Commander of the gunship NCC Custodian Alferez Aaron Orwell
*The naval officer on screen shows concern on his face and is adjusting hastily a pistol holster on the belt of his teal uniform. Behind him, several similarly dressed sailors run across the scene, while a screaming alarm sounds in the background. The officer manages to attach the holster and looks at the camera.*
Greetings, Field Maestre.
I'm contacting you to report of the Custodian's immediate departure to Omicron Zeta. We've been stationed at Freeport 11 for the last three days, performing routine repairs and resupply. Yesterday the station received transmissions from several nearby Zoner ships warning of a massive Nomad presence on Omicron Zeta. It appears that a horde of these unholy aberrations has emerged from nowhere and is currently mercilessly attacking human installations in the system. It looks like it's a Core station, and another of The Order.
There are rumors of very tough battles with the alien forces, and it seems that a massive evacuation of these facilities is taking place. We've obtained the coordinates of their locations, so I've decided to declare maximum alert on the ship, order the crew to board and head immediately towards the conflict zone.
We'll be leaving in a few minutes, and I hope to reach the objective in less than seven hours. We'll focus on defend the human forces present and evacuate to those poor souls from the stations, but if we can we'll also destroy as many of this cursed abominations as possible, Deux willing.
On my way to Zeta I'll try to contact the NCC Militant Lance of Alferez Garcia, that went out on patrol four days ago and should be near Tokelau Ice Cloud. That area interferes terribly with communications, and I'm not sure I'll be able to find him, but if I do, we'll both head to the objective together.
May Our Lord protect us in this dark hour, and if we must die today, we'll do with holy joy, fulfilling His Sacred Mandate.
Commander of the gunship NCC Custodian Alferez Aaron Orwell
*Alferez Aaron Orwell stands in front of the camera, his uniform badly battered and with burn wounds on his face. He's triying to maintain a martial stance, but rests the weight of his body on one of the bulkheads of the room he's in.*
Good afternoon, Field Maestre.
Sunday's battle was... insane. I'm lucky to be alive, although I can't say the same for some of my crew members... or a few of those in the Militant Lance. I can only thank Our Lord for having given me the opportunity to live and continue working for His Sacred Mandate, praying fervently that He welcomes into His bosom the souls of those who bravely fell in the fulfillment of their Holy Duty.
We left Freeport 11 shortly after my last transmission and headed straight for the jumphole to Omicron Zeta near Tokelau, although along the way my comm operator was able to contact the Militant Lance. I briefed Alferez Garcia on the situation that was happening in Zeta, and we both agreed to meet once on the other side of the hole.
Once the jump operation was completed, we headed towards Charlie - 2 to reach Cairo Station, owned by the Order. Garcia and I opted to give priority to supporting Cairo initially instead of Capetown, since the Order is a more important element in the fight against the Nomad threat. I hate having to choose between saving some human lives or others, but we only had two ships to operate from. We also considered splitting up, but Garcia and I are used to acting in tandem and we felt we would be more effective working that way.
We made contact with the main Order forces and we headed towards their position near Cairo, where the evacuation corridor was open. There we also met a flotilla of Phoenix transports and even other independent Zoner ships, that, like us, had also come to the aid of the besieged souls of Cairo. I've to say that observing such an act of unity among human beings, under the same common objective of fighting against the threat of the alien abominations, filled me with holy rejoicing. Actually, that was the Sacred Mandate of Deux, being fulfilled by a bunch of people who don't even believe in Him, but all enlightened under His Holy Spirit, and united all under his human condition. At that moment I felt the Presence of Our Lord there, smiling us from the void.
We didn't know exactly what the situation was in Cairo, but we were aware that the evacuation of the base's personnel was taking place, so the we imagined the aberrations' attack must be very powerful. However, didn't expect that magnitude of the unholy forces until we got there. Nomad warforms of all sizes and types accompanied by several ships of unknown identifications were descending on the station, firing everything they had and attacking the transports loaded with evacuees. The Order's forces tried to protect the convoys and divert the abominations' attention towards them, but it wasn't always effective. Some transports were destroyed, leaving their human cargo floating among debris in space. Besides, every time the Order managed to push back a wave of aberrations, opening a window of opportunity for safe evacuation, a few minutes later another avalanche of monsters would fall like a hammer over the station.
Garcia and I immediately realized that there were enough transports already extracting people from Cairo, so our role there was to distract the abominations from the transports and protect their retreat. We engaged alongside the forces of the Order in hit and run tactics on the enemy targets, just as we've been training for months in Delta, and had considerable success. The result of our action was several Nomad xenomorphs of various sizes damaged and two completly purged, in addition to a heretic gunship blown to pieces, all in the Holy Name of Deux Our Lord, praised be for all eternity.
Meanwhile, the Order and Phoenix transports managed to get all the personnel out of Cairo, and evacuate almost all of them to the Taba base, even extracting the numerous data banks with confidential information of the Order, so that they would not fall into enemy hands. The Custodian was even able to land in the Cairo hangars in the last moments and take on board 22 members of the administrative staff of the station before it finally fell into the hands of the spawns of Evil.
After leaving Cairo, now empty, we received transmissions requesting assistance from Capetown, which was also under attack at the time. Alferez Garcia's Militant Lance was diverted to try to assist there, while the Custodian headed to Taba with the last convoys of evacuees to protect them, and also to bring the Order personnel on board to safety and disembark them.
