Disturbing news from the Outer Rim. Earlier today, we received a holorecording taken from a Colossal-class Heavy Carrier owned and operated by an independent trading company that wishes to remain anonymous. The Colossal was traversing the Kaelta system when ships painted in black appeared out of Hyperspace. The unknown vessels immediately opened fire on the heavy carrier and its complement of starfighter escorts. According to reports, the battle only lasted a few minutes. The mercenaries hired to protect the Colossal panicked as their numbers were thinned by the onslaught of heavy laser fire from the assaulters. We contacted the leader of the merc group, who was among the survivors. “Look, we were not paid enough to die,” stated the leader, who also wishes to maintain their anonymity. “Those black demons came out of nowhere and within minutes we had only a few ships left. I had to make a decision and make it quickly. We were outmatched and outgunned, so we pulled back and jumped the hell out of the system. We have families to go back to.”

After the Colossal was left unprotected, the operators of the mysterious black ships boarded the heavy carrier undisturbed. The recording we have acquired from a source shows heavily armed and armored individuals sweeping through each deck of the Colossal-class and gunning down the security personnel aboard without mercy. We’ve asked one of our analysts, Sedal Nam, to comment on the footage. Sedal is a retired bounty hunter with years of experience. “I have no doubts that these sentients are pirates. Some of them are distinctly more trained and prepared than others, which is typical for a group of outlaws. Even the way a weapon is held can offer insight into the background of a suspect. If I had to speculate, I would say that most of these people are nothing more than Outer Rim criminals. They were looking for a big score and the Colossal was their intended target all along, which suggests a degree of organization and even the ability to collect reliable information.” Indeed, while we can’t comment on the nature of its cargo, we can confirm that the Colossal was transporting significant assets meant to reach the trading company’s esteemed clients.

    We were able to contact a few of the Colossal’s crewmen and collect their testimony. “I was scared for my life,” one of the unfortunate victims stated. “There was this mean Kiffar woman full of tattoos and cybernetics. She beat the living [expletive] out of several of us who tried to protest. And the Jawa! There was a Jawa in a grey robe and a top hat who seemed to call the shots as well.” Another of the witnesses had this to say: “After they killed our security guards, we were rounded up in the main cargo hold by goons in black armor. Their helmets projected some kind of hologram of a human skull. It was awful, I really thought I wasn't going to make it out alive.” According to testimony, another prominent figure among the unknown aggressors was a Kel Dor wearing an elaborate crimson armor. “He was armed with a lightsaber and I’ve seen him use Force powers to slaughter our guards,” one of the survivors told us. An important detail came from the last witness we were able to interview. “They called themselves the Black Veil or some such. I think I heard two of them mention the name. I tried to listen in, but the woman with the tattoos noticed and I was dragged away. They looted everything aboard and then left us there, with our hands and ankles tied.”   Unfortunately, we were unable to fully verify the testimony provided to us. We will, however, continue to cover this story in the coming weeks, as more details will hopefully emerge. We apologize to our audience for not being able to reveal the names of those involved in this story. As always, the safety of our sources and eyewitnesses is of paramount importance in our investigative journalism, particularly when dangerous criminals like the ones involved in this incident seem to be on the prowl.