From Lockheed Office of Public Relations
     Lockheed is pleased to announce the negotiation of a business relationship with the Government of Athene for the distribution of FTL and related starship technology. With this agreement, Lockheed strengthens its commitment to advanced technologies and high quality starships.
     With the rapid changes in the field of starship technology come new challenges to peoples from all systems. Careful decisions must be made in the coming decades. With the sudden value of iridium, and the severe economic effects iridium trade will have on all systems, Lockheed proposes conferring with all major iridium producers, such as the Presidium and Imbri, to determine a fair and stable price. The sooner a reasonable price can be determined, the sooner systems will be able to integrate this new commodity into their economies.
     Lockheed hopes that the new FTL technology will bring new prosperity to all systems, and guarantees to spearhead the efforts to make FTL travel available and affordable.

From the Priest-King to the People of the One God
     [Excerpt from the Kuisti State of the People address of 2850 broadcast to all worlds.]
     Salutations! This year marks a new era in our mission. For now the top scientists have applied this new FTL information to our technology, and it is now possible to send ships to the other worlds of man and bring them into the True Way! [Thunderous applause] For this to happen, we need in the coming year to make changes to our industry, and to greatly increase our starship building capabilities. This will require an extra amount of effort on all of our parts, but I know that with the One God guiding us we will succeed! [More thunderous applause]

From the Republica Aurora Senate
     The Republica Aurora extends an invitation to all Terran worlds to form an interlocution to create the League of Colonies, consisting of an integrated, interstellar, dynamic communications network dedicated to virtual diplomatic ties among the colonies. The concept of the League establishes: 1) rights and principles of sovereign nations and their citizens; 2) definitions of colonial territory and intercolonial space; 3) universal rules of war and universal codes of commerce; 4) consistent architecture for intercolonial negotiation and diplomacy.
     The League will exist to expedite favorable relations among the colonies and, specifically, to facilitate peaceful resolution of intercolonial conflicts; it is not a nation in itself. The member colonies of LOC shall have no other obligations but the recognition of and assent to fundamental intercolonial law as generalized above.
     The League will be defined fully by a conference consisting of representatives from each interested nation. The LOC itself shall be self-regulated and considered independent of any nation.

From the Gamemasters
     As part of your turn instructions, please include a summary list of all spending, with a total at the end. This will help your GMs a lot. Those who do not do so will suffer from plagues, hurricanes, blue bolts from heaven, and other divine retributive actions.

More From the Gamemasters
     All contacts with other players should be done on your own (unless you need us to relay it through e-mail). But don't bother putting all your negotiations into your turns, just tell us about the done deals.

Yet More From the Gamemasters
     Unless you spend 1 MU a year on diplomacy, you are going to run into communication problems, because this includes the cost of maintaining those big expensive ftl transmitters. Without these you cannot transmit complex plans, make business deals, etc, etc, etc. across interstellar distances.

Lunar Food Scandal
     Addictive additives were discovered in numerous food shipments from Luna, leading to a massive outcry across the system. Many nations placed total boycotts on Lunar products, and harsh warnings were sent to the Luna government by all parties. Ingestion of the additives caused widespread chaos in many of the habitats, East Rhea and the Tethys Empire.
     The Tethys Empire and five separate habitats have declared war on Luna. Lunar diplomats and merchants were expelled from over half the nations in the system. Many smaller nations have turned diplomatically to Mars and Admiral Malloren in an attempt to form an anti-Lunar coalition.
     Lunar farmers and export companies rioted in the streets. Two major regional governments, Mare Nubium and Cardinthos, seceded from the union. The Lunar stock market crashed, and over 500 government officials were lynched by mobs. In a rapidly organized (and unconstitutional) plebiscite, the Lunar citizenry voted overwhelmingly to disband the Federal Agriculture Department and make it illegal for the federal government to in any way regulate or interfere with agricultural production or trade. The Lunar Congress is holding hearings into the affair; President Mannion testified to the investigating committee, "I have no recollection at this time."
     In what could be a related incident, a Lunar destroyer exploded in orbit above Luna while undergoing refits. 15 lives were lost. Unnamed terrorists were blamed for the incident.

Omniplague Cure
     Simulation programs by Martian scientists proved conclusively that the omniplague can easily be destroyed by medical practices over three centuries old.
     Martian scientists built a number of automated probes to explore Terra's surface, but none of them were deployed due to the bureaucratic and diplomatic tangles involved in breaking the 500 year quarantine of Earth.

New College Founded
     Funded by large government grants, major scholars from across the system flocked to the newly founded College of Trans-Einsteinian Physics in the Extrasolar Research Community on Nereid, a subsidiary of the University of Olympus.

Industrial Growth on Mars
     Industrial development on Mars increases IndVal to 125.

     A corporate freighter was hijacked by outland rebels and disappeared.

Trade Shifts in Beta Canum
     Corpco's removal of many freighters from service in order to convert them to ftl travel causes a mild recession in the Republica and other nations in BCV.

Republica Requests Formal Relations
     The Republica Aurora unilaterally extended patron status to all extra Beta Canum Auroran colonies, ie. mutual non-aggression, open trade, open diplomacy, recognized independence, and a pledge of mutual defense from external threats. Most of the other colonies thanked them nicely, but wanted to talk about it first.

Exploration Mania
     Exploration fever spreads throughout the Republica. An entire branch of the government is created to handle exploration, and there are already over 800 million applicants for the first colony ship to leave the system, despite the lack of an actual ship or even a destination.
     Exploration and colonization support groups have sprouted up all over and the media is having a field day. Construction is begun on a vast cross-system telescope array, similar to that used to be in Earth's asteroid belt (before the Belt Wars destroyed it).

Ambitious FTL Comm Array Program Launched
     The Republica Aurora begins construction of vast FTL communication arrays in near-stellar orbit, using huge amounts of energy. One is devoted to the League of Colonies and will be able to handle real-time audiovisual transmissions on multiple channels. An even larger facility is to be hooked into Auroran cultural databases and will even be able to handle direct high-speed computer transmissions at real-time rates (ie. direct computer access over interstellar distances!). The combined energy needs of the two arrays will require 0.02% of the sun's output, using nearly 2 billion square kilometers of solar collectors.

     Lack of transition metals causes a deep depression in the Tyrellian economy, which is exacerbated by government overspending. Riots in the streets cause damage to many cities as cyber-citizens walk through walls and blow things up.

     Cimmer begins construction of the UCS Grendel, a sub-light survey battleship.