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Astoria Evening News

Jenova's witnesses on trial

After a terrorist attack in Byzantium by a cult called the 'Jenova's Witnesses', PeZookian security forces have arrested nearly all known cult members. While most of them were released after interrogation, more than twenty cultists will face trial on charges ranging from illegal posession of firearms to conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism.

In an ironic note, a significant act of bio-terrorism was averted thanks to chronic delays at Astoria International Airport, which caused a 'sleeper agent' to be delayed, and thus incapable of moving a biological agent into PeZookia.

Jenova's Witnesses have been classified as a terrorist group by the Internal Security Bureau, which warned PeZookian citizens that associating with the cult in any way is a crime. Even foreign nationals are not exempt from this regulation and will be arrested if they are found to be members of the cult.

Industrial moguls responsible for the New Year's coup attempt face long sentences

After months of procedural delays, the four industrial moguls who were found to be responsible for the attempt on King Paul's life are finally facing trial, charged with high treason. The delays were caused by the need to secure bilateral agreements from their home countries ; One conspirator will be tried in PeZookia according to foreign laws, and one will be tried in the Red Technocracy.

The sentences for their crimes remain high, however. Red Technocracy uses long-term heavy labor as punishment for conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, while PeZookia uses long jail terms, including life imprisonment. The conspirator who conceived of the plan, however, may face a death sentence for high treason.

It is currently known that one of the conspirators remains at large, and his whereabouts remain unknown.

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The Sovereign Shroomanian Sentinel
SHROOM SAYS

After meeting with Sultan Ibrahim, Prime Minister Shroom immediately called up a conference wherein he addressed the attacks on Byzantium by the religious cult known as the Jenova's Witnesses.

"We cannot abide by religious fanaticism," the Prime Minister said. "We cannot abide by beliefs that cause people to harm their fellowman. We cannot abide by an organization that has committed acts of violence against innocent people - an organization that has committed chemical and biological terrorism. This will not stand."

Henceforth, the Jenova's Witnesses has been recognized as a criminal organization within not only Shroomania, but the entire Fungal Union of Nations as well.

The incident in Constantinople was not the only terror attack committed by the Jenovans. The FBI has announced that the Jenovans have contaminated the water supply of two Shroomanian towns. The FUDD has reported that at least ninety people have been stricken with waterborne diseases. They are currently undergoing treatment in MOM hospitals which are also providing free and compulsory health checkups on people in the affected region.

More than five hundred Jenovans have been detained in the Istas Fortress maximum penitentiary awaiting trial. Hundreds of Jenovan children have been relinquished to the custody of Child Services for the duration of their parents' detention.



In other news...
SULTAN SIGHTSEES

Today Sultan Ibrahim visits the Mosque on Megalith, in the Twinkle Islands...


Megalith.

...and no doubt he will see quite an amazing sight.

The Megalith is an ancient ruin that is believed by the locals to have been created during the beginning of the universe, some six thousand years ago at the hands of the one they call 'Q'.

Location: Somewhere in Shroomania, En route to Farbanti

The Death Guard managed to clear a way through and the people were now dispersing rather suddenly. The cars began to move slowly through the remains of the now departing carnival.

"Get us out of here!"- The Emperor shouted with an expression of pure rage on his face. The cars accelerated and were soon clear of the circus parade and the carnival.

"Goddamn Shroomanians! This is the only place on Nova Terra where an Emperor can get delayed by a freaking circus. And what the hell am i going to do with this stuff anyway?"- Shady said while pointing at large amounts of Cotton Candy which were now inside of his limousine.

"I am not sure sir.",- the driver responded.

"Silence! Who gave you permission to speak? "- shouted The Emperor at the driver who managed to sink deep into his seat. After about twenty minutes of fast driving and large amounts of curse words from the Emperor they had arrived to their destination, and not a moment to soon as far as the driver was concerned.

Location: Farbanti, Shroomania

Ten members of the Death Guard surrounded the God Emperor as he left the vehicle.

"Pick that up. You don't expect me to carry it, do you?"

"No my lord."

The soldier picked up the Cotton Candy and rushed after the Emperor and the rest of the Death Guard. A few moments later the Emperor and his escort rushed into the building ignoring the Shroomanian security personnel. A man stepped in front of them and smiled.

