SENDER:Cadet William Realtak RECIPIENT:5th Fleet High Command LOCATION:Norfolk Shipyard, New York ENCRYPTION:Omega SUBJECT:Field report PRIORITY:High
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Command,
During a patrol in the New York system, I encountered an LSF agent codenamed "Firefly" addressing an issue with a malfunctioning drone, registered to Bristol Constructions, that was attacking a Junker ship. The drone, marked as ERR:NULL, was disabled, and shortly afterward, Agent Firefly requested assistance in locating a Rogue combat vessel that had been harassing traders in the system. With the arrival of reinforcements from the LNS-Astoria, we were able to force the rogue gunboat to retreat.
Following the operation, I returned to the Norfolk Shipyard and met with a senior LSF agent codenamed =LSF=Comanche. During our conversation, an Ageira convoy consisting of the ATS-Newport.News and the RAR|RV-Quark arrived, aiming to extract exotic materials. The convoy was without escorts, so both Agent Comanche and I accompanied them into Zone-Twenty-One and subsequently, the Earhart system.
While in the Earhart system, Senior agent Comanche was recalled by high command, leaving me as the sole escort for the convoy. Despite the unsettling aura of the system, I engaged in casual conversation with the radio officer aboard the ATS-Newport.News. During our exchange, an unidentified vessel appeared on my fighter's sensors.
Visual identification confirmed the vessel as a Geb-class battlecruiser, designated CV-Montu. When questioned, the captain denied any affiliation with the Order and refused to answer further questions regarding the vessel's origins. However, he was open to discussing the significance of our current location and its implications for the sector's future. He claimed that Ageira's experiments with jump gate technology had destabilized the fabric of space, leading to anomalies that is Earhart system, and advised the immediate destruction of related technologies. I have included the conversation logs with the captain, who seemed potentially unstable, in the attachment below.
Despite the unsettling encounter, the CV-Montu did not interfere with the Ageira convoy, which successfully reached its station in Texas without further disturbances.
5th|William.Realtak: I will be staying with you guys.
ATS-Newport.News: James: Good to hear.
5th|William.Realtak: So, This place anything weird happens here?
ATS-Newport.News: James: Well.. I've never seen that thing before.
CV-Montu: V: 'And I've never seen a talking trashcan before.'
CV-Montu: V: 'Oh, wait. That's an actual ship. Sorry, you looked like one of those Junker liner things from a distance.'
5th|William.Realtak: Is that an order ship?
ATS-Newport.News: James: I don't know
CV-Montu: V: 'Where?
5th|William.Realtak: A funny guy are you?
CV-Montu: V: 'I'm being serious. Where?'
CV-Montu: V: 'You see Or-durr, I get antsy.'
5th|William.Realtak: Aren't you with them?
CV-Montu: V: 'Fuck no.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: Who.. Are you with..?
5th|William.Realtak: Well how in the hell did you get a hand on a Geb class?
5th|William.Realtak: Pink keep 3k away from it
CV-Montu: V: 'That's need-to-know, and you don't.'
5th|William.Realtak: Wasp cd.
ATS-Newport.News: hes 7.2k away
5th|William.Realtak: Then what are you doing here?
ATS-Newport.News: even so, i can out thrust
CV-Montu: V: 'Investigating.'
5th|William.Realtak: Investigating this place but what about it?
CV-Montu: V: 'How it's connected, obviously.'
5th|William.Realtak: So got any clues about it?
CV-Montu: V: 'There's whisps of rumor here. I'm not sure for certain, but I'm certain there's something.'
5th|William.Realtak: There is something here for sure.
5th|William.Realtak: But do you know what that something is?
5th|William.Realtak: IDK man is rp-ing
CV-Montu: V: 'It's something, that's for sure.'
[OOC] 5th|William.Realtak: SRP geb.
CV-Montu: V: 'And it surely is something.'
[OOC] 5th|William.Realtak: Freelancer
CV-Montu: V: 'But what are /you/ doing here, is the real something.'
