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Neural Net ID EZRAELVERTIGA
Good day, Ladies and Gentlemen. This transmission contains my report on the incident today, the July 14th 825, in New London, Newcastle and Tau-31, involving the Bretonian Armed Forces (BAF), the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), the Apahanta and the Order.
And Megaera.
You will find the report in the attachments, together with additional files on everything SIS Agent James Skirka requested.
Under my personal command, the Apahanta was moving from Omega-3 through Bretonia to drop a load of H-Fuel from the Sigma-19 system at Bristol Mining Facility in Cambridge. After that we proceeded from Cambridge to New London, using the lane to Kensington Shipping Platform to progress in the direction of Manchester. Arriving at Kensington, we noticed an agent of the SIS, hailed them but didn't receive any response. So we moved on, entering the lane to the Manchester gate. At the second ring already we picked up the signatures of two vessels. The OCV Golanski Order|CV-Golanski and Megaera. You will find additional data on these vessels in their respective files.
We positioned ourselves, cloaked, below these vessels, entering the range of their comms. They were using a public channel, so were able to eavesdrop on them. We got close enough to take scans on the vessels, on their equipment and on the items in the cargo hold of the OCV Golanski. We hastily needed to reposition ourselves when the OCV Deceres Order|CV-Deceres joined out of nowhere. The ship used a MK2-ADV-type cloaking device. This is an important information. More on that later.
We managed to eavesdrop for a few more moments until Captain Dagon unfortunately informed the Order about them having been detected by Bretonia's space surveillance network, asking them to show themselves. I opened a secured channel to Captain Dagon and informed her about the location, numbers and configurations of the ships in question. The Order capital vessels plotted a new course and headed straight for the Devon Asteroid Field, followed by Megaera. We chose to chase them, remaining cloaked. Sadly, as the Devon Asteroid Field contains explosive gas pockets, they may or may not have gotten their first hint about us following them as explosive discharges were caused by the Apahanta crossing the gas field. Even our very advanced cloaking device is not able to cover explosions of this type. The Order capitals left the Devon Asteroid Field, aiming for the Newcastle jump gate, where Captain Dagon and her inferiors have been able to intercept the Golanski, while the Deceres managed to cloak during the transit through the Devon Asteroid Field. The Apahanta picked up more EM-signatures than our own while we observed Captain Dagon's interview with the representant of the OCV Golanski - an individual with the very edgy pseudonym "Inquisitor Darkness". Imagine getting called that in bed when she's hitting the climax.
Captain Dagon pointed out that the cloaked ship - assumed to be the Deceres - moved to Newcastle, using the gate. In the meantime, the Captain continued the interview with Inquisitor Darkness. Audio-logs can be taken from the respective file. The cloaked ship, assumed to be the Deceres, returned from Newcastle when Captain Dagon ordered the Order to move to Newcastle with her, as the Golanski was not allowed to leave but ordered to remain at Battlegroup Ark Royal. All involved ships moved to Newcastle together. Even Megaera. We followed as well. The cloaked ship used the trade lane from the New London gate in Newcastle to Planet Carlisle, just as all other ships. I believe only Megaera used the opportunity to disappear for a while. She returned later in Tau-31, though.
Dagon ordered the OCV Golanski to head to the coordinates of the Ark Royal at Hartlepool. The Golanski aimed for the Tau-31 jump hole until Captain Dagon noticed the ship was not taking the lane to Planet Darlington. Inquisitor Darkness and Captain Dagon argued they better fly through the asteroid field to avoid more public attention, as by now there were more people showing up, mostly BAF, though. And a ship called Hawk as well as a ship called Nyctophillia, both Freelancers. I suggested Captain Dagon via secured channel to slow the Golanski down by making it move on impulse, as I suspected the Deceres to still be around. So far the Apahanta is the only battleship that can remain cloaked for longer than 10-20 minutes. I hoped the Deceres would either fall out of cloak in an unfortunate position, or confirm that it either has an upgraded cloaking device or a source in Newcastle, as I suspect, for new cloaking batteries. At some point in the Galloway Ice Cloud, not too far away from the Ark Royal, the OCV Golanski turned around, claiming Grand Admiral Golanski himself gave priority order to have the OCV Golanski move to Tau-31. In retrospective it looked like the ship never intended to reach the Ark Royal and only because of that avoided the lane to Darlington. We should have been suspecting that, to be honest.
