3204 Press Releases

A digest of recent official government press releases, by reporting period.

T44

Ministry of War, New Mars, to MAFC Commercial Heavy Industry (Superdynamics, Barnaby Orbital Industries, Hyama Reconstruction Corporation)

1. Quotes are invited for the conversion of 1 CV (Interplanetary Pacifier Carrier) in the FREYR system to CVI configuration. It is noted that Hyama Reconstruction Corporation has orbital facilities in place. However the MoW will not confine its considerations to just one supplier.

2. Quotes are invited for the conversion of 1 CV (Interplanetary Pacifier Carrier) in the SNORRI system to CVI configuration. It is noted that there are no orbital facilities for the conversion to take place in system at present.

3. Offers are invited for a 10 year lease on two shipyards in NEW MARS orbit. Such grants being subject to the usual requisition laws in times of emergency.

Responses are required within 50 days

Ministry of War, New Mars: New ships and ship movements

The MSN announces that the following newly built vessels are joining the MSN at the end of the year:

CVI MSS Commander
CVI MSS Masterful
CVI MSS Gladiator
CVI MSS Monarch

The first two vessels will be assigned to the Home Fleet, replacing MSS Suzerain and MSS Superior.

The following naval movements are ordered:

CVI MSS Superior - to join Fleet 1.1
CVI MSS Suzerain - to join Fleet 2.1
CVI MSS Gladiator - to join Fleet 3.1
CVI MSS Monarch - to join Fleet 4.1

T42

c) Martian Press Syndicate, New Mars T42

The Senate Military Awards Committee has met for the first time since the beginning of the Exterminator War to consider awards for commanders arising from victorious campaigns during the war. It is unusual for the committee to meet to assess such awards without a formal cessation of hostilities being declared, in order that the commanders' actions can be judged in the light of the outcome of the war. However, under the circumstances it was decided to do away with protocol, and hence the awards are for what is now being officially described as the 'First Exterminator War'.

As well as actions relating to the Exterminator War, the action at Binni and the destruction of the 'Cerebro' and 'Vision' Artificial Intelligences were also considered. The committee has recommended the following awards:

Thai-Sho Kunio Akiyoshi MSN:
For his victory at French – the Association Star (posthumous)

Thai-Sho Aiashi Hojo MSN:
For his victory at Adobe – the Association Star
For his part in the victorious Battle of Winky – the Quadrant Star (Q5)
He was also awarded the Martian Star by his forces at Winky
For his victory at the Second Battle of Red Spot – the Association Star
He was also awarded the Martian Star by his forces at Red Spot

Thai-Sho Kimota Kasei MSN:
For his victory at the Battle of Peroxide – the Association Star
For his part in the victorious First Battle of Z'Ha'Dum – the Association Star
For using the MSS Musashi to ram and board the lead Exterminator Super Battleship, turning the tide of the Battle of Z'Ha'Dum – the Martian Legion of Heroes (aka
the 'Steel Helix')
For his part in the successful destruction of the AI 'Cerebro' – the Quadrant Star (Q5) and the Stickney Star

Thai-Sho Edgar Rice-Burroughs MSN:
For his victorious part in the Battle of Flypaper – the Association Star
For his victorious part in the First and Second Battles of Tuskan – the Association Star
He was also awarded the Martian Star by his forces at Tuskan

Chu-Sho Desmond O'Hare MSN:
For his part in the victorious battle of Begin – the Quadrant Star (Q6)

Chu-Sho Kimberley 'Kim' Stanley-Robinson MSN:
For successfully lifting the encirclement of the planet of Baldar – the Obsidian Star (posthumous)
For her victory at the Battle of Baldar – the Association Star (posthumous)
For her gallantry in sacrificing herself to save the remnants of the 7th Fleet in the final stages of the Battle of Baldar – the Martian Legion of Heroes
('Steel Helix') (posthumous)

Sho-Sho Manuel Krumbach MSN:
For his victorious campaign against the forces of President Ancongo on Binni – the Quadrant Star (Q0)

Sho-Sho Freya Scarlett MSN:
For her successful Ground Force assault on the Exterminator base at Begin – the Quadrant Star (Q6)

Thai-Sa Jack Lyons MCM:
For his part in the victory at Odin's Seat – the Quadrant Star (Q7)
He was also awarded the Martian Star by his forces at Odin's Seat

Unusually, the committee chose to recognise a civilian in the awards, due to the exceptional circumstances of the action:

Senator (formerly Supreme Councillor) Antoinette Banderas
For leading the successful assault on the GFA Tactical Warfare Intelligence uniT on Over, Q5 – the Association Star
For her part in the destruction of the AI 'Cerebro' – the Stickney Star

There were also several awards to non-Martian allied commanders of Martian forces:

Admiral Leonov, VN
For his victory at Granyt – the Association Star

Admiral Andrew Barton Burwasher, IEN
For his victory at the Battle of Flypaper – the Association Star
For his victory at the Battle of Balus – the Association Star
For his part in the destruction of the AI 'Vision' – the Stickney Star

Admiral Sir Roger Farley, RWN
For his victories at the First and Second Battles of Tuskan – the Association Star

Admiral Leslie Phillips IEN
For his victorious campaign at Begin - the Quadran Star (Q6)

Admiral Shumilov, VN
For her victorious campaign against Exterminators at Trucker, Yendor and Senta – the Association Star

Acting Brigadier Sherrod P Skinner, GFA Marine Corps
For his victory against the Exterminator base at Odin's Seat (Operation Fenrir) – the Quadrant Star (Q7)

The awards ceremony will take place on New Mars on 3204.375 (T44).

