Dicallus, Tariun Concordat - At 0600 Dicallus Standard time. A listening post in the dicallus system picked up a warp signature at pirate point coordinates. Soon afterwards 3 unidentified Scout class jumpships were picked up. Soon after the jump, the picked up to full impulse heading on a planetary vector. Dicallus Command, scrambled to identify and hail the jumpships. Hails were ignored, and the jumpship signatures did not register in Concordat Databanks.
Everything pointed to pirates. and indeed Dicallus commanders were correct. A day later at 1500 DST, The jumpships locked into orbit around Dicallus 3 and detached 5 leapord class dropships in the direction of the Dicallus planetary industrial compound.
TC forces were helpless to stop the incoming dropships. No orbital defenses are arrayed around dicallus, and only 2 lances of the Dicallus planetary garrison were able scramble to the industrial site. The pirates landed 100 kilometers outside of Dicallus's main industrial production facility, and proceeded to it. In which time, a fierce battle between the pirate invaders and Taurian Concordat Security Forces Ensued. However, by sheer numbers, Dicallus forces were overrun. And at 22:00 DST Dicallus Command lost all contact with the kerian desert industrial compound. At the same exact moments of the raging battle in the desert compound, TC planetary garrison attempted to deploy reinforcements at the compound, but by the time they arrived, very little was left. The mining and mech production locations were burning, and several mechs, vehicles, aramarments, and crucial project components were missing. The entire Eastern Desert Industrial compound had been destroyed. (DURING THE BATTLE,, COMSTAR PERIPHERY AND T.C. NEWS CREWS WERE ON THE SCENE, CAPTUING THE BATTLE LIVE SHOTS OF THE ACTION)
The total number of casaulties now lists 4485 1254 dead, 3231 injured. This senseless carnage has cost the Taurian Concordat thousands of lives, billions of C - Bills, and an irreplaceble loss of an important research and production project. FUSCHIDA'S FUSILIERS are supsected to be behind the raid. Unfortunately, this is only 1 event in an increasing series of Pirate assaults across periphery territory. The Periphery states are being hard pressed to defend their assets against pirate raiders. Incredible losses, such as the dicallus raid, are being reported all across the southern periphery states. And even into the outer Federated Commonwealth and Free Worlds League Territories. And with tensions rising once again between the powers the inner sphere, this problem promises to get worse than anyone had expected.
The solution? Well there are many, but it seems that there is a general consensus among the experts. Mercenaries. Many periphery political and military analysts, indeed agree, when a military is hard pressed to keep all of it's assests defended, mercenaries offer a cost effective solution. "With a territory this expansive, it is impossible to deploy effective garrisons to everything we own. We may indeed have to purchase a few" Said. said Colonel Griffon of the TC 1st mechanized forces.
During the succession wars, it has been documented many times that hiring and deploying mercenary garrisons to worlds of interest increases overall effectiveness of government militaries. Comstar sources on outreach report that over 40 units containing a company or more are without contractual work. "There are always a pack of soldiers here who need work" Said a Wolf Dragoon Liuetennant.
And indeed the number of contractual signings between mercenaries and Periphery Defense forces have been on the rise. With pirate activity on the rise, mercenaries are finding jobs.
Not everyone agrees with this solution, some periphery units such as the Outworlds Alliance favor complete counter offensives. "We will not cower petty and disorganized equipment raids, if those scum think they can take whatever they please, they are wrong. We will find them, and hostilly integrate them into the Outworlds alliance" Says Supervisor Kerball of OA.
Whatever the solution may end up being, the pirate problem can no longer be ignored. Losses have become too great. But regardless of what the final decisions are, most of human space agrees, everyone would be better off without Pirates
Reporting for comstar periphery,
Jahard Belholden |
