Europa news: War breaks out in Alexandria

[cmdrsaman]

We’re sorry, dear readers, but we’ve lost contact with our correspondents in Alexandria. While waiting for further news to arrive from the system, we’ve made a quick compilation of the day’s events so far for those who have just now logged on to the neural net to read the latest news. (You can read the previous reports here.)

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Shortly before the Europan forces arrived at the Omicron Theta jumphole in the Alexandria system, where the combined forces of the BAF and the Liberty Navy were fighting the Outcasts, Admiral Sikorsky of the Europa Navy made a formal announcement at the summit on planet Ptolemy.

“My fellow Europans, and all the good people in the other colonies: I have an announcement to make. Our two so-called allies, Liberty and Bretonia, have re-entered Alexandria, not long after the Queen's admiral gave her word that they wouldn't be re-entering our territory while the negotiations about our independence are in progress." Here, the Admiral went off on a tangent about the past between the three Houses, how they've turned from helping Europa defend herself against the aliens at the beginning of the century to their refusal to help now, and so on.
"...As you can see, they were lying even now. They say that they are technically not in Europan space, and that they’re here to “help us". If they want to base their violation of our territory on legal technicalities, then I have this to announce: the Admiralty Board has decided to extend the Europa Navy’s presence to the central parts of Alexandria, which we claim as our own. We do this in agreement with the Outcasts who live on the twin planets there: they have agreed to sharing the space around Darius and Achaean, and that they will, from now on, uphold the laws of Europa.”
“In response to the military action undertaken in our system, we demand that the military forces of Liberty and Bretonia disengage from combat and withdraw from Alexandria immediately. The Maltese Council has agreed in writing that they won’t pursue the attackers if they will retreat, and we will combat any Outcast vessels that would break the agreement and do so. However, any further military actions in Europan space will be deemed an act of war. Our fleets in the area are authorised to respond to any such provocations with deadly force.”

Soon after the announcement was made, the first Europan ships arrived at the Theta jumphole, and repeatedly demanded that both sides stand down from combat, and the naval forces of Liberty and Bretonia withdraw from Alexandria. The highest-ranking officer of the BAF present in the battle, Colonel Lawson, responded that their orders were to suppress the Outcasts, and they will only act against that if they receive new orders from their superiors. In response, the Europa Navy repeated their demand one more time. However, while they were doing so, a squadron of Liberty fighters, led by a certain Sergeant Jenkins, broke away from the battle and engaged two Typhoon ships belonging to the Europol which flew within four kilometers of where the fight with the Outcasts took place. Events escalated rapidly from there, as despite the warnings, the two police ships were destroyed - which in turn prompted the Europan forces to mobilise their ships and launch an all-out assault.
Some eyewitness accounts say that there was an enormous spike in radio chatter among the Libertonian and Bretonian fighters right after Sergeant Jenkins launched his ill-fated assault. However, since those transmissions were encrypted, and the Sergeant’s ship was vaporised by the Europan counter-attack, nobody yet knows whether he acted in accordance with, or in defiance to his orders.

In any case, Europa has joined the battle around the Theta jumphole, and all three Houses involved have now made announcements that they consider the others side’s actions as an act of war, so the alliance between Europa and her former two allies is now over, and they are at war.

Thus far, there have been no shots exchanged between the Outcasts and the Europa Navy, which leads many people to believe that a formal agreement between the two factions is only a matter of time.
The Order has announced that per their alliance agreement, they will protect their allies from their human enemies as well: this has lead to the organisation being swiftly outlawed in Liberty and Bretonia.
No Monkey or Robot ships were spotted in the vicinity, however, and all inquiries to the two races were met with the same response: they do not wish to get involved in human politics. The Liberty Navy and the Bretonian Armed Forces have announced that from now on, they will treat any vessels flown by the extraterrestrials inside their jurisdiction with extreme suspicion. (We’d like to remind our viewers that there have been no such sightings for two decades.)

However, the human allies of Europa have been outlawed inside both Liberty and Bretonia: a law has been swiftly passed that anyone who is a member of the Europa Navy, the Order, or any groups that are directly aiding these two factions, are considered enemy combatants inside Liberty and enemies of the Queen in Bretonia. Though this is actually the second time the Order has been outlawed in Liberty, analysts generally agree that this law, and especially its third part, was targeted at three semi-autonomous organisations, namely the Marauders, the ESF and the so-called “New Order”. The majority of them, however, are worried that the law could be abused in the future. According to both legal systems, any such persons have no right to an independent trial, and are to be arrested on sight, or shot if they’re resisting arrest: to this date, only a few people proven to have been infected by the aliens have been declared as such, and certainly not entire groups of people - which might set a worrying precedent for the future.


Our last reports from inside the system were that the battle was still going on, but the combined forces of Europa and the Outcasts were slowly but steadily pushing the attackers back. We will be back with further news once we can re-establish communications.

[fireaters]

the opportunity has come for Vagu raiders to loot europa trade routes, we will send thousands of fighters to plunder the babylonia system  :D

[Comfort]

Ah, many a good profit will be made supplying the front lines with armaments and drinks. I expect we'll get some Europan Naval Officers drunk and shooting wildly within the hour

[Burn]

For now we will not intervene in this conflict however we will be sending some cloaked observers for information and video gathering.
An urgent meeting will shortly start where all the influent monkey diplomats will be present to discuss the recent events unfolding in Alexandria.
Ambassadors please take your seats.The meeting will start shortly...



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[die_volker]

Another boring patrol month at the edges of Babylonia. The crew of "Caliopeea" runs the 14 quarter shift, while Glen,
the captain of this renowned vessel, sleeps like a baby after another half pound canned meal.
Thunderous punches into the captain's room door.
-It better be war, said Glen, jumping from his bed. I will be on deck in a sec!
-Captain..
-I said, I'll be on deck!
-With permission,said the operator shivering,this can wait. And is for your eyes only.
-What does it say?
-I forgot on the way here sir. I have no good memory.
Glen smiles, and ripes the card out of the poor soldier's hand. Begins to read, and like the day makes room for night,
a worried look took the place of the smile.
- Send this to HQ. Make it now, and see that Admiral LTHamlet gets it... Are you still here?
The 2 run out of the cabin and the yellow warning signs lid up the ships corridors almost instantly with a weird light.
The operator types quickly into the secured chat:
 
To all Marauders ships,
Yellow alert.
Patrol with shafts open and gunners in position.
Target all ships in range and scan Liberty and Bretonian sightings.
State of war is imminent.
Assistants keep Babylonian guard.
Seekers and explorers move to adjacent systems and stay focused.
Actions in Tartarus reduced to Europa influence zone.

I've been waiting for this all my cadet period, and now that I have a son - i get my wish.
Be careful what you're wishing for..sighs Glen....damn politics....
Turns to the engineer:
- Tell me that we have a course set...