Sovereign Nation connection to Alliance shooting on Terra Nova

Adele Cattaneo - Exodus Sentinel

SCOTT - An Alliance naval engineer was arrested yesterday after opening fire on a peaceful demonstration in the capital city of Terra Nova. Serviceman Second Class Eileen Niota, 23, killed at least 4 people and wounded 15 others before Alliance marines arrived at the scene to subdue her. Niota was part of the 2nd Construction Battalion, charged with the reconstruction of Class-1 colonies in the Exodus Cluster.

Exact identities of the casualties are still tied up in Alliance bureaucracy, though witnesses claim a toddler and his mother among the deceased. Nine of the victims are in critical condition at Robert Scott Memorial. The attack comes less than three months after the Alliance has officially instituted martial law over the cluster.

The attack has only served to strengthen colonial secessionist groups despite an official Alliance condemnation of the massacre. According to Alliance press, Niota - a Milan, EU native - had several documents on her omnitool relating to the “Sovereign Nation” terrorist cult, including instructions on how to spot “dangerous” individuals, and the locations of several safe-houses and caches on the planet itself.

The intragalactic, interspecies group, lead by Lucien Bradford, is inspired by the philosophies of the Reapers, most importantly that the “chaos of organic life” must become ordered at any cost.

Colonial groups, however, are claiming that the orders to fire came from the Alliance themselves, and that the alleged ties to the cult are fabricated.

Colonial Director-General Rear Admiral Eswara has expressed outrage over the attack, and the Director of Exodus Cluster, Admiral Yang Sheng-ji, is expected to put extra measures in place for civilian protection during protests, though many are skeptical of how much ‘protection’ an Alliance marine can offer against their own.

Condolences to the victims and their families. This is why groups like Sovereign Nation should be watched very carefully. I mean, is it such a jump from the bullshit they've been saying about the Reapers-the things that nearly destroyed us all-to shootings? If a clear link can be found, they certainly should be denounced as terrorists.

And screw those secessionists trying to use this for political gain. People are dead and they're trying to score points. (If they really believe it, they're bloody delusional-because the Alliance being responsible makes no fucking sense)

Secessionists are akin to putting a fire out with gasoline. If successful, they make an already bad situation worse.
If unsuccessful, they still cause trauma and heartache for otherwise uninvolved individuals. People didn't need to die because of this. Regardless of the cause.

Bloody Reaper cults ought to be treated like the menaces they are. This reaction the secessionists are having is exactly what they want-to divide us so that their 'masters' will have an easier time ripping everyone a new one again if they return.

Not that they'd need the help, but I don't think they understand the meaning of the word 'overkill'.

A Couple of Sovereign Nationers live near Najhil. Najhil cannot stand those People, always giving Najhil these creepy Looks than chill Najhil to the Bone.

Condolences to the Families of the Deceased.

Kill promoters of order to preserve order. Got it.

I know! That's the stupidest logic I've ever heard.

They're a recognized terrorist group now, aren't they? Maybe you should denounce them. If you don't trust your local authorities, maybe we could get them of your hands.

motherfuckers can't leave well enough alone I guess. Can we have these nutjobs be subject to mandatory psychological examinations?

Son of a bitch. Got a couple of Reaper cultists here in Ertl, always preaching and shit on the corners in the streets. Been a few incidents where the locals go break a few legs, already. Incidents like this always make me nervous.

This is terrible. I checked with SATAE's 'terror cult' FAQ site (yes, they have one) and found out why they're not just arresting anyone who preaches the Word of the Mechagodsquid. ...they don't want to use the law to impose on anyone's religious freedoms, no matter how insane they may seem. Don't believe me? [See for yourself.] They even have the usual list of 'suspicious activities' there, and strangely enough, standing on a street corner screaming to the glory of Sovereign and his kind isn't one of them. There are also links to articles pertaining to lawsuits against the SA and other official governments by the Sovereign Nation and similar cults for 'religious profiling', 'oppression of faith' and other such 'horrific' crimes.

