Pirates attack freighter, kidnap crew

Date: 030407
Planet: Dantooine System

Story: (Written by the Galactic News Agency, Ramona doesn't write IC).

Readers of our news service may recall the report of the "Freelancer", a yt-1300 class light freighter, taking down an attacking pirate in the Dantooine system sometime ago. Two days ago, the same freighter suffered another attack in the Dantooine system, dispatching two more pirate ships.

However, with this exploit, it looks like the "Freelancer's" luck had been spent - on the trip back to tatooine it was ambushed by two pirate ships, according to reports one the "Behemoth", and boarded after getting disabled. The pirates, finding no cargo, kidnapped the crew. Allegedly, this was done by the infamous "Sandstorm" pirate band.

From what is known, some crew members were relased for ransom, but the fate of one member, the crew's engineer, is still unknown. Tatooine Trading Corporation, which had hired the "Freelancer", said it feared the worst.

The "Freelancer" is undergoing extensive repairs, but is expected to be back in service in the near future.

This incident has spurned further talk about a major anti-pirate operation, and TTC is reportedly looking into hiring mercenaries for such work.