The Final Transmission

The Final Transmission is the name for the collection of messages from the IUSC containing the news that Unda was devastated by a planetwide storm.

Background
Main article: Climate Change.

As of the departure of the Ingenuity, the effects of climate change had melted substantial portions of the polar caps and caused significant sea level rise. Nezuma and Skobra had been significantly affected, as was Adari. Most islands had made some attempt to shore up the coastline or move inward.

Transcript
From: IUSC Pax Mission Control Sent: Mission Day 180 Received: Mission Day 269

“Ingenuity, IUSC mission control here. Due to the time delay, we’ve just received the video feed from your hydroponics lab from day 87 of your voyage. The children of Unda thank your scientists for taking the time to answer their questions about life in space. Instructor Akram’s primary level A class from Chanost writes ‘We really enjoyed learning about the nutrients plants need to grow and how you don’t use dirt to grow them. Also thank you for telling us about space toilets even though Instructor Akram said asking that was rude.’ PR aside, our botanists say it’s great to see your plants looking so healthy. That’s all I’ve got for now. We’re battening down the hatches here at Pax mission control for a planetwide summer storm. Should be a doozy, but we’ve got plenty of supplies here to stay on the comms with you through it. We’ll keep you updated. End transmission.”

From: IUSC Pax Mission Control Sent: Mission Day 183 Received: Mission Day 274

“Ingenuity, this is IUSC mission control. The planetwide storm we’ve been updating you on has become much more serious. The weather services and climate models all agreed it’d be a real howler, the summer storms have been getting stronger these past years, but this...there’s no easy way to describe it to you. Makes the storm that knocked out power on Ilona last summer look like calm seas. It started out at the equator and spread over the whole planet, like usual, but we’re hearing some concerning news. There’ve been reports that Nezuma and Skobra are completely underwater, and there’s a massive tidal wave en route to Merraska. The IU is working to get an evac effort underway, but we’re having trouble getting comms back up and running with the affected areas. There’s some concern that we may go dark on our end for the next day or so as we wait this out. End transmission.”

From: IUSC Pax Mission Control Sent: Mission Day 185 Received: Mission Day 277

“Hello? Is...is this thing on? Oh, thank goodness. I thought the lightning had fried everything. Ingenuity, if you’re hearing this, don’t come back. Unda is done for. I...the waves are like nothing I’ve ever seen. Walls of water, taller than skyscrapers. The levees, the floodworks, all the coastal protections are smashed. Gone. Island after island. They’re never this strong. The last news report from Helmi we saw before we lost the feed showed houses being ripped up and tossed around like nothing! It’s worse closer to the equator. Ilesar, Bhalua, Tekal, all submerged -- all gone! We’ve lost all ground comms, but last we heard the storm destroyed the storage site on Pleoh, so all the radioactive waste ended up in the ocean...there are dead fish floating everywhere. The water here’s already up to the second floor; I only have a few minutes. You all out there on the Ingenuity, way out there, you people are the only ones free of the storm...go! Don’t come back! End transmission-” (static)