Galnet News

As the Federal Security Service continues its investigation into The Mars Tribune for illegally obtaining the private information of Federal citizens, the newsfeed’s parent company, the Cordova Group, has filed a formal complaint.

The FSS has established that the administration robots of dozens of public figures and wealthy individuals have been fitted with hidden surveillance programs, and that these programs may be the source of several scandals exposed, exclusively, by The Mars Tribune.

Kingsley Cordova, billionaire owner of The Mars Tribune, addressed the situation in an editorial:

“These accusations are an insult to our journalistic integrity. Are we to be punished for uncovering liars and criminals? Our readers have always been grateful to us for shining a light into Sol’s murky corners.”

“I suggest that the FSS treads more cautiously. These robots apparently have access to very sensitive data. Imagine if they publicly broadcasted everything they’d learned about their owners.”

Technology journalist Harlow Nassry has published an article in The Federal Times regarding a mysterious criminal group known only as ‘the Collective’:

“Several recent digital crimes, including the theft of a billion credits from Zachary Rackham, have now been attributed to the Collective. Security forces have launched investigations, but it seems that the name is already well known among hacker communities.”

“The Collective is a group of anti-authority ‘hacktivists’ who believe that all information should be publicly available. It has existed for some years, but until recently its activities have been small scale.”

“Nobody knows the identity of the group’s members, which has no spokespersons or apparent leaders. As anarchists, they delight in flouting the law, believing that all data should be in the public domain – except, of course, data about themselves.”

“Some see the Collective as irresponsible criminals, while others paint them as modern-day Robin Hoods. Either way, as possibly the best hackers in the galaxy, it’s likely we’ll be hearing more about them in the future.”

Here are this week’s major stories.

Gibson Kincaid has been announced as the winner of the Alliance presidential election, and will continue serving as president of the Alliance. Kincaid obtained a small majority of the public vote, defeating Councillor Elijah Beck. Prime Minister Edmund Mahon said the Alliance Assembly was still debating Kincaid’s proposal to imbue the presidential role with executive powers.

An attempt by armed intruders to access Phoenix Base in the Meene system, home of the engineer Ram Tah, has been foiled. Ram Tah said he believed the thwarted raid was an attempt to steal research data or samples of Guardian technology.

In other news, the Federal Security Service has targeted The Mars Tribune as part of its investigation into robots carrying concealed surveillance programs. The development follows news that several of those found to be in possession of ‘spy’ robots were the subject of incriminating articles published by the Tribune. The conglomerate that owns The Mars Tribune has challenged any suggestion of wrongdoing.

Billionaire businessman Zachary Rackham has been targeted by a highly sophisticated hack that withdrew 1 billion credits from his personal account. Rackham Capital Investments confirmed that the criminals left a message encoded in Rackham’s account: ‘The Collective plays to win.’ It has been speculated that the hack was intended to reclaim the billion-credit prize that Rackham won in the Federal Grand Lottery.

Meanwhile, the Palin Institute has announced a new research programme designed to discern the motives behind the Thargoids’ unrelenting aggression. The Institute has asked the galactic community to contribute Thargoid research material to the campaign.

Finally, the Close Encounters Corps has announced that its appeal for commodities has reached a successful conclusion, having received an overwhelming response from the galactic community. The materials delivered to Crown Prospect over the past week will allow the construction of a scientific megaship to research the nebula surrounding the BD-12 1172 system.

And those are the main stories this week.

The Federal Security Service has targeted The Mars Tribune as part of its investigation into robots carrying concealed surveillance programs.

Lieutenant Inspector Ramesh Thorne made this statement:

“The personal robots of former congressman Morgan Unwin and actor Tomas Turai were found to contain surveillance programs. In recent weeks, both were the subject of incriminating articles published exclusively in The Mars Tribune.”

“Public-relations guru Anya Blackriver, also the owner of a ‘spy’ robot, was recently exposed by the Tribune for concealing various scandals on behalf of her celebrity clients. In fact, all the owners of affected robots live in the Sol system, which is the focus of the Tribune’s journalism.”

“We are therefore interviewing Tribune staff to establish if they used these robots to gather private data in order to obtain material for exclusive stories.”

Legal representatives of the Cordova Group, the conglomerate that owns The Mars Tribune, have challenged the FSS for making ‘libellous and baseless accusations’.

An attempt by armed intruders to access Phoenix Base in the Meene system has been foiled. The base is the home of engineer Ram Tah.

