A Vile New Flag, and Other Sundries

Maton's Ensign Unveiled!

The Mad Belgian has released an image to the Press of both Earth and Mars, revelling in the torrent of scathing condemnation poured (rightly!) forth for his efforts. It is, he claims, the new "national ensign of Matonia," according to the message received with the hateful rag. The message, signed by "Emperor Otto I," also claims the entire Solar system in the madman's name.

The package containing both the rag and the letter was delivered in the dead of the night to news journal offices around both planets. Each one was placed on the roof of a building. No one noticed a thing when they were delivered. Is this some terrifying new device of Maton's construction? Or is it simply a coordinated, extremely stealthy effort to frighten the governments of Earth and Mars into cowed submission before his intellectual might?

RAAS Wallaby Found - Crew Mysteriously Missing

The Royal Australian Aethership Wallaby was located Wednesday last by HMAS Exeter as part of the official Government search effort. You may recall that the Wallaby was due to call here at Victoria Landing over a month ago. Once declared a week overdue, a massive search effort was launched to recover the Australian cargo vessel and her twenty-nine officers and men from the depths of the aether. Two weeks into the search, most people believed the Wallaby would never be found, and taht she was destined to become the Flying Dutchman of the aether.

Boarding parties of Royal Marines especially trained for aetherial operations landed on the drifting aethership's hull, and made their way to the control decks. After a thorough search of the vessel, no trace of her crew was found, nor was there any sign of violence aboard the ship. Only two of the six cargo lighters were found to be missing. According to the Wallaby's manifest, these contained two consignments of machine parts from Germany, bound for the Marsstaadt colony.

Engineers aboard the Exeter were able to restore a flow of caustic to the handwavium reactor, re-powering the ship and allowing her to be taken in to Admiralty Highport, orbiting Earth. Perhaps with time and diligent investigation by both British and Australian authorities, the mystery of the Wallaby will be cleared up. We would like to extend our condolences to the families of Captain Paul Dundee and his crew on the loss of their loved ones.