Lieutenant Aleesha Cooperto: Liberty Forces Reporting Centre
Topic: Partyvan.
As this matter reached a certain degree of publicity, there is a report on Jambalaya.Space.Raft's matter.
Said ship of the Slave Liner class had been using a shortcut through California. A shortcut as moving outside the Trade Lane network and seemingly from the Jump Hole to the Jump Hole to avoid triggering TLAGSNET. Said ship stopped as it should had and the captain generally behaved and wait until the scans on all the cargo and the passengers were complete.
As assumed according to Jambalaya's captain's words, the ship held a party involving a number of Deep Space Engineering employees and that party was powered up by three thousands metric tons of Cardamine located in the lower levels of cargo hold.
With the help of LPI officer Matthew Scott the cargo was confiscated along with unconscious 'scientists'.
Aleesha Cooper got an additional feather in her bonnet and shared the case with the LPI as per protocol regarding the crimes involving Cardamine smuggling.
COMM ID: [color=#99FFFF]Fleet Admiral David Hale TARGET ID:Lt. Aleesha Cooper SUBJECT:Partyvan ENCRYPTION:Medium PRIORITY:Medium
Hale here.
Good evening Miss Cooper. Many thanks for the report, arrived just in time. I was fairly amused by this gentleman's attempt at threatening legal action. I'll ensure he's dealt with in the appropriate manner. Your actions are (as usual) excellent.
On another note, I just looked over your logged flight hours. They're frankly remarkable. This hasn't gone unnoticed by high command.
Lieutenant Aleesha Cooperto: Liberty Forces Reporting Centre
Topic: Pirate the pirates.
In addition to the recent achievements on the matter of cargo seizure, the last day brought the Republic three thousand metric tons of Silver Ore that an assumed Lane Hacker transport was moving through California space.
They claimed to be an innocent trading ship.
[color=#33CCFF][font=Agency FB]Comm ID: [font=Agency FB][color=#FFFFFF] Lieutenant Commander Natalie Cahoone Target ID: [color=#FFFFFF][font=Agency FB] Liberty Navy High Command Subject: [color=#FFFFFF] [font=Agency FB]Hostage Situation Encryption: [color=#CC0000] [font=Agency FB]High Priority: [color=#CC0000] [font=Agency FB]High
[color=#FFFFFF]
Good evening High Command,
Today, on a patrol with Lieutenant Cooper, we had the pleasure of meeting the CEO of Orbital Spa&Cruise, he was flying by with his liner next to Norfolk. Normally that short meeting would have been over by that moment, but since Mr.Bellingham was talking rather unfriendly with us we ordered him to stop to answer some questions about his passengers.
It actually took him a while to stop, and during that time he insulted us quite often, no idea if he wanted to look like a strong man, for me he just looked like a pathetic moron.
Anyway, he eventually stopped his Shukensha liner, with rougly 2000 vacationers aboard, next to the Pennsylvania Jump Gate. I've let Aleesha to deal with him, as she knows how she has to talk with such persons. She requested data about the vacationers, data which we never got.
The refusing of Mr.Bellingham to give us the data made him suspicious, as if there were passengers aboard who might want to stay hidden, was just a guess from our side. Bellingham would only give the data to the LSF, as in his opinion the Navy should not deal with national security matters. I laughed.
And even after the LSF was there he still refused to hand over the data about his passengers, he even tried to run away into Pennsylvania after some time. We were forced to open fire on the liner, but the Captain was smart enough to realize that we only wanted him to stop his engines. He thankfully stopped in Pennsylvania and yes, the same discussion happened there as well.
He kept his defensive attitude up to the point that we had no trust in him and decided to call in the LLS-Blowing.Rock to transfer all the passengers, yes, we expected a terrorist attack and did not allow the liner to proceed towards Planet Erie. Even in that moment Mr.Bellingham kept his attitude, and desperately searched a way to talk himself out of the story. It was then when he got interrupted and we heard a Rheinland accent talking to us over the comm systems.
We were right, it was a terrorist attack and the liner was under control of some Rheinlanders, they sounded more like pirates, they were too stupid to be considered to be in the MND or something like that.
The LLS-Blowing.Rock returned to West Point to pick up a group of Marines in order to board the liner. The small group of Marines managed to rescue a large group of hostages, but it were not enough men to advance further on the liner. They even got separated during the mission, however, they were able to sabotage the engines of the liner, which made it impossible for the Rheinlanders to run away. When they sabotaged it, they sadly damaged the powercore of the ship, and it would blow up after some time, therefore the participants of the operation had to hurry up.
