MAYFAIR SANCTUARY, NEW LONDON SYSTEM, BRETONIA SPACE
At approximately 14:00 today, the last refugees left the surface of Planet Leeds.
The Republican freighter Hedgehog under Captain Tsufridn.von.Shokolade dusted off with a hold crammed with several hundred refugees escaping the wrath of the Gallic navy. Waiting in orbit was the last transport out of the system; OSC Breezewood.
Operation Exodus, the mass evacuation of the most densely populated planet in Sirius, has come to an end. Dozens of ships from all over the sector have pitched in to do what they could to mitigate the genocide on Leeds. In the shadow of one of humanity's darkest moments, a thousand lights of hope were lit as factions put aside their differences to save what they could. While a final count is still being tallied by the Bretonian government, Breezewood alone carried 152,000 refugees to safety. Her shuttles, PuddleJumper and the late Day_Tripper, have carried several thousand more.
It wasn't enough.
"What we did here was an epic accomplishment," said Breezewood's captain Jonathan Seabourne. "But we are under no delusions. This was a drop in the bucket. Less than 1% of Leeds's population made it off world. It was quixotic, but we did our best anyway. Many will live who would have otherwise died, and I can tell future generations that I did what I could. I just wish it was more."
The fate of those left behind now rests with the allied fleets. As the Bretonian and Liberty navies strike at Leeds to liberate the planet and re-establish crown control, many still cling to a last hope that the Gallic fleet can be wiped out before the planet is totally destroyed. One thing is clear, however, Leeds will never be the same. Millions lie dead from the war, occupation, and extermination at the hands of his Majesty's forces. Perhaps one day, time will heal the wounds of this scarred world, but such healing will be a long time coming.
David Newport, the last refugee to disembark the Breezewood was born after the start of the occupation. He lived his entire life in the network of bunkers beneath the surface of Leeds and the first time he saw the sun was when he hurried to the shuttle that would allow him to leave his doomed world. His cousin died fighting in the Leeds Resistance Forces. When asked about the future of his people, the child echoed the LRF posters that lined the hallways of his stolen youth with a voice far beyond his years:
"We will grow, we will prosper, we will flourish. But we will never forget."
Orbital Spa and Cruise Planet Curacao, Cortez System