Conversation, Fiction, and More

The Starfire Online Community page offers subscribers an opportunity to contribute to the development of the game, to share with others their experiences, tactics, suggestions, and feelings about the game.

The Community page will also be the location where we will publish fiction and artwork related to the Starfire game or of a general military science fiction theme.

From time to time we will also announce special events here, such as on-line chats with the development team, special promotional offers, or other items of interest.

Recent news from

The Globe

Secretary Weiss Denies Incompetence at Space Department

Monday, 14 May 2046

Erica Seidel

The Globe

ST PETERSBURG, Russian Federation - As the Hermes completed space trials this weekend, beleaguered Secretary Roland Weiss of the Department of Space began the first of three days of hearings before the FGE Senate Appropriations Committee today amid criticism that the department has mismanaged preparation for the Europa mission and growing concerns over plans to privatize the government-run freight service between Earth and the research facilities at Tycho Base and Copernicus Central.

»Your Department has demonstrated incompetence rising to the level of criminal negligence,« FGE Senator and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Deborah Rodham (SD) fired at Weiss during her opening remarks, »it is time for you to account for your actions and the actions of your Department.« Senator Rodham then went on to level a series of charges at Weiss and the Department, including poor oversight on the Europa program leading to cost overruns of 2.200 percent and delayed testing by 29,5 months.

Senator Rodham convened the hearing amid growing concern in the Senate over the program's out-of-control costs. Originally projected to cost €47.000 million, the program's cost has ballooned to a staggering €1,034 billion to-date. The program suffered a costly setback in March 2041 when the Proteus' prototype engines failed catastrophically, forcing a complete review and redesign of the »inertial bubble« engine. Construction delays during the East Asian war also stretched development, adding a cost of €8.400 million annually from 2041 through 2043.

The largest cost increase in the program came in 2044 when the FGE Assembly cancelled funding for the eight ships planned for construction once Hermes, Galacia, and Gamayun were completed. Without a promise of future construction projects, companies engaged for work under the program threatened to walk away from their contracts. In response, costs for completion of the Hermes and Galacia increased fifteen-fold, and construction of Gamayun was cancelled altogether. Social Democrats opposed the increased pay for the contracts, and called for the Federated Government to condemn and seize the protesting businesses. Senator Rodham continued to criticize the government's acquiescence to the contractors' demands during the hearing, referring to the contractors' actions as »holding the Europa mission hostage to their blackmail« and the government's accession as »corporate welfare for a few well-placed cronies of the current administration« and suggesting that the Space Department acted outside the law in renegotiating contracts for the program.

Read more at The Globe.