Avalon Bombings

The **Avalon Bombings** were a pair of terror attacks that took place on the *Wanderer*-class Explorer Platform *Avalon* in 0304 PCU, shortly after the Avalon Exploratory Initiative's arrival in CDC-41-Gamma. Perpetrated by Centran Defence Force Inventory Officer Michael Favara, the attacks attempted to implicate and kill the Frontier Union contingent of the expedition fleet. The bombings culminated in the destruction of the Unioner frigate *Abigail* and Favara's death in his second bombing.

## Prelude

> *"Can't let them do it again. Not again. They say we're meant to trust them now, but they weren't there, they don't know. If we give them the chance they'll kill us all and take this platform for themselves. I have to stop them. Stop them before they make their move, whatever it takes. It's the only way. One day they'll understand, and they'll know I was right."*
> - Michael Favara's suicide video, found by the crew of the *Avalon* after the second bombing.
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Michael Favara was an Inventory Officer of the Centran Defence Force who served aboard the CSV *Swiftsure* during the Frontier War. His wartime experiences and the death of his sister at the Battle of the Atamara Crossroads drove him to a psychotic break. Despite this, Favara was medically assessed as fit for service and assigned to the Avalon Exploratory Initiative, the Tantalus Cluster-wide effort to explore and colonise the CDC-41-Gamma nebula.

Favara saw the alliance between the Centrum Assembly and the Frontier Union as doomed to fail, and developed the paranoid belief that the Unioner contingent of the expedition was an active and hostile threat, believing that they would violently seize the *Avalon* if given the opportunity.

## The Bombings

Favara made two sets of explosives. The first caused only minor injuries, but was designed to appear as a Union explosive device, and was used on Service Bay C-14 of the Avalon Platform, which both knocked out the Platform's refuelling drone fleet for a good amount of time, and caused the blame for the attack to be pinned on the Union members of the Expedition. This caused increased tensions between the Avalon's administration and the Unioners aboard the Avalon, culminating in the temporary relocation of all Unioners aboard the Platform to the *Abigail* and other Union ships in the Expedition Fleet.

Due to the disabled Refuelling drones, the *Abigail* was forced to refuel manually. This was Favara's intention - using this moment, he snuck into the Fuel Pipeline used to refuel the *Abigail*, detonating his second device. This ruptered the Fuel Pipeline, causing a catastrophic explosion that severely damaged the *Abigail*.

In the explosion, the *Abigail* suffered Magnetic Bottle failure and a breached reactor, forcing its commanding officer, Captain Tamika Jinn, to pilot her vessel to a safe distance from the Avalon Platform. At approximately 2500 to 3000 metres, the ship detonated with all hands lost. Due to the actions of herself and her crew, the Avalon Platform was spared any more damage.

## Aftermath

Favara released a suicide message explaining his intentions shortly before his death. Although not all Unioners had been moved off the *Avalon*, a significant contingent had, and thus perished aboard the *Abigail* during its destruction. It is certain that some Unioners survived this outcome, but their response to these attacks isn't yet known.