Daily Courier Article 1


 * London Daily Courier
 * Tragedy in Terragrigia
 * By Donatello Luzzaschi


 * A beast slouches toward Europe to be
 * born, and that is the Federal
 * Bioterrorism Commission. What is unique
 * about this beast is that the Federal
 * Species Protection Committe that gave
 * birth to it was no beast itself, and was
 * intended to assist the U.S. in its
 * counter-bioterrorism eddorts.
 * Unfortunately, Europe has become the
 * home to a tragedy that has roused the
 * beast.


 * The FBC has taken complete control of
 * the biohazard outbreak in Terragrigia,
 * and has in effert barred the
 * participation of other countries.


 * Terragrigia is an aquapolis that was
 * developed jointly by U.S. and European
 * teams to research and develop
 * alternative energy sources. The impetus
 * behind the city's development was
 * twofold: the Europeans wanted to halt
 * climate change, and the Americans hoped
 * to develop energy sources for Africa. To
 * that end the city was placed
 * strategically in the Mediterranean Sea.


 * Terragrigia has enjoyed cooperative
 * administration by both sides, and has
 * been held up as a model of successful
 * U.S.-European cooperation.


 * The terrorist attack in Terragrigia
 * put the kibosh on that.


 * According to conditions stipulated in
 * the treaty outlining Terragrigia's
 * governance, both the U.S. and Europe
 * have equal authority during a terrorist
 * attack. Only "during the event of
 * bioterrorism" does the FBC assume a
 * leadership role.


 * The FBC was formed with the express
 * purpose of dealing with threats posed by
 * terrorism. Thy have a crack squad of
 * soldiers on permenant standby, and by
 * that measure, they have the most
 * expansive charter of any organization
 * in Europe. During a time of crisis, they
 * have the blessing of the U.S. to take
 * charge and control the situation.


 * And that is how the FBC came to be in
 * charge of the current chaos in
 * Terragrigia. FBC Commissioner Morgan
 * Lansdale has announced that EU
 * involvement will not be tolerated while
 * his organization deals with the crisis.


 * European authorities pressed Lansdale
 * to respect their rights in this matter,
 * and they were able to convince him to
 * bring in Commander Clive R. O'Brian of
 * the BSAA, a well respected international
 * civilian group. The problem, however,
 * is even though O'Brian himself is a
 * bioterrorism expert, he is working with
 * virtually no support staff, which
 * limits the scope of actions he can take.


 * While the story on the tragedy is still
 * unfolding, it would seem that the FBC is
 * ignorant of the extent of the suffering
 * in Terragrigia.


 * Whether Lansdale has the ability and
 * the intelligence to handle this attack
 * without becoming a Yeatsean beast also
 * remains to be seen.