To: Claes Leslie. Encrypted Internal 75th Mosquito Communication

[AshDent]

Incoming transmission from: Renato Rustus: Supply Division: MSV Ombra.
Encryption: Standard Maltese Encryption protocol.
Priority: High.
Subject: Repairs in Rheinland.

A young bespectacled man with a bit of stubble appeared on camera. He looked exhausted and on edge yet like he was trying to relax. His cardamine inhaler in place showed he wasn’t on a Maltese station.
“Ahh Commandante.
I..I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you.”
He half looked away from the camera like a child expecting a scolding. Regaining composure a second later he looked back to continue.
“Malta control advised they had word that the Coronado gap was teaming with hostiles so I elected to take the Sigma straight on my latest supply run to Liberty. But I’m afraid that didn’t work out.
Entering Sigma 13 I was notified by a scout wing returning to Manoel Outpost that there was a large Bounty Hunter strike force had been seen in sector D-Six heading north. So I decided to alter my path south aiming to skirt the southern reaches before heading to the Frankfurt Jump Hole.”
He shakes his head as he starts to think how to explain what happened.
“I got into Sector E-Seven with no hassles but all the fun started from there. The strike force wasn’t just a few fighters it was a full cruiser wing and it wasn’t heading north it was heading east now and I was in their path. I had to take evasive actions but it wasn’t quite enough Commandante. I outran the cruiser but the combination of an interceptor and a heavy fighter kept things close and made a mess of the rear of the Ombra.”
A slight glisten formed in the young man’s eye as he envisioned the damage that had been dealt to his beloved Dromedary.
“I was saved by a wing of Junker ships from Rheinland. They cleared the Hunters in no time then suggested I follow them as they had news on Rheinland military movements in the area and they didn’t think I would survive if I ran into them. As I hope you understand Commandante I was in no fit state to argue differently as the ship status alarms were starting up.
They escorted me to and through the Munich Jump Hole and escorted me down to their base which looked as bad as the Ombra.”
He paused a second with a chuckle before continuing.
“So Commandante. I’m stuck here on Augsburg in Munich, with these Rheinland Junkers for now. The backend of the Ombra is well and truly a mess but the mechs here estimate it to only take a week or so to repair. So that can’t be too bad.
They seem friendly but they often speak among themselves in Rheinlandic so I can’t quite tell if they are hiding anything from me.”
There is a clank from a dropped tool and a few muffled insults between two of the mechanics off behind Rusty but after a quick glance around he realises the space is clear to continue his message.
“I was however able to re-code one of the Ombra’s PDA units to translate Rheinlandic in real time and I did hear a few of them talking a couple times about changing Jump Hole connections. I did hear that the Frankfurt to New Berlin hole has collapsed but there are also a few new paths into Liberty from Rheinland apparently. So that may be something to look into, maybe. Well I’m not sure how long I will be here. They said a week but then again they could find a number of extra things to delay and charge on so I’m keep you posted Commandante.”
Rusty prepares to close off the message but stops to add one more line.
“ahh…” he seems uncertain whether to add this or not. “…I…umm…I had to open a canister of cardi to top up my inhaler. I hope you don’t mind Commandante. Rusty out.”
The message ends abruptly with the slightly scared look of the bespectacled young Renato Rustus filling the screen as he leant in to him the end button.

Transmission connection: closed.