News of 3217 Turn 144

In Brief:  New Draconis refugee numbers top 1/4 million point.

Terrorists Bomb  Transhuman Registration Office

Dateline 3217.132 116AL Q7

A massive explosion was heard throughout the captial city of the 116Al colony, as a suicide bomb attack utterly devasted government offices in the downtown area of the city.  Over 64 colonists died in the attack, and over 128 were badly injured.   The attackers hijacked a municiple vehicle, filled it with explosives and deliberately drove it into the front of the Transhuman Registration Office, whereupon the driver (as yet unidentified) detonated the explosives.  A group calling itself ‘Defend And Free Transhumans’ has claimed responsibility and has blamed the ‘oppressive and totally evil acts of the Empire’ as being the reason for this senseless attack.  The planetary COP chief said “…we are horrified at the actions of a small group of dangerous cyborgs… this is an inhuman and vicious attack on all decent folk.  Now we’re not suggesting that all cyborgs are culpable, but we do urge all those who have not yet registered to do so for their own protection.  Once registered we can provide a place of safety for them.  Those who do not register … well we will have to draw the obvious conclusion as to their respect for the law…”.

Alreayd there have been revenge attacks – mainly misdirected against robot repair shops, auto-taxis and vending machines – there are few transhumans remaining on 116AL – the few remaining having gone into hiding or keeping a very low profile.

In Brief:  Shi’Ar announce that they are refusing entry to their system of any transhumans.

In Brief: Nikkeldipan (Q7) introduces protective custody regulations for local transhumans in order to ‘ reduce unrest’.

‘We Love The Empire Day’

Dateline 3217.141 Punk Q1

The planetary governor of Punk expressed her suprise and delight when the ‘we love the Empire’ campaign went viral on the local planetnet.  It is estimated that over 3 million colonists took to the streets in an unofficial and apparently un-prompted expressions of support for the Earth Empire and a public acknowledgement of how happy they are to be part of what is being called locally ‘the Great Family of Earth’.  Much of this popularity for the empire appears to derive from the recent actions of the imperial planetary governor, Her Excellency the Lady Postlethwaite – she has managed to negotiate some of the long-standing sectarian troubles on Punk, as well as maintain a healthy economic profile.  Local government representatives have all publically commended her for her flexibility and understanding of local problems.

In Brief: T155 (Q8) changes name to ‘Reconciliation’ as new government pardons senior figures of the disgraced CSP.

Banderas faces questions over Sirius AI “cover up”

Dateline New Mars Q0, 3217

Martian chief executive Senator Banderas is at the centre of an increasing political storm in Martian politics over an alleged “cover-up” of intelligence failures regarding the alleged Sirian AI, destroyed by Earther marines as part of a joint Earth-Mars operation in 3214. While the Martian government has always maintained that it believes there was an AI on Sirius, the intelligence surrounding this has been called into question by inquiries in both the MAFC and documents released by the Union of Xyon. Now a series of secret internal memoranda leaked by a whistleblower within the MAFC government purports to show that Senator Banderas not only discovered that the intelligence was faulty, but that the Martian government and intelligence services now believe that the entire operation was actually a plot concocted by Earher intelligence in order to provide a pretext for the destruction of Sirian military facilities and entrap the MAFC, and that the Senator ordered this information suppressed in order to preserve Mars’ diplomatic relations with Earth, in particular joint cooperation with Earth and the UoX on the development of gravitic ships.

Senator Banderas has denied all of the allegations, and says that she continues to believe that there was an AI on Sirius, and has no reason to doubt the Earther narrative of events on Sirius. She has also said that the leaked documents are “fakes, calculated to embarrass” her, concoted by a political opponent, but the opposition Martian Liberal Welfare Party has called for a full judicial inquiry into the matter, and the polls have moved decisively against Banderas, with public calls for her to publish her confidential diplomatic correspondence to prove her innocence. Antoinette Banderas has led her federalist Mars Colonial Growth Faction in coalition with governments of both the left and the right since 3202, and has held the positions of Minister for Foreign Affairs (from 3205-6 and 3210-present) and Minister for War (from 3206-3210). Since 3210 she has been Chair of the Interstellar Coordination Committee, Mars’ de facto chief executive. Her reputation has become closely entwined with her hawkish foreign affairs stance and her strong anti-AI-stance, the latter dating from her time as Supreme Councillor for Quadrant 5, when she ordered the destruction of the ‘Cerebro’ AI on the GFA world of Over. However, she has also been reponsible for a rapprochement with Earth in recent years which has made many Martians uneasy, and which has been exacerbated by these rumours of secret deals with what many Martians still regard as the ‘Evil Empire’. While she has weathered many political storms during her career, there are signs that the fallout from the Sirius Incident may claim the scalp of one of the most remarkable of Martian politicians.

In Brief: Fake (Q8) declares medical emergency and requests help from ‘the interstellar community’ after outbreak of unknown virus.

In Brief:  Z10 (Q7) votes to rename their world ‘Forty’ in honour of the first President of the New Republic.  National holiday declared.