News and Rumors

[BgKnight]

The Moscow Metro Map

-The Metro-
*A series of Explosions shake the subway system, speculations begin to grip the subway. Some claim that it was an act of god, others, say it was a dangerous new weapon. Third say it was an earthquake, the truth is somewhere in between.

-Northern Lines-
*Equestrian station in the north of the 1905 Confederacy records another disappearance, this is the fifth one this week. The tunnels between Polezhayev and Equestrian station continue to be very much collapsed, but the station's administration is convinced that the threat is indeed coming from northwards. This comes five years after the tunnel was initially destroyed, following the total disappearance of Polezhayevska's population in what is essentially overnight, finding the station drenched in blood. Instead of delving deeper into the anomaly and possibly loosing more units the station leadership chose to destroy the tunnel


-Western Lines-
*The mysterious disappearances in and around Arbat continue, they stopped for a short while, but it seems they stopped only to allow the Arbatians and their neighbors a breath of, albeit false, relief.
*Rumours spread of the Emerald City, apparently people from the Sportivnaya station have seen people in strange suits staying on the other side of the river, but nothing can be confirmed. Of course, those rumors are instantly crushed within the Red Line who prefer that these "superstitions" not be spread.
*The very same Sports station suffers a massive flood which washes through the station's exposed entrance. This comes unexpectedly to the Communist government, as no summer floods had caused a crisis before. The government response is expected to come soon enough.

-Eastern Lines-
*News spreads through the Metro about a plague, unlike any other spreading through Rimskaya, Aviamotornaya and Ploshchtad Ilycha, Hansa has blocked the border with the plagued region. Causing the Plagued to seek shelter in Baumansky, where they couldn't be stopped as effectively as in Hansa. This causes a break out in Baumansky, officials are expected to deal with it soon.
*The attacks on the VDNKh station have stopped for some time now, people say that they may return to their previous tea producing quotas
*A Red Spy is caught in the Hanseatic station of Komsomol, despite the agreement at the end of the war between the Red Line and Hansa that both will seize agitations on each-other's territories and resume trade, and despite the massive amounts of trade that pass through the station daily, there are still spies and agitators on both sides coming in. What Hansa is going to do with the spy remains to be seen.
*Theater Station opens up with a brand new show, the retelling of Shakespeare's play Hamlet, however, unlike the standard rendition which is based in Denmark, this play is adopted for the Metro's inhabitants, basing it in "an independent station far away". However the decors are eerily similar to those of the Red Line and the characters, albeit carrying names such as Hamlet, are suspiciously reminiscent of political figures within the Red Line, namely Hamlet who bears a striking resemblance to Comrade Moskvin, and Claudius who's facial features seem to be heavily based on Comrade Korbut.


-Southern Lines-
*The anomalies in the tunnels between Rimskaya, Proleterian and Peasant outpost stations intensify, causing the deaths of several traveling salesmen, this hurts the import of tea in Hansetic stations, as Kalinin is the outsource of most Southern stations through Ilich square, something the populated stations in the east (which are unknown to the rest of the Metro) are not very happy about.
*The flood in Venice started as expected and the boats, which have been grounded for the past months are back on the fishing grounds, hauling a huge deal of fish from the underground rivers, all of which is quickly sold either to Hansa or the Red Line, to be spread along the Metro.

=Nazi-Communist Border War=
A short skirmish ends quickly with almost no casualties, both the Red Line and the Nazis are more then happy to leave the status quo intact, even though they are officially in a war, the military machine of both sides has recently relaxed, with no moves from either of them. Peace negotiations might be ongoing behind closed doors, with both sides not willing to throw more men in the meat-grinder, but also not willing to let it go.

Rangers
Colonel of the Order: Miller (Smyg)
Stability: Extremely High
Weapons Level: 5/5
Resources: Extremely rare goods from topside
Conflicts: Keeping the Metro secure from all threats
Bases:
- Topside Church
- D6
-No stations owned, command center in Polis

Polis
Leaders: The Enlightened Council
Stability: Extremely High
Weapons Level: 5/5
Resources: Highest quality ammunition; Extremely rare goods from topside; Chicken and Vegetables
Conflicts: Inequality between casts, the last refuge of civilization, thousands attempting to enter the stations on daily basis
Stations:
- Arbatskaya
- Alexandrovsky Sad
- Biblioteka Lenin
- Borovitskaya




The Red Line
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Red Line Communist Party: Maxim Moskvin
Stability: Moderate
Weapons Level: 4/5
Resources: Textiles; Topside-goods in the East, Water, Theater Station, Military Produced goods, Timber
Conflicts: Nazi-Communist Border Conflict, Famine, High Tensions with Hansa, Dissidents trying to escape
Stations:
- Sportivnaya
- Frunzenskaya
- Park Kultury
- Kroptinskaya
- Ohotny ryad
- Teatralnaya
- Plochstad Revolucii
- Lubyanka
- Chistye Prudi
- Krasnye Vorota
- Komsomolskaya
- Krasnoselskaya
- Sokolniki
- Preobrazhenskaya Plochstad
- Cherkizovksaya
- Ulitsa Podbelskogo

