"By order of the King, this channel has been formed to provide the might that is the Gallic Royal Navy with mission submissions and to provide a storage center for reports concerning encounters with hostiles or completed tasks.
Bonjour, there wasn't 1 minute of peace today while i was on duty. I came from Dauphine to find Freelancer from Sirruis poking around Beuvray. Sergeant Devereux and I scared him away. Not long after that Sergeant Devereux got report of Bounty hunter shooting down our guys near Macon. We went there and he was shooting down EFL ships. We engaged and took sirrian down. We went back to Beuvray and there it was Council Battleship we charged at him and he started loosing his shield and hull. Soon Sergeant Eugene Archambaul joined us in his fighter and we managed to attract one more Council ship , this time it was Cruiser. We stayed on battleship. Eugene got shot down , he is alright now but Lynx saw better days. Not long after that Battleship started fleeing away from us and in the end he docked. Cruiser left alone and we almost destroyed it but she dissipeard. We won today in the name of King and Gallia.
ID: Baron Blaise Mersenne
ENREGISTREMENT: GRN-3305-81-C
ORIGINE: Dijon Station
DESTINATION: Sieges Sociaux, Royaux de Marine
CHIFFRAGE: Securite-B
[COMMENCEZ LE PLAYBACK]
This is Baron Blaise Mersenne, submitting an action report for the 10th of Octobre, 732 A.G.S.
My report begins at Dijon Station, having just departed aboard the patrol vessel Aramis. Duke Moreau and Baron Blanc were aboard the Normandie and Duquesne, respectively, to perform fleet maneuvers; I had decided to record the proceedings for submission to L'Acadamie Navale, that future warship commanders may learn the finer details of combat in the line. Just as we were moving into position by the Round Table, an automated transmission came through on an open frequency. My Operations officer determined it to be a distress signal, and I was authorized by mon Duke to seek out the signal source and take whatever actions may be necessary.
What follows are the visual and recorded data of the events that transpired:
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Notes: At 03:05 SMT, the Aramis came under attack from a Council patrol wing. No doubt that those vermin also received the distress signal and came to investigate. The timely arrival of His Majesty's own patrol fended off the Council while my crew performed the necessary operations. By 03:09:14 SMT, however, a larger Council wing arrived and we were forced to hasten our work. Thankfully, our shields and the fine construction of His Majesty's Shipyards held strong and we managed to return to Dijon with minimal hull damage.
Analysis: We are currently unsure how this vessel could have come so far into His Majesty's Territory. Random drift can be ruled out, as this possesses the least supportive strength; it is highly unlikely that an un-powered and un-manned transport could drift through all the necessary jump holes to arrive in Burgundy. We are thus left to conclude that it trespassed into Gallia. Its location at the time of discovery was approximately 10 klicks east of Gisement d'asteroide de Nouvre, which can by confirmed in the transcript as coordinate F-6 on the Burgundy star-charts. Based on this data, the following assumptions about its journey can be made:
-The transport entered Burgundy through either the Lorraine Jump Hole or the Dauphine Jump Hole.
-Along its route to whatever destination, it came under attack from some hostile force.
-The wreck of the transport was left at coordinate F-6. Whatever crew survived activated the automated distress signal before escaping, being captured, or expiring.
When examining the first point, it is very likely that the transport utilized a jump hole to enter into Burgundy; archived action reports indicate on many occasions that Sirian intruders are aware of the jump holes within His Majesty's Territory and make extensive use of them to evade our patrols. We must elaborate, though, on what the intended destination of the transport was. It is much more common for Sirians to enter Burgundy through the Dauphine Jump Hole, usually having entered Gallia through the breach in Lanquedoc by the Council. Typical cargo scans will indicate neon canisters or deuterium fuel, most likely to support the Council or tampered with to sabotage His Majesty's industry. Should it have entered Burgundy through Lorraine, this would entail that it crossed through the breach and entered from the systems beyond Lorraine; recon drones indicate the existence of some hostile force outside of the jump hole in the mine field, and it can be assumed that this vessel would have had no chance to survive that trip. The Dauphine-Burgundy route seems the most likely route, and we can further say that the transport was proceeding towards le Gisement d'asteroide de Nouvre to enter into Lorraine, or proceed towards a Council installation of Champagne.