Now that the OCV Golanski disobeyed Captain Dagon, she ordered all BAF vessels to intercept the OCV Golanski. They did minimal damage to it, it was able to reach the Tau-31 jump hole. When the Apahanta moved closer to the Tau-31 hole, we picked up EM-signatures again, assumed to be from the OCV Deceres. All ships jumped to Tau-31. There, the OCV Golanski headed for the jump gate to Tau-29. Captain Dagon ordered all ships to engage the target, except us, as we were supposed to be the wildcard. When the HSM Stillwater, Invincible-class Carrier, reached the scene, Captain Dagon ordered us to engage. The moment we uncloaked, the OCV Deceres uncloaked as well. Action ensued.
We first targeted the OCV Golanski as long as it was within effective range while dodging the OCV Deceres instantly seemed to have focused their fire on us. We dodged most of it and turned around to assist the HMS Stillwater in the fight with the Deceres as the Apahanta's weaponry does not support mid-range combat in the current load-out, making the OCV Deceres our prioritized target for efficiency while BAF bombers would take care of the OCV Golanski. The mortars of the HMS Stillwater seemed to be very effective in this scenario until the OCV Deceres managed to get more distance between her and the Stillwater. This is because Osiris-class battleships are one of the lightest battleship-type vessels out there. While not as thin as a Mako, it is not very high, which allowed the OCV Deceres to gain distance from both the Apahanta and the HMS Stillwater by manouvering through the dense Tau-31Ice Crystal Field. The OCV Deceres was not aiming for an extraction point, focusing entirely on survival while flying into nothingness. Snubs prevented it from escaping and eventually Captain Dagon ordered the Apahanta to stand down. So we did, engaging our cloak, leaving the job to the bombers and the Stillwater.
The battle was dragged out by the OCV Deceres, being excellent at dodging while having an advantage at manouvering in the Ice Crystal Field, so I ordered my navigator to position the Apahanta infront of the OCV Deceres at around 8k distance. We then uncloaked, expecting the OCV Deceres to make a turn to not face two warships at once. Instead, however, the OCV Deceres headed straight for the Apahanta, opening fire at it when it reached effective firing range. Against Captain Dagon's orders, we decided to put an end to this and returned fire, defending ourselves in this particular situation. Like this, the combined forces put the OCV Deceres out of action, just like the OCV Golanski. Megaera, who apparently sided with the Order, managed to escape by cloaking away during the fight.
Captain Dagon was displeased with the Apahanta's final intervention, as the Stillwater and her escorts would have been able to finish the OCV Deceres on their own, probably, however not without a long chase. There was no way the OCV Deceres would have been able to escape. My intervention, while not intending to have us finish the job but only cut off the way for the OCV Deceres, prevented possible losses on the bretonian side, as one mistake would have been enough to allow the OCV Deceres to shoot down an escort. I am sorry for the infriction of the combat hierarchy on the battlefield, however wish to remind that the Apahanta is not an asset but an ally of the Bretonian Armed Forces and the Secret Intelligence Service.
With the battle won, BAF, SIS and Apahanta moved back to Newcastle. Captain Dagon summoned me to Battleship Ark Royal for a debriefing, which I will attend to with the end of this report. SIS debriefed me in person of agent James Skirka on the way back to Battleship Ark Royal. His requested information are, as mentioned previously, added to these attachments.
OCV Golanski
Inquisitor "Darkness"
Order Primary Fleet
Performance: 5/10
Status: Put out of action
Notable equipment:
2x Breaker Battlecruiser Turrets
2x Pulse Turret
Order Primary Turrets
Order Secondary Turrets
Flaks
Cargo:
A fuckload of people in the cargo bay
Human Organs
possibly more stuff, we didn't get to scan the ship fully
Analysis:
Inquisitor Darkness tried their best at surviving in this vessel, however battlecruisers perform not well against a wing of bombers. The Geb-class carrier-battlecruiser-hybrid itself is a solid representant of the classification, however it made the mistake to flee into a very dense Ice Crystal Field. Cruisers and Battlecruisers heavily rely on their ability to manouver in order to dodge hostile shots. This is nearly impossible in Tau-31, which was heavily in BAF's favor. The Apahanta was able to land a few heavy hits on the Golanski before it left effective firing range. We left it then to the bombers, and they did their work well. Judging by the weaponry used by this ship, it is focused on kiting battleships. Pulses are perfect for long-range suppressive deshielding, and the Breaker turrets do the rest. For more information on the Breaker turrets, see the respective file. Let it be said: Breaker turrets are made for anti-capital warfare. Don't worry, Interspace. Not anti-capitalism warfare.
