The rise of the zodiac

Dateline Gemini 12, 2400.2

Today Grand Lord Charles was at the commissioning of the first Polar Bear class colony ship. The first of several planned for this year she is a massive ship capable of carrying 15 million colonists along with all the material and provisions to sustain them till they arrive and build on a new world.
Grand Lord Charles was quoted saying “When this ship departs next week for Zekrat XI the Alexan people will start spreading throughout the galaxy. What wondrous things shall we find waiting for us out there, new sources of materials to fuel our growing economy, new technologies to improve our way of life, perhaps even some new species. The possibilities are endless.”
In other news the minister of science and technology announced progress in sensor technology and an improvement in the efficiency of the Ion engines allowing for the storage of additional supplies.
This is Will Alderan for ZNN.

Dateline Leo 25, 2400.4

Success!!!! The brave souls of Polar Bear I have succeeded in colonizing Zekrat XI. The initial reports from the colony have them well on their way having setup housing and started an industrial complex. The news of their triumph has been forwarded to the crew of Polar Bear II and we hope that they achieve equal success as they approach Zekrat XII next month. When asked to comment the captain of Polar Bear III had this to say “I graduated with Captain Randolf and knew he would succeed. With the continued support of Grand Lord Charles and the great people of the Zodiac Imperiun I am confident in our continued success.”
This is Will Alderan for ZNN.

Dateline Virgo 12, 2400.5

Reports came in today from Polar Bear II of a strange anomaly they discovered on their way to Zekrat XII. The minister of science and technology had no initial comments on the data received but ZNN has found out that Polar Bear III has been given orders to head for the anomaly. Stay with ZNN for more news on this breaking story.

Dateline Virgo 18, 2400.5
Polar Bear II arrived on Zekrat XII today and early reports say that the atmosphere is contaminated with a high percentage of carbon dioxide. This setback has not hampered the colonists though. They plan on erecting a dome to keep the contamination at bay and allow the colonists to thrive. The down side is it would be to costly to dome the entire planet so only about 20% of the usable surface will be available to build upon.

In a follow up report to the story reported last week ZNN sources inside the Ministry of Science and Technology have said the anomaly discovered last week is believed to be a worm hole. A worm hole is said to be a subspace path linking two systems together. Not much is known about how worm holes came to be or how stable they are.

And lastly tonight with Polar Bear III scheduled to launch early next week the final plans for an explorer class ship has been approved and sent to the ship yards. The new ship code named Puma has the latest technology in engines (level 2) and sensors (level 3). Grand Lord Charles stated “These ships are essential to explore and map regions of space we can’t see from our home world.”
When asked for confirmation about the worn holes he declined to comment saying he was waiting for the results of Polar Bear III’ analysis.

Will Alderan reporting for ZNN.

Dateline Scorpio 24, 2400.7
Questions abound today as we all watched as the Polar Bear III was pulled into the worm hole. Is the ship still intact? What of the colonists? Too many questions and as of this hour no answers. The Puma I has been ordered to follow Polar Bear III’s path but stay just out of the worm holes sector and use its improved scanners to attempt to figure out what happened.

Dateline Scorpio 28, 2400.7
They are alive and well!!!! Captain Scott of the Polar Bear III stood unfazed on the bridge as he reported on the condition of his ship and crew. “We are all fine, a little shaken up but the ship came through in good condition. It appears that the worm hole is stable and can bring us nearly 20 light years in the same amount of time as we would need to travel a single sector in normal space.”
The government would not release the exact location of the Polar Bear III but researchers here at ZNN have determined that they are probably in the Procyon system, 18.2 light years beyond our own system.
ZNN has also learned that the crew of the Puma I have been ordered to enter the worm hole and assist with mapping the new system.

Will Alderan for ZNN.