LAWFUL CONTRACTS - RHEINLAND - Rheinland Military Bounty Coordination Office

[Adam_Spire]

[--- Incoming transmission---]
[--- System ID: Frankfurt ---]



This has been one hell of a night.

We received a message from a transport that stated they saw a ship with the name Rip.Red.Rorry and a Corsair IFF. We'€™ve been told he badly damaged Captain'€™s Owens Gunboat and he had heavier armor than we did. We weren'€™t going to take any chances. We contacted the RNC_Victoria_Luise to assist us. She was a Destroyer class vessel and her Captain was more than willing to lend a hand. We waited at the station, mid-way in Frankfurt when a Kruger transport communicated they were under attack and the RNC_Victoria_Luise was still on route. We had to engage.

Rip didn'€™t seem to want to attack the transport but rather draw us out. At range we tried to disable the shields before we began a frontal attack. Those Rheinland missiles did come in handy then. I was taken back by the shear tenacity of this chap, he was playing for keeps. When the RNC_Victoria_Luise arrived, taking no chances, we asked for assistance. We finally had the support from the RNC_Victoria_Luise and eventually we were able to take him out. The Captain of the RNC_Victoria_Luise thanked me and we docked back in Munich.

-----Rip.Red.Rorry dethroned-----

What struck me was my communications officer lost contact with the RNC_Victoria_Luise shortly after it entered Sigma 13. Normally, I would have believed it was the nebula that blocked the communications signals, but it wasn'€™t. All transmissions were being deliberately scrambled and my tactical officer concluded that the RNC_Victoria_Luise had run into an ambush. By the time we got to Sigma 13 the RNC_Victoria_Luise main reactor went critical and she was barely running on life support. What we found was unbelievable.

Three Reaver Mercenary bombers in a formation attacking a Rheinland Capital ship. I honestly didn'€™t think they would go that far. I ordered the navigation to get us the hell out of Sigma 13. The problem was, there were three Mercinaries that were headed towards Rheinland space, and we were the only ship even close. I sounded the alert status and we waited at the gate. The moment they started coming through we stated out intentions to blow them to hell and back and opened fire.

In all my days of running patrols in Britionia, I have never been in such a predicament. I'€™ll be honest, I didn'€™t expect to survive. I was hoping the border station would provide a partial defense while we keyed in on the bombers, but we, and the Mercs were in for one hell of a surprise. Two Rheinland Battleships cruised in and with their escorts opened fire. This was the break we needed. We managed to take out one of the bombers and tried to circle back and take out the other two. They were getting smart. They stayed in a loose formation and kept behind us and forced us to attack them in open space away from the protection of the Battleships. The Rheinland fighter escorts were doing a real number on them, but they were being taking out one by one. We couldn'€™t play it safe much longer.

We were out of repair robots and batteries and if not for a passing Kruger transport, who'€™s ID we will not say for their safety, we would have been finished. They supplied us with enough repair bots and bats to keep fighting on. My tactical officer found out why the battle was so hard pressed. Silver:Reaver was one of their ace bomber pilots and was deadly with his SNAC launcher. I commanded my tactical officer to return turret control back to the crews and ordered the helm to maintain a straight course. The bombers were far too agile to sit and spin, but our turrets could out turn them. The plan worked. Silver:Reaver was, most likely, expecting us to not change tactics and at the last moment, we got him with a full spread of missiles. Malachite.Reaver was the last one. He seemed less of a veteran pilot but again, we took no chances. We fired a combination of disruptor and interceptor missiles at him which caused him to panic. He did the best thing he could in his situation and used the near-by jump gate as a barrier between the missiles and him. It worked but I did something he didn'€™t expect and flew right down the throat of the Jump gate and flushed him out. After a few turns, he tried several times to evade, but we eventually got him. Everyone on the bridge cheered and hollered. We had won the battle.

---Cobalt.Reaver dispatched---
---Silver:Reaver destroyed---
---Malachite.Reaver gunned down---

I sat in my chair and contemplated the implications of all this. Mercenaries openly attacking Rheinland war ships was just incomprehensible. Who the hell would be paying them so much to attack a military force? Our victory was bitter sweet. We got a report from a trade ship in New Berlin that they were witnessing an attack on a Rheinland pilot by none other than Reaver pilots. We never made it in time. The remaining Reaver forces spread out between New Berlin and Frankfurt and we lost communication with the transport giving us the information. They most likely were heading the other way and I don'€™t blame them. We didn'€™t engage the remaining Reaver forces and they were trying to goad us into attacking. We barely made it through a fight with three bombers and a hell of a lot of help, we wouldn'€™t have made it against four unknown Reaver ships. We were able to encourage one Interspace Commerce transport to return his Military Vehicles to Munich without opening fire. There was enough bloodshed for one day. We finally landed in Frankfurt and made repairs and I'€™m trying to relaxed with my cup of hard tea, but I'€™m left feeling very concerned.

Killed:
3 Bombers
1 Gunboat

Rheinland, I'€™m officially requesting that the Reaver mercenary group be considered extremely hostile to all of Rheinland and that Rheinland do something about this. Kruger and Republican transports have come under fire from members of the Reaver Merc group as well. This has gone beyond mere pay offs and killing for money. Someone wants Rheinland hurt in a bloody bay way, and I think things are going to get worse. We'€™re standing with you till the end. Just help us keep that end from coming too soon.

Captain Torin Marshal, Freelancer Gunboat Vindicator signing off.

[--- transmission disconnected ---]

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Sometimes, when all you want is to gain your freedom, you must be willing to risk it all.