Canberra News Agency

[Capt. Henry Morgan]

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02 OCT 827

1 Credit

Shining a Light in the Darkness

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Missing Transport Found, All Crew Lost

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By Clark Jameson

CANBERRA - A spokesman from the Octavarium Mercantile Guild confirmed earlier today that the Guild transport Dreaded Skies, previously reported overdue, has been lost with all hands. Dreaded Skies had been carrying a load of Engine Components to Kwinana Starport when it disappeared. Fleet patrols, with the assistance of the local Zoners, found the ship adrift south of the main trade corridor in the Baffin system, on the edge of the Devon Ice Cloud.

According to the ship's logs, the Dreaded Skies encountered an Enclave patrol in Tau-31. They took damage but managed to escape to the Baffin system. The Captain's final log entry indicates that they took damage to the shield system, and the Captain didn't feel safe taking the ship into the barrier without immediate repairs. The Captain ordered the ship stopped a short distance from the main trade corridor, where the engineering crew began EVA field repairs. There were no further log entries after that.

A Fleet investigator told Canberra News that the ship was found depressurized. While the repair crew was disembarking for EVA operations, a meteoroid struck the open airlock, bypassing the open outer door and destroying the inner door. The result was the complete depressurization of the ship's crew compartment and the total loss of the ship's crew. Though the investigation is still ongoing, investigators expect to find no fault in the actions of the ship's captain or crew. A final report is expected to be released early next week.

Services for the ship's 29 crew will be held at St. Alban's Anglican Church on Level 15 of the Lower Residential Layer, the Madre de Dios Maltese Catholic Church on level 7 of the Market Layer, and the Temple of Eris Esoteric on Level 5 of the Upper Residential Layer. Donations for the families of the crew will be accepted at the Octavarium Mercantile Guild Hall on Level 4 of the Market Layer.

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