Liberty Navy Lt. Rou defected to the ranks of the Hellfire Legion during an encounter in the Colorado system in 822 A.S. He had no real loyalty to the Navy as the only reason for him to join the Navy was the recognition and the distinction from the civilian class. After the harsh training and tests he underwent, he was deemed capable of serving under the skull and was appointed to Major Brass's squadron. The two seem to bond well and they had synergy as wingmen and were often leading the spearhead against Liberty forces under Locklear's command.
Several years later, after Brass was appointed as the new Lord Commander, a new Arbiter -the Polyphemus- was christened and Brass assumed it as his own personal vessel with Rou as with XO. The - [DATA CORRUPTED] until their return after the schism. A policy of limited sortie was in effect and the majority of the fleet remained in Vespucci even after the restoration in the hierarchy in order to re-organize Legion assets except the following vessels: Ven'Gyr, Last Sunrise, Incursus, Undaunted and Polyphemus. Major Rou was promoted to the rank of Fleet Captain after the events of the Great Schism and would soon be in command of his own vessel, the Judicator-class battlecruiser, Redeemer. After the formation of the Commonwealth, Rou was relieved of his duties on board the Polyphemus and would now be the Captain of the newly constructed Redeemer and his duties during the trial period of the ship were mostly patrolling Vespucci and Magellan, avoiding conflict actively.
A few years later Brass decided to step down from the seat of Lord Commander and gave the reign to his predecessor Locklear. It was then decided to appoint tasks to the more capable members without weaking the core. Marshall Brass with the Polyphemus were to patrol the outer regions of Legion territory and act as an envoy ship whenever needed but would lose contact soon after. Daniel Rou with the Redeemer were sent to the Hessians for a lengthy period of time to act as a conduit between the two factions untill contact with his ship was also lost.[/b]
: : : : :>The third of the new ship projects put into action by Reynard Joyeuse before he departed, the Judicator Battlecruiser was originally designed with the Legion's typical modus operandi in mind - heavy assault. The ship saw several complications in its inception however, and while mass production was put on hold, the Judicator changed to fit the times that the Legion was facing. Initially built around a massive experimental beam weapon, this system was gutted in favor of expanded fighter facilities, more suited for the Legion's more recent patrols of the neighboring systems. Other notable features include a large centrifuge to supply extra power to other systems while still giving quarters of the ship gravity and a redundant engine array system, supposedly nigh impossible to disable. Young Legionnaires often breathe a sigh of relief after being assigned to a Judicator as they are most often relegated to backwater patrols, in addition to being considered one of the safer vessels in the Legion's arsenal.<: : : : :
The Redeemer was one of the first ships of its kind to be built before giving the green light for further constructions to begin. Unmooring for the first time in 825 A.S, the Redeemer's first assignment was to patrol Vespucci and monitor the ship's performance. Commandeered by Fleet Captain Rou the ship provided sufficient results to continue the production of the model and would later be seen in the frontlines supporting Legion ships. Nothing of importance is to be noted through out the ship's service and its last assignment was in the Omegas where all contact was lost. [FILE REQUIRES UPDATE]
The Redeemer approached Polyphemus and hailed the captain. Rou was sitting on his char in the ship's helm in a rather unprofessional way, different from that of a captain should look like. It appears the long period he and his crew spent in the wilderness and the things he had to do to keep it together turned the man to something different, more like a marauder. Polyphemus opened a channel as Brass was taking a seat in the bridge eager to meet his old friend after so many years. Both looked old and battered but for them it was almost like no time has passed since they last saw each other.
"-Good to see you Captain Rou, it's been a helluva long time, I knew that you'd still be alive and kicking." "-Captain Sunshine! Thought you'd have bitten the dust somewhere but I'm glad to see you buddy."
The two of them spent a few minutes exchanging formalities before Rou went aboard Polyphemus. The met in the briefing room with a bottle of scotch and relaxed while they poured their glasses full. Markus activated the large screen on the far side of the room and brought up the plans he had made with his advisors and diagrams of the ship along with other blueprints and a map with markings that contained known regions of the Taus, the Omegas and Bretonia. The presentation had the name Tartarus written, a thing that surprised Daniel and ad him thinking.
"-Markus, I know that Hellfire was defeated and scattered but what is this? Tartarus? Are you planning on continuing the pointless cycle?" "I knew you would ask me something like that and my answer is No. Hellfire Legion belongs to the past but the rest of us that are left deserve a better future than changing names and blending in with the rest."
