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Community Goal: The Search for Survivors

Federal President Zachary Hudson has confirmed that the remains of Starship One were among the wreckage recently delivered to Leoniceno Orbital. The search for the missing presidential vessel began two weeks ago, resulting in the accumulation of thousands of tonnes of wreckage, which was then subjected to rigorous analysis by Federal scientists. The analysis confirmed that the remains of Starship One had been located, prompting President Hudson to release a statement to the media:

"The loss of Starship One remains a tragedy, but I must admit to feeling a sense of relief at finally knowing what happened to the presidential ship."

President Hudson followed his statement with a surprising announcement:

"Our researchers have surmised that the destruction of Starship One was not instantaneous, and that the front of the ship may have suffered less damage than the rest of the vessel. This means there is a very small chance – and I must stress that this is remote – that some of the crew might have been able to reach escape pods. That's why I'm calling on the galactic community to support a second search – a search for survivors."

"Pilots who want to contribute to the search should concentrate their efforts in the Lyncis Sector, and in particular on the ON-T B3-1, ON-T B3-2, ON-T B3-3, ON-T B3-4 and ST-R B4-3 1 systems, where we believe further wreckage from the ship may be found."

The search is expected to begin immediately.

Galactic News: Starship One Destruction Linked to Mechanical Failure

A Federal investigation team has released the results of an official inquiry into the destruction of Starship One. The 600,000-word report confirms that the abnormal energy signature detected just before the ship made its last jump was almost certainly caused by mechanical failure. The report goes on to assert that the failure began with a power surge in the ship's central power plant – a relatively common occurrence in a high-capacity hydrogen reactor – which overloaded several other core systems.

Despite examining every piece of available evidence, investigators could not find any proof that the ship was sabotaged. They ultimately concluded that the ship's destruction was the result of a complex, multi-stage engine failure.

Galactic News: Federation Begins Analysing Wreckage

Over the past week, hundreds of pilots have been searching for signs of Starship One, the Federal presidential vessel that disappeared in May 3301. Two factions had a stake in the search – the Azaleach Partnership, which was acting on behalf of Federal President Zachary Hudson, and the Daurtu Jet Comms PLC, an organisation about which very little is known.

Today, the Federation announced it had received a sizeable quantity of debris. In a statement, President Hudson expressed his satisfaction at the outcome:

"I would like to thank the galactic community for its enthusiastic participation in the search for Starship One. Thousands of tonnes of debris have been delivered to the Federal research outpost at Leoniceno Orbital, which we will now subject to comprehensive spectral analysis. As for Daurtu Jet Comms PLC, I do not know what interest it has in Starship One, but I would remind them that the Federation takes a dim view of those who meddle in its affairs."

Although Daurtu Jet Comms PLC offered larger rewards for wreckage than the Federation, it is understood to have received only a modest amount of space-borne debris. Given the failure of the organisation's appeal, we may never know why Daurtu Jet Comms PLC was looking for the lost presidential ship.

Community Goal: The Search for Starship One

In May 3301, the personal vessel of the Federal president, Starship One, disappeared en route to the Azaleach system. An investigation was promptly launched, but the fate of the vessel and her crew, which included then-president Jasmina Halsey, could not be conclusively determined. In a statement released earlier today, Federal President Zachary Hudson announced his intention to resume the search for the ship, inspired by the discovery of the remains of the liner Antares:

"Like many others, I was heartened by the Sirius Corporation's success, and I found myself thinking that if the remains of a ship lost fifty years ago could be found, surely a ship lost less than a year ago could also be recovered. I am therefore offering generous reimbursements to pilots who deliver wreckage components to the Federal research outpost at Leoniceno Orbital in the Azaleach system. Once we have gathered enough material, we will analyse the debris to determine if any of it is from Starship One. If we are able to find the remains of the ship, we may be able to determine what happened to President Halsey and the rest of the ship's crew."

But it appears that President Hudson is not the only person eager to find Starship One. In a strange turn of events, an organisation by the name of Daurtu Jet Comms PLC has also announced its intention to search for the missing presidential vessel. Virtually nothing is known about Daurtu Jet Comms PLC, but the fact that it is offering even larger rewards than the Federation may convince pilots to lend the organisation their support.

