an open, common area with several hallways branching off it. I was about to send agents down each one when I spotted something, a strange marking on the wall that looked like the Banu word for \u2018war\u2019.\u201d\n\nNext to this glyph was an arrow pointing down one of the hallways. Similar strange symbols were near each hallway entrance, but none reused that same shape language. Only after the attack did the Advocacy learn that the Supreme had created a unique set of symbols so those that couldn\u2019t read or speak standard could still navigate around the facility.\n\nKemp\u2019s familiarity with Banu paid off, as the hallway led to the war room where Supreme commanders were coordinating operations. Breaching the room proved to be a harrowing and costly endeavor for Advocacy forces, but following a fierce fight, they gained control of it, tipping the battle in their favor. Once the radar tower was destroyed and the mining laser taken offline, the surviving Supreme fighters fled. Kemp\u2019s team slowly and carefully cleared the facility, eliminating any remaining pockets of resistance. With their headquarters in Advocacy hands, the Supreme were effectively crushed. Surviving syndicate members would try to reconstitute the group over the years, but they were never again major players in the Nexus underworld.\n\nAlthough Director Berlanga was happy with the outcome, he was concerned about the high number of casualties. Still, he instructed SC Mowry to capitalize on this momentum and continue to clear out outlaws entrenched on Nexus III. Under SC Mowry\u2019s guidance, the Advocacy spent the next few years slowly reclaiming the planet. To ensure outlaws wouldn\u2019t flee only to return later, the Advocacy worked with the UEE military to bring in troops to hold the facility and establish their own base. Yet, not everything went smoothly. In 2935, outlaws displaced by the UEE\u2019s retaking of Nexus III perpetrated the horrific Walzer Massacre at OP Station Demien. The event shocked the Empire and hardened the Advocacy\u2019s resolve to bring law and order to the system.\n\nSC Mowry stewardship of the initiative earned her a promotion to Deputy Assistant Director and paved the way for her replacement, Section Chief Consuelo Ivery, to reclaim Nexus IV. Then politics intervened when scrutiny from a Senate subcommittee revealed how many credits were spent and Advocacy officers lost in reclaiming Nexus III. Senators questioned what was gained besides aging bases on an abandoned and resourceless planet and threatened to cut the Advocacy\u2019s budget if a similar brute force approach was taken on Nexus IV. Already under fire for the Skycap scandal where twenty of the agency\u2019s Avenger Titan Renegades disappeared only to end up in outlaw hands, Director Berlanga acquiesced to political pressure and stopped the plan to retake Nexus IV.\n\nThe failure to be able to fully secure Nexus IV has resulted in the system\u2019s strange security situation. Nexus III is accessible to military personnel only, while Nexus IV still has a strong outlaw presence and remains one of the more dangerous planets in the UEE. For some, the UEE\u2019s attempt to calm the crossroads of crime exemplifies its struggle to bring law and order to the Empire. Once one hotspot is stamped out, another immediately flares up.\n\nEXCERPT FROM LAW & DISORDER REPRINTED BY PERMISSION.\nCOPYRIGHT MERITUS PRESS","de_DE":"Dieser Artikel erschien urspr\u00fcnglich in Jump Point 8.7.