|
Virtual Eclipse | Science Fiction | Role Playing | Club | Help |
| Background | Database | Encyclopedia | News | Training |
Fighting erupted yesterday on Valhalla, bringing an abrupt end to several weeks of relative calm.
'Valhalla First' guerrillas, supported by several mercenary striker units, struck at several off-world owned areas, including the gigantic Trojan Megacorp manufacturing facility. Diversionary attacks were staged at several points along the facility perimeter, which led the guard commander to commit most of the available security reserves. VF commandos appear to be have been able to penetrate the quieter sections of the perimeter so as to strike at the exposed central areas, planting several large demolition charges in critical areas. The resulting explosions and fire were visible for miles.
12 Trojan employees were killed during the attacks, which also saw the capture of several of the attacking mercenaries, although all of the VF forces were able to evade capture. Damage to the manufacturing facilities was described as 'very serious' by a company spokesman, the damage is expected to run into several million. Additionally, several production lines will be out of action for several months, which will also lose the corporation significant amounts in lost output.
In another worrying development, earlier yesterday saw the shooting down of military sensor drone. The drone was a modern grav powered surveillance device on loan to the Valhalla Defence Forces from the Royal Pegasan Navy, and would have had a very high survivability against all but the most modern weapon systems. Since Valhallan military technology is significantly behind the state of the art, it is a near certainty that VF have now been able to buy heavy weapons from off planet.
Until now, VF operations have been characterised in two ways, firstly by a lack of heavy weapons, and secondly by a reluctance to carry out coordinated operations due to lack of command and control experience. Yesterdays attacks seem to indicate that the rules have changed and are certain to cause embarrassment to the President who only last week stated that the VF threat was 'well contained'.
This is an embarrassment that he could well do without as his ruling 'Future Party' continues to lose ground in the pre-election opinion poles. But the question on everybody's lips now is whether or not yesterdays attacks were a temporary upswing in hostilities or the beginning of a more intense sustained phase of this conflict.
More news from Merc Bureau News Service: 12 Mar 298
Contracts from Merc Bureau Vacant Contracts: Jul 297