"Welcome to Shroomania. I hope you are enjoying your visit..."

"No i am not. Where is Prime Minister Shroom? I Demand you take me to him. Immediately!

The God Emperor's anger was at a breaking point, he was mere seconds away from ordering his soldiers to grab the man and throw him of the roof. He had urgent matters to discuss with the PM, and was not about to be delayed again. Still, he managed to calm down and decided to allow the man to do his job.

Farbanti, Shroomania

Prime Minister Shroom emerged from his personal bathroom all freshened up. He had washed his face and combed his hair and gotten himself a new and not-blood-soaked shirt. After chatting with Sultan Ibrahim and then delivering that address, he was pretty sweaty and all...

Right now, he felt fresh, though. Bathrooms were awesome.

"Yes?" someone was knocking at the door.

"Emperor Shady wants to talk to you," Alison, his secretary, said as she poked her head into the room.

"Alright," Shroom sat himself behind his table and prepared himself. Hopefully this shirt wouldn't get bloodied like all the other ones... "Let him in."

Farbanti, Shroomania

Shady was tired of the constant delays and now he had to wait. He managed to calm down a bit. The young girl approached him again.

"The Prime Minister will see you now."

"Good. Come on bring the Cotton Candy."

"Yes Sir."

The Emperor and the soldier carrying the candy stepped into the room. Shady looked at Shroom and smiled.

"Greetings Friend. I come with gifts. Courtesy of some Shroomanian citizens we encountered on our way here.", - Shady smiled and glanced at Shroom, "Place it on the desk.",- he said to the soldier.

The soldier stepped forward and placed the Cotton Candy on the desk.

"Now leave us!"

"Yes my lord."

Shady sat on the comfy chair in front of Shrooms desk.

"Shroom what i am about to tell you will have a great impact upon this world, but first i must ask, where is she? Has she been hurt?"

Farbanti, Shroomania

"Apart from having her ovaries blasted by sound waves," the Prime Minister answered. "No, she hasn't. She's somewhere secure."

He saw the Emperor's reaction, though deciphering it was difficult. Did he feel relieve that one of his best agents, the woman who saved him during the Civil War, survived? Or did he still despise her for her treachery?

"Cotton candy," Shroom then noticed.

"There were elephants too," Shady replied.

"Nice."

"Now, about this world-impacting thing..." Shroom began, now all serious business. "I know that there are parties in this world that wish me dead. There are parties that vie for world dominance, that threaten us with nuclear annihilation. Parties that would use these threats to gain the upper hand.

"And not to be immodest or anything, but I know that my actions have - perhaps inadvertently - ruined the schemes of these closet-megalomaniacs. The FUN has become a key... global stabilizer in the New World. Because of that, many people want me dead. You would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

The Prime Minister smiled. The Emperor's eyes widened... just a little bit.

"To err is human, but to forgive is divine," Shroom said, poking fun at the Emperor's godhood. "And now that we have put those mistakes behind us, the both of us and Paul, and our other FUN friends are now working for a better world. And that is why they've tried to kill you, too. That is why they've tried to kill Paul. They've even tried to kill Langley's Lelouch Lamperouge by using his sister."

"Despite this veneer of peace, this facade of tranquility, it could be said that the nations of the FUN are waging an invisible war at this very moment. It's ironic... but it is also dangerous. None of us are safe."

The Prime Minister ended his piece and took a bite off some cotton candy.

"Now, my friend, what news do you bring me?" Shroom smiled.

Songs of Anarchy and Chaos


New from the BR, after surviving natural disasters, unemployment, soma addiction, and the ever present threat of global war, and psychotic cults. A new musical wave has been hitting the world's shores. A mixture of the Blackest metal and punk, focussing on glorifing and superhumanizing the most inhuman of criminals. bands such as "Pirate Savages", "The Bad Sheppards", "Apocalypse in Neverhood", "Dark Riders", "Rhaine of T3rr0r", "Red Right Hand" and others have been hitting many fans through the internet, despite many record companys unwillingness to publish them. Infact while some of these bands are banned in places like Neverhood, The Technocracy, UKB, Libertopia, etc. The music has become a blackmarket phenomenon.

