#eranin

[cmdrkamillio]

Approaching Azeban with the sunrise.

[mostly-aimless]

The Icarus, docked at Azeban City, Eranin system.

DISASTER! GD 319 should have just been an inconsequential  jump point on my nav plot to the Ethgreze system. Instead it ended up being the final jump my Type 6 would ever make. GD 319 turned out to be a deadly white dwarf star. It's massive gravitational field pulled me out of supercruise, and the ship began to rapidly overheat. I engaged the Frame Shift Drive to jump free, but this just put more thermal load on my crappy power plant. The hull continued to overheat and started to break up. I was forced to abandon ship.

Fortunately my distress signal was picked up by a System Security vessel. When I made it back to Azeban City, Eranin, the self doubt hit me.  Should I be doing this? Why risk travelling hundreds of light years to trade rare goods? Why not just find a safe, local shuttle run? Are the credits really worth the risk?  

The doubt lasted a full 30 seconds. I contacted the Pilots Federation, paid the 90k credit excess on my ship insurance and took ownership of another Lakon Type 6. Insurance covered the ship but it didn't cover my lost cargo. 100t, including around 50t of rare commodities all gone. 

[3301 02 15]

[swiftdispatch]

Mercenaries Spearhead Incursion

Proving they care little except about who pays the most credits, Swift Dispatch answered a Federal Combat Bond in the Eranin system. The local security forces, comprised of mostly Sidewinders, were quickly nullified once they arrived.

The Federal Dreadnought ship had taken heavy damage, thanks to under-armoured F63 Condors piloted by unexperienced recruits. Most people would have predicted a Federal retreat…

CMDR Glyndwr’s Anaconda exited supercruise, shortly before CMDR Oz in his trademark Eagle. They quickly got to work, taking up a defensive position near the Dreadnought. CMDR Glyndwr had chosen more powerful gimballed beams over turreted weapons. With CMDR Oz working to disrupt any concerted counter-attack on the Anaconda, CMDR Glyndwr was free to focus fire on individual Eranin-aligned fighters. They were unable to repel his sustained, high-powered attacks and soon the tables were turned.

A small number of ships entered the battlezone, trying to bolster the Eranin forces. However, they immeidately drew CMDR Glyndwr’s attention and all tried to flee the scene. A few managed to supercruise away, but most were tracked and destroyed by CMDR Oz’s lightning fast Eagle.

The outcome of this battle has lead to senior officers claiming that the Federation’s policy of mainaining a substantial mercenary budget is validated. However, less-sycophantic commentators have been critical of the Federation’s eagerness to align themselves with unsavoury and criminal individuals and groups; wondering what the people would think of their democratic masters if they weren’t kept in a state of ignorance and knew the reality of their policy.

20/07/3300 — Sandy Humphries, writer and journalist [Eranin Times]