06/29/2175 0430 EST: Transmission Sent Terran Interstellar Authority: O Sol System: 06/29/2175 0431 EST: Transmission Received TSS Hangzhou LCT-1117, TSS Shaolin CCA-1004, TSS Alexander Nevsky BCM-1102, TSS Washington LCM-1202, TSS Orangutan LCM-1304, TSS Invincible DSS-2718
Begin Transmission
"New orders sent from Terran Interstellar Authority. All ships set course for Alpha Ceti system. Rendezvous in orbit. Await further instruction. You are to maintain radio silence en route and upon entering orbit. Await further instruction upon arrival. Authorization Admiral Nobuyuki Ito, code A73FTR20."
End Transmission
Official Transcript: The Recap with Michael DeVoris : 07/02/2175
[Music Plays]
DEVORIS: Welcome back to the weekend Recap, I'm your host Michael DeVoris. If you're just tuning in, then welcome to the show. I'm told that tonight is a special show because for the first time the majority of our viewers are using the new fourth generation Interlink devices to tune in. As I'm sure that you're aware, these are the new devices encouraged by Hegemony authorities, who say that the fourth gen is safer and more efficient than previous models, so everyone is highly encouraged to go out and reach out to your nearest installation service and install the fourth gen Interlink. The procedure isn't painful in the slightest, and you'll be compensated for time by Hegemony bursars. And now let's turn our attention back to the news. One of the biggest stories of the week broke on Friday, the disappearance of a Terran light cruiser. The TSS Swordfish was on patrol along the Terran-Grushan border near Alpha Ceti when it went missing on Wednesday. For more on this, we turn to our chief border affairs correspondent Cheng Lao-Sung reporting from the Geneva station in the DMZ. Lao, what do we know as of today about this missing light cruiser?
CHENG: Michael, there's still so much that we don't know. The Terran Interstellar Authority has released what little information they have. On Sunday of last week, the Swordfish received a distress call from a Terran merchant vessel in the Yveran system. Captain Cristopher Bouchet immediately ordered the Swordfish to the Alpha Ceti Doppler Gate and jumped into the Yveran system on Wednesday. The last communication TIA received from the Swordfish was just before she jumped on Wednesday morning.
DEVORIS: Can you tell us what the Terran Interstellar Authority is doing to search for the Swordfish?
CHENG: Well, Michael, it's a delicate situation, because as you know, Yveran is a Grushan system. The TIA has sent an official request to search the area to the Grushan Senate, but they still have not replied either way on the issue. And Michael, I spoke to a spokesperson from the Federal Grushan Star Fleet who denied that any Terran ships had entered the Yveran system and claimed that no distress signal had been sent, so it may be a long time before they cooperate with the search parties.
DEVORIS: Okay, Lao, this question may seem insensitive, but does it seem likely that the Swordfish will be found? How long do you think that the search will last?
CHENG: Again, it's difficult to say. The last Terran ship to go missing was the Argonaut in 2143, a single-engine cutter that experienced a navigation error when using the Tacitus Prime Doppler Gate, and that ship and its crew were never found by the Terran Interstellar Authority. However, since we know the general area in which the Swordfish's final distress call came from, we may have a better chance with it.
DEVORIS: Well, we can only place our hopes in the Hegemony and the Terran Interstellar Authority. Thank you for your time as always.
CHENG: Thank you, Michael.
DEVORIS: That was Cheng Lao-Sung reporting from the Geneva station. We turn now to domestic affairs on the Terran home world, the recent rise of political extremism in Russia. Gennady Alexandrovich Semyonov was once considered an outcast and a paranoiac, but his anti-Hegemony rhetoric has begun to resonate with Hegemony citizens in Russia and around the world.
[Video Playback]
SEMYONOV: (translated) The people have no voice in the Hegemony. The people have no being in the Hegemony. You are not people to them, you are products; a source of income, of wealth, of power for the government in Beijing and the corporations that keep them in power!
BOWSMAN: That was St. Petersburg native Gennady Semyonov at a rally held in Kursk outside a world war 2 memorial to the battle of Kursk. Hundreds of people have come out to hear what he has to say. Most of it is like this.
SEMYONOV: (translated) The Chinese promised us economic and social freedom. They gave us corporate domination and imperialism. And what did the governments of the west do to stop them? What did America and Germany and Russia do? They rolled over in the name of global unity and progress. They traded freedom for social order in the name of fear.
