*at the beginning of the transmission, there is an image of small, golden model cormorant. Close inspection reveals spiderweb cracks running throughout the model, indicating it has been shattered and repaired. A plaque below the Model says "CNDV-559-86 Fairborough"*
We all have words for it, this concept of what a person should be. We call the greatest of us words which
The Amarrians call them Devout, Pious, Holy.
The Minmatar call them Honorable, Courageous.
The Gallente call them .
We Caldari call them Patriots.
Men who fought and bled for the State, asking nothing in return.
Men who when they found their courage, strength, and valour tested, rose to the occaision.
Men who served under summer sun and winter snow alike, and did not shrink from the most vital duty entrusted to them.
Patriots.
Two years ago today, eighty-two such men gave their lives for the Glory of the State. Eighty-two Heroes died at their posts aboard the CNDV-559-86 Fairborough. Three men survived the burning wreckage to carry on its legacy. One was accused, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment wrongly for causing the deaths of those fine men, and died in prison. One was promoted, given a medal, and showered with glory for his heroism in helping a single wounded man out.
One was a coward who closed the door on an injured crewman to save himself, and spent these two years hating the medal they gave him.
Eighty-two men died as heroes.
But it could have been eighty-one, instead.
Deck Sargeant Mikheal Alles was at the end of the corridor, limping along to get to the escape pod. I was at the entrance. I was ordered to get in and shut the door to the pod, to leave him when he could have made it.
And I did. He pounded on the door to the escape pod, screaming for us to let him in.
We didn't. We launched.
The truth of our story deserves to be heard. The man the Tribunals named as responsible, Captain Istan Onaga, is innocent. The true blame lies elsewhere.
The Fairborough had always had a problem with its power grid. Never one Chief Engineer Akkai admitted to, but it was there. We were prone to overloads due to a faulty power relay located too close to the magnetic field calibration module of Gun Five. As such, the rails on the gun had to be frequently realigned manually. Gun Five is located on the front left hardpoint, just next to the third Dorsal on the underside. The Faulty relay was just below the Dorsal. One day, during realignment of the gun five rail, one of the armor plates came loose and detached entirely, exposing the faulty relay.Chief Engineer Akkai assured us that due to its location, it could never possibly be hit, and that immediate dry docking was unnecessary.
He was wrong.
The very next day we ran into a small patrol of blood raiders. eighteen frigates and a battleship, equipped with electromagnetic pulse lasers. One of them hit the relay. The powergrid overloaded, sending the reactor critical. A power surge caused the haptic interface circuits to short, electrocuting everyone attached to them. Most of the bridge staff died instantly. I was en route to check one of the relays for Gun Five (not the faulty one) when we went dark and emergency lighting came on. I kicked that relay, and the gun fired. Not sure why. I ran to the escape pod, meeting Lt. Akkio, our helmsman, who was dragging Captain Onaga's half-burned, unconscious form. We got into the escape pod and ejected. The reactor went critical and started venting plasma into the habitable decks on the ship. Eighty-three men died in Agony.
Why did this happen?
Because Chief Engineer Akkai knew that if he admitted to the powergrid fault, the entire ship would be dry docked and decommissioned. He didn't want to lose the bragging rights to being on the destroyer with the highest kill record of any ship in service. But whats more, if he had admitted to the fault, then he would have lost his job for not reporting all issues in the ships survey.
Chief Engineer Akkai died instantly when the power core went critical and vented plasma into engineering.
The Crew of the Fairborough were Patriots.
Are you a Patriot?
I hope that I am.
Join me in honoring these men for their sacrifice.
Hnolai ki tuul, ti sei oni a tiu.
*the transmission ends with a list of all eighty-three dead, along with their accomplisments, cause of death, next of kin, and rank.*
Author
Topic: To lay ghosts to rest (Read 809 times)