Rhaine lead singer, Julia and her Boyfriend Winston will be making an appearance on Ferret TV before going on their world tour. Recently Winston was arrested for destroying several public safety street cameras with a gyrojet pistol. The band is pictured here drinking Coffee laced with various drugs at a bar Called "Alex DeLarge", whose soma lat'es and cappichinos along with obscene sculpture have become iconic of the new musical movement.

Farbanti, Shroomania

"I am glad to hear that Elena is alright",- Shady said, "She is a key part of what i am about to tell you."

Shady watched as Shroom leaned closer, what he was about to tell him was important and it wasn't easy.

"As you have said yourself the FUN has been instrumental in bringing this world back from the edge of global destruction several times, we have managed to become global peace keepers and it is our desire for peace that has earned us some very powerful enemies.",- Shady said with a sad look in eyes.

"I know that in the past i behaved rather badly, that first war between our countries shouldn't have happened. It was a foolish decision which i now regret. But i have changed and my desire for peace and survival has prevailed over my dark side. My friend you were the one who accepted me into the FUNGAL AXIS when you had no reason to do so. You could have left me in ruin or destroyed me completely but you didn't and that showed me that you were a good man a man i am now proud to call a friend. I am diverting from the subject but please bear with me, what i am about to tell you is important and very dangerous for us all."

"When you say 'invisible war' you do not realize how right you are. I have discovered that the FUN is threatened by an evil organization so powerful that it is able to bring down legitimate governments such as my own. I have discovered that General Karic was a member of this organization and that they were the ones who helped him overthrow me. Elena was... She was blackmailed into joining them, they are holding her sister. She was ordered to kill me during the civil war but as you can see she couldn't do it. She did the opposite thing and saved my life. Her loyalty to me is amazing but i am afraid that her loyalty does not extend to you, it seems that they told her that if she didn't kill you... they would kill me and her sister."

Shady paused for a moment to allow Shroom to digest his words and then continued.

"I have learned that this organization has managed to infiltrate every single FUN member and most of the other countries of Nova Terra. Their goal is to eliminate the rightful rulers of our countries and replace them with their puppets. I believe that the recent attempt on King Paul's life is their doing. There are many other events in the history of this world which i suspect are their doing. The name of this organization is SERPENT. They want to rule the world and we are standing in their way."

"I have already taken action against them, I managed to eliminate all of their agents that were operating within the Shadow Empire and i did it so they couldn't suspect anything. I executed them as traitors during the purge of officers after the civil war."

"Now we must save our friends, you included, their governments have been infiltrated and their lives are in danger. Assassins could already be moving to take them out. We must move quickly before it is too late."

Shady took a deep breath and waited for Shroom to recover from the shock.

Farbanti, Shroomania

"Goddamn..." the Prime Minister sighed. "Goddamn these bastards and goddamn their goddamn acronyms!"

"My friend, if what you say is true, then... well, maybe I need to have my own civil war so I can purge these heathen masses of dissident aggressors. Hah. Goddamn Serpents, could they be behind this whole Jenova shtick?"

Emperor Shady nodded.

"Goddamn Serpents, could they be behind that whole Cobra shtick?"

Emperor Shady nodded again.

"Goddamn Serpents, Goddamn Jenovans, Goddamn Cobras."

Shroom sighed. He hated this crap. It was like a bad story arc where all the subtext and plot points were interconnecting for the fucking season finale before the show got shit-canned.

"Baylor was right, then. He suspected as much," the Prime Minister muttered ambiguously.

Truth be told, before Shady's revelation, the Prime Minister wasn't toptally ignorant of this matter as most would like to believe. Despite his mad quest at immortality, FIA's Director Baylor was in fact hard at work hounding these lunatics. Even the FBI's transvestite chief was in on it. They had delivered their Prime Minister a healthy dose of information on these... Serpents.

This organization had been using places like the Shadow Empire, Syndromia, Mangka, Libertia, Neverhood, and now Shepnukistan... places of civil strife, where the norms of law and order did not apply. They could fester there, hidden under the veil of other factions and organizations that deserved more scrutiny. Why would one look for the Serpent when one was hunting for the Cobra?

