Interview: Skaven, leader of the KRL
by Tess Olsen, exclusive for the GGG
It must be said that Skaven, leader of the KRL, has some very good moments. Sitting on his command chair and smoking his presidential pipe, he seems to have arranged his surroundings to exude an air of statesmanship where even common objects like a chair or a pipe carry adjectives adequate to his position. Perhaps inspired by all this ambiance, he is sometimes capable of making statements good enough to end up in history books or commemorative plaques.
Skaven: "Almost every revolution against tyranny starts with people who want freedom and cannot match the military might of their oppressors. Many a small spark leads to a fire that gains the oppressed freedom."
Unfortunately, he isn't like that all the time, not even most of the time. There were moments during our interview when I asked myself whether I was talking with a very naive person or a totally delusional individual. For example, when we asked him about the pirate ships docked at and in orbit of a KRL outpost in the Adventure System.
Skaven: "The pirate ships are not under my control. I suppose the pirates found my outpost as easily as the IMPs did. I did not have the pirates or IMPs or anyone else on my enemy list simply because I never thought anyone could find the outpost so easily. Obviously, it is easy to find such a 'secret' base."
And he said all that without even a smirk. No reference to the fact that those pirate ships were the very same ones that he claimed to have sold to an undisclosed third party. No reference to the fact that Skaven himself had previously denied in public the presence of those pirate ships in and around his outpost, saying it was all "quite a work of fiction". I looked into his eyes and honestly could not tell whether he really believed he could fool us all or he believed the lies himself. One way or the other, his story is that he is being framed.
Skaven: "The IMP Block have a long history of splinter factions that could directly or indirectly want to frame the Krell. It would be a small matter for such experts as the IMP Block in matters of black ops and pirates to set up an honest business man like myself."
Despite all the confidence and all the bravado, there is a sense of doom around Skaven. He feels that no matter what he does the fate of the Krell will be the same, and it seems he has accepted his role as the one who will fight until the end no matter what the consequences are. Diplomatic efforts to solve the situation have apparently been discarded a while ago.
Skaven: "The previous Krell warlords have tried to placate the IMP Block's unwelcome exploiters and all it got them was more outposts from the GTT sucking what few resources Inversion, our home world, has left. There is nothing left for the Krell. We have nothing to lose based on the abuses of the GTT."
His rant against the IMP and the GTT went on and on, and we all know from his public speeches how Skaven feels about humans in general and the Imperial Block in particular. Which is unfortunate, because he is in a position to make history and carve a new future for the Krell but prefers to resort to piracy and then let his own people suffer the consequences. In the middle of his cascade of accusations, however, once in a while that spark of a true leader shines through. Skaven can sometimes make you contemplate the situation from a different perspective.
Skaven: "Imagine if Inversion was Earth, what would you do?"
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A Note from the Editor
When we approached Mr. Skaven for an interview, he made two demands: that we paid him a fee and that we printed his words in full. We refused to comply in both cases and I want to explain why. This will hopefully give an insight on some principles behind the Great Galactic Gazette.
We don't pay for information. We don't compensate our sources with cash or goodies. We don't practice checkbook journalism. The information we use is judged on its intrinsic value, not on a price tag that may be attached to it. Now, to be fair with Mr. Skaven, he did ask for a very low sum and he did ask the money to go to the victims of the war in the Storm System. So, although we won't pay Mr. Skaven for his interview, we are setting up an outpost in an unclaimed system just to receive Krell refugees wishing to relocate. They will receive food, shelter and medical attention until they can be transferred to a new home elsewhere.
We don't republish press releases. We investigate, we gather information, we edit it, we add context and opinion, then we publish the result. We call that journalism. If what you want is an outlet for your speeches or press releases, I'm sure there are many options around. Mr. Skaven has threatened to publish his full unedited interview himself if we don't, and he is welcome to do that if he wants. We just doubt it will be such a good read as what you can find here in the Great Galactic Gazette.
Cornelius Merryheart
Editor of the Great Galactic Gazette
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