By Chester Seaton, News

18/1/282- The wreckage of an airship matching the description of the notorious pirate frigate Pernicious Platitude was discovered more than a week ago, Triumvirate Authority Officials tell us. The ship was discovered by a Monteddorian fishing crew.

The discovery of the ship has led to wide spread speculation in many corners of Crowndon’s military. In others, it has led to widespread celebration.

“We still don’t know for certain if it is indeed the Platitude,” said Admiral Winston Johannes, who it seems has dedicated his life to bringing Captain Roderick La Pierre down. “The wreckage was quite broken up, and we’ve found no identifying marks, and no sign of what caused the ship to go down. Something seems fishy to me.”

High Admiral of the Triumvirate Authority Jasper Stapleton brushed off Johannes’ statement when we approached him at an officer’s party celebrating the announcement.

“Admiral Johannes is just frustrated that he wasn’t the one to take La Pierre down,” Stapleton said. “He’s been hunting for La Pierre for years, and to have your prey taken down by some random act of…whatever, that’s going to do things to a man’s ego. There are several pieces of evidence that the ship is indeed the Platitude, namely ledgers in the captain’s cabin bearing La Pierre’s signature. It’s over. It’s done. The scourge of the Imperial Skyways and the Crowndon military’s biggest embarrassment is gone. Now, I say, open another bottle of champagne to mark the occasion!”

Johannes is not convinced.

“Wanting a problem to go away really really badly does not equal a problem solved,” he said. “This so called evidence with the ledgers…do you really think a pirate as prone to wanton acts of anarchy like La Pierre keeps ledgers? Tallies and totals? The man crashed a ship full of tuna into a bank, for the Man’s sake! Then he buried it in cave for us to recover, without taking a single bar of gold for himself. Something else is going on here. I don’t know what it is, but I’m going to find out.”

**Two days after his interview, Admiral Winston Johannes was relieved of his command and discharged from the Crowndon Air Fleet. Crowndon cited medical reasons as their reasoning, but would not elaborate further.