At about midnight yesterday, listening posts noted an unusual increase in traffic around T23. Soon enough, it has been confirmed as Royal Police. At first, I suspected police gunboats projecting power in occupied space, but one junker pirate whose support I enlisted, insisted, that the said contacts were in fact cargo ships.
The plan was to intercept the now two-ship convoy as it would be crossing the short stretch between the Languedoc and T31 gates. He cloaked and waited near the installation while I hovered 15km above the equidistant point between the gates. After about a minute, the junker detected the convoy and disrupted its movement in the best location possible. At the same time, I closed in and made ready to engage.
What surprised both myself and my accomplice was the police ships' cargo - Typical insults asideboth vessels were full of the narcotic substance known as Nox., the enemy claimed, that the shipment was all confiscated merchandise and perfectly legal as far as Gallia was concerned. I can't help but wonder though - any police force in existence normally does its best to combat regulated substances trade - often by destroying such substances immediately following seizure. Why would police ships be carrying such large amounts out of Gallia?
Regardless, rules of engagement applied just the same. As per prior agreement - any loot resulting from the engagement would go to the junker. We demanded surrender, but the enemy refused and after a slightly clumsy fight - both the Vache and the smaller cargo ship were destroyed.
Immediately afterwards, we encountered a royal cruiser just off Java. It started firing at me almost immediately, but unlike most Royal cruisers I had the chance to fight - it was failing miserably. I am quite positive, that whoever was in command - never issued the no-brainer order of switching fire control mode. it would cease fire every time I'd get anywhere but right in front of it. It was still slow work, even using a waran. Curiously, the cruiser got help from a side I wouldn't normally expect - an IMG spatial started shooting at me without warning. The only possible clue as to its reason might be its ship name, very similar in terms of punctuation additives to that of the aforementioned cruiser. Luckily, he also was a poor fighter and lining up an accurate AM discharge proved gratifyingly simple. After that, it was just me, the junker and the cruiser. Following a few more minutes of relatively easy battle - it blew up too.
As a side note, i'd like to recommend investigating the most recent iteration of the Waran bombers (Or an indigenous modification thereof) as better alternative to Singapore-designed Pythos. Light bombers do not offer a tangible increase in terms of survivability, while comparatively having half the firepower - both sustainable and instant.
![[Image: J0asT87.png]](http://i.imgur.com/J0asT87.png)