Sol Bulletin #14

The following is excerpted from issue #14 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 #14 was released sixteen days after the Crucible fired.  

"Persephone" Contests Alliance's Story on Miranda Lawson
Today a broadcast was made from a remote location on Earth on a frequency that's widely used for civilian ship-to-ship communication. The powerful audio-only broadcast featured an electronically disguised voice that made several allegations about the Alliance's arrest of Miranda Lawson, the woman who was arrested alongside Sol Bulletin reporter Khalisah al-Jilani several days ago.

 The broadcast opened with the cryptic pronouncement, "This is Persephone." "Persephone" then laid out their accusations against the Alliance. First, they claimed that Miranda Lawson played a heroic role in Operation Hammer, and was briefly being considered for a Star of Terra after the battle - making her Indoctrination seem highly unlikely. Second, they said that Lawson once worked for Cerberus, but left almost a year ago and has been actively hunted by Cerberus agents since. Third, they said that Lawson left Cerberus after taking part in Commander Shepard's attack on the Collectors, which was infamously sponsored by Cerberus.

These assertions, taken together, paint a very different picture of Lawson than the one presented by the Alliance. Persephone's final claim is the capstone: that Lawson was meeting with al-Jilani because she knew "where Shepard is" and wanted to publicize the information.

Alliance High Command has denied that Lawson was ever considered for decoration after the Battle of Earth, pointing out that only active-service military personnel are eligible for the Star of Terra. They denied all knowledge of Lawson having left Cerberus or served alongside Commander Shepard, and they dismissed as "ridiculous" the idea that they would try to prevent Lawson from publicizing information about Commander Shepard. "We want to know what happened to her too," said spokesman Lieutenant Daniel Lucas.

The Sol Bulletin can now reveal that we received a communications via Extranet moments before the broadcast started that purported to be from Persephone. The message revealed details of al-Jilani's correspondence with Lawson that were found by Sol Bulletin staff in her personal email after her arrest, details which were not shared with the public or authorities. Whoever Persephone is, they do have a legitimate connection with Lawson.