Battleship Ark Royal

CLASS: Dunkirk

CREW: CLASSIFIED

ARMAMENT: CLASSIFIED

Built in 809 AS at Southampton Shipyard, the Ark Royal underwent trials in the New London system for several months before being sent to Newcastle to prevent further Molly raids on the important installations.

With Gallia preparing to enter Newcastle, the Ark Royal ensured that any such advance would be a costly and sluggish attempt. It spent little time in the system after the war's end, however, as it participated in the Bretonian annexation of Canaria several years later.

With the invasion ending in an eventual retreat for the Kingdom, the Ark Royal moved to invade Edinburgh, a former Gallic Royal Navy stronghold in the Taus, and then returned to Leeds. It now acts as a base of operations for patrols heading throughout the remnants of the once industrial heartland of Bretonia.

## Bribes & Missions Offered

* Planetform, Inc.
* Bounty Hunters Guild
* Bretonia Police
* Border World Exports
* BMM

* Bounty Hunters Guild

## News

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.

## Rumors

* It's anybody's guess as to what the Mollys will do now that Leeds belongs to Bretonia again and Kusari's forces are largely back where they belong. Some of them seem to want peace, while others want to go on fighting the Crown. With Gallia right on our doorstep, they had better make up their minds soon. If the Mollys succeed in breaking off from Bretonia, that makes them a small, weak target for Gallia, compared to Bretonia.

* On my first training flight with a batch of greens, we came upon a squad of Gaians. Now Gaians aren't exactly the best pilots, but at least they can fire and maintain formation at the same time. Usually. My brilliant trainees opened fire while outside twice the distance of their weapons range, and were out of juice by the time we closed to range. I think the Gaians must have taken pity on us, because they just dodged for a while then buggered off. I think I heard them laughing on a comm channel. I should have spaced those trainees myself. A long nap in an escape pod is just what these twits need to shape them up.

* War tends to bring a people together despite their political differences. The Mollys responded with patriotism to the Kusari invasion, decreasing their attacks against the Crown and even helping fight the KNF in some skirmishes. The Gaians, though, they seem to have become bolder somehow...like they had something to gain from Kusari invading.

* Our fighters have to cover of a lot of Bowex convoys that get attacked in this system. Between marauding Gallic troops, Outcasts, Mollys and Gaians, the amount of enemies probing the lanes is staggering. The Armed Forces have heavily reinforced the system though, as the next Gallic push is expected to be here.

* My buddy went missing on patrol to the east of Scarborough, some time ago. I guess he's probably dead but it would be good to get his body back to give him a decent burial. Our orders are to not enter the nebula however, and break off any pursuit if criminals flee into the nebula. I don't think I'll ever see him again, dead or alive.

* Bretonia must have some awful luck somehow. Maybe it's some darned Mollys curse or something. All I know is that we've been fighting one enemy or another for so long that none of us know what peace time looks like anymore. It's slowly taking it's toll on our forces.

* As much as I want to give every one of these green recruits a swirlie every night after the squadron finishes in the latrine, it does make me think I'm not wasting my life when one of them manages to make something of himself. One from my first group has just made Ace while on patrol from the Ark Royal. I'm training future Aces but I can't get into combat myself. Isn't that great?

* This job was rip roaring fun for a while. Our pilots tangled regularly with Gaians, Outcasts and Mollys. When Kusari invaded, though, more of our patrol wings were sent to Leeds than those that stayed here. With fewer pilots available, the patrols had to concentrate on the trade lanes instead of deeper open space. Combat patrols in a war zone have a lot higher casualties than those versus pirates. Now, the troops come in to drink and forget, rather than to have a good time.

* We used to have more trouble with the Outcasts in this system, but in the past year or two we haven't seen much of them. There were rumors for a long time that they had a base in the system. Maybe they abandoned it for some reason. I'm not complaining - Outcast raiders are vicious, even more so then Mollys.

* There's a jump hole some way southwest of here, inside the nebula - something a drunk Bounty Hunter let slip once. We're forbidden from entering the nebula, so I don't know where it goes. Ageira says jump holes are unstable, though, and most are hazardous to use. I don't trust those corporate creeps, but I'm not willing to gamble my life on the belief that Ageira is lying.

* We're running regular patrols along the trade lanes to Carlisle and South Shields. Belfast is still off-limits for the time being. Officially, the station is abandoned but everyone knows the Mollys have taken it over. With all the military might in the system, it might not be a bad time to kick those Mollys out of there. I'm sure the BMM would appreciate having their mining installations back, with Leeds lost and all.

* The squadron commander called me into his office and told me I was being promoted. I thought that I finally would get to go to the front and see some real action. The old man has a different idea about promotions apparently. I'm now in charge of training rookies. These recruits get out of the academy barely able to tell port from starboard. Now I get to spend my days teaching them how not to shoot each other in a combat situation and my nights filing reports about their endless stupidity. I wonder if Liberty has the same problem...

* The Mollys and Outcasts make up most of the criminal issues around here. I got a line from The Core recently though, asking to run a few scans through that nebula east of here. Not sure why, but those boys pay well enough, so I might just take that up. The military say there's a bunch of old, unstable minefields in there, but I'm not buying it. The Core wouldn't be interested in old mines.

* I think the Mollys must have another base in the system here, aside from that Belfast station they captured. Those boys have some stones, I'll give them that, but there is no way they could have amassed the force needed to take out the Belfast defenses without a base in the area. It's probably hidden in one of the nebulas in the system.

* Marines, Side Arms, MOX, and Prisoners. That seems like my career now. It could be worse, I guess. At least I don't have to deal with the pirates in the Border Worlds anymore. I've been arguing with my crew about who leaves the bigger mess: Marines or Prisoners. What do you think?

* I'm not permanently stationed here, I just drop by occasionally to confer with the logistics officers about what supplies they need. You'd think that they'd prefer to do it over long distance communications, but the military doesn't always seem to function logically. I don't mind it all that much. A shuttle from Scarborough takes less then a minute with the Ark Royal being where it is.

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