A Gallente Federation aid convoy was shot down in the Kassigainen system yesterday evening by a contingent of capsuleer forces from the Veto corporation. The convoy was carrying food and medical supplies bound for Truiisu Station, a Kaalakiota Corporation-owned mining colony on Kassigainen IV that has over the past two days been the site of fierce rioting.
The sudden attack came in the wake of a 30-minute long standoff between the captain of the convoy and forces from the Home Guard, Kaalakiota’s police force, who had refused to permit the convoy access to its final destination.
According to witness accounts, Home Guard forces had repeatedly told the convoy that no official request for aid had been made and that they did not possess the necessary clearance to enter the Kassigainen IV airspace.
The convoy’s captain, Commander Dirai Guvera, had countered by stating the convoy was there in the name of the Gallente President as a gesture of friendship and goodwill, carrying only food and medical supplies.
Matters were not helped when one of the Home Guard ships scanned the convoy’s Obelisk-class freighter, finding a 500-troop supplement of Federation Navy marines. It was shortly after this that the Veto force attacked, destroying every ship in the Federation convoy while suffering significant losses themselves. The Home Guard forces did not intervene.
While the motivations for the attack are unclear at this point, Ethan Verone, CEO of the Veto corporation, in a statement released earlier today on GalNet, claimed that “[Veto] were contacted regarding, and subsequently accepted a contract of employment to destroy the Federation Navy convoy ... The client wishes to remain fully anonymous.” See the full text of the release here.
President Foiritan of the Federation this morning released a statement wherein he expresses his regret that “an operation intended to save innocent lives instead ended up costing even more.”
“The Gallente Federation has extended the olive branch, and it has been torn from our hands and burned,” the statement said.
Caldari authorities have yet to comment on the matter. The situation on Truiisu Station remains largely unchanged, with the current death toll rumored to stand at approximately four hundred people.