[New Incoming Call]
[Encryption: JNS023 detected, KPT broadcast detected]
[Verifying Handle: Complete]
[Sender ID: Kempei 1st Class "Karasu no Kage"]
[Location: Kyushu System]
[Clearance: Low] [Remarks: Important to Jouhouka section]
Kempei Karasu.no.Kage. A delayed report of a major recon mission made to the front lines of the Liberty state against Gallia, as ordered on Operation Farside Watchman.
Our team assembled on Tsushima Depot for departure. Using civilian hardware and some cover papers for a front trading company, we had a survey freighter, Tengu's_Treasure , set up with some goods to disguise the equipment. Me and and Kempei Kurokawa, under the callsign Falz Angel were to provide escort and scouting, under the leadership of a Kempei Agent designated Gal.Gryphon .
We departed on time from Tsushima to the Baffin corridor, a common passage for underworld shippers and other low life pilots in the fringes of the Bretonian and Libertonian Houses.
We crossed the Baffin system and the Coronado system without much contact with any ships. No zoners or strange nomad acolytes in Baffin, no Junker or smugglers around the Barrier Gate Station, still standing within the clouds like the last time I've seen it.
Gryphon orientated our party to the following passages that brought us to a system bordering Liberty. Data revealed it was the [color=#40FF00]Cortez independent system.
We arrived at the orbit of Curacao, known resort planet. From here on our real mission would start.
We were surprised not only for the lack of commercial traffic at the time, but also for the lack of any evidence of military patrol by any belligerent group of the region. No sign of Libertonians or Bretonians, nor of Gallic Royal Forces.
Not wanting to delve right into the more complicated areas, we sought first for a passage that would lead us to the Magellan system. The nebula cover allowed us to scour most of the main routes undisturbed.
We passed by the gate to Manchester first. The area was deserted, supposedly the position is untenable, and does not possess any permanent garrison on the Magellan side. Operation directives prohibited to intrude on the bretonian territory, so we moved the other way into the Freeport 4 vicinity.
The Freeport was peaceful when we passed by, very few signs of combat were present, but they were still there. Lack of military patrols could represent the wish from either side to not drag the fireworks near the neutral outpost intentionally, although we all know that things don't go as by the plan when combat is occurring.
One freelancer trader was in transit in the area, but neither their activity or cargo was of interest.
Gryphon directed us to go recon the Gallic frontline first. There were traces of frequent activity coming from a faraway direction, and we proceeded that way until we started picking a stable radio chatter in Gallic. We stumbled upon a staging area under surveillance of a GRN battleship Carcassone.
The sight of one of these is always something to awe at, but we couldn't perform a detailed inspection of said vessel without raising the alert. Photographic records and emission readings taken by the Tengu'sTreasure will have to do for now.
The location of the Battleship and the royal navy patrols and transports revealed the next step of our recon, a passage to controlled territory in Leeds system. While the Gallic had us under watch, they deemed not important to question the passage of this kusarian convoy of ours.
We entered the Leeds system via this passage, and threaded the sickly rusty smog into clear space near the Planet orbit, above the cloudy skies.
There a surprise awaited us, the remnants of a large Gallic Battleship drifted, as some sort of reminder of a recent battle. It was odd that the Gallics did not dared to work on the salvage of this specific vessel.
With some caution and artfulness we had the Tengu's scan the wreck more detailedly, with particular attention to the exposed interior structures and disposition, and the results of several high caliber weaponry. External breaches and internal explosions all contributed to the demise of this vessel. We also recovered some hull parts and scrap components for posterior analysis. Most likely will be useful for when the time comes when we will be the ones needing to hit these beasts, and our weapons must be the best perform such task.
We moved along the northern lane, destroyed and battered in many places, up to Stokes Mining Station. The Gallic companies have done a poor job in recovering any production from Leeds. Most likely they are more interested in drying up any known mineral reserves in the Taus, and consider Leeds as an unstable buffer while the GRN doesn't manage to press further inwards into Bretonia, and pacify the planet itself.
