Second Saturn Crisis

The Second Saturn Crisis was a series of small conflicts that occurred around the Saturn system, principally on the moons of Mimas, Titan and Iapetus.

Background

After the ratification of the Treaty of Saturn, the U.N had limited colonization rights to the three Saturn satellites it had already settled. Lacking the shipping and industry to sponsor state colonies in the sector, the U.N was dependent on the British Petroleum megacorporation to maintain the mining outposts. From 2027 to 2030, BP rapidly expanded its operations in the sector, which in turn lead to a massive boom in population - Iapetus alone hosted a population of nearly three hundred thousand BP employees and other UN-affiliated civilians.

However, two key problems quickly emerged as a result of BP's rapid colonial growth. Living conditions were incredibly uncomfortable for the workers of the colony, and the difficulty of exercising U.N oversight (except on Titan) effectively left BP in sole control of the UN Saturnian mines.

Poor Conditions

On November 17th, 2030, after another round of Iapetus expansions, the first grumblings of the workers in the Saturn sector were heard. With the announcement that more workers would be shipped to the cramped Iapetus and Mimas facilities, several small groups of miners gathered together and began to draft a list of complaints to the management of BP. The small movement saw significant growth, when less then twenty days later, BP announced another, even larger expansion of Iapetus, further exacerbating the overpopulation problem.

As a response to criticism of over population, BP announced on December 27th that it would expand living facilities on Mimas. Several labor leaders from the BP colonies made a televised response, pleading for civilian administrators to oversee the BP executives on Mimas and Iapetus. They claimed that the garrison battalions, despite nominally being under the command of UNGF officers, were in the pockets of the BP execs and do little to enforce the human rights of the workers there.[1]

As a response, the U.N decided to sent administrators Jihad Joe and occipitallobe to Mimas and Iapetus to over see the colonies and to try and reassert UN authority over the increasingly renegade BP executives of the Saturn system. Col. SPERMCUBE.ORG was also dispatched to oversee the UN police garrisons of the sector.

Deteriorating Situation

Jihad Joe and occipitallobe arrived on February 23rd 2031. They quickly found that they had their work cut out for them. BP executives had become accustomed to having the Saturn system as their own personal fiefdoms and were reluctant to allow the UN greater authority. Only the main colony on Titan had had a UN overseer since the early days of its colonization, and so was more resistant to the rampant corruption the the Saturn system.

On March 22nd, amid another round of expansion in Iapetus, workers managed to smuggle missives and videos out of the sector. These showcased BP abuses, including private security forces bullying workers and poor living conditions. Worker morale was at an all time low, and rumblings about worker actions against BP began to emerge. BP officials in turn were determined to make sure no worker action occurred, fearing that an organized effort by workers would cut into their bottom line. By the end of the moth, the lines in the sand were drawn, and many were wondering when the powder keg would explode.

The April First Strikes

The situation in the Saturn system came to a head on April first. Following the UN announcement that it would be annexing Earths moon, the abused workers in the system saw a chance to bring greater attention to their plight. On Mimas and Iapetus, hundreds of thousand of workers stopped working at their mining stations and began a massive sit in. Radical elements among the workers tried to sabotage mining equipment as well, but met with limited success, partially due to worker concerns over harming vital life support equipment.

BP, angered by this strike, called for UN intervention to put down the strike. In an attempt to coerce the UN leadership, BP officials shut down the Saturn mass drivers to halt the flow of goods back to Earth. However, this had the opposite effect on UN leaders. Already frustrated by BP's lack of cooperation and rampant abuses of workers, BP's flagrant attempt to try and force the hand of the UN was the last straw. In a unanimous vote, the UNEC voted to send a judicial force to the Saturn system to investigate BP's activities and to detain the executives an private security forces in the area. On Earth, officials began to comb over BP's financial records, as well as intercepted personal communications to begin gathering evidence against the wayward corporation.

Interestingly enough, Titan was largely unaffected by these series of conflicts, mostly due to the long standing UN presence on the moon.

First Deaths and Investigations

While the courier boat carrying police forces to the Saturn system made its way across the solar system, the situation on Mimas rapidly deteriorated. On April 8th, 2031, a massive explosion tore through a habitation complex on Mimas. 249 workers were sucked out into the vacuum of space and died instantly and an additional 455 were hospitalized with a variety of injuries, most being either decompression sickness and hypoxia.

Both BP and the striking miners blamed each other for the explosion. BP claimed that radical elements among the workers were beginning an indiscriminate terrorist campaign to bring Mimas and the surrounding Saturn system to its knees. The miners claimed that BP security forces planted several bombs to harm morale and make the miners fear the company. The anger and suspicion both side had for each other intensified.