More Marines were called in to rescue the rest of the hostages, but they were not able to get all hostage-takers. When the Rheinlanders announced that a bomb was planted the Marines were ordered to evacuate the ship immediately, and did so with the last remaining hostages. They safely left the area aboard the LLS-Blowing.Rock.
The Rheinlanders were given a last chance to surrender, a chance they did not take. Their bomb would not cause any damage to us, in their desperation they decided to attack us with the liner weaponry, but due to the damaged powercore they were not able to sustain fire for a while.
We were forced to destroy the liner, no survivors were found.
As Lieutenant Commander Cahoone's report on the matter was comprehensive, I will only provide the details relevant to the beginning of the incident as it is.
This particular situation with Spa and Cruise Lines executive reminded me of my experience with the said organization in the past. The situation was exactly the same and the same nihilism regarding the legal procedures took place intentionally or due to folly.
The said captain directly referred to the Data Protection Act while ignoring that the Section 28 - National security - and Section 29 - Crime and taxation - are the exception from the legal framework set up by that document. Any processing for the purpose of safeguarding national security is exempt from all the data protection principles, as well as Part II (subject access rights), Part III (notification), Part V (enforcement), and Section 55 (Unlawful obtaining of personal data). Data processed for the prevention or detection of crime, the apprehension or prosecution of offenders, or the assessment or collection of taxes are exempt from the first data protection principle as well.
The following actions are precisely described by Lieutenant Commander Natalie Cahoone.
According to our information, the terrorist attack took place when the Liner was stopped in Pennsylvania for the second time, not before that. Eventually, our actions seemed to provoke the extremists - though, this is just a version so far.
We don't have the correct information about the exact number of casualties during the incident. With all the mess taking place, the people were evacuated to Philadelphia and West Point and then to Manhattan and Erie. So far I had contacted Herdo for the commentaries on the matter, no answer received so far.
comm id: Herdo Shepard, captain of the Blowing Rock / Major of the marine details involved
message begins:
Afternoon,
It has been a while since I had to do one of these reports. Normally I just haul stuff, it's been a while since I had to lead an OP. Here's my report.
yesterday I got a call from miss Cooper, requesting Bison support in Pensilvania. I was just done offloading 4000 tons of manure at Norfolk. A commander V. redline had requested it, god knows what he need 4k of manure for on a shipyard. I don't want to know, actually. When I got the call I moved to Penny and found the situation as described above. We tried to reason with the captain. After a while the Fairwind went quiet and I feared the worst.
It turned out to be a hostage situation, the liner was hijacked by, presumingly, thus far unknown Rheinland terrorists. The decision was made to enter the liner and send in the marines in order to neutralise the terrorists. I ordered Alpha, the platoon assigned to the Rock, to breach and enter. This is where the situation got messy. Here's the comm's traffic between me and the officer in charge of Alpha, Lt. Spooker.
####
S = lt. Spooker
H = Herdo
S: 'allright you ****, get out there, breach and clear'
H: 'take care out there Spooker, we have app. 4000 vacationers onboard, and the crew. number of hostiles unknown'
S: 'we're on it. ..... ..... Crap, this thing's built to resiist pirate boardings. this is gonna take a shile. Get the sticky satchels out guys'
....
S: 'allright, fire in the hole, get clear!'
....
S: 'we're in, no baddies on sight.'
H: 'take 1 fireteam to the bridge, and take 1 team to the engine room. disable the Liner's mobility.
S: 'copy that, Alpha-1, with me, to the bridge. Alpha-2, to the engine room. Stop this crate from moving. Alpha-1 will lead the vacationers to safethy as we progress along the ship.'
...
S: 'Spooker here, we found a lot of hostages, sending them your way now Rock. No hostiles found yet, they seem to be on the upper deck, but we have a mass panic down here'
H: 'sweep the lower decks but get to the bridge asap'
...
H: 'first load of hostages onboard. good work. 673 still unacounted for'
S: 'we re on it. must be on the upper de- ****! MAN DOWN! shoot that *****!'
...
S: 'we're knee deep in *** here. there's more of 'em than we thought. They have the hallway to the bridge pinned down and we're surrounded! could do with backup!'
H: 'sit tight Spooker, I'm getting reinforcements. headcount on baddies?'
S: 'over 20 so far, i think. they' ve got freakin' automatic weapons! how the hell did they get those onboard? I'm down 3 man already, 2 badly wounded. I need cas-evac and backup stat!'
