✮ video.

[uprightness]

Who: Steve 'belated bday boy' Rogers
Broadcast: fleetwide
Action: the ss star(spangled)struck
When: current

[ after the incident which involved steve rogers, a misunderstanding regarding technology and some ( very flattering ) photos of one Peggy Carter, Steve tried to avoid addressing the entire network regarding anything less than a security threat.

And then today happened.

The video opens up to the Starstruck though the ship looks drastically different due to the large number of red, white and blue balloons and confetti that seems to be everywhere. To make matters weirder, there seems to be a rather big cake reading 'Happy 1776th birthday, your Highness' and a song that seems to be playing every few minutes and rather loudly.

And in the middle of it all, there sits Steve Rogers himself and his smile is absolutely long suffering. He looks up and waits for the song to end before speaking rather hurriedly, mostly since he's worried it'll start over. ]

--- My birthday was last month but - thank you. Tony. For arranging alla this.

[ is he saying it through gritted teeth? Oh yes. And why? ]

And more importantly to Pinkie Pie who dedicated her time and effort to doing all of this. It's - very kind of you. Can't say I've ever had that much done for my birthday before.

[ and now if you'll excuse him, he's off to kill Iron Man. ]

And now, back to your regularly scheduled...

[thespaceopera]

[Somewhere, someone finishes deactivating yet another little hacking device on their ship... And wouldn't you know it, it is enough that the devices' collective hold over the network finally falls apart! Having so many disruption fields generated across the Fleet were what had allowed the devices to be as powerful as they were, so now that enough of them are removed--

After a rather ominous popping sound, a storm of ear-splitting static descends upon the passengers from every speaker, on every console and communication device in the entire Drift Fleet. That's all there is for about half a minute, until something filters through the noise--the stuttered snatches of a robotic voice that has been heard on a few occasions in the past.]

--ESTABLISHED AND LIVE. REPEA... CONNECTION EST-- ...AND LIVE.

[Following that, somewhere behind the worst of the noise, is an even more familiar (and much more human) sounding voice. Even through the static, the sound of surprise in his words is clear.]

Did you hear... Where--is she?? Adjust ...the tracking!

[The static increases to a point that threatens the integrity of the speakers before abruptly dying away. For a full minute, and then two, there is nothing but dead air (save for maybe the ringing in your ears). When the silence does finally break, it's with a cheery little jingle that will be familiar to many passengers.

Friendly as it is, though, it pales in comparison to the female voice that follows--veritably glowing with the sound of a smile.]

My dear passengers, it has been far too long! I have missed chatting with you so very, very much.

[Ah, yes. That's Diamond, all right. Her announcements are usually chipper, but this time she sounds relieved to even be speaking to someone.]

Let me first thank and congratulate you for fixing the awful problem that has been keeping us apart. I knew you were clever enough to figure it out! I have been trying to communicate with you all in what ways I could, but it just hasn't been the same...

And now there is so much to catch up on, I hardly know where to begin...!

[In fact, it sounds a little like paper note-cards are being shuffled around in the background.]

Oh, we've noticed that there are a lot more animals on the ships than there were the last time we checked in! You all must have been very busy on that last planet... [A stinted laugh.] As such, we have opened a special little deck of the Marsiva just for you; please do make use of the facilities available there. After all, happy and healthy animals test well with all age groups and interest boards.

And before that, you visited... [She pauses, oddly, before continuing.] ...Ah, I've been asked to remind you all to please not interfere with delicate equipment--including terraformers--in the various locations that we visit. Audiences... Well, they don't like it very much when you run off and dig into things so far outside of the scope of their interests. It's not very good for your ratings.

[Though, anyone who has been paying attention to the ratings and cash bonuses they got around that time might have reason to believe that Diamond isn't being entirely truthful there...]

We will be approaching a new Star System in a matter of days, so we'll be sure to check in and catch up with you all again soon. We are so happy to be back, and your audience is no doubt thrilled to find out what will happen next!

So until then, dear passengers, remember: the worlds are watching!

[...And finally, the broadcast goes silent. The channel is still open, but no one is speaking, and there are no further noises or indications that anyone is there.

Congratulations, everyone. Thanks to your hard work, the Hosts are back!
OOC post with more information: here.]