Official Transcript: HNN Frontline News: 08/27/2175
HALERMAN: Welcome Hegemony citizens to this newest segment on HNN Nightly News, Frontline News, a segment that explores the war in various fronts. I'm your host Josiah Halerman. Last week we took you to the distant reaches of the Nova colony using new temporary warp gates established by the Terran Interstellar Authority and we explored the desperate plight of the Novan rebels. Since that time, it should be noted that fighting in Hanson Harbor has begun to breach surface levels; it looks as if the invasion planned by General Chaffin was a success. Tonight, we'll be continuing our exploration of the Terran war effort with a new segment covering the fighting much closer to home, in fact on Earth itself. It's a small war effort as one might expect from fighting that occurs on Earth, since the vast majority of Earth's nearly 13 billion humans live in peace and prosperity and have pledged support to the Hegemony and the war effort. However, there are some who have taken up arms against the state in the interests of the Grushan and Novan rebels. We explored the destitute conditions that citizens of the so-called Novan alliance live under; a number of opportunistic would be tyrants in our own Africa have taken up the drum of Nova's own imperialistic government and hope to enforce that same oppressive, divided regime on Earth. We go now to the borders of Congo in the African Union, where Hegemony forces are preparing to make a major breakthrough against revolutionary forces.
[Fade out. Scene shifts to a tropical jungle area. Subtitles denote this as Ghana, Africa. An explosion in the distance rises from the trees and the muffled sound of it reaches the camera]
HALERMAN: What you just saw was a Hegemony air strike on Ghanan forces situated on the border between Ghana and Togo. African coalition forces have rendezvoused here to meet the Hegemony invasion with what few troops they can muster. Hegemony intelligence indicates that the defense of Ghana has been determined, but that ultimately, the superior tactics, technology, and equipment of the Terran Hegemony have worn down the poorly equipped defenders.
[Camera hovers on the smoking wreckage of a Ghanan exosuit. A charred body of the pilot hangs out of the smoking remains]
HALERMAN: This unfortunate rebel soldier is wearing the latest in African combat equipment developed jointly, so we're told, by African research firms and Grushan development teams sent to Africa shortly before the rise of the Hegemony. As you can see, although his powered exoskeleton provides significant protection, ultimately this was not enough to shield him from Terran weapons technology. If you look over here, you'll see the latest in Terran combat designs. This is the MM-23 Calamity, a fully automated machine warrior. It has 50cm frontal armor, a massive 240mm main gun and targeting so advanced that its designers boast that it could hit a bird's nest in a tree in the middle of a forest five miles away. They also tell us that the system has enough redundancies as to be practically indestructible even if the Africans could bust its outer armor, a tough task at best. It's powered by a tenth-generation micro-fission reactor that's safe to the environment if breached. It's piloted remotely by operators working for Ambience corporation, which manufactures the positronic core and Interlink software to run it. The Terran Hegemony Army currently has five thousand Calamities operating on the Africa front, and this is just one of many.
[The automated tank roles over the scorched exoskeleton and the corpse inside, crushing them under 12 tonnes of weight]
HALERMAN: Godspeed, Calamity. Calamity tanks also use breakthrough technology developed by the Grushan themselves and perfected by Ambience Corp. engineers that allows it to extend its caterpillar treads into individual legs, enabling it to navigate central Africa's difficult terrain. Ghanan forces currently possess similar tank technology, but with their infantry vulnerable to heavy weapons and artillery, and with their dependence on dwindling manpower has crippled their capabilities. African insurgents have sprung up in great numbers all over central Africa, but their efforts against Terran army equipment such as this.
[Camera lingers on an advancing line of Calamity tanks]
HALERMAN: So, let's try to understand the origins of this war. It isn't, after all, every day that millions of Hegemony citizens suddenly declare war on the very ideals that they once upheld. To understand exactly what has happened here, we must go back to the events of this past July, when President Sing authorized large scale upgrades to fourth gen Interlink devices in the interest of national security. Part of that large scale action included the order to install fourth gen Interlink devices in citizens who were not fortunate enough to have devices of their own. This initiative was met with almost universal gratitude and support from the population of the Terran Hegemony at large. However, a few did not like the free access to technology that the Interlink initiative offered; many of these were in league with dissident leaders like the now deceased Gennady Semyonov and the illegitimate government of the rebel Nova colony.
[Screen shows slide show of images of Theresa and Muhammed Mwangi]
HALERMAN: What you're seeing now is a collection of stills chronicling the presidency of Muhammad Mwangi. Mwangi was a populist ruler who garnered public support with nationalist, anti-Hegemony rhetoric in the early 2140's. His wife, Theresa, seen with him here, shared his radical viewpoint. This will become important later.
[Slide show transitions into news footage of Muhammad Mwangi's inauguration]
HALERMAN: Muhammed Mwangi was elected President of Congo in 2156. When he was sworn in, he became the most powerful man in Africa. Congo has the largest population in Africa, having resisted, with Grushan assistance, the early Hegemony population regulation strategy in 2080. Grushan help gave them the right to set their own less stringent population legislation, a right that they have exploited to its fullest. Congo now supports a population of over 400 million people, a population quadrupled from levels before Grushan first contact. It's industrial capacity currently knows no rival within continental Africa. Congo is the leading member of the multi-state alliance known as the African Union. In this position, Mwangi held sway over policies and agendas throughout the central portion of the continent.
MWANGI (MUHAMMED): (translated) I do swear to uphold the ideals and the principles of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to uphold the virtues expected of the office to which I have been elected, to protect the people of Congo without preference to creed or color, to follow the constitution defined herein, to uphold the rule of law and the will of the people, and to act in the best interests of the people I serve, so help me God.
