By Chester Seaton, News

4/8-The search for former Field Marshal Ameron Lassiter and eleven other rogue officers from the Colonial Marshals and Frontier Rangers has ended this week, and with a frightening portent, to boot.

The bodies of Lassiter, Captain Ian Gorski and ten others were found by a routine patrol on Surnsday afternoon. They had been riddled with gun fire and put on display along the border between the Colonies and the Territories. The corpses were adorned with symbols and ornamentation indicative of the Duv-Ayid tribe. The Duv-Ayid representative on the Territorial Council in New Crowndon denies any knowledge of such actions, claiming that his tribe has long since ceased any communications with him.

The grisly discovery has led to outrage in the colonies, and cries of concern throughout towns along the frontier.

“This monstrous act cannot go unanswered!” one townsman said. “No man, no soldier, deserves to be brutalized and left on display in such a manner! It’s an atrocity, I say! An atrocity!”

First Marshal General Job Stoll is, as always, stressing the importance of maintaining a cool head.

“I know that people are angry,” Stoll said. “This is a given in any situation like this. But we must refrain from escalating the situation further! Lassiter and his men were deserters, who went against orders on a blood fueled quest for revenge. The peoples of the Territories told us several times that entering their land would have serious repercussions: that wasn’t a threat, it was a warning, and according to the Plasten Treaties such repercussions are their right. So far, the Duv-Ayid tribe has not attacked any towns along the frontier, and we have no reason to believe they will.

“The situation is resolved, I believe, barring any more aggressive actions on our part. This situation could have been much worse.”

Stoll’s statement has already made the rounds in the colonies, and petitions are being circulated to remove Stoll from his position, with one proponent claiming that the rank and title of First Marshal General is “not a place for the invertebrate.”