Comrades, today was a productive day. I boarded the Saratov to take command for a patrol of the Dublin system, followed by anti-smuggling operations in the Coronado system.
First, though, we took the oppotunity to show the flag at the Zoner bases in the Omega-49 and Omega-50 systems. I took guncam shots of each stop.
After our diplomatic duty was complete, we moved on to the Dublin system. To my surprise, it was relatively quiet. I did manage to rid the universe of a number of Corsair patrols along the way, so the trip to Dublin wasn't entirely wasted. After making sure Dublin was quiet, we moved on to the Coronado system.
Coronado, as you know, is one of the main highways for the Outcast's slaving and cardamine circuit, and today proved to be no disappointment. On our first run towards the Baffin jump hole, we encountered a trader named Tas_Delta in a Bactrian-class freighter. Knowing the ship to be a favorite among small-time smugglers and pirates and finding his lack of an IFF beacon suspicious, we moved to intercept. Sure enough, he was carrying a full load of cardamine. The following exchange ensued.
CPW Saratov Communications Log Wrote:[07.06.2010 23:16:52] SCRA|CPW-Saratov:: Hold for inspection, please.
[07.06.2010 23:17:17] SCRA|CPW-Saratov:: The cardamine has to go.
[07.06.2010 23:18:55] SCRA|CPW-Saratov:: Drop the Cardamine, and you'll be free to leave.
[07.06.2010 23:18:59] Tas_Delta: Communications error:)
[07.06.2010 23:19:03] SCRA|CPW-Saratov:: Resist, and you'll regret it.
[07.06.2010 23:19:34] SCRA|CPW-Saratov:: Good boy. Run along now.
After I called for him to halt, he immediately tried to outrun us. We managed to get close enough to hit him with a cruise disruptor, bringing the chase to a halt. After that, he claimed a communications error, so we reverted to the Sirius Universal Language. After we fired our first salvo, he immediately dropped the Cardamine, which we promptly burned. He went on his way, and we resumed our patrol.
The rest of our patrol was pretty routine. We encountered only one other ship, but it was a passenger transport, so we cleared him to proceed. After picking up nothing further after several more loops, we set course for home. We returned to Omega-52 without any trouble.
In addition to the above report, we also captured the following items. We delivered them all to the authorities on Mykolaiv Research Station. Personnel
9 Bounty Hunters
25 Corsairs
2 Lane Hackers
10 Liberty Rogues
10 Outcasts
Materiel
5 x Corsair "Salamanca Mk II" Class 9 Neutron Cannon
2 x Corsair "Angelito Mk III" Class 7 Neutron Cannon
3 x Bounty Hunter "Winchester Mk I" Class 5 Laser Cannon
120,000 Alliance Credits on transfer cards
I certify the above report complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge.
![[Image: pyBjInU.png]](https://i.imgur.com/pyBjInU.png)