Though we suffered a great loss yesterday, which I regret not being present for, I tried to redeem the Brotherhood somwhat by attacking the traders that frequent our territory and therefore drawing out the SF from their little hole. The first trader, [IND]Tannix.Shipping, I nearly had, but a large drifting rock caused us to screech to a halt from full cruise speed, with the sheilds sustaining integrity depite the impact. My crew and I were catapulted from our workstations, and by the time everyone had recovered, the large train had escaped.
By the time we disengaged the persuit of the first trader, an SF fighter, the Grenthal, had registered on the intergalactic register, and I told him that I was here to kill him, when the Stormcrow wasn't around. He made planetfall before I had a chance to catch him, and waited for swift re-enforcements by the SF bomber, Beta-5. The pilot of the bomber had a very bad aim, and I damaged him badly, as well as downing the Grenthal (2 deaths for the bomber, 3 for the fighter).
In an act of mercy, i spared the bomber the finishing blow. However, I was brutally betrayed when he again attacked after calling in an RM gunboat, the Wasser. Due to the heavily damaged state that Beta-5 was in, I targetted him first, and it wasn't too long before he had his ship taken away from him. The Wasser, once his bomber friend had been dispatched, didn't stand a chance due to it's inferior armament, and was dispatced aswell. (3rd kill of Beta 5, 1 kill of Wasser)
It gets even better. The bounty hunter, Micah Shoultz, decided that it was the perfect time to get hired, and proceeded to attack my ship. On his own, he did nearly as much damage as the gunboat and SF bomber combined. Admittedly, this wasn't much damage, and he was heavily damaged. He decided to surrender, and I sparred him his life. (2 deaths)
Barely a moment passed, and 3 IND fighters, Bettie Page, Sam Asher, and Derek Mandel (The pilot of Tannix.Shipping, no-less) appeared on my scanners, followed up by an Inquisitor, Volkmar. The Mantis was being swarmed, and there was little the crew or I could do about it. The shield went down multiple times, and I was left limping home with barely any hull integrity left (still no deaths for me). However, they werent about to give up.
Our first jump into Omega 5 was hindered by the asteroids, and we knew that we couldn't outrun their agile fighters. However, we tried our best, and succeeded in hacking a hostile trade lane. This trade lane, we docked with, and distruped at almost the same time, and as such, I gained a massive lead on the four hostile targets.
It was about this time that brother neXus registered, and I immediately asked him for help. He said that he was engaged with the business of policeing our home (which I can fully sympathise with) but that he could give me complete directions. His help was invaluable against the IND, who got split up, with Bettie page being the lone persuer. Brother neXus was keeping an eye on the intergalactic register for me while myself and my crew concentrated on flying the severely weakened vessel out of hostile territory.
In Omega 49, inspiration struck me, and I turned around and attacked the lone fighter. Almost immediatly, Bettie began to stall for time, swerving away from my guns. However, this drew the other two IND away from Omega 5, where they were waiting for me. I knew that Bettie had no cruise distruptor, so, my motives accomplished, I moved out and began a long trek around and through the Tau systems, Kusari, and the sigmas. I returned home with my exhausted crew and ship in barely one peice. But we had accomplished havoc in Bretonia, by outsmarting and outgunning all the lawful forces in the area.
The crew of the Mantis have spent an elongated time in the boozers lounge, but are ready for more action and distruption.
The performance of my crew and brother neXus, who has been mentioned too little in this report, cannot be emphasised enough. My crew accomplished near 100% aim and damage control, as well as superior engine management and prompt missile loading times. brother neXus provided invaluable help, and it cannot be stressed enough that my crew and I would have perished under the guns of the IND had he not helped me when he did.
In return for this, brother neXus would like to discuss with admiral Dboy of Blacksquadron to purchase a Ravens Talon, which i fully endorse. I feel that he deserves it completely.
Some pictures from the Black box recorder of the Mantis:
![[Image: th_screen265.jpg]](http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l153/McNeo_2006/screen265.jpg)
![[Image: th_screen266.jpg]](http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l153/McNeo_2006/screen266.jpg)