My patrol began with a quick transfer from my transport, the Eisenkreuz, to my fighter aboard the RNC Strausburg. I was called in by Herr Flieger Hans Putzkammer in order to investigate an odd case of what seemed like a civilian female calling for help.. because of the military. Two Hessians were in the system at the time, and immediately moved to "support" this person. Putzkammer and I intercepted the ship, a small freighter with no IFF tags and a freelancer ID, in the asteroid field outside Bonn Station, but found that the freighter was already flanked by the two Hessians. This person then proceeded to divulge some nonsense story about how they were "a military officer incarcerated at Vierlande and escaping from Rheinland", but the only thing Herr Putzkammer could substantiate was that she was a fugitive, and we duly made our objective known to them. However, a fourth Hessian appeared, and the situation rapidly became untenable, so Herr Putzkammer began to order a withdrawal.
In the middle of this withdrawal, I was contacted by a Commander Austin Goodmen of the Bretonian Armed Forces. He was requesting the attention of the ranking Rheinland officer, immediately as it were, and Putzkammer made no objection to my continued communication with him. Goodmen had apparently sighted several Wilde in Omega 3, and as such, Putzkammer set course for that system with all due haste. The Wilde then moved to Omega 7 and seemingly disappeared, right before we arrived on station. Putzkammer and I continued on to Omega 3 just as Goodmen informed me that they had been spotted in Cambridge. Seeing as how that space was hardly under our jurisdiction, we arranged it so that our flight would guard the Omega 3 jumphole, in case they retreated back through it. We waited there for a good 10 minutes, to no avail.
That was until, of course, a Nomad Morph appeared through the ice field and skirted our formation, flying straight into the jump hole before we could react. Shortly after informing the Bretonians of this new development, they advised that we join them immediately in the Dublin system: the Wilde, several Nomads, and the "Joker" all appeared there in short order. So, under the auspices of Lord Admiral Nelles, Herr Putzkammer and I entered Bretonian space.
The situation in Dublin was already on edge when we arrived. Two fleets were staring each other down, composed of Joker's gunboat, a Wilde gunboat, and a whole host of fighters of all shapes and sizes, Nomads included. Our arrival essentially heralded the opening of hostilities, and the furball began. During the course of it, several squadrons of BAF and corsair fighters joined in, along with a mercenary or two. Almost all of them were destroyed in the battle; Nomad cannons and Joker's ship were plowing through the swarms like knives. Two cruisers, one Bretonian and one Rheinland I believe, appeared for a short period, but were attacked from the moment they showed up, and I know for certain the Bretonian ship was destroyed.
After slowly whittling down their fighters, all the Nomads and Wilde were destroyed, for the loss of a good number of Bretonian vessels; Putzkammer and I both survived. However, a Molly destroyer appeared before we could destroy the Joker's gunship, and it provided him with nanobot and battery assistance, prolonging the fight. Nevertheless, both ships eventually fell to our hail of guns, along with the contribution of a single Bretonian bomber. Herr Putzkammer and I both survived the engagement.
All in all, what would have been a skirmish with a handful of Hessians turned into an all out engagement in the middle of Bretonian space against the Wilde and their Nomad allies. Quite the patrol.
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