**** Incoming transmission ****
From: Danny Sutherland, patrol vessel Apollyon
To: IMG Guild Channels
Subject: Patrol Encounters
A new day, a new patrol. This time we started out in Liberty - we had docked on Manhattan. On returning to our ship we found the doorway defaced by graffiti - several other ships in the vicinity suffered the same fate. Liberty for Libertonians, freedom for the people - likely Xenos sympathisers. We left it in place, figuring the atmospheric ascent, and the cold of space, would take care of it.
We went towards Pennsylvania, a quiet little corner of Liberty, to do a brief followup scan on planet Hallam. Enroute we received a few systemwide broadcasts, suggesting there were a few aspiring miners in the system. We headed for one in particular, the vessel "Track". The Basalt class miner was trying to locate the depleted northern asteroid field. I cautioned him it wouldn't offer spectacular yields but he insisted on checking. So we did.
We spoke a bit. Turns out he was indeed an IMG miner, albeit a junior one, unsure of the right fields and places to be. Since he was interested in silver mining, I suggested Omega 7, and we headed there. Once at Freistadt I advised him to use one of the local Dacites - A Basalt was simply a bit too fragile. While he was arranging the transfer another junior miner in a Hegemon arrived, looking for a good source of copper. Unfortunately the Hegemon was not properly configured for mining, and had a bad transponder (reading Bounty Hunter). We advised the miner "Kimber" to resolve these issues prior to heading into the fields. Still, the three of us went to visit the northern ore fields. Apollyon showed them which resources were present where.
An annoying Kruger member soon showed spouting some commentary about the improper setup of our miners. I don't think pilot "Sally.Razor" quite got the concept of "junior members". One of our ore transports, "IMG|Ketel" arrived and we set out to start to fill it up. Until we were interrupted.
A pair of Hessian fighters showed up, along with an Outcast. Yea, an Outcast in Omega 7. Must have been suicidal. The Hessians fell on the Kruger vessel - considering it had been acting annoying I wasn't particulary unhappy about it. I advised the mining party to stay clear of the conflict. Miner "Track" had gone to Freeport 1 to purchase a pair of bluebell turrets to accellerate mining. The Outcast however had other plans and fired on the transport Ketel (who had some technical problems and was immobile). Apollyon responded with a demand for it to back down, and soon thereafter, lethal force. The Outcast pilot proved to be only moderately skilled - we were able to save the transport vessel.
Meanwhile two Corsair gunboats had arrived in the vicinity, and they engaged the Hessians. Temporarily outgunned, the Hessians withdrew, and I presume they escaped, their fighters are faster then those gunboats. I actually think the Hessians drew those gunboats away from us miners.
Ketel managed to restore his engines but his cargo bay was damaged. He left the ore for Kimber and fell back to Freistadt. "Track" had rejoined us and we resumed our mining operation, filling up Kimber rapidly. But no rest for the wicked: Another Corsair gunboat, and fighter showed up. After a bit of posturing an uneasy stalemate rose - only to be broken by an excessively agressive Reichsmarine gunboat, who arrived with guns blazing at the Corsair gunboat. The Corsair fighter targeted Apollyon, but it too was moderately skilled, not using it's maneuverability at all. A few well placed shots finished it, and the Corsair gunboat was already in full withdrawal.
The last encounter of the day was more troubling. An alien hybrid vessel, the ones Rheinlanders call "Das Wilde". It seemed damaged, but from previous encounters with vessels of this type, we know it's better to avoid hostilities if it can be done. It seemed to... intuitively request supplies to mend it's hull breaches. I'm not sure how these beings communicate, but it was not using radio. We slowly approached and dropped some of our repair bot supplies, and backed off. Uncertain how to communicate to it, we hoped the gesture would placate it. I'm glad it worked.
