View source for Comm-Link:Plain Truth - Shadow State

In the land of misinformation, we must rely on the truth to be our guide. No matter how dark and hazy it gets, we must continue our crusade toward the light. This journey begins with us and it starts right here. My name is [[Parker Terrell]], and it’s time for the '''[[Plain Truth]]'''.

The other day, a news alert popped up on my [[MobiGlas|mobi]], a simple headline that said [[Storm Securities]] financed the failed assassination of [[Kelos Costigan|Imperator Costigan]]. That was it. One simple, declarative statement and the alert went away.

As it turns out, after evidence surfaced that this vaunted company had made payments to [[Maurice Vano]], the assailant killed fleeing the failed assassination of Imperator Costigan, law enforcement raided their [[New Junction]] headquarters to look for more information. Publications were suddenly claiming that Storm Securities wasn’t just a company that had once hired Vano for some work. No, these so-called ‘news organizations’ decided to drop all pretense of due process and label Storm Securities as the financier behind the entire operation, without providing a shred of evidence outside of a single, unnamed source.

Now, this took me a bit by surprise because I know the folks who run Storm Securities. Their founder, [[Hamsa Paul]], is a friend of the show, actually. We had him on several years back after a few of their contractors were involved in an unfortunate incident with the [[Advocacy]].

But, we’ll circle back to that point later, because the second I read the news about Storm Securities, I reached out to Hamsa Paul for a comment. The truth of the matter is that Storm Securities hired Vano to do some legal security work and paid him out. That’s it. The company completes hundreds, if not thousands, of similar contracts every year. Yet, the Advocacy still kicked down their front door and used this small connection to Vano as an excuse to help themselves to the company’s records.

I don’t believe the “unnamed Advocacy source” for a second. No, instead I see this new development as a sign that we’ve entered a dangerous new part of the investigation — score settling. The failed assassination of Imperator Costigan has triggered the [[UEE]]’s shadow state into action, affording them the political cover to attack their adversaries and further their own sinister agenda.

Some of you have heard me rant and rave about this shadow state before — a cabal of people so powerful that most of the public isn’t aware that they’re the ones pulling the UEE’s strings. I know some of you are shaking your head, asking if this shadow state is so powerful and secretive, then why’s little ol’ Parker Terrell know about it?

Because I’m paying attention.

For instance, have you noticed how little information is truly out there about the attack on Imperator Costigan? Yeah, sure, every day a pundit hops on the spectrum to spin some wild new theory about how it was a [[Xi’an]] crime syndicate or some [[Tevarin]] separatist group behind it all. But the actual facts of the case are few and far between. Almost like someone doesn’t want us to know what really happened …

Don’t believe me? Well, let’s take a moment and examine exactly what we know about the assassination. Let’s toss every bit of unconfirmed information out the hatch and focus on things we know. That we can prove.

On May 30th, reports of an incident at the Banking Federation Summit in [[New York|New York City]] flooded the spectrum. Two verified points rose above all the noise. First, that an assassination attempt aimed at Imperator Costigan had failed, but left one member of the [[1st Marine Combat Battalion]] dead. Second, an individual believed to be involved in the attack was shot dead while fleeing the scene.

Exactly one week after this dramatic incident, Imperator Costigan makes his first public appearance. He arrives on the Senate floor to advocate for the [[Human-Xi’an Trade Initiative]] moments before a vote is scheduled on it. This highly unorthodox move would’ve created a political firestorm under normal conditions. HuXa opponents fume at the theatrics, but understand that criticizing the Imperator at such a time would only backfire. A vote is held and HuXa passes by a razor thin margin.

The morning after HuXa was passed, Advocacy Director [[Thomas Carmody]] holds his first press conference since the day of the failed assassination. He reveals the name of the individual killed fleeing the scene to be Maurice Vano. He also claims that Vano’s system had a “significant amount” of the new designer drug called Flow in it, but provides no relevant information past that.