Blood Raider Statement Causes Uproar

In a coded message released to all major news agencies this morning, Omir Sarikusa, leader of the notorious Blood Raider Covenant, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Eckarine Mitumi-Hnolku, wife of outlaw scientist Ullia Hnolku. Accompanying the message were images of a woman, later confirmed by State sources as Mrs. Hnolku, being subjected to “blooding” – the ritual draining of blood which constitutes a focal point of the Covenant’s highly controversial religious practices.

Furthermore, Sarikusa stated that the Blood Raiders were “now in control of the Insorum prototype, and more than willing to use it to strike at the heart of our enemy. The Empire’s infidels will cower in their palaces tonight, for their foundations are about to be shaken. It is time for the fall of Amarr.”

The news has caused massive unrest on Amarr Prime, with businesses and institutions closing down all over the planet and Holders recalling outsourced and subcontracted slave labor. Dam-Torsad has reported the largest gridlock in the city’s history, and the planet’s sub-orbital air force is reportedly working with Navy forces in securing airspace above all major metropolitan areas and labor colonies.

Others, meanwhile, are not so certain that the threat claimed by the Covenant is real. Caldari State officials have declared that “no conclusive evidence has yet arrived from the Executive Panel’s investigation that would indicate that the drug has the effects described by the doctor or his supporters. Furthermore, to create any mass-distributable form of this drug would require cutting-edge scientific minds, the likes of which we are confident can only be found in a few places in the universe. We sincerely doubt the Blood Raider Covenant has access to any such individuals.”

When asked of the possibility that Mrs. Hnolku could have been carrying a possible second copy of the Insorum prototype, Zainou Biotech officials have given the answer that theoretically, the drug may have been replicated before the two scientists eloped from Zainou headquarters in Isseras. They added that while no evidence could be found of such a replication having taken place, the possibility could not be discounted.

Dr. Ullia Hnolku remains at large. He is known to be in negotiations with several capsuleer parties via GalNet, a communications thread played and replayed by feedsites the world over in the past week.

More news on the situation as it develops.