Oficina de Coordinación de la Armada Imperial

[Pepe]

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Message subject: Flota condition report
Encryption: MUCHO
To: Oficina de Coordinación de la Armada Imperial
From: First officer Juan-Raul de la Cruz

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Buenos dias, respected Senors. *looking for a place with less smoke*

Your message hit us in the right moment. We established communications few minutes ago and I was thinking how to put this. Eh...

This is mucho chaos. A disaster grande. We are just a bit more than a wreck now.

Athos is badly damaged. Fuel is leaking out and radiation is leaking in. Most compartments are full of toxic smoke. Life support will support us few more days. Maybe few more hours, considering where our real captain is. But, let me explain easily.

*explains easily* It all started when new captain arrived to the ship. He was all tall and smart, issuing orders short and clear with strong Greek accent. We had to make all buttons shiny and clean our shoes every day. Siesta time was minimised to one hour. Of course, he ordered air conditioning systems to work 24/7, so there was no reasons for real siestas.

Then we moved to New London. Soon our asses were on fire. All kind of Gringos were shooting on us from all directions and Gallic Command was putting us always in the first line. Orders were no so clear any more, like: Gaians! Shoot them first! ... No, no shooting Gaians! ... Si, si - shoot Gaians immediately! ... Nope. We don't shoot Gaians! ... Ok, shoot in Gaians general direction and be sure to miss them!

After a while hull breaches were imminent. Custodi captain got badly burned by electric arc from air-conditioning system when some huge torpedo got us. Gallic command was pushing us forward, but I ordered urgent evacuation of wounded captain. Gauls sent us some salvage freighter, they took our captain, but all Custodi crew was also evacuated with him. I took command over crippled Athos and our halved crew managed to retreat her to Dublin.

We are sitting duck now, hidden next to gold abundant asteroid fields of Dublin. I just hope we won't meet some angry miner before we repair shields and weapon systems. Staying here is bad idea. There is a Gaian base in Newcastle we could cripple to. We could also push our luck to reach Gamma, but it's mucho lot of luck to be pushed. Reaching Issoudun Drydock in Aquitaine is also an option, but somehow I'm not sure how Gallic command would understand our retreat.

Waiting for further orders... Por favor?

Juan-Raul de la Cruz
First Officer
battleship Athos

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End of report