Crane Affair

The Crane Affair was a smuggling scandal in Tilia regarding the export of M2 Cranes to Ikara by Tilian farmers in violation of Pax Centralis sanctions. The sanctions, imposed in response to new Ikaran internal security policies seen as repressive, barred the export of dual-use equipment including aircraft. The exposure of the smuggling triggered Pax seizures of Goldwind-owned aeromechanical vehicles and the creation of the Orange Stripe designation.

Background

In the 450s, the Ikaran government had begun to consolidate executive power by means of the Harmonization Edicts. These laws were ostensibly an effort to streamline governmental operations, increasing executive power over existing federal agencies. They also established a national wizard registry and compulsory technical service program, with unlicensed magical practice punishable by death. Wizards in compulsory service were instructed to perform rituals and spells without proper training or attunement, and several deaths were apparently covered up by the Ikaran federal government. The Pax Consuls of Diplomacy and Industry jointly issued a prohibition of export for any mechanical or aetherpower devices with potential military applications.

After the death of Curtis Claire in 474, during the Locust War, use of the M2 Crane in heavily infested areas was considered prohibitively dangerous, and the airframe was largely set aside after Goldwind purchased 90 M5 Albatross airframes. The M5s were largely financed by high-interest debt taken on by Goldwind itself, which effectively became the responsibility of individual farm owners.

Smuggling plot

The smuggling operation was led by James Wyatt, the treasurer and quartermaster of Calder Bend Airstrip. On 475.3.2, he contacted an underground broker in Montrevieux who had put out an ad offering to buy unserialized ‘irrigation platforms’, understood to mean small aircraft. The broker connected him with Ikaran Naval Aviation Lieutenant Lio Ansel. Lt. Ansel oversaw procurement at the North Acheron Depot, south of Fox River and east of the White River Forest.

Wyatt, on behalf of Calder Bend Airstrip, purchased several tons of scrap metal from nearby Windbreak Township, which had been completely devastated by locusts. The scrap metal was delivered to Calder Bend Railyard, where it sat as Wyatt and the Airstrip’s head mechanic Marie Burin broke down six M2s and loaded them onto the railcars. Wyatt contacted the Ikaran Public Works Office who agreed to purchase what they thought was scrap metal at an inflated price under direction from Lt. Ansel. Wyatt presented this to Jerry Kint, the owner of Calder Bend, who approved the transaction.

The scrap metal and Cranes were delivered to North Acheron Depot by Southern Agricultural. The scrap was presumably forwarded to the Public Works Department. The Cranes were rebuilt by INA mechanics at the depot using parts cannibalized from other nonfunctional aircraft.

Investigation

In 478.9.17, a Crane in INA livery crashed on the Kota side of the White River. The pilot was found dead, and the aircraft was taken in by Kota border guards for inspection. Mechanics determined that the cause of the crash was a thruster failure characteristic to a specific Crane production run from 468. These Cranes were produced by SikuTech under license, and the run was cut short by Clairon after multiple safety issues were reported.

Kota consulted with SikuTech, who confirmed that most thrusters from that run had been recovered and replaced under warranty. SikuTech provided a list of unaccounted-for serial numbers and the firms that had recieved them. At the request of the Pax Consul of Diplomacy, The Pax Marshals Bureau was tasked with identifying the location or fate of every airframe on the list.

The Bureau initially suspected that the airframes had been stolen by Ikaran operatives and began to conduct interviews with the listed firms. Several companies acknowledged decommissioning Cranes and selling them to scrapyards. This made them almost impossible to conclusively trace, as no scrapyards kept records of the serial numbers of broken aircraft.

By 479.2, the Bureau’s only concrete lead was six serial numbers that both Calder Bend Airstrip and United Leasing reported having received and later decommissioned. Investigators spoke with the distribution office that directly purchased the Cranes, who stated that they were sold to United Leasing.

Jerry Kint was arrested by Pax Marshals on 479.4.10 in Ternmouth. He maintained that he had no knowledge of the specific airframes owned by Calder Bend, and that all transfer paperwork had been handled by his treasurer. He admitted to approving the scrap sale after Wyatt presented him with the terms, choosing not to look too closely at the windfall. He also stated that Wyatt had previously found several other unconventional funding sources for the Airstrip, but that he did not believe that Wyatt would go so far as to break supranational law.

On 479.4.19, five Marshals along with the sheriff of Calder Bend executed a warrant at Calder Bend Airstrip for the arrest of James Wyatt. While searching a hangar, they were ambushed by Wyatt and Burin. One Marshal and the sheriff were wounded in the initial exchange of airgun fire. After a two-hour standoff, the Marshals secured the surrender of Burin. Wyatt attempted to flee immediately after and was shot dead by the sheriff.

Prosecutions

The Pax Consul of Diplomacy Office indicted Jerry Kint and Marie Burin. The Ikaran government denied official involvement and refused to cooperate in the investigation.

Kint was tried in Pax State Court in New Harbor on charges of evading sanctions and falsifying rail manifests. Prosecutors argued that he willfully ignored obvious irregularities in Wyatt’s financing scheme, and he was convicted on one count of evading sanctions and received a two-year suspended sentence, which was completed without activation.

Burin pled guilty to aggravated assault in the Tilian Royal Court and was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment. Upon her release, she fled to Ikara to escape trial in State Court, and is believed to have fled again during the Ikaran Civil Revolt.

Lio Ansel’s involvement came to light in the Reconciliation Trials after the Civil Revolt and he was executed for misconduct leading to the death of the test pilot who crashed in Kota.

In parallel with the criminal cases, the Pax Consul of Diplomacy issued a sanctions enforcement order authorizing civil forfeiture of assets materially linked to prohibited exports. Under this authority, Marshals planned to seize a number of Goldwind-owned aeromechs and sell them to municipalities across Pax. Execution of the seizure was deferred until 486 to avoid undue interference with the ongoing Locust War.

Reactions

Frontier farmers and Goldwind members condemned the aeromech seizures as collective punishment that hindered post-war rebuilding, arguing that the diverted aeromechs were needed for construction work and farming. Others supported the prosecutions and seizures, citing the danger of exporting military equipment to Ikara during a period of reported human-rights abuses.

The affair exposed gaps in the traceability of IPRO-funded supplies. To avoid future misappropriation, IPRO created the Orange Stripe designation to track items subsidized by the IPRO crisis stockpile. Serial numbers for all Orange Stripe items are published in a public ledger, and transfer or resale requires disclosure and approval from the IPRO Crisis Team.