Miriani

Monsters in the Mist?

At 9:30 PM GST today, the Alliance High Guard officially announced the complete destruction of Blockade Point Tango Oscar, the site of what is believed by sources inside the High Guard to be a major Praelor military base. The sector, previously home to a fleet of several hundred Praelor warships, is now under combined High Guard and Krenelia occupation.

However, it is believed by our sources that there is more to this story than High Guard today announced. Most interesting is the fact that today was the first time either Krenelia or human forces have entered the sector in several months; whoever was responsible for the destruction of the fleet, we are told, was unaffiliated with either the Krenelia or the Alliance High Guard in any way. Nor is their any sign of a two-way battle between the Praelor and another force. A High Guard navigator, who wishes to remain anonymous, had more to say.

"We were suddenly ordered by High Guard this morning to proceed to Blockade Point Tango Oscar. As soon as we entered the sector, the captain ordered a sensor reading and a deep long-range scan for any starships. The long-range scan came up blank; no Praelor forces were in sight within fifteen LIGHTYEARS of the sector, which we thought was awful strange considering the place had been crawling with the bugs not a day before. On the local sensors all we could pick up were hundreds of pieces of Praelor starship debris; but nothing belonging to any other kind of ship, or even another Praelor caste, just Ontanka ship guts all over the place. None of us had any idea what could have happened. Sure as hell no fleet we were aware of could have taken out the Tango Oscar fleet without losing a single ship."

High Guard public relations denied the story, stating that the official announcement "contained all information that we can confirm is accurate." Rumors among the starship crews posted in that region of space seemed to paint a rather disconcerting picture, however. Numerous crew members reported their ships having encountered what were referred to as 'ghost ships' or 'black ships', ships which appeared on sensor readings but could not be scanned, and apparently left immediately upon being observed. The ghost ships, it is said, did not match any known starship configurations, but were quite small, being between 'a cruiser and a vanguard' in size. It is believed by some that these sightings, which have increased in recent months but have been revealed to journalists since at least early March, are related to the sudden obliteration of the Tango Oscar fleet. High Guard has categorically denied all rumors of ghost ships. The truth is out there, but does High Guard want to know about it?

Dated: 11/06/2357