Clandonia Prime
15-08-2007, 00:47
Piracy was once a practice of ancient times, it was over two hundred years since the last instances had been recorded in Clandonian history, hitting vessels bringing the treasures of the Empire home. In recent years piracy attacks had been on the rise, more than the old days of a fishing boat with a powerful outboard and small arms, now small ships with destroyer grade weapons had been sighted. In the Haven with its many uninhabited island it was a playground for raiders preying on the large merchant container and even cruise vessels. Various companies including Imperial Clandonian Shipyards, Imperial Merchant Shipping and the powerful Clandonian East India Company took actions to protect them and theirs clients from attack by increasing security on the ships. Despite protection they took hits, the CEIC with its own small naval force of destroyers and frigates could only do so much and in the end the government was contacted. Laissez faire policies on the economy had to be put aside with issue of piracy becoming a threat to lives of the Clandonian merchant seaman and the many ships registered in Clandonian ports.
Parliament drafted the legislation, proposed by a Tory and Labour collaboration, the need to protect the products that were made in the factories of Clandonia, the ships that were built in the many shipyard and the merchant sailors made it a popular issue amongst the electorate.
Imperial Shipping Protection and Piracy Act of 2007
By order of His Majesty King William VII, The High Privy Council and the Imperial Crown Government that the following be placed under the statue of Crown and Colonial Law.
1. Clandonian Royal Navy protection to be placed upon ships of the company or organisation that requests it and pays the agreed sum of money, services or goods to the Imperial Crown.
2. Vessels belonging to the Clandonian East India Company will be given full Royal Navy fleet protection. In addition authorisation for the sale of former Royal Navy and surplus ships to the Clandonian East India Company is hereby granted by His Majesty’s Government.
3. The use of deadly force is authorised to Royal Navy escorts if they suspect a vessel is a threat to life and property under the protection of the Crown.
4. Individuals suspected or convicted of piracy will be executed without exception of age or gender.
The last point was of particular concern and was demanded by several MP’s who had East India Company connections and private interests. Without such a large Tory majority it would have been unlikely to be passed. Labour and Social Democratic MP’s left astonished by the brutality of the statement, the left wing newspaper and media outlets were heavily critical of the government response. Several hundred pirates had been captured or surrendered themselves after sustained Royal Navy bombardment of islands in the Eastern Haven, suspected to be where attacks were launched on the Virgin Islands colony.
For the small submarine and fast battleship squadrons it would be a time to shine, to rid the pirate threat in Eastern Haven with air support and satellite intelligence they had a significant upper hand. In the defence of the Crown and Imperium no pirate would be left alive or allowed to continue their treacherous crimes.
Port Royal, Clandonian Virgin Islands, Eastern Haven
The port was once the centre of Clandonian sugar cane production in the slave plantations of the Virgin Islands making the famous rum. Now it was a luxury holiday spot on the southern island chain, the home of the rich and famous with the lines of motor and sailing boats indicating the wealth of the area. In the public square usually bustling with tourists, today the uniforms of the Clandonian East India Company’s private security force and Royal Clandonian marines in ceremonial dress. In the centre stood a large set of gallows with eight ropes, waiting in line were sixteen suspected or convicted pirates, in the mix several young boys no older than fourteen and four prostitutes.
The executioner stood on the stand, reading out the statement. “These sixteen individuals have been or have suspected to be involved in one of the most serious crimes a person can do. Piracy, supporting terrorism, theft from the Crown, theft from private business under Crown protection and treason. The death sentence is hereby applied to the sixteen traitors, death by hanging for their crimes and may God have mercy on their soles.”
The first eight were shifted forward, the soldiers placed the ropes around the necks, to the side to break it quickly and cleanly. The bells in the clock tower chimed and the lever as pulled, the lifeless bodies dropped through the trap door, killed instantly as their spinal cord was severed from the brain. The bodies were cut down, picked up and dragged onto a truck and new rope added so the next eight could be hung. The procedure was repeated and it was over, the bodies hung in cages at the entrance to the port to deter other pirates and those that attacked the Crown. The procedure was televised as a warning to others, piracy was now a capital crime in Clandonia and regardless of age or gender, you would be killed.
