Scattered reports have been arriving today of mysterious ships apparently lingering on the fringes of Gallente space.
Local space farers along the border regions of the Federation have reported sighting the vessels, which appear to be concentrating in several key systems. While the sightings vary in their detail, one shocking consistency has emerged in that all reports mention the ships bearing the markings of the notorious Serpentis corporation.
Rumour of the sudden increase in Serpentis activity has spread like wildfire across several fringe colonies in the immediate vicinity of the reports, leaving an atmosphere of hysteria and confusion in its wake. Several cases of public disorder have been reported with martial law allegedly being imposed on the six thousand strong inhabitants of one colony after law and order descended into anarchy and rioting.
Though the Serpentis forces are not thought to have been directly involved in any of the incidents thus far, the effects of their presence are being felt throughout the regions where they have been sighted as fear and apprehension seems to have taken a stranglehold on the local populace.
Speaking over an FTL uplink, one Gallente citizen expressed his disgust at the hesitance of the Government to respond to the incident, stating “There’s an entire Federal Navy detachment just a few systems away, they could be here inside twenty minutes but they just sit there and orbit the gates!” he later went on to remark that “After the theft of the Molyneux and the wave of destruction it left in its escape to Serpentis space, President Foiritan vowed to take steps to stop hostile forces within our borders. Now that they are here, he does nothing! Just because the fringe systems have a low security rating doesn’t make them any less a part of the Federation.”
With no clear idea on the evidently sinister agenda of the Serpentis forces massing at borders of the Federation; all eyes are now firmly fixed on Souro Foiritan as locals nervously await his response to this latest threat.