The Slavic Federation’s Kozlov Speaks to the Masses

The following was a promotional item done for Civilization: Beyond Earth.

## Summary

*A new year's speech from celebrated cosmonaut and hero of the Slavic Federation, Vadim Kozlov:*

Citizens of the Slavic Federation!

Fearless pioneers of the Outer Space! Hard-working settlers and scientists who have devoted their lives to the genetics, engineering or cybernetics!

This is the final day of the last year we entirely spend on our home planet. In a few months we shall leave and venture on a quest for happiness for all nations of Mother-Earth.

For many years unnumbered we have been torturing our planet, thoughtlessly plundering its wealths. How many animals and plants have been erased from the face of Earth forever? The IUCN Red List comprises more pages than all issues of Encyclopaedia Britannica & Great Soviet Encyclopedia combined together, and we are the only species bearing the blame.

Do you remember the day when the last drop of gas was devoured by the last car in the Russian Federation? So many people have died since then. Yes, this has been the last drop, because only then did the Eurasian nations regain their senses and form a union, which later became the Slavic Federation.

We have survived countless woes. Is there any nation on the planet who had to face such trials? No. Three revolutions in one century, four world wars raging across our lands – and still we survived. We stayed afloat, when the water levels rose higher than the stock market, and the rest of the world sank. Nobody but Slavs could do it. Nobody.

Let us remember the legacy of the Golden Age. We were the first ones to launch a satellite, to send a man into space, to establish an extraterrestrial colony, to cross the Kuiper belt. Our history is one of the triumph of reason over ignorance, malice and greed. Since the very moment of birth our nation has been destined to go forward. And further up!

Many hardships lie ahead. We know little about the planet we have chosen as our home. What secrets does it hold? Never fear! We are ready to face anything. Our microbiologists can overcome any extraterrestrial viruses, our ecologists can build any number of prosperous colonies, and our astrophysicists will conquer the alien planet and present it to the mankind. Other expeditions will fail in the struggle with the hostile world, but we will prevail, and we will save their lives, and we will give them shelter.

The time has come to forget past grievances. We know the power of the Slavic Federation. Our orbital stations surpass those of other nations, our machines produce equipment of unrivaled quality. But can we survive without the help of our fellow earthlings? Are we to forget the past without the knowledge of the Franco-Iberian historians? Are our defenses to succumb to the alien wildlife without the support of the hardened soldiers of Buenos Aires? Are we to wallow in vice without the wise guidance of Kavithan Protectorate preachers? No, we should unite our efforts for the sake of the future.

They have been comparing me to the great Yuri Gagarin, the most courageous space pioneer in the history of Earth. I am honored, and yet I must acknowledge the truth of these words. Yes, I am a working class guy, who grew up dreaming of the distant stars and galaxies. Like the Soviet Union, we are about to enter the new, truly cosmic era. Yuri Alekseevich has made the first step towards the space travel. But we must make the last.

This is a solemn moment. A beginning of the first year of the new era. I wish you all a happy New Year 2210!

Let's go!