Their goal was inscrutable, but Baylor had suggested that these madmen were out to create conflict for conflict's sake. Instigating war between factions, between nations, to bring further strife and lawlessness to the other regions of Nova Terra - and thus extending their reach.

Perhaps they were the ones who provoked the Saddamistanis to attack the Sultanate, the Prime Minister realized as he remembered his other recent visitor.

Perhaps they were the ones who manipulated Emperor Shady during the Shadow-Shroom incident. But then the Emperor had realized their deceit (though not to its full extent!), realizing that they had lied in calling the Shroomanian Prime Minister a threat - that Shroom the 777th was actually a friend. In joining his new ally, the Emperor inadvertently caused these Serpents to use their other pawn - that General Karic - to instigate a bloody civil war.

The same was likely true with Tithonous of Syndromia - who had brashly and irrationally attacked Zoria in a brief war that only brought forth the Syndromian Strike to his own nation.

Now the pattern was once-again happening in the Neverhood. In Nukistan. Wartorn regions of strife and lawlessness...

But did these atrocities not come after massive military buildups, preparations for war... posturing and acquiring weapons... Coilberg?

Now was not the time to contemplate these conspiracies, though.

Prime Minister Shroom had a guest to entertain.

"So," Shroom said after a rather long and awkward moment of silence. Emperor Shady was now actually eating the cotton candy he brought. "Do you want to visit Elena?"

Shroom Man 777 wrote:
"So," Shroom said after a rather long and awkward moment of silence. Emperor Shady was now actually eating the cotton candy he brought. "Do you want to visit Elena?"

"Yes i would like that, but it can wait.",-Shady said, "We must first agree on what is to be done. We must act quickly and discreetly."

Somewhere, the Shinra Republic

Claudius had been searching for the leader of the Jenova's Witnesses for about a week now. The SIS, in addition to paying him, had given him their best guess as to where his target was. But it had been damned difficult to find him.

Until now.

He had trained hard in many forms of combat, be it with guns, swords, knives, daggers, baseball bats, or even his fists...and he had heard this Kadaj character was also extremly skilled in the combat arts. He could've challenged him, of course; Claudius knew that he could win in any duel, and it would certainly be interesting.

But the SIS hadn't paid him to indulge his ego. They'd paid him to get the job done. And that's what he was going to do. Kadaj was leaving the small building he had taken refuge in and was heading to his vehicle; it was now or never. Claudius lined up the sights of his .50cal sniper rifle, started to exhale, paused, and smoothly squeezed the trigger. With barely any recoil due to the suburb design of the weapon, Kadaj's chest seemed to have exploded.

Quickly, Claudius lined up his sights on each of the Witnesses and went to his bloody task. There was simply no cover to be had, not from this weapon. Within half a minute, they were all dead.

He strode down, in no rush now. He took a picture of each face he found, as well as blood, hair, and fingerprint samples. He then calmly went back to where he had parked his motorcycle and began the journey back to Midgar. The carnage he had left behind him didn't affect him, not anymore. The SIS had said "dead or alive" after all. They had probably wanted at least a few of them alive, Kadaj especially.

But this way was easier.

=============================

Presidential Residence, Shinra Republic



President Shinra was standing on his balcony, watching the lightning play in the dark night sky. The rain wasn't here yet, but he was sure it would be soon enough. Which suited him just fine; right now, he didn't really care if he got soaked or not.

He had just left the guest area playing host to the Emperor of Byzantium during his visit after delivering the news concerning Kadaj. He knew Heraclius would want to know. Tomorrow he'd no doubt have to release the news to the public; he wasn't looking forward to that at all.

He felt a chill run down his body, one he knew had nothing to do with the approaching storm. It had been a damned bloody way to end this unpleasent business: seven dead, including Kadaj. The SIS had assured him they'd requested live prisoners, but apparently their chosen man had decided to was simply "easier" to kill them, instead. He had no idea where this guy had come from; the truth was, he didn't really want to know.

All he had wanted when this had started was the chance to help build a better world, or failing that, at least see to the safety of his citizens. But it seemed like the more he tried, the more problems he faced. And every time he took action to resolve a problem, it seemed that blood had to be shed by someone, somewhere. Sometimes even on his direct orders.

