The Actions of LTC John Willard

[Jtan911]

Entry I: Recollection of Horrors

"Redacted, Of Course the Bastards would cover it up" muttered John to himself.
The Navy, had changed considerably during his some 11 years of loyal service, and now it was finally starting to annoy him. Once a bastion of hope and protection of Liberty assets and interests, the Navy had become more and more bureaucratic, and it was driving John Insane. The navy, at least in his Opinion, was more concerned about PR than it was about creating an efficient combat force to Defend Liberty from her enemies, such as Rheinland, or the much stranger.

The much stranger... he mulled over those words, drifting into the his vivid recollection of that patrol that had changed both himself and his crew dramatically.

[96 Hours Earlier]

"This is the Battleship Missouri, you are cleared for launch, Good Luck out there!"

"All right System check!"
The Ships Controls burst into life, Holo-screens and Data pads whirring and clicking as the Alpha Emerged from the belly of the Missouri.

"Life Supports Systems are fully functional, prepare for Lane jump to Ft Bush."

John took a seat at the bridge, gazing at the beauty of Libertonian Space, the inumerous stars, planets and nebulae all millions of light years away, creating a beautiful backdrop to the bustling trade hub that was the New York System.

A world away from the chaotic war zone in New Hampshire, The Alpha's Crew were all a bit less tense, taking security in the fact that they were unlikely to be ambushed by a group of Rheinland "Oder" or "Donau" class vessels. All of them, except perhaps Tom and Pete, who almost missed the destruction they were able to cause back then.

But for today, the patrol was simple, 2 circuits around the New York system, including patrols out to Detroit Munitions and Planet Pittsburgh. They weren't expecting much, any Rogues they encountered were usually too drunk or stoned to offer much resistance, and neither Hackers nor Outcasts were usually caught in the act by the Liberty Navy, so the patrol was likely to be a quiet one.

The First Circuit was completely normal, the lanes were just full of traders, even the junkers they saw were behaving themselves. However the second circuit would change the Crews life forever.

As they came around Ft Bush for the second time, they were hailed by a Freelancer Vessel tagged "Krystal". "Greetings Freelancer Vessel, How may we be of assistance?" Commed Rebecca towards the Freelancer.
"Am I speaking to the captain?
"No but ill get him for you, one moment please."Replied Rebecca in her calm confident manner.
"Willard, theres someone on the comms for you"
"Alright patch me in."
To Willard the freelancer seemed under the influence of some drug, his speech was scrambled and made little sense, Rambling about Aliens and ships that were invisible and transparent. "Alright Freelancer we will look into it, have a good day" and with that he cut the channel. "I haven't got time to waste with crackpots like him. Malcolm, Prepare to lane jump to Manhattan.
"Yes Sir!" came Malcolm's gruff voice in reply. Malcolm Davidson was a good crew member, No Nonsense, and extremely loyal. A long time engineer in the navy, his knowledge of liberty ships was unparalleled. Many times he had been offered promotions, but every time he had declined, stating he would rather be training the next generation of engineers rather than be stuck in some office.

Kicking back in his seat Willard gazed out of the bridge as the Alpha accelerated up to some five times faster than her own engines, hurtling towards the tranquil blues and greens of manhattan. As the Nav-maps exit waypoint drew closer, Strange readings began to appear on the scanners, soon followed by the monotonous reports from the bridges computer systems. "Unidentified Vessel Detected"

The sight was, and still is indescribable to Willard. Definitely not constructed, or even imagined by humans, the vessel, if that what it even was, proudly floated above Manhattan's Northern Pole, pulsating with a weird glow that flared up before melting away in a constant, hypnotic pattern. About the size of Liberty's Archer Class Siege Cruisers, the vessel dwarfed the Alpha. Willard knew immediately that outright conflict was out of the question. Then suddenly the cruiser pulsed again, and a voice, constantly changing, began to speak.

Ghostly, Other worldly, these voices spoke in a way he had never encountered. their language was stilted, their communication focused on emotions rather than descriptions, and it was making Willards head swim. Strangely it seemed all the crew were hearing these voices, and yet no transmission had been set up between the vessels. The voices could only be described as liquid; melting and morphing without warning.

Suddenly a bright pinpoint of light appeared beside the vessel, pulsating and expanding, it continued growing, finally revealing a second, smaller vessel, One similar in size to a gunship, the Alpha finding herself truly outgunned. The voices grew even more intense, likely due to the second ships appearance. Despite Years of training and following protocol, nothing could prepare him for this. For the first time in his career, Willard panicked. Turning the ship around, he attempted to put distance between him and the vessels. But he wasn't fast enough. The energy pulse inside the Cruiser grew, expanding out of the vessel itself, forming a large fluctuating orb, that hurled itself towards the Alphas engines. Later Willard would recall the similarities between it and the mortar class cannons mounted or most human Capital vessels, as it struck the alpha, enveloping it in a strange cloud of purplish energy.

The Alphas Shield generators were overwhelmed, and the ship bucked and rocked as the energy faded, almost falling into Manhattan's unforgiving atmosphere in the process. Willard decided to turn towards the hostiles, hoping he would be able to avoid anymore of those blasts, well aware a single blast would completely destroy the unshielded gunship. However there was nothing there, no vessels, no projectiles, simply nothing to be seen.

[Present Day]
While most memories fade, the memories of that patrol were etched firmly in Willards mind, and they weren't fading. Sleep was out of the question, and even a strong dose of Liberty Ale, usually Willard's answer for everything, had done little to ease the pain.

Malcolm Davidson had been found in the hold, pulse faint, his eyes a weird purplish tinge, while Ray, the gunner who had gone down earlier was in a more stable condition, perhaps his younger body was able to cope better to the significant trauma the crew had all experienced.

The Alpha had taken considerable damage to the hull, during its close brush to manhattan's atmosphere without any protective shielding. and desperately needed repairs. Luckily the libertonian war machine was moving quickly, and with the Alpha needing major repairs, the decision had been made to completely redo the armour to a newer more protective class. However the repairs were still not due to complete for another 48hrs at best, and so Willard was left to frequent the Missouri bar, drowning his sorrows, waiting for new orders regarding his now depleted crew.