New Year, New Opportunities

[Ramke]

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Captain Berengar seemed to be acting odd as of late, Claire thought. He seemed more determined. Less talkative. Truly set on the goal of moving forward. It was a breath of fresh air as the tone had shifted, it seems he had finally come around to the only good opportunity that the royalist remnants had in a long time - even if his usual paranoid and tactical personality had taken a shift after the meeting with their contact following a private meeting. Whatever qualms he had seemed to be alleviated.

The operation was set in motion. The Belisama's contacts provided the necessary fuel smuggled in, and the repair materials needed to return the ship's engine to working order - along with some spare parts should anything fail mid-flight. The preparations took weeks, and finally reached a condition close enough to resemble 'capable'. The mood on the ship was hopeful, if not thick with concern. After so many years of sitting idle and acting as nothing more than a pirate base barely scraping by, it was time to stand back up on one's own feet.

Navigational data was inputted, and the Belisama's engines roared to life. The ship's interior echoed the subtle hum of the song it was once proud to display - a warship power, first and foremost. Just as it once accepted it, out of the Westray asteroid field darted out a ship - the RNS Belisama - bent on revenge and action. But before any action could be taken, it had to be restored. The years have worn on the armour plates, the electrics malfunctioning, and the lack of a shipyard's capabilities to maintain the ship have shown their mark. The ship's destination was Zurich, one of the last major bastions of the Royalist movement, or so was thought.

With deep coordination of the Royal Intelligence contacts and scouts, the ship began its journey to sneak through the Gallic systems, all the way to Zurich, a journey hardly considered insignificant. The course was meticulous: through asteroid fields, nebulae, behind derelict moons, Through jump holes risking to explode their ship or send them to a place of no return. The scouts, both the Belisama's escort and royal intelligence operatives, carved the path, scouted exclusion zones, and checked for activity if it was safe to fly. Some small skirmishes ensued, damaging the ships through the days they ventured.

Getting through Orkney was a difficult, particularly for such a large ship, avoiding detection from the naval intelligence through the use of the orbiting moon obfuscating radar. Both Planet Sanday and Shapinsai proved to be invaluable in this regard as the group curved very wide, and straight into the Eynhallow asteroid field. Languedoc was easier - from nebulae to nebulae. The group had to time a particular moment that lacked patrols or pirates to jump from one to the other, a meticulous move. Provence was much the same, using the moons and less frequented paths within the nebulae as cover. The ship's hull groaned under the stresses of jump hole travel, a grim reminder that all of their lives could be snuffed at any one point.

Then came Ile-de-France. A system that the crew looked upon with anger, and nostalgia. A view of what should have been their welcoming committee and place of retirement, instead taken from their clutches by the Council and their pawns. The capital system proved to be significantly more difficult to navigate, with many more patrols snaking through. It did not help that tourism was booming between Gallia and Rheinland at the time of their venture, and it seemed most of the eyes were concentrated on the path they had to cross. The Belisama had remained on the edge of the Saint-Cloud asteroid field for some days, biding its next step, looking for any opportunity. Luck eventually struck as a particularly large skirmish between liners and brigands caused the system to go into alert, and while the fight was raging on, the coast seemed clear. With thrusters and cruise engines on maximum, the ship squeezed any bit of speed it had to throw itself across to the other side of the trade lanes, eventually reaching their next objective: another jump hole.

Taking a break on the entrance on Champagne to repair and refuel after the expensive maneuver, it was clear that the old warship needed repairs. The numerous asteroid impacts and occasional shield failures meant that every single dent could have been a structural vulnerability, and every vulnerability could mean their end when going through their last checkpoint - the unstable jump hole to their destination, Zurich. Hours turned to days as the engineers worked meticulously with what they had to reinforce the hull with makeshift modifications, and tensions continued to rise. The former Council stronghold was not a place they wanted to sit idle, Launching for the final push, the group had encountered a bunch of pirates - not quite daring to fight what they thought was a 'Navy battlegroup' from a distance, the worries of where their news and word went caused more concern than the concept of encountering anything more.

The arduous journey to Zurich finally came to an end as the jump hole spit out the worn and battered Belisama and its wary remaining crew. A comparably short cruise later, jumping from stormy nebulae to stormy nebulae, each causing new electrical issues, the scouts led the ship to its place to rest. The IFF system turned on, as well as comms system once again broadcasting on signal, before a comms channel opened and the words were heard: "RNS-Belisama, your arrival is expected. Please proceed to shipyard moor four. Welcome to the Lausanne Complex."