In relation to the second point, we can eliminate potential attackers that assaulted the transport. It is possible that the Sirian stumbled across a Royal Navy patrol, at which point it would have been engaged; with the transport crippled, the patrol may have left it to its fate. If this were the case, however, a formal report would have been submitted for evaluation. At this point in time, we have not yet found a report in D'Intelligence Navale's database. A Council patrol may have found the transport initially, but it is highly irregular for them to open fire on a Sirian; it would behoove them to make as many contacts as possible with potential suppliers, and there also is the case of another Council patrol wing arriving on the scene later to investigate the distress signal. We are left to examine the Maquis, the Corse, and the Brigands. The Maquis, while the more extreme of the rebels, must still maintain face with the Council. It is unlikely they would blatantly attack a Sirian as this would hurt their relationship with the Council more than it would help. The Unione Corse tend to have no reservations about whom they pillage, especially when it is a Sirian with foreign commodities and technology. Similarly, the Brigands are very opportunistic, and though it is rumored that they intend on establishing connections with the Sirians, that may not do much to dissuade them from assaulting a poorly-defended transport.
The final point is unfortunately the most difficult to analyze. I regret not having conducted a more detailed scan on the transport to determine how many, if any, escape pods were on the transport or if there were any organic signatures that could indicate corpses. In the absence of this key data, I can only present this possible scenario: based on some action reports, it has been noted that the Brigands may occasionally capture a vessel's crew and press them into service, or use them in labor camps. It is possible that the same fate met the crew of this Sirian transport, based on the greater potential that it was initially attacked by the Brigands.
Cargo: When performing the initial scan of the Sirian transport, Tactical discovered two points of interest: a residual charge remained in the weapon banks, indicating that cannons may still be intact (Fig. 2); a small, but active, electronic unit emitted a faint signal that was correlated to some sort of currency unit (Fig. 3). Low-powered bursts from the Aramis' guns were able to remove the cannons from the transport's hull, and breach the cargo hold to retrieve the final item. Our first analysis on the weapons showed no match to currently-known Sirian weapons; we are lead to believe that these are prototype in nature and may provide great detail in how far the Sirians have come in terms of combat capabilities. The second item was less exciting, having been determined to be nothing more than some manner of Sirian credit-transfer unit.
Conclusion: We have been presented with a rare opportunity to learn more about the Sirians in such a short time. Though severely damaged, the Sirian vessel provided key data into small transport design and, with luck, Sirian weapon technologies. I am still curious, however, as to the location (if they are even still alive) of the crew. After departing, the transport ceased transmission; later patrol flights could not detect a trace of the vessel at coordinate F-6. It can be assumed that it degraded beyond critical structural integrity, or was salvaged by the Council, Brigands, or Corse.
To the best of my abilities, I claim the contents to be truthful and accurate.
By my hand and eye,
Baron Blaise Mersenne
<TRANSMISSION FINIE>
Maybe some day, they'll see a hero is just a man who knowshe's free.
[Incoming Transmission]
[Comm ID: Secr?taire de le Prince]
[Subject: Report One]
Good day Monsieur's and Madam,
His Majesty, Joseph DeFrance, has requested me to write this report.
During his apparent visit to boost troop moral, which was indeed a success, he was stationed outside Planet Nevers, and had a long conversations with a subject by the name of Emile Lalique.
The recordings will follow shortly. His Majesty says that part of the transmission was cut out due to a solar flare. However everything else was recovered.
[font=Trebuchet Ms]ID: Pascal Devereux, Knight
Location: Dijon Station
Target: Royal Navy Command
Subject: Battle in Burgundy
[color=#FF0000]**Submitting Battle Report**
It is a good day to be in His Majesty's service!
A great victory was won today. What started out as a routine patrol left two council capital ships crippled, seemingly beyond repair.
