2175 C.E.

X: Operation ZERO

Admiral's Log, TSS Alexander Nevsky BCM-1102: Admiral Nobuyuki Ito

08/16/2175

It is done. I have sent my letter to all outlets that I would receive it. I do not know how many will publish it, but I have placed my last hope in the goodness of humanity, in those who believe, as I do, that the destruction of an entire colony of innocents is reprehensible and an act of barbarity and evil.

I suspect I shall be executed for my act of treason if I am caught. Never in Hegemony history has an admiral mutinied against his own government; I'm not sure that it's ever happened in navy history. The crew of the Alexander Nevsky has, as I anticipated, remained loyal to the Hegemony. I am locked in my quarters without weapons or means of escape. All I have is this recording, probably the last thing anyone will ever hear of me. If I am allowed to live it will be as a drone of the state or a corporation. I have heard of the Interlink's capacity to nullify independent thought. I will be hooked into a network run by Ambience's research arm; my mind taken and plugged into a computer to be used as part of their collective neural supercomputers. I'm sure the knowledge and experience of a decorated admiral would greatly add to their resource pool. However it was, it must be done. My freedom is a small price to pay for the freedom of all and the right of all beings to live freely.

I have already received orders to stand down from the TIA as well as Admiral Gottred. I have, however, managed to redirect Captain Chang and have told him nothing of this. He knows that I received a transmission from TIA command on Earth, but he does not know the content of that communique. I will not tell him of what I am planning; I have trained Captain Chang myself as I trained Captain Bouchet. However, I do not trust him the same way. Captain Chang is a highly capable officer; however, his ambition often outweighs his reason. I believe that if he knows what my orders were, he would turn me over in a heartbeat.

So I have told him that our orders were to abandon the main fleet and conduct search and destroy missions targeting hidden Novan missile launchers in the Titan's Belt asteroid field. I have ordered him to maintain radio silence for fear of Novan warships and missile tracking systems. Then I discretely abandoned ship, telling Captain Chang that Admiral Gottred had recalled me to the forward TIA base on Nova. I approach Imladris now, where I hope to make contact with Novan intelligence where I can defect.

08/17/2175

My escape pod has landed in the Novan ocean above the colony city of Imladris. There are no windows on my escape pod, so I cannot see the city. I do not wish to risk transmitting a distress call to them either; the Hegemony may have troops in the city by now, and I do not wish to attract attention. I can receive broadcasts, however, and have been listening to many broadcasts. My escape pod floats on the oceanic surface of Nova and provides protection from most of Proxima's harmful radiation and I have enough rations to survive for two weeks in the meanwhile. I have been transmitting distress on shortband EM frequencies in hopes that a lifi receiver will pick up the distress call. But for now, I wait. End log.

08/18/2175

My escape pod has suddenly been intercepted. I have been picked up by the Novan Aquatic Navy. The ship is a destroyer called the Antigone. The ship's Captain emigrated from Tau Eridani as a child and has risen through the ranks of the NAN since then. I have been given a cabin vacated by a casualty taken during a Terran air raid and confined within quarters. The Captain is unsure what to do with me, but has contacted Novan intelligence as I have requested. The outlook of the Captain of the Antigone is grim; he believes that Terran invaders in Hanson Harbor, the second major city on Proxima B, will make enough gains to free up an invasion of Imladris any day, and without support from the Grushan or the NSN, he believes that the NAN and Novan Marines will be unable to hold off the invasion. I do not blame his pessimism. Under other circumstances, I might even be glad to hear it. But these circumstances are far from ordinary. The Terran Hegemony has overstepped every boundary of human decency and honor, and I must stand against them. Perhaps my defection will serve the Novan war effort. End log.