BOWSMAN: Semyonov calls the Hegemony a top-down bureaucratic dictatorship monopolized by corporations such as the Alibaba-Amazon conglomerate, Ambience Corp. and Google, although both companies and the Hegemony deny that such monopolies exist, according to Russian Hegemony spokesperson Nikita Dzerzhinsky.
DZERZHINSKY: There is not, and never has been, an official agreement between the Amazon-Alibaba conglomerate or Google and the Hegemony. Beijing has confirmed this many times. What Mr. Semyonov says is false and cannot be trusted.
BOWSMAN: But despite this public contradiction, many in Russia and abroad in America and Africa are listening to Semyonov's message, such as Muscovite Marko Caleshenko.
CALESHENKO: (translated) The Hegemony is not a free country. Do not tell a Russian that a government is free; Russians have never been free. First, it was the Czars, then the Bolsheviks, then the Presidents after Putin, now the Hegemony in China. It is all the same; they take the media and tell us all is happy and that the outside is envious of our happiness. But we see the lies. We know the truth, and we will not tolerate the lies any more.
BOWSMAN: Some of Semyonov's supporters have made long trips to be in Kursk this evening. Chisomo Opeyemi came from Nairobi, Kenya this morning and is staying in the same hotel as Semyonov himself.
OPEYEMI: In Africa, there is starvation every day. The Hegemony has not given us wealth or peace, but only the illusion of them, and they pacify us with the Interlink so we do not realize.
BOWSMAN: (interviewing) Are you saying that the Interlink is being used to control the population?
OPEYEMI: I am saying this.
[End Video]
BOWSMAN: As you can see, Michael, Semyonov has become a powerful force in many people's lives. But more than that, he has become a lightning rod for anti-Hegemony sentiment, and even exhibits patterns of Novan separatism. People should be warned and on guard against his rhetoric and his followers.
DEVORIS: Andrew, you spoke to many of the people at Semyonov's rally; did you really see indications of Novan sympathy?
BOWSMAN: Well, Michael, you saw yourself that man from Africa, a continent which has benefited enormously from Hegemony guidance over the years, expressing belief in Novan anti-Hegemony, anti-Interlink rhetoric, and many of the other people that we spoke to seem to think in the same way.
DEVORIS: Does it seem likely that Nova affiliated groups might be influencing these people, and if so, do you think it likely that we might see a rise in pro-Novan terrorism?
BOWSMAN: I don't know, Michael. The best answer is maybe. There's no evidence of a direct line of communication between Semyonov and Nova, but that doesn't mean that Novan spies haven't reached Earth or that Novan hackers haven't found a way into the public internet database. I should also mention that it has been demonstrated that generation 3 Interlinks may be more susceptible to Novan or Grushan influence than once thought.
DEVORIS: All the more reason to schedule an installation of the new fourth generation Interlink devices at your nearest installation service provider completely free of charge. Andrew, thank you for your time.
BOWSMAN: Thank you, Michael.
DEVORIS: That was Andrew Bowsman reporting on the political rise of Gennady Semyonov. Up next, an interview with Disney CEO Warren Hillman on its planned merger with Chinese film company Huayi Brothers, and a look at an Alpha Ceti water project which could open up over a million acres for colonization. All that and more after this short break.
[Music Plays]
[End Transcript]
Cynthia Mattingly: A City Girl in the Boondocks Vlog: 07/03/2175: Ellensburg, Montana
"You're never going to guess what happened to me today, everyone. I got paired up with Billy Aucaman for the big paper in Exocultures! Oh, and I got that new haircut I told you about!"
[Musical Opening]
"She's a city girl in the Boondocks!"
[End Musical Opening]
"So, I should probably explain what the big fuss is about. So, I'm taking Exocultures from Mr. Stone this semester, and it's really just this big class about Grushan history and culture...
"Yeah, it's really boring.
"But so, anyway, there's supposed to be this big paper assignment at the end of the semester that's due right before vacation starts on the 20th of July and we're supposed to write it in groups of two, which is great, right? It means that everyone ends up doing half of the work, so it's better.
"But here's the catch; Stone chooses the groups. Which, I get it, he wants to make sure that everyone has a chance to pass, so some people have to group up with people they don't like.
"But really? Billy Aucaman?
"Uuuugghh!
"So, let me tell you about Mr. Billy. First of all, he's the hickest hillbilly that ever hilled or billied.
"He works his off hours from school in some native wetland that apparently Montana still has and is still, like, wet or something.
"I really don't know what he does. Something to do with conservation or whatever.
