Miriani

Terrorists Thwarted in Sector Two

Only hours after our last news story, rioting broke out all over former CTN territories. Hot on the heels of these riots, hostages were taken by CTN terrorists on Io in the flight control tower. A large fleet of over 15 ships gathered in Sector 2 and the CTN asserted their right to control the sector.

The Hale Security Force was beaten back on the planets involved by rioters backed by CTN insurgents. With all contact lost with the planets besides terrorists making their demands, it seemed like a full insurrection was imminent. General Agon Bosch, a high ranking officer of the Hale fleet, quickly gathered private pilots and coordinated an assault operation on the sector.

In the ensuing melee Marinda Deliav was reported to be flying a new type of ship, designated the Egalitarian. This ship, which has engaged in combat with alliance forces before in earlier actions by the CTN, managed to destroy the Commonwealth battlecruiser 'Insurrection', owned by private pilot Caiden Shadowblade, with its devastating long-range lasers. Pilots at the scene reported that the ship projected an interdiction field around itself and scattered proximity weapons across the sector during the engagement.

Eventually the CTN fleet was destroyed, shortly after the Egalitarian made a quick stop on Io and then left the system. It is believed that the ship carried important terrorists off the planet while the pilots were distracted, including one General Saratoga, the man who made the demands for territory over flight control.

Once the sector had been cleared of all enemy combatants, the assault group forced a landing on Io under heavy fire by the automated defense systems and carved a path through the building. Thirteen terrorists were captured and all hostages were rescued unharmed.

The Hale interim chairman and former vice-chairman Igor Tchernenko said that "it is a good thing [that the pilots came to our aid] Without an intervention I don't think we could have solved that problem without losing anybody.

AIE interim president Arthur Blake, promoted to his position following the as yet unresolved kidnappings of alliance leaders by the CTN last year, said, "The CTN represent a very tangible threat to the security of all the alliances. This is not merely a Hale problem. The actions of the CTN affect us all. In fact I have received some disturbing new intelligence following this debacle, which is classified but could help us to figure out their next move and prevent it from occuring."

Dated: 07/27/2355