Date: Sun, 02 Feb 1997 21:10:59 -0500
From: "Landon C. Darkwood" <darkwood@BELLSOUTH.NET>
Subject: [SW-RPG] NEWS: Bloodstains on Elrood Spacelanes
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Reply-to: "Landon C. Darkwood" <darkwood@BELLSOUTH.NET>
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BLOODSTAINS ON ELROOD SPACELANES
Dateline: 20/4 (seven years after RotJ; three months after JAT)
by Debinar Rastine, Galactic HoloNews Service

        --ELROOD SECTOR-- The last of the debris has been cleared away from
the main hyperspace entry point along the Elrood-Derilyn Run to the planet
Elrood itself, where a fierce space battle concluded only days before.
Planetside observers witnessed heavy concentrations of blaster and missile
fire in the skies, and those with scoping equipment could even catch the
blurred masses of ships moving around all through the evening. Deep space
navigational beacons caught an even more detailed showing of the battle that
lasted a total of two hours and apparently involved two of the largest
fleets ever assembled at once in this portion of space.

        "There were a total of about seventy starships," says an anonymous
representative of the Elrood Department of Interstellar Affairs, "just
blasting away at each other in a chaotic randomness that defied any notion
of military tactics." Apparently a last-ditch effort indeed.

        Analysis of the debris indicates that the battle was between several
Imperial starships (perhaps one of the factions that split during the
Imperial Civil War) and a smaller, more hodgepodge group of vessels that
possessed New Republic markings. From the communications that were
intercepted, it seems that the fleets were in a standoff position until one
decided to spontaneously charge and open fire. Motives behind this tragedy
are still ambiguous at best, but the lives of a full 50,000 men or more were
apparently lost in the bloodshed.

        One of the holorecordings of the scene shows a vessel identified as
the Minas Tirith, belonging to New Republic Commander Landon Darkwood, a
fairly well known independent trader who has operated in several parts of
the galaxy. Officials from the New Republic Inner Council were unavailable
for comment.