The next day, April 9th, saw another eruption of violence. The miners, still angered over the death of their colleges and suspicious of BP, attempted to storm the main branch office on Mimas. Arms with simple mining tool, the miners manged to breach the outer perimeter wall of the office and killed fourteen security contractors. However, the guards managed to disperse the miners with large amounts of tear gas and firing above their heads. After several hours of back and forth clashes, the miners were pushed back to the habitation complexes. Amazingly, no one was killed during the back and forth, although several injuries were reported on both sides.

Both sides began to fortify their portions of the Mimas complex and waited for the other to make a move.

On April 14th, 2031, the courier boat arrived on Titan. Some of the investigation group, along with some members of American's SWAT and Germany's GSG 9 boarded several small transports to Mimas and Iapetus, while the remaining group remained on Titan.

At 9:35 UTC (local evening on Titan), a group of Titan garrison MPs burst into the headquarters of BP's Saturn operations and declared that all BP operations were under a temporary injunction and that management from the mid-level up was under house arrest. Computers, documents, and personnel were seized and the investigation began in earnest.

Smaller scale stings took place at the local operations headquarters on Mimas and Iapetus. The welfare of the miners was placed under the temporary jurisdiction of the local UN administrators of each body.

On all three bodies, small pockets of PMCs resisted the cease-and-desist order on their operations, and in at least two cases a skirmish broke out between BP's PMCs and elements of the UN's Mimas garrison. Mimas's PMC commander ordered his subordinates to stand down, but one, a Mr. Lars Proen, refused, and retreated with a small group of soldiers to one of the habitation chambers, effectively taking the miners there hostage. He demanded to speak to the UN's representative, claiming that he had extremely valuable information.

Hostage Situation

Lars Proen was an ex-Stasi agent who had previous dealing with the Eurasian Federation, but left for unknown reasons. He was eventually hired by Kolz Solutions and worked as a security chief for the Mimas garrison. While he had several associates with him during the hostage situation, he was the sole voice for the criminals involved.

Shortly after taking the habitation dome, Col. SPERMCUBE.ORG, acting commander for the Mimas U.N garrison requested that Proen allow two paramedics to enter the dome and assess the wounded. Proen agreed, however, when the medics entered, Proen destroyed the audio bugs hat had been given to the medics, but not before demanding a shuttle to Mars, and giving the ultimatum that for every hour the U.N delayed bringing him a shuttle, a hostage would die. He did however, allow the visual bug to remain intact for the purpose of allowing the U.N to observe the hostages, who appeared to be unharmed.

Several hours into the hostage situation, U.N investigators uncovered BP documents pertaining to a Project Kronus. While it is still unknown what this project was, many experts agree that it most likely had something to do with the whole Crisis kicking off. However, details remain elusive, although it is suspected that Proen knew details about the operation given his position as security head. This was seemingly further confirmed when Proen executed one of his own men and carved the word Kronus into the unfortunate mans forehead. Although it did result in the release of two hostages (they had to carry the body out).

While investigators tried to decipher the Kronus enigma, Col. SPERMCUBE.ORG prepared the U.N fast courier, the Guadalupe, to transport Proen and his men. The U.N's final plan was to have Proen release all but ten of his hostages in exchange for the valiant Col. SPERMCUBE.ORG, who offered to tak their place, and ensure Proen didn't try and harm any remaining civilians.

The transfer went off without a hitch, the hostages, SPERMCUBE, Proen and his men all entered the Guadalupe, Proen then reveled that he brought a large bomb with him as an insurance policy against any sudden changes in U.N behavior. This bomb came with an advance dead mans switch that would not only go off if something happened to Proens vitals, but also if he did not enter a code every two hours. After thirty hours of preparation, the Guadalupe was ready to leave.

The Kabul Follows

Nine hours into the Guadalupe's departure, a signature was detected following it, its was later reveled to be the FEK Kabul, a Moskva class corvette tasked with the Federations Saturn detachment. Worried that the presence of a Federation might spook Proen, the U.N dispatched the Berlin to meet the courier in the neutral space between Saturn and Mars.

After several days of travel the Berlin managed to meet the Guadalupe in neutral space, with its Federation tail close behind. The Kabul slowly closed the distance before painting the Guadalupe with an active sensor. Worried about the safety of the hostages, the Captain of the Berlin, Emily Chadwick, hailed the Moskva to try and ward it off.

The Kabul's commander, Kapitan Pavlo Shcherbakov responded. He told Chadwick that he was tasked with bringing Lars Proen back to Federation space for imprisonment for his past crimes against the Federation. Shcherbakov then requested Chadwick's help in bringing in the wanted criminal. Captain Chadwick in turn transmitted ambassador Ceebee's statement regarding the hostage situation to the Kaptian. After several tense minutes, the Kaptain responded, it appeared that his orders from Mumbai were for the time being to keep his distance and avoid provoking Proen. However, he was ordered to maintain a close enough distance so that he could re-engage and destroy the Guadalupe if need be.