Hanseatic League
Prime Minister: Pyotr Kirillovich Rusakov
Stability: Somewhat Low
Weapons Level: 4/5
Special Resources: All kinds of Luxury items, Massive Trade Network
Conflicts: High Tensions with Nazis and Communists, High Crime Rate, High rates of corruption, High Immigration, Crumbling defenses in Pavletskaya

Stations:
- Novoslobodskaya -
- Mendeleevskaya -
- Prospekt Mira -
- Komsomolkaya -
- Kurskaya -
- Chkalovskaya -
- Taganskaya -
- Marksystkaya -
- Paveletskaya -
- Dobrinskaya -
- Sepukhovskaya -
- Tulskaya -
- Park Kultury -
- Kievskaya -
- Krasnopresnenskaya -
- Belorusskaya -
- Pavletskaya -

Fourth Reich
Leader: Fuhrer
Stability: Somewhat High
Weapons Level: 4/5
Resources: Alcohol, Fuel, Tin, Metals, Mechanical Parts, Slaves;
Conflicts: Nazi-Communist Border Conflict, Severe scarcity of Females, Revolutionary raids, Corruption, Smuggling, Brutal regime
Stations:
- Tverskaya
- Chekhovskaya
- Pushkinskaya

The Syndicate
Syndicate Leader: Alexei Makarov
Balance: medium
Weapons Level: 3/5
Operations: Extortion, hired assassinations, prostitution, drug trade, arms trafficking, smuggling, Theft
Conflicts: Maintenance of the status quo between the Slavic Brotherhood and the Ethnic Collective, Attempts to crack down on crime from the major powers, Hansa and Nazis disturbing the status quo
Stations:
- Kitay-Gorod

Revolutionaries
Brigadier: Comrade Bonzai
Stability: Extremely High
Weapons Level: 3/5
Resources: Rare goods from topside
Conflicts: Spreading the Revolution
Bases:
- Izmaylovsky Park
- Avtozavod
- No populated station owned, supplied by various parties

Baumanski Alliance
Chief Engineer: Engineer Berizin
Stability: Somewhat High
Weapons Level: 5/5
Resources: Highest quality weapons, equipment, ammunition, various mechanical parts, highest quality metals, working electrical parts, vehicles, production capabilities for anything mechanical
Conflicts: Supporting Revolutionaries, Semi-Isolation, Plague in Kalinin
Stations:
- Baumaski
- Elektrozavodskaya
- Semyonovskaya

Ulitsa 1905
Chair of the Station-Masters' Board: Station Master Vasilev
Stability: Medium
Weapons Level: 3/5
Resources: Some medicaments, a hospital
Conflicts: Poor, surrounded by stronger states, Nazi spies, without Hansa's protection will fall pray to the Reich
Stations:
- Barricade
- 1905 Street
- Equestrian

Sevastopolskaya Empire
Chief of the Station: Vladimir Istomin
Stability: Somewhat High
Weapons Level: 4/5
Resources: Thanks to its control of the hydro-electric dam, Sevastopolskaya exports a massive amounts of electricity into Hanza
Conflicts: Semi-Isolation, surrounded by mutants
Stations:
- Sebastopol Station
- Kakhovska

Venice
Station-Master: Fedor Vasilevich
Stability: Low
Weapons Level: 3/5
Resources: fish, filtered water, gambling and illegal activities
Conflicts: Flooded during the summer, irradiated, bandits force their own laws
Stations:
- New Kuznets
- Tretyakovskaya

Pervomay Republic
Police Chief: Igor Knyazev
Stability: Extremely High
Weapons Level: 2/5
Resources: Various topside goods, water, some food, trading exclusively with Baumanskaya
Conflicts: Bandits and raiders form the east, mutants, isolationists, paranoia
Stations:
- Pervomayska
- Shchyolkovo

[BgKnight]

The Moscow Metro Map

-The Metro-

• All over the Metro small posters appear. In most places they are torn down, because paper is valuable and rare, but the message they are sending still gets through. The Bauman Moscow State Technical University and the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering are offering full scholarships to anyone capable of passing the exams! Many stations present their brightest to the Bauman engineers. As expected, the best are by far from Polis, with 10 applicants from the Brahmin class being selected for entry. around 6 from the Red Line [Blacksmith bridge in particular, but who's counting?] 7 from the Ring Line, 2 Belarussians and the 15 other form various other smaller stations. A particular attention draws the amount of Kalinin, who, despite their bad situation, manage to bring 7 Engineers. 4 of which seem to be quite well learned and dressed. The forty young engineers travel to Baumansky for training and are expected to stay there for the next 4 years before returning to their stations, or choosing to remain in the Alliance.