Full details of these awards and the conditions for them being given can be found on the MAFC website

T41

Martian Election Results (c) Martian Press Syndicate, 3204

Results are finally in for the all-important elections to the Council of the Martian Union in Q0. Re-elected to the Council for a record eighth time, Charles L Harness continues to lead the ruling coalition in the Council, composed of Harness' own Central Democratic Party (CDP), together with the New Humanity Party (NHP) and the Free Mars Party (FMP). Harness indicated that he would not be making any changes to the Senate Insterstellar Coordination Committee at this stage, which currently comprises 7 CDP, 1 NHP and 1 FMP members.

Support for the CDP was slightly down on its record win four years ago, but opinion polls in the run-up to the election indicate that the broad majority of Martians in Q0 are reasonably satisfied with the performance of the government so far, which continues to run on its 'twin track' agenda of "economic strength at home, military strength abroad".

The Council of the Martian Union, formed after the dissolution of the old Quadrant 0 Regional Council and Regional High Councils, directly represents about half of the population of the MAFC, and has become the key forum for Martian policy debate, including selecting the composition of the Senate Interstellar Coordination Committee and the incumbents of the key ministries. Its prominence compared to the voice of the regions has become a major bone of contention within the Association, however, and it is argued that the rise of the Martian Union has neutered the Martian Senate, which is supposed to be the main governmental forum for the Association.

The Council is elected every four years on a constituency basis by population across Q0. Each constituency represents about 10 million people. There are currently 467 seats in the Council, up from 465 last time, due to the new membership of Binni in Q0.

Of these 467, 156 represent New Mars itself, 215 represent the so-called 'Viking Worlds', with a strongly libertarian streak, and 94 represent the 'Prussian Worlds', with a more militaristic, authoritarian tradition. Binni has been allocated 2 seats in the new Council after some wrangling about whether or not it should be incorporated instead into Quadrant 8.

The parties are:

CDP - Central Democratic Party: centre right but with no particular unifying ideology - likes to view itself as pragmatic and undogmatic. The CDP has been buoyed in this election by the strength of the Q0 economy.

MLWP - Martian Liberal Welfare Party - centre left/populist. Formed the previous government but the party suffered one of its worst ever defeats in 3200 as a result of a series of scandals, the Great Recession, and its handling of the Exterminator War. The party is still recovering and has yet to find its voice again. A new leadership contest is expected following the post-election resignation of the party leader.

NHP - New Helix Party: Extreme nationalists and fervent geneticists. Usually seen as something of a 'protest vote' party, the NHP are rarely invited into coalitions and usually maintain a carping voice from the sidelines. They nevertheless command considerable support from the older generation and a sizeable block of votes in the council.

HFP - Humanity's Future Party: liberal pan-humanists, the major coup of the Harness Administration has been to prise them from their traditional alliance with the MLWP and into the ruling coalition, by promising that Mars will engage constructively in the development of pan-human groupings like the Treaty of Old London and the IFF. The HFP's voice in the cabinet is provided by Senator Emma Bleedingheart, Minister for Justice.

FMP - Free Mars Party: authoritarian right wingers, with strong connections to colonial landholders and the upper classes. With little support in Q0 and few seats, the FMP is a traditional ally of the CDP in order to partake in government. One of the party's two senators, Philip Dermond, is Minister for Home Affairs.

MCGP - Mars Colonial Growth Party : primarily a devolutionist/Federalist umbrella grouping and not popular in Q0. It has much stronger support within the Senate, however, and so usually commands a voice within the Council of the Martian Union out of proportion to its number of seats.

Indpendent - there are traditionally a significant number of candidates who claim no permanent political allegiance.

T37

Office of Supreme Councillor Zelazny, Adobe, Q6; Retirement
Friends, the MAFC in Quadrant Six has had a very rough five years and we have all had to make great sacrifices to keep our ideals alive. I have strived to do my best for all the people of the Martian Association in this Quadrant, particularly during this period. However an election approaches and I feel that I would more effectively serve the people of this great polity if I were not to muddy the waters of the political debate as to how we may improve things going forward. I hearby announce therefore that I will not be standing, in any capacity, in the forthcoming Quadrant-wide elections. I thank everyone for the support I have received before and since I was elected. I am proud to have served you all. I am secure in the knowledge that being part of the Association is the best way to live in the galaxy.
Zelazny

Ministry of War, New Mars; New Scouts completed
Mars launches 2 SCI; MSS Gefjon and MSS Gna. These will be deployed to the eastern sectors. In the freed up shipyards Mars has laid down two more CVI.

Ministry of War, New Mars; Mars announces anti-piracy initiative
The MAFC has taken 5 Starguard ships out of mothballs to counter piracy.

Ministry of Domestic Affairs, New Mars; Elections on Binni
Martian Electoral organisers on the eastern continent of Binni have declared the recently-held elections in the former Free Republic of Binni to be free and fair despite protests to the contrary. The election was won by the Ancongo Memorial Party, who have formed a government. The MAFC will be working with the new government to facilitate the withdrawal of the remaining Martian forces to the Martian parts of the planet.