' Wrote:Incoming Transmission NL819 866873023C
Encryption Level: SECURED T145
CommID: MacFarlane: NL:DH 8764501
Message Target: Bowex Infonet
CC: Bretonian Trade and Transit Authority, BAF Admiralty (Commodore Piett), Liberty Navy COMOPS (Admiral Malrone)
Message Source: Private Terminal 8033956, Devon Highlands, New London
Subject: Bowex-lead Convoy 819-7-23-A

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Sahs,

Apologies for the late report. There is of course no excuse for tardiness, but as you know I have had my hands rather full.

The convoy pulled out late on Sunday after RV'€™ing in New London orbit late. A bit of a clusterf'€¦ ahem.. quite. Yes, as they say. Of course sahs, we'€™ve already discussed that issue, but for those who were not at that meeting, a special little memo for you to hang onto:

There will no longer be any ore fills conducted by the convoy mining team on the day of a major convoy movement if, in fact, ore is being hauled by the convoy. If you have not reported no later than the previous day to be direct filled then you are shiet outta luck sahs! You will have to fill from the Convoy Barge at BMM'€™s 40% price-per-unit convoy rate.

Sunday'€™s convoy consisted of the following vessels:

BES Lennox Captain MacFarlane, convoy leader
BES Johnson Captain Peterson, assistant convoy leader and shepherd
BES Hume Captain Mundi
BES Walpole Captain Gaines
USI Clackamas Captain Dexter
Harry Dresden
BHG|Hammerzeit, scout and security escort

Now, despite heavy difficulties getting started off, I'€™d like to say things went swimmingly as they have been in the recent past. Well no, I wish I could, but I cannot. As things went absolutely FUBAR after that, as they are oft to do. Of course, as bad as things get, we can always make them worse, and THEN run the damn challenges over like a fully armed Battleship cruising over some old wafters little yappy dog! Because, after all, we are BOWEX and when the road gets tough, we get Shires and blast the damnable road!

What in he name of Mike am I talking about? Junkers of course! But not the average trash men, or the average hard working trader or salvager just barely running a cuff under the radar. No sahs! I'€™m talking about bloody no good, non-working, beer swilling, sister humping, sheep marrying, INBRED pirates! Pirates hiding behind the Junker moniker of course.

As we prepared to leave Manchester and move on into Cortez, the group of ner-do-wells known as the Steelworkers challenged our scout. Fat slobs of pig flesh who actually sought to bare our way! Well, Mr. Peterson jumped in to see if he could reason with the uncouth slobs, but they were having none of it! So Peterson prepared to return and he was fired upon! I say, the absolute ruddy nerve! Our Bounty Hunter escort did cover for the BES Johnson however, and as they prepared to jump back I ordered the convoy to battle stations and all safeties off our guns. Anything that comes through that isn'€™t ours, we blast it. Fortunately, The Johnson and our escort were able to get back through unharmed, and as I ordered the convoy round to the Magellan gate, I had Mr. Dresden contact a Liberty Navy force who did come promptly to scatter the unruly codgers.

All was not well however. For as we pulled into Freeport 4 these scalawags did seek to bare our way again. Words were exchanged and demands and threats made as Mr. Dresden did attempt to again raise the Navy force, which were still in Cortez. Facing us was three Pirate Transports, a Slave Liner, and three bombers. There was also an independent pirate floating about in what I believe was a VHF. Well, the crazy drunken sods demanded a portion of our ore. We of course told them to toss off, as I ordered the convoy to bring all guns to bear on the Slave Liner and told our boys to stand by to fire. Peterson, having his usual sharp eye, noticed that one of the Pirate Transports may have been previously damaged and thus a softer target, so I ordered our squadron to require and realign target priorities.