CV-Montu: V: 'You lot typically cling to your big trade lanes and huts of civilization.'
CV-Montu: V: 'This place has neither; Nay, it's the antithesis.'
5th|William.Realtak: Well I am just staying here enjoying the view.
CV-Montu: V: 'You have a clear deathwish, then.'
CV-Montu: V: 'I can respect that.'
5th|William.Realtak: Well I can respect a person that owns a Geb.
CV-Montu: V: 'You should. Some of my guns are bigger than your ship.'
5th|William.Realtak: Yea that part is clear.
5th|William.Realtak: So what is the plan here.
5th|William.Realtak: Just looking for something?
CV-Montu: V: 'We've been performing scans since we entered.'
CV-Montu: V: 'So far, it's very telling that there's something here.'
CV-Montu: V: 'The debris all tells a story.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: I think there's dust on the window, dust from the Dallas Incident..
ATS-Newport.News: James: No, wait, its just regular dust.
5th|William.Realtak: Yea...I was gonna say that.
CV-Montu: V: 'There's ships from all around, collected in one place.'
CV-Montu: V: 'They may be dead, but they still speak.'
CV-Montu: V: 'This place, that blackout was a beckoning.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: That's not how being dead works.
CV-Montu: V: 'The blackout was an invitation.'
5th|William.Realtak: Not sure about that one.
CV-Montu: V: 'Oh, it's an invitation. Not one that may have been wanted, but one that was certainly deserved.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: I highly doubt that. Nothing more than an unknown hiccup in the system caused by an anomaly.
CV-Montu: V: 'And it's all Ageira's fault.'
CV-Montu: V: 'EFL's too, but primarily yours.'
5th|William.Realtak: How in the hell would that be?
ATS-Newport.News: James: Hah. More like Gallia's. They always try to mimic our tech.
CV-Montu: V: 'But that's besides the point.'
CV-Montu: V: 'There wouldn't be so many from all walks of life, military, survey, random passersby, without a clear aim.'
CV-Montu: V: 'What do these wrecks have in common?'
ATS-Newport.News: James: Ageria's Gate and Lane technology is supremely safe. Hundreds of years without any such problems.
5th|William.Realtak: Jumping somewhere?
ATS-Newport.News: James: Gallia starts trying to mimic our technology and causes problems.
CV-Montu: V: 'Hyperspace. Yes.'
CV-Montu: V: 'We felt a shift in our traversal here. Similar to the blackout, and to the jump anomalies across Sirius.'
CV-Montu: V: 'It's the same signal we get from that thing in the core here.'
CV-Montu: V: 'That giant.. rotating thing..'
CV-Montu: V: 'The one that's telling me 'eggs' over and over again, but that's also giving off energy.'
5th|William.Realtak: Eggs what?
CV-Montu: V: 'Eggs benedict, but there's more.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: I think the captain is hungry.
CV-Montu: V: 'I'm dead. I don't eat.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: Dead people don't speak.
CV-Montu: V: 'It's rather liberating, really.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: nor eat eggs.
CV-Montu: V: 'I'm speaking right now. The wrecks are also speaking.'
5th|William.Realtak: You are what?
CV-Montu: V: 'The ones in that cloud over there, for instance.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: Again.. That's not how being dead works.
CV-Montu: V: 'They've spoken at length about your shitty gate design.'
5th|William.Realtak: Dead tend to stay dead.
CV-Montu: V: ''Slow-docking' and whatnot.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: That's pilot error, not design.
CV-Montu: V: 'Sounds like it's by-design.'
CV-Montu: V: 'But again, besides the point.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: It sounds like you were designed to be a moron and want eggs.
CV-Montu: V: 'Perhaps, but the eggs are of no concern.'
CV-Montu: V: 'The energy the object in the core emits, however, is.'
5th|William.Realtak: Now I get that.
ATS-Newport.News: James: I bet the energy cooks eggs.