'The Missing'

In this latest edition of our series revisiting key points in human history, award-winning journalist Fiona Parker discusses 'the missing' – the lost explorers who played a key role in the golden age of human exploration.

"Our preoccupation with progress means we tend to forget about those who fall by the wayside, but our present-day interplanetary civilisation would arguably not have come to pass without the pioneers of the mid-third Millennium."

"Between 2200 and 2700 the galaxy bore witness to a period of massive expansion, as huge numbers of expeditions and colonisation missions set off into the black. At the time, sending messages at light speed was impossible, so it could take years, or even decades, for a message to reach its destination. In those days, you really were on your own, with nothing but your own ingenuity to rely on in times of crisis."

"We knew much less about the galaxy then than we do now, and scanning technology was considerably less sophisticated, so colonisation missions were particularly risky. Sometimes colonists were confronted with issues they couldn't possibly have prepared for, and many of the early settlements lasted only a few years."

"Of course, this phenomenon is not confined solely to the past. Only last year we lost Jasmina Halsey, the former Federal president, when her starship disappeared during an interplanetary tour. It's a fact both of our past and our present – an inescapable reality of life among the stars."

Faction Issues Appeal for Onion Head

A faction known as the Drug Empire of Xelabara has issued a request for the controversial narcotic onion head. The drug was once a significant trade commodity, but it suffered a setback last year when former Federal President Jasmina Halsey declared it illegal in Federation space. Rooney 'Rush' Romero, a spokesperson for the Drug Empire of Xelabara, explained that the appeal is partly intended to revitalise the market:

"The fact is that people want onion head. The Federation might not like it, but that's their problem - our organisation is well within its rights to establish a trading operation in Xelabara. Trouble is, although we've got the money, we don't have the merchandise. That's why we're offering generous incentives to pilots who deliver onion head to our base of operations in Xelabara."

The Federation has not released an official statement concerning the request.

Core Dynamics has Links to VP’s Death?

In another shocking revelation the Federal Times today posted a story highlighting possible links between a non-exec member of the board of Core Dynamics and Vice President Nigel Smeaton’s death. They first referenced an interview on January 28th with Congressman George Fallside who appeared to have early knowledge of the Vice President’s death. The Congressman refused to comment on the article, but it is public knowledge of his non-executive directorship of Core Dynamics and several other major arms manufacturers.

More damning was the evidence concerning one of the crew of the Starship One, Flight Engineer Nick Baron, who had previously worked at Core Dynamics before joining the President’s Crew. From the information package sent by Elaine Boyd after her death, the Federal Times published extracts of financial records of the flight engineer.

When tracing these records through a convoluted series of transfers, one of these transfers was through a shell corporation , in which Congressman Fallside was involved. The trail of the payments revealed that Boyd must have obtained a high level clearance access, possibly provided by Agent Monroe.

When asked about today’s story, the Chief Editor for the Federal Times commented:

“There does appear to have been a conspiracy on several levels. We believe that the destruction of the Highliner Antares so many years ago may not have been an accident. When the Vice President was investigating the death of his relative, he must have discovered some of these details, and possible the dark forces killed him, and when our reporter Elaine Boyd did the same, she too was silenced. We are still not clear how it relates to the present day. Our reporters continue to investigate.

“At the Federal Times we always seek the truth and we will discover the truth here.”

Aliens Kidnapped the President

The spectre of President Halsey’s disappearance in Starship One refuses to die down. Despite the findings of the official report some claim that the matter is far from closed. One such person is self-proclaimed conspiracy expert Ricardo Bentonio on his investigative show ‘The Hidden World’:

“They took her for their own purposes. Not the lizard people from Andromeda, that’s the Imperial Dynasty. She’s been taken somewhere different.”

Federal Navy officials refused to comment on this allegation. One Congressman was overheard joking “Does anyone listen to that loon’s shows? Except his precious lizard people from Andromeda, of course!”