Concern was raised today as politicians within the New Republic's Senate began asking questions regarding the excessive trade of the New Republic's military technology. Veritas Press sources inform that several Senators' offices have begun reviewing the eagerness to which the New Republic is giving away its top tier technology after it was revealed today that representatives of the Avance Coalition are in secret negotiations with the Eidola Pirates to secure the Outer Rim buccaneer's future "as assets and membership continue to diminish in recent years", an anonymous whistleblower is reported saying.

The Avance Coalition recently completed its second major technology trade with the New Republic, with the previous major trade being for MC-60 cruisers and X-Wing star fighters. Leaked reports of the latest trade shows that Avance entered into a technology exchange that saw Sabaoth Destroyers traded for Mon Calamari battleships from the Republic. Whilst military analysts are trying to understand why the New Republic would provide vastly superior battleship technology for what amounts to mid-range cruiser technology, political analysts are asking more poignant questions over whether the New Republic is being irresponsible with its military hardware.

"This can only mean one of two things", commented Falleen Federation political analyst Tamar Ger`esh. "Either the New Republic feels it can no longer depend on the Galactic Alliance to bring peace and order to the galaxy, so they're spreading their military technology everywhere; or their military commanders really have no concept as to what they're doing by letting this technology get out there."

Wide distaste may already shadow the two technology trades between the New Republic and the distant and guarded Avance Coalition, but the revelation that the Coalition's representatives are negotiating a multi-billion credit deal to secure the survival of the Eidola Pirates has caused the highest levels of angst amongst the New Republic's political system since the Black Sun incident many years ago.

A member of the New Republic Senate that requested not to be named for safety reasons, provided the following comment to a Veritas investigative journalist: "These are people we're arming, and I had significant reservations about that to begin with; they're not allies, and they've consistently undertaken a selfish path in everything they have done. One need only look at their refusal to enter the galactic civil war, or to share vital technology such as the Dreadnaught to help defend factions around the galaxy. Now we discover they're trying to support Eidola in the shadows? The Chief of State and New Republic Intelligence have a lot to answer for."

Though little surprise that Eidolan pirates continue to exploit opportunities with careless abandon, the exposure of Avance's support for these merciless killers and thieves has shocked many across the galaxy. In a continuing galactic trend the Avance Coalition seems to be yet another government attempting to weed its way into every crevice of opportunity and amass whatever power it can muster. A government that has now been armed further by the New Republic. Citizens of the galaxy are right to question the actual safety provided by such regimes: do the ends - to reach power, influence and wealth - always justify the means?

Whilst it is expected that the Republic Senate will launch an inquiry into the situation, Avance remains curiously silent on the issue.

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