M Fnord Wrote:Quote:I can't imagine their Sammies being quite that ham-handed. It sounds to me like some of the protesters were hamming it up. "Help! Help! I'm being repressed!"
Well, let's look at the facts in evidence:
1) SSAM marines interdict a civilian spacecraft.
2) The marines board the spacecraft and overpower the pilot.
3) Then, the marines rig the autopilot and destroy the manual controls, leaving the passengers unable to retake control of their craft.
If I swapped out every instance of "marines" for, oh, "Boskonians," this would be a pretty obvious act of hijacking and piracy. I'm pretty sure that the Articles of Convention don't include "but it's okay if they don't like Benjamin Rhodes" clauses.
Daily Illuminator
STELLVIA CORPORATION FUNDS INVESTIGATION INTO "BOSKONIAN ROUGHRIDER" INCIDENT
Stellvia - Noah Scott announced that Stellvia Corporation is funding an investigation into Tuesday's incident where a civilian spacecraft was apparently hijacked by Roughriders personnel.
Mr. Scott said, in part, "We at Stellvia take the view that it is important to make restitution and accept punishment in cases where wrongdoing has taken place. Long-timers no doubt remember the Kaboomite Incident, and the cost both in goodwill and in financial wealth that was required from us to set things right after we made that mistake. I expect the same willingness to carry out corrective actions from the Roughriders, but it is vitally important that if they are punished for something, that they be punished for something that they actually did."
He continued by stating that StellviaCorp had requested the Erisians provide a judge who was competent in maritime and international law, and that the Stellvians would provide chambers on station Odyssey for a venue for the hearings, and would pay any transportation costs required to bring witnesses and experts to and from the hearings.
When asked about the ties between StellviaCorp and the Roughriders casting doubt as to the impartiality of the hearings, Mr. Scott stated that all sessions of the hearing would take place in open chambers so that no pressure could be exerted on the judge without being detected.
Serenity I was unavailable for comment, but Sailor Armed Militia leader Hayakawa stated that the Crystal Millennium would cooperate fully with this hearing, even if she had to drag the Senshi assigned to Atalantae to it herself.
At press time, the Roughriders had not yet commented on this development.
FROM: total-insecurity@stellvia.fen
TO: Cathy@jenga.fen
SUBJECT: The upcoming hearings
Since I'm the one who suggested you hack into the protester's ship's computer, I've been asked by my employer to contact you about the hearings that will be held about the recent incident.
If you are called to the inquiry, please keep track of the expenses you incur so that we can reimburse you for your lost time and business. If for some reason you require transportation (which I doubt; I've seen Cortana), we will provide a passenger shuttle for your use.
Stellvia Corporation hopes that you will cooperate with the inquiry. I hope you'll understand when I say that I hope I don't see you there. (wink)
Takami Sakuragi
FROM: big-cheese@stellvia.fen
TO: blackrider@roughriders.fen
SUBJECT: The hearings I just paid for
Ben, I trust you understand why I'm doing this. Be glad it's one of your friends who's paying for the hearings, and not somebody who'd tell the judge to look into every corner of your operations to find out what else you're doing that they don't like.
As a friend, I ask you, please, to cooperate with whoever the Erisians send to look into this matter. Getting up on your high horse will only hurt you in the long run - trust me, Kohran and I know.
Noah
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012