"While the Federal Republic continues to expand it's influence into Sigma-15 we must remember and honour the proud Sons and Daughters of the old Empire who ventured into the near-by Sigma-13 and never returned. Ships such as the Imperial Cruiser Kassel were sent into the Yanagi Cloud and the greater Crow Nebula in one last assault upon the Gas Miner's Guild who managed to destroy the fleet which eventually led to the uneasy peace between the Guild and the collapsing Empire.
While ALG was diligent in attempting to clean up and recover the fallen men and women who died in the Cloud so they may be returned to Rheinland for burial even today there are many ships still missing. One wing in particular who were assigned to the Kassel are still reported as missing according to the ALG's final report in addition to Military records dating back to the end of the 80-Years war. Unfortunately due to numerous oxygen gas pockets and rising Corsair and Outcast activity in the Sigma-13 system expeditions to seek out the remaining lost ships has proven impossible.
Archduke Friedmann recently attended a memorial service dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives in the Final Battle of the Yanagi Cloud in addition to several members of the Imperial Party of Rheinland to pay their respects to the lost sons and daughters of Rheinland, who even now still drift on the battlefield where they fell, and those who were recovered during ALG's long clean-up operation that saw many of the deceased returned to Rheinland to be buried by their families and the state.
With the expansion into Sigma-15 many minds turn back to our history and the losses suffered during the last expedition into the Sigma Regions, studying the mistakes of the past in order to avoid making the same mistakes in this new era. "
-The views within this article do not reflect the official stance of the Imperial Party of Rheinland but the viewpoint of a single reporter.-
![[Image: 2nvdts5.jpg]](http://oi57.tinypic.com/2nvdts5.jpg)