Skarkon Station Free Press
Triglavians Routed, Kril Efrit Appointed as Khumatar
6.15.YC122
By Jerindine Orindold
After several days of intense fighting with neither side gaining an edge, the Triglavian invasion of Skarkon has come to an end. Triglavian forces pulled out early in the day to much celebration and a collective sigh of relief from the populace. Debris from the battles continue to rain down on worlds across the system and a gas harvesting facility in the upper atmosphere of Skarkon III was outright destroyed when the wrecks of several capital ships deorbited atop the unlucky mining station.
Despite the pleas for a cease fire from capsuleer forces backing the Free Skarkon movement, RSS backed Krullefor troops and CBD backed Spacelane Patrol and Onikanabo Bridgade forces continued to wage a desperate war against local militias and protest groups across the troubled world, even as the Triglavian invasion raged above their heads. The Angel Cartel in particular was quick to denounce the RSS’s actions with a local Angel official stating of the RSS “And they call us the traitors.”
Kor’ali has become a major battlefield as the Angel Cartel pressed the advantage they established last week when they knocked the Krullefor out of the Gulormola Autonomous Zone. Angel backed troops established a beachhead in Kor’ali and the intense fighting has not been easy on a population already in turmoil following the detonation of a dirty bomb there last month.
The Gulormola Autonomous Zone continues to work towards establishing itself as a legitimate counterweight to the RSS backed mercenaries, with local administrators and leaders going as far as requesting that Angel Cartel forces leave the zone to local militias, and promising that if their assistance was required to maintain their independence, that contracted military units would be well paid for their trouble. In perhaps a surprising twist, the local angel leader, a figure known by many as The Devil You Know, agreed to remove angel troops from the zone in exchange for favorable trade relations and a promise to allow the legal sale of boosters to continue.
Following the agreement, Angel forces in the zone dispersed to neighboring Ishohuolvi, Skardisaad, and Kalilia, where in a show of surprisingly good faith for the criminal cartel, they are continuing to assist in the ongoing efforts of the Free Skarkon movement without taking the position of occupying warlords. What their overall game or plan for the system is, remains to be seen but public opinion of the cartel remains at an all time high.
Shortly following the withdrawal of Triglavian forces, Sanmatar Shakor appointed Khumatar Kril Efrit as Khumatar of Skarkon. Kril Efrit had previously held the title as Chief Director of the RSS’s Clandestine Activity Division and the Matar Planetary Security Coordinator. Many have called the promotion a slap in the face to Efrit following his failures in preventing the Mikramurkan Deathglow attacks and what many see as bungling in his current position within the RSS.
The RSS followed up this announcement by calling for the arrests of hundreds of “angel cartel” and “slaver mercenary” collaborators, a list which includes dozens of senior protest leaders in the Sahaal Elevator and Gulormola Autonomous Zones along with members of the Ishohuolvi Freedom Corps, Sa’kak city administrators, and local militia leaders across the planet. This move was seen by those in the Free Skarkon movement as an attempt to smother their ongoing battle for justice and independence. While several arrests have been made since the announcements went out, including the handoff of a rather notorious slave holding Angel warlord by the Gulormola Autonomous Zone, by and large, the Free Skarkon movement has circled the wagons around the threatened parties and continue their push for justice and independence.
Efrit called for a meeting of the local landholding clans and landed interests in Skarkon, who have backed his calls for the crushing of “slaver mercenaries and “upstart traitors” seeing the Free Skarkon movement as a threat to their local dominion. The Skarkon Clans & Territories Trade Association, one of the few local associations not to sign the Vele’kor Subtribe’s political declaration calling for justice and reparations on behalf of the people of Molden Heath, has declared their full backing of Khumatar Efrit.
Protest groups, non-landholding clans, local militias, and the government of the Gulormola Autonomous Zone, have had mixed reactions to Efrit’s appointment, with some willing to offer an olive branch, and others viewing it as yet another attempt by the RSS to keep the boot on their backs.
The Gulormola Autonomous Zone and Sahaal Elevator Autonomous Zone have both offered to host Efrit for peace talks and have called for a peaceful transfer of power to the local population and deescalation from the state of civil war which continues to rage across the planet. Thus far, Khumatar Efrit has yet to respond. Reporting from the Sahaal Elevator Autonomous Zone, I’m Jerindine Orindold, and this is the Skarkon Station Free Press.