Panlong Seizure
The Panlong Seizure occured in 12249, by three unknown assailant ships claiming to be part of the Technocracy. The formerly neutral colony was forced to accede to the fledgling faction under the threat of orbital bombardment.
Though it claims it was not responsible for the Panlong Seizure, the Technocracy legally treated Panlong as if it were its own colony. For instance, after the signing of the Fenrir Treaty in 12251, the Technocracy, delivered goods and economic supportfrom Fenrir to Panlong. The positive legal treatment of the Panlong Seizure by Technocracy officials has been met with disapproval by the IF3.
Despite the seizure of the colony by the Technocracy, Panlong was still widely internationally recognised as a neutral colony. It was not until 12271, after the Technocracy became an internationally recognised country did Panlong receive recognition for being a Technocracy colony.
Background
Panlong's colonisation began in the 12230s, by Draconians fleeing the rising tension on Arkas, with the assistance of Black March and the United Terran Federation. It became an established and partially self-sufficient colony by 12247. At this time, it was recognised by least by the March and the Federation, as a colony of the Eldership. However, Panlong colonists objected to this association and would historically declare themselves as neutral.
Since the outbreak of the civil war and advent of Technocracy in 12243, experts on all sides have suspect that the Technocracy may attempt to occupy the colony, as it only had a paramilitary force in the form of a planetary police, with few other viable options to defend against a potential incursion. Antares Silus, in Illija’s absence, would reject claims that the Technocracy conspired to forcibly take the colony, stating that Panlong was “not a worthwhile military target”. He would repeatedly emphasise that engaging the diplomatically would be better for both parties.
Seizure
On midday, 28th of June 12249, three unknown corvettes exited jump in geosynchronous orbit of Panlong. These three corvettes would initially attempt to parley with the colony to no avail. The corvettes would then break orbit and approach the planet over the course of the next few hours. There are unverified claims that the corvettes came as close as visual range before attempting to hail the colony again. Whatever their distance, the corvettes’ second hails were answered by the port authorities who believed the corvettes were March freighters delivering supplies. When the corvettes identified themselves as military vessels and demanded to speak to the planetary administration, port authorities complied and passed the transmission onto Local administrator Val Soren.
Once Val Soren opened comms the apparent leader of the contingent would identify himself as ‘Commodore Ishioka’. With only voice comms available, Soren would report that Ishioka was “slightly robotic, and less-slightly insane”. Indeed, Ishioka would open with a slur-ridden rant about Federation imperialism, various unrelated welfare policies and a conspiracy theory that Soren described as “frankly ridiculous”. Ishioka would then immediately begin to angrily demand that Panlong make a pledge of allegiance to the Technocracy, as well as permitting the contingent to seize all of their available armaments without resistance. Thinking that Ishioka was simply some sort of mad pirate, Soren refused, which incensed Ishioka and caused the commodore to threaten to carpet bomb the colony. To accentuate his point, Ishioka ordered one of the ships to fire a MAC round into the uninhabited Olgoi region. This caught the attention of his other administration who urged Soren to comply with the demands. The administration would unanimously agree to the demands, verbally pledging allegience over comms and ordering the planetary police force to surrender all their long guns and ammunition. Several mining cooperatives were also ordered to surrender their explosives.
Late into the night, another freighter bearing Conglomerate registrations would land and armed personnel would seize the demanded goods. The Jiaolong Capital Police would also report armed assailants held up the police precinct in the capital and made away with the rest of the small arms. Despite the heist, most of the reisdents of Jiao were asleep at this point, and were completely unaware that the seizure had occured at all.
Aftermath
The next day, Val Soren’s administration held a press conference, announcing the Panlong colony was under Technocracy control. Initially the broadcast was brushed off as a hoax until 12252, when Illija Tykas and the Panlong adminsitration confirmed that the colony was indeed under Technocracy jurisdiction. In an interview, Tykas condemned the act, stating that “robbing an already impoverished colony was an unconscionable act”. However, she also avoided explicitly stating whether the seizure did or did not legitimise Technocracy jurisdiction. Few Panlong residents would contest Technocracy rule but were mostly quietened by stricter policing and the delivery of the Panlong Economic Development Plan.
The corvettes were later identified as an export model of the UTF’s Foxhound-class corvette, which were seldom used by Greater Prospect's military or customs. Conglomerate representatives claimed that the seizure was “clearly a false flag operation” and that no freighter with the matching registration had ever existed. Both the Conglomerate and the Technocracy have refused to offer alternative explanations. Extensive efforts were made to track down ‘Commodore Ishioka’ but neither faction identified the culprit.
The IF3 censured the Technocracy for not investigating the incident thoroughly enough and further denounced the Technocracy for using the action to legitimise their influence over the colony. The Technocracy would publicly deny these claims, with Illija continuing to assert that they were not responsible for the seizure. Illija would further posit that, in an actual seizure, the Technocracy would have used the Stormhawk-class corvettes over any import model. Several archons of the Draconian Defence Force would corroborate Illija’s denial, presenting depot registers to show that none of the stolen armaments ever made it to the Arkasian front line. Regardless, the IF3 and several other international factions continued to acknowledge Panlong as a neutral/Eldership colony until the Eldership capitulated in 12271.
Legacy
- In 12275, the city of New Ishioka was founded, with the city being named after the Commodore responsible for the incident.
- Local Panlong band ‘Asov’ composed a heavy-metal song commemorating the incident.
Panlong Seizure