Security Chief Harper Vargas gave this report:

“Defensive systems alerted us to a small group of intruders who had breached the base’s perimeter. Our teams engaged them in combat and forced them back to a waiting ship. Unfortunately, we were unable to identify the ship or prevent it from escaping.”

“During the incursion, the intruders used explosives to sabotage the base’s power network. Fortunately, the base remains operational."

Ram Tah told the media:

“I believe this was an attempt to steal research data or samples of Guardian technology – the implications of which are most disturbing. Although the attempt failed, it has disrupted my important research.”

The Close Encounters Corps has announced that its appeal for commodities has reached a successful conclusion, having received an overwhelming response from the galactic community.

A huge number of muon imagers were delivered to Crown Prospect over the past week. These will allow the construction of a scientific megaship to research the nebula surrounding the BD-12 1172 system.

With the initiative at an end, Admiral Anton Vern of the Close Encounters Corps issued the following statement:

“I am grateful for the professionalism displayed by the pilots who took part in this project, and thank them on behalf of our researchers. New horizons and new worlds await us.”

Pilots who contributed to the initiative can now collect their rewards from Crown Prospect in the Kagutsuchi system.

The Palin Institute has announced an accelerated programme of study to analyse a range of xenobiological data, and perhaps discern the motives behind the Thargoids’ unrelenting aggression.

Professor Cora Shaw, director of the Palin Institute, released the following statement:

“In recent months, the Institute has performed countless studies on alien technology and physiology, and our stock of xenobiological samples is severely depleted. For this robust new study, we require a large amount of Thargoid material to support a wide range of experiments.”

The Ryder Revolutionary Party, which is supporting the campaign, has placed an open order for various Thargoid materials and promised to reward pilots who deliver these goods to Obsidian Orbital in the Maia system. The organisation has also placed a kill order on all ships on its wanted list, to ensure that those delivering materials to Ryder Revolutionary Party can do so safely.

The campaign begins on the 18th of October 3304 and will run for one week. If the final target is met earlier than planned, the campaign will end immediately.

Billionaire businessman Zachary Rackham has been targeted by a highly sophisticated hack that successfully withdrew 1 billion credits from his personal account.

A spokesperson for Rackham Capital Investments informed shareholders:

“We have reported the theft to the authorities, and are reviewing our computer security systems. The only clue as to the criminals’ identity is a message they left encoded in Mr Rackham’s account: ‘The Collective plays to win.’”

Financial journalist Bryanna Blanco commented in The Federal Times:

“The purpose of the hack was evidently to reclaim the billion-credit prize that Rackham ‘won’ in the Federal Grand Lottery. What Rackham Capital Investments didn’t reveal was that the money was redistributed equally among several hundred of the company’s former employees, who were denied their company pensions years ago.”

“There is a sweet irony to the old pirate Calico Zack having his money stolen by cyber pirates. Whoever the Collective might be, they seem to have both a sense of justice and a sense of humour.”

Gibson Kincaid has been announced as the winner of the Alliance presidential election. He will continue serving as president of the Alliance.

Kincaid obtained a small majority of the public vote, defeating Councillor Elijah Beck. Entrepreneur Fazia Silva, the third candidate in the race, was recently found dead, and is the subject of an Interpol investigation.

President Kincaid addressed his followers at a victory rally:

“My thanks go to every citizen who saw the wisdom of my vision. I vow to lead you into a glorious future!”

Prime Minister Edmund Mahon gave a statement to the media:

“I offer my congratulations to President Kincaid on being successfully re-elected. The Assembly is continuing to debate his proposal to imbue the presidential role with executive powers. We have agreed to extend the deadline by one week, after which a parliamentary vote will decide the outcome.”

The two remaining candidates in the Alliance presidential race have returned to the Alioth system to make their final campaign vows.

In the parliamentary chamber of the Assembly, Elijah Beck addressed his fellow council members:

“The Alliance occupies a unique position, and as such must remain true to its principles. My focus as president will be on attracting more independent systems to our interstellar family.”

He was followed by the current incumbent, President Gibson Kincaid:

“Fazia Silva’s assassination was an assault on our democracy. The Alliance’s enemies are growing bold, and we must do the same. I beseech the Assembly to imbue the presidential role with executive powers, to transform our Alliance into a true superpower capable of challenging its adversaries.”

Prime Minister Edmund Mahon thanked both candidates and wished them good luck in the election.

The public vote will take place on Tuesday the 16th of October and the results will be announced later that week.