By Isairo Palantes, Monteddor Correspondent

13/8- Despite suffering two major military losses in the last month, the commander of Monteddor’s military forces, Alejandro Julianos, seems to be doubling down on his expeditionary forces in the colonies.

A second flotilla of ships left port earlier this week, heading west over the Barrier Ocean. Unlike last time, the Julianos camp acknowledged the departure with a brief statement.

“We are supplementing our initial force in the colony of Sal Diello with a further ten ships and over 100 personnel,” the statement read. “As for recent criticism directed at Julianos alleging that he has pushed aside the war with Dougherty to pursue some frivolous endeavor in the Newlands, such worries are unfounded. The peoples of the Monteddorian Empire must have faith that the Newland Endeavor is in their best interest, and that Julianos is fully able to oversee both the expedition and the war.”

The statement has left several critics of Julianos, most notably political scholar Andoni Saldazar, either scratching their heads or outright angry.

“This is a man who has no respect for his people,” Saldazar said. “He asks us to take it on ‘faith’. Faith! Julianos is just a man…an extremely powerful man, but a man nonetheless, who came to power without the benefits of political experience. If he would just pull back the veil of secrecy concerning what he’s looking for in the Newlands, it would go a long way to assuaging the concerns being leveled at him. But no, we are expected to accept his allocation of military resources to some unknown side project overseas while Blackwood facilities are burning and the citizens of Monteddor are dying.”

Saldazar says that he is in contact with several other prominent names in Monteddorian academia, and that they plan to petition an audience with High King Mario Adallantes to discuss reigning in the military commander or seeking Triumvirate Authority intervention, though many believe that Adallantes is no more than a puppet.*

*It should be noted that this is not a sentiment officially endorsed by the Monteddorian branch of the Blackwood Gazette. The Gazette does feel, however, that it is an important point of view in these events.