Monsieur Leo Berlioz and I began our patrol of Burgundy all seemed well. Soon we received intel and acting on it, came across a Sirian bounty hunter praying upon EFL ships. I ordered him to cease fire, but he refused. We made short work of his clumsy Sirian "Spatial."
When we returned to our patrol, dispatch alerted us to the presence of the Council Battleship "Triumphe" , the Flagship of their fleet moving through Burgundy. I called for bomber backup as Monsieur Berlioz began firing Supernova salvos. Eugene Archambault answered the call. With two bombers and a fighter we charged the battleship. Supernova by Supernova we chipped away at his hull. The battleship was moving towards a secret base in an asteroid field and victory seemed assured, but Monsieur Archambault's fighter was hit by a stray flak burst and he was forced to eject.
Shortly thereafter a council cruiser suddenly appeared without warning and began to fire on us. We continued firing on the Battleship, but before we could deliver the killing blow, it managed to pull off an extraordinary docking maneuver and reach safety. We turned our attention to the cruiser and soon had him running. As we were about to deliver the killing blow, he employed some sort of cloaking technology and completely disappeared from our scanners.
Neither ship was destroyed, but both were severely damaged and no doubt will be in dry dock for weeks to repair all the holes Berlioz and myself punched in their hulls.
[font=Trebuchet Ms]ID: Pascal Devereux, Knight
Location: Dijon Station
Target: Royal Navy Command
Subject: Patrol Report
[color=#FF0000]**Submitting Patrol Report**
Bonjour,
Today while patrolling the Burgundy system, a vile voice came over the comms. After only a few seconds I realized this was an agent of the Marquis, MRF|LeBruix. He was spouting hateful propaganda and insults against our beloved sovereign, The King. He said such horrendous things I will not repeat them here. I knew I had to silence these outbursts. I broadcasted to him to respect the King and stop his propaganda. He proceeded to call all of the Royal Navy pilots cowards. He told me his coordinates in the Autun Nebula and dared me to come find him. I knew it might be a trap, but I had to silence his hateful mouth.
With the system mercifully devoid of insults against the Crown, I returned to my patrols. No sooner had I returned to my patrol than I came across a strange sight. A Sirian spy piloting a stolen Perilous class Council gunboat. http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/618/frl...90809013904.png
when asked his business and the means with which he acquired such a ship, he immediately began firing. With the help of a Gallic Royal Navy bomber, Luc.Shote|GRN, the threat was quickly eliminated. http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/8787/fr...90809014150.png
Just when I thought the night was over, I had a most disturbing encounter. I hailed a passing transport bearing a transponder proclaiming him to be part of the Royal Navy, the ship's name was SKY-DEMON. His response was strange and in a different language. It became plain that he was not Gallic at all. I thought this very suspicious and began to question him about his business and destination. He began to try to flee to the Dauphine jump hole, and even took refuge at a Corse base. Through much questioning he finally admitted he was a Sirian with a load of Prometheum for a place called "Ontario." http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/5445/fr...90809021455.png http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/205/frl...90809021213.png
I became very suspicious at this point. He claimed to be a junker, but had no papers for verification. He finally admitted to being a Sirian profiteer and a spy. After more questioning the suspect admitted to selling information regarding the Kingdom of Gallia and our technology to a group known as the "Order." http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/940/frlnc...90809022448.png
At this point I realized what we were dealing with, a Spy, the worst sort of intruder. I charged up my weapons and gave the order to engage. He fled to the Dauphine Jumphole and nearly escaped, but not quite. Luc.Shote|GRN proved his worth again as a bomber pilot and after a short fight and chase SKY-DEMON was destroyed. http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/4161/fr...90809023725.png
ID: Eugene Archambault, Knight
Target: Royal Navy Command
Subject: Patrol Report
Bonjour,
Today i started my patrol at Battleship Beuvray.
Before i went to my first destination i picked up the chat of a brigand. He was using the communication satellite. Why he did so is still unknown, but not a concern. I think he just wanted to tell everyone how good he was.
At that time Comte Adrien Lambert joined the patrol.
