Q: What is 'The Pulse'?

A: The Pulse is an Adrasteia based radio station and blog designed to keep Adrasteia's citizens up to speed on all of the important news concerning Adrasteia, Aite, and the galaxy at large. We keep our finger on Adrasteia's pulse! (Yes, people were paid to come up with that catchphrase. Yes, we are ashamed) Along with news articles and opinion pieces, we host a talk show each and every morning from 06:00-10:00. Tune in for the chit-chat, stick around for the around-the-clock music!

[The Pulse is a Torthus-Cross owned site]

Citizens of Adrasteia, we advise everyone to stay indoors. An explosive has been detonated during the celebration in honor of the first Enforcer guard station. At present time, the attacker is unknown. Any citizens with information regarding the attack are advised to contact the Enforcers. Bryan Cross, who was scheduled to give a speech, is believed to have been the target.

[Update] We have confirmed that Cross had not yet arrived when the explosive device was set off.

[Update] Lead engineer on the project, Hiroshi Harada is confirmed to have lost his life during the attack, as well as his 8 year old son, Souta.

[Update] Two Enforcers are believed to have lost their lives as a result of the explosion. Their names have not yet been released.

In response to last night's bombing, Bryan Cross gave a few words today:

"For all of the progress we have made these past few months, let this be a reminder that there are still those who seek to do us harm. Those who would rather see Adrasteia burn than better itself. Last night we suffered a profound loss. Hirosha was a great man as well as a personal friend of mine and he and his family traveled a long way to assist me with this project. He believed in what we are doing. He believed in this city. As difficult as it may be, we will pull through this. But it has never been clearer that the Enforcers are needed in Adrasteia. And using Hiroshi's design to push forward production on the prefabs, I promise to have an Enforcer guard station staffed, equipped, and active on every other block within the next six months. We will not sit idly by and allow our progress to be halted and we will certainly not allow Hiroshi and his son's death to go unanswered."

As of right now, nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack.

[An overhead photo of Jessica from a surveillance camera on the streets of Adrasteia. Given her attire and the lack of hair, the photo was likely taken after she suffered her burns. She's dressed in an Adrasteia Enforcer hardsuit and surrounded by rubble, kneeling over the body of a man in a nice suit. To his side is the body of a young boy wearing a beat up brown cap, no older than 8 or 9. Both appear to be dead. Off to Jessica's side is the body of an armored Enforcer.]

The person responsible for last night's bombing has been identified as Jessica Kaya. Details, as well as a motivations for the attack, are currently unknown. Anyone able to provide information on Kaya's current location is urged to contact the Enforcers.

Rumors are coming in that that are claiming the Dome, Adrasteia's sister colony, was recently attacked. As of right now, few details are known but we'll do our best to keep you up to date. We're aware that many of you may know or even have family out that way, so if anyone is able to reach out and confirm these reports and the extent of any potential damages, we would appreciate any info you could trickle our way.

[Update] Thanks to a few dedicated readers, we are able to- sadly- confirm that the rumors are true. As of a few hours ago a single shuttle arrived outside of the Dome and a firefight broke out. It is said to have lasted a number of minutes with eyewitness reports of explosions. Currently we're unable to provide details on the damage the colony sustained and how many, if any, were wounded or killed in the attack.

[Update] We managed to make contact with a security officer who wishes to remain anonymous. According to them, the Dome's exterior was never breached. This seems to have been a targeted attack on Mertius Soratine's people. To many of our readers Soratine should be a familiar name. He and his people terrorized the East-side of Adrasteia for many years. A hand in guns, drugs, and slavery, there's little to like about Soratine. As we reported a few months back, when Soratine and a few other local gangs were ran out of Adrasteia, they sought refuge in the Dome. When denied, they laid siege to the Dome until an agreement was come to, allowing them to remain outside of the walls of the central structure. We're currently awaiting information on whether or not anyone was wounded during the exchange and we'll update as soon as we learn anything.

[Update] The casualties seem to be mostly localized to Soratine's people, thankfully. Though a few of the Dome's security team may have been harmed when they attempted to respond to the threat.

[Update] Our latest information received has confirmed that there was a simultaneous attack on both Soratine's people as well as the Dome's security staff. While we lack any concrete numbers, it seems as though the casualties were numerous. Confirmed to be among those lost in the attack is the Dome's chief of security, Extin Rivius. As of now, no cause for the attack is known, nor whether or not Cross has any plans for getting involved in this ordeal. Coincidentally, Bryan Cross himself will be dropping by tomorrow for an interview so perhaps we'll have an opportunity to get a few answers.

