Sol Bulletin #10

The following is excerpted from issue #10 of the Sol Bulletin, an ad hoc news sheet distributed electronically among survivors of the Battle of Earth in the chaotic period following the firing of the Crucible. Issue #10 was released twelve days after the Crucible fired.

Betrayal Devastated Arcturus Flotilla; Was Indoctrination To Blame?
The Arcturus Flotilla remains outside the Oort cloud today, and is not responding to comms from civilian ships. After a marathon session, the Inter-species Summit finally commented on the Flotilla's status. President Lisa Ford of the UNAS, Urdnot Wrex of the Krogan forces, Matriarch Lidanya of the Asari fleet, and Admiral Hackett of the Systems Alliance appeared together in a broadcast made to the entire Sol system, each reading from the same prepared statement.

"Major Kaidan Alenko of the System Alliance broadcast his report on the outcome of the mission to Arcturus to Alliance High Command upon reentering the Sol system," President Ford said. "As previously agreed, that report was immediately shared with every Earth government and with each military high command in the Sol system. Major Alenko reported full success in restoring the Arcturus Relay. However, his report also noted the tragic loss of the Asari frigate Joyous and the Alliance cruiser Manila, and included several deeply troubling details surrounding the incident."

"Approximately thirty six hours after the Flotilla left Sol, Joyous made an unusual broadcast on an open channel." Urdnot Wrex continued. "The message was unintelligible, and Joyous stopped responding to communications. Alenko - I mean, Major Kaidan Alenko - placed the Flotilla on alert. Manila was near Joyous and moved closer to investigate. Joyous accelerated suddenly and moved to ram Manila, which was unable to avoid a collision. The impact destroyed both ships."

"Search-and-rescue operations were attempted, but no survivors were found," read Matriarch Lidanya. "However, Asari ships do contain flight recorders designed to survive even the ship's destruction. Joyous' recorder was discovered and its data included in Major Alenko's report. It includes security video footage of a commando assigned to the Joyous assaulting the command deck and killing the crew. The communications officer tried to signal the fleet for help, but was killed before she could complete the transmission. The assailant then sealed the command deck, took control of the helm, and, noticing Manila's approach, moved to ram the other ship."

"Based on the behavior of the assailant, and certain statements she made that were captured by the flight recorder," concluded Admiral Hackett, "it's possible that she was acting under the influence of Indoctrination. In light of this, the only known case of Indoctrination since the Reapers were destroyed, the Flotilla is being isolated so that its members can be screened to the best of our ability. Initial interviews are already underway. I'm afraid we have no information on how this particular individual might have become affected."

"On behalf of the Summit, please allow me to say to every sentient in Sol: stay calm. Obviously the possibility of Indoctrination outlasting the Reapers is deeply troubling. We are proactively making preparations to account for any number of scenarios. We will get to the bottom of this. And we will protect you."