Magellan appears to have been almost painfully quiet as of late. While my new Caracal performed admirably (EFL are, I'm afraid, yet to deliver on their promise of a fresh Lynx), I was without worthwhile targets against which to test it.
The sole point of interest came in the form of a Firefly-class transport belonging to the Vagrant Raiders, fittingly bearing the transponder VR-Sleep. Unsurprisingly, the captain appeared to be otherwise engaged and was initially unable to respond to my transmissions. It is hardly worth shooting ducks that refuse to so much as dodge, so I simply observed until the ship returned. Sleep's commanding officer, carrying the pseudonym Shade, claims to be employed within the Raider's intelligence community. Consequently, it may be worthwhile prioritizing the ship as a target in future, and I certainly intend to do so should we cross paths again.
Colonel Villiers made an appearance toward the conclusion of my patrol, but I shall leave the relevant matter to him, should he have anything to add.
Maintenance placed a request two days ago that I return my Caracal to Fourchambault for inspection. I am informed that the on-board computer was failing to check in. Regardless, I am pleased to report that the issue has now been rectified, and the ship returned to Agincourt to continue serving. The flight home was blessedly quiet, though observation of the star charts did reveal something of mild interest.
Apparently Lyonnais plays host to a planet bearing the name of our beloved Général. It seems to be an icy chunk of rock with little in the way of redeeming features, and steadily gaining mass by the way of a tremendous volume of air. It goes without saying, of course, that there is little to recommend existence in its immediate proximity to sentient life. Merely a snippet I thought you may find interesting. Is nature not wonderful?
On my return to the frontline, I did come across a fleeting scanner contact bearing the JM| identifier in the Taus. I've not seen the group before, and it may be worthwhile investigating further to determine their intentions. Radar contacts aside, a fly-through of Magellan revealed little in the way of enemy forces and I intend to stage a raid against hostile shipping shortly to take advantage before the window closes.
The raiders appear to be playing at war again. Halfway to my Cougar's cockpit, I received a distress signal from a merchant vessel scheduled to pass through Tau-23. Unfortunately, the merchant was well and truly part of the field by the time my Sevral arrived. To minimize my chances of joining it there, I chose to observe. The Raider force consisted of two vessels, a Raven's Talon fighter and a gunboat consistent with Border World's engineering. Images and scans of both of the above have been attached to this transmission.
Curiously, the gunboat's commanding officer appeared to be the same raider I spoke to in Magellan, the one who insists upon calling himself Shade. Unable to effectively engage his ship in a Sevral, I instead opted to instill a little doubt.
Code:
VR-VGS-Blinded.By.Light: Camille.
GRN|Camille.Gabriel.: A pleasure.
GRN|Camille.Gabriel.: Taking a more /active/ role in intelligence are we, Shade?
VR-VGS-Blinded.By.Light: I suppose you could say that.
GRN|Camille.Gabriel.: And you even bought a friend. Outstanding.
VR-Paddy.Hughs: Ach' don't make me the third wheel in all ae' this
GRN|Camille.Gabriel.: I'm curious. Does he know about our little deal?
VR-VGS-Blinded.By.Light: I don't believe he does.
VR-Paddy.Hughs: Nah but i'd love tae' hear all about it
GRN|Camille.Gabriel.: Oh? Is that so?
It may work. It may not. Should the opportunity arise, I think it would be worthwhile continuing the effort. Perhaps make an effort to target Shade last in group engagements. See to it he escapes, and so forth. I would very much like to see the Raiders tearing their own intelligence division apart looking for a breach.
Two unusual encounters to report, beyond the usual commerce strikes. The first is the matter of a Council pilot by the name of Lillith at the controls of a Tournez. Oubli's scanners placed her in orbit around around Leeds, and I roused my own Caracal to intercept. While systems trouble forced the pair of us to withdraw before the fight took a decisive turn, the presence of a Metal Service ship, particularly a recent model, in the hands of the Council's pilots is unusual.
The second matter concerns an unaffiliated Waran-type bomber flying under the name Grand Rose Petal. The pilot of said vessel was launching torpedoes at a patrolling Valor and giggling as I undocked from Oubli. Questionable sanity aside, the pilot fled when engaged. And continued to flee all the way to the New London jumphole on impulse power. Unwilling to waste any more time on a lunatic, I abandoned the pursuit and returned to Oubli, only to have her return and repeat the entire incident. While the pilot poses little threat in combat, she does possess the ability to be uniquely irritating. Eventually she withdrew.
Commerce raids are continuing without incident, though the damage was limited to a handful of depots this evening.
Sous-Lieutenant Baton and Capitaine Mignard joined me for a patrol in the Taus earlier. While the initial stage of the patrol was quiet, save for Pascal's attempts to taste the nebula, we ran across a Bounty Hunter fighter in the proximity of Java Station in fairly short order. The Hunter was less then co-operative, and Pascal's attempts to down her similarly ineffective. Regrettably, my Caracal met a similar fate. An Outcast and Colonial arrived on the scene shortly thereafter, and Capitaine Mignard was forced to withdraw. At any rate, I believe this serves as an apt opportunity to retrieve my Lynx from EFL, as the Caracal is hardly suited to prolonged combat.
A later patrol alongside Marechal Xavier resulted in the destruction of an, admittedly suicidal, Deep Space Engineering transport departing Leeds. The Captain saw us and, rather then stand down, chose to add another piece of wreckage to Leeds' orbit. If you care to look, you should still be able to make it out from Oubli.
Confirming what the Lieutenant said. More pricks than you can shake a stick at in Tau-23, and it's a bloody waste of manpower defending those Miners. I got saddled with Pascal and Gabriel who were woefully ineffective. I'll be remedying that personally.
That being said, our enemies keep fighting each other. So we if we play it smart Darwinism will reign supreme. Suggest either deploying smart people in Tau-23, or deploying a lot of people. Either approach will work.
Had an interesting run in with a slaver. He was bearing Liberty Rogue IFFs and IDs, so I was cautious. He said the slaves in his hold were simply workers being transported 'beyond Freeport 10'. I inquired about what may be beyond the Freeport and he immediately withdrew his comment. I managed to liberate a single slave by convincing him I was going to talk with him. After I had tractored him in however, he initiated his cloaking device . I opened fire then he went poof. Perhaps next time.
The pursuit involved in chasing him took me to the west side of LD-14. I took a calm trip back only to find a Samura Vessel undocking from Stokes. I asked what he was doing here and he said he was simply exploring after a trade run. A little chit chat about where's a good spot to explore later and he took his leave. Thank goodness.
Partook in combat patrol of Tau-23 system with Grand Marechal Xavier at the lead. Some Outcast contact was made, but was addressed by other flight elements and mercenary forces.
Reposted to Battleship Oubli, launched to participate in combat operations against Bretonian Armed Force fleet operating in New London system. Fire support provided ending with a confirmed kill against a Dunkirk class vessel.
Returned to Battleship Oubli and received scouting reports of Junker's Congress vessels operating in the Manchester system. Move to locate and engage targets resulted in two confirmed kills.
Returning to base via New London transit was intercepted by Bretonian Police Authority vessel and identified Kusari Exile gunboat. Vessels attempted destroy my vessel near Southampton Shipyard through anomoly and along path back to Battleship Oubli. Docked under fire with minimal damage. Post docking conversation included for the amusement of command.
Owing to some unique... Obligations, which I am certain you may discuss with command at your leisure, I am sorry to report that I will be unavailable for duty for the foreseeable future.
Nonetheless, I wish you the best of luck, and you can be certain that I will be watching, regardless.
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