Jack of Harts

Epsilon Reticuli was supposed to be the finale of our Russian Campaign. We sent what was possibly our most powerful fleet to crush their largest fleet base, and Aneerin sent six of us Cowboys to support the assault. To protect the fleet. He had a bad feeling about the whole thing, you understand, and he told the Alliance they shouldn’t do it. They didn’t listen, so he trusted me to help the fleet if things fell through. Well, we walked into a trap, and I got everybody out that I could. It might have been the largest fleet battle I’d seen at the time. We could practically walk across the missile volleys. Louis Mattioli didn’t manage it. One moment he was guarding one of our best cruisers, the next he and the cruiser was an expanding fireball. We lost a lot of good men and women that day. And a lot of good ships. Though not all of them stayed dead. And some of their deaths were greatly exaggerated. But that is another story.