October 24th 3301 – Jura, Arissa-Lavigny Duval controlled space

Federal undermining ops had been underway for three days and the wreckage of Imperial supply ships were piling up dangerously fast. So fast that early predictions were betting on large scale turmoil within the Empire. A situation that would jeopardize its attempt at broadening its political influence in what is now satirically referred to as “AF Preparis”, the latest Hudson-Lavigny arm wrestle estimated to have cost over six billion credits to both parties.

Donald Cooper, RNN military correspondent had been following the adventures of a fully equipped squadron of Anaconda war-rigs, hopping from one ship to another and witnessing the daily doings of the crew members. The FNS Tenhunter had broken formation and stationed itself in the shadow of Jura 5, alone and safe from detection while most ship personnel were taking a well-deserved night break.

It was 6 AM, Rhea time, when Cooper climbed to the bridge, freshly awaken, to meet the petty officer of the watch who was about to finish his shift. Everything had turned cold and quiet as the ship had engaged its “silent running” protocol in which the main engines and non-essential modules are fully disengaged while heat vents remain closed; an efficient way of preserving fuel while minimizing thermal signature. Our correspondent could not help but notice the amount of frost that had been building up on the contours of the canopy before inquiring with the officer. When asked what were his thoughts on his duties, the officer laughed. “It’s alright, I know it’s not as sexy as being a fighter pilot, but I fancy those quiet moments. You get to enjoy unusual views while listening to the radio. They’ve got some decent stations down here. I find it very relaxing.”

Pale yellow halos, sliding here and there were adding agitation to the static backdrop of the starry night, indicators of local space traffic. “I run scans to see how many freighters pass by. It’s a good way of measuring how Kamadhenu is responding to our presence. So far they’ve been doing surprisingly well.”

There was only thirty minutes left before the Tenhunter would enter supercruise and begin a series of lethal interventions. Cooper took the opportunity to witness sunrise before joining the crew for breakfast; a breathtaking spectacle as the corona of the star emerged from Jura’s atmosphere, illuminating the room with a warm breath of sunlight. “No CMEs*.” noted the officer. “This is going to be a good day for hunting”

Captain Molyavko, an expert at flying Anacondas, was sitting amongst his peers. Despite the good work his team had been delivering, it seemed like he was battling a grim expression on his face. Indeed, the ship had been running low on food supplies as well as fire support, and the recent observations of the watch combined to shortages in Republican motivation were all worrying signs for the days to come.

“There are hidden benefits to these kind of undertakings” had commented Molyavko when asked about the good things of being a ship captain. “Aside from the regular Navy forces, there are many other political entities within the Federation that contribute hugely to our military capacity. Although we don’t always see eye to eye on things, we’re disciplined enough to keep it on the shelf when it boils down to fighting the Empire.” At which point the captain enthusiastically introduced Cooper to two of his crew mates.

Sean McKenzie, electronics and warfare engineer as well as second in command of the ship, grew up at Mondeh terminal – one of Guy’s many industrial and manufacturing centers. He is now a distinguished member of the Minutemen, one of the most powerful provider of firepower and democracy to the Liberal Federal Party, “and meaningful bar-fights” Mckenzie wished to add. To which the entire mass echoed in laughter.

“He can be a bit of an alcoholic” added captain Molyavko with a desperate yet comical look. “He surely does add colour to our crew however. Minutemen used to be a tad too wild for the Navy back in the days when they were mostly unpledged mercenaries. They did move on to now host one the best engineering schools in the Federation. This very ship was built from their own contractors, and it’s held the line pretty darn well so far. I also owe it to McKenzie. This man knows what he’s doing when it comes to ship electronics and systems management.

Sitting next to him was Alexandra Herman-Cress, also know as Alex-HC, an expert dog-fighter. She was born in a tiny mining colony in the Gemini sector but then moved to 41 Lambda Hydrae where she worked as a local security officer before integrating an anti-piracy task-force. “I got used to hearing news of our colonies getting harassed by Imperials. Honestly, at that point I didn’t care much about politics: for that reason I just stuck to bounty hunting. When the Prismatic Imperium launched operation Majestic tough, it became apparent who was being unreasonable. So I joined the Winters Wolves to help out the best I can.”

Her specialty is dog fighting in Fer-de-Lances and her tallies are among the highest in the Federation. As is often the case with pilots of her kind however, dramatic encounters occur. Following a violent battle opposing her squadron to a wing from Lavigny’s Legion, her ship got blown up. “It’s not the first time, nor the last one. The Tenhunter picked me up soon after I ejected and here I am!” The injuries she endured were superficial but bad enough for the doctor on-board to warrant her a short break from dog-fighting. “I have a black thumb so I’m gonna stick to helping the maintenance crew today while my progenitor cells finish their work.”

The LFP* under the Shadow President has been seeking to promote social integration between individuals from all the different corners of Federal space. Part of the measures included the granting of greater freedoms for vessel captains to choose the crew they wish to fly with and encouraging their regular swapping.

“I used to think that having a good team mostly required spending many months with the same crew members to maximize coordination. Being flexible with the personnel you get to fly with has its own advantages however: operations feel less monotonous, we get to change the working environment in case we end up with people we don’t get along with, and it raises awareness to other ways of thinking, and ultimately, their appreciation. In essence, it promotes efficient team-work nonetheless. Personally, I love it. Meeting new people on a frequent basis is good to strengthen the social ties amongst us. It keeps the morale high.

Later in the afternoon, news broke out of tensions beginning to rise between Hudson and Winters. Anxiety slowly settled on the crew’s faces as Hudson’s involvement in the undermining efforts was becoming progressively ambiguous. Meanwhile, drastic up-scaling of the Emperor’s rate of fortification switched the odds into her favor. By late at night, a military summit had been taking place in which Winters’ own sky-marshal made a plea for full-scale support from the Republican party, at which point it appeared as though it was still overwhelmed by fatigue.

During the nightly meeting preceding sleep break, the captain had to reassure his crew. “We still don’t know if they’ll send us reinforcements, but for now, we need to keep putting pressure.” To which a crew member, exhausted from the long day felt like voicing his concerns: “With all due respect captain, aren’t we doing this for Hudson? Why doesn’t he help us right away?

– I take it the Republicans need some more time to recover. I doubt they would let us down like that. HQ isn’t being specific so let’s stay frosty people.

***

CME: Coronal Mass Ejections.

FNS: Federal Navy ship: Prefix

LFP: Liberal Federal Party