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Synopsis:
For two weeks, Galactic News Network reporter Kella Rand
has been yawning through the torturous negotiations
between the New Republic and the Indu San system. Just
as he is about to vote against the system joining the
New Republic, Indu San Chief Councillor Shek Barayel
literally explodes in the Council Chamber. It is a race
against time to report the story - competing network's
news couriers are racing themselves into the system. As
she brings her bureau chief up to date on the events,
Kella spots Tev Aden (an aide of New Republic Ambassador
Dictio L'varren) being dragged off by Council Authority
officers. She follows after them, getting held up by
Authority officers - until a blaster shot is heard. She
finds Aden's corpse and an officer with a smoking
blaster. The officer claims self-defense. The officers
find a detonator on Aden's corpse and runs Kella and her
holocam out of there in a hurry. Media access is revoked
to all networks and the Council hall sealed.
The Council Authorities later give a short,
uninformative press conference, where they all but
accuse the New Republic of murdering Barayel for his
opposal of the New Republic - Indu alliance. It seems
Indu San is going to sit out the rest of the war - or
worse, invite the Empire back in. Kella reviews her holo-tapes,
and finds someone planting the bomb that killed Barayel
- the same officer who killed Aden. It is a frame job!
She gleefully reveals her scoop to the rest of the GNN
news team, then goes to show the clip to L'varren. She
finds herself being hunted on the street on the way
there by Kaleb Darme (the officer / assassin) and Juloff
(one of the GNN reporters?!?). On the elevator up, she
slips the incriminating holoclip in her hovering holo-cam
to get it to L'varren if she does not make it. Sure
enough, Darme's waiting for her at the top with a knife.
He takes what he thinks is the holo-clip (it's a blank)
and tells her that Juloff - who, like him, is an
Imperial sympathiser - has already erased Rand's report
and the other copies of the vidclip. Nothing is going to
stop the Empire from moving back into Indu San, he
claims. He shoots her with her gun, not knowing she
would pre-set it to stun…
She wakes up in L'varren's quarters. He got the holoclip
and captured Darme. She races against the clock to make
up a whole new report before the newsdroid arrives. |