The Murder of Elaine Boyd

Elaine Boyd's body was found two days later in a cheap hotel. The suicide note said she was unable to live with the guilt of murdering her lover, Susan Monroe, with repeated stab wounds to the chest and neck.

Monroe was an agent of the Presidental Protection Detail. According to the Federal Security Service, Boyd had been using her relationship with Monroe to access confidential information.
Given the brutal murder that resulted, it was suggested that Monroe had been an unwilling participant of this, with tragic results.

So, what's the big deal? Random journalist goes nuts, murders her main source, commits suicide. Open and shut case.

This is one of the earliest story arcs on GalNet, arguably starting only a few days after GalNet properly began in 3301. It illustrates many of the themes and narrative tricks that would later become common on GalNet. Unusually, a lot of the hidden details just get explicitly stated towards the end, maybe Frontier were worried their writers were being too subtle and clever.
I'm sure you can figure it out before they just tell you what really happened here, like, would Boyd really murder her main source? Not just that, but apparently her lover?

Elaine Boyd herself is actually only a small part of it, but her murder - sorry, suicide - is a good place to start. So, what was she even reporting on anyway?

A Series of Unfortunate Accidents

Federal Times journalist Elaine Boyd first appears on GalNet in August 3301, reporting on a tragic shuttle accident that killed five people. We have a very early example of a subtle "hint" right off the bat, where GalNet just casually points out that these accidents do happen, but it's pretty rare in cases like this. Weird, huh?

Boyd is there to ask how Sirius Corporation, your local definitely-not-evil megacorporation, was able to figure out what happened so quickly. Obviously they have an excuse for how they instantly determined what happened, nothing odd here.
But at the end of the article, one of the victims is highlighted for some reason:

What a strange detail for GalNet to point out unprompted. Okay, so I said we were starting with Boyd, but we do need some background info, this is important.

Starship One is the name for the Federal President's personal ship, used to transport them around. Shortly before all this, Starship One vanished on transfer along with the President, Jasmina Halsey. This Richards guy was evidently involved in the investigation into that, which formally concluded that no foul play was involved.

The Antares was a cutting-edge starliner, created by the Sirius Corporation, which similarly went missing 50 years prior in an unexplained disappearance. This guy was also involved in investigating it at the time. But whatever, he's an experienced technician who probably worked on a lot of stuff, it's not weird that he's died in a normal accident. Involving the Sirius Corporation. Lots of stuff involves them!

Boyd's next appearance was only a week later, reporting on a second unfortunate traffic accident. Two transport safety officials on some kind of "knowledge-sharing" mission were killed in a collision. No known cause this time, but it sounds similar. Two in a row, how crazy.

Oh, it's Starship One again. Boyd seems to have some lead on the deceased's identity, if true it would be a strange coincidence that another person looking into Starship One has died. GalNet loves casually pointing out strange coincidences. But I'm sure that's all it is. Let's see what Boyd reports on next!

The Murder of Susan Monroe

Boyd never appears as a journalist on GalNet again, because the next mention of her is from the Feds wanting to "speak" to her about the savage murder of Agent Susan Monroe. We're already back where we started, you had better not have forgotten. Boyd isn't considered a suspect though, until two days later when they haven't found her and they just admit that she's a suspect and obviously they want to arrest her.

And then, she's found dead.

An anonymous tip? How curious. GalNet usually relies on "leaks", but this is another way for information to get out there without implicating anyone. Not that there is anyone to implicate here, of course.

So, just to recap: the bodycount currently stands at nine. Boyd investigates a series of space disasters that keep happening to space disaster investigators, before taking a break to brutally murder her lover/source, and then herself.

It could still be argued this is all coincidence, I mean, Boyd only reported on these "accidents" for two articles. That's really not enough to draw conclusions from, despite all the weird hints Frontier's writers keep putting in.
So, let's increase the bodycount some more. There's more deaths we haven't looked at yet!

The Murder of Vice President Smeaton

Nigel Smeaton was the Vice President of the Federal Liberal Party, the same party as President Halsey who vanished with Starship One. He died in January 3301 in his private swimming pool, a suspected heart attack.

I'm not even going to pretend this one wasn't a murder. This is one of the earliest GalNets, and someone was really worried we weren't going to get the hint. Here is a list of things that are a little bit weird about his heart attack:

• His security system was nonfunctional at the time.
• He had a clean medical scan only one hour before the "heart attack".
• His apartment was cleaned for some reason.
• Large amounts of data on the investigation vanished due to "server failures"
• And my personal favourite: they jammed the SATELLITES!