ATS-Newport.News: James: Scrambled eggs..
CV-Montu: V: 'If used correctly, it may be able to.'
CV-Montu: V: 'It fried the Whitefield pretty well.'
CV-Montu: V: 'It may just fry your eggs, too.'
5th|William.Realtak: It would you too.
CV-Montu: V: 'But it may also fry the system.'
CV-Montu: V: 'And, yes, us with it.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: But will it blend?
CV-Montu: V: 'Remember when I said the blackout was an invitation?'
ATS-Newport.News: James: Sorry, that was a strange question.
CV-Montu: V: 'Deserved, and not wanted?'
5th|William.Realtak: I do remember that part.
ATS-Newport.News: brb foodge
CV-Montu: V: 'It's an invitation, to stop.'
5th|William.Realtak: To stop you say.Stop doing what?
CV-Montu: V: 'To end. Quit. Cease.'
CV-Montu: V: 'To halt.'
5th|William.Realtak: To halt what?
CV-Montu: V: 'What do these wrecks have in common?'
CV-Montu: V: 'Hyperspace.'
5th|William.Realtak: You want us to halt using the gates?
ATS-Newport.News: back
CV-Montu: V: 'I don't. It does.'
5th|William.Realtak: That is crazy. Half of Sirus would starve.
ATS-Newport.News: 10 shy xd
CV-Montu: V: 'Perhaps, but the other half would be free to life thei-..'
ATS-Newport.News: did u wanna top off or head out?
5th|William.Realtak: Massive DTR fleet loging.
CV-Montu: V: 'No, wait, that doesn't math.'
CV-Montu: V: 'Again, I'm not here to stop. We're here to investigate.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: Foreman gave the clear. Time to leave.
CV-Montu: V: 'But I'll leave you with this.'
5th|William.Realtak: It was nice talking to you dead gep capitan.
CV-Montu: V: 'Artificial hyperspace traversal caused this.'
CV-Montu: V: 'Do yourselves, and your kids, a favor, and ram the gates with planets.'
CV-Montu: V: 'End the cycle.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: Uh.. Ageria does not recommend that..
5th|William.Realtak: That is a thing to do.
CV-Montu: V: 'It's /the/ thing to do.'
ATS-Newport.News: James: One of THE things of all time, even.
5th|William.Realtak: Have a good day.
SENDER:LtCdr. Alastair Stedman RECIPIENT:5th Fleet High Command LOCATION:West Point Military Academy, New York ENCRYPTION:ALPHA SUBJECT:Patrol report 20/05/834-22/05/834 PRIORITY:Medium
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*Appears to center the camera on his desk*
Well it has been a long time since I have posted one of these. Its been seven years. *leans back in his chair and sighs heavily* Makes you wonder if all this *waves hand around* is worth it doesn't it? Nothing puts life into perspective like getting your ship blasted to pieces by insurgency ships and the next thing you know you are waking up 7 years later. *sigh* My parents moved from Cambridge to Manhattan all those years before my birth to seek prosperity and new horizons. I wonder if this *waves his hand again* is what they had in mind for the future of their family. Conflict and turmoil. Ever since the Nomad war in 800AS, *laughs* heck I wasn't even born yet, but ever since then, its seemed like almost a constant state of war. Alas I am rambling on. I am supposed to be reporting on my patrols.
*composes himself*
I flew a patrol of the Colerado system on 20/05/834. I encountered a GMS freighter callsign: GMS-Arquette In orbit of Planet Denver. As soon as I arrived he seemed to leave the area in a hurry. He wasn't carrying contraband and while we aren't exactly friends with the Gallic's, he didn't seem to be military or a spy or anything. So I let him go. I continued my patrol towards the New York gate when JUST my luck that I would run into a pair of Xeno's. I had hoped to avoid any combat on my patrols for the time being as I had only just been given my wings back after passing the refresher course on the simulator. But XA-Cobra and XA-FRS-Engraver weren't here for a cup of high tea either. I engaged with Cobra, unfortunately my rusty combat skills were still a bit too rusty. He disabled my executioner's power core and engines and I was left drifting until an Agira transport picked up my emergency transponder.
