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Nadir Reprisal Initiative

#301 Calendar Q4/822A.S - All My Sins Remembered

“We’re little people in big times, yeah?”

— James S.A Corey,
— Nemeis Games

October saw the fleet settle into orbit around Catania, trading the uncertainty of open space for the steady trickle of resources Newfoundland’s drones trawled from the gas giant. Tensions were still running high after the flight from Liberty, and the Order’s blatant mistrust - if not outright aggression - had done nothing to alleviate the sense of isolation settling over the newborn Initiative. Now, certainly and irrevocably, they were fugitives; regarded with a traitor’s contempt among their own people and thinly-veiled distrust by their supposed allies. Even that contempt; however, was preferable to the attentions of the rest of the Omicron’s warring factions.

Omicron Eta had not yet seen any regional hegemon claim the system as its own, but not for any shortage of contenders. Caught between the feuding remnants of the Hispania, Eta played host to a war fought with the sort of bloody hatred that could only grow out of the ashes of love. No nation, no matter how great the strength of its loathing, could maintain a full-scale war across the centuries; however, and time had sapped that inferno to a lingering civil war, but one that was no less deadly for it. Corsair and Outcast battlegroups still darkened Eta’s sky, plying their deadly trade between the minefields that dotted the system like cancerous growths. A smattering of freelance mercenaries also dotted the system, jumping from the employ of one side to another with the tides of war, and just as willing to take advantage of an unescorted freighter as any house pirate.

View from Catania’s upper atmosphere. Enna is visible in the distance.

It was from this smouldering warzone that the NRI began its first, tentative steps as an independent organisation. A handful of reconnaissance craft and scout teams departed for neighboring systems just as soon as Newfoundland’s drones could scrounge enough to fuel them, in search of resources and allies to aid the fledgling fleet. The Initiative’s heaviest assets remained in-system, replenishing supplies and patching wounds acquired in the long months since the fleet left Liberty. But, as 822 crept to a close, the eyes of the warring factions drifted closer to the fleet and it became increasingly clear that it could only be a matter of time before Apotheosis lit her drive again...

2nd October 822

Long strings of semi-autonomous balloons drop from Newfoundland into the alien sky of Catania, intent on probing the gas giant’s turbulent atmosphere for concentrations of helium-3 that can be refined to fuel the fleet. Control and monitoring of the drones is centralised aboard the Hegemon-class auxiliary, but most of the orbiting fleet is press-ganged into relaying information to and from the balloons, including a handful of unlucky Nephthys pilots who find themselves taking shifts flying polar orbits.

5th October 822

As the ships settle into a rough routine, the Fleet Director delivers her first address to the Initiative.

9th October 822

Approximate mapping of Catania’s atmosphere is complete, and suborbital scoop drones are deployed to began the process of collecting fuel for the fleet, careful to steer clear of the massive storms wracking the planet’s atmosphere.

12th October 822

Scout ships are dispatched to investigate Omicron Eta and bordering systems. A haphazard mixture of freighters, gunboats, and long-range fighters serve as a rough escort. In dire need of supplies and allies, the number of possible destinations is significant.

> Sigma 19

Distance (Jumps): One.
Risks: Significant corporate presence.
The presence of the GMG refining stations in Sigma 19 makes it an attractive option for a fleet looking to feed a dozen fusion reactors. However; the significant corporate presence also carries with it the risk of civilian populations and law enforcement agencies.

> Omicron Theta

Distance (Jumps): One.
Risks: Outcast presence.
Home to Freeport 9, Omicron Theta is the safest bet for sourcing limited quantities of raw materials, technology, and the expertise required for its use. Until other alliances can be made, the Freeport also offers the closest thing the NRI has to a friendly port.

> Honshu

Distance (Jumps): Two.
Risks: House space. Significant law enforcement presence.
Hikone base offers the closest facility to arrange a meeting with the Blood Dragons, and serves as a secondary option for fuel procurement if other attempts to secure supplies falter. Actually maintaining contact with the fleet will be difficult without a subspace connection; however, and the naval transponders carried by some fleet ships could spark a diplomatic incident between Kusari and Liberty if they are spotted in Kusari space.

> Omicron-100

Distance (Jumps): Four.
Risks: Highly-secure Order stronghold.
Events may have severed relations, but the Order and NRI were one organisation until the very recent past. Dispatching an emissary would be a valuable first step in normalising relations. If the Order proves receptive, the possibility exists of regaining access to the Overwatch intelligence network. If the Overwatch disagrees; however, the chances of ship and crew returning to Eta are exceptionally slim.

> Omicron Minor

Distance (Jumps): Three.
Risks: Order patrol path. Nomad presence possible. Core presence possible.
Most of Minor’s facilities were destroyed or abandoned when Toledo fell, but the potential exists for pieces of technology that may be useful to the fleet.

