By Basilio Mura, Nor Easter Correspondent

6/10- Sir Rigel Rinkenbach, who has certainly had a difficult year, has apparently been kidnapped, Nor Eastern officials say.

Sir Rinkenbach was leaving the hospital where Empress Marcellette Bastian is making her recovery after being shot during the recent Arms Summit in the Divide. As he stepped out onto the walk, several unmarked motor carriages screeched onto the street in front of the hospital, and a group of unidentified men poured out.

The men, said to be wearing dark blue uniforms similar to those worn by the men who attacked the Summit, as well as the town of Point Hammond, and armed with revolvers, engaged the members of the Royal Guard appointed to protect Rinkenbach. While one of the guardsmen attempted to pull Rinkenbach into the hospital, he was shot in the back. The unidentified men then grabbed Rinkenbach, stuffed him into one of the carriages, and drove off.

The city guard attempted to give pursuit, but their own motor carriages were unable to keep pace with the attackers. This event only further re-enforces evidence that whoever this unidentified group is, they possess technology more advanced than anything currently employed by the governments of the Triumvirate.

Already, rumors and conspiracy theories are running amok through the political and scientific communities. Some have suggested the kidnapping, as well as the attack on the Summit, were orchestrated by Rinkenbach himself as a way of escaping the Nor Eastern government’s constant vigilance.

Others have pointed out that, as reported in the Gazette, the attackers attempted to assassinate Rinkenbach at the summit, while they merely kidnapped him outside the hospital, leading to all sorts of wild speculation. However, we have no way of knowing just what this group’s goals are, or what their methods in bringing those goals to fruition may be.

Nor Eastern officials are working with the Triumvirate authorities, as well as the individual militaries and law enforcement agencies of Crowndon and Monteddor to locate Sir Rigel Rinkenbach and the men responsible for his abduction.