| Verence_Terrawin | Date: Monday, 23 May 2011, 10:00 PM | Message # 1 |
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| New light shed on the “New Coronet Incident”
Samuel Haltun and Darren Wek
ALSAKAN FREE PRESS
Thanks to the hard work of veteran Alsakan investigative correspondent, Darren Wek, questions have been raised with regard to the incident now being described throughout the holonet as the “New Coronet Incident”. A former military analyst, Darren Wek used his shuttle’s sensors to bring to light important new evidence which reveals inconsistencies between the evidence on the ground and the official statement.
According to the official statement made to the Senate by Grand Vizier Sate Pestage, the destruction of the town of New Coronet was attributed to the fact that “that stockpiles of illegal and highly-destructive ordnance in the possession of the rebel forces on the planet exploded and most of New Coronet, the capital of Alurion, appears to have been damaged or destroyed as a result.”.
Chairman of the Defence committee, offered further elaboration on the nature of the warheads involved “The rebels on Alurion detonated their stockpile of weapons, including several illegal explosive materials as well as several Diamond Boron Missiles whose source is still being tracked, as well as the products for a fission bomb that, thankfully, was not assembled or armed.”
The actual site does show some evidence of the official story having a truthful core, as it is apparent that a large warhead was detonated in the north of New Coronet and caused the formation of a deep crater and considerable destruction.
Throughout the rest of the ruins of the town though, the evidence is not so much in agreement with the official story. There are multiple glass impressions of silica and feldspar throughout the town which from orbit and from more intensive scans performed on the ground are consistent with the level of heat and release of energy caused by blasts from a Taim & Bak Turbolaser, found mounted on most modern warships. Wek’s conclusions have been endorsed provisionally by the University of the Core Worlds, who when independently queried stated “The silicate remains and blast patterns appear to be consistent with a turbolaser bombardment from above. Explosives detonated on the ground would have made some crater as is seen elsewhere on the site”.
In contrast with Senator Veritas’ account, there was no evidence of Diamond Boron Missiles being present, when questioned on the matter of if they had Diamond Boron weaponary one local replied “Qu'est-ce qu'un bore? Les fusées que nous avions ont été faites sur Alurion.”, this is translated as “What is a boron? The rockets we had were made on Alurion.”
When queried on if he believed there was any turbolaser fire deployed against Alurion Senator Veritas (Deralia) replied “No”
In the words of Darren Wek “The locals appeared to be loathed to speak to us any further as vast numbers of Imperial troopers, equipped in antiquated Advanced Recon Commando armour, painted black with red stripes presided over the perhaps two hundred benighted people. Those who remain are mostly those who returned from fleeing to the countryside when the war began. A few citizens who lived on the city outskirts or had deep basements appear to have survived, although all are in an appalling condition, severely burned on much of their body I viewed these citizens before they were swiftly conducted to what I was assured was a safe medical facility.”
“The humanitarian crisis, however, appears to be under control, with several thousand Imperial troops on the ground securing the situation, and tens of thousands more in the ships above. All in all it appears that there are more Imperial personnel on hand than there are citizens on Alurion.
Also aiding in this crisis is the Alsakan Peace Corps vessel “Alsakan Star”, carrying medical and agricultural supplies to the world which so self destructively attempted to pull itself from the Imperial fold with what appears to be no good reason.”
When asked for comment, Ars Dangor spoke for the Imperial Government "The official investigation is still underway. Until it's finished, it would be premature to speculate about the cause of this tragedy beyond the early information we know to be true, that the rebels were in possession of high grade explosives that almost certainly detonated during the course of Imperial operations. I'm sure even the rebels do not deny this. Those who survived, that is."
As Wek was preparing to leave the surface, a local approached the journalist as he walked through the remnants of a small alley out of the sight of all. He was handed a small and primitive data disk (consistent with those a colony on the level of Alurion could produce), while damaged in places it appears to give an account of the conflict which is radically different to the official statement.
On the Alurion “Planetnet” (a primitive system of global system of interconnected computer networks connected by metal cables allowing communication between the disparate settlements on Alurion), the video was widely circulated by “electronic mail”. Alurion, as an obscure colony with an estimated population around 20,000 lacks the bandwidth from its small transmitter satellite to allow the transmission of anything more than text in real time (or one holographic image frame per hour). However, with the communications array of the “Alsakan Star” partially at his disposal, Darren Wek established communication with local users via “Planetnet Relay Chat” in order to gain their reactions to the official statement.
