Crayter Military Reporting Facility

[Panzer]

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It's been a close one at Provence.

The fight was pretty brutal, even by civil war standards. Both the Oblique and Arles sunk. Our own Styx, Agamemnon and Atlas gave as hard as they got but it didn't seem like enough when it mattered. Scant consolation, but in the last round, our side slaughtered the opposition spectacularly, for once working as intended - namely when we finally developed momentary local advantage in number of battleships and their cohesion.

All in all, we did accomplish denying the enemy victory, albeit at being denied one for ourselves. Fleet contribution appeared critical to securing this outcome, which no doubt would have been far worse for lack of it. No cases of dereliction of duty or breaches of discipline reported or noted among fleet units. Performance and aptitude... about as good as could be had under the chaotic circumstances. We're getting there - it's hardly rocket science, that the ships-of-the-line keep a tight formation and pointing at whatever is painted as "Must die now". All ships involved will need some time on the slipway, I am led to understand, that this is the first time since Helios, that there's any significant work for Sabah to do, therefore repairs should be finished without unnecessary delay.

As to the outcome - if it weren't for us sinking the Arles and keeping the field afterwards, the Royals would have it their way entirely. As it is, Provence is bound to become an anarchic no-man's land... Space. Both Royals and Council will need to step back, evacuate vulnerable, civilian assets or risk their destruction.

Not ideal, this.

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Colonel Jack Skalski, CAG-Nemesis, 44th

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