SPECIAL COVERAGE: MISSION SUNRISE
Broadcast Archive | April 2025
Source: Public Affairs, News Division | Edited for syndication by The Underground Mirror

The camera pans across a shot of marsh grass bowed under the morning wind and dunes in the distance. A yellow orange sun crests the Gulf like an eye slowly opening. Its amber glow backlights the colossal silver rocket, the SpaceX heavy lifting body ‘Prometheus I’, standing poised on Launch Pad 39-F. Over 500 feet tall. Six Raptor-9 engines thrumming, waiting.

06:42:17 AM – CNN STUDIO, NEW YORK
ANCHOR (Tom Hensley):
“And there she stands, Prometheus I, the largest heavy-lift launch vehicle since the Saturn V. A vessel of incredible ambition.”

[The camera pans over to the secure visitor area where roughly 178 VIPs, familiar faces from recent headlines and past indictments, sip champagne and rub elbows. An assembly of escorts starts to usher them into a row of shuttle buses to ‘ferry them to an exclusive viewing area’. Rumors swirled, but the guests were told only this: “You’ll be close enough to feel history happen.”]

 ANCHOR (Tom Hensley):
“There is something poetic about this morning: the salt wind off the Gulf, the pale orange light breaking across the Texas marshes. It’s the sort of moment that reminds us: history often arrives quiet… and then gets loud.”

06:43:22 AM – BOCA CHICA LAUNCH FACILITY

FIELD REPORTER (Joy Teller):
“Yes, Tom, security’s locked down here on the Gulf coast. The press have been told to keep a respectful distance. The VIP shuttles arrived moments ago, ferrying in select attendees for what’s been called “the best view on Earth.”

“Also, we don’t have the names of the deportees who have been ‘volunteered’ for this re-settlement mission. We’re told they’ll be revealed… “after ignition” and America will be ‘very pleased’ with the list.”

In reality, the nation was holding its breath for a very different reason. Months earlier, the President and Elon Musk had announced a bold new “colonization initiative”—a plan to ease concerns over illegal immigration by establishing penal colonies on the Moon, with Mars on deck for phase two. It was, they said, a marriage of Muskian vision and MAGA tough love.

The proposal sparked protests, political brawls, and a flurry of court challenges. For a brief moment, every branch of government pointed at the others, hoping someone else would pull the plug. MAGA’s influence, battered by an imploding economy, hung by a thread. Yet, behind closed doors, a bipartisan committee quietly agreed: the program would proceed, but Congress would get to pick the passenger list. Trump shrugged, satisfied as long as the manifest was made up of “the most dangerous people to America.” Leadership assured him: “The people will be thrilled.”

The names were kept secret. Pundits speculated, trading in euphemism: “Several figures onboard hail from a previous administration.”, “We’re told the manifest is a bipartisan cross-section of bold personalities.” And the coup de grâce (though he denied it): “Rumor has it, Elon Musk himself has volunteered to lead this historic migration.” Only Congress and the Supreme Court knew for sure who would be calling the Moon home..

06:45:10 AM – CONTROL ROOM, NASA/SpaceX BOCA CHICA HQ

Buses pull up to the launch pad and technicians begin off-loading slumped figures in spacesuits into the craft. The camera isn’t able to get a clear view but they appear to load over 150 bodies. It’s a chilling scene.

PA (over intercom):
Final go/no-go poll complete. All systems are green. Weather optimal. Clearance granted for launch sequence.
Final fuel transfer engaged. Venting hydrogen.

06:47:55 AM – CNN STUDIOS

ANCHOR (Hensley):
“There’s something to be said about not knowing who’s inside that spacecraft. The manifest is sealed. The payload… has been loaded.”
[smiles faintly]
“We’ve been told that some familiar figures will be taking a step forward, or upward, into the future today.”

Viewers everywhere wondered whether they had spitefully included Biden, Pelosi, Sanders… Cheney. Who had Congress been able to save, who had they let go?

06:49:38 AM – VIEWING PLATFORM, BOCA CHICA

FIELD REPORTER (Teller):
“The public attendees and NASA officials seem relaxed. Some are waving to the cameras. There’s music playing softly over the platform PA. No sign of the special viewing area the MAGA officials are watching from. It must be a secure area out of view from here.”

06:50:00 AM – T-MINUS 2:00 MINUTES

CONTROL (Flight Director):
“Autosequence engaged. Ignition in 120 seconds. Final crew sedation levels nominal. Chamber pressure rising.”

06:51:55 AM – STUDIO

ANCHOR (Hensley):
“Viewers at home, we invite you to reflect on what this mission means. It’s an Alpha and Omega. A leap toward the stars and perhaps… a closing of a chapter on life solely existing here on Earth. Also historic because there are moments when people quietly decide: enough.”

06:52:01 AM – LAUNCH PAD AUDIO

TOWER PA SYSTEM:
T-minus 10… 9… 8…

[Camera pans across the coastal marsh. A flock of seagulls lifts off, startled. The rumble begins.]

7… 6… 5… 4…

[The rocket glows gold as flames bloom beneath. A wave of smoke and exhaust billows out across the facility. The tower structure hisses with pressure valves. Chunks of concrete are torn from the launch pad.]

3… 2… 1… IGNITION.

06:52:13 AM – BOCA CHICA FIELD MIC
[Sound: Massive, sustained roar. Ground trembles. Distant cheers swell.]

FIELD REPORTER (Teller):
[shouting over the noise]
“We have LIFTOFF! Prometheus I has cleared the tower rising now into the dawn sky. A city of steel riding fire and fury into orbit!”

06:53:01 AM – STUDIO

ANCHOR (Hensley):
“America, you’re witnessing a new page in American history. The first long-term lunar migration vessel. A quiet, unannounced mission… and with profound meaning.”
[beat]
“Some of the nation’s loudest voices are onboard.
And for once- “
[beat]
…it’s quiet again.

06:55:32 AM – CONTROL ROOM, NASA/SpaceX

CAPCOM:
“We have Main Engine Cut-Off. First-stage separation complete.
Telemetry green. Course locked for Lunar insertion. All systems are nominal.”

06:56:00 AM – STUDIO

ANCHOR (Hensley):
“From this distance, it’s just a speck of light now. But up there, a generation’s fever dream and fever has left the building.
There will be debriefs. There will be press conferences. There will be… elections. But for now: The silence sets in.”

On screen, the manifest of the setters’ names scrolls down. It’s all of the administration, cabinet members, former lackeys and donors. The MAGA problem had grown too large to bear. No longer were they deporting others. They had, at last, deported themselves..

“Let the country exhale and prepare to roll up its sleeves and get to work. God bless and godspeed. “Tonight, the tides have turned. The rocket has launched. And in Boca Chica, the only thing left is the sound of the surf and the faint, distant echo of the old American noise.””

[End Transmission]

Editor’s Note: Wow, they only sent Napoleon to the isle of Elba…

Congress has passed an emergency resolution to reinstate a functional three-party system, ban corporate donations and limit primary season to 6 months.
Bon Voyage and farewell to the travelers. The world breathes a sigh of relief that our long national nightmare is over. We will think of you everytime we look into the night sky. We will remember how important it is to protect your democracy.