\nKapitel 7: Beruhigung der Kreuzung des Verbrechens\nDie Ereignisse um Kellar's Run schockierten das Imperium und brachten die Advocacy in Verlegenheit. Die Unf\u00e4higkeit der obersten Strafverfolgungsbeh\u00f6rde des UEE, einen einzigen Kriminellen davon abzuhalten, in f\u00fcnf Systemen Chaos anzurichten, machte sie \u00fcber Nacht zur Pointe. Vids der dramatischen Verfolgungsjagd \u00fcberschwemmten das Spektrum. Jedes stellte die Advocacy als unorganisiert und unf\u00e4hig dar, das Chaos einzud\u00e4mmen, das ein einzelner, geschickter Pilot auf der Flucht vor w\u00fctenden Gesetzlosen, opportunistischen Kopfgeldj\u00e4gern, w\u00fctenden Zivilisten und den \u00f6rtlichen Strafverfolgungsbeh\u00f6rden verursacht hatte. Am n\u00e4chsten Tag traf sich der Direktor der Advocacy, Renzo Berlanga, mit Imperator Mikkel Sheriden und bot seinen R\u00fccktritt an. Imperator Sheriden verschwendete keine Zeit mit der Frage: \"Wollen Sie als der Direktor in Erinnerung bleiben, der dies geschehen lie\u00df, oder als derjenige, der es in Ordnung brachte?\"\n\nGest\u00e4rkt durch die Aufforderung des Imperators zum Handeln, leitete Direktor Berlanga weitreichende Reformen ein, die die Agentur und das Imperium betreffen sollten. Er restrukturierte die bestehenden Einsatzteams, indem er Agenten, die im Einsatz nicht effektiv waren, isolierte und entfernte, erh\u00f6hte die Zulassungsstandards der Advocacy, erh\u00f6hte die j\u00e4hrlichen Trainingsanforderungen f\u00fcr alle Agenten, etablierte system\u00fcbergreifende \u00dcbungen und mehr. Berlanga hatte auch eine ausf\u00fchrliche Diskussion mit dem Imperator \u00fcber Nexus, dem bildlichen und buchst\u00e4blichen Zentrum von Kellar's Run. Im Anschluss an diese Diskussion und andere innerhalb der Regierung forderte die UEE im Jahr 2931 Nexus offiziell zur\u00fcck, um die Ansammlung von nicht beanspruchten Systemen aufzul\u00f6sen. Experten w\u00fcrden diesen Initiativen letztendlich eine positive Reformierung der Advocacy zuschreiben, aber viele der praktischen Auswirkungen w\u00fcrden Zeit brauchen, um sich zu manifestieren. In der Zwischenzeit stiegen die Verbrechensraten in den Jahren 2932 und 2933 weiter an, wobei Nexus einen der bedeutendsten Anstiege der illegalen Aktivit\u00e4ten erlebte.\n\nIm Jahr 2934 erkannte Direktor Berlanga, dass systemische Reformen nur so weit gehen konnten und ein fokussierterer Ansatz erforderlich war, um spezifische Probleme in jedem System anzugehen. Der erste Punkt auf seiner Liste war Nexus. Ohne viel Aufhebens besuchte er das System, traf sich mit Sektionschefin Alesia Mowry und bat um eine F\u00fchrung. SC Mowry stellte schnell ein kleines Team zum Schutz zusammen und nahm Direktor Berlanga mit auf eine \"sichere\" Tour durch das System.\n\n\"Nach zehn Minuten sagte er mir, ich solle mit dem Schei\u00df aufh\u00f6ren und ihm zeigen, was wirklich los ist\", erinnert sich SC Mowry, \"also nahm ich ihn mit zu Nexus III. Als er sah, wie sehr sich die Gangs in alten Minen und unterirdischen Anlagen verschanzt hatten, verstand er, dass mehr Agenten und bessere Ausr\u00fcstung das Problem nicht l\u00f6sen w\u00fcrden.\"\n\nSo begann ein offenes und ehrliches Gespr\u00e4ch zwischen Direktor Berlanga und SC Mowry dar\u00fcber, wie man Recht und Ordnung in das System bringen k\u00f6nnte. W\u00e4hrend der Anstieg der Kriminalit\u00e4tsstatistiken zum Teil darauf zur\u00fcckzuf\u00fchren war, dass zus\u00e4tzliche Advocacy-Agenten vor Ort mehr Verhaftungen und Berichte \u00fcber Vorf\u00e4lle protokollierten, glaubte SC Mowry, dass diese Verhaftungen auf niedriger Ebene tats\u00e4chlich dazu dienten, die Aktivit\u00e4ten des Syndikats zu steigern. Da es sich bei der Mehrheit der Verhaftungen um unbeteiligte oder niedere Operatoren handelte, konsolidierten sich kleine und mittelgro\u00dfe Verbrecherpacks entweder oder schlossen sich gr\u00f6\u00dferen Syndikaten an, die Schutz in Zahlen versprechen konnten. Eine Advocacy-Quelle behauptete sogar, dass sich die Supreme, eine der ber\u00fcchtigtsten Banden von Nexus III, seit 2932 in ihrer Gr\u00f6\u00dfe fast verdoppelt habe.\n\n\"Ich habe dem Direktor gesagt, dass wir die UEE-Gesetze durchsetzen sollten, aber dies strategisch tun sollten, indem wir prominente Syndikate einzeln ins Visier nehmen und die Aufmerksamkeit auf sie richten. Ich dachte mir, dass eine Konzentration der Ressourcen effektiver w\u00e4re und hoffentlich das Wort verbreiten w\u00fcrde, dass die Advocacy es ernst meint, sobald sie Sie ins Visier nimmt\", erinnerte sich SC Mowry.