Intergalactic Summit

-Upon opening the Galnet link, a recording plays-

A reporter dressed in a press dropsuit stands in front of a tall green skyscraper which is surrounded by a heavy police presence. Blue lights flash and police drop ships mingle with press camera drones in orbit of the building.
“I’m coming to you live from the city of Violuria on Duripant V, where there has been some sort of attack on the regional headquarters of the Federal Intelligence Office… The attackers began their assault three hours ago, allegedly entering the building through the front lobby before releasing advance combat drones and engaging the building’s orbital defense programs, stopping police from entering. We haven't heard of any demands being made on the part of the attackers, who seem to be consolidating their control of the building while federal police attempt to override the lock-down… wait, we’re seeing something new; there are people on the observation deck”

The feed cuts from the reporter to images streamed from a Camera drone, the blast shields have been retracted from the open air observation deck, revealing two figures. A Gallentean male, in a tattered suit stands bound before an armed female, her face obscured by a dropsuit’s mask, the man is bound, gagged and clearly terrified. The camera drone zooms out. The reporter’s voice cuts in quickly “Wait… we’re getting it in now, the hostage is FIO planetary director Francois De Larioet” The recording zooms in on the terrorist, who pushes the bound man towards window of the observation deck, shooting it out and unceremoniously tossing him over the edge. The drone zooms out as the man stops suddenly, hanging from the neck and twitching; a large white feather in his top pocket.

There is a stunned silence before the terrorist is torn apart by sniper fire. The feed switches, showing Federal police as they begin to storm the building. “Francois De Larioet has been killed! Federal police are moving in now! We don’t know who could be behind this attack, or why the director was targeted but this has to be one of the most audacious acts of terrorism on Federal soil in recent history. We’re going back to the studio now for an analysis by military experts. This has been Claude Adoudel, Duripant Regional News.”

-The recording ends immediatley-

My money's on Dragonaurs, hon. This is more their style, heavy weapons in crowded areas and all the audacity that tends to come from that bunch. Amarrian origins are unlikely, State Intel just about equally so... Bullets, blades, or strangulation, sure. Infantry assaults are too flashy and indiscriminate for anyone close to being a professional to seriously consider. My thought is, it's as much about making a statement as anything.

At this point anyone can really be the culprit. My money is on Dragonaurs. Blood raiders would probably use a more covert method of destruction, Sansha would just straight up invade the place, Intaki separatist would make their demands very clear, Serpentis are busy with their drug running, and I can't really think of any other criminal/terrorist organization that would target this area in particular.

This is the type of thing Dragonaurs do. All the other groups just wouldn't really act in this way.

Dragonaurs? You think Dragonaurs would use drones? They'd never use cheap kakku tactics like that to openly assassinate a target. Furthermore, a Dragonaur would be more liable to simply level the building, taking every civilian with it.

Open your eyes people, this was an inside job. Brilliant move really, to punish an individual responsible for the leak of Operation Highlander, doing so publicly for the world to see, and seeding anti-Caldari sentiment all at once. Who else but the Federation could be capable of such underhanded tactics?

Come now. We know what's been going on inside the Federation since the Republic invaded. oui?

I ran many Federal Navy and Federal Intelligence Office security contracts back when I was first starting off as a capsuleer. I can guarantee you from my experience working for those departments that this isn't their type of thing.

The Black Eagles would not launch an attack in such a fashion for instance. They either go completely quiet or do cinematic precise raids that are over in less than a few seconds. In both these cases, there would not be enough time for local law enforcement and the media to get to the scene of the situation while it was still underway.

Also, if the plan was to merely get rid of a Highlander leaker, then he would of been taken alive. There is valuable information to be gained from interrogating someone who may know of other people involved in the plot.

Also, drones are used by literally everyone. Some more than others of course, but I doubt the Dragonaurs would avoid using drones. If anything, they would use exclusively Caldari drones in a futile attempt to demonstrate their superiority.

The Highlander angle has some merit, Fred. If I was on the side that helped expose the op (independent group, most likely), i'd want any lose ends tied off, and messages sent, before the FIO could pinpoint and nab them for interrogation. More likely though, even if he was involved, this was a simple statement; "We can get any of you, and you can't stop us."

By the way, the white feather might be worth looking into. Unless he wore it before, it's probably a calling card.

Even if it wasn't an 'inside job', it is highly probable that this assassination was conducted with help from the inside.

As to the act itself, and this is just speculation, it might be intended to serve as a warning to others who may be privy to information the director held. A sign to keep their mouths shut.

Federal Intelligence are not idiots, and I'm certain they are looking thourghly into the matter.

Look, civilian, Mr. Wulver looks like military educated personnel, because he knows which tools are available for demolition of buildings. Even without demolition of the whole building itself, it is times more easier to just kill everyone inside, than just assasinate single target in a demonstrative manner.
I'd recommend you finish first your education in the Academy, and only after that comment about such matters.

-The recording begins, starting with the opening sequence of Duripant Regional News; the anchor frowns slightly as he reads the teleprompter-

“A new development in the recent attack on FIO headquarters has come to light. We have received police footage of the aftermath of the attack from an anonymous source; I must warn viewers that they may find some images disturbing” –The news feed switches to an image from a police gun-camera. The officer moves down the corridor, the light from his helmet mounted flashlight illuminating sections of the dark corridor; staff lay about, devoid of any obvious wounds. A shout can be heard “Get a Medic to those casualties.” The officer continues onwards, opening a locked door with a key card and continuing down a flight of stairs, he passes a number of bodies on the way, again with no clear injuries. Upon reaching the bottom of the flight of stairs the officer moves through the door, down a corridor that remains brightly lit despite the power outage in the rest of the building. He moves to a door at the end, sliding his key card through the slot. The image is occluded by the wall as he submits to a retinal scan. The door slides open and he moves inside a large server room, a number of bodies lay around, they’re dressed in scout dropsuits and all have the same injury, clearly a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. A voice comes from off camera “Sir, the servers are burnt out, we don’t know what..”

The recording ends and the feed returns to the newsroom, the anchor opens to speak but is cut off, an eagle behind a background of inverted federal flag, it speaks with a distinctly Amarrian accent. “Ladies and Gentlemen, let me invite you to an auction. Names have a great power.”

-The news feed returns, showing an incredibly worried anchor “Get the feed back! Damnit, cut to commercials!-

-End of recording-