“Now, moving on to the less controversial figure of Vasily Haldane. He was elected to the Council of the St Nikolaos shortly before the Fleet settled on Terra Libre - this despite his extraordinary tendency to swear and shout at people he didn't like! Not something we'd see in a politician now, but of course times were harder then and a leader willing to fight for his beliefs was no doubt popular no matter how he phrased it. He'd supposedly been military back on Earth, too, and we know how the Exodus Fleet prized military experience above almost all else at first.

“He was undoubtedly competent, though. He had a few wackjob ideas, sure - although there's still some military types around these days who quote him and say if we'd fought the Apparitions a bit harder we could be more sure that none followed us here, but really how would we not notice if some kind of monstrous gothic ship had showed up?! I mean, really - but no, when it came down to it, Vasily Haldane knew how to argue his point and get things done.

“Take, for example, his assistance in setting up the government we now depend on. Growing out of the Council established on the St Nikolaos, he was naturally a founding member, who did his utmost to support Ashmi Kaur in the early years of her leadership. There are also rumours that he set up some kind of unofficial bureau for dealing with internal troubles, but whatever that was it must have been short-lived as we have no such thing in existence now. For years, he was a loyal member of the government, though often a thorn in Luxe Rosenberg's side - but we will come onto her legacy later.

Most remarkable of all, perhaps, is the fact that despite this long and illustrious career Vasily found himself a partner shortly after settling on Terra Libre, and had a large family by the time he eventually died. He was heard to say that dead love on Earth should be left there - it was time to move on, and one's duty to help repopulate humanity should not be ignored.”

- Excerpt from Leaders of the Exodus, a documentary about the early settlement of Terra Libre, 2136.

New recruits to the New Earth Security Taskforce must be aware that this Service can never be entirely in the public eye. What we do, we do to uphold the government and protect its citizens. Many of our necessary actions lie within the remit of the legal system as it now stands. Some, however, do not, and the government must be kept clear of any culpability for authorising such actions - in other words, they cannot know of them. The organisation therefore operates a 'Haldane Wall' between knowledge which can be allowed to become public and that which cannot (even to the President). All new recruits must complete the mandatory training on this matter before being allowed to view active cases.

- briefing material for training operatives in NEST, 2123