Conclusion: The Golanski could have been a threat to the Apahanta and the Stillwater if we would have been in open space. The lack of manouverability was the Golanski's death sentence. I am not sure why it tried to fight off the bombers instead of simply going for Tau-29 and separating the BAF/SIS/APA fleet, maybe even getting a chance to survive unharmed. My guess is Inquisitor Darkness panicked, which is understandable when facing so many hostile targets. Nevertheless, this fight was self-inflicted and they paid the price.
OCV Deceres
Unknown command (a Mark, apparently)
Order Primary Fleet
Performance: 8/10
Status: Put out of action
Notable equipment:
1x Heavy Mortar
1x Cerberus Turret
Order Primary Turrets
Order Secondary Turrets
Flaks
Cloaking Device MK2 Advanced
Jump Drive MK3
Cargo:
Nomad Fuel Cell
Analysis:
Osiris-class vessels are Order's counterpart of the Core's Mako. These ships give up damage output for survivability by manouverability. The Deceres is equipped with weaponry that favours mid-range combat. Heavy Mortar turrets are mostly ineffective in direct combat but ideal in group fights, to deshield enemy ships from high range, or to deliver a deadly shot against cruisers that aren't paying attention. The Cerberus turret is probably merely for the sake of preventing other light battleships from getting close to it. This mixed loadout allows the ship to be versatile and favors it in larger battles, however not in duels. The Deceres mostly relied on her Primary turrets for mid-range combat. Both the Apahanta and the Stillwater did well by using artillery weaponry against the Deceres to prevent it from reaching effective primary range.
I am worried about how long the Deceres was remaining cloaked. There are two possibilities about that.
The Deceres could have been using an advanced cloaking device, allowing it to compete with the Apahanta's unique cloaking device.
The Deceres could have gotten itself new cloaking device batteries on the fly. First when it entered Newcastle, which was called out by Captain Dagon, later again when the Golanski reached Carlisle and moved on impulse to Ark Royal. The Apahanta didn't pick up any signals from the Deceres during the transit through the Galloway Ice Cloud. In that case you need to ask yourself where the hell the ship received those batteries. Probably, possibly, Newcastle.
Conclusion: The Deceres is best fought with non-warhead bombers, cruisers and battleships with short-range or artillery/suppressive loadouts. It performs best at medium-long range by using her primary turrets with additional threat by initial heavy mortar hits. Her cerberus turret gives her an advantage against careless light battleships in short range - nothing Bretonia needs to worry about.
Oh, and you might want to ponder about why that Osiris had a Nomad Fuel Cell with it. Why would the Order, who resides in the Omicrons, move something like this, which originates in the Omicrons, outside the Omicrons? As I told Agent James Skirka already, I'm an expert on nomad behavior, not on nomad technology. For that you might want to contact APM and ask why the Apahanta's sensors and database identified this object as a Nomad Fuel Cell. My personal advice: Take that fuel cell as far way from Bretonia as possible, drop it in space, place some tactical nukes next to it, get the hell out of there and blow the damn thing up. There is nothing good coming from those things, and we all should be glad about it no longer being in the babyhands of the Order.
Megaera
Freelancer
sided with Order
Performance: Megaera
Status: escaped
Notable equipment:
2x Mudskippers
Cloaking Device
Analysis:
Megaera and Inquisitor Darkness apparently were talking about Golanski, and it appears the girl met him, and it appears that Golanski said she was not infected. When we listened to their conversation, it seemed to me like she is interested in the Order but they don't trust each other that much yet. She was following the Order the entire time and sided with them in Tau-31, just to piss off at some point. She is using a rare but not unknown Very Heavy Fighter type called Sichel, a ship the Landwirtrechtsbewegung (LWB) in Rheinland uses. More interesting is that the girl got her hands on very expensive, rare pulse guns, called Mudskippers. We have blueprints for those in our weaponry catalogue, and let me tell you that not many people out there know about these boys. They are very effective pulse guns for snubs. I'd really like to know how she got her hands on them.
I don't think she is dangerous, but it appears she is a little lightheaded and doesn't take things very seriously. I will however remember the warning words of Agent James Skirka about her. Forbidden fruits.
Conclusion: Since she escaped from the battlefield, I believe that woman actually values her life more than the Order does. She might have appeared lightheaded, but still a level more clever than the boys she seems to enjoy to hang out with.
Not much is known about those guys, but they are nasty. Other capitals need to be extremely careful if a battlecruiser with those is around.
Battlecruiser Heavy Slot Turret
Type Neutral
28.000 Hull Damage
14.000 Shield Damage
70.000 Energy consumed per shot
0.67 Refire
800M/s Speed
2.750M Range
High range, high speed, constant pressure. We had an easy time dodging Light Mortars, but ships with those things will hit guaranteed and often. And heavy enough. This gun is made to fight capitals.