Oh look, GalNet is doing another "it's weird it happened like this, huh?". Just, FIVE TIMES IN A ROW. They did it so blatantly a later article just straight up forgets they're not meant to call it a murder! I don't even know if that's an in-universe mistake or not, it could be both!

There's actually a sixth hint in a later article, but calling it a hint feels insulting to your intelligence. Check this out:

This utter clown got distracted on social media (no, seriously!) and accidentally spoke about the murder before anyone else knew about it. Does he have a sixth sense for heart attacks?
The article then talks about Fallside's ties to the military, in particular the miltary company Core Dynamics. What a strange detail to add. Why would the writers do this? IT'S BECAUSE THEY ARE INVOLVED-

"Okay, it's another weird death, please just get to the point Rainbro" - your attention span is fried, give me a minute.
I've gone about as far as I can without referencing the articles that just outright tell you what happened. So, what do you think is going on here? All these deaths, Starship One, the Antares, Core Dynamics.
If you think these mysterious deaths might have actually been deliberate, you're just being paranoid. You're right, though.

Elaine Boyd didn't kill herself.

Boyd backed up her investigation before she was murdered, and had it set to be released if the media reported her death. It revealed a number of very interesting details:

Firstly - why did I mention Smeaton's death? He was also connected to the Antares, that Sirius liner that went missing 50 years ago. A relative of his was lost in the incident, prompting him to investigate the incident for himself!

“Elaine Boyd discovered details of a private ‘off the books’ investigation by the Vice President into the incident and that he suspected it was caused by sabotage, rather than drive component failure. He had already spoken to a number of now quite senior officers involved in the original enquiry." 28 AUG 3301 - Antares Incident Links to VP’s Death?

So that's at least a third space disaster investigator who has died, and it is likely he spoke to the others that died. Hear me out, I don't think this guy died of a heart attack. The article says this implies he was killed to stop his investigation, along with further data to suggest water is wet.

Secondly, remember Monroe, Boyd's source and lover? Remember how she was part of the Presidential Protection Detail? Guess who she was assigned to? Vice President Nigel Smeaton!
Did Monroe know something was up with his death, and help Boyd investigate? Obviously not, according to the Feds, who continue to insist that Boyd definitely killed Monroe for not cooperating. But you know what, I'm starting to suspect the official story might be bullshit, pardon my Federal.

Thirdly, Boyd's data points the finger at Core Dynamics, tied to that Congressman who somehow knew about Smeaton's "heart attack" before he should have. Boyd revealed an additional connection to Starship One:

So the guy who knew about Smeaton's murder was also making shady payments to one of his employees, who ended up on the crew of Starship One? That's not even the same incident Smeaton was investigating? Could they be connected? (yes)

To recap again: Smeaton was murdered for looking into the Antares, a bunch of investigators he spoke to were killed for that, Monroe was killed for trying to help Boyd investigate, and then Boyd was framed and killed for investigating. Everyone dies!
Core Dynamics are being shady, with links to the Antares coverup and also the loss of Starship One, on which President Halsey went missing. The Antares was created by Sirius Corporation, who have only been mentioned once so far but trust me, they're sus too.

I haven't really had to do any analysis here. The writers literally tell you what happened to Boyd, and Monroe, and Smeaton. It's more blatant than usual, which makes it a great starting point for identifying the various "hints" GalNet loves so much.

But anyway, now that this information is all out in the open, what happens next? Will this groundbreaking investigative journalism lead to consequences for those it implicates? haha. no.
Core Dynamics ask Fallside to lie low for a bit, and then ask the Federal Times to share Boyd's data with them so they can investigate, which is an obvious trap. Do we really trust Shady Military Corporation to investigate themselves?

...oh. Oh no.

The Chief Editor was pretty comitted to backing Boyd at all stages, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and suggest he was..."convinced" to share the data, rather than being a complete idiot. Regardless, this marks the end of the Federal Times investigation. Their unnamed editor is never mentioned again, replaced at some point, and the story is dropped. One more for the body count.

That's the end. Core Dynamics and Sirius get the data, and nothing happened. The new President Hudson (who recieves significant political support from Core Dynamics) vows an investigation, and nothing happens. Boyd killed Monroe and then herself, and Smeaton died of a heart attack. Nothing to see here, please disperse.

The big question remaining, of course, is "why"? It's clear there was a coverup, but what do Core Dynamics and Sirius have to gain from all this?

