Canberra News Agency

[Capt. Henry Morgan]

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20 DEC 825

1 Credit

Shining a Light in the Darkness

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Tombstone Estate Destroyed in Nuclear Explosion

By Jamie Olsen

GRAN CANARIA - At approximately 1300 Sirius Standard Time on December 16th, the Zoner Consensus announced via sector-wide broadwave that Tombstone Estate, the home of prominent Zoner physician Dr. John Henry Holliday, had been destroyed by parties unknown in a nuclear explosion. According to the Bretonian Armed Forces, 150,000 sq. km. of Gran Canaria's surface has been affected, a number that would've been far worse had a shield at the estate not partially contained the explosion. Information from the Confederation of Freeports puts the affected area at a much lower 12,000 sq. km. Neither Professor William Mortimer of Cambridge University, who was reportedly on site to meet with Dr. Holliday, nor Dr. Holliday himself have been heard from since the event. Their status at the time of this writing is unclear.

The official story from Dr. Alessa Samson of the Zoner Consensus, who has claimed to be speaking on Dr. Holliday's behalf, was that Dr. Samson, Dr. Holliday, and his daughter Emiko were away from the Estate on Dr. Holliday's private ocean yacht when the explosion occurred. She reports that Professor Mortimer's shuttle left the estate two minutes before the explosion, despite reports that the Professor never returned from his meeting. She also reports the presence of a Corsair freighter piloted by Julio James Cortez at the estate at the time of the event. Dr. Samson has stated that Professor Mortimer or Mr. Cortez are the prime suspects at this time.

Outside investigations, however, have cast doubt on the official story. According to Megan Joy of OSI, the evidence provided by Dr. Samson is "not pristine". She has stated that the incident is more in line with other incidents of "scorched earth" being carried out by evacuating Zoners across the planet, destroying facilities and infrastructure ahead of an expected Bretonian invasion. If true, this would be the largest such incident to date.

Admiral Kaze Dagon of the Bretonian Armed Forces, commanding officer of the HMS Stirling, has confirmed the material facts of the incident, but has had little more official information to share as the BAF's investigation is still ongoing. She did confirm that the city of Port Jackson, Bretonia's colony on Gran Canaria, was placed on lockdown after the incident and that she has dispatched additional military personnel to assist with security and relief efforts. Admiral Dagon did share some speculation, stating that it was unlikely that the Corsairs were involved. She cited a lack of concrete evidence of the Corsair's presence and Dr. Holliday's past support for the Corsairs.

A source within the Octavarium Intelligence Commission has reported that the OIC's analysis was that an assassination attempt is not a likely explanation for the event. As evidence, the OIC has cited the presence of a shield generator hardened to resist a nuclear initiation and designed to contain the explosion to the Estate grounds, which is something a normal orbital defense shield is not capable of. The OIC has concluded that such a thorough destruction of the estate was done to dispose of evidence of some other activity.

An answer to what actually happened that day at Tombstone Estate may never come, but what is certain is that we do not have the entire story. A lot of unanswered questions remain, and an already tense situation is that much closer to unraveling entirely. We will continue following this story as new developments come to light.

UPDATE: The article has been updated to include information from the Confederation of Freeports on the total area affected by nuclear fallout.