One user, the owner of a local communications relay in Alurion’s small hamlet of “les Ages”, who can only be identified as “TurgidInfinity” commented “It is not true. We have seen the evidence. This “second wave” of imperials has treated us well but we have been treated well, but the first ship to arrive was bloodcrazed.” (comment automatically translated by the communication array used).
“TurgidInfinity” also provided us with a sequence of “photographs” (Images with no holographic element which are notoriously easily manipulated) which he claims were taken by a weather satellite in his ownership. These frames shown an Imperial Star Destroyer appearing to take damage from local missiles, then opening fire on the planet’s surface.
It should be added that the following account, provided by the local citizens is subjective, and while certain elements regarding the bombardment appear to be verified by events on the ground, much of this account is based on digital media from Alurion which may have been tampered with in some way. All media involved has been copied to the Imperial Authorities and to Independent data specialists in order to enhance the images and video for potential future publication and to test for any possible tampering.
9:15 An Unidentified Imperial Star Destroyer appeared over Alurion.
9:20 The Unidentified Imperial Star Destroyer is alleged to have fired a single blast, striking farmland outside of New Coronet.
9:22 New Coronet rebels returned fire on the Unidentified Imperial Star Destroyer with primitive implosion-type “nuclear fizzle” rockets propelled by a solid fuel.
9:23 The Unidentified Imperial Star Destroyer sustained hits along its underbelly from these missiles. Little damage appears to be sustained.
9:23:45 The Unidentified Imperial Star Destroyer returned fire, targeting specific buildings and detonating a rocket on the ground inside the town.
9:25 A dozen rockets appear to have been fired from a wide number of locations on the archipelago above which the Unidentified Imperial Star Destroyer orbited.
09:26 The Unidentified Imperial Star Destroyer appears to take damage out of proportion to the impact of these few missiles, causing hits on its hangar and reactor bulb. While it is possible shields malfunctioned, it should be added that a few homespun bombs would not under usual circumstances penetrate the shields of an Imperial Star Destroyer.
09:27 The Unidentified Imperial Star Destroyer began a widespread bombardment of New Coronet and also fired upon the local rocket launch locations.
(Sources end at this point)
When asked for comment, the Imperial battlegroup above Alurion declined to comment on the account given (understandably as no press officer was present). The Alsakan Free press has full confidence in the thorough nature of the Imperial enquiry and has offered all resources and transcripts it has collected from its correspondents in the area to the Imperial Authorities.
With tensions running high in the Imperial Senate as Senators Zarcaine (Cronese Mandate) and Fowlkes (Telos IV) have directly questioned the conduct of Imperial forces towards civilians. Senator Zarcaine is awaiting the result of of a censure vote for his language described by Senator Oriel (Vjun) as “inflammatory and untrue”. Senator Oriel has also levelled heavy criticism on Senator Fitzgerald and Thanatos for disagreeing with his plan to prevent anti-Military discussions (which are not officially sanctioned by the Imperial Government) on the Senate floor. Senator Fitzgerald (Ralltiir) commented on the act “that the Senators who "hate the military," according to Senator Oriel, happen to be the ones who oppose his bill.”
Senator North (Imperial Center) commented that he believed “Crionism and Starism (is) perverting the Senate Hall” and agreed with Senator Oriel that “Senators Kuriyoshi and Fowlkes are flirting with rebellion.” with regard to their claim of a “breach of trust” between the Military and civilian Polis. Senator North also made statements to the effect that he believed the Alurion colonists were “inbred” and “retarded”. This accusation has been protested by anti-defamation groups across the Outer Rim who resent the popular stereotype of Rim Colonists as “inbred hicks”.
When queried on the matter noted “don” of the senate (a noted polymath with abilities ranging from Metallurgy to Legal Process) Senator Ordan (Anaxes) replied "I firmly believe this is nothing more than seditious piffle." Senator Ordan is then alleged to have struck the journalist repeatedly with his cane until he was unconscious as he perceived a slight in the way the journalist in question addressed him.
When questioned on their Senator’s actions, the Anaxes Embassy stated “The act was performed on Anaxes Embassy property. The action of Senator Ordan is in accordance with the laws of Anaxes which allow a gentleman to strike a commoner with “reasonable force” if the gentleman perceives an impertinent attitude.”
The Alsakan Free Press will continue to keep you updated as the situation progresses.
Verence Terrawin
Senator of Alsakan
First Lord of the Foreign Office, Alsakan
Message edited by Verence_Terrawin - Monday, 23 May 2011, 10:14 PM |
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