The Antares Incident and Starship One keep coming up in this story, that's what is being covered up here. I've only touched on them briefly so far, because have you seen what happens to people who look into it? But I've got a new life insurance policy now, so let's see what is being hidden.

Let's start with The Antares, Sirius's starliner that vanished. As it went missing 50 years before the game's events, there is not much to go over. The wreckage was discovered in 3302, and Sirius Corporation's investigation into themselves found no evidence of foul play. It also found no bodies, and I don't know if that's a lie or just creepy.

I think it's fair to say this wasn't an accident, but it's hard to say why Sirius would sabotage their own liner. I have one main theory, though. A major consequence of the Antares is that the disaster set back hyperdrive development back by years, maybe even decades.

Perhaps Sirius, or some other mysterious group, needed more time before this technology went public. Any damage done by the disaster was completely reversed by the introduction of the Frame Shift Drive a few decades later. This is almost pure speculation, but perhaps the "safety mechanisms" that were justified by the Antares Incident gave Sirius much greater control over the drives, for example in enforcing permit locks.

Or, maybe there was someone they just needed dead. I'll accept I don't have a concrete answer for the Antares. But that's old news, we don't actually need it. Starship One is the real reason for all of this, and oh boy, there's a lot to unpack. Let's go back again to before Boyd, and before President Halsey vanished aboard Starship One.

The (attempted) Murder of President Halsey

Vice President Smeaton was killed for investigating the Antares, and his death only contributed to the political troubles that President Halsey was facing. She was deeply unpopular, facing sustained political and media attacks, and even ran into difficulties with controlling the military. At several points, Admiral Vincent acted unilaterally without even consulting Halsey, because they hated each other.

Why was Vincent so hostile to Halsey but happy with Hudson, leader of the opposition Republican party? Well, it's time to introduce a recurring character on GalNet, called "The Military Industrial Complex". Spoilers, but this is a central theme in Elite. The writers brought it up in the first month of GalNet, in relation to Smeaton's death, for crying out loud!

Vincent runs the Federal military, and the Federation is basically America multiplied by a thousand years. The Federal Navy recieves truly gargantuan funding, which means payday for the companies that supply it. Companies like...Core Dynamics, who Boyd would later implicate in the destruction of Starship One. Vincent is directly involved in lobbying to support these companies!

“Rumours coming out of Mars today suggest that a powerful lobbying group, acting on behalf of Admiral Vincent and the Federal Navy, are currently engaged in a massive campaign to lower taxes on combat-capable spacecraft. " 11 MAR 3301 - Federal Military Lobby for Tax Reduction on Private Pilots

On the other hand, Halsey is a member of the Liberal Party which doesn't actually believe that the military is the answer to all our problems. At one point, Halsey tells Vincent that he can't have more troops for another attack. In response, Vincent hires Core Dynamics to build several massive warships, which he can just do unilaterally because the Federation is completely fine and normal. But where does the money to pay Core Dynamics come from?

Wait, Hudson? There's a massive corporate political entity that is supporting both Vincent and Hudson, who are both really keen on ensuring certain military companies get lots of contracts with the Federal Navy? Sounds like there's a lot of money to be made here, and it's just a coincidence that it moves in a circle between the Federal government, Core Dynamics, and their chosen cheerleaders in the government.

So, hypothetically, if a certain company like Core Dynamics has their entire business model based on fulfilling extremely lucrative contracts for the Federal Navy...it would be really bad if President Halsey wasn't on-board with giving the Navy all the money it demands, right?

...yeah, Mr Military Industrial isn't going to like this. Helping people? What about the poor megacorporations?
Wouldn't it be much better for Core Dynamics if Hudson was in charge instead, the guy constantly touring military sites, yelling about all the money he's going to give to corporations, and how important the military and its suppliers are?

Where are you gonna buy those weapons from, Hudson? Core Dynamics?

Other articles talk repeatedly about Hudson rubbing shoulders with major banks and corporations, to help them enter the "ultra-lucrative congressional contracts market", which is a hell of a quote to casually drop. Unsurprisingly, corporates in general rally behind Hudson!
Meanwhile, Admiral Vincent (close friends with Hudson) is undermining Halsey at every turn. I've mentioned how he unilaterally orders attacks and gives cash to Core Dynamics without Halsey's input, but finally a huge scandal erupts when the Federal Navy destroys a convoy of Federal refugees, ostensibly on Halsey's orders. Over nine thousand people die. Why would she do this?

