"This is Diana Mays, with a SolarNet News Special Report. After a five-day communications blackout with Providence Station, we have finally received a transmission from Proxima System. Because of the time delay in communication, we received this transmission thirty-six hours after it was sent."
". . .Do we have a clear channel? Yes? Good.
"This is Cynthia Johnson with SolarNet News, reporting from Providence Station. We're currently under siege by what Station Command believes is part of the same Ceti fleet that blitzkrieged and occupied Kentaurus Prime. There are about ten capital ships in the siege force, plus several hundred Ceti fighters; but thus far, none of their ships have ventured closer than five million kilometers from the station.
"We're at a loss to figure out what the Ceti want or what they're doing here. There's been some communication traffic between Providence Station and the Ceti fleet, though the Ceti have jammed almost every other outbound signal. The earlier transmissions are unencrypted but in Kentauran; the later messages have encryption algorithms set and are probably still in Kentauran, which would make them all but impossible to decode.
"There are a lot of unanswered questions here that we'll try to get to the bottom of and send the next time we can get a clear channel. . . I've just been informed that we're about to lose our signal again, so I'm going to sign off now. This is Cynthia Johnson, SolarNet News."
"We've also just received news that the 13th Starborne Superiority Squadron--better known as 'Drake' Squadron--has returned from a sensitive mission about which the Terran Defense Force has, until now, given no comment. We take you now to Admiral Akira Tenaka's office aboard Liberty Station, where the Admiral is about to announce details about the mission from which Drake Squadron has just returned."
"On behalf of the Terran Defense Force, the Terran Parliament, and the men and women of Earth, Luna, and Mars, I'd like to welcome the 13th Starborne Squadron back to Sol System from their recent mission in Tau Ceti.
"I could not, until their safe return, mention any details about the 13th's sensitive mission. Even now, the details I can mention are few. The 13th Starborne accepted this mission not by my order, but by my request--their squadron commander, Colonel Jeanette Duveaux, was free to abort the mission if she felt herself and her pilots were not up to the near-impossible task I had asked of them.
"The operation the 13th Starborne was to undertake was a recon-in-force mission through the Tau Ceti system. Their primary objectives were to obtain any reconnaisance data they could and return to Earth; their secondary objective was to eliminate any targets of opportunity.
"They succeeded beyond expectations in both objectives. The reconnaisance data they gathered will remain classified for some time; however, among their other accomplishments was the destruction of what we believe to be the Ceti's primary shipyard and drydock facility. Data on the Ceti armada over the past two days indicates about a tenth of their force has broken away from the main group and departed Sol system, presumably for their homeworld.
"In any event, the deeds of the 13th Starborne Squadron may play a significant role in turning the tide of the war in humanity's favor. For that, I send my thanks to Colonel Duveaux and her squadron on behalf of us all. A ceremony will be held at the Pearl Harbor Civic Center to honor the members of the 13th Starborne on Monday, 13 October at noon local time; I invite anyone who can make the event to join us."
"SolarNet News will, of course, carry the ceremony live. Again, it will be held at the Pearl Harbor Civic Center at 10:00 PM Terran Standard Time. I'm Diana Mays, and this has been a SolarNet News Special Report."