After a short period Comte Adrien wanted to shut the big mouth of this brigand. We made a patrol sweep through the neville asteroid field. He didn't seem to be there.
Long range scanners indicated that he went to the Dauphine system. We went to Dauphine to find the Brigand.
After some searching and more talking with the brigand, we managed to find him in the asteroid field in which the Burgundy Jumphole is. After he saw me approaching he attempted to get away. I managed to disrupt his cruise engine with a cruise disrupter.
Comte Adrien was securing the other way and was on the way to my location.
The Brigand was flying a Brigand L'ane transporter. After his cruise engine went down, and i came in weapons range he started to open fire. I returned fire and took his shield fast enough. He managed to dodge the first snac fired upon his ship. Comte Adrien joined the fight. At that point it went fast. The shield of the Brigand went down, and he took some serious hits.
The last thing the brigand saw, before forced to leave his ship, was a snac hitting his ship. The brigand managed to get away in his escape pod.
There were no navy officers in his hold, we guess he was imagining it, after he drank so much whine.
Recorded conversation with the brigand:
After that we returned to Battleship Beuvray. We can surely say that we have made it clear to the brigands that we mean business and they can't hide that easily from us.
Vive le roy
For his majesty,
Knight Eugene Archambault
Comm ID: Comte Mathieu Archambault Location: Battleship Beuvray to: GRN Admirality
::Starting Report::
Bonjour,
our patrol went very easily, no serious incident occured,
however we spotted many corse pilots, I sent out my younger brother Jacques
to destroy those ships, we re-aranged his guns, to be effective against fighter class ships,
[OPEN TRANMISSION] COMM ID: Josef Moreau, Duke of the Gallic Royal Navy LOCATION: Battleship Normandie, Burgundy System TOPIC: TRAINEE TESTING AND PATROL
The Normandie responded to an emergency transmission by an IDF pilot at approximately 20:00 yesterday. He reported a Council capital ship in the Burgundy System.
The Normandie arrived at Planet Nevers shortly afterward, but found only a recent applicant to the War Academy, Godfrey de Blanchefort. He informed me that the enemy fled when another Royal patrol approached. Experienced with such cowardice, I performed a short survey of the surroundings before drifting back towards Dijon Station.
It should be noted that the trainee is disguised in a Sirian vessel to avoid harassment from enemy patrols, but has the correct documentation to be allowed within Royal territory. He is pursuing the purchase of a Gallic ship immediately. He is also rather quiet and inexperienced; I recommend to Milady LaCroix that Comte Mersenne or Comte Blanc oversee his instruction if he is accepted into our ranks one day.
With the threat of the Council battleship over, I ordered the Normadie to dock above Dijon Station for a diagnostic scan. As the crew prepared to carefully maneuver the ship into place, the Normandie caught a glimpse of a Sirian spy. Unable to give chase, I immediately called in additional patrols to begin a hunt.
ID: Comte Blaise Mersenne ENREGISTREMENT: GRN-3305-81-C ORIGINE: Dijon Station DESTINATION: Sieges Sociaux, Royaux de Marine CHIFFRAGE: Securite-B
[COMMENCEZ LE PLAYBACK]
This is Comte Blaise Mersenne, submitting an action report for the 17th of Octobre, 733 A.G.S.
My report begins after departing from Dijon Station aboard the Aramis. I had responded to an alert from D'Intelligence Navale concerning the detection of a large mass moving through Dauphine; engine emission patterns and sensor modulations tagged it as a vessel that has been within His Majesty's Territory before, but had yet to be identified visually. The Brothers Archambault were already securing Burgundy, allowing the Aramis enough time to transit into Dauphine.