These reports were faked. By this point Halsey's popularity is in the gutter, and Hudson wastes no time in eviscerating Halsey and starting calls to replace her. Halsey's response is that "certain parties within our ranks" are sabotaging her - and then points directly at the Federal Navy and those who command it. Could it be that Vincent, head of the Navy and best friends with Hudson, faked the report to give Hudson a political opening?

You're smart enough to see what's really going on here, aren't you? If you can't, it's probably because I'm jumping around a lot, so let's recap:

Core Dynamics is a massive military supplier for the Federal Navy, and is also one of the corporates responsible for massive political contributions towards Fleet Admiral Vincent and Shadow President Hudson.
We got onto this topic from Elaine Boyd, who later uncovered evidence implicating Core Dynamics in the murder of Halsey's Vice President, which also didn't exactly help Halsey.
Halsey's position is about as weak as it can get, and Hudson is preparing to oust her and become President, ensuring that the Federal Navy (and by extension Core Dynamics) get all the money they can wish for. Payback for all the support Core Dynamics gave Hudson and Vincent.

There's just one problem. Even with Halsey's popularity at zero, she is still the President. Hudson is preparing a vote to replace her, but what would really put the final nail in Halsey's coffin to guarantee Hudson gets into power...?

Her being in a coffin.

The Sabotage of Starship One

We are finally back to Elaine Boyd and Starship One. While Halsey is on a last-ditch tour to try and regain support, Starship One suffers a catastrophic failure and vanishes, presumed destroyed. Comparisons are drawn with the Antares.

You of course remember before my lengthy diversion how Core Dynamics didn't just murder Halsey's VP, but they were even implicated in the disappearance of Starship One, with Halsey on board. Naturally, there was a huge investigation into the disappearance of the President...and guess who was running it? Guess.

Unsurprisingly, the guys who did it find that there was no foul play. It was just an unusual drive failure, very similar to the Antares, that somehow came out of nowhere and wasn't stopped by all the new safety mechanisms implemented after the Antares... by Sirius Corporation. Oh well. Guess Hudson is President now!

We are currently about 4,000 words deep into this brief little summary. And GalNet just...tweets it out. GalNet is just casually "noting" the motive! Core Dynamics attempted to kill Halsey to put Hudson in power, then murdered Boyd and many others to cover it up. Why? Money, it's a megacorporation, why else?

Chronologically, Boyd's investigation comes next and exposes everything. But, it's too late. Hudson is in power now, just as Core Dynamics wanted, and Hudson's promise to find the guys responsible for this predictably never turns anything up. Boyd, Monroe, Smeaton, they all died for nothing.

You'll notice I don't include Halsey in that list. She actually survived! But that's another story, and her recovery did nothing to jeopardise Hudson's presidency, it was all too late. The plan worked, Core Dynamics made a lot of money and the Federation had to suffer having Hudson as President for years.

What now?

We know what happened - Boyd died because she got too close to a massive coverup, a huge conspiracy by the Military-Industrial Complex to replace President Halsey with President Hudson that culminated in an attempted assasination and the death of thousands. We know why this happened - money. We know most of the key figures responsible - Hudson, Vincent, Sirius Corporation, and Congressman George Fallside, non-exec director of Core Dynamics.

Thing is, Fallside isn't actually in charge of Core Dynamics. His name vanishes from the story after he hilariously mucks up and gets asked to shut up by Core Dynamics. He is just a pawn. For all we know, Hudson is just a pawn too, maybe even Vincent. There's an even bigger conspiracy at play here, this isn't just about Core Dynamics making a ton of money, though they do appreciate that.

This is about the fate of humanity...at least, according to the real masterminds, who are very good at coming up with reasons why increasing their own wealth and power is actually good for everyone. The masterminds wanted Halsey out because Hudson would be much better for their plan of militarising humanity against the coming alien threat.

This plan convieniently also involved the masterminds becoming much richer, much more powerful, and killing everyone who posed a threat to their authority as the shepherds of humanity. Also the plan was stupid and didn't work. But I digress.

For half a decade, no significant progress was made on the case. GalNet was silent on Starship One, even if you looked further into it and came to the above conclusions yourself. Not even Halsey herself could level an accusation, knowing what might happen to her.

But then, all of a sudden...five years later...

Oh look, I'm not crazy. Let's go see who really did all this.

> The Trial of Starship One <

Thanks for reading GalNot News, whose writers are not suicidal.