-Northern Lines-

• The Belarussian General-Manager Petro Vasilev meets with the new VDNKh leader, Alex Sukhoi (the Dry), who was elected after the death of the old leader of the newly-formed Commonwealth. Sukhoi, a well known traveler of the Metro and a hero to VDNKh on many occasions is well accepted in Belarus Stations. There, the two factions discuss their relations and an easier entry for VDNKh merchants and their tea in Belarus, giving VDNKh the incentive to send merchants all thee way through the Ring Line to sell in Belarus personally, rather then through contacts in Hanza. This is expected to raise the amount of revenue for the merchants in VDNKh and in turn cost less for Belarus to buy the tea, allowing them to re-sell it at a cheaper rate

• Rumors spread about a large Commonwealth force seen leaving the safety of the Ring Line and heading into Savylovo. Their activity there is unknown, but some note that the force was carrying dangerous and forbidden flamethrowers. It is entirely possibly they were carrying out a mutant clearing operation.
  • The situation becomes even more complex and weird, as bodies begin to emerge from north of Savylovo. Commonwealth soldiers wounded in what appears to be a firefight. After a while, roumors spread that people started coming out of the north of Savylovo, badly bruised and abused people.
  • As those people begun spreading through Hanza, allowed by the administration, the situation becomes clearer, it seems Hanza has moved in to investigate disappearances in the north of the station, only to find a Satanist stronghold and most unfortunately, slaves. The slaves describe another band of soldiers that joined the Commonwealth guards in fighting, the description clearly fitting the Rangers. The fighting was messy, but eventually Hanza has established a command in the former Satanist stronghold.
  • More rumors emerge later about the station, including stories of sacrifices that had been happening there. And the desecration of the station itself. An interesting tale which later turns out to be true is the claim that there is a giant hole at the center of the station. It would seem the Satanists were trying to dig their way to hell using slave labor.
  • Hanza announces that the station will be resettled, now that it is under the control of the men of the Ring Line. People from all over the Ring line start pouring in, non-citizens and poor people alike, but what draws particular attention are the Jehova's Witnesses, a peaceful group of Christians south of Serpukhovskaya, who are invited to settle there as well. They are by far the largest group of settlers. They don't recognize any authority or violence, refusing to participate in the Hanza military or to participate in Hanza itself. The local commander finds himself in the weird situation where they have to protect the Christians from the possible threats from the north, while they set up their new homes.
  • A group of Revolutionaries and Rangers with snipers are reported to leave Equestrian station through the exit. The Rangers return shortly, moving south quickly afterwords with only a few of the Revolutionaries. A lot of speculation follows shortly after, people believing that the rest of the Revolutionaries died in some fight against mutants or some other evil creature.
  
  
  • Massive news comes from the Red Line, and surprising at that. While reviewing the troops, General Korbut comes under attack from a band of Anarchists, unexpectedly. It is unknown how they got to the station or how nobody noticed them, but they mortally wound Korbut. Led by one Anatoly Tomskiy, a painfully disfigured man, the Anarchists declare this attack to be in response to Korbut's inhumane experiments on human beings.
    • Surprisingly the General barely survives the attack. Awaking a week later, in a body dump outside of Turganev, the criminals weave stories of him dragging himself to Kitai Gorod through the dangerous tunnel. It is assumed he quickly realized that his carrier is over. As all of his associates are quickly rounded up by the secret police on the orders of Comrade Moskvin, he finds himself wounded, without allies and hated. Those are the last news of the General, but its safe to assume that he can forever disappear in the debts of the Metro, as fantastical stories start to emerge.
    • The Anarchist band responsible for the attack evades capture, and later reemerges in the criminal stations as well. Anatoly is rumored to still be hunting Korbut, making sure the man is absolutely and unmistakably dead.
  • As part of the later mentioned "Shield Doctrine", Commonwealth units deploy all around the Reich, in the Stations Tsvetnoy Boulevard, Mayakovskaya and in Barricade Station.
    • In Tsvetnoy Bulevard, the Commonwealth guard establishes a few tents and rare buildings, as well as a supply line into Hanza, to allow for those of the former Satanist slaves who wish to settle. Those who seek to find their own home move there, wishing for a better life. They are thankful to Hanza, but having been enslaved, some within their ranks express wishes to remain outside of the political control of the Ring Line. Of course, having the force and money there, it is up to the Commonwealth to decide whether these people will have their own government or answer to Hanza.
    • In Mayakovskaya, no settelments were made, the transit station is fortified whenever possible. This causes no small deal of discontent with Belarus station, who wish to see their trade with the Reich unimpeded. Hanza issues official proclamations that Belarussian and Nazi merchants will not be stopped and will be able to pass without problems. This calms the fears of the Belarussians a bit, but the uneasiness with this deployment remains. However, a massive attack and a loss on a Nazi convoy passing through the station draws particular outrage from the Belorussians, who have stakes in most convoys. They are warning that if security of the station cannot be secured despite occupation, then sanctions would unavoidable for Hanza.
    • In Barricadnaya, the station truly becomes like its name suggests, a barricade. The Commonwealth engineers who move in the station begin building up defenses and stocking the station, increasing the likelihood of the station to survive a siege. While the 1905 Confederacy, that is the official owner of the station, finds this unilateral move to be kind of unexpected. They can't get picky with the growing tensions with the Reich., especially considering the 1905 Confederacy is so disunited and every Station-Master is the virtual ruler of his own station.
  • Pyotr Andreevich Kolarov, the Station-Master of Sevyalovo dies in office. He is replaced by his son, Dmitri Kolarov. MR Kolarov had secured a stable life for the people of Sevyalovo, despite being a periphery of Hanza, he has managed to maintain some sort of an economy that provided just enough for everyone. His son, groomed form an early age and known by everyone personally is generally liked, and seeks to better the way of life of everyone in Sevyalovo, and achieve a greater economic independence from Hanza while bettering the people's lifestyle.
  
