Retreat from LTT 1935
12 Nov 2020Seth Bradwell
November 11, 21:00 GMT, the Strength of PurposeThe Empire has all but admitted defeat in the LTT 1935 system. I was on the Strength of Purpose cashing in the bonds from another battle when I saw the latest status update - The Federal forces are too strong and too numerous. However the few who still fight for Her Majesty are still capable of scoring minor victories. I myself helped to force a Farragut-class capital ship to retreat by taking out their heat relays a few hours ago, it took all my shield cells and my hull barely held up the the time I got back to base, and we still lost the overall battle, but it was still an extra 500,000 credit bonus for routing the capital ship, which will make a small dent in the Federal military's coffers if nothing else. My greatest achievement to date was taking on the Spec Ops and winning, turning the tide of a battle which seemed hopeless. After I sent the Alpha ship's powerplant into meltdown Federal ships were cut down left, right and centre, and it was they who retreated, we outgunned them so much that I kept on fighting even with hull strength at a perilously low 14%, joining in the dogpile until victory was secured.
However these victories pale into insignificance when compared to the overall outcome of this war. The Federation managed to muster far more pilots to their cause and major media outlets continue to demonise the Empire as the aggressors whilst overlooking the Federation's role in harbouring terrorists. The Lave situation I mentioned in my previous log has been brought to a somewhat satisfactory conclusion when the Lavian government issued an edict calling for the rapid arrest and punishment of vigilantes who target Imperial citizens. The Imperial ambassador to Lave was also interviewed by Lave Radio and allowed to inform the audience of the Imperial perspective regarding the war. However tensions remain high, even if this had meant the end of the "Brandy Parties". We have been informed to get ready to withdraw tomorrow morning after receiving our rewards for the contribution we made. A bittersweet ending to this adventure for me. The fact of the matter is that too few pilots bothered to rally to the Imperial cause even without being put off by the anti-Imperial biases of GalNet, Lave Radio et al, and even more unforgivable was those turncoats who signed up for the rewards but then switched to the Federation in order to gain the rewards from them, and no one stopped them. Since the late 33rd century it's not uncommon for pilots to take work for the auxiliary forces of both navies, something that would result in you being shunned by both sides not 100 years previously. Even I have done work for Federal factions in order to get a permit for Sol, the cradle of all humanity as acknowledged by even the most fervent opponent of the Federation. Yet taking both sides in a war to satisfy your own greed is one step too far for me, and it made me realise how the galaxy is truly dominated by soldiers of fortune, who will be fighting in your wing one day and then trying to blast you into the Void the very next. Needless to say I will readily dispense Traitor's Justice to any "Imperial" who I find to be moonlighting for the Federation in such an important battle, and what's more my attitude would be the same if I was fighting for the other side. The Federal faction in this war now considers me hostile, a badge I wear with pride as I keep taking out their pilots. Only a few more battles to fight, and I will have passed 10m total earned in combat bonds, a nice round number to conclude this campaign with.
November 12, 03:00
I dock at the Strength of Purpose for the last time as I cash in my combat bonds to send me over 10 million credits, and also send me into the top 10 percent of contributors to this war. I am exhausted, and I can't stop seeing the flashes of laser fire in my brain. Several times tonight I had to retreat as we were hopelessly outnumbered, trying desperately to draw fire off from fellow pilots who were getting relentlessly dogpiled by the Federal forces. I did managed to regain my composure later on and take down another spec ops wing, resulting in another small victory for us, but I had long since given up on overall victory and concentrated on my position on the leaderboard. Confident I had done enough, I turn in for the night, glad that this is finally over, and looking forward to concerning myself with more mundane issues.
12:30, Hanger 33, Scott Dock, Duwaredari
I collected my 20m credit reward this morning, I will be notified of my rank promotions later on. With no other reason to be hanging around in a system where the ruling faction have issued a kill on sight order for me I head for the nearest Imperial system to rest. I don't really feel like doing very much but sleep right now as I start to come down from the Imperial Navy-issue Performance Enhancers. I flick through GalNet to read the report of the Federation's victory, yet again, rubbing accusations of aggression right in the Empire's face, but at least the L.Y.S Corp was allowed its say, stating that this is a huge setback for the fight against the NMLA. The Alliance also wants help with expanding into the Coal Sack Nebula, both in terms of supplying raw materials and fighting Thargoids. Not interested in poking that bug's nest, certainly not bothered with slogging materials across thousands of light years just to give the Thargoids ever more of an excuse to declare all out war on humanity, and even if I hadn't sold my rudimentary AX ship a few months back, it will take many days to get access to the Guardian tech that is necessary for dealing with all but the smallest of Thargoid scouts.
However one news item does catch my attention. Hadrian Duval is actively seeking reintegration with the Empire, as I speculated eight days ago. Indeed I have read further into Nova Imperium since the death of Kaeso Mordanticus at Denton Patreus' hands just under two years previously. Whilst I still feel their isolationist approach is a recipe for disaster when it comes to dealing with Thargoid aggression, which was only halted through the cooperation of the militaries of all the main superpowers (dubious ethics of INRA and the Club notwithstanding), Hadrian does not seem like an unreasonable man, and Nova Imperium's proposals for the Empire seem far less reactionary than Emperor's Dawn before them were, and like me they distinguish between hunting down the NMLA terrorists so they may face justice and needlessly persecuting the peaceful majority of Marlinists. Maybe Hadrian and Aisling have far more in common than I first thought? The Emperor (bask in her glory) has for now declined to comment, yet it must be obvious there is a huge Patreus-shaped cloud looming over her, and should the beloved Senator go rouge, Arissa will need all the allies she can get. This war was an embarrassment to the Empire, and Patreus, as Admiral of the Fleet, owns a degree of responsibility for this mess, and he could try and worm his way out of it by issuing a challenge to ALD's authority, exploiting this setback to further his own schemes. Then of course Arissa has the authority as Emperor to dismiss him from his role, although that could have the not totally negative side effect of causing him to completely turn against her and relaunch his bid for the throne, exposing him for the scheming traitor to the Empire I have long suspected him to be. Interesting times lie ahead for the Empire, that's for certain.