The proton torpedo lanced out from the Tholatin fighter, crossing the distance between the two ships in an instant and smashing into the rear of the ship.

Across the world, billions of citizens saw the attack on the unarmed freighter, and held their breath as the vessel fishtailed, loosing altitude as its primary engines flamed out.

The ship dropped like a stone.

"On target." Zion said, with a grim smile.

The freighter, still moving at hundreds of kilometres per hour, slammed into the side of the office tower. It's reactor exploded, the blast and resulting shockwave destroying buildings in a thousand meter radius.

On their holoscreens, the citizens of Tholatin saw the destruction. And in the sky, the Rapier fighters that were responsible arced away.

Mission accomplished.

But to the astonishment of any remaining terrorists, and the Imperial community abroad as the spectacle was covered by INN, the citizens of the capital city began to cheer extremely loudly as the ship was destroyed. The office building had been empty after a return home order had been given. The terrorists had done nothing but blow themselves and an empty building up.

"Mission accomplished, Cap. One less terrorist group to deal with."

"Right-o, Mack. And look at them chear."

He looked out the window as the Rapyir's screamed over the city. The people were applauding them and there was much celebration in the streets at the destruction of a rogue vessel. They also cheered a little bit because they did not like the ArcTek company whos building had been destroyed. The terrorists lose the battle. Republic: one. Terrorists: One.

[center]<font size=4>Interlude I</font>

(Commentary by Marcus Lodd)

Few things are more disheartening to report than an attack on a civilian population by terrorist forces. The sheer ammount of death, the tragedy, the feeling that even our leaders cannot protect us on our home planet.

But what promotes even more pain from a population is the lies and deciet spread by the government in charge to cover the carnage. It is (excuse the cliche) like rubbing salt into an open wound.

This is exactly what I have witnessed happen earlier this very day. Only hours ago, starfighters flying under the banner of the Tholatin Republic fired on a civilian freighter, which crashed into the local ArcTek building.

And in the wake of the tragedy, the Tholatin government has made it clear that they feel no remorse for those lost. No apology has been offered to ArcTek for the destruction of their building at the hands of the Tholatin authorities, no condolences to the families of the deceased.

Only lies. Claims that the building was empty. Claims that the tragic freighter collision was part of a terrorist plot.

Tell the families of those who have to bury their loved ones that the building was empty. Tell those who witnessed the Tholatin ships blasting the freighter of the sky - raking it repeatedly with lasers even after it became obvious that the ship was in no condition to fly - that it was a terrorist plot.

And tell the conscripts of the Tholatin Army that were taken out of uniform and placed on the streets to cheer the tragedy that their government is lying to them for their own good.

Ignorance is strength, right?

My heart and prayers go out to those who have been killed by the Tholatin Republic's actions, and to those citizens who will have the truth denied to them as that same government scurries to cover the truth.

Salaam.

What the reporter ahead does not know may be the death of him. You have to have the facts before you can make a report. It is obvious to everyone on Tholatin and her sister planets that the lies presented by the commentator above are from none other than TNO. We all here know TNO was behind the terrorist attacks and are not afraid to voice our opinions.

On the matter of people lost, yes there was one. An RPGC soldier was in the ArcTek building making sure no one else was. When the ship crashed into it and brought it down, he was killed. His body was exhumed from the rubble and given to the family for a proper burial. Yes the mans wife was very upset and so was his children. As they should be. But they were not angry at the Republic. They were angry at the terrorists. The Republic has put the man's wife on a permenant salary twice what her husband made to atone for her loss.

The Republic has already cut a deal with ArcTek to build them a new and better building to atone for the loss of their plant on Tholatin. They graciously agreed and a new bond was formed between the Republic and them. None of their personnel were lost because they were evacuated to their homes earlier. And they were all glad to be back at home after the ship crashed into their place of work.

Citizen's of the galaxy, do not let these people lie to you. It's a terrible way to perceive people. This is the media. Can you ever truly trust the media? The answer is no and we all know the best thing to atone for that. There's the old saying "seeing is believing." If you want to see the truth for yourself, we invite you to come to Tholatin and speak with anyone on the planet. They'll all tell you the same thing. They are happy with their government and glad for the protection they were given.

Good day.

Outer-Orbit
Moments Ago

"Looks like things are dying down out there..." Jiren commented, watching as the crippled CR90 Corvette exploded in a most spectacular fashion.

Indeed, the Tholatin fleet was returning to their usual station-keeping role, defending the planet.

If 'defending' was what they called what it was they did.

Jiren turned away, frowning, and missed the beginnings of the blast from the surface.

"Christ!" He said, turning. Even from this far out, the explosion was clear, a fiery orange-red against the blue and green backdrop of Tholatin.

"That was the capital city..." General Farlander said, dropping the cigarra he was smoking. "That blast must have been two kilometres wide!"

And there were only a few things that could produce such a blast. Nuclear weapons... or a reactor core.

"Shit." Jiren said, watching the smoke (visible even from the distance) curl up and darken the atmosphere.

"Estimated casualties coming in." The sensor operator said. "Between five and ten thousand, going by the size of the blast and the population density of the capital."

That was ten thousand people... civilians, mostly, killed.

"Jesus Christ..."

Tholatin,
Surface

"The blast radius is almost two kilometres wide, Sir." The officer said. "And it's very dangerous to be around here. We haven't yet secured all of the buildings, and-"

At that moment, one of the towers that had been damaged in the blast began to collapse. Shattered duracreet fell to the broken walkways below, breaking on impact.

Then the tower, its base gone, tipped sideways and fell with a resounding CRASH to the wrecked and cluttered ground.

The officer ran off, leaving the man in the trench coat alone. Smiling thinly, he removed a small camera from a pocket and began snapping pictures, knowing that they were all being transmitted instantly to a relay station, and from there to the rest of the galaxy.

Stepping past a fallen piece of debris, the man zoomed in on what had once been the ArcTek building, and snapped several shots of the devestation.

The freighter's core had done more damage that anyone could have anticipated.

The man in the trench coat was not affiliated with any of the 'terrorist' cells that had (if one were to believe the INN) caused this devestation. He was a reporter.

The first one able to penetrate the security around the blast site. The Tholatin government was still in denial about the attack. The images of this devestation would be more than enough to put those lies to shame.

The chrono on the man's wrist chimed, and he moved away from the scene. He had a meeting arranged with a certain officer of the Tholatin Police who could confirm that the attacks had caused many deaths...

Edit: Moved