28 | May | 2024 | Plaid Line + PRIZM + Scottie News

By: Hoaseng Thao

Note: This story revolves around the topic of war and military actions

Background

A year after the ceasefire that halted the Second Continental War, tensions between the Polaris Alliance Treaty Organization (PATO) and the Croatoke Defense Pact (CDP) remained rigid as both sides rebuilt their militaries for a possible flashpoint. A founding PATO member state, the Vaserian Federation, had elected King Shota Orion in 2024, who’d start the Shattered Front Initiative; an initiative to boost the Defense Forces (VFDF) budget from 2.9% of GDP to 4.2%, with the idea that Vaseria and their allies on the Vaserian continent would have to fight the Second Continental War alone.

A part of this initiative was to secure the Bay of Veina due to its strategic position to the Vaserian Federation and its ally, the Kingdom of Valona, but also because of the presence of the neighboring Republic of Nashua, a member state of the CDP. In a joint effort with Valona, the Vaserian Federation established Joint Naval Base Stonage on the small Valonan island of Sutao, housing over 30,000 military personnel and a small detachment of Aircraft from the Vaserian Navy.

THE INCIDENT

In the morning of November 29th, the island’s radar warning system intercepted three unknown signatures heading towards Stonage, with the craft appearing to be of Nashuan origin, however Nashuan officials have declined that the aircrafts were theirs.

Four fighter jets belonging to the 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron immediately took off from the island for interception, with the lead craft being manned by Captain Warrick, a veteran of the Second Continentals War.

At around 7:46 AM, the lead fighter jet, callsign “Typo”, receives on his warning system of a missile locked onto his jet, a VF-20A Starling, resulting in a hard turn to his starboard side as he deployed counter measures to break his heat signature. With the unknown crafts firing first, the call was given to engage the unknown hostiles with extreme prejudice. The first Starling to fire was commandeered by a pilot named “Taxes”, who locked on and fired a missile at an enemy jet, but missed.

Closing the distance between the unknown force and the Starlings, an anonymous pilot who took part in the incident, recalled that the unknown jets resembled that of a Kavaran SJ-88V Sea Lion jet, which are operated by both Kavara and Nashua, both members of the CDP.

The Starlings proceeded to split up, with a single jet acting as flank guard while the rest seeked to eliminate the threats. One Starling, is credited with downing two of the enemy crafts with only their main gun after their missile bay malfunctioned. The last remaining enemy jet, proceeded to bail out of the situation and flew towards Nashuan waters, resulting in the Starlings to return back to Stonage.

AFTERMATH

In the aftermath of the incident, Nashua denied all claims of responsibility, claiming that they had “eliminated” the remaining craft upon entering Nashuan airspace, however there is no evidence to suggest that the case was true. The incident would also inspire the creation of the 2027 film “FOX3!”, which included the same Starlings used during the incident.

By: Hyde Moua

I think that video games are beneficial and will have a positive effect as long as you don’t play for more than 4 hours every day because I also enjoy playing video games a lot and I think they have clearly helped me in my basic everyday life.

Some positive effects of playing video games are that your memory and learning abilities are enhanced. Your reaction time can also be enhanced if you play video games like first person shooters that are necessary to have faster reaction times to beat the opposing players.

Some more positive effects of playing video games are increased problem solving skills, decision making, and multitasking capabilities. Video games positively affect the brain by boosting cognitive functions which will also improve your hand eye coordination along with your spatial awareness because most games will need you to be aware of your surroundings. In a way, video games can be a workout disguised as fun because video games regularly increase and boost brain connectivity.

Some negative effects of video game addiction are vision problems. The most common type of vision problem is eye strain, which can lead to headaches or poor concentration. Video game addiction can also lead to seizures and psychological problems that will occur over time.

Some more negative effects are when video games are overused as a coping mechanism. This really becomes a problem when video games disrupt your normal and healthy life. Excessive video game addiction can also lead to mental health problems such as depression, social anxiety, and a lack of motivation. Video games will worsen the symptoms of a person who already has depression because excessive gaming removes a person from their real life responsibilities, relationships, and emotions, which can result in feeling numb and socially isolated from your life.

Personally, I think that video games are enjoyable every once in a while because I have gone through some of these symptoms due to excessively playing during the weeks. Overall, I think everyone should play video games, even if it’s just a little bit, because this way you can have the benefits of better problem solving, and decision making during stressful situations, and faster reaction times which could potentially benefit you in work or future situations.