  -Western Lines-
  • The Capital of the Red Line is moved, declaring Preobrazhenskaya Plochstad (Renamed to Flag of the Revolution) as the new Capital. Being the first station to actually revolt against the established order and spread the revolution, it is a fitting way to display that the Red Line is committed to revolution and anti-fascist struggle. This, of course, doesn't make the life of the people in Lubyanka easier, as it is now officially the full headquarters of the Silovki [All the checkist organizations, like NKVD, KGB and the GRU).
  • Reports form within the Red Line are sketchy, but escapees report the increase of activity in the so called "Anti-Fascist Self-Correction Brigades", basically Labor battalions. It seems those that are sentinced to death are given the chance to redeem themselves by protecting the people over Clear Ponds from Turgenev's mutants. They are even said to be led by the Alney Fantom. Even though the move is brutal, it is applauded by the Metro's citizens, even people within both Hanza and the Reich speak well of the "defense of the humans against mutant". None of the two factions having quams about throwing human lives against threats of their own security.
  • As bodies start pouring in throughout the year, the extent of the infestation becomes clear. The nests deep in Turgenev are not only of simple Nosalises, but of actual honest to god Rhino Nosalises. It becomes painfully clear that the Labor Battalions won't survive this, as they are stuck between the mutants and their own officers.

• October station is quarantined. Due to the reports from the station master of an epidemic in the part of the station reserved for the non-citizens of the station. Several deaths and funerals had already taken place with the dying poor being dragged out of the hands of their relatives to be closed in solitary, to avoid a spread.
  • While nobody can leave or enter the station, the Military has a different set of orders. The soldiers exhibiting symptoms are quarantined outside of the station, where they, as citizens of Hanza receive medical attention. While the rest of the force is rotated out of the station.
  • Inside the station itself, special rooms are created, with plastic sheets Hanza had managed to get through its connections to the Barricade's hospital. There, people are isolated depending on their symptoms (and class), non-citizens quickly find themselves shut out from much care, outside of the very basic.
  • Criminal enterprises attempt to capitalize on the disease by offering terminally ill people, especially of lower social stature, a way out. This becomes known after a Commonwealth soldier guarding one of the side tunnels guns down a criminal handler and around 10 civilians.

• Mid year, a group of rangers emerges from the side tunnels around Arbatskaya. Later it is revealed that it is in-fact the leader of the Rangers and his own personal unit. With them, they bring a large group of children, all had previously disappeared from Arbat station and were presumed dead. It turns out that when the line to Park Pobedy station was destroyed, there was a small vent that remained working. Inside that station, the remaining population had digressed into savage cannibals who kidnap children from the station and indoctrinate them in their savage belief. A few of the kids that were previously kidnapped however never return, as the Cult seems to have practiced cannibalism as well. Before their arrival however massive explosions are felt from within the tunnel, the Rangers make it clear the path to Park Pobady has been permanently severed.

• Evacuations begin in Sports Station. Red army units swarm in the area, providing double the rations to people as they help drag them out from the approaching tide, as the station fills. The soldiers are noted to fight valiantly with the onrushing waters, throwing whatever rubble they can get their hands on on the way of the water. A story emerges, whether an actual story or just an invented one by communist authorities, of a heroic soldier named Ivan Vezhirov who throws himself in a section of the tunnel that is filling rapidly with water to pull out a child. Drowning but saving the child. In his honor, the communist authorities decree that Soviet heroes who die fighting the elements in the name of the people will be called Vezhirovki. Placing that distinction on several Labor Battalion fighters who die in the defense of Clear Ponds.

• The Treaty of Kiev Station - After long and arduous discussions, arguments and long-winded requests. Hanza and Arbatskaya have announced a merger of their two polities.
  • The treaty itself, initially seems like an absolute loss of independence for Arbatskaya, considering the stations with a long and proud history are now pretty much being absorbed into Hanza. However, on further reading, the stations once part of the Arbatskaya Confederation get access to privileges no other member of the Commonwealth has. Including citizenship, moderate price caps on essentials traded to their stations, which are essentially trader-lingo for subsidies and immigration control measures, stopping the predominately Russian Hanza from essentially colonizing the Caucasian Arbats. That also includes special status within the military for Arbatian recruits.

