HOLONET NEWS Volume 351. #50. 13:4:04

HOLONET NEWS Volume 351. #50. 13:4:04
Senator Moe Killed in Blast
SENATE ROTUNDA, CORUSCANT – For the fifth time this sidereal, tragic events forced a session of the Galactic Congress to be suspended today when word reached Coruscant that Senator Aks Moe (Malastare) was killed in a suspected Separatist attack during a state visit to Aargau.
“This is truly horrific,” said acting representative Ask Aak at the close of session today. “That this tragedy should occur so deep within our borders points to the irrevocable damage already sustained by the Republic. It is not only a tragic loss to Malastare and Kinyen, but also a dire warning to the Supreme Chancellor.”
Aargau, a key world of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, rests inside the Core World boundaries. Moe was to meet with Banking Clan representatives to discuss possible funding options for a proposed Republic military initiative.
Senator Moe was boarding his staff speeder for a visit to the Commodities Exchange Cathedral in New Escrow. At approximately 0824 standard time, the speeder merged onto the automated expressway and had its propulsion systems slaved into the city’s traffic network. At this time, its power plant overloaded and the speeder exploded.
Moe’s traveling companion and two Dug servants were also killed in the blast. Eighteen commuters were injured. IBC representatives have not yet announced the cost of the damages, nor the accumulated interest.
No party has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the bombing. Popular opinion points to the secessionist movement, as Moe was a member of the Loyalist Committee. The vocal Senator did also make a number of a political and personal enemies throughout his career. Nine years ago, Moe was implicated in a conspiracy to disrupt the Lannik peace negotiations hosted by Malastere.
Some in the Malastarian government have been quick to criticize the lack of Jedi presence at Aargau. “Where are our vaunted guardians of peace and justice?” asked Representative Ainlee Teem. “Where was their all-powerful
.
94
Force this time?”
Though no official word has come from the Jedi Temple, it has been previously reported that Aargau’s assigned Jedi watchman, Belsed-Qan Idan, was re-assigned to the Atrivis sector to quell a Separatist-funded pirate uprising.
Garbage Launcher Misfire Kills 48; Closes Desrini
DESRINI DISTRICT, CORUSCANT – The Desrini district of northern Coruscant is still closed following a catastrophic garbage launcher misfire that has killed at least 48 and has littered the entire district with dangerous industrial waste.
At 0801 this morning, Waste Canister Delivery Port 84-D-21 launched its regularly scheduled payload of industrial refuse sealed in a shielded container. The projectile came into contact with a sizable obstruction, causing it to shred apart within the launcher barrel. The entire cannon assembly collapsed, taking out the four surrounding city blocks.
Emergency rescue crews arrived on the scene in less than half an hour, and have been working since then to clear the rubble. At least 48 bodies have been recovered, and over 200 injuries have been reported.
The rescue crews have identified the barrel obstruction as a shantytown of refugees living within the launch chamber. “From the looks of it, there were at least four families of squatters living between the fourth and fifth accelerator gates. They had tapped into the cannon’s energy grid which disabled its obstruction sensors,” said Captain Nigella Mure of Desrini Rescue Ops.
The destroyed canister contained 115 metric tons of concentrated industrial waste, including hyperbaride run-off, tricorrinium hexifluorine and destabilized hrucium. The canister’s explosion has spread this waste over the disaster site, and emergency workers are dressed in full toxgear to carry out rescue efforts.
The Coruscant WeatherNet has canceled prevailing winds in the area, but natural air currents caused by undercity convection is spreading a dangerous cloud of industrial toxins. All non-pressurized structures in the surrounding 10 kilometer radius have been evacuated.
Kashyyyk / Trandoshan Talks Break Down
HSSKHOR, TRANDOSHA – The Kashyyyk / Trandoshan peace negotiations disintegrated today when word reached Wookiee delegates that a Trandoshan initiative for Senate representation was being aided by the Trade Federation.
Crovessk, CEO of Trandosha’s Revessa Global Shipping, was able to schedule an
95
appeal to the Senate next month through contacts with Trade Federation Representative Lott Dod. The Trandoshans have been petitioning for Senate representation for years.
Upon hearing of this development, Senator Yarua not only withdrew his delegation, but violently destroyed the interpreter droid translating the talks. “These meetings are meaningless if such actions can go on outside this conference,” was all the terse Yarua shared with reporters on his way back to the Hsskhor spaceport.
Despite his efforts, Jedi Master Oppo Rancisis was unable to reconvene the delegates. The Wookiees departed aboard their starship, returning to neighboring Kashyyyk. The Wookiees, who represent the system in the Senate, have been restricting trade to Trandosha for the past five weeks following a Trandoshan attack on a Wookiee passenger shuttle.
Camaasi and Alderaanian peace officers led by Rancisis have been trying to work out a solution between the feuding neighbors for two weeks. Given the growing Separatist-fueled crises along the Outer Rim, unsubstantiated reports indicate that Rancisis may be recalled by the Jedi Council and reassigned, leaving the talks to the remaining peace officers.
