Crayter Military Reporting Facility

[Emeric Leon]

<COMBAT REPORT 002>
<OUTCOME: VICTORY>
<PILOT ID: Warrant Officer E. Leon; New Hope Rearguard, Planet Pecos>
<TRANSMISSION SOURCE: Carrier Hades, system Tau039>

WO Leon, with an after-action report following events in Tau023, Tau037, Omicron Alpha, and Kusari home worlds. To settle the question now, I and the freelancer pilot that joined me went on the route through Kusari, though I did not waste the opportunity to perform reconnaissance while there.

This patrol began as it usually does, by posting at a location roughly five klicks from Java Station and eight-point-five klicks from the Tau037 jump hole. It was not long indeed before I ran into the first bit of trouble for the evening: a Storta-class destroyer FOF tagged Orden's Shadow. There was no fleet or squadron tag included, but something unusual was that this particular Storta carries a fully functioning cloak technology, making it much more threatening that it otherwise would be. The vessel promptly cloaked after sighting my ship, then reappeared some time later before jumping to Tau037. I elected not to pursue immediately, since another contact had appeared on scanners - a Zoner Corvo-class long range explorer FOF tagged Nomad Remains. Perhaps appropiately, the vessel was carrying a rather large amount of just that in its hold, and I immediately charged after it into Tau037.

The situation was further complicated by the presence of a Geb-class Order carrier FOF tagged Delta Queen, sitting in space near Freeport 10. The Zoner vessel ran to Freeport 10 with my ship in hot pursuit, and quickly mooring at that station to escape. After speaking with the Order ship, the commander of that vessel informed me that the Corvo would relinquish the remains, and I considered the matter closed. I came about and began to return to Tau023 - when the Storta from earlier reappeared on scanners. Before, the commander of the Outcast destroyer seemed quite amicable, but now he tersely informed me that he did not like my kind in his space. He moved his vessel in; I armed weapons and began the attack. It was quickly apparent, however, that I was not going to be able to significantly damage the cruiser before it ripped me apart, as scans indicate it was sporting a full suite of anti-fighter weaponry. I retreated to a safe distance, and the Storta, being the slower, eventually broke off the pursuit and returned to Malta anyway.

As I approached the jump hole back to Tau023, a freighter I have encountered previously tagged El-Chapo jumped through, this time carrying a full bay of Light Arms. I stopped his ship and made him jettison and destroy the cargo, but did not destroy his ship as he carried Freelancer ID. At the time I could not conclusively prove that he was working for the Maltese. I sent him on his way with a warning that a third incident will result in his destruction.

I returned to Tau023 with no further incident, but after nearly half an hour of inactivity I made the decision to take my ship into Omicron Alpha for a reconnaissance sweep while things were quiet. (Guncam footage of known major installations are included at the end of this report.) When I entered the system, I spotted something most peculiar immediately - the Order ship Delta Queen again, and when it noticed me immediately came about and docked on one of the Outcast installations around Planet Malta. I did not directly witness the docking, as I was pointed the wrong direction, but the ship was not destroyed and disappeared from the scope at roughly nine klicks after a system-wide docking announcement. Previous scans indicated no cloaking technology onboard.

I sighted an Outcast gunship, FOF tag NCC-1701, near Valetta Shipyard, but made no move to engage nor did the gunship pursue me. I continued my sweep with scans of Valetta, their Albion Light station above the first moon of Malta, and Ibiza fighter base behind the last moon. I also scanned their sleeper vessel Hispania for good measure, though it appears to have been utterly abandoned.

I received a message from the Lost Star gunship Forlorn Sunset, Regina Silva commanding, asking if I was in difficulty, since they were in Tau037 at the Freeport and had monitored my jump to Omicron Alpha. I was not, but I did tell them about the gunship in system. They indicated that they were going to go after it, and requested my assistance. I immediately headed for rendevouz near the Tau037 jump hole, passed El-Chapo undocking from Malta itself (finally, my evidence!), and found Sunset already engaging the Outcast ship. It promptly fled to Omicron080 with myself and Sunset in pursuit.

The situation deteriorated further in Omicron080. Sunset jumped fast enough to successfully disrupt the enemy's cruise engines, and we set about dismantling it. Over the course of the battle, it set course for the only other ship in the system - the Delta Queen again, this time shooting at Bounty Hunter vessels and sporting a Recruit ID (with Bundschuh IFF...though the scanners were likely in error.) The battle reached its final conclusion with the Tridente succumbing to combined fire from Sunset and my antimatter cannon...but the Delta Queen had begun to fire on us in defense of the Outcast! Sunset was forced to go fully evasive, while I reluctantly launched an attack on the traitorous vessel after it became clear that it wasn't going to break off its attack. It took some time, but between the remaining Bounty Hunter gunships, Sunset's guns, and more antimatter fire from me we managed to destroy it. The attack was a surprise to both of us, and Sunset was by this time moderately damaged so we jumped back into Omicron Alpha in effort to leave Maltese space.

When we exited the jump hole, we were immediately set on by a Zoner Aquilon-class carrier FOF tagged ZRV Alpha1, again with no warning, that was waiting for us in front of the Omicron080 jump hole. It inflicted heavy damage to Sunset before Commander Silva could get enough range to evade, and managed to down my shields as well (though I took no further hits from the vessel.) Knowing that it could not pursue us successfully, it proceeded to park itself on the Tau037 jump hole. With one of two methods of egress blocked, we had no choice - flying wide around Malta this time, we headed for the jump hole to Omicron Beta instead. Recon footage of Ruiz is included in this report.

Risking the trade lanes for speed, we proceeded through Kusari. I warned Commander Silva that it was likely I would need to evade or destroy Kusari patrols if they stumbled on us (due to recent events in Tau029). I gave no further details on why or concerning the battle at Freeport 6. As we traveled, we encountered no KNF patrols but did pass an OSI- tagged freighter, the Menthol Cigar, at the jump gate from New Tokyo, so it is very likely that Kusari will soon know of my presence there, however accidental.

We spoke briefly about the political situation in Kusari. Commander Silva indicated that perhaps contacting the Blood Dragons would be beneficial if we do indeed go to war with Kusari, as they remain steadfast enemies of the Maltese, the Kusaran government, and the Gallics that control them. I include this information for consideration by Command, and the Republic's government. A concise chatlog is included with my report.

Both of our vessels managed to get to Tau023 without further incident. We parted ways on amicable terms with her returning to Java for repair, and myself RTBing Carrier Hades to finish the patrol.

End of report.

<ATTACHMENTS>
Storta IFF/ID, Cloaking Technology: * *
Corvo w/ Remains: * *
Geb over Freeport 10 (Order ID): *
Evidence against 'Freelancer' El-Chapo: *
Outcast Tridente: *
Outcast Death Recording/Geb in Omicron080 (new ID): *
Geb Death Recording: * * * *
Zoner Aquilon ID/IFF: *
Egress from Alpha: *
OSI transport in Kyushu: *
-------------
Short Chatlog concerning Blood Dragons: *
Recon Photos (Omicron Alpha): * * * * * * *
Recon Photos (Omicron Beta): *
Recon Photos (Honshu): * * * *
Recon Photos (N. Tokyo): * * * * * * *
Recon Photos (Kyushu): * * *