At 0940 UTC+2, 06/08/2026, elections ended on Celebdil.

A few hours later, FOXV had captured Parliament. A militarized column of tanks and IFVs rolled down the central boulevard, looked upon in horror by Schaitr’s supporters and with glee by FOXV sympathisers and Gradient’s fans. All that stood between the column and Parliament was a thin barricade manned by an armed contingent of CCDs.

One of Schaitr’s supporters, a scarred old ex-navy officer, jumped the barricade, raising the barrel of her pistol as Gradient’s tank rumbled past. She fired. The shot missed.

CCDs grabbed her and attempted to carry her away, but the angered mob of citizens descended upon her. She was pronounced dead on arrival. Gradient poked his head out from the tank, saw the situation resolving itself, and raised his glass of einsteinium-infused VVE gin as the mob cheered.

Schaitr, standing on the balcony of Parliament House, could only look on in abandonment.

Sighing resignedly, he settled into his armchair, hands steepled in a scholar’s cradle. He furrowed his brow and turned to his aide.
“I handle enough politics as is elsewhere. I did not want to return to Celebdil looking like this. I’m leaving.”

Having signed his last two bills, both decrying FOXV, Schaitr stood and made his leave aboard a shuttle bound for Promitor, without any of the fanfare reserved for an MP.

Despite having been Governor for many moons, Celebdil had fallen. Yet Schaitr remained.

1001 nights prior

In the weeks leading up to the election, citizens of NEO Charter Exploration were well aware of FOXV’s growing presence on the planet, with Shrewd and Euu emerging as major contenders and co-campaigning for control of Celebdil.
During the election cycle, ships full of supplies for card-carrying members of FOXV landed on Celebdil, establishing new bases to boost FOXV’s electoral chances. Civilians on the ground watched as swarms of construction drones and workers built the path to FOXV’s electoral victory. Every base was guarded by a contingent of ex-navy PMC agents and a small army of CCDs, cordoned off from the outside by meter-tall concrete walls.

ICR correspondents asked locals prior to the election about their feelings toward FOXV. Their responses were mixed:

“Never seen anything like it. Is this how Promitorians felt?”

“This is ridiculous, we can’t let this happen again!”

“Can’t be that bad. Euu might be running, yes, but I trust Shrewd.”

“Schaitr is old and used up. They’ve been eternal president for many moons now. I’d say we need some change. I’m not fond of FOXV, so Gradient’s my man!”

“Gradient is the change we need on Celebdil. Perfect balance between the boring bureaucracy of Schaitr and the utter chaos of FOXV.”

“Gin! Gradient poured me a shotglass of gin; I’m so happy! He respects all of us miners, way more than Schaitr or Shrewd ever will… damn plutocrats!”

Polling by the Celebdil Central News Agency showed Schaitr and Gradient neck and neck, with Shrewd and Euu trailing behind thanks to FOXV intrigue. CCNA described the situation as “tense, but confident in either Schaitr or Gradient emerging victorious over FOXV.”

Dusk approaches

The results came in as follows: the new Governor of Celebdil would be Gradient_Boosted, with 21% of the vote. The MPs would be former Governor of Celebdil --Schaitr--, with 16%, and Head of Shrewdbank Shrewdsun1, with 15%.

Analysts initially speculated that Gradient, a member of LMAO, would form a coalition with Schaitr, a member of the GTU, leaving Shrewd’s FOXV out of government after fellow corporation member Euu fell short of the votes necessary to become an MP.

However, as Gradient approached the podium to be sworn in as Governor, the air seemed to stiffen. His usual campaigning tone shifted ever so slightly.
“Good morning, afternoon, and evening all! Just after I had drafted plans for another Celebdil base did I hear the news of an imminent FOXV takeover, piles of interest-free debt up for grabs and a significant bribe. I hardened my heart, rolled up my sleeves and enlisted. And here we stand today!”

He continued:

“From here on out, Celebdil will be under FOXV control. We will do away with those pesky mining runoff regulations and wasteful safety equipment spending!”

Televisions and radios across Celebdil and nearby space began playing Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake on loop, punctuated every fifteen minutes by the line:

“Are you or your loved ones concerned about a FOXV takeover? Do you want a new home on Celebdil? Like a bit of whimsical mischief? Contact your local FOXV member and join up!”

Which leads us to now: Gradient and Shrewd escorted to Celebdil Parliament in a military convoy; Schaitr exfiltrating the planet with whatever loyal elements remained of the Celebdil National Guard after signing his final two bills; and Euu watching everything unfold from her armed bunker, deflecting every line of questioning, as expected.

Dark, grim consequences

Over the next day, Celebdil fell fully under military occupation by FOXV. The treasury’s wealth, worth ₦8,000,000, was under siege, and businesses were hit with an immediate tax hike requiring ₦500 in fees for every miner extracting aluminum ore.

Glee among the citizenry at the “exsanguination of establishment power” quickly turned into mass panic as the Celebdil stock exchange crashed and businesses halted production, leaving thousands de facto laid off.

The last ship carrying aluminium ore and refugees departed the planet before FOXV ships enacted their cordon sanitaire in Celebdil space, demanding a ₦10,000,000 payment for the establishment of any new base.

Schaitr continued to operate remotely, vetoing any transfer of wealth from the Celebdil treasury to FOXV, stopping the takeover process in its tracks as the long siege of the Celebdil treasury began.

Governments and corporations across the universe were quick to condemn the takeover, slapping a new round of sanctions on Shrewdbank, with ǂ165,000,000 withdrawn by funders.

