By Chester Seaton, News

20/1/282- It would seem that Waystation Bravo’s renaissance has come to an end, as an outbreak of chicken pox has torn its way through the population this month.

Nearly ten percent of the station’s new population succumbed to the disease before Triumvirate medical teams were able to respond. While the team has managed to stem the spread of the virus for now, team leader Doctor Cornelius Despardu warns that the outbreak is far from over.

“Chicken pox is a common disease, and new treatments have helped greatly to dull the devastation it can cause in populations with established medical support,” Despardu said. “But on an isolated outpost such as this, once the disease takes root as it has done hear, the battle against it can be a long, drawn out thing, with many casualties.”

Haversham LLC, the company that initialized the Waystation system and controls much of its promotion, is scrambling to salvage the image of Waystation Bravo.

“People are still wary of the station after it went down two years ago and all those people vanished,” said a spokesperson for the company. “We’d finally gotten to a point where people were willing to set aside their superstitions and travel to the station. This latest incident is going to be disastrous. We’ve already got people outside of our offices in Monteddor City, chanting and praying and trying to ‘exorcise’ us. It’s embarrassing.”

Meanwhile, on the mainland and in the colonies, Triumvirate Authority officials are strictly monitoring airships traveling from and among the Waystations.

“Obviously, an outbreak on the mainland would be a horrible thing,” Doctor Despardu said. “But my main concern is the other stations and colonial settlements. We’ve already sent teams to Alpha, Charlie and Echo. With those teams ever vigilant in there screenings, we should be able to prevent any further outbreaks.”

By Chester Seaton, News

9/6- When the Waystation system first launched a little over decade ago, the launch of the stations brought forth a crowd of thousands to celebrate the beginnings of one of our Empire’s greatest technological achievements. Memories of that event stand in stark contrast to the reactivation of Waystation Bravo, which was put back into service late last week.

No one stood on the docks of Walsh where the station was moored for repairs as its boilers were stoked and the rotors were engaged. It lifted into the air, taking with it a meager crew of 150, just enough to maintain the station and monitor its performance.

“The station will take its place along the circuit shortly,” said Treacher Burwell, foreman of the Walsh Port Authority and overseer of Waystation operations. “We expect traffic to the station in the first few months to be light, due to apprehensions about its reputation amongst ship captains and others upon whom the waystation system’s success are dependent. I have no doubt, however, that necessity will sort out people’s superstitions, however. After a few months of successful operations, travelers and traders between the Triumvirate and her colonies will once again flock to it as though nothing happened. Within a couple years, the whole affair will be forgotten.”

In the meantime, recruitment drives for station personnel continue, with a 25% bonus being offered to early takers. A special gala is also in the early planning stages, with hope that positive word of mouth from those who attend will alleviate fears of a repeat incident.

By Chester Seaton, News

12/5- Nearly a year has passed since the mystery of what happened aboard Waystation Bravo gripped the Triumvirate. After months of debate concerning what should be done with the derelict station, the Triumvirate Authority has decreed that Waystation Bravo will return to active service at the beginning of next month.

“There were several reservations about re-launching the station after its denizens mysteriously disappeared,” said Admiral Percival Dunbarrow Pillsbury III. “But the extent of the damage, or lack thereof, simply did not mandate the construction of an entirely new station. Bravo has been repaired, and we have installed new fail safes and updated safety specifications to ensure this never happens again. It is, without a doubt, the safest of the four Waystations.”

Despite the assurances of the Imperial Authority, however, enrollment to serve aboard the repaired Station has been low.

“They’re afraid of ghosts,” an enrollment hopeful told us, one of only fifteen others we found in line at the Authority offices in Crowndon on Mursday. “They don’t like the idea of not knowing what happened. And then there was the bodies. People with revolvers. They’re all whisperin’ about Cartographers this and Scarlet Circle that and conspiracies all around. Me, I think it’s a bunch of nonsense. But some people, that’s enough to keep ‘em away from a sure thing.”

As for what really happened aboard the station, the Authority is remaining tight lipped.

“Everything we found is a matter of public record,” Admiral Pillsbury said. “As for those special investigators that showed up, anything they found is being kept under wraps. They only cleared the station for repairs at the beginning of the year, then took off. And our only other lead, that Klaudhopper fellow, well he’s off running around with Von Grimm and his gang in the colonies. The Marshals will probably send him swinging before we ever get ahold of him.”

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Read more about Waystation Bravo:

#24: The Station Goes Missing

#29: Search for the Station Begins

#33: Waystation Bravo Found!

#36: Bodies Found on Bravo

#40: New Clues Emerge

#51: Salvage Teams Evacuate

#77: Klaudhopper Captured; Promptly Escapes

Novella Excerpt: Klaus Klaudhopper and Arufina Villanova in Mystery of the Missing Waystation