He looked up into the sky, the stars blocked by the looming storm clouds. Am I that different from Blackadder? He knew that the ruler of the UKB said he wanted peace, and his way to that was - apparently - murdering Sheppard, and then declaring he had orbital supremacy. "Disturb the peace and I will destroy you" was the unspoken threat. But it seemed to the President of the Shinra Republic that his own resolutions to conflicts were no less bloody, either.

He leaned forward on the balcony, lost to his own thoughts. He barely even noticed when the rain began, first a gentle sprinkle, then to a full-fledged downpour. It was a long time until he went inside and just fell onto his bed, completely unconcerned that he was still soaking wet.

As seemed to be more and more often the case these days, he once again did not sleep easily. And it had nothing to do with his drenched condition.

Bear Republic
Telecom meeting in Minas Morgùl



Reports indicade someone has been sending out some form of super assassins. looks like a deep brainwashing/drug conditioning.

Rodger, yeah weve got reports from all over, these people were subjected to some kind of trauma and deep programing. The few killers that have been captured are completely unresponsive to any conventional or even drug therapy. Their minds seem to be trapped in only the fantasy world.

anything else.

yes, we have had one sucess, due to their deep subliminal programming, we have found out that our buried "Project Ringu" subliminal image packet that can cause death to Asperger and Epilepsy sufferers can break them out of their trance, but it's just as likely to kill them or trigger an ultra violent episode.

So we have a cure but it's worse then the disease.

not exactly, if we were able to broadcast ringu world wide we could flush all of these assassins out into the open where the various law enforcement agencies could deal with them. With only fatalities in Aspergers, Epilepsy and Autism suffers the global population loss would be less then 00.03% of the global populations.

No thats still killing thousands to bring out into the open an unknown number of terrorist assassins.

Yes, but we believe that some of their targets could bring about deaths in the millions. The hits on the cultists are just the beginning.

The Battalion
Third X-12 test
The X-12 performed it's third "Tier 2" test today, by bombing a target to the Southwest of the Shinra Republic.

The X-12 Gassed up over the Eastern part of the Bear Sea, engaed it's rockets, left the Atmosphere over the Sabine Strait between the LSR and tian Xia, then re-entered the atmosphere and fired a missile at a target in the ocean Southwest of the Shinra Republic. The X-12 then ferried itself to a landing strip in the Shinra Republic.

Since no Non-MESS members were overflown, the only military observers in the control room were from MESS nations.

DPS raids several Jenova Witnesses-affiliated charities.
The Department of Public Safety raided several "Human Fund" charity sites today, arresting several dozen workers and members of the Jenova Witness cult.

"While we take pride here in the Lone Star Republic of our freedom of religion, we have recently recieved compelling evidence from other law enforcement agencies that the "Human Fund" is being used as a money-laundering operation for their terrorist activities overseas." AG Jerry Journeau said.

When asked if this raid would make the LSR a target for the extremists, he said: "Unfortunately, that's a risk we'll have to take. It would be immoral for us to not take appropriate actions against the group here in the LSR."

LSRAF Pilots depart for Tian Xia

LSRAF pilots and support personnel departed to Tian Xia for training on the operation and maintenance of the Tu-160. The LSRAF recently ordered 33 from Tian Xia, with an eye to creating a second, more conventional "Strategic Wing" to support the wing that will consist of the B-12 bombers(initial indications are that that B-12 will be known as the "Bowie")

Red Technocracy sends special ambassador to Lone Star Republic
In recognition of the growing cooperation between the nations, the Supreme Council today authorized the flight of Special Ambassador Natalia to the Lone Star Republic.



CLIT member and a former veteran of the AVR (Academy of Foreign Intelligence), Natalia Mikhailova has been granted special communication priviliges, such as using the ALMAZ Cell Line reserved for rapid communication between the highest soviet officials.

Astoria Evening News

Protests intensify after FASTA announces new Selene launches

For the third day in a row, the capital city of Astoria has been blocked completely by waves upon waves of protesters. Various anarchist, animal rights, antiglobalist and special interest groups have all flocked to the capital to protest what they call "Wasteful, discretionary and completely pointless" spending on FASTA space exploration projects.