Markus explained his plan and how he viewed the remnants as the only place he'd belong to and he put himself up to the task to lead them to a better place. Daniel was rather sceptical how would that be achievable since Liberty's influence was not easy to escape from but giving up the life he had been living for so long would be much worse for him.
"-Know what? Screw it. Too much thinking will get me nowhere. If you're the leader then I'll follow you like the good old times. Myself, my crew and my ship are your Captain."Daniel smiled. "Daniel, I knew I could count on your help and I thank you for it."
The two of them enjoyed a couple of drinks together before each went their way to assume their duties. Tartarus fleet received the much needed reinforcement of another capable vessel and some battle-hardened veterans. The Redeemer is able to support the fleet with greater efficiency due to its smaller size. All ships were now grouping together in the outer raeches of Vespucci to begin their journey.
A few days have passed since the Redeemer joined the refurbished Tartarus fleet and they relocated to the Roatan field in Cortez in a slow pace after the communication to their old allies was a success. Not everyone had turned their backs to them and the necessity of a drydock to carry the maintenance of the two ships was much needed as they've been in operation for so long without proper care. For this expedition the fleet is going to split, the Redeemer will stay behind with the majority of the ships which carry the most of the supplies and non-combat personnel, keeping a few wings under its command to defend and a plan to retreat in an undisclosed location if things become dire, Polyphemus with a small escort will have to move to Dublin in stealth up to a pointto avoid detection by Bretonia's forces. Things will probably become much harder in New London as the system is heavily guarded but they will be counting on Mollys for that.
Markus was relaxing after a difficult day in the ship's briefing room, drinking some scotch and looking at blueprints of their future home. The only viable option for them was a station hidden somewhere much like Fort Leniex was, they will not recreate the mistakes of the past but the question was where? Where could they possibly relocate? He was hoping to find an answer as he was looking over the known sectors over and over and over again but to no avail, his mind was clouded with frustration and he gave uo after a while and continued to drink himself to sleep. Daniel weighed the responsibilities he now had and decided to fix the image of his, groomed and dressed himself as he once was, as a captain of the Legion. The Redeemer did not need maintenance for the time being as it was not that long ago they'd left the Hessian shipyards and they actively avoided conflict and could support the fleet in full strength. He was looking over records and findings of the Legion, Commonwealth and Insurgents that were sent by Markus in case he was lacking some information and was handling the deployment of patrols in preparation for Polyphemus's departure.
I haven't updated the log for some time now as I've been very busy with the current state of our fleet but thankfully I have a very capable man lending me a hand with all this. Daniel stayed behind with most of the fleet on the Redeemer while the Polyphemus travels to Dublin to meet the Mollys and get a much needed maintenance on vital systems of the ship. The tricky part will be getting in and out of Dublin without having to blast through Bretonia's battlegroup, hopefully they will be able to buy some time for us to sneak in undetected, otherwise I'll have to abandon the operation and group with the fleet. Brass out.
A small fleet of transports and other small ships were floating in one of the ice fields in Cortez. Some retrofitted utility ships were scavenging for scrap metal and ice, resources that are vital for day-to-day needs. The hydroponics ships were normal cargo ships of the Mammoth class, modified and created farming facilities in their cargo storage, severely limiting their capability to act as transport ships but were perhaps the most important ships they have. Small routine patrols were kept tight to the fleet ensuring the perimeter is secure while the most experienced pilots scouted the system and kept the fleet up to speed on movement from any unfriendly force.
The Redeemer was acting as the patrol base of operations given it had the facilities to support strike craft and Rou himself organized the defence and reconnaissance untill the Polyphemus returned. There isn't much left to do but wait but time is of the essence and if anything goes bad they might not be able to unite with Brass soon.
It has been nearly a month and there has been no sign of the Mollys, I suppose they have their hands full but we cannot wait any longer and we'll have to manage partial maintenance as we used to, in space suits. I'm not going to risk getting in their system, Bretonia has a tight control over traffic in and out of the system and they have warships guarding every area of the system meaning they'd be on our tail in a second if we tried forcing our way in. We'll be joining the fleet in Cortez as soon as preparations are finished so we can embark on our journey to some place else. I suppose our next stop will have to be somewhere near Rheinland, hopefully we'll find friends among the Hessians.
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FILE: DANIEL ROU![[Image: Screenshot_2023-12-16_141912.png?ex=6591...22a7ccbf1&]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1180960595114209394/1186023464205832365/Screenshot_2023-12-16_141912.png?ex=6591bd6d&is=657f486d&hm=c6e59f28d11b3a49cdb6af5a1a9c9a66aeb888e3048c9e2c057f97422a7ccbf1&)