We have received a notice that the search and rescue mission on Nagano was concluded a few hours ago. The following is a report of the operation.
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We have entered the Nagano system after separating from the Rishiri gate defensive force, and split into smaller sections to scout the last location of the 7th Division. Different flaying patterns and smaller unit composition allowed us to avoid any encounters with large Blood Dragon contingents. We set out to find the two battlecruisers Fuyuki and Tagaki.
At T+0300 hours, section 2 reported the location of the remains of the Tagaki, on a location near planet Tomioka. The ship was dead silent and crippled beyond repair. Findings indicate that this was the place where the fighting took place, and the Tagaki was one of the first casualties of the engagement. Rear section was gone, and the hull was broken into 3 sections, result of heavy weaponry strikes on the hull. Evidence of few escape pods launched, but the amount of corpses points to a sudden loss of the ship. No survivors were located on the area. Division commander Itto Kaisa Tadanobu was missing from the wreckage, from what we could determine. We accessed the database and made a copy of the mission records for analysis, but couldn't disable the database fully because of a power failure. With the wreck beyond repair, we decided against further scuttling for respect of her crew.
Location of the KDS-Tagaki
Other wreckage included 4 of the gunboat escorts, and many smaller craft debree. As we followed close signals, we located the wreckage of the group nanny ship, taken down by heavy fire as well.
Section 3 located the party of the Fuyuki at T+0500 hours, closer to Planet Kodo. The Fuyuki managed to limp out of the battlefield after having recovered it's engine capabilities, but it became incapacitated on the way back to our lines. Of the remaining 2 gunboat escorts that accompanied her, one had blown up a few hours before to a reactor failure, and the second one was barely holding, along with a few fighters. 70 crew members of the Fuyuki were evacuated to the Mackinac, as well as 20 pilots and crew members of the Tagaki that were picked up by the Keibi-200C gunboat.
Demolition charges were placed on the bridge after data retrieval, and the reactor components were jettisoned to avoid a large blast radius that would alert our enemies.
Last known location of the KDS-Fuyuki. Wreckage was heading to sector 7F and further out of the system at a slow velocity.
We hailed the Mackinac and recovered the Division survivors. Nitto Kaisa Jozen perished during the escape of the Fuyuki, and survivors report that Captain Tadanobu had died during the destruction of the Tagaki.
With the remnants of the 7th Division located and recovered, we returned to Rishiri alongside some shuttles of the OS&C, who requested some escort for their clients who were leaving the system.
On the way back we met a Samura convoy, heading to their mining operations. We were in no conditions to place a lockdown on the system, so we let them to their deeds as they wished. Hopefully they aren't relying too much on their security before deciding to pull back their workers from the dragon patrolled areas.
We located both the BC Tagaki and Fuyuki, declared lost in combat. Captain Tadanobu and Commander Jozen died during the operation, defending their men with their lives. A total of 100 men, including four fighter pilots and the gunboat crew, were rescued. An additional 50 civilians were escorted out of the system during the operation.
We did not locate any major force of the Dragons, nor any apparent blockade force on Tomioka with our medium radars. Another operation is required to located them and assess their numbers.
This concludes our report,
Kobayashi Hidenori, 117th Naval Guard Commander