H: 'we re enroute with Bravo, sit tight.'
S: 'Alpha 2 reports: reached engine room, heavy resistance, opening a can of whoop ass'
...
S: 'where's that ***** support? there's no f-ing cover here! we need-
*static*
'... boomshine! throw it back! get- yeah?! get in there and scope that filthy strudel'
H: 'were back on site, Bravo entering the Liner now, sit tight.'
S: 'tell 'em to freakin' hurry!'
H: 'Bravo, 2 groups. 1: secure the remaining hostages and crew. 2: support Alpha-1 on deck A at the bridge. Shoot to kill. Spooker, they're all yours'
S: 'copy that.'
...
S: 'Bravo-1 reports remaining hostages and crew secured, extracting them now. still a ****fest over here at the bridge. BRAVO-2 HURRY THE **** UP!'
S: 'Alpha-2 reports: engine core damaged in firefight: Core overloading. The Liner's engines may blow up before soon, scuttling the entire ship.'
...
H: 'Spooker, we have all friendlies onboard and accounted for. as soon as Bravo-2 arrives I want your wounded and casualties extracted'
S: 'copy that!'
...
S: Holy ****, how many did you send in? is that... is that all of Bravo? There's over 500 guys here Herdo, what the ***?!'
H: 'I just want to be thorough'
S: '**** ye! time to die kraut bitches! let's get 'em boys!'
...
S: Alpha-2 reports core critical, it's going south fast.'
S: 'Alpha-2, extract. fall back to the airlock.'
S: 'baddies have barricaded themselves in and are talking about setting off a bomb. please advice'
H: 'any chance of getting in the bridge in time? '
S: 'Ive sure as hell got the men and firepower but not the time'
H: 'ok, we must consider the Liner lost at this time. Lt, fall back to the airlock. disengage and extract to the Rock'
S: 'you heard the man boys, pack it up and let's hoof it'
...
S; 'come on, you lazy bums, move it! I know you always wanted to be on a luxury liner but this is work, not vacation!'
...
S: 'we're in the green. we're out. Evac complete. let's get the hell away from that liner before it pops'
H: 'copy that Spooker, good work.'
...
####
We were forced to destroy the liner after all marines had been extracted. no hostages were killed. the captain of the vessel suffered an heart attack and was taken to Philadelphia station. we did lose several men in the raid. Count stands as follows:
- 4000 (all) passengers resqued
- all crew resqued
- 17 terrorists killed in firefights
- 5 marines killed
- unknown number of terrorists killed after the destruction of the Fairwind
Overall, a succes. But this doesn't bode well. If more attacks like these occur...
Clark Here,
Now that the Burke is out of its first initial maiden voyage. It's schedule for cargo runs will be stepping up, also to keep up with the demands from Bretonia. Cambridge seems to be where they want our relief supplies. We're treating them like passengers rather than refugees. They can expect a warm meal and a somewhat soft bed, what its not my fault the mattresses are 50% rock, 25% Plastic composite and 25% sponge. We have also been making stop offs at Fort Severn and Camrose Supply Depot. Anyway back onto this weeks freight report.
Quote:CARGO SHIPMENT LOG
UNITS COMMODITY X 1 636 Military Vehicles
X 8 180 Passengers
x 8 180 Basic Alloy
x 4 090 Light Arms
----------------------------
x 22 086 Units of Cargo.
TARGET ID: [color=#99FFFF]Liberty Forces Reporting Centre SUBJECT:Legion Contacts. ENCRYPTION:Low PRIORITY:Low
Sirs, Ma'ams.
[color=#CCCCCC]Interesting sort of patrol. Long range scanners picked up Hellfire Legion ships in New York space. Alert fighters were scrambled from West Point to pinpoint the hostiles, and one of our Gunboats (BuB) was the first to get eyes on the hostiles in Texas. Warrant Officer Polstari was next on the scene in his Guardian and had the decency to actually radio back what we were up against.
Turned out to be two hostile bombers, one Roc, something I didn't recognize and some sort of Battleship. Scans've been uploaded to the database. I ordered the ships out of combat, but the Gunboat bought it as I jumped into New York. By the time I made it to Texas, Polstari was floating in a pod too. Grabbed the Warrant Officer's pod on my way past and radioed for whatever help we could get.
The LNS-Patuxent, a Gunboat joined me at the California-New York gate where we engaged the Legion bombers. The battleship was keeping them resupplied though, so we did all we could to hold the thing in position until reinforcements arrived. Managed to grab a scan of its weapons while I was at it. Once the LSF made their appearance, the Legionnaires jumped back to California, and I moved in pursuit. [HF]-Beta.4 was slow making it to the gate, and the Patuxent gave him the good news.
