Guild's Private Archives

[Talbott]

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ID: Paramilitary Recruit George "Tex" Austin
Location: Aomori Station, Honshu

Woke up to the sound of the alert alarms and launched into space in response to Outcast fighters in Sigma-13. Ran into a pair of Tridentes on my way to the jump gate and called in the cavalry while I stalled for time. Ended up throwing them 50k in nickels I had stashed in my flight couch. Our bombers chased them into New Tokyo where they became KNF's problem.

We regrouped at the Naha, where an unusually honorable outcast named Kain Legado was challenging Guild pilots to a duel. Being the new guy and all, I had the first go-round. Legado was a slick rattlesnake of a pilot and had a rack of class 10 guns on his Sabre VHF. I held the advantage in maneuverability alone. The duel lasted for 13 nerve-wracking minutes, as we traded blow after blow. Unfortunately I eventually suffered critical thruster damage and drifted into one of my own mines, but I managed to yank the "Happy Rocket Chair" (Kusari-Liberty translations need some work...) handle before my cockpit shattered. I lit my SAR beacon and was scooped up by a passing gas freighter before I froze completely.

Fellow guildsman Sato Sushti engaged the Outcast next, but a sudden spike in ionizing radiation from the nebula blanked his fighter's sensors, and by the time the static cleared the Outcast was gone. Nobody knows if he fled or simply lost his bearings and flew away into the cloud.

I remain impressed by the maneuverability of the Karasu HF, though I still need time to adjust to the Kusarian control layout and finish translating the control labels. I keep reaching for where the trim controls would be on my old Guardian and only turn on the cockpit lights. All things considered I'm pleased with my equipment and training- surviving my first nebula fight with a veteran outcast killer is no mean feat, even if the snake got away.

Pilots involved in this report were myself, Sato Sushti, Kasugai Hatsumi and Mang Arihyoshi.

George Austin out.
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The Austin Clan: George Austin, GMG Paramilitary Ensign; Frank Austin, LPI Recruit Officer