LUMINAIRE - The Ishukone Corporation has confirmed that after a sustained firefight this morning, a prototype version of the Scorpion-class battleship has been stolen from their low-orbit staging point above Caldari Prime.
Three of the vessels, which were originally designed for use by the Ishukone Watch security force, were drafted in for combat readiness assessment during the Caldari Prime relief effort. These modified versions of the Scorpion apparently include advanced LADAR and thermal imaging equipment, and were intended to be used to triangulate remaining Provist troops from orbit, in an effort to airlift them from the surface after the declaration of Caldari Prime as a demilitarized zone.
Landea Vrankef, security consultant for Ishukone Watch, made a statement to the interstellar press this afternoon detailing the attack on the temporary shipyard where the vessels were being stored. In the prewritten statement she assured the media that "a full investigation into how security at our low-orbit staging point was breached is ongoing, and we are in the process of setting up an operation that will recover the vessel as soon as possible. Thankfully, all three vessels were in a state of partial strip-down for maintenance and upgrades during the raid, and no prototype sensor hardware was stolen."
When quizzed regarding the identity of the force that stormed the shipyard, commander Vrankref revealed that "This was a highly organized and direct attack. At this point in time we believe that the Guristas were behind the theft of the vessel, given the fact that it was flown north toward Pure Blind. However, the investigation is still ongoing after pursuing forces lost sight of the vessel in the system of Korama."
Widespread reports would appear to indicate Guristas involvement, after known officers Ohminen Sin and Kaikka Peunato were briefly sighted heading north toward Lonetrek from the Federal border earlier today, accompanied by an unidentified Gallente accomplice.