02/14/820 - Cambridge System - Earlier this morning, police and local firefighters responded to reports of a large fire that appeared to be in the vicinity of the Goodman Ranch. Emergency crews arriving on the scene found the main house of the ranch engulfed in flames, with the fire beginning to spread towards a large stand-alone garage.


The Goodman Ranch, established in the early colonization of Cambridge, was co-owned by both the Goodman's and the Green Front political party. Spokesman Heath Selwyn told BBC that the Ranch had occasionally played host to Green Front sponsored labs where students of various nationalities and grades had come to learn about the environment. He also mentioned that the only resident who continued living on the Ranch's property was the now disgraced Commander Austin Goodman.

Commander Goodman, a man who in his early military career had distinguished himself by thwarting an attempted assassination attack on Prime Minister George Mountbatten, had received one of the houses highest military honors, the Carina's Cross.

An officer, who wishes to remain anonymous, told BBC that Commander Goodman recently abandoned his military posting, and has been charged with desertion in times of war, treason as well as other multitude of crimes.

Commander Goodman has since been on the run with a number of associates.

Update

At exactly 0500 Cambridge Central Time, majority of the fire was contained. What triggered the blaze is currently unknown, it's speculated that the ignition may have been of natural causes. Emergency Crews are still on the scene combating the remaining fires. Once the fire is completely out, crews will begin to search the remains of the building.

03/3/820 - Cambridge System - Earlier today, Police Authorities recently released to the BBC an update involving the fire that engulfed the Goodman Ranch on February 14th. At least one person was killed prior to the blaze.

Inspector Martin Langley had this to add;


Commander Austin Goodman was born July 8th, 790 A.S., and served in the Armed Forces during both the Kusari invasion, and the Gallic invasion.

In a sparse room somewhere on the borders between Houses, a Bretonian fugitive looks up from his obsessive work and stares at the screen. He carefully sets aside the precious tools that he was using to calibrate his current project, and places the last set of tiny mechanisms - sensors, miniature servos, and other equipment - back inside their sheathes of high-grade carbon nanotube, ballistic fiberweave and thermal dispersal mesh. He flips a switch, and watches with some satisfaction as the mechanisms underneath bend the material to their will. It was not entirely ready, though. Not yet.

He taps a contact on his PDA, making a call.

"Hello? Yeah, it's me. Yes. I've finished calibrating the last servos, it should stabilize properly now. There's still the issue of the more fragile mechanisms breaking under too much pressure or overuse, yeah, but once nanobot distribution is fixed that should be rendered mostly irrelevant in combat situations."

He pauses, listening to the response.

"I know, I know, continued damage to this thing will be unsustainable for us financially if we have to keep replacing the more expensive materials, but once again, once we get the nanobot thing right, we should be punting the cost/practicality curve all the way into Nomad space."

Another pause. He wonders how to properly broach the subject of what's on the news.

"Miniaturizing the servos further? Yeah, that is a possible solution too, but I'll need access to more advanced manufacturing facilities for that, I can only do so much with these tools, remember? Also, look. I need to tell you something."

He rubs his tired eyes.

"Goodman's ranch burned down. Police are saying they found a body. His."

Silence.

"I'm going back into Bretonia. I want to verify this for myself. Could you please make sure it's ready by...

He smiles, appreciation clear in the expression.

"Thanks. Seriously. Of course I'll be fine! After all..."

He hooks a very odd wire into a piece of tech in the base of his neck, grins as the advanced materials lying on his workspace changes behaviour.

"...You'll both be with me every step of the way."