Display MoreACT has revealed the background of the man known only as Theta Seven, the NMLA's de facto leader who recently died in the Mudhrid system.
Captain Saskia Landau gave this statement to the media:
"A combination of investigative work and interrogating NMLA survivors has allowed us to confirm that Theta Seven's real name was John Tyburn. He was born and raised in the city of Fontaine on the planet Baltah'Sine, where he was a munitions technician constructing demolition charges for commercial mining."
"There is evidence that Tyburn was always a vocal believer in Marlinism, and became a pro-democracy campaigner. This eventually caused him to lose his job and serve a prison sentence for sedition. His Imperial citizenship was revoked, his marriage annulled and his children taken into state care."
"Upon release, Tyburn was contacted by the NMLA and radicalised to the Neo-Marlinist cause. He produced portable explosives for terrorist actions, and rose rapidly in their ranks."
"It was Tyburn's proposal to develop caustic enzyme bombs capable of damaging a starport, but his experimentation on these weapons resulted in injuries and corrosive scarring. They only became a reality following a workable design commissioned from the engineer Liz Ryder without her knowledge of its purpose."
First Minister Octavia Volkov of the Marlinist Colonies commented:
"It's unsettling to learn that this arch-terrorist grew up in the same place as I did and had similar experiences. John Tyburn might easily have been my fellow refugee from the Empire, or perhaps helped us form our republican society. This does not excuse his crimes, but it's all too clear how political persecution can give rise to monsters."