Gryphon turned the convoy around and we made the return trip back to Magellan, alongside the Gallic convoys heading to the front lines. We arrived at the Freeport 4 for refueling and ressuply for the second leg of the mission.
Gryphon trusted the quality of our identification credentials, and that it was good enough to try a direct approach into entering Liberty space. While we were sporting transponders derivative from the Kusari military transports, we hoped our "protectorate" cover would be enough to dispel most suspicion from us. I advised caution nonetheless.
We crossed the lanes into the California gate, and after checking our transponders were not triggering a negative response, we jumped into the Libertonian territory.
San Diego station, longstanding border station in Liberty's geography, looked battered from very recent combats, and a few considered that it probably wouldn't last long if the Gallic forces kept assaulting it.
We transmitted our papers to the outpost, and a inexpressive response was what we received. The station probably is at the time of the operation working with the minimum personnel, acting as a watchtower for Gallic incursions not performing any customs inspections at all.
Some distance away, but close enough to the area to cause some concern, we spotted yet another GRN Battleship deployed, Limay.
That the Gallics are staging and operating with full force within California is telling of the recent developments of the war, and something that the news and traffic flow coming into Shikoku reveal.
We opted for an off course flight to California Minor, passing south of the Tahoe Ice cloud. On approach to the planet however, we found the first of the advance warning patrols of the Liberty navy, even though it was a lone bomber on patrol.
We struck conversation with the pilot, while continuing on impulse to the planet. The Libertonian was obviously concerned with the KNF transponders, and we did the best we could to assure of him no harm was intended.
As we reached California Minor however, a commotion began to gather on our location. While it is possible that the LN patrol had sent word of our presence to their command chain as being something suspicious, we were greeted by some strange forces awaiting on our arrival.
The Navy patrolman went to full alert when he noticed the other "naval ships", and warned us that they belonged to some terrorist organization. I was quite unaware of any large event of desertion on the Liberty Navy in the past year to have this expression, but the war must be causing quite a chaos on their ranks.
The prospect of a fight between Libertonian forces involving us was to be avoided at all costs, lest it revealed our identity. I urged Gryphon to have the convoy escape whenever able, using the confusion caused.
Seems I have escaped alone at first, but managed to regroup with Gryphon and Falz, and we headed to a passage to Cortez for extraction.
On arrival on the second regroup point, we got word that Tengu was being delayed still inside Califronia. While not under immediate danger, her ship retrieval was critical for the mission. Gryphon and Falz went back to recover Tengu, while I went ahead to scout the exit to Coronado for a all clear.
During this tense part, I kept some message communications with the team as they were in California. Their encounter with LSF agents was a bad situation, but according to their responses, they managed to maintain their cover until their return.
The appearance of a Nomad on the field in California robbed us the chance to escape without losses however, as the convoy was attacked while holding conversations with said LSF. Falz ship was critically damaged but our agent was able to eject and be recovered by Tengu. The ensuing combat between Liberty forces to neutralize the Nomad gave them the window of opportunity to exfiltrate California.
Regrouping in Cortez, and avoiding an outcast patrol that passed by, we proceeded at full speed back to Kusari space, arriving at Nansei for the conclusion of the mission and debriefing.
Mission outcome:
The mission was a partial success. Readings of the Tengu'sTreasure and the samples taken from Leeds, together with the recon from most of the Gallic staging areas, might provide a somewhat accurate analysis of the Gallic war effort regarding Liberty.
On the Libertonian side, results were meager. We did not locate any patrols or staging points in Cortez or Magellan, and our investigation in California did not revealed much before it had to be aborted. Hopefully reports by other might shed some light on the LSF action and Nomad sighting in California.
The loss of the ship of Kempei Kurokawa, under the callsign Falz Angel should provide little trouble. The Saishi model was carrying Desinfectors Mk.II and Kusari standard engines, but the fail-secure measures on the ship blackbox and operating systems should have erased any useful data with great certainty.
The Jouhouka should investigate the status of the groups [HF] and Liberty Navy deserters, which managed to show up in numbers during our operation.