By Chester Seaton, News

17/5/282- The Mad Mechanist’s reign of terror in the colonies continued last week, when the former scientist turned bandit turned pirate weighed anchor off the coast of Inbocca and fired canon into the town square. He then sent a message via bird demanding the town turn over a specific individual or risk being leveled.

“He wanted us to turn over that nice Rommsbachian lad who’d taken up at the local Inn,” said Meredith Pavlov, a survivor of the attack. “We didn’t want to do it, but we didn’t have no choice!”

According to Pavolov, they attempted to round the Rommsman up (authorities say his description matches that of Klaus Klaudhopper, wanted for the sabotage of Waystation Bravo and various other crimes) and hand him over. However, when they burst into the lobby of the Inn, they found Klaudhopper in the midst of a melee with an unknown individual.

“Oh, he was a brute, he was,” said Christopher Bell, the owner of the inn. “A surly ginger that stank of rum, with a long gray overcoat crusted with salt. He’d come in the night before and started drinking. Then he picked a fight with the Rommsman.”

As the townspeople tried to interject and apprehend the Rommsman, he and the ‘Surly Ginger’ set aside their argument and turned their attention towards them.

“It weren’t a fight so much as a right beating,” Bell said. “All of us might have been able to swarm one of them, but the two of them together? They was like bulls in a china shop, and we was the china.”

Exacerbating matters, it would seem that Von Grimm became impatient and began bombarding the town from off shore. As the situation in town descended into mass panic, the Rommsman and the ‘Surly Ginger’ slinked away. Moments later, an air ship took flight from the woods behind the town, and Mister Bell knew who they’d been dealing with.

“Couldn’t believe me eyes,” Bell said. “But it was the Pernicious Platitude. I’d heard it got shot down, but there it was, right over the trees. It set out over the town, and began firing down on Von Grimm’s ships. Von Grimm pulled anchor and started giving chase. Guess you could say that old La Pierre saved us, in a way.”

Authorities refused to comment on the possibility that the airship sighted escaping from Inboca was indeed the Platitude. They would only say that they’ve set up pickets, both by air and sea, in an effort to bring all involved in this attack to justice.