[Alliance] Information Leak Causes Widespread Consternation

Information Leak Causes Widespread Consternation

Late yesterday, an information leak revealed that Kharog Ab'Arohth, a notorious batarian pirate, was secretly pardoned by the Systems Alliance during the Reaper War.

Ab'Arohth had a bounty of nearly half a million credits before he was pardoned, and was wanted for piracy, murder, rape and conspiracy to enslave sentient beings, among other charges. His most famous crimes include the burning of the colony of Caernabog and the assault on a colonial flotilla in 2171 that resulted in almost 300 men, women and children being captured and sold into slavery. His last known offense, the Haven Convoy Robbery, was in 2178 after which he disappeared off most galactic records. He reappeared for the course of the Reaper War, during which he received his alliance pardon for assistance in creating trade routes and moving supplies through the Terminus, but participated in no combat operations and disappeared immediately after its end.

Already thousands across Elysium and Terra Nova are condemning the pardon. Bogdan Senko, a prominent political activist who escaped enslavement by Ab'Arohth called the move "an immense betrayal" and "a travesty that shames the memories of the thousands of lives Ab'Arohth ruined throughout his career". There are calls for investigations into the pardon, with demands that those responsible lose their jobs at the least and that the pardon be repealed from many groups across the Verge, most prominently many pro-independence political organizations. Several groups have posted new, independent bounties for Ab'Arohth, a press release by The Citizens for Free Elysium, who posted a 50 thousand credit bounty for his death said, "Some of us will pursue justice, even if SATAE has given up on the concept".

Our reporter spoke with Jerome J. Johansen, a man who lost his wife and daughters in one of the raids, who claimed that the pardon was a 'travesty' and 'a betrayal of the ideals of the Systems Alliance'. He called for the bounty, at the least, to be reinstated, and for the pardon to be reversed, reminding us of all the people who lost friends and family to death or worse at Kharog's hands. He claims that his desire to see the pardon reversed is not brought on by revenge, but 'because of the...sincere belief that justice must be done in this galaxy, and men....like Arohth cannot be allowed to roam free because they threw a few trinkets towards alliance politicians'.

SATAE has given no comment as of publication.

Oh my god. What were they thinking.

He's disappeared. He's going to start doing it again. The least they could have done is keep an eye on the maniac.

So- He does all of this, helps the greater galactic community ONCE and then fucking gets a pardon for his previous crimes against humanity? This is fucking ridiculous. My therapist tells me to abhor violence, but you know what? This guy's a monster!
Countless lives have been ruined because of him and he gets a GET OUT OF JAIL CARD! Bounty hunters need to be on his ass!

[Redacted] Security Consultants doesn't normally normally take these kinds of jobs, but is anyone who has information on his whereabouts is interested in seeing him dealt with, I'd be happy to make an exception to our policy.

Considering the Alliance was willing to work with the likes of Velor during the war, this hardly surprises me.

Also, I can probably think of no job more thankless than working for SATAE's PR department right now.

The hypocrisy in this post is painful.

Don't you dare make this about me, Pariah.

Oh dear god the hypocritical outrage in this thread is staggering.


Probably that they'd rather get their hands dirty and make some unpopular decisions than, you know, die horribly and take thousands upon thousands of civilians and noncombatants down with them.

Also

Weren't you part of the Eighth?

Didn't you get resupplied by Vedevix of all people?

I'm leaning towards agreeing with Sandman here. We needed all the fucking help we could get during what came close to total Galactic extinction. Ex-Cerberus people are let off the hook, no offense Vigilant, so a slaver or two isn't a huge suprise.

This is likely the batarian in me speaking, but I do not see why this should be considered an issue.

Humanity lost Earth and with it a good portion of its industrial base in the early days of the war, you needed to find support in order to maintain your fighting forces, thus, you turned to your enemies for assistance. We did the very same, from allying with the Council to allowing political terrorists and criminals into our ranks when the Hegemony fell.

Understandably, Ab'Arohth's victims may feel outraged, but ultimately, was this not a small sacrifice to ensure your race's continued survival?

Hard not to, when you burst into the comments section like that.

Fuck.



....

Pariah and Sandman are right. Pardon is a pardon, I've chosen to live the straight and narrow- It remains to be seen if this slaver does the same. We all needed as much help as we could get in the war. The Reaper Invasion's alternative was painful death and extinction.

I understand how this can be upsetting for everyone, but a LOT of those deals were made during the war, by everyone, even such a terrible man.

Just out of curiosity, his human bounty is off, but what other species he wronged? Did he attack only humanity? Maybe his detractors can deliver him to another party.

It was war and we needed the supplies. There are better reasons to be upset about the SATAE.

He was pardened and helped the war effort; unless he returns to his old ways I say live and let live. Many war heroes were people many would have labelled as undesireable, but when the time came they proved their worth.

Just look at Vedevix. A pirate and a slaver, yet I mourn his loss still.

My father told me a bad man who dies doing something good lives on as a good man.
Then again, my father was a warlord who died when I was just a runt. Don't see him living anywhere.

What people are failing to wrap their heads around (besides the moral high ground) is that the circumstances that allowed this in the first place aren't happening anymore. Whether or not the Alliance should have compromised with pirates and slavers is one argument, why they should keep this arrangement in place is another entirely. It's one thing to defend shit like this when your homeworld is burning - the Hierarchy never turned their nose to the seppers, it's entirely another to continue to insist on protecting slavers and pirates long after any obligation to them is done.

Personal feelings on the issue aside, I honestly think that it's in SATAE's best interests to uphold the pardon. PR backlash is unfortunate yes, but so is having a reputation as a government that recants on its deals the moment a bit of pressure is applied.

The same reason the Alliance gave all the Cerbie defectors a get-out-of-jail free card. Incentive. People aren't going to agree to work with you if they know you'll just throw them in prison when it is all over.

I could maybe understand this if we were dealing with Terminus nations or even self-styled national leaders, but we're not. We're dealing with a bunch of criminals who represent no one but themselves. This isn't developing a reputation as a government who recants on its' deals, it's understanding that they would do the exact same thing sooner put in a similar position.

He speaks of memories, not literally. You can be a horrible person, but die a hero and you will be forever remembered as one.

In other news, this seems to be an object lesson in why people like me keep a hold of even our most useless data. You can, of course, contact me on these boards if you're interested.