Priority Broadcast: Colony News Service

[Rodent]

Battle for Leeds Begins

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By Peter Sutherland.

[Camera feed reveals a dishevelled and harried looking journalist.]

A good day to all our viewers.

Sorry to interrupt your programming, but we have received reports of startling events. As of right now, a massive confrontation has begun in the Leeds system, between the forces of Houses Liberty and Gallia. The two Houses have been at war since Gallia’s invasion of Bretonia in early 818 A.S, but this is the first major fleet action being undertaken by either house against each other.

Reporter Aaron Knight is on the frontlines. Aaron?

[Camera feed switches to a distorted feed, slowly resolving to reveal a system startling in it’s smog orange. It appears to be coming from a drone, moving at some speed. The reporter speaks over it.]

Aaron Knight here, in the Leeds system. Our ship is on the outskirts, and we’re sending in unmanned drones to bring you LIVE coverage from the conflict as it unfolds.

[Drone continues it’s approach towards Planet Leeds, the only object of reference in the system, and small pinpoints of light resolve into warships.]

As we know, the system of Leeds fell in early 820 A.S to a concerted Gallic attack. Gallia has since held the system, apart from ongoing resistance on Planet Leeds itself.

[Feed switches to another drone, right in the middle of the ongoing conflict. The sleek, lithe shape of a Liberty Siege Cruiser speeds past, point-defense guns firing at Enemy fighters. The feed changes angle, slowly drifting past the prow and around the back. As it does so, the name of the ship can clearly be seen. LNS-Arizona, CV-891.]

Despite repeated warnings and calls for arbitration by the Libertonian Government, Gallia has shown no signs of relenting in its aggression, and continued it’s war against Bretonia.

[As the reporter continues speaking, The lights on the Arizona appear to dim momentarily, and a split second later, a tremendous circular burst of energy emerges from it’s forward cannon. The drone changes angle, and the target is revealed. A massive hulking shape, visible even at extreme distance.]

Liberty has since chosen to turn back the Gallic war effort through a concerted invasion. Operation Royal Flush was announced scant hours ago, and the fleets are already invading.

[Camera feed switches to a drone, positioned just above the Siege Cruiser’s target. Fully a kilometre long, it is one of the Royal Navy’s Valor class vessels. The drone’s feed flickers for a moment as the Arizona’s forward gun hits home, and then returns. Apart from minor burn marks along the prow, the ship shows no sign of visible damage. Drifting past, the feed pauses on the ship’s name. Oubli, emblazoned on the prow in muted grey.]

The invasion is massive in scale, easily dwarfing any operation any military in Sirius has ever undertaken.

[The camera feed switches off for a moment, displaying a relative comparison between the two fleets. Libertonian fleet numbers clearly outnumber Gallic ones in all respects. A small footnote beneath the chart reads, “Numbers for Gallic side speculative due to lack of information.”]

Libertonian or Gallic Officials have not granted any news interviews thus far. Robert McKay’s office released a comment saying that “they fully expect to push the Gallics out of the system within three standard days.”

[Camera feed returns, focusing on the Oubli. The ship shows multiple signs of damage, including a section of the aft hull completely torn off. Small sparks of electricity arc across the hull. And presently, another Siege Cruiser round hits from the side, turning the behemoth nearly sideways, and it struggles to correct.]

Currently, his statement appears to be coming true. Battleship Oubli, the Royal Naval flagship has taken severe damage in the opening phases of the conflict, with relatively little damage done to the Libertonian fleet.

[Even as he says this, The lights on the Oubli dim to virtual nothingness, succeeded by the ship shaking, and it is pushed back by the cannon it fires, the Warwolf.]

However, Gallia’s invasion has so far been unquestioned and unstoppable, and it is difficult to say with certainty what will happen.

[Camera feed switches to Arizona for a brief second, as the Warwolf shot makes fateful impact along the middle of the Cruiser, ripping it in half as easily as a knife through butter. Undeterred, the round continues on. Brief moments later, the Arizona explodes in a massive shockwave, catching the drone and putting it out of action.]

Regardless of outcome, today we’ll be covering history. For this battle may very well decide the fate of Three Houses and all the people living in them. For now, we return to the Studio where a panel of experts will help us understand the intricacies of this invasion.