Message to: RHA & Ghosts
Comm ID: Fleet Kapitan Conrad Egon
Location: Malta Orbital Shipyards, Omicron Alpha System
What a battle today! Yet again, the crew of our flagship gains valuable combat experience as a result of my choice for us to remain in Alpha whilst we refit, so that we will have direct and immediate access to new weapons as funds allow. It is a useful proving ground both for our crews, and for our tactics. I have never before captained a cruiser, and truth be told, I need the experience as much as any of my men.
I had sold one of the gun turrets so that we could afford an Inferno; so Der Gotte Krieger (still under her old name, as you can see) was short a gun. Nonetheless, the Outcasts have helped us to defend Vogtland as if it was their home; my crew and I could do no less. I do not know the exact force composition, but here is how it stacked up, according to my (admittedly faulty) memory:
Ours:
1x Outcast Dreadnought - Almeros of the 101st
1x Red Hessian Cruiser - our flagship
1x Outcast Destroyer - Arturos Herrera, independent Outcast
1x Lane Hacker Gunship - [RoS] Crunchy (I think)
1x Falcata Bomber
3x Sabre VHF
I am especially unsure about the Corsairs' fighter/bomber mixing, but that is my best reckoning. At any rate, our forces engaged all at once. I think a Corsair said something about engaging, but other than that, no words were needed. We knew what was to be done. I picked out a gunboat that seemed to be trying to cruise onward to Malta; I disrupted him and attacked. A short, but glorious fight; the rusted lunchbox stood no chance against our cruiser's firepower.
I ordered our gunners to then seek out the other gunboat, but it was nowhere to be found; our allies had already destroyed it. There were calls to target a particular one of their bombers, so that is what we did. The pilot was skillful, and not many salvoes landed on-target. Shortly after that, Almeros was forced to retreat due to heavy damage. That was when things truly began to get interesting.
The Corsair bombers started concentrating their fire on my ship. I ducked and weaved as well as I could, trying to give our fighters time to take out their bombers; but in the end, I was out of nanobots and shield batteries, and forced to retreat with only 15% of my hull strength remaining. A lone Titan pursued me futilely, trying to destroy my ship before she could moor. But by the time we reached Malta's mooring fixture, my shields were back at full, and there was no way his Titan could harm us in time.
Of course, the Corsairs tried to taunt me into coming back to fight them, saying that I was a coward for fleeing. I wonder if they value human life so little? As for me, I am thinking not only of my own family, but of my crew and their families. It is my responsibility to safeguard their lives as best I can, and only a fool responds to such bait as these Corsairs offered. While the Outcast engineers began work on repairing my ship, I kept the comm systems active to help direct reinforcements to the scene of the battle. The Corsairs helped even the odds for us, oddly enough.
In the end, we won. It was a long and hard-fought battle, but the Corsairs were at last driven from Alpha. 101st, 202nd, Reapers of Sirius: well done.
Fortunately, the damage was only to the ship's hull and CM dropper, and so repairs are time-consuming but relatively cheap and simple. The refitting continued apace, and tomorrow a new name will be chosen.
![[Image: Death-Botman.png]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/lancerzero/Death-Botman.png)
![[Image: Death-Fratricide-Collision.png]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v213/lancerzero/Death-Fratricide-Collision.png)