Battleship Harlow

CLASS: Dunkirk

CREW: CLASSIFIED

ARMAMENT: CLASSIFIED

Having served primarily as a training center for recruits and officers alike, with parts of the fighter bays converted to a specialized facility for simulating combat situations.

After an assault on a hostile installation in the Newcastle system, it was relocated to Cortez, where it helped crush the Gallic Royal Navy's hopes at cutting off commerce between Bretonia and Liberty. Following the action off Curacao, it headed for New London and gave battle to the remnants of the Royal Navy, chasing them into the Leeds system together with the rest of the Armed Forces and Liberty Navy.

With the war over, the Harlow enjoyed a quiet deployment in Newcastle, continuing its service as a training center until 832 AS, when a process of mothballing was initiated due the constraints of maintaining a large active fleet in peace time and the relative safety of Newcastle.

## News

Jane Gilliam, whose commendation for repelling a Corsair raiding party as an Armed Forces Captain featured in a CNS article in 800, was not so convinced. "We all knew even back then that The Line wasn't fit for purpose. The Heilbronn disaster should have seen it scrapped, but the Regents on Cambridge didn't want New London looking too closely and pressured the Norfolk to lobby to keep it. If William was still with us, he'd say the same."
The exact catalyst for the extra attention from the edge world pirates is unclear, with various commentators speculating on increased resistance to their operations in Rheinland, Hessian efforts in the deep Omegas, or a shift in their internal politics. Regardless of their true motivations, Interspace Commerce has recognised the elevated peril and adjusted its premiums in response.

While this troubling trend is observed throughout the Sirius colonies, Liberty is bearing the brunt of the crisis among the four major Houses. Remarkably, even Rheinland, where historical data indicated low Cardamine consumption, has witnessed a notable rise in medical cases linked to the illicit narcotic. Experts postulate that the extensive black market responsible for Cardamine distribution might be facing a shortage, or worse, that Outcast factions deliberately curtail the supply to bolster demand. Regrettably, no law enforcement agency has been available for comment on these concerns.
The long-standing debate over Cardamine's controversial nature, juxtaposing its euphoric and purported medicinal qualities with the genetic alterations it inflicts upon long-term users, continues to echo. A key point of contention revolves around the plight of innocent consumers caught in this crisis. Yet, according to independent polls, a substantial majority of our viewers maintains that the substance must remain banned.
In response to this escalating crisis, Cryer Pharmaceuticals has announced a forthcoming press conference. During the event, the company intends to unveil plans for an expanded production of Stabiline, their touted "wonder drug". This announcement promises affordable access to Stabiline for all patients grappling with Cardamine withdrawal, sparking a remarkable 15%% surge in Cryer Pharmaceuticals' stock following the revelation.

Ageira disputed this finding in their own press release, calling EFL 'fantasists' and countering that their own scientists had narrowed the cause to a rare 'hypernova' stellar event that originated outside the Sirius sector. Both corporations claim that network-wide hardware safeguards have been implemented that would prevent a similar occurrence in the future. Independent researchers have sharply criticized the corporate announcements, accusing both of self-interested misdirection.
Professor Sophia Nagel from Heisenberg Research Station called EFL's accusation 'incoherent' and the hypernova explanation 'nonsense' that did not explain the characteristics of the 'Blackout Pulse'. Despite multiple different Pulse recordings being widely disseminated across the neural net, public efforts have so far failed to triangulate its source.

With the end of the war and Bretonia's withdrawal from Planet Gran Canaria, Poole's prominence waned. The cost of policing the system and maintaining infrastructure has significantly outweighed collected tax revenue in recent years, with Planetform's Terraforming Gas operations reporting disappointing year on year returns.DSE has already confirmed that it will begin deconstruction operations shortly, with the dismantling of the Cambridge jump gate expected to be completed by 833 AS.

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Planetform has confirmed its intention to withdraw prior to this point, while settling shareholder anxiety with the announcement of promising preliminary findings for a replacement site in Newcastle.

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While Bretonia is indeed witnessing an extraordinarily high rate of economic growth in particular, it may be the case that the strain of this effort is becoming untenable, and potentially the rewards misplaced. Timothy Ball, of the independent think tank Economic Review Institute, believes this may indeed be the case. "Bretonia's economy is definitely on the rise. While still not at pre-war levels, and not expected to be for some years, the recovery we've witnessed so far has been uneven", he says. "The reconstruction of damaged and destroyed public infrastructure is underway, but seems to be lagging behind the rate of recovery being enjoyed by several major corporations. This can be explained by various factors for a time, but unless rectified, at some point this inequality could become a major point of domestic political contention."

