Recently I shared my feelings about my reluctant engagement into the human trafficking trade. Since then, I have uncovered shocking evidence of possible Federation involvement in concealing the existence of the black market slave trade in the I Bootis system.
Let me start by saying that I am not a citizen of the Federation, and beyond that, many would consider my moral standing to be questionable. I earn my living hunting wanted pilots, but I tend to be more interested in wanted traders as most of my income actually comes from selling the cargo these ships drop. Despite the fact that System Authority is quite content to let me condemn these pilots to the void and pay me for my trouble, salvaging cargo of this nature is considered illegal and I am forced to sell it on the black market.
Recently, for the first time, I witnessed a mark dump a cargo of slaves... men and women put into medically induced comas to be traded like livestock. I was stunned to say the least. For those that aren't aware, cargo canisters are generally not designed to withstand exposure to vacuum and their structural integrity will degrade rapidly when flushed into space in this manner. I quickly scooped as many of the containers as I could fit into my hold, though I simply did not have the capacity for all of them.
I immediately made for the local station, Chango Dock, where I conduct the majority of my business lately. While I am used to avoiding authority scans, the prospect of being caught with this particular cargo had my heart racing as I doubted if the authorities would be particularly interested in the details of the situation. Upon landing I comm'd my black market contact figuring he would have the connections to set these people up without implicating us in any illicit activity. I explained what had happened to him, and showed him the containers. He looked them over briefly and then assured me that he would handle everything. Relieved, I stood by silently while two dockers on his payroll carted the canisters away. Not long after they had finished, a notification popped up on my ship's console. My account had just been credited the largest amount I had ever received in a ship of this size.
I wasn't prepared for this. I had just sold human lives. I didn't realize I was doing it, but it had happened nonetheless. The number was very large, though... the kind of number usually reserved for precious metals. I could feel myself starting to rationalize what had happened, already. Those people would have died if I hadn't picked them up, so compensation wasn't out of the question, was it? In any case, the man I'd turned them over to wasn't the sort who I could say I had simply made a mistake to. It was done, and the only choice left to someone like me was what to do with the money.
The next day I went back out there, this time with a cargo scanner. I'm not sure what I was thinking exactly but between the usual wanted marks, I began scanning cargo vessels with clean records. They would all bolt the moment I started scanning, legitimate cargo or not. Most had standard fare like foodstuffs and machinery, while some were carrying contraband, but that wasn't my business until they had a bounty on their heads. Then I found what I was looking for. A Lakon Type-6; it was filled with a smattering of legitimate cargo, a significant quantity of narcotic substances and dozens of slaves. Without thinking I opened fire.
My ship is outfitted for this, so it's shields were down in seconds and I was tearing away at it's hull. Many smugglers and traders in this situation will panic and start dumping cargo in an effort to appease what they hope is just a pirate and this pilot was no different. I saw those people tumbling out of the ship and realized the gravity of the situation... once again I did not have the capacity to save all of these people, and even if I did, I now did not know what to do with them. I barely noticed when the Type-6 jumped out.
All I could think to do this time was to comm a fellow Viper pilot I sometimes flew with, who I knew to be in-system. I scooped as many of the containers as I could while I tried to explain the situation to my cohort, urging him to make haste. All I could do was wait as the remaining canisters slowly began to show signs of breaking down.
Then, three contacts appeared on my scanners... federal fighters. As my mind raced to deal with this development, they opened fire. Except my ship registered no attack. They were destroying the jettisoned canisters. I sat there frozen, unable to accept that what I was seeing was really happening. I did have the wherewithal to capture a few images of the scene.
A moment after that last image one of the fighters engaged me. That shook me out of my daze. I've had to run from feds before, so I instinctively boosted past them, quickly getting out of the range of their weapons. My cohort's voice coming over comms saying he was dropping in on the nav buoy reminded me of the situation I was leaving behind... I looped around to face the pursuing federal ships. We plowed towards each other, weapons overheating and shields faltering. At the last second I veered to avoid one of the fighters, but he veered in the same direction. I spun out of control with my ships warning systems blaring. Then the emergency ejection system kicked in. That's the last thing I remember.
My story may be roundabout, and the implications unclear, but it seems likely that the Federation or, at the very least, Federation representatives are directly involved in covering up human trafficking within the I Bootis system. With no warning, Federal fighters attacked and destroyed dozens of defenseless slaves and then opened fire on the only witnessing vessel, ultimately destroying it, killing even more slaves and nearly killing it's pilot (myself).
I myself have been less than noble in my life, but I cannot stand idly by while these things are happening right in front of me. This incident needs to be answered for, and the involvement of Federal officials investigated. I urge every citizen of the Federation, particularly those of the I Bootis system to demand the truth.
