Alex Rowe

[NiCAD]

From that bloody day onward, the Nomad presence only became more severe. Our scanners would be alerted daily to Nomad scouting patrols, and we even were forced to patrol near the jump hole located in the nearby gas cloud, adding huge repair costs to our budget- as if the newfound confidence of the Nomads were not bad enough!

Zoner high command, however, sympathized with us. After I reported our situation, they were not long in dispatching reinforcements. I remember that day, seeing the Silvana and its escort group flying past Freeport nine, ordered on a classified mission deep within Nomad space. It was such a beautiful ship, its graceful curves tempered only by the menacing firepower mounted at strategic intervals along its hull. Commander Dingle, the commander of that juggernaut, was a decorated commander of the Zoner military, his worth proven many times over.

And yet, we received the distress call just two days later. According to command`s various sources, the Silvana had been badly damaged in a joint Guard-Order raid on Omicron Lost. Dingle had managed to escape in to Kappa, but his engines were no longer functioning, and the ship barely had enough power to send a distress call. I had by then been promoted to Colonel, and as such had the right to command my own Destroyer. With this destroyer, a contingent of ten eagles, and one hired corsair Praetorian, I was charged with the successful recovery of the Silvana, or, failing that, its destruction to prevent capture.


Translator`s Note: It is curious that Rowe failed to mention his promotion to destroyer captain prior to this writing . . . Perhaps in the face of greater things, he forgot about it- but is that not a tribute to the magnificence of the ship he then commanded? Even human engineering can be marveled at in such remarkable cases as that of the Silvana. I once saw that vessel, and it was indeed a marvel. The humans combined the best of Zoner firepower and an almost Nomad-level beauty to create the Juggernaut . . . But it was still more beautiful under Rowe`s command, as you will soon see.