• With the death of Korbut, the path is clear for Comrade Moskvin to go ahead with his plans without being stopped by the heavy hand of the Secret Services. The Moskvin Plan is announced, planning to alleviate some of the economic stein of the Red Line by calling on volunteers to demonstrate their commitment to the revolution by participating in the cultivation of yeast and algae in various stations around the Red Line. As the year rolls to a close, and some of the yeast extracts and algae begin to be distributed to the hungry and starving, some plans can be drawn up for the distribution of the new goods. Already, Hanza traders are showing interest in the new products, as well as various other stations, including VDNKh who would like to experiment with their tea and create new products. The general success of the initial batch encourages GOSPLAN to ready a larger project.
  • Heroes of the Socialist Labor medals are given around to the good performers of Theater, a surprise following last year's near-dissident play. But with Korbut's death the the grip of terror on the Theater and many other stations seems to be slowly loosening .
  • That doesn't stop Director Martin Doestov, an established and well known critic of the Communist Party, Comrade Moskvin and the Red Line, and a well known director, to defect. He is assumed to have been smuggled by a group led by a man known as Andrey the Blacksmith. It is unknown how he slipped through the lines, but he emerges at Kursk with his family and closest associates.

-Eastern Lines-

• After a long and contested election, Pyotr Rusakov, the former head of Komsomolskaya station is elected. He has faced heavy opposition from large syndicates and trader circles. who see him as a hawk. A soldier at heart, Rusakov became famous for his defiance to the Communists in the war, where he refused to hand over a mass of refugees to a certain death despite his station being placed and remaining under siege for the duration of the war. His defense of the poor is another reason many traders don't like him. However, he managed to harness a political tool that very few politicians have managed to, the veterans and hawks of the wars against the Reds. The hawkish lobby of traders, long ignored and splintered finally managing to show its muscles in forming a united election block behind Rusakov. At the end that proved decisive, Loginov and his doves, despite representing the mass of traders, found themselves defeated.
  • Rusakov's election signaled the start of a brand new direction for Hanza policies. So far the Ring Line let its wealth and traders do the talking, refusing to move into stations or take over virgin land, choosing instead to develop their network of vassals. But in Komsomolskaya, his home station and election headquarters, the day after the choice of Hanza's citizens was declared, the new Prime Minister announced in a speech the creation of the "Shield Doctrine".
  • In the words of the prime minister, the Commonwealth will extend its "protection"over adjacent stations, in the name of protection. The paranoia in the Ring Line over an enemy force breaking the chain of stations that formed the line itself and in turn destroying the trade monopoly had never really gone away, and it was exactly these fears that Rusakov is trying to harness.
  • One of the biggest problems the new Prime Minister quickly faced was public discontent with the idea. Specifically, the loosing dove lobby was quick, to voice its discontent, with questions and whispers over who is going to be financing this massive endeavor spreading quickly. Prime Minister Rusakov made it no secret that this was going to be coming directly out of the traders' pockets. But he made it a point to stress that any short term gain will be offset by the access to new resources and security that will be gained. A statement that seemed dubious to the traders who saw absolutely no value in the stations being taken. Without the support of the doves, the military lobby seemed unable to push the policy through and Rusakov's ideas seemed doomed. But one of the Prime Minister's statements did, however, allow this policy to go through, as he noted to doves, several of which happened to be station-masters of overpopulated stations, that this would also allow them to clear their stations of "undesirables". This won just enough support, signing the Doctrine into law.

• A group of rangers arrives on VDNKh Commonwealth, checking on the status of the station. Last time this happened, there were heavy attacks form the tunnels by unknown mutants. After checking up on the station, they leave through the exit in the Botanical Gardens. Only to return after a few hours and promptly leave the Commonwealth. Questions and rumors arise over their activities and their relation to the explosion that had rocked the Metro at the start of the year. According to the crackpots from all over the Metro, thanks to the knowledge of D6 existing, many think the Rangers had used some sort of WMDs inside it on the Botanical Gardens.

• The Red Spy remains in Hanseatic custody in Komsomol, until Hanza can decide what to do with him.

• Following the purges after Korbut's disgrace and the following purge, new and able officers and commissars are recruited into the communist party, to fill the ranks of the Party administration with fresh and capable cadets. The new faces are expected to change the direction of the communist party, as already several liberalizing forces are felt inside what used to be the stale corridors of power in the party. This, as expected, makes many of the old guard quite unhappy and even shifty, but with the security forces firmly behind Comrade Moskvin following the purge of their upper ranks, few dare raise a word. Interestingly enough, the lower ranks of the party are recruited directly from the populace, from leaders of the community, actors or generally people who have shown to be cable. This gives the impression that the party, is indeed, one with the population.

