This is Ensign Richard Hastings, reporting in.
Today, I began a solo patrol of the outskirts of Bretonian space. I began in Magellen, which was quite peaceful. Afterwards, I proceded through New London, which, too, was peaceful. From there, I took the jumpgate into Dublin, which was empty save for a few Independant miners earning some cash. At that point, I thought it might be good to check the jumpholes in the system, as they are often used by smugglers wishing to bypass the Essex's cargo scanners. I took the jumphole into Edinburgh, and began to patrol the system until it became apparent that there was no one there. Next, I took the jumpgate into Leeds. That's where things got a bit more interesting...
Upon arriving in the vicinity of the Battleship Derby, I noticed a very strange ship stationed near the docking ring of planet Leeds. Upon a more detailed scan, the ship was revealed to be a Gunboat class vessel, so I stopped the pilot for questioning immediately. We had a pleasant conversation; he was very complacent with my orders. After some talk, he mentioned that he was from 'Gallia,' A place that I still know so little about. I explained to him that I needed to escort him out of Breotnian space. He said that he was just in the process of leaving when I stopped him, so I saw him out of our sovereignty without a hitch.
After that, three outcasts appeared on the edge of my scanner. I questioned them as to why they were flying around in such a compact group, and they were rather rude, even going so far as to threatening to attack me! However, before I got a chance to deal with them, a Kusari vessel entered into sight. I decided to abandon the outcasts for a chance to strike at the Kusari forces. The Outcasts, however, had ideas of their own. They opened up fire on the both of us. I decided to pull back from the battle, as the only way I would have been able to confront the Outcast forces would be to ally myself with the Kusarian, which would have been completely unacceptable. The outcasts continued to assault the Kusari vessel, but it's pilot made good use of the ship's superior maneuverability and small targeting profile, and was able to evade all three of the outcast pilots. Eventually, the maltese vessels decided that they had spent too much time out in the open, and ran away from the single Kusari pilot. Overall, the outcasts seemed to be relying on their numbers more than their skills to fight effectively, and although they talked big, they did not have the battle savvy to back their words up with action.
At this point a large Bretonian Dunkirk began to cruise into sensor range. I hailed it, and it revealed itself to be the HMS-Excalibur. With the Outcasts now gone, the Kusari vessel stood out as the only hostile target in the area, and the Excalibur proceeded to attempt to fire upon the ship with its long range guns. However, the Excalibur had yet to mount the proper anti-fighter equipment for an encounter like this, and was unable to land a single hit on the highly maneuverable Kusari fighter. At this point, it became clear that this fighter needed to be countered with another fighter, so I moved in to engage the fighter. We became locked in a deadly game of attack and counter-attack, and soon our formations became so closely interlocked that the Excalibur was unable to open fire without almost hitting my Templar along with the enemy vessel. Soon, both the Kusarian and myself were dodging franticly, both of us trying our best to evade the fire of the Dunkirk's guns, while simultaneously not allowing for either one of us to land shots on the other's hull. The fight became a deadly haze of confusion with shots coming from each and every direction, and the Excalibur doing its best not to let it's gunners shoot me by accident. The enemy pilot utilized his ships superior turning speed to the upmost effect, locking both our ships in spiral combat, in which the Kusari vessel proved to have the advantage. It took all my concentration, utilizing the best maneuverability tactics I know of, just to get the vessel into view. I then proceeded to initiate a series of maneuvers that broke the deadly spiral formation we had been fighting in for several minutes. I was able to draw him out and start bringing him into a joust-type engagement, where my Templar's heavy armor and the Adv. Splitter's fast projectile speed began to pay off, scoring several hits and forcing the Kusari vessel to start drawing on his nanobot reserves. However, this technique had a unforeseen effect; as I made a run at the enemy, I continued onwards, past where I had passed the fighter, so as to gain some distance between me and him to allow for my templar to turn around. Right as I passed the fighter, my ship was struck by several of the Excalibur's own shots! The ship's gunners had apparently been aiming for the fighter's last known position, and when him and I switched places after the joust, I was landed with the volley intended for him. This took my shields down completely, and throughout the next few engagements my shield was kept deactivated or at an extremely low power level. Soon, the Kusari ship changed his tactics, hitting me with several Nuclear mines, effectively draining me of nanobots. The fighting continued for several minutes more, and the enemy vessel was able to keep wearing away at both my hull and my remaining ammo with a continued stream of mines and torpedos. Eventually, I ran completely out of countermeasures, and the enemy took the opportunity to launch a volley of torpedos my way. I was forced to evade the volley, exposing my vessel to enemy gun fire. My ship's reactor core was punctured, and the Templar's emergency ejection mechanism saved me, just as my vessel exploded behind me. At this time, the Excalibur was right upon my escape pod, and the Kusari vessel decided not to press his luck and moved back to the Kusari holdings in northern Leeds. The CO of the excalibur was most gracious, and after bringing me into his ship and looking having me looked over in the Med bay, he dispached a shuttle do fly me back to Salisbury.
Total Patrol Time: 2 hours
Attached Intelligence Documents:
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