State vindicated. Chemal implicated.
With recently discovered information brought to more widespread attention, there are now implications of a far more scandalous situation than previously thought. In part two of an in-depth review, the Interstellar Correspondents will cover amongst other things, the recent actions of one Cras Evacone; a Gallente columnist who was pushing his own interpretation of events to the capsuleer community in Luminaire.
Last Tuesday evening, almost at the same time as Varnen Maan was addressing the pilots of Perimeter, the columnist Cras Evacone was elaborating on recent events. In a typical show of the liberalism he is known for, Mr. Evacone was just as critical of his own people as the other involved parties, claiming that the recent actions of Chemal Tech, which allegedly involved the use of undercover agents, damaged the reputation of the Gallente Federation and undermined everything it stands for.
“What I would like to talk about here…is the increasingly corrupt practices of our own fellow men, which in the long term, might seriously undermine the core values of our Federation, forged in suffering and battle by our ancestors,” remarked Mr. Evacone in his opening statements to the surprised gathering of pilots.
Mr. Evacone added: “I am talking about the attitude that will, in the long term, undermine our core values, replacing our striving for individualism, freedom and self-expression with lust for profit margins. I am talking about corruption at all levels, about the conspiracy among our 'captains of industry', about the ultimate greed.”
When pushed for more details and evidence of the corruption he was alleging, Mr. Evacone stated: “I have definite proof that Chemal Tech employs undercover operatives to spy on, and actually sabotage the other corporations, both Gallente and foreign ones…the evidence will be revealed in due course, and the sheer weight of it will be enough to make sure no one will try to repeat their underhand practices…we are talking the ultimate degree of corruption here, the one that goes to high places. So I think you understand why I have to be careful.”
Elaborating further on the current situation regarding the Kalaakiota research facility in Republic space, Mr. Evacone confirmed that Chemal Tech “is employing spies and saboteurs to operate abroad, with intentions to undermine operations of a certain Caldari corporation pursuing its legitimate business in Minmatar Republic…if this goes on, I would like to ask you - how long is it before we find ourselves our own internal Kassigainen 'incident'?
Mr. Evacone’s allegations were met with mixed reactions. One Federation official remarked that making such claims without solid evidence constituted an act of “extreme irresponsibility.” Capsuleer pilots were dubious however, of Mr. Evacone’s chance of a successful prosecution if he raised the issue exclusively through the normal legal methods, applauding him for blowing the whistle on his own people. “The best thing we must do is to expose the double-dealing and black-ops practices of our own corporations…our ancestors did not fight a long and bloody war to become like Caldari, in the end,” said Mr. Evacone in reply.
He stated that once he made the full evidence publicly available, he would nonetheless “pursue legal action…and make sure they will not be able to continue their dirty tricks any longer.” Many see his announcement in Luminaire as a shrewd political move. If his evidence is anywhere near as compelling as he claims it to be, then in all likelihood there will be a surge of public sentiment to support the legal battle, placing significant pressure on the Federation, and in particular Chemal Tech to explain itself.
Evacone himself is a known ultra-liberal with a history for being just as critical of his own government as those abroad. His political commentaries which are featured in the Scope-owned daily magazine Vramiere, are highly popular amongst the younger Federation citizens. His latest article drew a record number of readers and has catapulted him to new levels of popularity in the Federation.
At the centre of the controversy is the research facility deployed in Republic space. A communication made on Galnet late last month was brought to the attention of the Interstellar Correspondents and the general interstellar community when Tekkai Magha used it as the centerpiece for his latest conspiracy theory.
It is understood that the research facility belongs to the Kalaakiota Corporation. Information made available by Electus Matari pilot Evanda Char confirmed their involvement. The logs, which were intercepted and decoded, suggest that Kalaakiota have deployed a starbase somewhere in republic space, with comments from one of their operatives stating: “Construction of the outpost is complete”.
Other pilots from Takagi Corp came forward not long after the transmission, sharing further information. Most startling however was a particular line that mentioned “hardware bought from Eifyr.” The information implied that Kalaakiota itself was somehow involved directly in dealings with Eifyr & Co. who was previously thought to be scheming with Chemal Tech against them.
Magha leaped on the communications logs, again stirring new conspiracies on the underground networks, with claims that Evacone and Maan were both “way off base”.
“This is only confusing if you look at it from the usual perspective – one of national interest. It appears that greed has finally transcended nationalism. Yes that’s right, transnational greed for a transnational conspiracy. Maan, Evacone…they’re right on some things, and miss the mark completely on others. Whether this was intentional or not, I can’t say, but they’re clearly wrong about the involvement of Eifyr and Co. and Chemal Tech. What we’re looking at is some sort of shadowy deal between the three of them. It’s hard to understand just in what way three such completely different organizations could be involved, but the facts speak for themselves.”
Evacone dismissed Magha’s assessment as “laughable”, claiming that the apparent collaboration between Kalaakiota and Eifyr & Co. was “simply a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing” and not representative of the larger machinations at hand.
“There is no way the likes of Kalaakiota would associate with Eifyr & Co. The evidence I have shows this to be a matter of economics only. One group of people, who were not at the time representing Kalaakiota, buy from the lowest seller, who just happened to belong to a corporation that was in part, acting against their interests. When the time comes, what I have to say will leave little doubt about this.”
The recent allegations have swung things around almost entirely, and now the political pressure surrounding the starbase in Republic space rests almost entirely on the shoulders of Chemal Tech and the Federation. Evacone was hesitant however, to label the State as completely blameless. “There’s a very good reason why people no longer trust the Chief Executive Panel. I was surprised to see for once that they were actually the target of impropriety and not the source of it, it’s almost a miracle. It’s a sad day for the Federation when one can say truthfully that we have acted in a worse fashion than the Caldari.”
There has still been no official response from Caldari State officials on the matter. Commenting on this, Evacone stated: “They may be vindicated in this matter, but they know they are in no position to gloat about it.”