Many political analysts believe this already tense situation will be exacerbated by the Outer Rim slave ring scandal. “Given the Wookiee temperament, this may be the final insult and all the reason they need to withdraw from a disrespectful Republic altogether. Wookiees are renowned for their loyalty, but that loyalty will only extend so far,” said Senator Darsana (Glee Anselm).
Isard Spearheads Republic Intelligence Reform
SBI CENTRAL, CORUSCANT – Armand Isard, Director of the Senate Bureau of Intelligence, has been empowered by the Supreme Chancellor’s Loyalist Committee to reform the Republic’s largest intelligence organization in light of increased security concerns.
“For too long the unscrupulous have been taking advantage of chinks in the bureau’s armor. I say, ‘no more.’ The SBI will be a vital weapon in the fight against those who would fragment our Republic, and not a tool of convenience for the wealthy and corrupt,” said Isard.
To that end, Isard has formed a Crisis Branch, a temporary division of
96
Intelligence historically created when the need arises. Running this new branch is a committee of hand-picked Intelligence subdirectors from planetary bureaus throughout the Core Worlds. This is the first time in over 60 years that a Crisis Branch has been formed.
The first act of the Crisis Branch has been the firing of 32 remote intelligence subdirectors throughout the Mid Rim, an area Isard described as “rife with corruption.”
“There comes a time when a structure is so riddled by greddleback bugs that you have to tear it down and build anew. If that what it takes to root out the corrupt, that’s what I will do,” said the determined Isard.
Some Senators have expressed concerns that Palpatine’s measures have gone too far. “This is further proof that the Loyalist Committee is little more than a front to increase the Supreme Chancellor’s powers,” an agitated Senator Onaconda Farr said from the Rodian Consulate.
Isard asserts that such measures will help eliminate systemic flaws in Intelligence’s methods, preventing such notorious mishaps as the failure to predict the Naboo blockade of a decade ago, or the Yinchorri incident previous that.
The Crisis Branch will communicate directly with the Jedi Council and the Loyalist Committee. Security analysts predict that after SBI’s reform, three other agencies will undergo similar inspection: the Republican Security Organization, the Interstellar Consortium on Technology, and the Special Acquisitions Branch of the Library of the Republic.
Lahara Sector Secedes
SENATE ROTUNDA, CORUSCANT – Continuing a tide of Outer Rim secessions, the Lahara sector, represented by Senator Tyreca Bremack, formally announced its separation from the Republic during Senate session today. “I have no doubt that many of my colleagues here have no idea where the Lahara sector is. They couldn’t even find it on a map if their careers depended on it, but we’ve been burdened with high taxes and little to show for it for too long,” said Bremack, as she tendered her Articles of Secession. “Perhaps now you’ll notice us, if only for our absence.” The Lahara sector consists of 245 settled worlds, most of them agricultural producers.
97
Shots Fired in Andoan Space
MID RIM NODE – A Republic courier ship reported being fired upon when traveling in Andoan space, an alarming development that some Senators are calling a “prelude to war.”
Captain Kendra Tissido of the ship Quickwit met with reporters after being debriefed by Republic security officials. As she explained to reporters, she and her crew of five reverted the Quickwit from hyperspace outside the Ando system to recalibrate navcomputer settings.
“I thought I was far enough out from Ando that it wouldn’t be a problem,” said Tissido. “They don’t have a space force, so I wasn’t too concerned. Then this big blip shows up on my scope, and I realized I wasn’t alone.”
Tissido described the ship as under 250 meters in length, probably in the frigate-class. “I didn’t stick around to look too closely,” she said. “It let out about five droid starfighters and I knew I had to get out of there.” Tissido was able to outmaneuver the fighters by jumping into hyperspace, though her courier ship did sustain some light damage.
Tissido’s testimony sent a current of alarm through the Senate session today, since Ando has been without an armed planetary security force since the Republic demilitarization of the planet. Tissido’s citing of “droid starfighters” suggest that modern weaponry has found its way into Aqualish hands.
“This is nothing short of an open act of warfare. I would ask the Senator representing the Trade Federation if he would agree with my perception that somebody somewhere is making a profit here by arming our Aqualish neighbors,” said Senator Rasit Brun (Rintonne).
“What the Senator from Lambda sector is insinuating is outrageous!” countered Trade Federation Senator Lott Dod, via comlink from his recuperative ward at the Fobrini hospital. “You are constructing slander from the anecdotes of a frightened delivery girl.” The Senate then broke into a disarray of arguments before order was restored by Speaker of the Senate, Mas Amedda.
Republic security officials are currently examining Tissido’s sensor logs to determine the extent of Andoan’s military build up and identify the model of
98
droid starfighter involved in the pursuit.
“I had hoped we had seen the last of open, unprovoked hostility at Antar 4,” said Senator Eeshrin Ot’Hyne (Caamas) “This event has, sadly, proven me wrong.”