The grisly remains hung in the cages illuminated at night, soon to be devoured by sea birds, insects and decay by the tropical heat, once there was nothing left but bones a fresh body from the latest round of executions would be added.
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Piracy Declared a 'Capital Crime'
http://media.hamptonroads.com/media/content/pilotonline/2007/01/tanker500x251.jpg
East India Company tankers have been attacked in the past
From the Warminster City Times
Front Page
The Clandonian East India Company welcomed the government bill yesterday which stepped up the punishment for piracy from a prison term to a capital crime. The company which is part state owned had been pushing for tougher legislation after its tankers were attacked by pirates which resulted in one tanker being set ablaze burning for over a week and the loss of the ships crew. Prime Minister Sir David Sistilin is expected in Prime Minister Question Time to backup the statement and promise more protection to Clandonian sea trade after the publication of the Royal Navy upgrade plan for the next decade. Critics say the building of the four Nelson Class Super Dreadnoughts is a waste of resources when hundreds of destroyers or cruisers could be built for the same amount of money. The government has rebutted this claim saying that the power projection created by the four proposed ships will outweigh the costs and deter piracy and attacks on Clandonian shipping. The Royal Navy was also given the go ahead to transfer several redundant destroyers and frigates to the Clandonian East India Company protection fleet. Opposition MP's said the deal was a disgrace to the tax payer as the ship sale was considerably lower than the average for ships of the type and age.
The first hanging took place in Port Royal in the Virgin Islands, sixteen pirates were sentenced to death by the local governor and executed by hanging. The Times reporter Julian Towers said the bodies were then transferred to metal cages and hung outside the port and harbour to deter others from the crime. The charges of terrorism, treason and theft were also placed upon some of the individuals. Human rights groups expressed outrage to the fact that two pregnant women who were working as prostitutes and two teenage boys were also executed. The local governor and East India Company representative said this was a warning to any pirates that still operate in the area and a deterrence to others who have ambitions of taking up the crime. Port Royal has been the centre of pirates attack throughout its history, the modern Royal Navy and the deployment of the East Haven Fleet has reduced pirate attacks in the area by fifty percent since their introduction four years ago.
Parliament drafted the legislation, proposed by a Tory and Labour collaboration, the need to protect the products that were made in the factories of Clandonia, the ships that were built in the many shipyard and the merchant sailors made it a popular issue amongst the electorate.
Imperial Shipping Protection and Piracy Act of 2007
By order of His Majesty King William VII, The High Privy Council and the Imperial Crown Government that the following be placed under the statue of Crown and Colonial Law.
1. Clandonian Royal Navy protection to be placed upon ships of the company or organisation that requests it and pays the agreed sum of money, services or goods to the Imperial Crown.
2. Vessels belonging to the Clandonian East India Company will be given full Royal Navy fleet protection. In addition authorisation for the sale of former Royal Navy and surplus ships to the Clandonian East India Company is hereby granted by His Majesty’s Government.
3. The use of deadly force is authorised to Royal Navy escorts if they suspect a vessel is a threat to life and property under the protection of the Crown.
4. Individuals suspected or convicted of piracy will be executed without exception of age or gender.
The last point was of particular concern and was demanded by several MP’s who had East India Company connections and private interests. Without such a large Tory majority it would have been unlikely to be passed. Labour and Social Democratic MP’s left astonished by the brutality of the statement, the left wing newspaper and media outlets were heavily critical of the government response. Several hundred pirates had been captured or surrendered themselves after sustained Royal Navy bombardment of islands in the Eastern Haven, suspected to be where attacks were launched on the Virgin Islands colony.