We here at The Pulse would like to offer everyone in the Dome our condolences. I'll be holding my loved ones a little tighter tonight when I get home, I suggest the rest of you do the same.

For those of you who may have missed this morning's show, our very own Bryan Cross stopped by this morning on the show to answer a few questions. Below is the entirety of the interview! Have a listen and enjoy!

DJ Primal: Hey everyone! Today we've got a very special segment for you! An interview with the man himself, Mr. Bryan Cross! Or, as he's known by many, the King of Adrasteia! We've heard your concerns and thought it might be a good idea to get him on the show to address a few of our listeners' questions himself-...

Cross: Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second, King of Adrasteia? [Laughter] I didn't choose that title! Though I guess I'll take it over 'DJ Primal' if forced to choose...

DJ Primal: [Laughter] Oh! Already with the insults? Really? [More laughter] Alright. Then what kind of title would you prefer, Mr. Cross?

Cross: I've gotta get my digs in where I can. [Laughter] Really, though. Just call me Bryan.

DJ Primal: Alright, Bryan. I'm just gonna jump right in and get down to the nitty gritty. So, as I'm sure you've heard, ever since this station has been broadcasting we've been getting accusation after accusation about our bias on account of you being our largest financial backer. How would you respond to those who would question our motives?

Cross: [Short period of silence] Honestly?

DJ Primal: No, lie to us. [Laughter] Yes, honestly.

Cross: Good. I'm glad they're taking the time to question that sort of thing. Let's just skip around the wordplay here, I don't 'back' the station. I own the station. Is that going to create some sort of bias? Probably. And it's up to each listener to take the information you and your team report on and decide for themselves where the truth ends and the bullshit begins. In my opinion? That's a victory in and of itself. A year and a half ago people were more worried about scraping enough credits together to feed their families while still being able to pay off the criminals threatening to put them in a ditch. The fact that, in just one year, we're able to take a step back and worry about the neutrality of a local media station? That's great. But I'll also go on record as saying I've never dictated what you and your team can or can't report on. What music you can play. What you can or can't say. If you feel it needs to be said, I expect you to say it. If you think a story needs to be covered, you report on it. If you think a song-... okay, well your taste in music sucks, but still, play what you want to play. [Laughter]

DJ Primal: [Laughter] Whaaaaatever. Anyway, you're not lying. I've never had anyone come in and try to stop a story we were covering. Not that our listeners are going to believe that...

Cross: Nor should they. I am sitting right here, after all.

DJ Primal: What you listeners don't realize is that he's waving a sign around threatening to fire me right now if I speak up about these awful working conditions. [Laughter]

Cross: [Laughter] Right. The bottom line is that we're moving in the right direction if we're starting to focus less on conditional survival and more on the future of this great city. And the people are right to question me. Hell, maybe I'm not the right man for the job when it comes to keeping this place running. That's entirely a possibility. But until someone steps up that can do it better, I'm going to do the best I can.

DJ Primal: Sounds good to me. How about we move on to some of our listeners' questions?

Cross: Great. Can't wait to hear these.

DJ Primal: Well, if they questioned the stations bias before, this may help a bit. I'm gonna warn you, some of these are pretty direct.

Cross: [Sound of shuffling] Let's get to it.

DJ Primal: [Laughter] He's loosening his tie. Alright, our first question... A listener wants to know how you've managed to keep Adrasteia from crumbling under its own weight after running the heavy hitters out of town. With people like Brix out of the picture, for example, how is food even getting into Adrasteia, and are we in any danger of an impending shortage now that a lot of the people with connections are out of the picture?

Cross: [Short period of silence] Well, you see that seems to be a common misconception. It's the sort of thing the local groups wanted people to believe. Brix, for example, had absolutely no hand in Adrasteia's food supply to begin with. Him and his people provided-... protection for-... Oh, I'm airquoting right now. I forget they can't see me. [Laughter]

DJ Primal: [Laughter] It's fine. You get used to it after a while.

Cross: So, yeah. Brix and his people just skimmed off the top. Forced the caravans coming in and out of Adrasteia to pay for protection. Protection from Brix and his crew. The caravans and farming communities nearby were terrified of them. It wasn't a 'connection', it was extortion. And we saw that sort of thing all over Adrasteia.

DJ Primal: And so with Brix out of the picture, how does all of that work?

