Mining and civil war in Alowis
29 Feb 2016Adept Geraden
3301-12-25From the News Desk:
We can now confirm reports from earlier today that Civil War has broken out in the backwater system of Alowis. It appears the Co-op of Alowis have a beef with the Barons of Alowis. Just what they are fighting over is unclear, as neither party has a controlling interest in the only Starport in the system. It appears there are 2 new surface settlements in the system, though just who controls these is unclear at the moment.
We have also had reports of increased piracy and banditry, from various nefarious and ne'er do well types hoping to profit from the ensuing chaos. In particular, the popular, though generally not published on the Galactic Web-Lists of "Good Mining Sites", mining location of Alowis 3, has seen the demise of countless miners.
One such miner sent us a report, with a photo from the inside of his cockpit:
The first time I went in, I had no idea anything was going on. Suddenly I was scanned, and 4 or 5 ships appeared out of nowhere. One messaged me, demanding I drop all my cargo. Being barely competent as a combat pilot, I decided the best part of valour was to bug out of there, so I did.
Not deterred, I turned around and went back in. Fired off one prospector drone, when lo and behold, I get scanned again. This time it's a single ship, a Federal Assault ship. Being in a well-armed Federal Drop ship myself, I decide I've had enough of their bully-boy tactics, scan him for his wanted tag, and let him have it with my large beam laser and twin turreted multi-cannons. We traded blows for several minutes, and I definitely had the upper hand, when he threw a hatch-breaker limpet at me. Complete fluke lucky shot, or maybe I zigged when I should have zagged, but strike me lucky if the blasted thing didn't go straight the cockpit canopy. Sucking big mouthfuls of canned air, and definitely shaken but not stirred, I decide not to risk it all taking this bad boy down, but instead bolted for the repair facilities of the nearby starport. Starting to settle down, realising I'm not pursued any further, I managed to fumble one quick photo.
Our intrepid miner reports that, having repaired his ship, he returned to the rings of Alowis 3, disposed of a wing of 2 lesser pirates in an Eagle and an Adder, and had a successful mining trip, bringing back over 80 tons of precious metals.
When asked if he would be returning soon to the cess-pool that is now Alowis 3, our reporter states the response was not "fit for publication".