The October Riot

October 25th, 2559

A fledgling Virgo Orbital Research Establishment, also known as the NSS Adephagia, had just recently passed its 30 crew member ((players)) count for the first time on a single shift. Just one year after the station's construction was completed, numerous workers from all walks of galactic life had come to find work aboard a state of the art Exodus-class research station. From a tiny colony far beyond the fringes of the human frontier, a bustling spaceport had erupted from the deserts of Virgo-Prime like the boom towns of a bygone era. For the first time, a NanoTrasen owned site offered sincerely equal employment opportunities to all different species who would apply. Some believe it was because of the remoteness of the station, causing human-preferential hiring practices to be impractical. Yet, others have heard rumors about the station; rumors that may explain the desperate need for new workers. Some say it is a sick social experiment. Others say it is the unintended consequence of the melting pot that Virgo had become. Whatever the reason, these disturbing rumors slowly crept throughout the company and beyond. From Sol and Tau Ceti, to Nyx and Polaris, we've all heard the tales of a station where the crew allegedly devours one-another like animals.

But, this story is not about that history. It is to remember the victims who were mistakenly sent to the station just barely over three Sol years ago. It is a cautionary tale to what happens when hearsay and panic is allowed to thrive.

It was a normal day aboard the V.O.R.E., just like any other it would seem. Captain Jeremiah Acacius at the time had just overseen the hiring of a new Head of Security, Grayson Maximus. She was a strange individual; a splicer who had merged her genetics with that of a feline, giving her a pair of cat ears, a tail, and for some reason, purple hair. Of course, by now the human Captain had become desensitized to such bizarre things. He never asked for this position. He was conscripted into it when the previous Captain retired, and he suddenly found himself accelerated from Quartermaster to Captain for the days and weeks to come. Yet, he was a reasonable Captain, one who did not let things such as appearance sway his judgement of an individual. This "cat-girl" had all the necessary qualifications. The shift continued, as normal, then concluded after six hours. As per usual, the maintenance crew boarded, and prepared the station for its next crew. Acacius went home for the night, thinking his day would end as it always had. Little did he know that his day was only starting.

Just after closing his eyes, his PDA rings out. A message from the branch administrator himself, from Central Command. "Get back to the station at once," it orders. "Security just arrested the Captain."

Arrested the Captain? At the time, Acacius was the only 'Captain' the station had. It was the only role that NanoTrasen had been picky about at the time. Following the orders of corporate, he rushed back to the station, getting the details along the way.

... Some months earlier, a series of starliners departed from Sol with a fresh batch of new human recruits, all bound for the V.G. station in Tau Ceti. Standard procedure dictated that the crew be frozen in cryogenic stasis, and delivered by automated systems. The journey was meant to only take a week. However, due to an intentional sabotage of the navigation by a (former) disgruntled employee, this particular convoy was bound instead for the infamous Virgo-Erigone system, and the dreaded Vore Station residing there. The scheduled arrival at V.G. never showed up. Hardly anyone noticed, and business went on as usual.

But at the end of their long journey, they disembarked at Central Command, and the first wave of crew, including their own Captain, boarded a shuttle toward the V.O.R.E.

Rather than an empty station, they were surprised to find so many unusual species working under their command. Assuming that these were his new subordinates, the V.G. Captain took the matter in stride, and began to set about the usual list of orders. However, due to a string of recent Syndicate incursions on the station, one security member already on the station became suspicious of the new arrivals. Akira Toriyama, a self-described 'Kitsune' (a splicer whose added features included the aesthetics of a fox) decided to arrest the Captain, in spite of their arrival on an official NanoTrasen shuttle.

When Acacius arrived moments later, Akira proudly reported her arrest of the alleged spies. In response, Acacius shot a glare upon her. "I'll deal with you later," he scolded. Walking right past her, he began removing the V.G. Captain's handcuffs. "I am so sorry!" Acacius begged their forgiveness. "I just heard what happened. There's been a mistake. You guys are thirty-thousand light years off course and months off schedule. You're in Virgo."