-Southern Lines-

• In Pavletskaya, the Children of the Underground, the Militia guarding the unfortunate station, find themselves an unlikely friend. Unwilling to intervene up to this point, Hanza finally moves into the station, with a large unit of men entering the station with what supplies they can get. While weapons and food does help relieve the stress of the Children of the Underground, the continuous attacks and the bad supply line due to the lack of a viable connection with a large Hanseatic station, means that both sides are now embroiled in a fight for survival.
  • Back home, traders once again start chafing and arguing over the extent of deployment by Hanza, having to finance several foreign endeavors by backed by the Cabinet of the Commonwealth. They are increasingly discontent that this little station is going to cost them a lot in losses in both men and material.
  • After fighting off several grueling waves of the migrating beasts who enter the station, the leadership on both sides finally sees a light at the end of the tunnel. Ranger heavy infantry arrives at early dawn, nearly two months after the initial deployment. Armed to the teeth, but more importantly, bringing both top-side armored vehicles and an old, rusted out cement mixer, with a slide attached for easier pouring. Over those two months of fighting, the Rangers had managed to locate a vehicle, clear the vicinity of mutants, get it to work and drag it all the way back to Pavletskaya station. The cement itself is made up of crushed rock and pulverized bones of mutants as binders, creating a strong enough mixture close to cement. However filling operations will take a while, at least until the end of the year

• Outside of Baumansky, a force of Engineers from inside the stations is hard at work setting up a quarantine zone. In the tunnels leading up to Bauman station, a series of check points are quickly constructed, with various rooms set up on the sides of the tunnels and a check point before the station. Plastic covers, hazmat suits and specialized cleaning equipment is brought in, scrubbing and population control is implemented. All with the help of what seems like a large squad of Rangers.
  
  • The people are shuffled around, with blankets, water and food being diverted to help sustain them, while the Alliance's doctors and soldiers test the people, check their stats and redistribute them for treatment or entry into the stations. While a lot of people with advanced symptoms meet their death in the quarantine zone, due to the course of their disease, they die in the care of the nurses and doctors and well fed. Many infections are prevented, as those not sick are rotated out of the crowd quickly and tested viciously before being separated into sterile areas. A basic hospital begins to form outside the gate of Baumansky, as people from inside the station who have the sickness are also transferred inside for treatment.
  • The engineers invite, anyone who is well and wishes to gain a citizenship in Baumansky, to join them in protecting that which is most dear to them, their factory. A special unit is set up, for citizens of other stations, who are allowed to gain their citizenship by facing the dangers that the engineers put themselves through every day. Not being misled about the dangers, a few readily accept, but those that do are committed to the cause and readily accept the chance to prove themselves. They are put under heavy training and disappear inside Baumansky station.

• Due to the massive demand for the fishes of Venice, the Station-Master intervenes in the fishing market. While this is found unpopular, the intervention of the station's Militia and their boats in assisting the men in hunting down dangerous shrimp and opening more fishing areas and securing those existing leads to both an increase of fish turnout and an increase of revenue for both station and fish-merchants.
  
  • Hanza merchants buying up the fish in massive quantities are even happier, as this raises their revenue. However due to the quarantine in October station they are forced to revert a lot of credits into getting secure transports into and through Pavletskaya.

• People from Marxiskaya in Hanza are encouraged to move away, however few really wish to, the station is overpopulated because it promises a better life to people who come here, very few chose to leave the station for a backwater like Tulskaya that suffers from a slight threat of mutants a swell.
  
  • A small group of around 50 men are sent into the tunnel beyond Tula to clean up the homeless vagabonds that are seen living on the station from time to time. The men however don't return in the next month, nor do they return by the end of the year. Scouts are sent from Tula station to investigate, finding no signs of a struggle or a fight, the man just disappear, never to be seen from again. Many speak of the cursed southern tunnels beyond Tula, where mutants roam free and only the Sevastopolians live.

• Despite the loss of life, Hanza remains undeterred. Prime Minister Rusakov is adamant on helping secure Sevastopolskaya's survival. While the underground route remains dangerous as always, the Hanza decides on a new strategy. Employing the help of the Rangers, a convoy of ranger cars, all moving above-ground, find their way above Serpukhovskaya. Where a large stockpile of weapons, food, water and goods have all been provided from Hanza. They load up the goods and equipment and led by a silent ranger named Artyom, they drive through the dangerous migration grounds and territories. Fighting their way to Sebastopol.
  
  • They arrive just on time as the mutants attempt to force their way through the north of the station. The tunnels alive with gunfire and screams engulf the Rangers, as they offload whatever they can while fighting off wave after wave. Eventually, the mutant migration is forced to change direction to avoid the Rangers and Sevastopolians, giving everyone enough peace and quiet to offload all the goods. All with several casualties (both in Sevastopol and with the Rangers) and a few dead Imperial soldiers.

• Several Slavic Brotherhood members are shot dead on the streets of Kitai-Gorod. On their foreheads a bloody star is carved. Each of them is missing a finger or two. Only later, after the retaliation of the Slavs against the Cossacks does it become clear that the Reds are giving money to everyone who kills a Nazi, Nazi trader, collaborator or assistant and brings them proof. The Slavs arm themselves to the teeth.
  
