SENDER: Christopher Edwards RECIPIENT: 5th Fleet LOCATION: Norfolk Shipyard, New York system PRIORITY:High ENCRYPTION:Advanced
VIDEO UPLINK:ONLINE
Greetings,
I am pleased to come into contact with you again after all this time. At the time we speak I am the Captain in command of the Akhetaten, an Osiris-class Liberty Navy vessel. Allow me to remind you of the past events that triggered this communication towards you; The Akhetaten's last mission, as commanded, was to take place in Manchester along with soon-arriving Liberty Forces, reinforcing this strategic position, thus disallowing the Gallic fleet to move towards Cortez and inevitably California. The reinforcements that were supposed to be waiting for us weren't there on time, and the result was catastrophic. The few fighters on our escort wing were shot down like flies, and the Akhetaten was heavily damaged, suffering multiple casualties and losing most of her crew in the process. The ship's captain along with most of the crew were dead by the time our presumable backup arrived, however I had the luck to survive the crash along with a few other crew members.
My injuries left me scarred and in a deep coma for two years. Upon waking up I was told the events that followed after that day and a few weeks later it was announced that as I was the highest-ranking officer aboard the ship to have survived, I am to be promoted to the rank of Captain and assume command of the Akhetaten. Seeing the ship again in Norfolk Shipyard's dry docks was painful, the ship's condition was horrible. I assume the Akhetaten was left on those dry docks for those two years, pending repairs that never came.
That finally brings me to the reason that I am contacting you. As you know, the Akhetaten was an intelligence-gathering vessel operating, most of the time, in secrecy. I hereby request that the ship's purpose be changed to a Liberty Naval Ship, under the ranks of the Liberty Navy Second Fleet. The ship is to remain in Liberty space and serve the rest of it's time there. Should the need arise for the ship to serve an intelligence-gathering purpose, the terms and conditions will be discussed on the spot.
Being an outdated vessel, the Akhetaten of course requires a variety of optimization and tuning to be done on it's systems so as to properly function with today's technology smoothly. Field testing the ship has been unsuccessful until now due to those issues not being addressed. However, after having my request approved I will arrange that the ship gets fully outfitted and commence the field testing sequence, with the support of the Liberty Navy First Fleet and the Liberty Security Force.
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Sender: Rear Admiral Grey Evans Location: Norfolk Shipyard, New York Topic: RE: The Akhetaten
Date: 22/6/827
Captain Edwards,
My name is Grey Evans, I speak on behalf of the Fifth Fleet Admiralty in this matter.
First and foremost, we thank you and your crew members for your exemplary service in the Gallic war. Indeed, your efforts to slow the Gallic incursion were, unfortunately, unsuccessful. Ordinarily, I would say that we cannot linger on the events that lead to the deaths of our brothers and sisters in arms, but I think that your crew should be celebrated for fighting until they could not fight any more. That, is what makes the Liberty Navy the greatest Navy in Sirius. Not our power, not our skill, but our resolve to fight to the bitter end, victory or defeat.
Secondly, we are glad to hear that you have been deemed fit to return to service. We need all the men we can get, now that the insurgents are knocking at our door. As for the Akhetaten, unfortunately we could not spare the resources to repair her, as at the time, there were no captains that we thought were fit to command her, so the materials were diverted to reinforce the Alma and her battlegroup.
With that said, if there are any armaments you require to get her back into shape, you need only ask. Our stores on Juneau are well supplied with the finest weapons in Liberty.
Proceed to Juneau Shipyard, drydock three, and we'll begin bringing the Akhetaten up to spec with the rest of the fleet.
If there's anything else you need, do not hesitate to ask.
SENDER: Christopher Edwards RECIPIENT: 5th Fleet LOCATION: Norfolk Shipyard, New York system PRIORITY:High ENCRYPTION:Advanced
VIDEO UPLINK:ONLINE
Greetings Rear Admiral Evans,
I will not hide from you that your response came to me as a surprise. It was an unexpected move of you to take this moment and cherish those who were lost in the tragedy that took place at 824 A.S. with the Carcassonne's movement towards Cortez. You have my respect, Rear Admiral.
The thought that the Akhetaten wasn't repaired due to no Captains being available to command her at the time never crossed my mind. I do thank you for giving a reason as to why she was left unaccounted for those two years. However, as things stand today the situation has moved on towards the better. I am proud to say that the First Fleet offered it's help in the repairs of the Akhetaten in terms of equipment required. She is fully equipped with Liberty's best armaments, along with a fully functional Jump Drive Mk IV for the purpose of rapid fleet transportation and deployment, should that be necessary.
Which leaves me with the task of contacting the Security Force for the tuning and optimization of the ship, so as to function properly and as intended with today's technology. After all required operations take place the Akhetaten will be finally ready to serve Liberty once again.