The Huerta Raid

The "Hueta Raid", so named after its Commander, Captain Johnathon Huerta, was a Corsair Raid on the Outcast defences above Planet Malta that has gained a paticular fame in Corsair folklore. Obstentiously the mission specifics of the raid were initially as a mid level sweep through the Omicron Alpha system to gauge the strength of local Outcast defences. There is nothing specifially unusual about this type of mission, being something that is regularly performed by Corsair forces, however, the fact that this raid ended with such high casualties and that these tended to affect only the lower socio-economic strata of Corsair Society has meant that much of the reality of this raid has now been transformed into popular folklore Myth.

The Raid

Malta
Scene of the raid

The Corsairs assigned a moderate number of forces to the mission. Corsair raids on Omicron Alpha are renowned for the unpredicatability of their results and as such these raids are often formed on a volunteer basis only. The Huerta raid was formed entirely of volunteers called upon by the raids' commander. Captain Huerta, in Command of a Corsair cruiser gathered together a force of several Titan and Praetorian wings, most of these were from similar areas of Crete, which were known areas of poverty and social disadvantage. The raid was beset by misfortune almost immediatly. Ambushed in Omicron Beta the Bomber wings took considerable casualties. Despite this, the decision was made to press on and the remaining forces continued into Omicron Alpha. After fighting their way through to Malta itself the force was set upon by a much larger and superior Outcast flotilla and casualties mounted to critical levels. In a dramatic climax to the battle, Captain Huerta and several of the remaining Corsair fighters chose to collide their ships into the Malta Docking ring in the hopes of crippling the ability of the Outcasts to launch their forces at speed. This action, while courageous, was however futile as the Outcasts had reinforced their docking facilities with planetary powered shields and armaments which meant that the ring itself suffered only minor damage from the assualt and was quickly repaired.

The remaining Corsair forces were easily mopped up by the Outcasts and only a handful of vessels managed to limp back to Crete. Officially, the raid was listed as a failure by the Elders of the time however word of the sacrifice chosen by many of those involved in the raid quickly spread and so the myth began to grow.

The Myth

The Raid is notable in that its cultural effect far outweighs anything it miltarily accomplished. Among the poorer citizens of Crete, word quickly spread of the raid and its cost - as many poorer Corsairs had lost family on the raid its circulation was almost completely limited to the slums and ghettos in the suburbs of the Urban centers of Crete. Subsequently, the raid has come to symbolize among the poor the "inherant Nobility" of all Corsair people, regardless of their wealth and status. Stories - that bear almost no resemblence to the historical facts - are widely told among the lower rungs of Corsair society and in the intervening years it has become almost a "badge of honour" to claim an ancestor who took part in the raid and who sacrificed themselves on the docking ring. Popular folklore has seen this reflected in several ways, some Corsairs are known to wear a badge depicting Planet Malta with the word "Huerta" stenciled above it, and many bars on Crete, especially in the poorer areas, are known to display images of Captain Huerta, which are frequently toasted among the many Corsair drinking binges.