Intergalactic Summit

Tekaima, March 11th 115 YC

L.S.

I have hesitated about making this press release, as it might provoke some short tempers. I decided to publish this because the incident might have been witnessed and I had already publicly discussed the attack. I did not want some gutter press to pick up the story, and print an inflammatory article with only part of the facts, and none of my thoughts.
I also think that my report could be used to prevent similar or worse incidents from occuring.

Yesterday, while I was picketing near the Leviathan in orbit of Caldari Prime in the Luminaire system, advocating peace and the ideas outlined in my Primed for Peace petition, my unarmed shuttle was fired upon and destroyed by the Caldari support fleet.
Although I find this level of "defensive" agression a bit over the top, I can not ignore the mistakes I have made, and therefor do not hold any grudges towards those involved, even more so because no lives were lost in the incident.
When I first visited the titan years ago, I did not experience any form of aggression, and although I did suspect that tensions were pretty high, I underestimated how high they were and did not think they would fire upon an unarmed shuttle. My inexperience in the military field caused me miss some signs indicating that I should have stayed back.
I also neglected to seek advice from others that would have provided me with the knowledge that could have prevented this incident from happening.

I will now explain the facts of the incident:
Yesterday, around 20:22, I jumped into the Luminiare system in an unarmed shuttle with no cargo.
After warping to some other beacons for some sightseeing, I warped on top of the beacon near the Leviathan, and arrived there around 20:29.
I noticed that my overview indicated the support fleet as hostiles, but as my ship was not targeted, I decided to make some broadcasts on the local channel:
[ 115.03.10 20:29:48 ] Che Biko > I am unarmned and my intentions are peacful.
[ 115.03.10 20:33:21 ] Che Biko > I have come to advocate peace between the State and the Federation, and to lend my support to the idea that Caldari Prime should be in Caldari hands.
After making these broadcasts, I recieved no response, but I wasn't targeted either, so I assumed all was fine. I proceeded to survey my surroundings and noticed that the fleet was engaging a Proteus. I could also see wrecks of Caldari origin.
Around 20:37 I decided to pilot my ship to a position where I could have both the titan and the planet in frame, for a better view and in case I wanted to take pictures, and chose a direction that would take me past the bow of the titan. I moved away from the beacon, at first at a quarter sub-warp speed (153 m/s), then, after no hostile action came from the Caldari fleet, at half sub-warp speed (305 m/s).
Around 20:38, I was being locked by part of the fleet, and the first warning shots went past my bow. I aligned for warp to a nearby station, and made the following broadcast:
[ 115.03.10 20:38:11 ] Che Biko > I come in PEACE!
I succesfully entered warp, but not before 8 scourge heavy missiles damaged my shields. I discussed what happened on The Summit, and I was advised to maintain distance from the fleet. Someone also suggested that I was fired upon because of my ethnicity, which I thought was an unlikely scenario.
Around 20:48, I warped back to a spot 100 km from the beacon. I waited for a moment, then proceeded to the beacon at full sub-warp speed.
At 20:51:12, when I arrived there, I brought my ship to a full stop, thinking I would be safe there, as I was only fired upon earlier when I left the beacon and moved towards the titan.
At 20:51:22 my ship was targeted and destroyed with a single shot.

While I don't fully agree with how the Caldari fleet handled the situation, I can understand that the current political and military situation has put the State troops on edge. And it would not be the first time that a someone, who was believed to be a Gallente capsuleer that advocated peace, did something unexpected. But I don't think I did anything that warranted the destruction of my ship.
And while I'd like to believe that they wouldn't have destroyed my ship if there were other people on board, I'm not entirely sure of that. Regardless, I do not wish that this incident will be used as an excuse for those that want to fuel the flames of war.

I would like to make the following recommendation:
If the beacon is placed in a position where an unsuspecting traveller might be considered a threat, then I suggest moving it further away from the Caldari fleet, and to warn ships warping to it about the possible consequences of straying away from the beacon and coming too close to the fleet.

If there are any questions, I can be contacted, and will try to answer them to the best of my ability.

In closing, after some further discussion and the aquisition of a new shuttle, I made the following broadcasts:
"Fine, blow my shuttle up, I'm still in favor of your planet being [in] the hands of the State. I still favor peace between our nations."
"Commander of the Caldari fleet in orbit of Caldari Prime: I will be returning shortly, but I will keep a distance of 50 KM this time, as I've been advised that [that] should be a sufficient distance for you to not feel threatened by an unarmed shuttle."

I then proceeded with my picketing without further incident, reading the tale of Cold Wind.

Peace,

-Ché Biko

At lest it proves that something has changed in the behavior of that Caldari fleet recently.

You were warned off and you returned. What did you expect? I don't think your forgiveness is needed by the State.

Individuals who fancy straying into enemy formations mid-battle tend to find themselves eliminated from the gene-pool fast. Capsuleers are an unfortunate exception from this general rule. While the views of mr. Biko are commendable, the execution is severely lacking.

Mr. Biko, I would suggest that you gain a negotiating mandate from the Federal Government to conclude a treaty that is in line with your views, then return to Caldari space. Preferably at the head of a properly mandated Federal diplomatic team.

My advice would have been to write nothing at all, or better yet, to not indulge in this kind of activism to begin with. There are proper channels to send such petitions through, and picketing a foreign warship - or anythhing at all, really - isn't one of them.

I'll be blunt, Captain. You're not going to change any Caldari minds or sway any Caldari decisions by camping on their lawn and waving slogans in their faces. At best they will simply ignore you. At worst, they will perceive your efforts as an example of the much-reviled "Gallente cultural imperialism" they like to go on about.

No. If you really want to make a difference in this matter, your best approach would be to study Caldari etiquette, secure yourself a position of some diplomatic authority (either personally or by proxy) and then submit your petition to the Caldari leadership in the way that they would be most comfortable with.

At what point did you think it would be a good idea to go public about interfering with military operations and admitting that you weren't expecting the consequences because of extreme incompetence?

I guess that is the reason they're not making posts about forgiveness?



Were the eight missiles that hit you already not enough of a hint as to what the warning shot meant? It seems that you think beacons marking the site of large military fleets are for civilian sightseeing.

If they didn't shoot at you, there wouldn't be anything to protest, would there?

Do not warp to zero on any titan, including one in your own fleet. They do not like to be bumped. Unless you are in Goonswarm. Now you know. Consider it a learning opportunity and move on.