I held up the Battleship and the remaining bomber, but had to switch focus when the bomber turned to engage me. I was winning, then Officer Kingman from the LPI jumped in to help and Junior Lieutenant Sanders ordered us out to finish off the ship himself.
Clark Here,
What can i say. Tonight we had one of the best Pirate counter attacks we have had in a while, definitely one of the best I've been in. It started out as a shipping convoy but just as we set out from Detroit we got reports of a Turtle in the NY system and a Pirate Gunboat/Gunship Fleet in California. When we got the reports i was aboard the Arleigh Burke. The convoy was temporarily canceled and we all got into our respective fighter craft. I took out my Guardian to take on a Cruise and Shield Suppression role. Hurst and Hartman who we're already in their fighters went ahead and linked up with the LNS forces attacking a RNC capital ship that had snuck its way in. Get someone to recover the ships black box and find out how. Myself, Cahoone and Gold-3 Went to deal with the Pirate fleet. When i moved in to engage we had a clear target to co-ordinate fire and the Gunboats/Gunships where torn to shreds. there was also a LPI officer and a Mandolorian Merc. To those two i wish to send out a thanks for assisting us. On our side we did not encounter any casualties only minor to medium damage to ships. I know i took a bit of damage and blew out an oil line which will mean I'm going to have to pull out the engine, clean it then replace the line completely. Fun. I am now transmitting Chase cam stills from the fight.
Somewhere along the line Hurst and Hartman got into the fray and added even more firepower to dominate the hostiles. After we had taken out the last hostile i began tractoring in any escape pods. 30 Spaceship crew, 7 Lane hacker members and a couple civillians in escape pods were brought into my cargo hold, they have all been transferred to the appropriate authorities at Norfolk. So now im going to go to the bar have a drink and something to eat, go to the docking bay and fix my fighter which is now dripping out Oil and other liquids onto the Fighter deck.
Clark Out.
To: Liberty Navy Reporting Center From: Warrant Officer Alan Polstari Subject: Pirate WMDs & Nomad Wildlife Encryption: High Priority: High
I was on patrol above Planet Manhattan in the New York system when a report of pirate activity on the California side of the New York/California Jump Gate, made up of one bomber and another unknown craft, came in. Being unsure of what the situation entailed, I called upon "Cadet-Sheridan" to assist me in the investigation. We made our way to California, where we came across the reported pirates, a "Solari~DoC" and "Art.Wholeflaffer". We gave them a chance to surrender, which they did not take.
The disturbing thing, which can be seen in the first GunCam shot, was that Solari was carrying a Nuclear Device. Unfortunately we were not able to intercept any comm chatter that would have indicated the intended purpose for this device. The Cadet and I engaged Solari, but Wholeflaffer made for parts unknown. We were being overhwelmed by the firepower Solari fielded when lawful fighter pilots "LN-Peacekeeper" and "SDF|Macross_Police" arrived to assist. The sudden arrival of these fighters must have thrown Solari off his game, so to speak, as the next thing we pick up was his destruction at the hand of his own mine. We retrieved what we could, including the WMD(ultimately transported back by pilot Peacekeeper), and made to return to Manhattan.
And this is where things got really strange, sirs. As we were headed back to Manhattan, we received reports of a Nomad creature above the planet. The creature, while confused and erratic, was not hostile nor armed. Attempts to communicate with the creature, calling itself "Shoqash", indicated its desire to return "home" and that it wasn't aware of it's location or purpose.
Having no senior staff on hand to provide guidance or standing orders about how to handle such a creature, I did my best to offer to escort the being to a place outside of Liberty. Unfortunately it was at this time that an Order Gunboat arrived and began to complicate things. I ordered the vessel to depart, piloted by a "Maks.Yustin", but it ignored me and made for the creature. The Cadet, several Freelancers, and myself moved to engage the Gunboat while Peacekeeper fell back to retrieve Gunboat reinforcements. Unfortunately my Executioner was destroyed while attempting to press the target away from Shoqash. I was unable to see the rest of the conflict, but later intelligence reports showed that Shoquash was not captured and made it off to parts Unknown. I am unaware of any further contact with the creature after that or with the Order Gunboat that "happened" to barge in over Manhattan.
If you'll excuse me sirs, I have to report to the requisitioning board why I need another Executioner Heavy Fighter so soon after they gave me the last one.