Mr. Dexter, of the USI Clackamas attempted to reason with the rotten serpent eggs, but they were having none of it, having not enough brain between all of them to fill a shoe- horn. At this point two Liberty Light Cruisers did appear and ordered the Junker pirates to toss off, but the insane flap dragons actually refused! As it was another cruiser I believe arrived as well, although he appears to stay close to the Lane leading to the California gate, probably to prevent the pirate'€™s escape. One of the cruisers again warned the pirates to depart, giving them 10 seconds to comply, as we also received word of at least one Liberty Navy fighter inbound to assist. Peterson then pinged my com, suggesting that perhaps targeting one of the bombers would be best, but before he had a chance to say more, shots were fired. I do not know who fired first, as a DSE armored transport crossed the Lennox'€™s field of vision just at that moment, blocking my view of our target. I do know it was not a convoy vessel that fired the first shots as each of them was in my line of sight. However, as shots rang out the convoy was ordered to open fire and immediately plasma-tinged death did rain on our foe. As Mr. Gordon did pour in fire from the Lennox'€™s batteries on our target, the SW)Hammer did attempt to move away. I ordered helm to full ahead to give chase as the rest of the convoy did follow in our wake, the Hume immediately off my wing, and the Johnson visible off our starboard bow. The Lennox made short work of the fleeing Transport and I ordered a new target qued up for intercept. This one, the SW)Steelmill was the Slave Liner I had originally prioritized, was quickly gunned down by my stalwart crew with assistance from the Walpole and Mr. Dresden'€™s BWT. As this occurred, a Liberty Cruiser continued to properly demand that the pirates cease their fire and depart, but sahs I doubt highly that Bowex would have given up its proactive defense to allow them to withdraw. As Sally swung us around to another target, I could see the Hume on the tail of a rather slippery Pirate Transport named SW)The.Stainless. With the Johnson on his wing we moved the Lennox in to assist, with the Walpole turning hard against the pirate'€™s maneuver in an attempt to gain his stern for zero-deflection shots. The Lennox'€™s heavier guns blazing away, we managed to down the rodder'€™s shields for good and crunch one of his stabilizer'€™s, but of all the rotten luck, one of the Liberty Cruisers, playing bumper cars with our own ships, did ram us off the target and made it almost impossible to require. But not to worry! With assistance from the Johnson and the Walpole, the Hume was able to finish off the stupid sea urchin. I has thought that perhaps these losses would cause the blackguards to flee. After all, we were obviously the superior force and had three LN warships on our side, although I believe only one engaged and its crew wasn'€™t doing very well, all things considered. However, one Pirate Transport did flee at that moment and we lost sight of it.

There were still targets to choose from as another Junker bomber entered the scene and Peterson having seen it, requested all guns be aligned on the new target. We all lent him our best, but despite landing several solid his on the annoying little bug, he simply refused to die. Finally fighter cover from the Navy arrived to take care of the pesky bombers just as a passing Freelancer moved in to assist as well. Our Hunter escort flamed indy pirate who tried to take advantage of the situation as the Liberty Commander, freshly arrived on the scene, ordered her vessels to stand down, obviously concerned over friendly fire issues in the tight space. One cruiser initially refused, but eventually all complied after one cruiser flamed a junker bomber, the Navy Commander and her Liberty fighter taking care of the remaining bastard. Nearing this point in the battle, the strain on the Lennox became too much as the junker bombers decided to focus all their efforts on us. We had to pull into the Freeport to get assistance from the Zoners to put out the fires and get things going again. Peterson took charge of the convoy for me until we were able to catch up later.

Having delivered our cargo, we made for Manhattan to pick up our load for the return leg. AngeIina.Dimitrova, the Liberty Navy Commander whose bravery did help us to carry the day, escorted the convoy out of Liberty space herself as we headed home. Final stop, New London to drop off badly needed goods for the Queen'€™s court.

In all, what was supposed to be only a minor convoy movement turned into a giant fluffy fur ball, the Junkers supplying the roasted and burned fluff.

Final report: 151.8 million SC profit for Queen and Country. No vessels lost, and no cargo compromised. We had some vessel damage, but nothing to write home about.10,590,000 SC were paid in security fees. And total kills were: One Slave Liner, two Pirate Transports, two bombers, and one VHF. One P-Transport and I believe one bomber escaped.

Admiral Malrone, my commendations to the fine work of your people. They were truly on the bounce and were instrumental in giving those dirty louts the what for! Not so much on the transport ships, but traffic was so heavy in the small space that such large warships simply could not maneuver well. However, if we had not had their help against the bombers, there is no doubt in my mind that additional damage may have been suffered before our escort could have cracked them open.

Mr. Peterson, my thanks and compliments to you as well sah. Your performance as assistant convoy leader was exemplary, and your attention to detail in managing the engagements logs, equally so.

Gentlemen, listed below is Mr. Peterson'€™s log report, as well as some raw footage from the Lennox'€™s gun-cams
BES Johnson Logs

Guncam 01

Guncam 02

Guncam 03

Well sahs, until the next one, that be all.

Master Scott MacFarlane, Clan MacFarlane
Border World Exports

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