The Threat of Piracy
by Cornelius Merryheart, exclusive for the GGG
This week a distress call from a Mohache ship being attacked by pirates in the Sol System generated a quick response from the CNF, the GTT and the IMP. The GTT arrived first and destroyed the PIR Parietal Erg (30110), a Broadsword Class Heavy Cruise that had been reported stolen from the IMP a while ago. A rare victory in the fight against piracy.
While some are celebrating the demise of this pirate and others are making unsubstantiated allegations about who is actually behind the attack, piracy remains a big threat to all. Pirates are everywhere and attacking everyone. And the reason they thrive and prosper in this manner is that the people with the power to fight piracy do little more than staging the eventual hunt, something that may earn them a trophy and some patting on the back but doesn't really help to end piracy.
Too many people seem happy to deal with pirates and to forgive them when they are attacking someone else. One of the first things IMP Viceroy Githyanki did after being elected was to call off the war against the KRL leader Bone, who had recently been caught sponsoring pirates. And when the IND peddler Johnny Alpha was unmasked as a piracy fomenter, FET leader Zuvoro Norozov was quick to offer protection to his whole enterprise.
We urge all affiliations to exercise a tolerance zero policy towards piracy. The pirate you don't kill today is the pirate that will attack you tomorrow.
-o-
Duelling Dewiek
reprinted with permission from the SSS
Following their continued war of words, the Dewiek Elder Nation (DEN) has demanded reparations of two million stellars to be paid by the House Ravenstone (RVN) for what they call the murder of five Dewiek crew members who were killed when a DEN vessel was destroyed in what the RVN call restricted space, an area of space claimed by House Ravenstone for the Empire of Humanity, in which the DEN had no right to be.
Should this fine not be paid, the Dewiek have offered trial by combat:
"The Elder Council offers the House Ravenstone the right to a traditional Dewiek trial if the Charitable Judgement is refused or not accepted within the time given. The purity of this judiciary process should be understandable without further explanation but there are only two possible outcomes: Either the House Ravenstone loses all its claws and fangs so it may never harm another sentient again or falls on its honour and pleads for mercy whereby less charitable terms will be offered."
Long time readers may remember the last trial by combat undertaken by the Dewiek against a human, during which a Dewiek Elder was killed by the Baron LiQuan and his super mega turbo Meklan implants.
The House Ravenstone seems unwilling to accept either offer, while the DEN have, we believe, refused to pay the initial fine the RVN issued for trespassing, and as things stand currently, the two affiliations are at an impasse. Or as Bone Smash of the Krell put it: "Little guy blood is in the water, the sharks circle..."
-o-
Note from the Editor
by Cornelius Merryheart, exclusive for the GGG
Here at the Great Galactic Gazette we try to give voice to sentients who are part of the news. We constantly contact involved parties to hear their side of the story and we print their versions even when we don't agree with them. We are not, however, a channel for press releases. We will respect your statements and we won't change your words, but we will contextualize and editorialize our interviews to provide good and honest journalism. If all you want is to broadcast a press release and refuse to be questioned about it, you should probably look elsewhere for support.
When trying to get an interview, we often find sentients not interested in sharing anything. Some requests remain unanswered and others are returned with answers like "no comments" or "we're not at liberty to discuss this". The worst kind of uncooperative reply is the one that shows contempt for our work and tries to mock us. A couple of examples. When asked "why have the IMP declared themselves hostile to the CWS, an organization they help to create?", IMP Viceroy Githyanki answered: "I do not recognise any such affiliation". When asked specifically about the DEN ships that were fined by the RVN, Osho of the DEN answered: "What sshipss might that be?". Not surprisingly, the authors of this kind of poor attempts of misdirection are often the same ones who accuse us of not being independent or not giving them a fair treatment.
The GGG will continue to publish the stories we consider important and interesting. We will be able to do a better job with your cooperation. You can help us to make good journalism or you can sit in a corner and complain about it. The choice is yours.
-o-