HALERMAN: Mwangi was only too good to his word. During his twelve-year presidency, Mwangi became famous, infamous rather, for his pointed disagreements with the Hegemony and China. African nations often promote backwards policy and social standards, such as restricted Interlink access, aggressive promotion of unstable local and small-scale businesses and industries, and promoting of alternative narrative media that often undermines the public service news outlets such as HNN and the Beijing Times. He also tightened regional ties with the Grushan Federation and loosened immigration restrictions to the Novan Alliance and Grushan worlds. Many pro-Novan sympathizers betrayed Earth through the DRC's transports and migrant "support" programs. And, as Congo goes, the African Union follows.
[Footage of refugees displaced by the Hegemony invasion]
HALERMAN: These people currently fleeing from the fighting are typical reminders of the result of Mwangi's policies. As we you can clearly see from the style of their clothing, they haven't been exposed to the greater part of Earth culture and probably don't even know that more civilized, refined attire exists. The number of children in this caravan also defies the imagination; in the developed world, families are limited by the necessity of limited resources to the replacement rate, a policy that has met with almost universal approval and has increased the economic prosperity of people worldwide. These African women have at least three children for each one of them, and these are only the lucky survivors who are en route to Hegemony base camps to receive Chinese provided supplies, medicine, and clothing, which many may never have experienced in their lives. Africa has always been a poverty-stricken area; it was only after the first contact with the Grushan Federation that African nations began to reach modern standards of living.
[Archival footage of the funeral of Muhammed Mwangi]
HALERMAN: When Muhammed Mwangi died in 2168, in the middle of his term, his life as celebrated throughout the African Union and his death was mourned even outside of Africa by Novan sympathizers everywhere. It was thought among the annals of Beijing that his death would facilitate a new generation of African leaders to guide the troubled nations of the African Union into a new age of prosperity. Such has not proven to be the case, however, thanks to one woman; Muhammad Mwangi's wife, Theresa, the former First Lady of Congo.
MWANGI (THERESA): (translated) When I look out upon the people gathered before me, I feel... well, I feel quite intimidated, if I am being truthful. Are you really all crowded around here to listen to me speak? Have I got anything of importance to say, beyond the obvious things? Love each other, love our enemies in Beijing, love our Grushan brothers and sisters? Give to one another from the heart and give yourselves fully to anything that you undertake, no matter how mundane it is? But surely, you didn't come all this way to hear me say this?
HALERMAN: But those people that you saw in the crowds did come to hear her say this. Notice the subtle way that she refers to Beijing as an enemy. It is almost as if she were hoping that it would go under the radar. But it didn't, I can assure you. How can humans refer to humans as enemies? How can one be an enemy of the Hegemony and a friend to the people of Earth? This day, Theresa Mwangi declared war upon the Terran Hegemony and stole the heart of her people. Since this event, a number of politicians with Chinese, German, Russian, American, and European backing have attempted to make strides in the Congolese government, to set the country back upon a more just and verdant course, but to no avail. As with many populist regimes, the Mwangis has captured the imagination of its people. They sought out a strong man, and they put one in place. The regimes of the early 21st century mirror this trend, as in the case of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Donald Trump, and Rodrigo Duterte. And like them, information was always their enemy. So when Ambience Corp. offered in July to provide free Interlinks, the Congolese government, still under the backing of Theresa Mwangi, knew better. They knew that it was not the threat of American bombs that started the North Korean civil war of the 2060's but access to information, in that day and age, provided by cell phones and the internet. Today, the threat to Mwangi is the Interlink. The Mwangis held their power because they controlled the narrative of the people; information brought in by the Terran liberation force would shake the foundation of their power. So when the Terran Hegemony began a war of liberation against Nova and the Grushan, the African Union saw an opportunity to stop the Interlink project once and for all.
KANG: It's quite possible that the African Union was responsible for several acts of terror against several Ambience operating facilities within places like Ghana.
HALERMAN: General Fo-Yon Kang is the Hegemony officer overseeing the liberation front in Ghana.
KANG: Before the martial law declaration, several field laboratories established by Ambience Corp. to administer the Interlink installations were hit by armed gunmen. The most famous such attack was actually here in Ghana, in a small town on the southern coast called Jimeso. It was this attack that prompted the President to declare martial law and authorize this invasion.
HALERMAN: And was this attack provoked by any sort of accident in an installation? Such things have been known to happen, though they are rare.
KANG: I'm not sure what you're referring to.
HALERMAN: Were the perpetrators of the attack survivors of a botched installation, or were they mentally ill themselves?
KANG: It's unlikely that they were mentally ill or responding to some poorly executed installation, since nothing like that was on the record. It's more likely that they were just acting out of patriotism, pressured by Mwangi propaganda.
HALERMAN: Patriotism? How can an attack on innocent civilians be considered patriotic? How could patriots attack fellow humans on Earth?
[Cut to a distant explosion]
HALERMAN: Thankfully, the days may soon be over when the dictatorial regime of Theresa Mwangi will be over for good.
KANG: I'm optimistic that we'll reach Kinshasa by the end of 2175.
HALERMAN: And what will that mean for the people of the African Union?
KANG: They'll of course be provided with the basic human rights and freedoms afforded to all Hegemony citizens, as well as free fourth-gen Interlink devices.
HALERMAN: And this could mean the end of Mwangi's regime. Until then, the fighting here in Ghana continues. For HNN News, I'm Josiah Halerman. We'll be back with more in depth coverage of the war after this short break.
[End Transcript]