As with other protests, legitimate demonstrators were accompanies by vandals and criminals who took the opportunity to incite rioting and fights with police. This time, however, police searched every car and bus entering the city and confiscated nearly a thousand various weapons, such as knives, tire irons, home-made black powder grenades, and even one AK-47 assault rifle and two black powder revolvers.

Citizens of Astoria are becoming increasingly tired of continuous protests, and are demanding the governmnet take action.

"For the last month, I've been late to work almost every day. It's a good thing my boss understands, but I can't imagine how many people must've lost their jobs because of those damned protests. Something must be done about them!", said an Astoria resident interviewed by AEN.

Protest organizers, however, say they will not relent.

"Outrageous government actions like this must meet with firm response from the people. We must hold the people living in corridors of power accountable for their actions - and this government especially, since it chose to undertake pie-in-the-sky projects instead of helping its own people.", said a spokesman for the "Stop War Initiative".

Government officials had this to say about the issue:

"The government has no intention of withdrawing from the FASTA. The space program promises to bring us incredible boons in technology and economic development, as well as pure scientific exploration. We understand concerns of our citizens, however the situation will remain as it is. Should they chose to continue to blockade Astoria, I am afraid the government will have to remove them forcefully."

Prime Minister Shroom 777th to visit PeZookia

Scheduled for next week, the Prime Minister of Shroomania will be making an official visit to Astoria. The itinerary includes a visit to ISCA shipyards and famous industrial facilities of PeZookia: the Minehead Steel Mill, Amelia National Shipyards, National Missile Production Facility and the Electronics Development And Manufacturing Complex, as well as a lecture at Astoria University. The Prime Minister will also meet with the King for talks concerinng several important matters of state, and deliver a televised address to the PeZookian nation.

Astoria Daily Rag

Editorial

You know, when I look upon the night sky, I am amazed at how beautiful it is. Starts glittering delicately, the Moons crossing the firmanent...I am overwhelmed by a feeling of melancholy and feel compelled to ask philosophical questions: Are we alone in the universe? How did it all come to be? Will we ever travel amongst the stars?

But then I have to look back down, and see misery and suffering. I see poverty, hunger, lack of education and poor health of our citizens. I see a PeZookia trying to play the big guy on the internatonal stage while our own people suffer.

We need money. We need money for health care, we need money for infrastructure, we need money for education and ever-hungry social programs. And yet - the government increases taxes and spends more and more, but on what?

We buy airplanes and helicopters for our military, while our medical rescuers drive 15-year old ambulances. We dig huge fallout shelters while children go hungry. And, of course, we spend 1/3 of our total education spending on launching chimpanzees into space. And for what?

Flying to Selene is not going to solve any of our problems. It will make a lot of people feel good about themselves, but change nothing here, on Terra, where the real life is going on.

And some experts now say it is impossible! What rhyme or reason can there be to such adventures? Is our King going insane?

Astoria Daily Rag chief editor,

Chief Boombastic

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Royal office

Paul put down the clipping folder prepared for him by his assistants. Jesus..., he thought, seeing scathing articles about his decision to fund the FASTA, If this keeps up, I may have to withdraw from the FASTA after all...

He had few options, really. It was true the budget was being strained heavily, and his deficit spending was running dangerously close to fuelling inflation. However, next year no military procurement save for two SAM batallions was planned, and with the last batch of planned tax hikes, he would close the budget and start paying off the obligations.

It was probably true PeZookia was excessive in their space program funding - but this was it. The undertaking. The last frontier, which, when industrialized, would tap the unimaginably vast wealth of the Nova Terran solar system. And PeZookia had to have a stake in that wealth.

His people would have to understand. None were actually starving: his social programs were efficient enough that anybody who could not afford food was provided enough to survive, and transportation projects would allow people from poor areas to educate themselves in the big cities. The government even provided passage and housing allowanes for students who chose to study in technical universities abroad.

Paul sighed. He reallt hoped Shroom would placate his people, at least just a bit. The man was crazy, but charismatic. Just the kind that was needed here.

Paul shook his head and got back to the news folder. And then he saw...it.

Astoria Times

Hoax or reality: Mysterious signal from outer space?

This may just be the biggest discovery the world has ever seen: when working on a long-range communications project, scientists at the National Military Guidance Systems Development Center received a mysterious, garbled transmission which seemes to have originated in outer space.

