Bdaarikhar Incident

The "Bdaarikhar Incident" in 1099 involved the defection of a Marlheim Army Navy (MarArStar) Scout Cruiser, the "Bdaarikhar", to Duncinaean forces.

Background

The commander of the DMSS Bdaarikhar, Colonel Vartraag Mdulep, was the son of the former Marltonian envoy to the Imperial Ducal Court in Urlaqqash Subsector. From his father, Mdulep got an idea of life outside the bounds of the Marltonian paranoid kleptocracy.

Over the years of his career, he hatched a plan involving a number of senior enlisted men - who were subject to much less intrusive surveillance than the senior officers - to kill the vessel's political and security police "minders", and defect to Duncinae. All of the men were unmarried and had no known families - any that existed would have been imprisoned and liquidated by the Secret Police.

The Mutiny

On 004-1099, the plot launched; the men spoofed the vessel's navigation, inducing a carefully-orchestrated "misjump" from a border zone into Duncinaean territory; as the vessel came out of jump, the Mdulep's men started killing the loyalists (as much of the crew, cowed and afraid, looked on). Duncinaean Marines boarded the ship as Mdulep called for asylum; a small party of hold-out loyalists were barricaded in a bunk compartment with a number of hostages - who were rescued later that day by a party of "Duncinaean Policemmen" that, a persistent rumor has it, were in fact a troop of the Caledonian Phantom Regiment (or at the very least advisors).

Rumors of Caledonian Involvement

The smoothness of the takeover, and the fortuitous presence of Caledonian special forces, has been cited by conspiracy theorists as evidence that the Caledonian Special Service plotted the mutiny all along - a claim strenuously disclaimed by the Principality.

The Aftermath

The Bdaarikhar was analyzed piece by piece, over the course of several years, as the Grand Duchy railed and fumed and threatened. Duncinaean (and Caledonian) technicians noted the vessel's abysmal quality and squalid accomodations, and the un-readiness of much of the vessel's key equipment, even though the ship was less than a year out of refit.

Mdulep and his confederates were taken into deep cover protection in Duncinae and Caledon, under the protection of both nations' intelligence agencies. The rest of the officers and crew who didn't wish to defect were taken back to Marlheim - where, reportedly, all were placed in maximum security prison. Few of the original crew have reportedly been released as this is written.

The Marlheim Army Navy has instituted rigorous loyalty guarantees among crews of vessels in Frontier districts; all officers have spouses and families who are, tacitly, hostages against their vessels' safe return.

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