  • The effects of this are also felt in Belarus, where several Nazi traders are brutally murdered by either locals, Revolutionaries or Reds. Paranoia starts to creep inside the trader class of Hanza, who trade with the Nazis, and the Belorussian merchants, which leads to a public outcry in both Hanza and Belarus to stop this, lest it harm the profitable trade.

• Hanseatic Stalkers in the vicinity of Baumansky note a massive increase of migration over Bauman and Elektrozavod. A massive wave of creatures descends on the location of the engineers. The stalkers report becoming the witnesses of a massive gun-fight there, seeing explosions and heavy fighting, reporting that the earth close to Elektrozavod was black with the bodies of mutants. After a few weeks, the reports indicate that the wave of mutants who are migrating has shifted its pattern towards the Hanza station of Maxistkaya. Warned of this, the gates in that area remain tightly shut, with the migration barely affecting those stations.
  
  • Later that year it becomes clear why the engineers chose to specifically fight for that position against the wave of mutants instead of just sealing their stations. With much fanfare, news spreads throughout the Metro of something called "AEROSAIL 1". Man once again controls the skies! Or at least, man is finally brave enough to enter the skies. The brave "Aeolinaut" is strapped to a crude parasail and a giant rope, and left to soar over Moscow. The sights he reports are breathtaking, a city that stretches as far as the eyes can see, giant demons floating gracefully in the air, and a city filled with life, as the migrations blacken the earth. The nuclear spring finally clearing the ice and snow of the man-made and endless winter. As he lands he is quickly rushed back into the station, where he tells the stories to the people of the Metro. This inspires stories all over the stations, much like men was excited once when its imagination was captivated by space.

• News reaches the Metro by way of Kalinin traders, that the Confederation had given everyone above 14 the right to vote. Previously the legal age of voting in the confederacy was 30, which was pretty old by Metro's standards, limiting the voting to a smaller percentage of the population that has been born before the war. Now, the chance is given to the rest of the population to make their own decisions in life.

• A group of Slavic Brotherhood members is caught in Belarus station, trying to smuggle a large cargo out of the station and into Nazi territories. The cargo is found to be a alive, a group of women and children previously through to be disappeared on Hanza stations. Under heavy investigations, the gang members confirm that the women were kidnapped from various stations to be sold to the Nazis. It appears that this is part of a larger program and more Slavic brotherhood members had managed to pass through without being caught. While Hanza is more then happy to sell slaves to various factions, and smuggle people around, it is not happy when someone else is doing it, and even more unhappy when people are doing it to their own populace. Even though it appears that the majority of cases the disappeared are from criminal stations rather then Hanza ones. The Slavs are quickly executed for this.

• In Taganka, a new round of police brutality is unleashed, as the local military unit launches a "fight against organized crime". Unfortunately, as it is often the case, the majority of "suspected organizers of crime syndicates" are within the non-citizen population. Many an innocent are captured and thrown in jail. The harsh actions do manage to slow the amount of theft though, only because nobody wants to get his hands chopped off for stealing something.

• Stability in Kitai-Gorod seems to be decreasing lately, with many sides seeking to broker power arrangements and the various gangs attacking each-other more regularly. This however quickly stops when Makarov, the head of the Syndicate organizes a meeting between the gangs. On that meeting, he takes radical action, bringing forth Slavs, Cossack and various other gang members who have been caught murdering or trying to murder members of the opposite gangs. He arranges each and every one of them against the wall, holds a mock trial in which each of the factions is allowed a say, and then executes all of them. Proving once again that he became the head of the organization not because he shied away from conflict.
  • Something a lot less radical takes place in Venice, as the Station-Master, worried about growing tensions gathers the leaders of the organizations and lays down heavy ground-rules on their activities in Venice. One of the agreements to come out of the meeting is that any grievances between the various gangs will be solved via duels in the side tunnels, away from both Venice and Kitai Gorod. This, while leading to several murders, leads to a general diffusion of the tensions

• A Hanza wide propaganda campaign is launched. Due to the lack of papers for pamphlets or any radios, public criers are widely used. Warning about the dangers of corruption and how "it is bad for business. It's inefficient, since it involves tampering with resources. It wastes resources that can be better used elsewhere. It weakens development by discouraging investment. It prompts an increase in crime which harms stability for investment and economic growth."
  • This doesn't really lead to any significant reduction of corruption, as those that are corrupt do so because they need goods/money/services, not because of lack of information about the ills of corruption. The Trader class in some stations even benefits heavily from corruption, using it to bypass some tariffs and rules, so the calls of fairness fall to deaf ears. Of course, some do produce some sort of successes, as it highlights the issue to the general society and some of the bigger enterprises of traders do some moves against corrupt workers here and there, but high-level corruption remains an issue.