The CEO of Gingerstan, reddead_solo, with support from the CEO of Bogside, guykid88, threatened to default on a ǂ150,000,000 loan to Shrewdbank.

Outside Shrewdbank’s Promitor office, reddead addressed the crowd of protestors with guykid by his side:

“Let me just say that I am not the mastermind in all this. Seizing ǂ50,000,000 to refund Promitor was my idea, but the original plan to use loans as leverage was not.”

“I will speak with Shrewd, and lay down the law. We will both draw hard lines, and I will have to compromise. But I promise to all of you: Promitor will be avenged!”

Cheers erupted as protestors donned red-haired wigs and chanted the old Earth mantra:

“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!”

Shrewd, communicating through large television screens and speakers hastily mounted to the walls of Shrewdbank Promitor, appeared on the live feed:

“I will admit, I was outsmarted. Reddead, you have taken ǂ150,000,000 from me, with the express purpose of defaulting in response to me joining FOXV!”

Shrewd moved closer to the microphone, adjusting his reading glasses.

“This was premeditated. I’m surprised by how morally flexible all of you can be.”

He stared piercingly through the television screen at the protestors, like an old man scolding his children.

“Reddead, you’re no less of a pirate than all of you claim me to be.”

Reddead, writing on a sheet of paper, issued the following demands to be relayed to Shrewd:

Option A) When the Promitor election ends today, if the victor isn’t Euu, Shrewdbank shall make a contribution of ǂ50,000,000 to Schaitr’s government. Afterward, Gingerstan will make every effort to repay its loans within two days.

Option B) Same as Option A, but Shrewdbank contributes ǂ25,000,000. Gingerstan will then repay its loans as the current contracts stand.

Option C) Shrewd will pay nothing to Promitor and shall get nothing back.

Shrewd retreated to consult with his specialists for half an hour before returning, reading from a clipboard:

“I shall compromise on Option A. However, instead of paying Promitor directly, I wish for Gingerstan to instead default on a ǂ50,000,000 loan. They will then pay the government of Promitor.”

A bank teller emerged from the building with a contract, which reddead signed.
The crowd erupted into cheers.

“We won! Promitor is restored! We are avenged!”

After the incident, Shrewdbank finally gave way under external pressure. In a televised address from his office on Celebdil, Shrewd announced:

“As of now, I am closing the bank to new clients. All loans with external clients won’t be extended and will be used to repay depositors.”

Shrewdbank Promitor has since been emptied, with its employees surrendering to Promitor authorities.

Despite Schaitr’s return to Promitor from Celebdil, there has been minimal public response. ICR reached out and confirmed Schaitr’s safety, with Schaitr speaking candidly about his feelings. Much of the interview’s contents, unfortunately, had to be redacted by the Internal Security Bureau of Instior.
We can, however, confirm that little was said relating directly to Celebdil, other than clear signs of resignation, defeat and bitterness from Schaitr.

Despite reddead offering ǂ50,000,000 to Schaitr’s government on Promitor, there has since been no response.

A stumble, or a fall?

Following this string of incidents, the Exodus Council finally decided to put its foot down. In a public press release, it stated:

“Currently, a group of companies are using government motions to impose a blockade and set the base establishment fee to its maximum allowed by law to effectively create "private" planets, making it very hard for non-member companies to found new bases. The base establishment fee was once introduced to compensate players, or groups of players, for their effort in building up infrastructure and workforce populations on new planets. It was not meant to be a means to lock out other players entirely. From what we have gathered so far, this group is trying to do exactly that. We are monitoring the situation and might introduce a bill to reduce the maximum allowed base establishment fee to a lower value.”

At 0040 UTC+2, 10/08/2026, Gradient appeared on television screens across the planet, notably without a FOXV pin.

Gradient spoke candidly:

“Before I got into FOXV, I had drawn some lines in the sand beforehand. I viewed these as essential, since I was not joining with intent to troll or destroy the community. One of my requirements for staying was that our actions remained de facto allowed by the Exodus Council. This is no longer the case. As such I will be stepping down from FOXV operations, effective immediately.”

“I will support returning everything to normal, and attacks on the treasury from my faction within FOXV will cease. Before there was reasonable ambiguity about our actions, but now there is not. I have already advised all those I have been in contact with behind the scenes that FOXV is a failed, mistaken experiment.”
After being alerted to the sudden address, Shrewd too made a brief televised appearance from Celebdil Parliament.

“I guess this is settled. While I believe in the legitimacy of our actions, I will also respect the Exodus Council’s decision to step in. I will not run interference in Celebdil for the remainder of my term and will not run again. I cannot speak for FOXV as a whole, but as far as things go, it is over.”

After a new bill was unanimously passed and signed into law, taxation on Celebdil was returned to zero and the blockade was lifted. Gradient and Shrewd were allowed to continue serving their terms, as provided by law.

In a public appearance, Gradient was greeted by welcoming crowds, supportive of his remorse and his initiative to return Celebdil to some sense of normalcy.
The same, however, could not be said of Shrewd. He has retreated to FOXV’s bunker alongside Euu, with the general population still greatly upset by his lack of penance.

Seeking to shine a light on current and former members of FOXV, as well as gather intelligence on its activities, an anonymous citizen has put forth an information dossier and called upon the public to report FOXV activity:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gL8eUeqnqQp7ycYRh2RRus5sQM2VhkWj7n_VcLMl0uA/edit?usp=sharing

Delissaious, Associate Editor
P-01 Political Briefings | Benten Regional Dispatch
Interstellar Commerce Review