\n\nDirektor Berlanga war mit dem Ansatz einverstanden und verl\u00e4ngerte seinen Aufenthalt im Nexus, um eine Strategie zu entwickeln. Er erwog mehrere Pl\u00e4ne, bevor er entschied, dass der wachsende Einfluss der Supreme ihr Hauptquartier auf Nexus III zu einem erstklassigen Ziel f\u00fcr einen solchen Erkl\u00e4rungsschlag machte. Ressourcen und Agenten aus anderen Systemen machten sich auf den Weg nach Nexus und starteten in den fr\u00fchen Morgenstunden des 24. Juli 2934 mit einem Durchsuchungsbefehl, der eine Litanei von Verbrechen auflistete, die angeblich von Mitgliedern des Syndikats begangen wurden. Niemand erwartete, dass der Supreme sich stillschweigend ergeben w\u00fcrde.\n\nW\u00e4hrend Direktor Berlanga zur\u00fcck im Advocacy-Hauptquartier war, \u00fcberwachte SC Mowry die Operation von einem Kommandoschiff im Orbit \u00fcber Nexus III. Der taktische Teamleiter von Advocacy, Terrance Kemp, schlich sich mit einem Voraustrupp in die Supreme-Basis, um die Flugabwehrt\u00fcrme der Anlage auszuschalten. Nachdem sie ihr Ziel erreicht hatten, wurden sie entdeckt und in ein heftiges Feuergefecht verwickelt. Ihr Erfolg erlaubte es den Advocacy-Dropships, weitere Agenten einzusetzen, w\u00e4hrend der Supreme seine Kr\u00e4fte sammelte und eine starke Verteidigung aufbaute. In der Zwischenzeit gaben die Advocacy-Schiffe ihren Plan, den Radarturm anzugreifen, schnell auf, nachdem die Supreme-Schiffe schnell eintrafen und eine unerwartete und extrem t\u00f6dliche Waffe einsetzten - ein alter orbitaler Minenlaser, der zur Verteidigung der Basis modifiziert wurde.\n\nIm Inneren der Anlage bahnten sich die Advocacy-Agenten langsam ihren Weg durch die abgedunkelten Hallen und stie\u00dfen hinter jeder Ecke auf Widerstand. Der immer noch aktive Radarturm erm\u00f6glichte es den Supreme-Kr\u00e4ften, ihre Reaktion geschickt zu koordinieren und den waffenf\u00e4higen Minenlaser zu kontrollieren. Der taktische Teamleiter Kemp glaubte, dass die Supreme ihre Operationen von einer Kommandozentrale innerhalb der Anlage aus steuerten, und es wurde sein prim\u00e4res Ziel, diese zu finden.\n\n\"Wir hatten keine Zeit, eine Strategie zu entwickeln. Wir standen unter st\u00e4ndigem Beschuss von einer Truppe, die ihr Revier verteidigte\", erinnert sich Kemp. \"Schlie\u00dflich erreichten wir einen offenen, gemeinsamen Bereich, von dem mehrere Flure abgingen. Ich wollte gerade Agenten in jeden einzelnen schicken, als ich etwas entdeckte, eine seltsame Markierung an der Wand, die wie das Banu-Wort f\u00fcr 'Krieg' aussah.\"\n\nNeben dieser Glyphe war ein Pfeil, der in einen der G\u00e4nge zeigte. \u00c4hnliche seltsame Symbole befanden sich in der N\u00e4he jedes Flureingangs, aber keines benutzte dieselbe Formensprache wieder. Erst nach dem Angriff erfuhr die Advocacy, dass der Oberste einen einzigartigen Satz von Symbolen geschaffen hatte, damit diejenigen, die nicht lesen oder die Standardsprache sprechen konnten, sich trotzdem in der Anlage zurechtfinden konnten.\n\nKemps Vertrautheit mit Banu zahlte sich aus, denn der Gang f\u00fchrte zum Kriegsraum, in dem die Kommandanten des Supreme die Operationen koordinierten. Das Eindringen in den Raum erwies sich als schwieriges und kostspieliges Unterfangen f\u00fcr die Streitkr\u00e4fte der Advocacy, aber nach einem erbitterten Kampf gewannen sie die Kontrolle \u00fcber den Raum, was die Schlacht zu ihren Gunsten kippte. Nachdem der Radarturm zerst\u00f6rt und der Minenlaser ausgeschaltet war, flohen die \u00fcberlebenden Supreme-K\u00e4mpfer. Kemp's Team r\u00e4umte langsam und vorsichtig die Anlage und eliminierte alle verbleibenden Widerstandsnester. Mit ihrem Hauptquartier in den H\u00e4nden von Advocacy waren die Supreme praktisch zerschlagen. \u00dcberlebende Mitglieder des Syndikats versuchten im Laufe der Jahre, die Gruppe wieder aufzubauen, aber sie waren nie wieder wichtige Akteure in der Nexus-Unterwelt.