Death Toll Rises in Alliance Shooting

Lee Hunter - Exodus Sentinel

SCOTT - The death toll from the shootout that shocked Terra Nova Tuesday afternoon has risen by two, as siblings Ken and Dena Ayumi both died in surgery late last night. Ken, 16, had been walking 11 year old Dena to her football club when the shooting occurred on the crowded city street in Scott’s central market around 1600 local time, during a peaceful demonstration against Alliance martial law. Neither Ken nor Dena had any connection to the protests.

Their deaths mark three underage victims that Serviceman Niota claimed in her devastating attack, including Thomas West, 2, who was declared dead at the scene.

“The Ayumi kids had strong ties to the community here,” says Staff Lieutenant Adrian Morse, the district Adjutant for Campbell’s Market, where the shooting took place. “Their classmates are absolutely devastated, their neighbors are in shock...they thought they were safe after the war, and then this happens. It’s a horrible tragedy, after so many horrible tragedies in recent times.”

Sovereign Nation, an interracial cult that has been marked as having ‘terrorist goals’ since the Victory Day celebrations on Earth, whom the Alliance is blaming as being behind the attacks, claims that Niota, a naval engineer, was not a follower of theirs, and that such acts against the ‘innocent, ignorant minds of children’ are not within their doctrine. Alliance marines are currently asking colonials to stay on their guard, and to report suspicious activity or persons to their nearest base.

Serviceman Eileen Niota is currently being held at Bakula Prison, the only remaining detainment center left in the city after the Reaper Invasion last year. There have already been outcries from several groups to transfer the engineer to a more secure prison, as Bakula, they claim, doesn’t have the security for such violent criminals.

In the meantime, citizens have left memorials for the six victims, and vigils for the remaining seven people in critical condition at Scott Memorial are scheduled for later tonight and tomorrow afternoon, as the shaken families of Campbell’s Market attempt to figure out who to trust.

The families of the dead have requested their privacy be respected during this difficult time.

For fuck's sake. The Corps is its own worst enemy when it comes to PR these days, I swear to God. I hope the CO is being investigated; how the hell do you let something like this happen under your watch?

God, those poor kids. I can't imagine what their parents would have to be feeling right now. I can't imagine what'd be like to lose my kids.

I hope that the woman who did this gets what she deserves. And I'm with you on that Tritt. There needs to be a serious look at her commanding officer and how the whole homicidal thing got overlooked.

God, why on earth would someone do this to their own people? 16 and 11, no one should have to have that happen to them at that age.

Whether not this Niota is an squid worshiper or not, you Alliance types are absolutely fucked PR wise. Every furhead sepper is going to have a field day with this.

You're military dictatorship. Just shoot the psycho.

We're fucked both ways on that suggestion. If we don't, people will complain that she doesn't deserve due process. If we do, people will claim that we're taking away due process and that it's evident we really are a "dictatorship". Normally tragedies like these would bring people together in sorrow, now I don't know what to think. Kids died. People will be out for blood, one way or another.

Maybe you could have one of them old fashioned show trials. Then follow it up with a public execution. Win-win.

She'll get a trial. And if the judges impose the death penalty, who'll be complaining?

May their souls be guided well. I hope, for their sakes and for others, that the attacks are not, in fact, related to the Cult. This galaxy has suffered enough at the hands of crazed men claiming to be gods, prophets, or anything in between.

I'm thankful our CO doesn't condone this kind of shit. Colonel O'Neil's a bit of a disiplinarian, but he respects the Marines in his command. He lead the 9th through the War, and got most of us through the war alive.

I assure you, we are quite aware of how fucked we are.

string up niota, then find every last one of those sovereign fuckers and burn them. right to the fucking ground. reaper worship isn't religion, it's goddamn indoctrination.

you don't fix an indoc, you don't respect their fucking rights

you put them down

Mass executions are certainly not going to make things worse. No sirree, I can't possibly see how that could result in things going horribly, horribly wrong for the SA.

Sure sucks to be Alliance right now.

Best of luck, guys. You're gonna need it.

Well. My condolences for the victims and their families and... looks like work is going to be calling sometime soon.

The decision to stay on Noveria is looking better and better.

Those poor children. This is why the the ban on non-"Natural" genetic modification is bullshit. We could, and did have the ability to create self repairing cellular structures. Not to mention better replacement parts, better medical practices, and better then natural physical forms.

The ban was put in place to prevent further widening of the gap between the upper and lower economic classes. If it remained, rich people could trash their bodies like they do their aircars, and still come out prettier and longer-living than poor people. And many wouldn't hesitate to exercise that option. Not to mention the nightmarish things they'd make of themselves just because they can. Also, it's not entirely banned, just restricted to military use.

Back on topic: I reiterate my previous point about removing all Reaper cultists from the 'Freedom of Religion' protection and treating them like Indocs. They can cry all they want about religious persecution to the families and friends of people who actually were Indoctrinated and had to be killed because of it. If they somehow manage to sell their case to those particular people, then they might have some ground to stand on in defense of their specific flavor of violent insanity.

No,the ban was put in place to stop, and I quote the official documentation here,"to stop the possible loss of earth vast biodiversity". It was literally the naturalistic fallacy put in to Alliance policy. As for the regulation, everything that's not genetically "Natural" is for all intensive purposes Banned, you can't even use it for the military. Otherwise there would be genetic modification to make staff more suited to work under harsh conditions. Thicker skin, extra arms, potential photosynthetic skin to save on sleep caused downtimes. It's fucking insane that we haven't been able to research this life saving thing simply because we're trying to save the biomass of a single, one of many, planet.

You've got to wonder what goes through those people's heads when they get up in the morning and decide to do something like this.