Freedom Fighter demonstrations lead to rioting in Borealis
May 22, 29483 - [Global]

IRRK - IRRK - Borealis 13th/14th May 29483 - A heated demonstration by the Borealis Freedom Fighters becomes a full-scale riot as Omni-Pol communications are reportedly hacked. Although the fighting was eventually ended, the situation in Borealis remains tense.


It was during the early evening that angry shouts started to issue from near the grid terminal. The usual slogans of the campaign for the idependance of Borealis filled the air as a group of Freedom Fighters appeared amid a crowd of neutral supporters and angry OT employees.

The shouts went back and forth as the mob advanced up the main market street. Some of the discourse was recorded above the ambient noise:

"Omni are here illegally, they stopped the legitimate elections!"
"Pff, I have no idea about that but Omni rocks!"
"Shut up you brainwashed corporate drones."
"Brainwash this!"
"Neutrals! Grab your guns and stand up for your rights!"
"Omni-Tek, grab your bombs and kill these liars."

While the demonstration continued outside the Fair Trade shop with the protestors calling for support from neutral citizens, a troop of Omni-Pol guards attempted to arrest the Freedom Fighters. As this happened, the Borealis PA system was heard to broadcast a message from the Freedom Fighters, claiming that they had taken control of the communications systems and that now was the time to fight.

Fighting immediately broke out between neutral citizens and Omni-Tek, as the Omni-Pol troops were initially pushed up the hill towards the whompahs, seemingly unable to call for backup. The Freedom Fighters were once again heard rallying neutrals to drive Omni-Tek out of the town. It was not long before the troop of Pol officers were overwhelmed and were killed by the crowd, but the violence continued as other Omni-Tek employees continued the fight.

The conflict reached a steady level until the PA system came to life once again with a message from Omni-Pol requesting that everyone return to their homes. A number of heavily armoured Juggernauts entered the fray, dispersing some of the neutrals and Clans that had joined and forcing the Freedom Fighters back away from the whompahs. The remaining Freedom Fighters reportedly escaped into the grid, although the fighting continued long after even the Juggernauts were disabled by the rioting crowd.

Again, we managed to capture several shouts above the background noise:

"So that's what those giant doors are for."
"Take a hike neutrals, to the other side of the galaxy!"
"Robot attack!"
"Don't tase me bro!"
"For the Horde!"
"Who has loot? Ninja!!"

After order had been restored, an anonymous Omni-Pol guard spoke to us about the incident. When asked about the security of Borealis he replied: "I really couldn't comment on the security situation, obviously. But I'm not surprised this happened to be completely honest. We've had quite a few cases of the guards being systematically attacked for seemingly no reason recently. I'm sure it's fine though, you've got nothing to worry about. Omni-Tek protects and stuff."