[yet to be updated]

Rangers
Colonel of the Order: Miller (Smyg)
Stability: Extremely High
Weapons Level: 5/5
Resources: Extremely rare goods from topside
Conflicts: Keeping the Metro secure from all threats
Bases:
- Topside Church
- D6
-No stations owned, command center in Polis

Polis
Leaders: The Enlightened Council
Stability: Extremely High
Weapons Level: 5/5
Resources: Highest quality ammunition; Extremely rare goods from topside; Chicken and Vegetables
Conflicts: Inequality between casts, the last refuge of civilization, thousands attempting to enter the stations on daily basis
Stations:
- Arbatskaya
- Alexandrovsky Sad
- Biblioteka Lenin
- Borovitskaya




The Red Line
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Red Line Communist Party: Maxim Moskvin
Stability: Moderate
Weapons Level: 4/5
Resources: Textiles; Topside-goods in the East, Water, Theater Station, Military Produced goods, Timber
Conflicts: Nazi-Communist Border Conflict, Famine, High Tensions with Hansa, Dissidents trying to escape
Stations:
- Sportivnaya
- Frunzenskaya
- Park Kultury
- Kroptinskaya
- Ohotny ryad
- Teatralnaya
- Plochstad Revolucii
- Lubyanka
- Chistye Prudi
- Krasnye Vorota
- Komsomolskaya
- Krasnoselskaya
- Sokolniki
- Preobrazhenskaya Plochstad
- Cherkizovksaya
- Ulitsa Podbelskogo

Hanseatic League
Prime Minister: Pyotr Kirillovich Rusakov
Stability: Somewhat Low
Weapons Level: 4/5
Special Resources: All kinds of Luxury items, Massive Trade Network
Conflicts: High Tensions with Nazis and Communists, High Crime Rate, High rates of corruption, High Immigration, Crumbling defenses in Pavletskaya

Stations:
- Novoslobodskaya -
- Mendeleevskaya -
- Prospekt Mira -
- Komsomolkaya -
- Kurskaya -
- Chkalovskaya -
- Taganskaya -
- Marksystkaya -
- Paveletskaya -
- Dobrinskaya -
- Sepukhovskaya -
- Tulskaya -
- Park Kultury -
- Kievskaya -
- Krasnopresnenskaya -
- Belorusskaya -
- Pavletskaya -

Fourth Reich
Leader: Fuhrer
Stability: Somewhat High
Weapons Level: 4/5
Resources: Alcohol, Fuel, Tin, Metals, Mechanical Parts, Slaves;
Conflicts: Nazi-Communist Border Conflict, Severe scarcity of Females, Revolutionary raids, Corruption, Smuggling, Brutal regime
Stations:
- Tverskaya
- Chekhovskaya
- Pushkinskaya

The Syndicate
Syndicate Leader: Alexei Makarov
Balance: medium
Weapons Level: 3/5
Operations: Extortion, hired assassinations, prostitution, drug trade, arms trafficking, smuggling, Theft
Conflicts: Maintenance of the status quo between the Slavic Brotherhood and the Ethnic Collective, Attempts to crack down on crime from the major powers, Hansa and Nazis disturbing the status quo
Stations:
- Kitay-Gorod

Revolutionaries
Brigadier: Comrade Bonzai
Stability: Extremely High
Weapons Level: 3/5
Resources: Rare goods from topside
Conflicts: Spreading the Revolution
Bases:
- Izmaylovsky Park
- Avtozavod
- No populated station owned, supplied by various parties

Baumanski Alliance
Chief Engineer: Engineer Berizin
Stability: Somewhat High
Weapons Level: 5/5
Resources: Highest quality weapons, equipment, ammunition, various mechanical parts, highest quality metals, working electrical parts, vehicles, production capabilities for anything mechanical
Conflicts: Supporting Revolutionaries, Semi-Isolation, Plague in Kalinin
Stations:
- Baumaski
- Elektrozavodskaya
- Semyonovskaya

Ulitsa 1905
Chair of the Station-Masters' Board: Station Master Vasilev
Stability: Medium
Weapons Level: 3/5
Resources: Some medicaments, a hospital
Conflicts: Poor, surrounded by stronger states, Nazi spies, without Hansa's protection will fall pray to the Reich
Stations:
- Barricade
- 1905 Street
- Equestrian

Sevastopolskaya Empire
Chief of the Station: Vladimir Istomin
Stability: Somewhat High
Weapons Level: 4/5
Resources: Thanks to its control of the hydro-electric dam, Sevastopolskaya exports a massive amounts of electricity into Hanza
Conflicts: Semi-Isolation, surrounded by mutants
Stations:
- Sebastopol Station
- Kakhovska

Venice
Station-Master: Fedor Vasilevich
Stability: Low
Weapons Level: 3/5
Resources: fish, filtered water, gambling and illegal activities
Conflicts: Flooded during the summer, irradiated, bandits force their own laws
Stations:
- New Kuznets
- Tretyakovskaya

Pervomay Republic
Police Chief: Igor Knyazev
Stability: Extremely High
Weapons Level: 2/5
Resources: Various topside goods, water, some food, trading exclusively with Baumanskaya
Conflicts: Bandits and raiders form the east, mutants, isolationists, paranoia
Stations:
- Pervomayska
- Shchyolkovo