\n\nObwohl Direktor Berlanga mit dem Ergebnis zufrieden war, war er besorgt \u00fcber die hohe Anzahl an Opfern. Dennoch wies er SC Mowry an, diesen Schwung zu nutzen und die auf Nexus III verschanzten Outlaws weiter auszur\u00e4umen. Unter SC Mowrys F\u00fchrung verbrachte die Advocacy die n\u00e4chsten Jahre damit, den Planeten langsam zur\u00fcckzuerobern. Um sicherzustellen, dass die Gesetzlosen nicht fliehen w\u00fcrden, nur um sp\u00e4ter zur\u00fcckzukehren, arbeitete die Advocacy mit dem UEE-Milit\u00e4r zusammen, um Truppen einzubringen, die die Anlage halten und eine eigene Basis errichten sollten. Doch nicht alles verlief reibungslos. Im Jahr 2935 ver\u00fcbten Gesetzlose, die durch die R\u00fcckeroberung von Nexus III durch das UEE vertrieben wurden, das schreckliche Walzer-Massaker auf der OP Station Demien. Das Ereignis schockierte das Imperium und verh\u00e4rtete die Entschlossenheit der Advocacy, Recht und Ordnung in das System zu bringen.\n\nSC Mowrys Leitung der Initiative brachte ihr eine Bef\u00f6rderung zum Deputy Assistant Director ein und ebnete den Weg f\u00fcr ihre Nachfolgerin, Section Chief Consuelo Ivery, Nexus IV zur\u00fcckzuerobern. Dann mischte sich die Politik ein, als die Untersuchung eines Senatsunterausschusses aufdeckte, wie viele Credits ausgegeben wurden und Advocacy-Offiziere bei der R\u00fcckgewinnung von Nexus III verloren gingen. Die Senatoren fragten sich, was au\u00dfer alternden Basen auf einem verlassenen und ressourcenlosen Planeten noch gewonnen wurde und drohten damit, das Budget des Advocacy zu k\u00fcrzen, falls ein \u00e4hnliches brachiales Vorgehen auf Nexus IV durchgef\u00fchrt w\u00fcrde. Bereits unter Beschuss wegen des Skycap-Skandals, bei dem zwanzig Avenger-Titan-Renegades der Agentur verschwanden, nur um in den H\u00e4nden von Gesetzlosen zu enden, gab Direktor Berlanga dem politischen Druck nach und stoppte den Plan, Nexus IV zur\u00fcckzuerobern.\n\nDas Vers\u00e4umnis, Nexus IV vollst\u00e4ndig sichern zu k\u00f6nnen, hat zu der seltsamen Sicherheitslage des Systems gef\u00fchrt. Nexus III ist nur f\u00fcr milit\u00e4risches Personal zug\u00e4nglich, w\u00e4hrend Nexus IV immer noch eine starke Pr\u00e4senz von Gesetzlosen aufweist und einer der gef\u00e4hrlicheren Planeten der UEE bleibt. F\u00fcr einige ist der Versuch der UEE, den Brennpunkt des Verbrechens zu beruhigen, ein Beispiel f\u00fcr ihren Kampf, Recht und Ordnung in das Imperium zu bringen. Sobald ein Hotspot ausgemerzt ist, flammt sofort ein anderer auf.\n\nAUSZUG AUS LAW & DISORDER NACHGEDRUCKT MIT ERLAUBNIS.\nCOPYRIGHT MERITUS PRESS","zh_CN":"This article originally appeared in Jump Point 8.7.\nChapter 7: Calming the Crossroads of Crime\nThe events surrounding Kellar\u2019s Run shocked the Empire and embarrassed the Advocacy. The inability of the UEE\u2019s top law enforcement agency to stop one criminal from wreaking havoc across five systems transformed them into a punchline overnight. Vids of the dramatic chase flooded spectrum. Each portrayed the Advocacy as disorganized and unable to contain the chaos caused by a single, skilled pilot fleeing from enraged outlaws, opportunistic bounty hunters, angry civilians, and local law enforcement. The following day, Advocacy director Renzo Berlanga met with Imperator Mikkel Sheriden and offered his resignation. Imperator Sheriden wasted no time in asking, \u201cDo you want to be remembered as the director who let this happen, or the one who fixed it?