TDGWM5K Pulse Cannon Captain Vertiga calls it "The Mudskipper" for some reason.
Prototype pulse weapon of non-human origin. The TDGWM5K gets its unwieldy name from a single decoded string in the weapon's designation code. It is a pulse weapon calibrated for very high refire rate, well beyond typical equivalents. Despite its mysterious origins, it is manufactured to be compatible with typical human hardpoints. We can recreate this thing using minerals of the Peloponnes Cloud.
Class 9 Very Heavy Fighter Gun
Type Pulse
20 Hull Damage
340 Shield Damage
89 Energy consumed per shot
8.33 Refire
3.8202 Efficiency Rating
750M/s Speed
600M Range
→ Side note: - I think Mudskipper is a good name for a gun. Better than TDGWM5K. - Ezrael
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Neural Net ID EZRAELVERTIGA
Good day, once more. I contact you with an important information:
Rheinland and Kusari are at war now, as it seems. Their fleets had a major battle in the Sigma-21 system today, we only noticed an increase of long range signatures by accident when moving through the Sigmas. The Order, represented by Grand Admiral Golanski himself, was there as well, although it is unclear whether they sided with anyone there at all.
And Megarea.
If you are interested, we can prepare a full report on the event for you. I would like to request, though, in return, the permission to use bretonian repair docks for the maintenance of the Apahanta, if that is possible for you to arrange.
I must thank you for the report you have provided to us regarding the details of the events in Tau-31 and must also express my admiration for such impeccable record keeping, that date you have provided will be invaluable to our efforts. We would be most interested in recieving your report on the person known as Megarea as well as the situation within the Sigmas.
However, before we continue there is a matter we must resolve. I would ask you sign the Official Secrets Act. Read it's content well as it is a legally binding document and to breach it would see you expelled from Bretonia and unwelcome within her space, something I seriously do not wish for you after you have been so helpful.
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Neural Net ID EZRAELVERTIGA
Good day, Director Weber.
You will find additional information on the begin of the Rheinland Invasion in Sigma-21 in the attachments. Before I will hand you my signature for the paperwork, however, a few words.
First of all, as you can imagine, the debriefing with Captain Kaze Dagon lead to her gaining information about the report I sent to the SIS. This was, given the circumstances, unavoidable. That being said, she seems to hold big hopes on the SIS being able to support Bretonia where others can't. She will do what she can to do the same, and I believe you will soon see Her Majesty's Fleet using equipment from our catalogue.
Now that you are informed about her knowing about bits of the report, I would like to ask whether it was possible to add conditions for signing the Official Secrets Acts. So far I do not gain anything from it, while you can simply get rid of me if I do a single mistake. Not that you need a paper for that, but I can imagine it makes things easier for the bureaucrats. For once, the demands on my end would be a monetary compensation of fifty million (50.000.000) Credits for the Apahanta's assistance in New London, Newcastle and Tau-31 - my ship took a few hits in the fight against the OCV Deceres - as well as permanent docking rights for all bretonian shipyards. If you want me to continue to use the Apahanta as an asset for combat and surveillance, you will need to help me to maintain and repair it and in emergency situations offer supplies for my crew. That being said, I am fully aware of Bretonia's limited resources since the loss of Leeds and thus we will avoid to use non-Bretonian resources with priority.
If you are willing to accept this, I'll play along. Not that I didn't do that before.
On July 5th, 825, Rheinland's Battlegroup Bayern emerged from the Mekong Cloud and moved to Planet Saigon's moon Kauthara, where the Ibusuki Construction Site, a kusarian installation, was located. The fleet destroyed the spaceborne installation and Kusari sent Battleship Hyono and her fleet to counter the assault of Rheinland. Since then, Battlegroup Hyono and Battlegroup Bayern are clashing against each other without clear winners. Every now and then we witnessed tiny skirmishes but also capital ship fights, usually only resulting in a few disabled ships, rarely destroyed ones. The amount of war prisoners made in the first days is probably not small.
The rheinlandian Battlegroup Bayern is lead by the RWK Bayern (RNC in translation), a Bismarck-class Heavy Battleship that seems to be refitted before the assault, as Rheinland's warships are rumored to be in a very bad condition ever since the war with Liberty a few years ago. Battlegroup Bayern's fleet composition is fluctuating but mixed in general.