For the small submarine and fast battleship squadrons it would be a time to shine, to rid the pirate threat in Eastern Haven with air support and satellite intelligence they had a significant upper hand. In the defence of the Crown and Imperium no pirate would be left alive or allowed to continue their treacherous crimes.
Port Royal, Clandonian Virgin Islands, Eastern Haven
The port was once the centre of Clandonian sugar cane production in the slave plantations of the Virgin Islands making the famous rum. Now it was a luxury holiday spot on the southern island chain, the home of the rich and famous with the lines of motor and sailing boats indicating the wealth of the area. In the public square usually bustling with tourists, today the uniforms of the Clandonian East India Company’s private security force and Royal Clandonian marines in ceremonial dress. In the centre stood a large set of gallows with eight ropes, waiting in line were sixteen suspected or convicted pirates, in the mix several young boys no older than fourteen and four prostitutes.
The executioner stood on the stand, reading out the statement. “These sixteen individuals have been or have suspected to be involved in one of the most serious crimes a person can do. Piracy, supporting terrorism, theft from the Crown, theft from private business under Crown protection and treason. The death sentence is hereby applied to the sixteen traitors, death by hanging for their crimes and may God have mercy on their soles.”
The first eight were shifted forward, the soldiers placed the ropes around the necks, to the side to break it quickly and cleanly. The bells in the clock tower chimed and the lever as pulled, the lifeless bodies dropped through the trap door, killed instantly as their spinal cord was severed from the brain. The bodies were cut down, picked up and dragged onto a truck and new rope added so the next eight could be hung. The procedure was repeated and it was over, the bodies hung in cages at the entrance to the port to deter other pirates and those that attacked the Crown. The procedure was televised as a warning to others, piracy was now a capital crime in Clandonia and regardless of age or gender, you would be killed.
The grisly remains hung in the cages illuminated at night, soon to be devoured by sea birds, insects and decay by the tropical heat, once there was nothing left but bones a fresh body from the latest round of executions would be added.
---
Piracy Declared a 'Capital Crime'
http://media.hamptonroads.com/media/content/pilotonline/2007/01/tanker500x251.jpg
East India Company tankers have been attacked in the past
From the Warminster City Times
Front Page
The Clandonian East India Company welcomed the government bill yesterday which stepped up the punishment for piracy from a prison term to a capital crime. The company which is part state owned had been pushing for tougher legislation after its tankers were attacked by pirates which resulted in one tanker being set ablaze burning for over a week and the loss of the ships crew. Prime Minister Sir David Sistilin is expected in Prime Minister Question Time to backup the statement and promise more protection to Clandonian sea trade after the publication of the Royal Navy upgrade plan for the next decade. Critics say the building of the four Nelson Class Super Dreadnoughts is a waste of resources when hundreds of destroyers or cruisers could be built for the same amount of money. The government has rebutted this claim saying that the power projection created by the four proposed ships will outweigh the costs and deter piracy and attacks on Clandonian shipping. The Royal Navy was also given the go ahead to transfer several redundant destroyers and frigates to the Clandonian East India Company protection fleet. Opposition MP's said the deal was a disgrace to the tax payer as the ship sale was considerably lower than the average for ships of the type and age.
The first hanging took place in Port Royal in the Virgin Islands, sixteen pirates were sentenced to death by the local governor and executed by hanging. The Times reporter Julian Towers said the bodies were then transferred to metal cages and hung outside the port and harbour to deter others from the crime. The charges of terrorism, treason and theft were also placed upon some of the individuals. Human rights groups expressed outrage to the fact that two pregnant women who were working as prostitutes and two teenage boys were also executed. The local governor and East India Company representative said this was a warning to any pirates that still operate in the area and a deterrence to others who have ambitions of taking up the crime. Port Royal has been the centre of pirates attack throughout its history, the modern Royal Navy and the deployment of the East Haven Fleet has reduced pirate attacks in the area by fifty percent since their introduction four years ago.