It was later that day the Federation Triumvirate contacted the U.N Executive Council. The Triumvirate requested that the U.N and Federation initiate a joint operation to stop Lars Proen and bring him into custody. They also explained that because of Proen's actions in the past, significant damage had been done to the nascent Federation and nearly prevented its formation. The Triumvirate was hopeful that this could mark a new era of cooperation between the two super powers. Kapitan

Unfortunately, Proen had different ideas. Upon discovering the Kabul was tailing his ship, he changed course for the U.N Jovian Exclusion Zone, hoping to reach it before the Kabul could catch him. He further contacted the Berlin and claimed that if the Kabul didn't stay at least four hundred thousand kilometers away, he would start executing hostages. Kaptain Shcherbakov however believed that effective sensors for the Guadalupe were minimal and closed to forty thousand kilometers, and took up an orbit around the Guadalupe, awaiting orders from Mumbai.

After four days of travel, on April Twenty Seventh, the Guadalupe managed to near the Jovian Cordon. However, the Kabul, which had pulled away the day before, appeared ten thousand kilometers outside the cordon. Proen, panicked, executed a hostage and demanded that Captain Chadwick do something about Kabul.

Kaptain Shcherbakov hailed the Berlin, he claimed that the U.N was planing to harbor a dangerous fugitive in violation of international law, and that he was prepared to take the Guadalupe by force, with or without U.N cooperation. He was slightly phased when Chadwick informed him about the hostage execution, but he remained resolute in his desire to bring Proen to justice. Capt. Chadwick warned him about the explosives Proen had, but he decided to take his chances.

The Kabul broke away from the cordon and moved to intercept the Guadalupe. Pulling ten kilometers next to the Guadalupe, the Kabul launched several shuttles and pinnacles to board the Guadalupe. Upon realizing the Federation was going to capture him, Lasr Proen detonated the explosive he brought aboard. Utilizing a Sorium fueled core that was sandwiched between a crude chunk of Corundium and Tritanium, the resulting explosion created a ten kilometer fireball that incinerated the Guadalupe and the small craft in orbit around it. The fireball also rapidly overcame the Kabul, the entire port side of the corvette was slagged and exposed to space. The rapid decompression, heavy fire damage and loss of life support killed over ninty percent of the Kabul's crew. After thirty second, the structural integrity for the hull failed and the Sorium fuel tank was exposed the the small fires still abord the ship. This second explosion tore what was left of the Kabul in half. One escape pod managed to get away, carrying seventeen survivors of the Kabul, including the badly injured Kaptain Shcherbakov, who died of his wounds while in transit to Callisto for emergency medical treatment.

Of the Kabul's estimated two hundred crew, only sixteen would survive it's destruction. The Berlin transferred the Kabul survivors to Callisto, where they received medical care for their wounds. A week later, a Federation courier was allowed ot enter the Exclusion Zone and retrieve the crew, who were taken back to Earth.

Sadly, the problems caused by this crisis were merely a prelude to the Mars Crisis, which proved to be an even larger and more destructive conflict.

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Operation November Blue has been a huge success, but with some hiccups. Lars Pron agreed to accept our witness protection offer and the Berlin received him, the hostages, Proen's crew and Col. SPERMCUBE.ORG on April 26th. The crew made several small transferring skiffs and shuttles. Once aboard, Proen put the Guadalupe on auto pilot and sent it towards Jupiter.

Unfortunately, the Kabul caught up, and while Chadwick was able to bluff effectively (claiming Proen executed a hostage), she managed to ward the Federation off for several minutes. Sadly, Proen still had his bomb detonator on him, when the Kabul pulled in close, he activated it, destroying the Kabul and killing most of its crew.

Berlin rescued the hostages, but Kapitan Pavlo Shcherbakov claimed that the survivors knew the Guadalupe was empty. Unsure if it is a bluff or not, will have to monitor survivors closely.

Proen has proven uncooperative, he will not talk until he is taken to Mars (fat chance of that happening after he killed that Corvette), so unfortunately, information about Kronus is not emerging. His merry band similarly doesn't know anything, they sang like canaries, so we don't have much to go on, we will keep the Council up to date on any new developments. Until then, Proen is still in solitary and won't be going anywhere.

Meanwhile, we are acquiring new identities for the hostages taken and the pilots for the Guadalupe. All of them seem to have expressed desires to settle on Callisto, provided their families come, and easy thing to accommodate. COL. SPERMCUBE. ORG will require plastic surgery and a new identity as well, before he can return to active service.

Final Analysis

The UNIN Intel Office informed the UNEC in 2034 that their office believed KRONOS and the crisis on Titan to be a red herring meant to draw the UN's attention away from Mars and the worsening condition of the political situation there. Therefore the entire project was a smokescreen, one which became an immense success for the Federation as it landed Titan on an earlier schedule and Mars in its entirety[2].