Act 1: The First Law


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Lex I: Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur statum illum mutare.

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Human English

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"Law I: Every body persists in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by force impressed."

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Human English, 21st-Century Americanized

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"Law I: All bodies will continue their current linear course of motion unimpeded, unless acted upon by an outside force."

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Law I: So long as one doesn't strive to change anything, events will continue to progress in the same manner as they would have were they not there.

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Transcript of CNN broadcast 345-386748-9358
Earth UTC: 23:47 (02:50 Citadel Standard), 12 April 2170

This is Matriarch Areena with Citadel News Network.

Our top story tonight: the Human Systems Alliance is reeling from a surprise attack on one of their colonies.

Mindoir, a farming colony with a population just over a hundred thousand, went silent yesterday. An Alliance patrol arrived on-scene just hours after, and found the colony in ruins. No-one has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the attack.

While some images have been declassified by the Alliance, they have been deemed too graphic to air. Casualty numbers have yet to be released, but early figures suggest that less than five percent of the population has been accounted for.

Of note is that the SSV Einstein, an Alliance carrier, was reported to be in-system at the time of the attack. The Alliance has yet to comment on the status-

[indistinct chatter]

Wait, what?

[indistinct]

That's . . . Goddess . . .

[indistinct]

This just in: remains of the SSV Einstein have been discovered in orbit near Mindoir, with evidence of damage from dreadnought-grade weapons fire. The ship had been in low orbit at the time, and had been preparing to depart for the next system on its patrol route. No escape pods were jettisoned.

Of those still aboard at the time of the attack, the Alliance has confirmed that all hands were lost.


Author notes:

In canon, the SSV Einstein was first to the scene of the Mindoir raid. While it arrived too late to stop the attackers from fleeing, experts agree that the devastation would have been much worse had it not arrived when it did. The ship and her crew were instrumental in the initial recovery effort, providing supplies and first aid until relieved by other vessels.

This replaces the old version of Master of Fact, an original character-insert story by some dork from Vegas who thinks too much.

There will be good times. There will be bad times.
There will be love. There will be loss.
There will be badassery. There will be humiliating pain.
There will be new guys. There will be old favorites.
But do not stake your faith in the canon alone, or you may end up tied to it with a pirate named Bill when it gets thrown to the bottom of the-

Oh, right. Different fandom. [Ahem.]

Enjoy!