Cross: Well, for starters, Brix isn't out of the picture. He was one of the first to sign on with the Enforcers. And he's done an amazing job getting us in touch with all of the right people in the surrounding homesteads and farming communities so we could get everyone on the same page. It hasn't been the smoothest of roads, but I think we've come a long way in building trust with a lot of these people. Now, rather than being terrified everytime they see Brix and his people coming down the road, they're happy to see him. Something that they probably never imagined when he was shaking them down a year and a half ago.

DJ Primal: Sounds like a big turn around. Now, you brought up the Enforcers. A lot of our listeners have raised concerns in regards to them. I'll just combine a few of these questions I've got here... [Short pause] Is there anything you can tell us about how all of that works? How do you keep them in line? On paper, taking some of the meanest players in the city and giving them authority sounds like a recipe for disaster. But somehow, you've made it work. What can you do to guarantee that this isn't just a ticking time bomb, waiting to implode?

Cross: [Sound of a deep breath, followed by a short period of silence] Adrasteia is a unique situation. There's a lot of history here. Plenty of people still living here were in this city when the first prefabs were put down. Others have families that moved in long before the city's funding dried up. Then you've got the newer residents. Those who came here looking to start a new life only to realize much too late that Adrasteia was just a black hole waiting to suck the life out of them. Do you know what most of them have in common? Most of them are good people just trying to survive a bad situation. Sure, not everyone. You have your outliers. But for the most part we don't need to keep them in line. We've given them a cause. An opportunity. We believe in them. Believe that they can be something better than what they were. A paycheck is nice, but what most of these people needed was hope. A shot at a future.

DJ Primal: And the Adrasteia Enforcers offer that?

Cross: I'd like to think so. They're making a real difference. And those 'outliers'? Well, slowly but surely we're seeing them hit the road. They've realized that they're no longer welcome in Adrasteia. This city isn't just a vein for them to bleed dry and take advantage of. Anyway, that's the simple version. 'The Enforcers' are a complicated beast with a whole lot of moving parts. It takes a lot of dedicated people to keep it running smoothly. So, how do I know this isn't "a ticking time bomb waiting to implode"? I don't. Then again, that's the case in all walks of life, isn't it? You just never know how things are going to turn out. But I have a talented, dedicated team consisting of men and women both from within Adrasteia, and recruited from all across the galaxy. We know we've created something great here in Adrasteia and I'm confident that they're going to do their best to help me keep everything operating smoothly.

DJ Primal: 'Outliers'. Considering one of those 'outliers' just recently made a few waves, this sounds like a good time to address a few of our listeners' questions regarding the Dome. Mertius Soratine? Do you have any intention of lending your support to the Dome?

Cross: [Another deep breath can be heard] That one hurt. It's hard not to feel responsible for Soratine. We've- and by we I mean Adrasteia- have had a longstanding relationship with the Dome, going back to long before I arrived here. When Soratine and the others fled Adrasteia and attempted to lay siege to the Dome, I contacted their chief of security, Extin Rivius, and attempted to organize a joint effort between his security staff and my Enforcers to remove the threat. Unfortunately, nothing ever materialized.

DJ Primal: Can you go into any more detail about why Adrasteia never got involved?

Cross: Well, it's simple. They didn't want our help. Aite- and the Terminus in general- is a place that operates in a very specific way. People don't trust one another. Nobody wants to rely on someone else to survive out here, lest it make them appear weak. So, whether due to pride or a fear that this might put them in Adrasteia's debt, they declined our assistance and, instead, decided to strike a deal with Soratine and his people, offering them refuge outside of the Dome. Unfortunately, you inherit the enemies of a man like Soratine when you offer him shelter. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. Nonetheless, I hope they're able to bounce back from this and I offer everyone in the Dome my condolences. From my limited interactions with Chief Rivius, he seemed like a good man who cared about his people and I imagine everyone over at the Dome is shaken by the loss of him.

DJ Primal: His passing was sad news for sure. Moving back to my original question... Given this unfortunate situation, will you be attempting any further involvement with the Dome?

Cross: We're currently in contact with a few people from the Dome. We're trying to see if there's any way we can help rectify this whole ordeal, but I can't go into much of that right now.

DJ Primal: I understand this is a sensitive topic and you're unable to reveal too much. [Short pause] Well, Mr. Cross. Bryan. While we've got more than enough questions to keep you here for the next few days, I'm sure you're probably very busy. So I'm not going to keep you any longer. We appreciate you stopping by and answering a few listener questions and hopefully you'll be willing to do this again in the near future...?

