Jedi Taskforce Dispatched to Reel in Thranta

EXPANSION REGION NODE – The Judicial Department has dispatched a Jedi taskforce to track down the rogue Judicial corvette, Scarlet Thranta, which has started its own private war with the Separatists.

“At 0400 this morning, a taskforce of 12 Jedi and 30 Judiciaries left Coruscant for the Sluis sector in the hopes of getting Captain Slayke and the crew of the Scarlet Thranta to stand down from their unauthorized campaign in Separatist space,” confirmed Judicial Terrinald Screed.

The taskforce, led by Corellian Jedi Nejaa Halcyon, consists of eight Jedi starfighters and the Republic cruiser, Plooriod Bodkin.

Two weeks ago, Captain Zozridor Slayke and the 150-being crew of the Thranta, a mid-sized corvette, defected from the Republic on a routine patrol mission near Sluissi space. “We will fight to preserve this union, even if the Senate is afraid to defend itself,” said Slayke in a final transmission to the Republic.

The Senate has loudly condemned the actions of Slayke, though he has become a sort of cult hero throughout the Mid Rim. “Frustrated by the Republic’s sluggish response to the Separatist crisis, many citizens are inspired by Captain Slayke’s will to act,” says Grabda Weng, a sociopolitical analyst from the University of Alderaan. “Many feel a war is inevitable, and don’t understand the Judiciary and Jedi mission to rein in the Thranta. Then, there are also the conspiracy theorists who believe this entire thing was premeditated.”

There are as yet no reports of any skirmishes in the Sluis sector, though HoloNet transmission from the area have been discontinued for some time. The Judicial Department has confirmed that the Sluis sector has issued a 45,000-credit bounty on the capture of Captain Zozridor Slayke.

“This is a Judicial issue, and that bounty is not recognized by our department. We insist any sanctioned independent or guild hunter to ignore what amounts to an unauthorized posting,” said Screed