Saber Ridge Incident
In 802 a group of Expansionists founded by João Sayeh, calling themselves the Starbound, declared their intent to find a way beyond the Humanverse through the Limit in Periphery—the last discovered heliosphere. Large numbers of Starbound and other Expansionists gathered but have been unsuccessful in locating a new slipway.
In late 993, the slipway between neighboring Astrapelago and Periphery disappeared. This is calculated to be the only slipway into Periphery. As yet, there is no explanation for this unique event. Several Starbound ships were destroyed trying to cross a slip point that was no longer there. Declarations from local Unitas Prefecture candidate Interhelios (Astrapelago) and People’s Galactic organizations led by the Outer Spheres Shipping Union (OSSU) accused each other of possessing a device that could close slipways.
There are widespread rumors and conspiracy theories that claim that a slipway observation station at Saber Ridge on the planet Tantalus received an encrypted transmission shortly before the slipway discorporated. This has not been confirmed by the operators of the station, Interhelios. No other communication has been received from Periphery.
After the disappearance, Pact forces mobilized in Periphery to create a blockade near the missing slipway and Tantalus. Interhelios’s GuardCorps affiliates moved substantial fleet and zeoform resources to Astrapelago before the slipway from Pinnacle was also blockaded.
A spokesperson for Interhelios has accused the Outer Spheres Shipping Union of harboring extremists and terrorists, including the infamous ‘Prospero’ cell that has supposedly been in action across several heliospheres in recent years. Tabari El-Shanawee of the OSSU has denied this and counter-accuses GuardCorps of having a ‘covert, off-books assassination and kidnapping’ program via third-party contractors.