21/05/834: I flew patrol through most of Liberty space. I covered the trade lanes across all the major systems. Towards the end of my patrol I encountered a Rogue Gunboat called Birdie. I swear from the depths of my memory I am sure we scrapped that pile of trash. *sighs* But I suppose the Rogues will rebuild almost anything. They are kind of like Junkers in that sense. I engaged the Birdie with an LSF Avenger callsign Garuda-1 in my Gaurdian, I don't know why we renamed it but whatever. Unfortunately we did not have the firepower to break through the Birdie's shields, and the Rogues chose to run back into the Badlands as soon as the Interdictor class LNS-Columbia arrived on the scene. Other than that nothing to report.
22/05/834: Ah. Today was an interesting day. I left New York headed towards the Texas system for a standard patrol. As soon as...
*Alarm Claxons Sound*
*Voice over the intercom system*
"ALERT, All available pilots to their ships. Long range sensors have picked up multiple Technocracy vessels headed towards the California system."
Well sh*t looks like duty calls. I don't know what this Technocracy business is all about, HC's given me a file of all the stuff I missed during my time "out". Suffice to say I haven't caugfht up on it all yet. But if the alarm bells are ringing it can't be good.
SENDER:LtCdr. Alastair Stedman RECIPIENT:5th Fleet High Command LOCATION:West Point Military Academy, New York System ENCRYPTION:Gamma SUBJECT:Patrol and Incident Report 22/05/834 PRIORITY:High
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*Falls into chair, pours a glass of Liberty Ale and then proceeds to scratch at a freshly bandaged wound on his head*
LtCdr. Alastair Stedman Patrol log for the 22nd of May 834. As you can see *points to the bandages* it was an interesting day out there today. My previous video log was interrupted as we were scrambled to intercept some hostiles. But I will get to that in due course. I'll just start from the beginning.
*takes a sip from the glass*
As my Executioner was still in for repairs I took off in my Guardian or Defender, whatever we are calling the ol' bird these days and started my patrol by heading towards the Texas system. No sooner had I arrived in orbit of Planet Houston when a large fleet of Corsair ships, all broadcasting DTR transponder codes, came pouring into the system from Hudson. The fleet consisted of a large number of cruisers and transports with a handful of fighter escorts. I prepared myself for one hell of a fight as I was the only navy ship in the vicinity and I knew that even with me broadcasting to emergency channels it would take some time for help to arrive. However said fight never arrived. The corsairs were not a raiding party, In fact it seemed to be a very brazen smuggling convoy. I had scanned one of their cargo holds and they were filled with artifacts. They simply ignored me, either because I was a single ship and probably not worth the time engaging, or they were simply hurrying on their way through the system before our reinforcements could arrive. Either way not a single shot was fired. I kind of sat there in shock at the sheer audacity I had just witnessed, before coming to my senses and pursuing them. They routed through New York to Pennsylvania then to California and then out of Liberty boarders through the Magellan system.
I am not sure if this needs to be pushed to the LSF or if we need to reinstate the fleet, but either way it is extremely troubling to see how easy it was for fleet of Corsairs to come through our system and smuggle their goods through Liberty with no one to intercept them. If it were to become public knowledge to Liberty's enemies just how easy it was to gain access to our space, well suffice to say it wouldn't be a good thing that's for sure.
*takes another long draught from his glass*
I then concluded my patrol and started to fill out the reports from my previous patrols and record my video log when we were scrambled to deal with a group of Technocracy ships making their way into California.