And the Secessionists are worse here, claiming the SA just made up an excuse to go slaughtering people. That's just stupid. Anyone with a rudimentary education would know that if an oppressive government were going to kill anybody not obviously a criminal, it sure as hell wouldn't be in a way that called attention to the act. I'm a colonist and I disagree with a large number of the things the SA is and has been doing, but if this is the level of intelligence and political maturity to be expected from our self-proclaimed freedom fighters, I'll be content to side with The Boot, thank you very much.

This one was not aware that organizations promoting Reaper philosophy were active in the galaxy, although this one supposes it should have held the possibility in mind. All peaceable perspectives were darkened during the great storm, and these ones had to adapt as best they could. This one is...saddened...that some have not found their way back to acceptable discourse. It is...not so enthusiastic about gaining insight into such damaged minds.

Sovereign Nation is from hunger.

Secessionist colonial types blaming the Alliance for terrorist acts is from hunger.

...

My thoughts and prayers are with the dead, the wounded and their families. As well as to the Marines who have to accept that one of their own is a death-worshiping wannabe-Reaper fascist.

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Edit: @Dairo, that's one of the things you'll note the secessionist recruiters leave off their propaganda: that the Alliance has been nothing but neutral about religious freedoms. Most other freedoms, actually; it's kinda reminiscent of the Hierarchy, from what I've heard. Living standards and the spread of freedom have gone through the roof under SATAE.

Lime Spider, a couple things:

Please explain what the phrase 'from hunger' means. I'm certain you don't mean it literally.

Please don't misunderstand why I'm supporting SATAE in this instance. I absolutely do not support the active worship of the very things that just spent the better part of their introduction to our collective cultures trying to annihilate them, and doing a very good job at that. Personally, I believe that any signs of pre-Crucible Reaper support should be met with immediate arrest, psychological screening, and if possible, rehabilitation. The same goes for any signs of machine worship, or any other philosophy that invariably leads to tragedies like this and worse.

Reaper Worshipers=assholes, beyond redemption.

Outlawing their beliefs or vaguely defined machine worship....argh.

Remember that AI petition? There are lots of Consensus Kids and hardline Transquarians in the accountability movement, and I bet the law would love a reason to beat up on them.

Oh, wonderful. If there's one thing Terra Nova really doesn't need, it's more people dying. I'm not gonna blame the Alliance for the actions of one total nutjob, angry as I am (frustrated isn't a strong enough word) that somehow this person slipped through screening, but damn, I can't help but feel if the Alliance would just leave us to it, take troops off our planet, this would never have happened.

I know that's such a dumb thing to think, if it weren't for the Alliance, no one on TN would have it made it through 2186, and we still need them even now to keep surviving... I guess I just wish we didn't.

As for an opinion I hope we can all agree on: these Reapers cultists are friggin' jackholes!

Jesus. Haven't seen any Reaper worshippers out here on Eden Prime yet, but we've plenty of folks none too pleased with the Alliance. Hopefully this doesn't stir them up...

A group of Reaper cultists tried to set up shop on Noveria a few months ago. NDC wouldn't give them a lease.

Sometimes, religious freedom is overrated.

Cannot believe that people like that even exist after all the things we've been through.

I mean... I'm honestly having trouble any other explanation for this other than a fucking severe mental illness.

As if some of the news from Terra Nova wasn't frustrating enough...

Well, other than the news in the colonies, how is this group being handled elsewhere if it is interspecies?

I actually decided to try to talk to a member of SN (old habits die hard) and see what the big deal was. How anyone could emulate the ideals of the Reapers... yuck.

But I did, and at least for the ones I talked to, they all seem to have their own reasons for joining up. Some honestly believe that the Reapers are gods, and cite their power, tech, and apparently millions of years of domination as proof. Others fear that without the cycles of destruction preventing organics from overpopulating the galaxy. When I pointed out that only a tiny percentage of the actual galaxy has actually been colonized, the more intelligent ones argued, that now that we have the ability to leanr from Reaper tech, we'll inevitably collide with other potentially hostile civilizations, who's technology, without being guided by relay tech, would be unfamiliar to us.

It went on like this for a while, with maybes and possibilities. I don't think all of them would become violent, but I do think they're being guided by fears born from the war from the Reapers they haven't been able to let go.

Except for Lucien Bradford. Personally, I think the fucker is just capitalizing on the whole situation