[Illium] Illegal Weapons Recovered by Asari Republics

Illegal Weapons Recovered by Asari Republics

ATHENA - A shipment containing some 3,500 tonnes of illegal weaponry bound for Illium was intercepted when the transport’s pilot allegedly performed an incorrect sequence of relay jumps and found himself in the wrong part of Republic space.

After a brief scuffle with the crew, customs agents discovered that the shipment was highly illegal, even by Illium’s standards; the Port Authority cited examples of contraband including bioweaponry, firearms, and WMDs. These materials were to be shipped in crates marked for medical and research facilities on the planet, though it is suspected they were intended for factions of the Eclipse or Blue Suns. The ship’s sensor logs indicate that the vessel passed through parts of Confederacy Space, though the specific origin and destination were wiped from the navigation unit before Customs agents could obtain them.

Port Authority officials state that all five members of the batarian crew are under arrest and are currently negotiating with Khar’shan for custody of the prisoners. The shipments have been handed over to disposal teams.

Yep, those WMDs are completely safe from the black market. They'll never fall in to the wrong hands.

"Allegedly." When the press uses that word, doubt.

Seems to clean to me. Maybe this is just my Omega-bred raging paranoia, but part of me wonders if this "accident" wasn't so accidental to begin with. Anybody know who'd profit from a screw-up like this? Somebody piss off the wrong crime boss? Maybe someone's making a play for the Illium market and wants the competition scrambling for change? Anybody know the Illium underworld?

It is a bit odd that the same organization or group that can apparently acquire a metric fuckton of controlled (and very valuable) weaponry also cannot be assed to hire competent pilots.

Uh-oh.

Someone's in trouble.

And you are a blithering idiot with all the flair of a bowl of oatmeal coupled with the common sense of an inebriated vorcha.



Ah, my apologies, I thought we were having a "state the blindingly obvious" contest.

Carry on.

That was a hell of blunder by that pilot.
3.500 tonnes is a shitload of guns though. It is in goods hands now at least.

Man, those idiots lost someone a lot of money.

(How was that?)

I'd rank it between "Of course PMC's would want these things" and "WMD's are baaaaad".

One might think the CEO of Titan would be a bit friendlier, given all that money he's made. What do you do with all that money, Mister Aleksanders? Where does it go? Who does it go to? What do they, in turn, do with it?

I wonder how many other people ask the same sort of questions?

The implication that I am under any obligation to be pleasant to a (possible) batarian slaver on the extranet who has all the subtlety of a thresher maw is, to be frank, insulting.

Additionally, as clever as you think you are, you're merely asking questions that the Citadel Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies have beat you to by several months. Shocking isn't it? That there would actually be individuals to enforce laws?

I'm stunned myself.

;;)

I still don't understand why slavery is treated as so taboo by most of my species, it exists in one form or another in every society even if it's not explicitly called such.

Those involved are merely lucky the weapons did not go off.

I will graciously assume that the WMDs in question were not live, but it would not surprise me if they were.

Why are murders vilified in most societies when they still happen? Why is property held high, when people still rob it through subterfuge or violence or threat of it?

Because they are against what we've agreed together that are inalienable. The freedom to pursue happiness, the freedom from slavery, the right to own property and right to live from tyranny of madmen and murderers.

That's why slavery is hated and will be until the day the shackles are cast apart and last slave liberated.

The guise of freedom and rights only exist because there are people who do the uncomfortable things that keep the civilized galaxy believing that their society comes without grave cost. Wage slavery is still alive and well in Citadel Space and a good chunk of restoration efforts comes from cheap labor. During times of crisis nearly everyone is eager to give up their rights for safety, because survival is paramount; there is little different between a slave and a worker who is paid a pathetic sum they cannot even hope to live off of. Often times the slaves have food and shelter provided for them, which is not to say the action is benevolent, they are a resource that must be maintained in the mind of a slaver. This notion that everyone is equal is nice, I wish it were true, but it isn’t and sadly I don’t think it’ll ever be. So if the option is between believing in the lie of freedom and democracy or cutting the crap, I’d much rather cut the crap than live in some delusional fantasy where people live in institutionalized ignorance of how dark the galaxy really is.

Why the fuck would someone fly a shipment like this through C-Space? If they'd been to goro country, taking it through the terminus wouldn't have been that much longer, and customs are a hell of a lot easier to get through over there.

Firearms? How would you even... What sort of rifle could possibly be heinous enough that we'd outlaw it? There are legal ammunition types - nobody sells them, obviously, but they're legal - that are literally so deadly you couldn't use one because their lethal radius is greater than any compatible weapon's maximum range.

...if anyone does know what these firearms do that's so terrible, don't share, my curiosity has limits.

Betcha it's Blue Suns. With the exclusive concessions Eclipse have after their deal during the war, they don't have to smuggle weapons, they can just get the Board to clear it. Come to think of it, someone was saying the other week that Eclipse was actually pushing for legislation to increase the limitations on types of weapons available to PMC, because that'd hamper their competitors while they get to operate in their own little special category that's not covered by the definition of 'private corporation', even though they functionally are.

Could explain the egregious navigation error, too - Eclipse finds out the Suns are trying to even the playing field behind their backs, slips a few credits to a freighter crew with the promise of subverting any extradition proceedings and setting them up with a cushy cargo deal afterwards. Wouldn't be the first time.

Yeah but why the flying fuck would the Suns try to smuggle shit on a ship bound for Illium? Planet's like, yellowbelly central.

Think of us whatever the fuck you'd like, but at least give us the credit of not being spiritsdamned idiots.

Yes, a ship with a decoy weapons cache and numerous WMDs heading for "Yellowbelly Central". I wonder how the Blue Suns could have possibly been involved.