Back towards Zeta I managed to contact Garcia again, who had managed to rescue a group of people in Capetown in the Militant Lance and was heading to Delta to bring them to safety in Durban. What he told me about the state of affairs in Capetown was grim. The outnumbered Core forces were barely holding off the unholy hordes, and their defence was crumbling, so they needed as much help as possible immediately. Some Order pilots, despite having serious political differences with the Core, had also come to their aid, along with Phoenix transports. One more proof of the power of the Holy Human Unity that Our Lord pours upon us in times of greatest need.
Garcia and I agreed to meet 8k clicks from Capetown to coordinate attack maneuvers like those we had already executed off Cairo, and to defend the transports that remained evacuating people. Unfortunately by the time we managed to regroup and make it to the station, a few hours had passed, and the battle was all but over. Capetown was burning on all sides, surrounded by wrecked ships and disgusting dismembered chunks of deceased monstrosities. Other living aberrations were hovering around, still fighting with a few Order pilots who were still holding their own. Traffic control had stopped working, and we were unable to make contact with any of the remaining people. We tried to get close to the hangars to land and extract the few who might still be inside, but we were soon attacked by superior forces, forcing us to fight for our lives.
From there I've little memories of what happened next. I remember the Militant Lance and the Custodian engaging in fierce combat with several alien forms, and taking many hits from them. I know my gunners managed to kill one of them with the front rocket launcher, and I heard several of its nasty biological fragments crashing against the deflector shield. I saw an explosion in the Militant Lance on my starboard, and then we too took heavy damage from different angles. While my helmsman tried to perform evasive maneuvers, one of the control terminals on the bridge exploded in a burst of flame and hit me directly in the face, blinding me. I fell to the ground and I think I screamed out in praise of the Name of Our Lord, before passing out in pain…
I woke up this morning in the sickbay of a Zoner transport on route to Freeport 11. The Custodian was apparently badly damaged by several rounds of fire from the enemy that surrounded us, and the Militant Lance suffered internal decompression from the hits it took. My crew members managed to get me off the ship and into an escape pod before the Custodian could fully depressurize. Afterwards... some of them managed to get off the ship as well... but some didn't. Alferez Garcia was also able to leave his ship in time, along with much of his crew, but they also suffered casualties. Altogether, between the two ships we have lost a total of twelve men, who were unable to get out of the gunboats in time. All of them martyrs and saints, who have given their lives for the Sacred Mandate, and for their human brothers. They're now all One with Our Lord, in the immensity of the void.
We're currently at Freeport 11 again. The medical services at the station are completely overwhelmed by the large number of refugees from Cairo and Capetown that Phoenix brought here to get them to safety, but they've still treated us all with dedication, especially the most seriously injured. Even so, five of our surviving sailors are still in critical condition due to failures in the life support system of their escape pods. Now they are in the hands of Deux and the doctors who are trying to save them. Alferez Garcia is fortunately also quite well like me, although he has a rather complicated wound in the left leg, which causes him considerable pain and makes it impossible for him to walk. He must undergo surgery in the next few days, but at least his life is not in danger.
As for our gunships... I've spoken to the captain of the Zoner transport that rescued us, and he said they didn't appear to be irreparably damaged, though he can't assure it. I think it might be feasible to attempt a wreck recovery, once things clear out around Capetown and those damned monstrosities finish consuming whatever's left inside the station. If we can get our repair ship with an escort to tow them to Livadia, perhaps we can have Phoenix repair them there.
I can't say much more, Field Maestre. With the fall of Cairo and Capetown, Omicron Delta has become the new front in the fight against the Nomad invasion. With both of our gunships stationed in Delta out of combat, I suggest a replacement needs to be sent in, and even reinforced with one of our destroyers... or perhaps both. Believe me, sir, when I tell you that what we witnessed two days ago was terrifying. Those things cursed by Deux are coming in greater numbers, far greater than we could have ever imagined. And they will not stop at Zeta.
I know that the situation in Theta isn't easy at the moment either, but in my personal assessment, and with all due respect, the defense of the combat front in Delta against the Nomads should be our main concern now. The place of our Holy Church must be alongside those who fight against the creatures of Evil, as Our Lord commands us, until their final destruction.
*Orwell stands at attention, with difficulty, and salutes militarily to the camera.*
I am sorry for the delay in the response, the training of the troops in the recently acquired material and the preparation of mechanics and other auxiliary personnel consumes my time.
First, I would like to congratulate you and Ensign Garcia for a job well done and let you know that I am going to recommend you in front of the Pontiff himself for the decoration of the gear and the arrows as a sign of your dedication and good service to Deux and his church in adverse situations.
I would like to inform you that a "fearless" class destroyer will soon join you and the supply shipments to FP11 will increase accordingly.
Finally, I would like you to convey to your crew how proud I am of them, I and the rest of the faithful of Deux, you are the spearhead that aims at the heart of our enemy.
The Nomads and their lackeys are insidious and will try to use their mind tricks so play through the slides and do the exercises again so that the faith of Deux encloses your soul in a radiant and annihilating flaming light and under the doctrine "The armor of contempt" train your minds and souls for what is to come.
Keep up the good work.
Martin de Alba y Espronceda, Field Maestre of the NCC.
![[Image: mx3QEnh.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/mx3QEnh.gif)
![[+]](/forums/images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
ATTACHED DOCUMENTS