The V.G. Captain was startled at first, but so far his experience here had been a pleasant one. Was this truly the dreaded Vore Station? Yet, he took Acacius's word. Now with two captains, the chain of command was mildly disorganized, but the two colleagues worked together to command their staff in tandem. At first, this went smoothly.

However, it was not long until other V.G. crew began to arrive... by the dozens. The V.O.R.E. had never been designed to accommodate a crew larger than fifty at most. That number was quickly surpassed within minutes of the second shuttle's arrival. Efforts to maintain order began to tremble. A janitor was punched out by an assistant, upset that they had slipped in the hall. The new HoS dispatched her security force, including Akira, to regain control of the situation. At first it was minor things; just at a scale that this station was not yet used to. Vandalism, bar fights, the occasional refusal to follow important orders, and naturally many insults and harassment of V.O.R.E.'s normal crew by xenophobic humans. At the same time, it was organized chaos.

But then, a report came over Security's channel. "Uh, Captain? We're running out of cells," reported Maximus, the HoS. The stress in her voice was obvious.

Acacius suggested, "Make due with what you can. Get creative if you have to." He and the V.G. Captain were standing at the bridge, monitoring the organized chaos as it unfolded, trying to keep their eyes on the cameras to aid Security's direction. He mused to his colleague, "Is this what other stations are like?" They watched together as a clown shoved someone onto a banana peel, only to be bashed with a fire extinguisher in retaliation, before both parties were tackled by another security officer.

"This is pretty tame, actually," the V.G. Captain laughed. However, his laughter was cut short upon hearing a shrill cry over the radio.

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT THAT FOX BITCH JUST ATE DAVE!!!" someone from the V.G. crew screamed out.

"We don't have any cells left!" Akira complained over public comms, doing little to settle everyone's nerves.

"Wait a minute," somebody else said. "This isn't V.G.! Where are we?!"

"You're in Virgo, lads," another of the Virgo crew said, thinking nothing of it... and that's when everything came apart.

Screams of terror began to fill the radio channels. "OH DEAR GOD, WE'RE ON THAT STATION!?" somebody shouted. People began to panic. Tables in the bar were overturned. Windows were smashed. People began begging for the shuttle to be called, while others demanded to purge the aliens sharing the crowded station with them, a station whose population had swelled to over ninety people. Durands and Gygaxes equipped for crowd control were dispatched to the bar, but the crew scattered like roaches in every direction. Somebody began talking about mutiny. Others started ranting about breaking into Security.

"Security is under siege," reported Grayson, her voice now shaken. "We're going into lockdown."

In a last desperate effort to mitigate the violence as it spread out of control, Acacius made the decision to call the shuttle. To prevent a battle from ensuing aboard it, he instructed his V.G. counterpart to take the main evacuation shuttle, while his own crew departed by a CentCom shuttle which he began to summon through an emergency transmission. The two Captains parted ways. The xeno crew of the V.O.R.E.'s regulars left quietly, but back on the other side of the station, a different story unfolded.

Over sixty people were trying to cram themselves into the ill-equipped departure lobby. People were trampled and killed. Others were beaten, or stabbed. Somebody managed to set fire to a section of the room, causing severe burns upon several of the other V.G. crew. An unfortunate Tajaran who hadn't been able to escape the carnage found themselves ripped limb from limb by the angry mob. An unathi, accused of eating a human, barely escaped with his life to flee to the other shuttle. The violence and destruction continued until the shuttle came. The stampede flooded aboard the shuttle, crushing one-another against the walls and floors. The shuttle could barely handle the capacity, but still took off, bound for Central Command.

Meanwhile, a group of Deathsquad Asset Protection troopers were dispatched as a last ditch effort. When the shuttle landed, the officer in charge made a brief attempt to calm the occupants, but one enterprising roboticist disembarked with a Durand, and opened fire on the armed men. What happened next was a regrettable massacre. Nearly all sixty occupants aboard the shuttle were tragically killed in the crossfire that ensued.

A vigil was held the next day, and for the remainder of the NSS Adephagia's service, a plaque was placed near the bar as a memorial to the victims of what would come to be known as the October Riots...