Kaalakiota Backs Sukuuvestaa Over Lai Dai in "Ghost Ship" Tussle

Saisio, The Forge – This afternoon, a seemingly undamaged Raven-class battleship bearing the Lai Dai logo emerged from a wormhole in Saisio near the Sukuuvestaa Corporation station in orbit of Moon 20, Saisio VIII. According to sources aboard the Sukuuvestaa HQ, station security personally led by Kauliken Uusazoken took the derelict ship into custody and towed it to the station after it failed to respond to repeated communication attempts. Reports indicate that the ship appeared to be adrift without power.

Lai Dai CEO Alakoni Ishanoy released a statement calling for SuVee to return the battleship and any crew to Lai Dai's possession. "If witness reports are accurate, the Raven matches the description of LDSS Airkio's Promise, flagship of our wormhole expedition which went missing nearly a decade ago. A single Raven retrofitted to function as a laboratory hardly constitutes a threat, even to the Peace and Order Unit." Among the missing were nearly six thousand employees on the research vessel and its escorts.

While SuVee has declined to release details about the ship or potential presence of crew, they did release a brief statement reading in part, "As the vessel in question qualifies as salvage under applicable State law, Sukuuvestaa Corporation will retain custody of the vessel and maintain a primary interest in its disposition."

In a move emphasizing ongoing political realignments in the State, Kaalakiota Corporation, nominally Lai Dai's fellow "Patriot Bloc" member, quickly released a statement in support of SuVee's position. The move by KK suggests Lai Dai would have no easy time of it should they choose to escalate the dispute to the Caldari Business Tribunal or Chief Executive Panel.

Additionally, the current summit meeting of the CEP is considering the critical issues of megacorporation territorial concessions, corporate security force jurisdiction, and the current status of Inner Circle negotiations on the Emergency War Powers Act YC110. In this context, Lai Dai making too much of a relatively minor salvage suit would risk losing face before the other megacorps.

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