\u201d\n\nBolstered by the Imperator\u2019s call to action, Director Berlanga instituted sweeping reforms that would affect the agency and the empire. He restructured existing operation teams by isolating and removing agents that weren\u2019t effective in the field, raised the Advocacy\u2019s enrollment standards, increased annual training requirements for all agents, established inter-system exercises, and more. Berlanga also had an extensive discussion with the Imperator about Nexus, the figurative and literal center of Kellar\u2019s Run. Following this discussion and others within the government, the UEE officially reclaimed Nexus in 2931 in an attempt to break up the cluster of unclaimed systems. Experts would ultimately credit these initiatives with positively reforming the Advocacy, but many of the practical effects would take time to manifest. Meanwhile, crime rates continued to rise through 2932 and 2933, with Nexus seeing one of the most significant spikes in illegal activity.\n\nBy 2934, Director Berlanga realized that systemic reforms could only go so far and a more focused approach would be needed to address specific issues in each system. First on his list was Nexus. Without any fanfare, he visited the system, met with Section Chief Alesia Mowry, and requested a tour. SC Mowry quickly assembled a small team for protection and took Director Berlanga on a \u2018safe\u2019 tour of the system.\n\n\u201cTen minutes into it he told me to cut the shit and show him what\u2019s really going on,\u201d recalled SC Mowry, \u201cso I took him to Nexus III. Once he saw how entrenched gangs were in old mining sites and underground facilities, he understood that more agents and better equipment weren\u2019t going to fix this.\u201d\n\nThus began an open and honest conversation between Director Berlanga and SC Mowry about how to bring law and order to the system. While the rise in crime rate statistics could be attributed in part to additional Advocacy field agents logging more arrests and incident reports, SC Mowry believed that these low-level arrests were actually serving to increase syndicate activity. With the majority of arrests being unaffiliated or low-level operators, small and medium-sized outlaw packs either consolidated or integrated themselves into bigger syndicates that could promise protection in numbers. One Advocacy source even claimed the Supreme, one of Nexus III\u2019s most notorious gangs, had almost doubled in size since 2932.\n\n\u201cI told the Director that we should enforce UEE laws, but do so strategically by targeting and focusing attention on prominent syndicates one-by-one. I figured that concentrating resources would be more effective and hopefully spread the word that the Advocacy meant business once it set its sights on you,\u201d recalled SC Mowry.\n\nDirector Berlanga agreed with the approach and extended his stay in Nexus to strategize. He considered several plans before deciding the Supreme\u2019s expanding influence made their headquarters on Nexus III a prime target for such a statement strike. Resources and agents from other systems made their way to Nexus and, in the early hours of July 24, 2934, launched with a search warrant listing a litany of crimes allegedly carried out by members of the syndicate. No one expected the Supreme to surrender quietly.\n\nWith Director Berlanga back at Advocacy headquarters, SC Mowry oversaw the operation from a command ship in orbit above Nexus III. Advocacy Tactical Team Leader Terrance Kemp snuck an advance team into the Supreme base to disable the facility\u2019s anti-aircraft turrets. After achieving their objective, they were discovered and engaged in a fierce firefight. Their success allowed Advocacy dropships to deploy more agents, as the Supreme rallied forces and mounted a vigorous defense. Meanwhile, Advocacy ships quickly abandoned their plan to attack the radar tower after the rapid arrival of Supreme ships and the deployment of an unexpected and extremely deadly weapon \u2014 an old orbital mining laser modified to defend the base.\n\nInside the facility, Advocacy agents slowly made their way through the darkened halls, running into resistance around every corner. The still active radar tower allowed Supreme forces to skillfully coordinate their response and control the weaponized mining laser. Tactical Team Leader Kemp believed the Supreme were orchestrating their operations from a command center inside the facility, and finding it became his primary objective.