"Point is, whatever he does comes with him in school. He literally smells like a marsh. Like, seriously, did you just roll around in the mud for an hour and call it good, or did you pour fish oil over yourself too?
"I swear, he could not smell more fishy if he wanted to.
"And, I mean, I'm okay with that, really I am. I'm like a tolerant, understanding person, you know? I mean, if there was nothing else weird, I'd be like, 'well, I guess this isn't ideal, but we can still do this project or whatever.'
"But no.
"Really, no.
"Did I mention that he only has one hundred Sesame points?
"No, I'm completely serious! One hundred! How does one even get to be that low? Even if we're just High Schoolers, you should be way higher! I'm a 538 for goodness sake!
"And you know, you can totally tell when you talk to him. Like, I went up to him after class to, you know, figure out when we could study, and he was like,
"'I can't after school unless you also want to get your hands dirty doing real work.'"
[Gestures in Disgust]
"So, I asked him, 'could you link up later tonight then.' And get this: he looks me right in the eye and says 'I don't have an Interlink.'
"Well, that explains the score, I thought.
"So, yeah. I have to write a ten-page paper on the history of the Grushan Federation with some guy with a one hundred score who smells like fish and mud who possibly has Novan sympathies.
"I just hope that I don't lose score just because freaking Mr. Stone assigned us together. I have college plans, after all. I don't want that getting messed up.
"But enough about that. Because I finally got that new hair style I've been wanting!"
[Does Happy Dance]
"I just got it on Saturday. I went with my sister Olivia and we had our hair all fixed up just like the girls back home are wearing it. And it looks so good on both of us, especially Olivia, and it makes me wish I was back home with all my besties in Atlanta. I miss you all!
"Well, I think that's all for today. I'd better go and research the rise of the Grushan Federation.
"By, guys, and thanks so much for watching, don't forget to subscribe!
"See ya!"
[End Vlog]
Text Conversation: From Billy Aucaman To Andrea Niles: 07/03/2175
Mon, 4:35 pm
Billy: So, I got partnered with Cynthia Mattingly for the paper in Exocultures.
Andrea: That bitch? Yuck. So sorry.
Billy: Yeah, I know.
Andrea: What are you writing on?
Billy: The founding of the Grushan Federation.
Andrea: Get ready to do all the work.
Billy: Oh, I am.
Billy: Is she what you'd call "basic?"
Andrea: Cynthia?
Andrea: Ohhhh yes.
Andrea: They named that term after her.
Andrea: Eventually, they're just going to say, "that bitch is so Cynthia."
Billy: Oh. Okay. Just making sure I had that one right.
Andrea: You do.
Billy: Okay. Thank you.
Andrea: Any time.
[End Text Transaction]
Official Diplomatic Dispatch: From Grushan Senate To Terran Global Hegemony President's Office: 07/03/2175 1830 EST
To Yan An-Sing, President of the Terran Hegemony, from Almarith, Praetor of the Grushan Federation, Chairman of the Grushan Senate, Commander of the Federal Grushan Star Fleet
Greetings. It has come to our attention that the Terran Hegemony has lost track of one of its light missile cruisers. It also seems that the Terran Interstellar Authority has reason to believe that this missing ship may have been present in Grushan space at the time of its disappearance, specifically in the star system surrounding the Yveran colony. The Federal Grushan Star Fleet reports no entry of the Yveran system by any Terran starships in the timeframe reported by the TIA. Further, FGSF monitoring posts have detected a worrying buildup of Terran ships in the Alpha Ceti system, which neighbors Grushan space and the Yveran colony. Surely, the Terran Hegemony has no intention of invading the Yveran system? Such an act would be considered an act of war by the Grushan and would be met with swift retaliation. However, in recognition of the need to rescue the crew of a missing Terran vessel, the Senate assures me that if the Terran Star Fleet withdraws its military buildup from the Alpha Ceti system, a limited number of Terran starships would be allowed to enter the Yveran system, with FGSF supervision, and conduct a thorough search for the missing vessel. I, and the Senate, hope that this arrangement meets with Terran needs.
07/04/2175 1245 EST: Transmission sent TSS Alexander Nevsky BCM-1102: O Alpha Ceti: 07/04/2175 1246 EST: Transmission Received Terran Interstellar Authority
Begin Transmission
"Admiral Nobuyuki Ito to TIA. Unidentified ship detected on longwave EM frequencies. Course will bring it directly to Alpha Ceti system. Signature matches data transmitted from TSS Swordfish. Be advised I have ordered Task Force 6 to intercept."
End Transmission