SCRA Communications Centre

[Lanakov]

Transmission inbound.
Sender ID : Nitchiev Lanakov
Ship ID : CPW-Udaloy

Zdrastveetie, comrades.


I come to you on behalf of Commissar Captain's Katz new orders concerning the Hispania Challenge.
I decided to take it as an opportunity to try out the Udaloy, a Storm-Class gunboat that I have recently been granted by the Commissariat. Now, I have been told by recon specialists that it wasn't the most suited ship type for such an operation, but that was my point : see it handles itself in extremely hostile situations.

I took command of the ship while its armament was just being optimized. Lauching from Mikolaiv with a limited crew, I headed for the first step on the path of my glorious ancestors.

The journey proved to be quiet. The Storm seems fitted for deep space sneaking operation, as my presence was not even acknowledged by the self-proclaimed authorities on my way, particularly in Bretonia.
Entering the Taus proved to be an easy task, but the horizon was soon to darken : The Long Range Sensors of the Udaloy indicated a massive power signature in the Tau 37 system. Most likely the garrison defending access to Omicron Alpha, my final destination.

As I met a wing of Colonial Republic fighters and bombers alike, I hailed them and warned them of the rampant threat. Being sympathetic to our interdiction of drugs traffic and slavery, the Colonials decided to proceed to a clean sweep of Tau 37, creating a distraction that effectively allowed me to penetrate the Outcasts' Homeworld.


Things began to heat up the very second I passed the Jump Hole.
A dreadnought, a destroyer and an escort fighter were sitting five klicks away from me.
I immediately engaged cruise engines in the hope of putting as much as distance between I and them before they could acknowledged my presence.
Moments after came the feared battlecry in the system communications link.
" INTRUDER ! TURN THAT COMMIE INTO SPACE DUST !"

Obviously, the locals were not ready to understand the reason of my visit.
I ended up with the destroyer on my back, not willing to give up.
First, I tried to test his courage and headed into the Edge Nebula, that they call "Malvadas Cloud", if my memory serves me well.
Seeing as the enemy captain didn't feel impressed nor scared by the cloud, I took the opportunity of a nearby jump hole and left the area.

I emerged into a very dark, radiation-filled nebula, and was immediately welcomed by gunfire. I escaped it, and once back in open space, felt relieved to see that my chaser had given up. I ordered the crew to switch off all but the detection subsystems, to minimize our power signature, then called for a quick briefing.

Minutes later, we headed back to Omicron Alpha, and quickly arrived to the Hispania, final goal of our expedition. I remained undetected until I saw our newest recruit, Sergey Litvenko, move towards me at full speed, being chased by the destroyer I had to flee from myself.

Having had largely enough time to accomplish the Rite of Passage, I decided to let the rookie escape unharmed by distracting the destroyer, to buy him some time.
After a few minutes of this chase, I headed back to Tau 37. Everything went fine, when a Storta Battleship started to interfere. Luckily, I managed to use the No Fire Zone of the local Freeport, which was guarded by two OSI zoners, to escape my assailants.


Then, the return trip proved to be just as peaceful as the way in. The Udaloy suffered little damage and I'm told it is already back to optimal status.

A fine vessel indeed.


Dasvidania, my comrades.

End of the report.

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If everyone was a bit more like Lanakov, the entire world would be more positive. Including pregnancy tests.