The kusarian Battlegroup Hyono is lead by the IKN Hyono, a Tokugawa-class Heavy Battleship with a similar level of fortifications as the Bayern. Fleet composition is fluctuating as well and mixed. Rheinland does not seem to have many supporters, though, as upon review of captured footage, Kusari, GMG and the Order seem to unite their firepower against Rheinland. Megaera was seen there as well, by the way.
The Kusarian Megacompany Samura Heavy Industries also seems to have hired mercenaries to assist the Naval Forces against Rheinland. One of those mercenaries is former Forlorn Hope Knight Captain Nick Stenn, flying a Samura IFF snubcraft, designation TsuSec|Echo.Lead.
Given the nature of your assistance, I believe the Service can arrange for the docking rights to happen, provided of course that you do not abuse this right, all other Bretonian Laws will still be enforced by the Bretonian Police Authority and you will still have to abide by them. As for the sum of Credits requested, you will receive payment for services rendered within the hour.
The Official Secrets Act is designed to protect, not just the Service and Bretonia but you, and those you care about as well. By not revealing information, you cannot endanger them. Hence the expression, what one does not know won't hurt them. We are not trying to threaten you sir, only to help ensure your safety.
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Neural Net ID EZRAELVERTIGA
Good day, Director Sir Weber.
I would like to inquire information about your current standing with the Order. Has there been anything happening after the events of July 14th in Bretonia and Tau-31?
Our standing in regards to the order is decidedly unfriendly, I have little reason to order my people to shoot them on sight outside of Bretonia, unless they threaten the lives of my agents or otherwise interfere with our business.
If I may ask, why do you wish to know?
Kind Regards:
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Neural Net ID EZRAELVERTIGA
Thank you for clarifying this, Director.
I recently had a little bit of small talk with Sapphire Raven of Auxesia. The Big Borb seems to distrust the SIS currently. Which, given how provocatively Agent Boudica interfered with their operation to intercept the Midnight Runner a few weeks ago, isn't surprising. I received visual evidence of something that opened up more questions than it answered. Under the condition of you not sharing this piece of evidence, I'll show you what I am talking about:
Apparently, from their perspective, Auxesia stumbled over a meeting between the SIS, here seen represented by Agend Hudson and the very dear Adrienne Perry, and the Order, represented by the Osiris-class warship Deceres and something called Darkness, which is probably a reference to Inquisitor Darkness, the individual captaining the Geb-class hybrid combat vessel Golanski.
As for the questions this opens up - I wonder what each involved party was doing in the very hostile Drake system in first place. I'm not a person of wild speculations - pun unintended - but a system that is known to be filled with the horrors the Nomads use to spread fear and insecurity all over Sirius without showing up in their warforms themselves isn't on the regular patrol route of most factions. The Apahanta discovered the Drake system itself only by accident at the end of August 823, when we were simply mapping the regions close to my homeworld. We were not welcomed kindly, and since that day we didn't dare to return there at all. I can, of course, imagine what the reasons for a visit there are for each party. Neighbourhood patrol for the SIS in a very dangerous system close to Bretonia. Neighbourhood patrol for Auxesia, and given the fleet strength visible on the piece of evidence, they probably were expecting the worst. Same for the Order and their dubious operatives. A snub and a warship. As if that was enough to deal with the troubles of Drake.
Anyway, I don't want to waste your time with that any longer, Director. I'll take your word on Bretonia not playing into the babyhands of the Order. Thank you for the response.
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Neural Net ID SHERRYAGUILAR
Good day, Director Weber.
I am Sherry Aguilar, Executive Officer and Commander of the Apahanta. The Captain is currently not available, however I am fully authorized to act on his behalf.
Parts of my crew originate from Bretonia and are shocked and depressed from hearing the news report of our scouting drones. They refer to the radical push of Gallia into New London as Gallic Death March. While we are unable to join the battle ourselves, as we are in no condition to perform in a combat scenario, we will share one of our most valuable treasures with you. Something we found in the depths of the Omicrons. We believe you can put it to better use than us in these times. In these finest hours.
Please arrange a meeting in space in a desolate location of your choice for this evening. Our drone, the Entropic Rover, will carry our gift.
[To]:Sherry Aguilar [From]:Adrienne Perry, [SIS] [Subject]:Response [Encryption]: High
Dear Madam Aguilar,
I will be in touch with you over D.I.S.C.O.R.D. or P.M. protocols over how to proceed with your new discovery in the Omicrons.
As for the previous transmission that was sent on the 9th of September from your end, I have no problem submitting myself to an infection test, if you'd like.
Sincerely,
Adrienne Perry, Chief of Staff,
Secret Intelligence Service, Bretonia