Once in-system the Aramis performed a sweep through the trade lane network, beginning in proximity to the Burgundy jump gate and moving down towards the Lanquedoc jump gate. Initial scans could not confirm the presence of a large vessel; D'Intelligence Navale confirmed that the unknown had exited into Lanquedoc by the time of my arrivale. Though this opportunity slipped by us, it would soon be apparent that it slipped by the Council as well; as we plotted a return course to Burgundy, Tactical picked up two sensor contacts at long range and in proximity to Gap Station. I immediately hailed them and demanded that they halt for questioning. Naturally, they attempted to flee into Voiron. Luckily, the Aramis was in position to intercept them; Helm engaged full cruise impulse to head off the Council contacts, and Tactical deployed one (1) cruise disruptor round. With their engines disabled, we were able to close within 2.5 klicks for a detailed scan: one MJ-2 "Agama" Heavy Fighter and one BJ-6 "Basilisk" Bomber. The Basilisk proceeded to fly into Voiron, but the Agama remained behind. I hailed it and proceeded with questioning. Submitted below is the black box recording of the proceedings:
By 21:27:54 SMT, the Brothers Archambault had joined my position. With the discussion completed, we immediately returned to Burgundy. Naval High Command had issued the mobilization of a Task Force in response to the unknown intruder; however, as fate would have it, the Council had already prepared their own fleet movements as well. His Majesty's Fleet consisted of the Duquesne, under Comte Blanc's command; the Aramis, under my authority; the Brothers Archambault in a Lynx and a Cougar; His Majesty Prince Joseph DeFrance in a Lynx; and mon Duke Josef Moreau in a Cougar. Truly it was magnificent to see His Majesty's Royal Navy flying her standards high.
Task Force Duquesne proceeded towards sector C7, Burgundy star-chart standard, and held position. Comm chatter between the Council Forces and our own fleet increased dramatically until the point of contact when our sensors picked up the first readings of them. I regret to say that I had not kept the Aramis' flight recorder active for the duration of the battle; I am most certain however that the reports of our fellow Knights will follow-up with details. Suffice it to say, the Aramis' held fast to see the Duquesne demolish a Council Cruiser and inflict tremendous damage on a Council Gunboat. The enemy rallied and managed to breach the hull on the Duquesne, though I am happy to report that Comte Blanc and his crew managed to escape to the lifeboats in time. Subsequently, the Council bombers took to the Aramis; hull breaches and multiple losses of atmosphere on the vessel's decks prompted us to escape to the lifeboats as well; as of this writing, the Aramis is currently in drydock at Dijon until repairs have been completed. Despite the loss of the Duquesne and the Aramis, Task Force Duquesne managed a strong victory over the Council Fleet.
Analysis: This section will be divided into two units: one pertaining to the questioning of the Council Agama, and the second pertaining to the fleet engagement itself.
The unknown vessel in Dauphine had been seen before by second-hand reports and sensor readings from D'Intelligence Navale. In all accounts it was identified as having a large mass and a most unique engine pattern; attempts to match the readings with the database returned negatives. The most interesting situation, though, is that the Council was also aware of this unknown. We do not know for certain if this was their first alert of such a vessel, or if they too were seeking visual confirmation in response to previous alerts. Based on the transcript, it would be safe to say that the Council has not yet made contact with it. There are too many variables pertaining to this unknown vessel, especially one so large as the sensor readings indicate yet has consistently been able to elude us. Whatever it may be, I advise that we get to it first before the Council does. Archived readings indicate that the unknown has entered only into Dauphine at furthest; it would behoove us to station a patrol group in Gap Station for emergency deployment to seal the Lanquedoc jump gate and jump hole. This would force the unknown vessel into an encounter should it attempt escape, or into Burgundy and the hands of His Majesty's Royal Navy.
Pertaining to the fleet battle, the Aramis assumed a close-support role for the Duquesne. Our priorities were anti-bomber/anti-fighter and fire support, as per our weapon loadout limits. We had managed to occupy one bomber, causing it to break from its bombing run to evade. Despite this, we could not inflict damage fast enough to eliminate it from the battle. I believe that a more effective intercept role could be performed from behind the cockpit of a fighter. Further tactical analysis of the situation will be detailed by follow-up reports.
To the best of my abilities, I claim the contents to be truthful and accurate.
By my hand and eye,
Comte Blaise Mersenne
<TRANSMISSION FINIE>
Maybe some day, they'll see a hero is just a man who knowshe's free.