For those of you who are reddit users, I urge you to comment on my post in /r/EliteDangerous as I am far more active there than I am here. You can find my post here.
Let me start by saying that I am not a citizen of the Federation, and beyond that, many would consider my moral standing to be questionable. I earn my living hunting wanted pilots, but I tend to be more interested in wanted traders as most of my income actually comes from selling the cargo these ships drop. Despite the fact that System Authority is quite content to let me condemn these pilots to the void and pay me for my trouble, salvaging cargo of this nature is considered illegal and I am forced to sell it on the black market.
Recently, for the first time, I witnessed a mark dump a cargo of slaves... men and women put into medically induced comas to be traded like livestock. I was stunned to say the least. For those that aren't aware, cargo canisters are generally not designed to withstand exposure to vacuum and their structural integrity will degrade rapidly when flushed into space in this manner. I quickly scooped as many of the containers as I could fit into my hold, though I simply did not have the capacity for all of them.
I immediately made for the local station, Chango Dock, where I conduct the majority of my business lately. While I am used to avoiding authority scans, the prospect of being caught with this particular cargo had my heart racing as I doubted if the authorities would be particularly interested in the details of the situation. Upon landing I comm'd my black market contact figuring he would have the connections to set these people up without implicating us in any illicit activity. I explained what had happened to him, and showed him the containers. He looked them over briefly and then assured me that he would handle everything. Relieved, I stood by silently while two dockers on his payroll carted the canisters away. Not long after they had finished, a notification popped up on my ship's console. My account had just been credited the largest amount I had ever received in a ship of this size.
I wasn't prepared for this. I had just sold human lives. I didn't realize I was doing it, but it had happened nonetheless. The number was very large, though... the kind of number usually reserved for precious metals. I could feel myself starting to rationalize what had happened, already. Those people would have died if I hadn't picked them up, so compensation wasn't out of the question, was it? In any case, the man I'd turned them over to wasn't the sort who I could say I had simply made a mistake to. It was done, and the only choice left to someone like me was what to do with the money.
The next day I went back out there, this time with a cargo scanner. I'm not sure what I was thinking exactly but between the usual wanted marks, I began scanning cargo vessels with clean records. They would all bolt the moment I started scanning, legitimate cargo or not. Most had standard fare like foodstuffs and machinery, while some were carrying contraband, but that wasn't my business until they had a bounty on their heads. Then I found what I was looking for. A Lakon Type-6; it was filled with a smattering of legitimate cargo, a significant quantity of narcotic substances and dozens of slaves. Without thinking I opened fire.
My ship is outfitted for this, so it's shields were down in seconds and I was tearing away at it's hull. Many smugglers and traders in this situation will panic and start dumping cargo in an effort to appease what they hope is just a pirate and this pilot was no different. I saw those people tumbling out of the ship and realized the gravity of the situation... once again I did not have the capacity to save all of these people, and even if I did, I now did not know what to do with them. I barely noticed when the Type-6 jumped out.
All I could think to do this time was to comm a fellow Viper pilot I sometimes flew with, who I knew to be in-system. I scooped as many of the containers as I could while I tried to explain the situation to my cohort, urging him to make haste. All I could do was wait as the remaining canisters slowly began to show signs of breaking down.
Then, three contacts appeared on my scanners... federal fighters. As my mind raced to deal with this development, they opened fire. Except my ship registered no attack. They were destroying the jettisoned canisters. I sat there frozen, unable to accept that what I was seeing was really happening. I did have the wherewithal to capture a few images of the scene.
A moment after that last image one of the fighters engaged me. That shook me out of my daze. I've had to run from feds before, so I instinctively boosted past them, quickly getting out of the range of their weapons. My cohort's voice coming over comms saying he was dropping in on the nav buoy reminded me of the situation I was leaving behind... I looped around to face the pursuing federal ships. We plowed towards each other, weapons overheating and shields faltering. At the last second I veered to avoid one of the fighters, but he veered in the same direction. I spun out of control with my ships warning systems blaring. Then the emergency ejection system kicked in. That's the last thing I remember.
My story may be roundabout, and the implications unclear, but it seems likely that the Federation or, at the very least, Federation representatives are directly involved in covering up human trafficking within the I Bootis system. With no warning, Federal fighters attacked and destroyed dozens of defenseless slaves and then opened fire on the only witnessing vessel, ultimately destroying it, killing even more slaves and nearly killing it's pilot (myself).
I myself have been less than noble in my life, but I cannot stand idly by while these things are happening right in front of me. This incident needs to be answered for, and the involvement of Federal officials investigated. I urge every citizen of the Federation, particularly those of the I Bootis system to demand the truth.
For those of you who are reddit users, I urge you to comment on my post in /r/EliteDangerous as I am far more active there than I am here. You can find my post here.
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