Sender: Capitaine de Corvette Alaric Jean-Paul Favager d'Astier Recipient: Marine Royale Gauloise Subject: Victory in Magellan and California
Bonjour,
I am elated to report that the will of our Roi has been decisively carried out in the systems of Magellan and California. In two subsequent engagements, we have captured or destroyed two dreadnoughts, one battlecruiser, two cruisers, and one very heavy fighter. I will detail these two engagements.
Our first fleet action was a response to a Colonial Republic raid mustering in the Cortez system. I quickly sortied from the battleship Carcassonne through Colonial lines into Magellan to meet our fleet mustering at the battleship Betheny. We then entered the Cortez system and exchanged taunts with the gathering Colonial fleet. We soon engaged, and while our battleship engaged an enemy dreadnought, I joined our light force in breaking off to chase down and annihilate two cruisers and a very heavy fighter. A group of enemy ships was able to flee and I was not able to identify them before they departed.
Afterwards, our fleet dispersed. Some remained at the battleship Carcassonne, while I spearheaded an offensive into California with a handful of secondary fleet fighters (RNS-Darith.Pascal and Rachel.Aveline) along with a heavy fighter piloted by Mr. Polo Bett (MRG|Polo.Bett), the destroyer RNS Fauconneau, and the battleship RNS Bonne Naissance.
We encountered an empty Gateway Shipping superfreighter, which we spared and permitted to return to the New York system. We were seeking battle, not defenseless fry. We then set up position on the Riverside Station - New York gate tradelane, and that is where our next spectacular victory took place.
The Liberty Navy responded impulsively to our intrusion with a squadron of two capital ships, the dreadnought LNS Arvada and the battlecruiser LNS Moonshine. Their appetite for battle appeared to be lacking, either due to inferiority of local forces or a greater morale issue stemming from recent defeats. Either way, I engaged the Captain Stephanie Harrison of the Moonshine in conversation. The logs are attached.
Captain Harrison ultimately decided to surrender to our force and accepted my offer to escort her squadron to the Magellan system. In command of her vessel the Moonshine and the dreadnought Arvada, she ordered their weapons powered down and entered into a loose prisoner convoy with our squadron. I led the formation, with the fighters and our battleship and destroyer taking up the rear. We did not encounter any resistance on the way and we reached the battleship Betheny in Magellan without incident.
Once there, the battlecruiser moored at the Betheny and took aboard Royal Marines and a prize crew. My executive officer boarded the Liberty dreadnought with our Royal Marines due to its size, and both crews were restrained without incident. The officers and sailors were loaded on two fast transports and have been taken back to Gallia for processing and questioning. I took my executive officer and Royal Marines back onboard, and the two capital ships were taken by prize crews back to Gallia under fighter and destroyer escort.
This constitutes a great victory. Not only have we humiliated the Liberty Navy by capturing two powerful vessels without firing a shot, the hulls are in perfect condition and may be broken down for study or pressed back into service with our fleet. The hundreds of officers and sailors captured should prove to be a massive boon to our intelligence forces. I officially request that these prisoners of war be treated with the utmost respect and be given all necessary comforts and provisions befitting a captive. I promised Captain Harrison that the members of her command would be treated well and I do not intend to be made a liar.
Curiously, I have also taken aboard one hundred and four living examples of Gaian wildlife after tractoring in the cargo of a destroyed Colonial Republic cruiser. Please advise. The cargo hold is beginning to smell.
Glory to Gallia, and Long Live Roi Charles XI.
Très Respectueusement,
Capitaine de Corvette Alaric Jean-Paul Favager d'Astier
Commandant, RNS Chanzy