\n\n\u201cThere was no time to strategize. We were under constant harassment from a force defending their home turf,\u201d recalled Kemp. \u201cEventually, we reached an open, common area with several hallways branching off it. I was about to send agents down each one when I spotted something, a strange marking on the wall that looked like the Banu word for \u2018war\u2019.\u201d\n\nNext to this glyph was an arrow pointing down one of the hallways. Similar strange symbols were near each hallway entrance, but none reused that same shape language. Only after the attack did the Advocacy learn that the Supreme had created a unique set of symbols so those that couldn\u2019t read or speak standard could still navigate around the facility.\n\nKemp\u2019s familiarity with Banu paid off, as the hallway led to the war room where Supreme commanders were coordinating operations. Breaching the room proved to be a harrowing and costly endeavor for Advocacy forces, but following a fierce fight, they gained control of it, tipping the battle in their favor. Once the radar tower was destroyed and the mining laser taken offline, the surviving Supreme fighters fled. Kemp\u2019s team slowly and carefully cleared the facility, eliminating any remaining pockets of resistance. With their headquarters in Advocacy hands, the Supreme were effectively crushed. Surviving syndicate members would try to reconstitute the group over the years, but they were never again major players in the Nexus underworld.\n\nAlthough Director Berlanga was happy with the outcome, he was concerned about the high number of casualties. Still, he instructed SC Mowry to capitalize on this momentum and continue to clear out outlaws entrenched on Nexus III. Under SC Mowry\u2019s guidance, the Advocacy spent the next few years slowly reclaiming the planet. To ensure outlaws wouldn\u2019t flee only to return later, the Advocacy worked with the UEE military to bring in troops to hold the facility and establish their own base. Yet, not everything went smoothly. In 2935, outlaws displaced by the UEE\u2019s retaking of Nexus III perpetrated the horrific Walzer Massacre at OP Station Demien. The event shocked the Empire and hardened the Advocacy\u2019s resolve to bring law and order to the system.\n\nSC Mowry stewardship of the initiative earned her a promotion to Deputy Assistant Director and paved the way for her replacement, Section Chief Consuelo Ivery, to reclaim Nexus IV. Then politics intervened when scrutiny from a Senate subcommittee revealed how many credits were spent and Advocacy officers lost in reclaiming Nexus III. Senators questioned what was gained besides aging bases on an abandoned and resourceless planet and threatened to cut the Advocacy\u2019s budget if a similar brute force approach was taken on Nexus IV. Already under fire for the Skycap scandal where twenty of the agency\u2019s Avenger Titan Renegades disappeared only to end up in outlaw hands, Director Berlanga acquiesced to political pressure and stopped the plan to retake Nexus IV.\n\nThe failure to be able to fully secure Nexus IV has resulted in the system\u2019s strange security situation. Nexus III is accessible to military personnel only, while Nexus IV still has a strong outlaw presence and remains one of the more dangerous planets in the UEE. For some, the UEE\u2019s attempt to calm the crossroads of crime exemplifies its struggle to bring law and order to the Empire. Once one hotspot is stamped out, another immediately flares up.\n\nEXCERPT FROM LAW & DISORDER REPRINTED BY PERMISSION.\nCOPYRIGHT MERITUS PRESS"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":13,"created_at":"2021-07-14T02:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"4 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-07 19:53:56","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":18227,"next_id":18230}}