Fourteen survivors of a vicious Black Hat Gang attack on an Austin Airship Company cargo zeppelin bound for the AAC plant in Austin report that the new terror gang out of Sky Haven boarded their airship, shot the captain and bridge crew, and dropped the remaining crew overboard without allowing anyone to don parachutes. The survivors were only able to touch down safely, 25 miles west of Artesia, Arixo, Thursday afternoon, because they had gotten into parachutes at the start of the attack, per company policy. The Texas Ranger Press Office confirmed the reports later in the day, saying that all radio contact with the AAC cargo zeppelin Bethany was lost at 5:10 pm Thursday.

The Bethany was under the protection of a Blake Aviation Security squadron, apparently all downed in the Black Hat attack. BAS has issued a statement, saying, "This tragic loss of life and outrageous robbery will not go unpunished. Blake Aviation Security guarantees it."

That is not all that Blake Aviation guarantees; the total loss of the Bethany, if not recovered, totals over $1.5 million E.S., including the main cargo, $200,000 of aluminum ingots. Blake Aviation Security has a firm guarantee policy of covering all losses suffered from piracy while under BAS protection, and stands to be held accountable for the entire loss.

"Those Black Hats are some extra kind of mean," said mechanic's assistant Abe Hagan, one of the survivors. "They didn't ask questions, slow down, or nothing! They just up and tossed everybody out the observer's galley at gunpoint. Anybody who gave them any guff was just shot dead right there!"

The Black Hat gang has earned a bloody reputation in only a few months of operation, and is rapidly becoming the equal of such blackhearts as the Red Skull Legion or the Redmann Gang. Anyone with information leading to the recovery of the Bethany or to the arrest of members of the Black Hat Gang are asked to telegraph Blake Aviation Security in any of its continental offices.