Visari Prime, Ebbarmacchus System, Visari Technocracy
A new faction, the Prosperous Independent Leaders’ Ensemble (PILES), has been founded this week in the Visari Technocracy.
The faction is calling for the government to improve working conditions for leaders. Its main demands include;
Leaders gaining access to retirement - instead of serving jobs for life
Leaders gaining access to vacation time
Leaders gaining access to free life insurance, given high mortality rates among those working in space environments
“Even in our egalitarian society, leaders lack many basic rights. Faction leader, Yoga Antiqua told Xenonion. “We give so much to the empire, many of us even become substance abusers from the stress. In return, we want to be guaranteed basic rights extended to the rest of the population.”
Image: Antiqua is leading the faction from VTS Havres, his home for the past 182 years.
For Antiqua, the fight is personal. As a venerable, resilient, cyborg leader, he first gained command of the science ship VTS Havres at 48. Now aged 230 years old, he reports he has been surveying star systems ever since, without ever taking a day off or returning to his home planet of Bagodah to see one of his 33 great great great grandchildren.
So far, the Visari government has been reluctant to concede to PILES' demands. Bana Shacho, Director of the Visari Technocracy, told Xenonion: “We didn’t research cell revitalization and equip our population with life-extending cybernetics just so that they could retire early. I'm 199 years old, I've won every election for the past 148 years and I've come to no harm. Some people describe me as having become stubborn - but I'm not. They're just wrong.”
Some leaders are also opposed to the ideals of PILES. Governor Xari Nelsa of the Core Sector has stated that she believes leaders are obligated to give their lives in support of the Technocracy, whether they be admirals or scientists. Retirement, she feels, is shameful.
The faction is receiving growing support among more egalitarian Visari, which the government is hoping to suppress through re-allocation of influence.
> More accurate reporting from Seevah Gunnar could not be possible