After it withdrew we headed for for Freistadt, the miner Kimber finally full. Track chose to remain on the station for a good meal, can't say I blame him, it gets cramped inside a Dacite. Me and Kimber headed for Narita. Kimber had some trouble with the docking gates, had to nudge it through a few times. Stuttgart wasn't an issue, and we stopped in proximity to Berlin, to have the miner reconfigured for mining with the addition of two miner transport turrets. A transponder fix had already been handled at Freistadt.
We resumed course for Frankfurt but were stopped midlane to the gate by a large number of Hessians. Apparantly, the warning I had sent to the Outcast fighter back in Omega 7 had been interpreted as a threat by one of the Hessian fighters. Not quite sure how it could have misinterpreted "Stay out of this, sniffer, or you'll regret it"... Perhaps the Tau slang for Outcasts wasn't known to the Hessian. Regardless, after some explaining and an apology from our end for the confusion, the matter was cleared up. Note to self though: RHA are as furious as Kusari when it comes to perceived disrespect. Best tread lightly around them.
In Sigma 13 we encountered a Kruger vessel beset by a pirate gunboat - a Molly design, aptly named "MollyGB". Figuring there's no Mollies in the Sigmas, I considered the vessel hostile - and remaind between it and Kimber. As Kimber cleared out and held at Naga, I was free to focus on this gunboat. We harassed the gunboat a little, enough for the heavily damaged Kruger vessel to withdraw to Helgoland. After this we confronted the gunboat - asking what a Molly was doing that far from Dublin. Turns out the guy was a freelancer making a living, preying on commercial shipping. Recommend classifying this contact as a known pirate therefor.
I cautioned the gunboat not to follow, and set course to Naga, where Kimber was holding position. We relayed the position of the gunboat to Naga - their fighterwings would have a field day with it in the nebula. Then we resumed course towards Narita... Before we reached the gate, sensors registered a small capital ship core exploding. The GMG know their domain well.
Within Kusari we were scanned numerous times by Naval Forces. Kusari seems to have stepped up security of late... probably due to the tensions with Liberty. We complied each time and there were no issues, although one of them did question the presence of our gunboat within Kusari space. My explanation of escort duty was accepted.
The return voyage to Omega 7 was uneventful. Kimber, now fully equipped and with positional data on the fields, set off for more mining. Ian Desari was present at Freistadt - we received some messages of possible trouble developing around Hood and we moved towards there. Trouble was an understatement...
A large group of Coalition forces was hovering around a large alien vessel. The alien vessel was passive... I got a sense that it was as curious towards the Coalition vessels as they were to it. It all ended up rather confusing - I recall Ian Desari reacting rather protective of the alien vessel, not sure why. In the end some scout belonging to the Order group approached and started spouting orders - something that didn't sit well with me. Folks don't order us around near our own bases. Especially folks that don't have any form of authority in Bretonia whatsoever.
In the end, the alien vessel moved off, as did the Coalition strikecraft. I went to check on the miners with Ian, only to find our miners had quite a bit of protection already. An Argus, the "Romulus" had set up shop just outside the northeast field. It was enough to deter a few prowling Corsair gunboats, and the one that did approach was burned from the sky by Romulus' mortars. Our success saw some BMM miners set up shop close by our operation - as usual, BMM did not employ any escorts of their own. The miners filled up a transport or two, and we decided to call it a night. All in all not a bad day.
Sidenotes:
- Consider forwarding this report to the RHA just to clear up any doubts their pilots may have of that Omega miscommunication.
- Order vessel issued some vague threat about quarantine. We ignored it.
- Ian Desari's behaviour was erratic in Dublin. Could be Molly brew, could be something else.
- Guarded mining operations seem to draw a lot of attention from miners, and the sheer number of folks present deters pirates. These miners are a force in their own right - a Hegemon can do significant damage to a gunboat. This also draws miners into the Guild - if they see the Guild tending to their own while the corporations leave their miners to their fate - could sway a few to join us.
****Transmission Closed ****
Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.
Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.