Using powerful computer processing, they have managed to isolate part of the signal - an analog video signal, in fact - and determine that while most of the transmission was garbled beyond recognition, it was possible to extract a few clips of the video.

Here is a still which the Times reporters have managed to acquire.



This really doesn't require comment - the "outer space" video clearly shows a uniformed human male. Still, questions remain unanswered: Who may have perpetrated such a hoax? It was very clever, with the message carefully made to look like the real thing, complete with video degradation.

Here at the Times, we think it will become one of those mysteries never to be solved.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh for fuck's sake!", Paul exclaimed, "It's impossible we're that close!"

He wondered if any other listening stations on Nova Terra received that message. After a few minutes, he called in an assistant and told him to find out.

Imperial Chronicles

Emperor Heraclius IV, the 84th Emperor since Constantine the Great, glowered at the letter that the emissary from PRIEST just gave to him in his quarters in the Shinra Republic. Having ruled for 12 years since the death of his father, he had never had to deal with too much dissent within the family. His authority was quite simply as absolute as it can possibly be.

And now, he learnt that his uncle was indulging in some degree of religious extremism. Not that the uncle had done anything wrong, what irritated him was that his uncle was doing something without telling him. Then again, it was understandable. His uncle, somewhat dear to him, would know that he would object quite vehemently. "Leave me. I will deal with this myself," he waved the emissary off. The emissary bowed and left.

Turning to his chief adviser, he growled, "Uncle Septimius and his.. religious eccentricities can be a real pain the butt. That old... fart should just die quickly and save me the bloody pain. Now what should I do with these damn crusaders? Give them a medal? After all the trouble they caused?! Damn them! And now that damn Grand Master! He was my favourite Varangian Guard! Now he's leading a bunch of fanatics!"

The chief adviser didn't say much. He figured his majesty had arrived at the same idea he was thinking.

The Emperor sighed. "Summon that fool before me. We will return to home after we are done visiting Shinra Republic. We will head to PeZookia once the house has been set in order. In fact, we will pay a visit to the monastery of theirs and address the whole bloody lot of them. Force them to swear their fealty to me again and have that Grand Master fool confined to a monastery and live a life of penance for the rest of his life. I'll appoint another Grand Master in his place. Say a note to the Red Technocracy that we will deal with the Crusaders on our own and will brook no interference in what is an internal matter."

The Emperor then threw the letter into the fire.

Neverhood

Jason Bourneholm and his Treadstone team had arrived after Shepnukistan reportedly destroyed almost the entire leadership of COBRA in a nuclear blast. Plenty of hteir lower echelon were still causing problems thoughs. So Jason went about solving such problems by killing them. The problem was, as always, getting good intel. Especially since Treadstone was working on their own. It was a hell of a training exercise as militias, terrorists, government forces and mercenaries all had to be dealt with one way or another.

Coilerburg commissions new ships into its navy

After a long journey from the Constantinople shipyards, the three ships ordered by Coilerburg's navy arrived at Navalopolis today to massive applause. PFL Iler made a speech that said "This is only the beginning of a truly massive fleet", and praised the Byzantium shipyards for their high-quality work on the vessels.

The Dromon-class corvettes have been christened Predator and Hunter, to symbolize their power. The fleet tender has been named Kangaroo, because it supports other ships the way a kangaroo supports its joey.

Coilerburg

The PeZookian ambassador to Coilerburg has arrived, and of course, his first official meeting was with PFL Iler.

As him and his staff were properly announced, ambassador Szewerewski walked into the president's office with his closest staff, including all the attaches.

"Mr. President, on behalf of my government, I present to you these iron letters of recommendation, signed by the King himself.", he announced, and handed the letters - a formality, officially confirming that Szewerewski was indeed a PeZookian emissary.

"I take it that you would like to ask me some questions before I officially take my station, Mr. President."

PeZook wrote: "I take it that you would like to ask me some questions before I officially take my station, Mr. President."

PFL Iler answered.

"Of course, ambassador. I have three main questions I'd like you to answer."

"My first question is: What do you think of Coilerburg as a country from what you've seen of it so far?

My second question is: What issues do you feel need working out between Coilerburg and PeZookia?

My third question is: In what ways do you feel that Coilerburg and PeZookia can collaborate for the benefit of all?"

