356-1122

Saurus / Vilis / Spinward Marches

Piracy Rampant in Vilis

After a calm break of two years with only small isolated incidents, piracy has reared up again in a major attack in the system of Saurus (1320 Spinward Marches; D888588-7). Not seen since her base on Calit (1515 Spinward Marches; C334867-7) was raided six months ago, the notorious Robin Sherwood turned up with a new pirate ship and made an audacious comeback today with not one but two raids in the same day.

First, early in the morning, the Far Trader Teacup Inferno was attacked immediately after emerging from jump from Vilis (1119 Spinward Marches; A593943-A). The trader, heavily outgunned and with no chance of running, surrendered to Ms. Sherwood on the understanding no passengers or crew would be harmed. The pirate was good to her word, and took only a single 20t shipment of cargo sent from Regina BioTech LIC bound for the Bureau of Agriculture on Saurus. Teacup Inferno was then allowed to proceed without further conditions or interference.

Normally pirate ships immediately jump out of system after an attack. On this occasion, New Berlin -- larger, more heavily armed, and faster than the Berlin damaged so heavily at Calit -- remained in system and daringly proceeded towards the mainworld.

In the late afternoon, the subsidized Merchant Dogshead was waylaid on reaching orbit from the downport. This time cargo was not the target, but a passenger: Dr. Jiin Farloo, a researcher with the Bureau of Agriculture. Dr. Farloo was taken from the ship without violence, and Dogshead was released. This time New Berlin accelerated rapidly away from the mainworld and jumped early out of the system. Dogshead returned to Saurus Downport to report the incident.

An alert has been sent out to Imperial Police to watch for the kidnap victim. Anyone knowing anything about the whereabouts of Dr. Farloo and reporting this to Imperial Police may expect a substantial reward from the Saurus government, who say there was no reason for her to have been a target.