14th October 822

One of the Initiative’s gunboats is mistaken for a transport and attacked by a pair of Corsair raiders en-route to a jump point. The gunboat survives with minor damage, and manages to cripple one of the raiders and force the second to withdraw. A boarding crew discovers a malnourished captive in a sealed compartment who claims to be an Order operative.

19th October 822

Training exercises for are scheduled for the fighter wings, chasing specially-configured and highly-maneuverable scoop drones through the upper reaches of Catania’s atmosphere. Fightercraft are equipped with low-energy laser pulses in lieu of real weapons to avoid damaging the drones, but the strain of repeated re-entry takes a toll on the craft involved, and Newfoundland’s crew are forced to work overtime manufacturing replacements for overstressed components. There is talk of expanding the training to duels between piloted spacecraft and, in the absence of orders to the contrary, a handful of pilots fit hit detection sensors to their ships in anticipation.

23rd October 822

For the first time since the Initiative left Galileo, Apotheosis’ subspace network is opened up for private transmissions for a twenty-four hour period. All outgoing messages are carefully checked and censored by fleet intelligence, but many seize the opportunity to send word home regardless.

26th October 822

NRI fighters are involved in a handful of skirmishes with unaffiliated mercenaries and opportunistic Outcast squadrons willing to try their luck against returning scout ships. Two fighters are grounded, apparently awaiting repairs. After two days, no parts have been delivered and rumours begin to circulate that the fabricators are damaged.

1st November 822A.S

Magnanimous, the fleet’s long-range gunboat, detaches from Newfoundland and begins the long burn to Kusari to bargain with the Blood Dragons. A handful of operatives, hand-selected by the Fleet Director to investigate rumours of nomad activity in Kusari, travel aboard her. Magnanimous is joined by Long Vigil, a Voyager-class shuttle, bound for Freeport 9.

Officially tasked with chasing down information among the freelance captains willing to chance their luck in the Omicrons, the voyager’s real task is to retrieve the components and expertise needed to repair Newfoundland’s fabricators before they fail completely and leave the fleet drifting in a warzone. Eager to prevent panic, word of the failing machinery is restricted to the Fleet Director, Newfoundland’s CO, and the ship’s chief engineer. The rumours spread like wildfire, regardless.

6th November 822A.S

Small quantities of cardamine, seized from downed Outcast fighters that strayed too close to the fleet, begin disappearing from Furiosa’s stores. Uncertain who to trust, the bison’s XO requests assistance investigating the theft from personnel outside the crew.

11th November 822A.S

Long Vigil arrives on Freeport 9.

16th November 822A.S

Continent-sized storms rip their way across Catania’s skies. Wind speed on the outskirts exceeds the local speed of sound, and the Initiative’s aerostat fuel dumps are forced to fire thrusters and ascend to orbit, rather than remain in the tumultuous atmosphere.

19th November 822A.S

Repair crews finish fixing hull patches to Furiosa, repairing the last of the structural damage sustained when the fleet came under attack in Galileo. Pressure is restored to one eight-bed bunkroom, and the bison’s crew hold a lottery to decide which unfortunates must sleep in the patchwork compartment.

20th November 822A.S

EVA teams begin recruiting volunteers to assist in the laborious task of fault-checking Apotheosis’ extendable banks of radiators after on-board diagnoses reveal a discrepancy between the ship’s expected and actual heat outputs.

23rd November 822A.S

The storms on Catania finally abate, and Newfoundland’s aerostats drop back into the atmosphere. All told, the disturbance has lost the Initiative a week’s worth of fuel and the scoop drones fly increasingly lengthy missions to make up the difference.

29th November 822A.S

A freelance slaving ship, the Occurrence Border, arrives in Omicron Eta with a pair of Condor-class gunboat escorts alongside. The captain, one Garrett Thornton, is willing to trade some of the comparatively fresh stores aboard the Border for fuel from the fleet, rather than risk landing on the system’s heavily-militarised stations.

5th December 822A.S

Long Vigil rejoins the fleet in orbit over Catania. An Outcast fighter squadron tails the voyager most of the flight back, but does not respond to communications and breaks contact before entering Apotheosis’ effective range.

11th December 822A.S

Corsair forces stage a raid on Palermo station. The end result is indecisive, but the flash of weapons is visible from Catania.

17th December 822A.S

Fleet intelligence reports a surge in Outcast warships entering the system, and a number of rangefinders are pointed at Apotheosis. Newfoundland’s shuttle begins distributing fuel in preparation for maneuvers.

19th December 822A.S

Outcast drive signatures consistent with a cruiser task force are detected, bound for Catania. The Initiative begins retrieving its aerostats from the gas giant, and maintenance teams are recalled from extravehicular repairs.

21st December 822A.S

The Initiative begins the departure burn from Catania.

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