A long one today sirs, as we had a very active patrol. The battle-fleet traveled through the Omegas and Rheinland, and also a second sortie saw a smaller group covertly head to the Omicrons for a Marine action.
The flight-group assembled near Zhukovsky as scheduled on the duty roster. Present were Cmdr. Alexi Karchov, Lt. Cmdr. Guang Jie, Lt. Cmdr. Timor Khruschev, Lt. Cmdr Mirielle Ceyes, Captain Richtofen, and later Sub-Lt. Zachary Quirm . Comrade Ceyes was station in Bering as forward recon, and while she made her way to the rendezvous point, Lt. Cmdr. Khruschev was given command of the CPW-Vladimir Lenin for his capital ship expertise, and the crews of the Lenin and the CPW-Genghis Khan engaged in a training exercise.
We moved out on the Captain's order, and headed to Dresden to meet with comrade Ceyes, who was getting some flak from an apparent former Coalitioner in Dresden. The deluded Zoner was blathering on about how the Coalition killed his father and that we would all die...or something like that. Ceyes showed restraint while the battle-group flew through the Omegas and past a Brotherhood flotilla massing. The Corsairs were more interested in their mission, and with orders of silence and secrecy from Captain Richtofen, we made it to Dresden, where after several minutes of deluded rambling by the Zoner, identified in the guncam photo below, the fighter group engaged the target, which fled first to Leipzig, then to Omega 15, where we did not pursue.
The fighter group rejoined the Typhoons already in New Berlin after a quick resupply on Vogtland by our Hessian allies, and began broadcasting to the entire system. At first there was little resistance, and also little in the way of literate people in the system. Note: Have the researchers on Mykolaiv find out what the codewords "lol" and "wut", and any combination thereof, mean.
Soon, however, a Rheinland Bomber and a Daumann Eagle showed up but stood off, apparently waiting for re-enforcements, which were also soon to arrive. Without a word of warning, the Battleship Scharnhorst opened up it's batteries on the flotilla, at which point the two Rheinland fighter craft also engaged. While comrades Ceyes and Jie engaged the fighters, the Destroyers and myself in Natalia engaged the battleship. The fighters did a fantastic job, forcing the bomber to flee while Lt. Cmdr. Jie destroyed the Eagle. At the same time, dodging the withering firepower of the huge battleship, the Coalition Typhoons and my Revolution finally caused the huge battleship to break up from the damage it absorbed.
By this time, Rheinland's reinforcements had started to arrive. Two more fighters, another bomber, and yet another Rheinland Battleship (how these aren't on the front lines of Liberty, I'll never know) showed up, and it took it's toll on the Red Army. First to fall was Mirielle, killed by the battleship while initiating communications, then I was forced into a retreat by Rheinland Military's Krupinski, who succeeded in disabling my ship. The CPW Vladimir Lenin was hit with a lucky barrage from the second battleship as well, and was put out of the fight.
The rest of the engagement I had to watch from the CPW-Genghis Khan that tractored my pod, and was cheered by the brilliantly executed retreat of the Khan and Lt. Cmdr. Jie. The meds aboard the destroyer checked me out and as we landed back on Zvozdny, I ran to my Insurgent and launched again for another mission (see next message).
Overall, a medium success in Rheinland. It was learned that the military apparently has battleships to spare, as they seem to give them to every Tomas, Rikard, and Harold that requests one. The Typhoon Destroyers performed incredibly well against a much larger foe, and continually prove themselves in combat. Lt. Cmdr. Jie once again escaped with relatively minor damage from a very hostile situation.
We did have at one point a pilot from the LWB join our flight group, showing our Rheinland allies support our cause. I believe a coordinated effort of the Coalition and the Rheinland Revolutionaries would be in order. Perhaps some meetings could be set up with the leaders of these respective factions in the interest of coordinated objectives.
Commander Alexi Karchov - Gold 2 Message Send...
...
End
Quickly after the Rheinland mission, Capital Fleet Command passed word down that a highly-prized Capital Armor Upgrade Mark 8 was reported accessible near Freeport 9. This, as we all know, could mean the difference in a fleet engagement between destruction and victory, and a perfect opportunity to liberate this equipment was found by our spies on the Zoner installation.
The Lenin came back from Rheinland less damaged than was previously thought, and after a quick check-out by the techs at Mikolaiv, the two destroyers and my Insurgent rendezvoused at Zhukovsky for a mission to the Omicrons.
CPW-Genghis Khan, CPW-Vladimir Lenin, and myself in an Insurgent made haste to Omicron Theta, where the target ship was spotted. With secrecy being a high priority in this mission, the Lenin engaged its cloak in case it was needed, and as I flew Combat Space Patrol, the Marines aboard the Khan moved to secure the equipment aboard a BHG vessel pictured below.
The mission was a complete success, and as the BHG vessel scuttled back to the Freeport to lick it's wounds, the two Typhoons and myself made a quick trip back to Coalition space. With the destroyers headed for Sevestopol for refuel, I made my way to Zvozdny to check on Mirielle's condition and enjoy some R&R at Kalishikov's.
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