Another day in the office, Commodore Drake Kaiden looked to the sky, wishing for his new command cruiser to be completed.
He'd gifted the first of the two sisterships, along with a promotion to one of his most experienced officers, Captain Isaac Brock.
Drake knew with the power of a Bretonian destroyer, several fighter and bomber wings coupled with the unparalleled communications & scanner improvements of a command cruiser, the QCR's combat effectiveness would double.
A flashing window opened on Drakes screen, his vision drifted back from the sky to the dreary reality of administration.
'Bloody requisition authorizations'
An ID challenge was issued, Drake lent forward for the retinal scan.
The window opened to show deep space imagery captured from Cambridge's satellite array network.
The Ice Cloud is all that could be seen. "Live Feed" was placed in the upper left hand corner.
The camera zoomed in on a faint green rectangle and focussed.
It was hard to make out, weapons fire was everywhere, not to mention the explosions.
The IFF display was initialised. It was Isaac in there, trying to solo two Corsairs.
Drake knew Isaac was more than capable of handling this situation, but his suspicions were aroused.
Comm chatter from Cambridge could be heard, a nearby Hussar patrol had diverted to aid the Captain
Suddenly a white flash filled the screen, the camera tried to compensate by zooming out. As the glow died down the distinct and all to familiar glow of two cruise engines could be seen disappearing into the cloud.
Drake knew there was nothing he could do, Cambridge was more than capable of securing the area and moving in for search and rescue.
He opened the bottom draw of his desk, opened the bottle of scotch and hoped Isaacs capsule had worked without fail.
There were no BPA or other QCRF vessels around. No mercenaries either.
I tried to bluff him and told him to leave the system. He fired on me, knocking my shields down and said no. I attempted to evade his fire but my ship was destroyed. My escape pod was picked up and I am currently at the shipyard fitting out my new vessel.
Another lonely patrol. Another overpowering opponent.
Sirs, I have a most worrying matter to report. Earlier today I was assisting 2 Mandalorians in a raid against the Kusari in Kyushu and New Tokyo. We suceeded in destroying a Kusari cruiser and a Kishiro transport shipping military vehicles to the KNF. On our return through Kyushu, however, 3 KNF bombers showed up, which we proceeded to attack with the help of some Golden Chrysanthamums. Despite the arrival of 3 more KNF fighters, we appeared to be doing well, until suddenly a Zoner gunboat by the name of Ulysses offered assistance to the KNF, and proceeded to blast me and the 2 Mandalorians from the skies. As far as I was aware Zoners maintained strict neutrality in all conflicts, and I was certainly not anticipating this one to be so blatant in his assistance to the Kusari against the QCRF. I do hope that this development represents an out of control individual and does not forshadow a more serious diplomatic crisis.
Encryption Key: Commodore Windsor, Liaison of the Board
Re: Arms Deal
Message Begins:
Gentlemen, ladies, as I'm sure you're aware, the Liberty Navy has entered into the preliminary arrangement of an ongoing operation to bring the Armed Forces of both Houses closer together, and as such, will be collecting Advanced Splitters from Marlborough Pile on Planet Leeds, for tests and trials by Liberty pilots.
Today in Leeds I encountered a group of 4 transports all brazenly carrying Deuterium into the Taus for obvious transport to Kusari in defiance of our blockade. When I challenged them, their contempt for the QCRF and all of Bretonia quickly became apparent, and when I followed them through to Tau 31 insisting that they return their cargo, they opened fire upon my ship with such ferocity that I was forced to fall back. It was clear that they were deliberately travelling in a group in order to force their way past any military or police vessels, and were prepared to go to any lengths to hinder our war effort. I was only able to confirm 3 of the 4 names:
Grabbit&Run-Tradingco
Jack Russell
=dwarf=ona=wharf=
but I strongly reccomend that these individuals are swiftly sought out and made to respect the authority of the QCRF and the Laws of Bretonia.
The Ensign's berth on the Battleship Suffolk was just large enough to accommodate the bunk and a tiny desk, holding the comms unit and various personal effects.
Aubrey Mainwaring's young face was a mask of concentration as he studied v-logs of previous military operations, studying for his long-range navigation and combat exams.
He put down the viewer and leaned his head on the metal wall above the bunk. He could hear the faint throb of the engines and the countless small noises that made the ship seem alive.
"When are we going to fight?" he said aloud, the frustration evident in his voice.
He looked at the blinking light on the comms unit, willing it to burst into life and call him to action in a huge attck on the hated Kusari. His mind conjured images of vast fleets clashing and his own tiny Templar roaring at full thrust into combat.
His father had told him that the Mainwarings were descended from an ancient military house, whose most famous warrior had been a Captain in the Army of the D.A.D.S. (the meaning of the acronym had been lost in the mists of time, but it was probably very powerful). He ached to become as famous a soldier as the great Captain Mainwaring, so he could prove his worth to his family.
He had always been a bit of a misfit, clumsy, a dreamer. He was a little isolated from the other junior officers on board because his accent and mannerisms clearly marked him as a "toff", a privileged upper-class person. His friendly nature usually won people over, however and his keenness was evident in everything he did. The fact that he had broken away from all the help, wealth and power his rich family could give him to make it on his own as a serving officer also brought him some respect from the hard-bitten regulars.
His goal to be the best fighter pilot in Bretonia space seemed very far off. He was not showing much improvement. He was gaining experience but not doing well against elite pilots. On missions it was always Aubrey whose ship collided with the jump gates and got left behind. It was always him who used up all his bats/bots through being attacked by hostile craft (NPC) so that he faced real opposition with no supplies. Clumsy AND unlucky - not a good combination.
"I'm letting the side down" he said, miserably.
"Was father right about me? Am I useless?"
He stood up and looked at himself in the little mirror. There he was, a slight young man with a downcast expression. What would Captain Mainwaring have said, if he could see him now?
"Pull yourself together, Pike!" He spoke aloud again.
Pike? Pike? Where did that come from? He smiled and picked up the viewer. These exams would not defeat him.
When challenged he only laughed maniacally. The Mandalore vessel, The_Or'dinii, and I engaged the sony_roberts and chased him towards the Dublin Jumpgate when he tried to flee. We destroyed him. He behaved in a very disturbed and disorganised way throughout the engagement. Perhaps he was affected by narcotics. In any case, we rescued many bretonian, civilian and other military pilots. The Mandalore vessel is to be commended for her assistance.
Another strange event occurred:- A Molly vessel, the FED)Publicola appeared from Dublin. Proclaiming system-wide that Queen Carina was, in concert with Bretonian business factions, robbing the people of Bretonia!
On being challenged and ordered to stop, the ship made a series of evasive manouvers all the time talking about how our Queen was abusing her position. He never stopped. This fellow was clearly a disaffected Molly angry at our treaty with his brethren. He was deeply insulting the Queen and the State of Bretonia. I could not let this stand.
He ranged across the system with me and The_Or'dinii in pursuit. He left via the Dublin Jump Hole, the Mandalore followed. I went through the jump gate and saw the Pirate had been shot down.