RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETED AMID ACCUSATIONS OF FINANCIAL MISDEEDS
More than two years after the originally promised completion date and billions of Lukers over budget, reconstruction of the original Dregs Beachheads has been completed and the site brought back online. Clan Council operations have been relocated back to the East, raising serious questions over the Council's ability to continue to control of the three new Districts opened in the wake of the massive earthquakes which caused the original relocation far to the undeveloped Western Outlands.
While the Clan Council insists that its ambitious expansion plans launched three years ago are still on track, there are rumblings that resources may be re-concentrated back into District 1 leaving the many isolated Clan bases scattered across the new districts without support. The fact that most of the "New Dregs" beachheads were disassembled to provide the equipment, sensors and bot assembly lines to rebuild the original Dregs site would seem to support this theory. There has been no official response as of yet to questions about the fate of the new Chog, Sang and Canobie beachheads that were built at the Western capital. Will they too be relocated to the East, or is there truth to the rumours that their equipment will be sold off at auction to help pay for massive reconstruction bill?
Debate appears to be raging behind closed doors as to how to repair the financial damage caused to the Outlands now that the physical damage from the quake has been mostly repaired. One faction favours hiking tax rates to cover the costs, but the majority seem to feel that this will simply drive more of the Clansmen to strike out deep into the wilds and off the grid (like many warriors have done since the great disaster). Some councilors are suggesting dropping the fees charged for construction materials in order to encourage the Outland Clans to restart construction which would then increase tax revenues through growth of the Outland economy. Either way, the financial situation is so dire that some leaders are even considering shutting down some of the new bot construction lines in order to save Lukers.
It remains to be seen though if even these desperate changes will be able to kick-start the faltering Outland economy. Much work still remains to be done. Dregs reconstruction is still being completed and the leaders of Clans Amok and Desert Rats are reportedly planning relocation of their fortresses back to District 1. Many other Outland Clan leaders are planning similar moves and are transferring Lukers from their Western forts to ones within District 1 in case the rumours of a pending Clan Council abandonment of the new Western Districts turns out to be true.
On a positive note, it's been learned by this reporter that the notoriously foul-tempered and hard drinking CinC Servo of the Clan AxesOfWeazles was NOT crushed to death by a stack of rum kegs in one of the many aftershocks to hit the Outlands last winter as was previously reported. He was in fact found by reconstruction crews holed-up in the rubble-buried rum storage cellars deep underneath the Dregs. Fourteen workers were killed by the surly CinC after attempting to "rescue" him from his bunker. Some portions of the Dregs basement remain closed to public access out of fears that a spark could ignite the rum fumes causing a major explosion while negotiations continue in an attempt to coax Servo back to the surface.
Interesting times ahead for the Outlands.
Kent Clark
