Atrocity at Jata

The Atrocity at Jata refers to a series of coordinated bombings that occurred on Jata, Cestulus (Davien II) in 2546 and other worlds across the United Planets of Earth (UPE). While the initial attacks were centered on Jata, the term has come to encompass the series of bombings as a whole. The Atrocity at Jata is seen in the inflection point that led to the creation of the office of Prime Citizen and the subsequent transition of the UPE to the United Empire of Earth (UEE).

Bombings

On August 23rd, 2546 at 12:00 SET an initial explosion took place in the biodome at Jata. A delayed second and third explosion inflicted mass casualties on first responders and crowds that gathered near the devastation. The explosions were believed to be placed strategically to cause critical damage to the biodome's structure, causing a collapse that was responsible for thousands of deaths. Altogether the bombing resulted in nearly 5,000 deaths.

Two months later, a similar bombing took place in the Tram's Trade and Development building, killing close to 700 people. Over the next several weeks four more bombings took place across the UPE.

Politics

At the time of the bombings then-High General Ivar Messer was campaigning to eliminate the UPE's Tribunal, the governing body of the UPE at the time. Messer quickly incorporated the bombings into his campaign rhetoric that the Tribunal was ineffective and ill-equip to take immediate and decisive actions. When news of the bombings reached Sol, instead of meeting with the Tribunal, Messer held a press conference where he again pushed his plan for creating the position of Prime Citizen, an office of central power held by one elected individual.

While Messer never named the Xi'an, he left little doubt over who he held responsible. When the second bombing took place at Tram, the Advocacy announced these bombs contained Xi'an technology similar the those used in the Jata bombings. These announcements along with the following continued bombings catalyzed public opinion that a strong central figure was needed to lead the UPE. A vote was held and the office of Prime Citizen was established, a following emergency election on December 15th, 2546 quickly elected Ivar Messer as the inaugural Prime Citizen.

Ivar Messer's first acts as Prime Citizen were to quickly increase military presence in highly populated areas, there were no more subsequent bombings.

Theories of responsibility

Having recently concluded the First Tevarin War, soon after the initial bombings there was wide spread public fear that the bombings were the work of a Tevarin sleeper cell. However, Advocacy investigators revealed that components of the bomb were Xi'an in origin.

In 2806 the UEE directed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to atone for the outrages of the Messer Era. A trove of previously classified data was transferred to The Ark. Historian Sydney Kamarck spent years studying the transition of the UPE and its Tribunal to the Messer dictatorship. In her work she found connections between the bombings of the Atrocity at Jata and associates of Ivar Messer. Two men who previously who served with Ivar Messer in the First Tevarin War, Adam Corr and Cyrus Ishitaka, were shown to have a number of connections to the bombings. Corr, an infiltration specialist, bailed Ishitaka out of jail days before the first bombing. He was later given a prominent position in the military by Ivar Messer. Ishitaka, a demolition expert in Army, was determined to be present on four of the five planets that were bombed. He was found murdered a week after the final bombing and an autopsy found traces of chemicals used in the bombings under his fingernails.