On August 7th, 2183 C.E. the SSV Utah stopped and brought up the independent merchant vessel Palas. The boarding party, led by veteran officer Amos Kenyon secured the ship and disarmed the crew before exploring the vessel's voluminous cargo bays. In the twilight of the cargo holds they encountered dozens of barred cages full of slaves from various sentient species, among them children and infants with their mothers. The crew had let them there unattended, to rot in their own excretions. Several had died of malnutrition already, the rest were in a state of serious danger to their life. Brought face to face with the situation in his own cargo bay, the captain of the ship, a turian veteran, was executed on the spot by Lieutenant-Commander Kenyon, who then turned himself in for court-martial.