Hate to say we told you so...
19 Nov 2020Seth Bradwell
I have spent most the past week away from the pilot's chair, getting some much needed relaxation - which in my case means watching old dramas and documentaries about early 21st century political scandals on Old Earth on the holo-monitor in between following the latest news about the partial rehabilitation of Hadrian Duval and Nova Imperium into the Empire (something I cautiously welcome) so they can focus on their common foe, the NMLA. The only trip out has been back to LTT 1935 on Monday after hearing a rumour about a crashed ship on body 6 A, which was alleged to have some bertrandite (an ore of beryllium, used to repair stations after Thargoid attacks and therefore a possible material used in the manufacture of the NMLA corrosive bombs) canisters in the wreckage. I got to the area of the wreckage, managed to power down before a Federal Vulture could scan me, and explored the area for myself in my SRV. I found no bertrandite, only some indium and algae, but I also found the Thargoid sensor. I hurried back to friendly space in order to corroborate my findings with everyone else. A Thargoid sensor isn't incriminating in itself, but why were the Feds patrolling the area, and more importantly, how did the Thargoid sensor get there? However at the time I did this this seemed to be old news, the fighting had died down and all media attention being paid to the Alliance's new expansion into the Coalsack Nebula.But then yesterday Galnet (sarcasm on) gave the most shocking announcement of the year (sarcasm off) by announcing that there HAD been NMLA terrorists among those refugees the Federation naively took in with open arms. The Vice President himself has said that the nine individuals identified as NMLA will be handed over to Imperial authorities after interrogation by Federal security forces, before blaming Winters for allowing this to happen. Maybe now the Federation will think twice before reacting in bad faith when the Empire say that terrorists are operating from Federal space and consider cooperation with us rather than obstruction next time (but then, maybe SRVs will jump into hyperspace). The Empire tried diplomacy, maybe it could have tried harder before sending the big guns in but our pleas fell on deaf ears. Either way, it cannot be said we didn't try to warn them.
I was just about to return to HIP 71938 and let this all run its course when the music from Lave Radio suddenly stopped, and my heart fell into my stomach. "We interrupt this programme to bring you an urgent newsflash. It has just been reported that there has been an explosion at the Federal starport Kelper Orbital in the Atropos system. We will update you as events unfold." I immediately flick on Galnet and see the carnage unfold before my eyes, the station looking every bit as devastated as the Imperial ports targeted by the NMLA two months earlier. It is then I hear the latest news report on the radio: "This is Lave Radio News with an urgent report. Incoming news from Galnet indicate another terrorist attack on a starport, this time in Federal space. One hour ago there was reports of explosions at Kelper Orbital in Atropos, which bear all the hallmarks of the bombs used against Imperial starports two months earlier. We have just this moment heard that the NMLA have claimed responsibility for this attack, in retaliation for the apprehension of their members yesterday. We shall bring you more on this as events unfold."
I turn the radio off. Well, well, well... I thought. The Federation is reaping what it has sown sooner than anyone would have thought, and if it wasn't for the civilian casualties I would say serves them bloody well right too. My comms then bleep with a galaxy-wide announcement from the Pilot's Federation calling for assistance with repair and evacuation efforts. Now I couldn't give a canister of biowaste about the Federation's facility, it's their mess, they can clean it up with their forces, if they can muster enough pilots to squash us in LTT 1935, they will have no problem with getting enough pilots to bring in convoys of T9s loaded with beryllium. But as for those on that station... that's a different story. It's not their fault that the Federation put them in harm's way so they could try get one-up on the Empire. At the time of the initial attacks I was too angry to mount any kind of effective response as I kept finding fewer and fewer reasons to stay out of this. Not this time. My contribution towards trying to stop the NMLA in LTT 1935 may have been in vain, but every civilian on a ship out of that bombed hellhole is a civilian that can return to their family, their loved ones, or at the very least can live another day. It also hasn't totally slipped my cynical mind what great PR it would be for the Empire for her citizens to go out there and rescue Federal citizens from a disaster of the Federation's making. With that in mind, I start looking for somewhere en route to Atropos where I can get passenger cabins, and possibly a larger ship for the job...
OOC: Big shout out to CMDR Amata Lirein whose posts on both the Frontier and INARA forums have inspired several of the contributions to my recent logs, as well as my character's outlook on Imperial affairs and Imperial-Federal relations.