An interview with Khaldorn Murino regarding Insorum and the U'K, part one

Arielle deVoir: Good evening
Khaldorn Murino: Greetings, Ni-Kunni. My council has asked me to speak for them on this matter. I am here to relate to you certain facts regarding the Insorium debate which, you must know, may be dangerous knowledge.
Arielle deVoir: Can you tell me what the Ushra'Khan have been doing the last couple of months?
Khaldorn Murino: Well, as you know, we tasked ourselves with defending the good doctor on his mission, but unfortunately we failed in our duty; on the way to Istodard we were ambushed by the Caldari Independent Navy Reserve and assorted other supporters of the Caldari machine. In the melee that ensued, Dr. Hnolku was murdered by a CAIN pilot. He is a hero, and we failed him, but during that melee one of our pilots managed to swoop in and retrieve, amongst the wreckage, the cargo of the doctor’s shuttle. Amongst that cargo we found a chemical container, which we took back to our laboratories to evaluate.
Khaldorn Murino: You can imagine what we hoped. What we discovered was that we did indeed have the Insorum, but only in a prototype form. We were elated, but soon discovered the limits of what we had uncovered. We set our scientists, headed by our Chief Science Officer, Mah Kraah, to study the compound, in the process enlisting certain underground elements which I cannot divulge here. What we discovered was disturbing. The Insorum was indeed incomplete. It was unstable in its current form. So we implemented Project Salvation. Our scientists laboured hard to complete the cure, and we had... limited success in a few cases. It was stabilised somewhat, but still unusable. And we were unable to replicate it in any quantity. It had become apparent that our resources were insufficient, so we looked elsewhere. We looked to the Republic. Now, you must realise our relationship with the Republic is somewhat... tenuous, yes? But they are our people nevertheless.
Arielle deVoir: I understand well enough, but would you be so kind as to explain your relationship with the Republic for newer readers?
Khaldorn Murino: We fight for our people. That is the whole reason for our existence. To free them from bondage. And the Republic is our people. We do not, however, support the current government of the Republic. It doesn’t do enough for our people. However, many of our people within the Republic support our actions, and we receive certain levels of support from members of its leadership, in particular the Republic Fleet. They are warriors like us, and they understand what we do. So, while there is no official support for our cause, we have many sympathisers who agree with what we do, who see it necessary to obtain the freedom of our people from the clutches of the Empire. It is a complicated relationship. So, our council decided that we would keep the discovery of what we had a secret, and approach the Republic through our contacts on the understanding that the Republic would find it politically difficult to lend us support publicly, particularly in light of the current situation between the empires. But the response we received through these channels... well, it stunned us.
Arielle deVoir: Why did it stun you?
Khaldorn Murino: We approached many of our old contacts in confident, seeking assistance with this, hopeful that we would find the help we searched for. But every pilot reported back with the same response – nothing. No one would speak to us, no one wanted to be anywhere near what we had! Can you imagine - our own people! Our own damn people, and they turned their back on us. And not just us, all those they could help. But we persisted.
Arielle deVoir: That’s unbelievable.
Khaldorn Murino: I know our scientists toiled daily, but to no avail. We have had glimmers of hope: a gifted underground scientist managed to produce a stable form of the prototype which cured a number of people, but once again that mutated and became useless. In short, we are desperate. So that is why I speak to you this day.
Arielle deVoir: It sounds like you’re giving it all you’ve got. What do you think will be needed to succeed in stabilising the Cure?
Khaldorn Murino: I am not a scientist myself, but Mah Kraah reports to me that the only chance we have of cracking this thing is with the resources of a large scientific establishment at our disposal, such as those that exist in the Empire. The resources they can call upon are immense, and they contain the brightest minds in our universe. So that is why we are going public. It is a dangerous step however.
Arielle deVoir: Why dangerous?
Khaldorn Murino: We need help. We are begging for it - not for us, but for our people. Why? Do you think the Empire will be happy when they find out there is another sample in existence? They have tasted Insorum once already, and look at the result.
Arielle deVoir: Do you believe they will fight you for it?
Khaldorn Murino: They fought the Blood Raiders. But who can say, really? We believe they already know of the existence of another prototype, but we doubt they knew who has it.
Arielle deVoir: Would you trust the Republic if they offered assistance?
Khaldorn Murino: Even though they have turned their backs on us, they are still our people. We would accept help from the Republic, yes. We would also accept help from the Gallente.
Arielle deVoir: Would you even consider giving the Insorum up to the Republic, or would you prefer to work together?
Khaldorn Murino: We would prefer to work together, but if they refused to work with us, we would give them a sample of the prototype to work with. If it would help our people, of course we would. We need help, of that there is no doubt. And we are not too proud to ask for it, or indeed beg for it. This is not for us, it is for our people.