Cross: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

DJ Primal: Alright, everyone! On that note, that about wraps up the show for today. Be sure to hit up Illumination next Saturday. I'll be making an appearance and running a set from 21:00 onwards so stop by and have a listen! We'll be revealing the follow-up to D.J. Zolnon's hit song, 'Bloom of the First Crest'. It's gonna be a good time.

Just a reminder for those of you with the training and means, numerous outstanding warrants are still standing in Adrasteia. Mr. Cross himself is offering a reward for the capture, or information leading to the capture, of said individuals. Here's a few of the big payouts waiting to be collected.

Mertius Soratine

Reward: 25,000 credits
Last known whereabouts: Soratine and his gang are known to be residing outside of the Dome.
[A photo of Mertius standing outside of a building in Adrasteia amongst a group of turians. He's light grey in color with red markings lining his cheekbones.]
[A second photo of Mertius shows him a bit closer up. A deep scar is etched into his chin as well as a few smaller scars along his forehead.]

Amiana Etaria

Reward: 25,000 credits
Last known whereabouts: Unknown. Believed to be in charge of the extremists known as the 'Children of Aite' and responsible for the coordination of numerous attacks on, and around, Adrasteia. Although it is assumed that she is asari, we unfortunately are unable to provide a current photo or description for Etaria.

Bartholomew "Lucky" Douglas

Reward: 20,000 credits
Considered armed and dangerous
Last known whereabouts: Unknown. Believed to have left Adrasteia amongst Mertius Sarantine's people. Possibly staying near the Dome.
[A photo of Lucky. He's wearing a long, brown duster to go with his brimmed hat and bright blue vest. He's entering through the front door to some bar in Adrasteia.]
[A second photo of Lucky which appears to be a mugshot taken on Illium. He's giving the camera the peace sign and smiling proudly.]

Jessica "Bam Bam" Kaya

Reward: 20,000 credits
Last known whereabouts: Unknown, although she is believed to have connections to the Children of Aite.
[An overhead photo of Jessica from a surveillance camera on the streets of Adrasteia. Given her attire and the lack of hair, the photo was likely taken after she suffered her burns. She's dressed in an Adrasteia Enforcer hardsuit and surrounded by rubble, kneeling over the body of a man in a nice suit. To his side is the body of a young boy wearing a beat up brown cap, no older than 8 or 9. Both appear to be dead. Off to Jessica's side is the body of an armored Enforcer.]
[A second photo of Jessica is on display, this one more personal, likely taken by a friend or someone who knew her at some point. The photo was taken pre-burns. She looks happy, despite the fact that she's giving the camera the middle finger.]
Her appearance is believed to have been drastically altered as a result of burns covering a large portion of her body.

Be safe out there and keep in mind, we are not advising those seeking to collect on these bounties to act within foreign territories without the consent of the local authorities. Those who break the laws of foreign territories in the pursuit of any Adrasteia bounties will be voiding whatever reward they may have earned as well as risking further repercussions for their actions. For more information on the bounties on this page as well as numerous others, visit the Adrasteia Enforcers' headquarters.

It's no secret that Aite's very own terrorists, The Children of Aite, have had it in for Adrasteia ever since Bryan Cross began his work here. They're cowards who thrive on chaos. If their numerous bombings or their recent attempt on Mr. Cross' life that left numerous innocent bystanders hospitalized wasn't bad enough, news has surfaced that the terrorist organization has been making an effort towards purchasing military-grade weaponry. According to information passed along to us this morning by Commander Derthos of the Enforcers, two nights ago the Enforcers broke up an arms deal between members of the Children of Aite and an as-of-yet unnamed weapon dealer just outside of Linissa.

Commander Derthos was unable to go into detail, but what he was able to share is that this operation was the result of an investigation headed up by Brutarius himself. An entire Kodiak shuttle filled with weaponry and high-grade explosives was seized by Derthos and his team. Gunfire was exchanged, resulting in seven fatalities and five arrests. Names are being withheld for now. When we reached out for a statement from Mr. Cross himself, this is what he had to say:

"I can't say much as this is still an 'in-progress' situation, but we're well aware of the fear and anxiety that these terrorists have cultivated and we feel it's important for people to be assured that we are actively doing our best to keep our city safe and our citizens protected. The Children of Aite continue to be a thorn in our side but we have a very devoted network of people in place working day-in and day-out to root them out. With Commander Derthos and the Enforcers on the front lines, Adrasteia is in excellent hands."