We managed to scramble five navy snubs and an additional B'unter joined us as well. Our small group consisted of Bounty Hunter: Aegis|Laelaps, 46th|Alpha-42, Navy South-8, Jack.Lancer and Allen Jones. I was vaguely aware of other ships joining us after combat started but I couldn't tell you who it was as the combat was rather intense. Anyways it was 6 of us against 9 or 10 of them. Including a gunship. Suffice to say with our number disadvantage it wasn't a fight we stood a good chance of winning. We engaged hoping that reinforcements would arrive quickly. Laelaps was the first of our number to fall, but shortly after that IR)G-AV-Spiteful's transponder went dark, taken out by 46th|TFA-LNS-Kennedy. After that we managed to get TFP)-Emilia.Osorio taken out courtesy of 46th|Alpha-42. But after that it all seemed to go downhill from there. We focused fire on TFP)-Omega but his ship was just too maneuverable. He was able to easily evade our weapons fire, and while we were trying to focus him, the the rest of the Technocracy ships took us out one by one. 46th|Alpha-42 went down then [LN]-Alan.Jones then finally Jack.Lancer. I suddenly found myself alone surrounded by all these hostile ships. I continued the fight as best I could, outnumbered and outgunned I managed to destroy the ship of TFP)-Gabi.Hawthorne. However the fight was lost for me. Still surrounded by 6 other ships, my guardian's engines and reactor loosing power due to a coolant leak, and my hull heavily damaged. I knew the chances of making it out in one piece were slim to none.
*Grabs a file off his desk and pages through*
The, ahem, Auxasians? Am I getting it right? Well the ships that seemed to be from the Technocracy did not immediately destroy my ship at this point. Instead they wanted me to come with them. To join their cause. They would not attack if I surrendered and left with them. They went on about some bombing of civilians and other such war crimes. I denied their offer of mercy. I don't know about the incidents they were referring to, I probably have more catching up that has to be done. But frankly what great nation or civilization is not without its skeletons hiding in the closet? Every great nation has them. And every uprising claims that THEY will be the ones to rebuild it better when the old regimes fall. But it never truly ends up that way does it? The 5th fleet and by extension the rest of the Liberty Navy has been good to me ever since I signed up. They even continued to pay out my salary to the wife while I was incapacitated. So, as long as it seems to me that High Command and the government are making just and right decisions, I will continue to defend liberty.
Anyway I digress, during this exchange the Rogue Gunboat Birdie from yesterday appeared again and demanded the pilot in my cargo hold. I apparently tractored in an escape pod during the conflict and the rogues were demanding I hand it over. The Technocracy pilots seemed openly hostile to the Rogue Gunboat. I don't know if it was their open hostility to the Rogues or something about them, but they didn't seem like petty criminals or fanatical terrorist's. They came across to me as decent albeit maybe misguided individuals. With my ships power core failing I struck a bargain with the Auxaxians, man I really don't know if I'm saying it right, but anyway it seemed to me this escape pod stood a better chance of survival in their hands rather than being handed over to the rogues or sitting in the hold of my dying ship. They agreed to take the pilot and get them to safety. The Birdie realizing that they had had lost the pilot, and outnumbered against the TFP/auxo ships decided to leave the area.
After that as, I suppose a gesture of good will if you want to call it that, the TFP pilots decided to send one of their number, TFP)-Full.Send against me in a one on one duel. It didn't last long. The reactor of my ship went into emergency shut down as it overheated due to the severity of the coolant leak. I ejected and disabled my emergency transponder. Hoping that my pod would avoid detection and prevent me from being captured by these Auxaxians. I was later rescued by a S&R Navy Rhino that was picking up escape pods once the TFP ships had moved away.
This concludes my report for the 22nd. I heard that they towed my guardian back to Norfolk where they will assess it and check if it's salvageable. I've been told though that my executioner should be ready to fly by the end of day today. A new reactor core and some new hull panels and she is space worthy again. I only have still images from my sensor logs. Apparently the failure of my reactor core caused a power surge in the main computer and fried some of the memory circuits.
Anyways. That's all.
LtCdr. Alastair Stedman signing off.