East Coast City, Mangka

Alvar Han, CEO of the FORMOSA Initiative sat in his office. The ASSS-1 strains were well tested on the recent activities of the Jenova's Witnesses. It was now time to test the countermeasures, to ensure that his hand-picked people were really able to withstand ASSS.

Only a very few people in the high levels of the Initiative were acting as the hands behind the scenes on the upper levels of the Mangka Government. They ensured that there was enough chaos in the nation so that they actually could control all the power.

Not until now.

This new president...hard to control. It took Han and the Initiative Committee nearly 2 years of discussion to observe and evaluate the situation. The IC has been having the presidents under their control for too long. This was new to them. The election getting near, they had to prepare.

An email came in. The file attached was the protein and DNA sequence of a modified Influenza virus. A table of all known migration birds in Nova Terra was also listed in the mail.

He smiled. Everything was going well.

Bears to hold a major Metal concert in the Deserts.

Called the "Sacrafice" concert it will end with a great big bloody show. The stage is a mock Aztec Temple. the "MC" will be a figure only known as "Polygon Head", The concert is being organized by Lakeview resident Allyssa. (Can't remember the name of a certain SH character). The concert will be featuring the most controversial BR metal talents, as well as a video backdrop of very disturbing images, and lots of subsonics.

sign a waiver and get your tickets now for the concert event of the year, also available on PPV.

Wesley had read the news reports about the Jenova's witnesses. They had bombed many places in the world so far. He had made a declaration that these dangerous cultists wouldn't touch Vulpesian soil. Wesley however feared at what other cults might be there.

In a cave somewhere near Mt. Helios.

A small collected group of red robed people are sitting down with one person at an alter and he has a book open in front of him and he speaks, "Long have we been in this world, but now is the time for retaliation. The Jenovians think their pathetic "One-Winged Angel" can save them. Bah! His powers are but a mere fraction of the power of the one true lord! ALL HAIL THE PRINCE OF DESTRUCTION!".
The other cult members chant, "Hail the Dawn!".

Coiler wrote: "My first question is: What do you think of Coilerburg as a country from what you've seen of it so far?

My second question is: What issues do you feel need working out between Coilerburg and PeZookia?

My third question is: In what ways do you feel that Coilerburg and PeZookia can collaborate for the benefit of all?"

"In answer to your first question, Coilerburg seems a vigorous country, full of energy and outlook for the future. This, however, brings us to the second question..."

"...To be frank, mr. President, my government is greatly concerned about what you call 'The Great Mobilization'. You have undertaken a rapid militarization programme, including the formation of heavy armored units, and seem to be seeking to acquire force projection capabilities.

While it is in every country's right to make arrangements for their own defence, mobilization is usually a term reserved for war-time preparation. At the same time, your government has not discerned the purpose behind this undertaking. I am sure that my government, as well as the rest of the FUN, would be greatly relieved if we received some sort of an explanation of the purpose behind the Mobilization."

The ambassador finished, and waited for an answer. The military attache, Lt. Col. Kulinsky, would listen to it, too, with great interest.

PeZook wrote: The ambassador finished, and waited for an answer. The military attache, Lt. Col. Kulinsky, would listen to it, too, with great interest.

"Ah. The purpose of the Great Mobilization."

"It is intended almost entirely for defense, as well as for foreign peacekeeping and relief-look at our navy's Northern Squadron and see what it has done-nothing but beneficial duties alongside the Canissian coast. That a country like us would need force-projection capabilities is solely to get relief forces into afflicted areas quickly.

Now for the defense part. You may question why a country so small needs such a large military, but you certainly know that there are many dangerous threats out there in the world, that could easily overwhelm a tiny country. Many of these little nations know this and have chosen to attach themselves to alliances to gain protection.

I did not find that satisfactory. Alliances can be fickle, and subject to fragmentation-look at OMSK for an example. Should the alliance collapse, the little nation is alone and helpless. Also, an alliance may drag its members into activities not to that individual member's liking-for another example, look at your own involvement in the space program and the complaints that it has raised from your citizenry.

I want my country to be able to defend itself adequately without being totally dependent on an external alliance. That is why I started the Great Mobilization. Tell that to the world."