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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 mobi, a simple headline that said Storm Securities financed the failed assassination of 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 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.

Journalists investigate Vano and reveal that he’s ex-Navy. He worked as a merc for decades and has some tenuous ties to a hardlined Terran independence group. The Advocacy raids his flat and hangars. Boxes upon boxes of personal belongings are removed, but there’s no further official comment. His neighbors are hauled in for interviews and then, according to one of them, advised to avoid making comments in the press. Some end up speaking to journalists anyway, but they all say the same thing: Vano kept to himself, but occasionally had outbursts of anger. A description that could be applied to many others.

Despite his checkered past, very little information about his actions over the previous year has surfaced. That is, until last week’s raid on Storm Securities. Suddenly, someone in the Advocacy is leaking like a sieve, claiming that the company might’ve financed the entire operation.

Doesn’t that seem strange? In the two months since the failed assassination, all we’ve gotten from the Advocacy are bare bones facts about the attack and the name of the assailant. There hasn’t been one other leak out of the Advocacy until this “source” came forward to claim that Storm Securities financed the operation.

That got me wondering. Why now?

Well, some of you out there, much like me, might not be too surprised by this turn of events. You might even remember exactly why Storm Securities founder Hamsa Paul was on the show a few years ago.

If you don’t recall, back in 2945, a team of Storm Securities contractors were protecting a cargo hauler when it was jumped by members of the Otoni Syndicate. These security professionals turned the tables on their attackers and eliminated the threat, only to find out that one of the Otoni attackers was actually an undercover Advocacy agent.

The Advocacy came after Storm Securities, claiming that the agent had attempted to notify the operators of his true identity in an effort to maintain his cover, and that the company was liable for what happened. They made Hamsa Paul’s life a living hell for a year, but for all the Advocacy’s bluster, Storm Securities was ultimately cleared of all charges. They put the tragic event behind them, but the Advocacy doesn’t seem to have moved on.

It seems to me that scores are being settled, and this will be but the first controlled leak that happens. Despite all the lies designed to confuse or distract us, we must stay vigilant and on top of the truth more than ever before. The future of the UEE depends on it.

We need to take a quick break. When the Plain Truth returns, I’ll be speaking with Ezra Talen about the shadow state and his new book Whispers & Handshakes, which examines how the real empire-building is happening behind the scenes. That, and more, when we return.