SENDER:LtCdr. Alastair Stedman RECIPIENT:5th Fleet High Command LOCATION:West Point Military Academy, New York System ENCRYPTION:Gamma SUBJECT:Patrol Reports 16/06/834 to 30/06/834 PRIORITY:High
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*Sits down and points to a pile of papers on his desk*
Well its about high time I got to finishing off all my patrol reports. Otherwise HC might just gut me alive.
Well anyway on the 16th/05/834 I was near Norfolk shipyard when prison ship XT-7154 sent out a distress call, they were transporting prisoners to LPI Sugerland when they came under attack by Rogue forces on the lane between Norfolk and West Point. I proceeded immediately to provide assistance. We fought as hard as we could but our Gunboats were disabled which left us at a severe disadvantage. I assisted 46th|Alpha-26 with the destruction of The.Flat.Rat. and Clark.Wilson. I managed to take out Duncan.Reeves. Unfortunately I was the last snub standing against the Rogues and I was disabled by Shane.Hughes. The security detail of XT-7154 was overwhelmed and unfortunately we lost the prison ship and their inmates. *Sighs* Well you can't win them all I am afraid. I have uploaded the sensor footage from the fight.
On the 23rd/05/834 I was on patrol with John,Hawkes when we intercepted a Corsair DTR Battleship DTR-CC>Diablo.Gris at the Texas gate in New York. The hold of the ship was filled with artifacts, however it turned around back into Texas when it was met with our forces. I suspect the Diablo.Gris was a lookout for a larger smuggling fleet. Probably the same smuggling fleet that came through on the 22nd of May. We need to increase our patrols to intercept these smugglers. I have a still image from my ships sensor logs of the encounter.
On the 24th/05/834 I assisted a Zoner corvo RSV-Neumann with navigating their way through the Kepler system to Ames Research Station. Hoping my gesture of good will is just a small drop in the bucket required to repair our relationship with the Zoners. It was an extremely dangerous journey through the system with multiple sensor ghosts appearing and disappearing, there also seemed to be a temporal distortion of some sorts as I could of sworn we reached Ames but I must of been hallucinating because we had been sitting at the the Galileo hole the entire time. I recommend we stay clear of this system unless it's absolutely required.
On the 28th/05/834 I intercepted a Rogue vessel called Mose.Bolton, that was attempting to extort an Ageria ship called the Ascension. I pursued him to Cordova Shipping Platform in the Magellan system. I disabled Mose.Bolton's ship before he could cause any permanent damage to Cordova or the Ascension.
Yesterday, the 30th/05/834 I was on patrol near Detroit Munitions. We had received a tip off from intelligence that Task Force Prometheus and the Pennsylvania Zoner Resistance were preparing to attack Detroit Munitions. The intel was right and a group of cruisers and single seater vessels moved on Detroit. Thankfully our patrol was correctly outfitted for the threats we were about to face. I assisted in disabling TFP)-Niloticus. I engaged TFP)-Carmine as they were attempting to attack our gunship, but I disabled Carmine. After that I assisted in the removal of PLF/Testament and PLF/Freedom.Shield. We then got word that another patrol had intercepted TFP and PLF reinforcements attempting to reach Detroit, unfortunately my ship being damaged from the combat was disabled by TFP)-Silver.Fox. However our forces managed to push the remaining PLF and TFP/Auxo forces out of the system and my Defender was towed back to West Point. Victory was guaranteed as we had superior military equipment and training.
*Leans forward and rubs his temples*
But what the hell are we doing here? We are supposed to be representing freedom here? Why can't we come down to some sort of settlement with the Zoners? These are a group of people that are pretty damn upset with the hand they have been dealt, but shooting at civilian militias flying ships that are armed with nothing more than cap guns just doesn't seem the way to solve this issue. We are supposed to be standing up for freedom and liberty here. This just seems wrong to me. *Sighs* I dunno. Maybe I need to do some reading. Find out who these extremists are and what they represent. They are misguided and wrong, but surely there is a way we can mend these wounds with the Zoners. Anyways that's all for now.