Senators Implicated in Slave Ring
YRACTOS, GYNDINE – Recently disclosed documents and testimony from a captured Thalassian slaver on Gyndine have implicated four Outer Rim Senators as profiting from slaving ventures in their sectors. Senator Tikkes (Mon Calamari), Senator Bufus Ritsomas (Till Chorios), Senator Danry Ledwellow (Er’kit) and Senator Wuja Wojaine (Pydyr) were all implicated.
“These four Senators were named by a known Thalassian slaver during plea bargain sessions prior to trial. Our investigations were able to corroborate these claims, uncovering a lucrative slaving ring that saw all four Senators receive kickback money in return for letting these activities go on in their sectors,” said Jurisconsult Temlet Dodann.
The four Senators were operating in isolation, Dodann explained, apparently unaware of each other’s involvement with the Thalassians.
The Outer Rim has a long history of slavery despite Republic efforts to outlaw the practice. Slavery has generally been attributed to organized criminal ventures or unscrupulous corporate bodies requiring affordable labor.
The diffuse Republic presence in the Outer Rim has fostered the growth of such organizations as the Zygerrians, the Thalassians and the Karazaks, slaving groups named for the star systems that harbor them. Their scope encompasses numerous sectors and their profits exceed billions of credits.
The Republic Judiciary and the Jedi Knights have tangled with these slavers in the rare instances that these groups attempt to operate closer to the Core. The Thalassian who implicated the Senators was arrested last month when she attempted to sell a dozen Twi’lek slaves on Gyndine.
“Few cultures have suffered as much from slavery as the Twi’leks, and to know that that kind of blood money has reached as far as the Senate sickens me. I say throw the leeches out of office, and then let them have a taste of the shackles themselves!” said an angry Orn Free Taa (Ryloth).
99
The four Senators have had their positions suspended pending trial. They will be detained in their respective embassies on Coruscant until arraignment hearings which are scheduled to begin next week.
Jedi Vs. The Force of a Mother’s Love
PHELAR, ERIADU – Four times during last night’s transmission of Essence, Jonava Billane broke down into tears, pleading with the Jedi Council for the release of her 14-month old toddler, Ludi.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her,” she said on the popular Eriadu-based talk show. “When I was lying in that hospital bed, unable to move, the only thing that kept me going, the thing that made me better, was knowing she was out there, somewhere, asking for her mother.”
Seven months ago, when groundquakes devastated Domitree, the capital of Ord Thoden, Jonava and Ludi were separated. While Jonava convalesced in an outskirt town, the baby girl was found by Jedi rescue workers and discovered to have Force potential. Assuming her birth mother to be dead, the Jedi took the child to their temple on Coruscant.
When Jonava recovered and learned of her daughter’s kidnapping, she used her meager funds to travel to Coruscant and formally petition the Jedi Council to return her child. The Council refused, citing Ludi’s beginning of Jedi training as far too late to return the girl, who was now named Aris-Del Wari.
“They said it was dangerous,” she said, choking back tears. “I’ll never understand, in a million years, how my daughter can be a danger. They’re guardians of peace and justice. Well, how is letting me see her again a threat to peace and justice? Who is the monster? Is it me? Is it her? I don’t think so.”
Since her petition’s refusal eight weeks ago, the Baby Ludi case has drawn a lot of public and media attention. The Essence holoprogram recapped notable events, such as the proliferation of trillions of Baby Ludi images on the Coruscant student data network, the Mothers United March on Alsakan and the star-packed fund-raising mediathon held in the Minos Cluster.
“I want to thank everyone who’s supported me,” said Billane. “Your messages and holos and credit advances have meant so much. It’s nice to know that we still do live in a galaxy of compassion.”
100
Perhaps the highest profile development is the authorization of a feature-length holo of the drama, to be delivered by Kailio Entertainments for the fall season. The currently untitled Baby Ludi feature is estimated to be a deal worth over 100 million credits, though Billane refused to elaborate.
“I’ve been told not to discuss that here,” she said “but a significant portion of that money has gone to charitable ventures and agencies willing to help me in my fight.”
At that point, Essence turned the cameras on Thrynka Padaunete, Billane’s appearance manager and leader of the populist People’s Inquest movement, a Jedi-accountability watch-group.
“Let’s look at it this way. Say I were to tell you about a group of mystics on some planet who routinely snatch children away from their mothers, their fathers, tearing apart families. They take these children into their care, strip them of identity, maybe even give them new names. They then cut their hair to all look the same and make them wear the same clothes, and live by an impossibly strict code that only serves to further their order. Sounds like a cult, doesn’t it? Well, it’s a cult that we as taxpayers subsidize. A cult that we empower to determine who’s right and who’s wrong in this galaxy. And according to them, a mother’s love is wrong,” said Padaunete.
The Jonava Billane program is believed to have been watched by over 25 billion viewers. It will be retransmitted on the 18th and is available for permanent storage from Eriadu’s HoloNet Node for 24.99, with some of the proceeds benefiting the People’s Inquest.