Yesterday at 2200 hours SMT, nearby Sheffield Station and Kingston Border Station received automated distress signals from Liverpool, indicating an emergency aboard the station. Guild patrols redirected from Sheffield arrived on the scene within minutes, finding the border station destroyed. Search and rescue operations headed by Guild and BPA units commenced immediately and successfully salvaged several escape pods bearing several dozen survivors, who were immediately delivered to hospitals on New London.
BPA spokesperson Sandra Halling held a press conference earlier this morning. According to joint police and BIS investigations, Liverpool was destroyed by antimatter explosives planted aboard the station. Their detonation caused a catastrophic chain reaction, resulting in the station's own reactors melting down and exploding. Of the estimated one-hundred-twenty persons on board at the time of the attack, seventy-eight have been reported as dead or missing.
\So far, no party has taken credit for this heinous attack. However, Bretonian police surmises that it was likely perpetrated by either the criminals known as the Mollys or the infamous pirate organization, the Lane Hackers. The attack occurred following a significant redeployment of local Armed Forces units to the Cortez system for the purpose of joint operations with Libertonian security forces. This, says Halling, may have allowed terrorist sympathizers to exploit undermanned BPA patrols and smuggle illegal explosives through Manchester's ice fields, onto Liverpool Station.
While investigations continue, Bretonian Police Authority has reinforced patrols within Manchester and established traffic controls at Kingston Border Station and Birmingham Station. Traffic to and from Liberty has been advised to reroute through the Cortez system.

## Rumors

* I hear the Delta training flight had itself a little accident. Seems one of the recruits got the roll and strafe controls confused and rolled himself straight into an asteroid. Naturally, the training craft are built to withstand these mishaps, but the thing had to be towed back... minus one engine. That'll be a good one for the engineering deck.

* I rotated in just yesterday for space fighter training. Unfortunately, there's no craft available for me to train in. One of the other rookies smashed the Paladin I was supposed to be using against an asteroid, and it'll take a while before the engineers will get it spaceworthy again. So I'm on temporary leave I suppose.

* I can't wait to get to the front. This is our home we're defending. Our families. Who the hell do these wineguzzlers think they are to invade us like this? We'd never even heared of Gallia until that idiot king of theirs sent his fleet our way. Barmy madman, that one.

* Training greens. Of all the jobs I get assigned this one. Suppose that teaches one to not outperform ones commanding officer if said commanding officer is a poor sport. So he's out there, trying to take out half the Gauls I would have, and I'm stuck here, trying to teach a few greens to not get taken out. For queen and country...

* Welcome to the Harlow. First time here? You're likely one of the new recruits then. Don't worry, you'll likely get your assignment soon. This, after all, isn't a time to be slacking. Southampton and the New London factories are running full tilt to make sure there's enough crafts for everyone, it's up to us to make sure there are enough pilots to fill them. And that'll likely include you.

* I may dislike this assignment, but that doesn't mean I won't do my duty to the best of my ability. There'll not be a single recruit leaving my watch if he's not at least able to give those Gaul fighters a good whatfor. Most recruiters don't bother to check what a pilot is suitable for, but I do. You've got folks with quicker reaction times who are more suitable for interceptor duty. You've got the intermediate folk who tend to stick with the mainline fighters. And you've got the tenacious folk who are suitable for the Challengers. Bomber crews are a different breed alltogether, I don't often find folk suitable for that in my groups. Flying with a few megatons worth of antimatter in your hold tends to require a lack of sanity I do not seek in the chaps I select.

* It is a busy schedule here on the Harlow. We've never had this many new recruits. It's good to see Bretonians rise to the challenge these Gauls have thrown, but it's a bit of a job to make sure that everyone has the necessary skill to do so. Putting your average John behind the controls of a Crusader leaves them with little to no chance against anything more than the odd scout.

* Some recruits are just not cut out for this. I get tons of transport pilots who are used to flying in a straight line and think that qualifies as fighter experience. One run down the Verwood is usually enough to seperate the men from the boys. Even if it tends to bang up the training craft, and creates impromptu "equipment recovery" exercises.

* As far as runs to warships go, this one isn't the hardest, so long as you don't mind having to deal with a ton of military patrols making sure you're not a Gallic spy or something of the sorts. I've been scanned so many times that I might just skip on my next medical examination. If there was anything wrong with me, I'm sure our diligent military would have found out by now.

* I've received my next assignment just now. I'm to deliver a damaged engine to Southampton for repairs. The thing is, when I asked the chaps who gave me the assignment which bay it was in, they told me "it was still being looked for". Whatever could they be on to? Are those army chaps playing a joke on me?

*NOTE: Page generated on the 28/10/2023 at 17:59:45 UTC*