Thought of the Day - “Farthest from your mind is the thought of falling back. In fact, it isn't there at all. And so you dig your foxhole carefully and deeply, and wait..”

New Central City has been a battleground for a thousand years. 

An attritional, unrelenting enmity between the underclass and their overlords, the haves and the never-had. A battle for freedom. For control.

The City bleeds as its people do - the sewers run red from the touch of silver upon flesh, the rats in the gutter grow fat, feeding on the lifeblood of the damned. Death and glory, entwined; forever in perpetual stalemate.

But that was all to change..

Mustering up the little they had remaining, Ghost Operatives formed the Eight Branches and led this conflict into a full-blown war. Great swathes of the world were soon consumed by fire and flame as the battlegrounds spread. The rival factions, SINC and the Resistance, spilled forth from the confines of New Central City and raged a proxy war on foreign and neutral soil. It was furious and deadly; with scores to settle, the two forces’ anger and hatred for one another ran completely unchecked. Many fought in the opening salvos, and warriors fell on both sides. Civilians too: collateral damage in an increasingly chaotic and bitter war.

For this new generation of Ghosts, inspired by the actions of those who came before, the continuation of the conflict offered them the chance to prove themselves alongside the few whose reputation knew no bounds. But for every one of these brave recruits who answered the call to fight in support of their heroes, there were an increasing number of SINC warriors who met them across the battlegrounds, driven by their own agendas, their own desires, and with the sweet corruption of their General, Mr. Web2, stirring their souls, riling them to hysteria and frenzy. 

Only time would tell which side might prevail. And time, in its irrepressible way, was as great a threat as anything.

BattleLog 231.69 4th Merchant Quarter, Outer Districts

[Say again, Captain?]

We are stretched too thin. We are engaged across too many fronts. We cannot hold the districts we have taken, and we can’t consolidate the advances we have made. We are losing troops, Commander - loyal Ghosts who have given everything for us. The line cannot break..it must not break.

[What of the enemy?]

SINC push us back, harder than ever before. Web2 is reinvigorated, his legions at full strength..they have mercenaries championing their cause - the corporations united behind him. You can sense his excitement. It's palpable. The air is charged; the city holds its breath. SINC advance with impudence; their blood rises at the prospect of our downfall. 

The masses flock to his prophets in greater and greater numbers each day, heralding the loudest voices; in their willingness to conform, they rage against the ones who might set them free. These false idols shall fall - on this I swear - and of the masses..we shall open their eyes..

But not this day. This day, we must survive.

[What do you suggest?]

Fall back into the shadows. Regroup beyond ‘The Crossing’. There are areas we can relinquish that offer little to us in the grand scheme of things. There are some we cannot lose, and it is there we must concentrate our efforts and our strength.

Unite the branches, realign the belief, and be the voices that people will listen to that others will be proud to follow. Do this, and we shall retake this city one street at a time. Do this, and we shall change this world for the better. It is the reason we fight. It is the reason we are here together. 

[Understood, Ghost. Do what you must, may fortune be with you. HQ Out]

Ghost 5225 

This city was ours, and we let it slip. It’s a hard thing to stomach, but that’s the truth of things. 

As for the cause of that, who's to say? Certainly not me. I go where I’m told, when I’m told, and I fight like the rat-bastard that I am when I’m there, and  all that suits me just fine. There’s more going on in this war than I care to understand - some things I'll never understand. I’m here ‘till I’m not, and that’s all I has to say. The lads and lasses at the front are calling it the ‘relentless incessant’. I like that, cos’ it’s fitting. Mind your targets, close the gaps, pick the bodies off the floor. Relentless. Incessant.

Hell of a life, don’t you think? 

And yet..we still fight. You might think us idiots, you’ll tell us that there’s better places to be, away from all this conflict and strife, but who are you to tell me what to think? My decisions are my own, my reasons my own. My sisters and brothers think the same. We take our place on the frontlines and we face forward with a ready heart, because we believe in this cause..we believe in one another. It’s funny..to give yourself up for an ideal..but belief is a funny thing…it takes you further than you might ever know…

So we follow our orders and ready our weapons, and stand as one: 10,000 strong. Ain’t no place we’d rather be. We’ll be here tomorrow, and the next day, until one day we will be gone, our foxhole empty, and another will come to take our place, to know the victory we shall never see…

Building, Differently

When we started PxN Papers, our aim was to provide up-to-date information about the project, as well as delving into the wider, wilder world of web3. Our weekly publication was written as a source of reference and content for our holders and beyond, both a recap and outlook to what has been and what is to come.

The PP has covered a great range of topics - from global markets, tech developments, project news and in-depth interviews. Although we represented the project, we were independent - our views and passions were our own. The current meta for content creation has changed. In a fast and fluid environment, we need to be able to respond in the timeliest of manners, and as such, the PxN Papers Newsletter and its Twitter and Podcast initiatives will cease.

We are committed to still being a voice for those who wish to hear. As PxN moves deeper into 2023 with the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) launch of GM.co, we will still provide the news and content for our holders, and those outside our ecosystem and looking in. We are thankful for everyone who has contributed to the success of the PxN Papers, and value every reader and every comment, good or bad, that has helped us learn and grow as a start-up publication.

We shall not be strangers - indeed, the news never stops. We’re building, differently.