As per our duty as vassals of House Sarum, and in solidarity with our liege lord and his order to completely reclaim the world of Floseswin IV, the Newelle Family has deployed a sizable portion of its ground forces to the planet, as part of the Sarum Expeditionary Force. Accompanying our contingent are units provided by the Houses Gallius, Elkin and deSilvestris. I, Lord Consort Aldrith Newelle, have been given command of the Newelle forces, on behalf of my Lady Mitara Newelle.
In my capacity as Lord Commander, I swear that I shall uphold the codes of righteous warfare and carry both the names of my family and the House of Sarum with honor and dignity. In my capacity as a Paladin Ordinary, swear that I shall carry on my duty in space combat to the best of my abilities, and shall continue efforts to retake all Amarr systems occupied by the enemy.
May God judge our deeds in these times.
Aldrith Ter’neth Shutaq Newelle
Lord Consort to Lady Mitara Newelle, Champion of House Sarum
Paladin Ordinary of the Excubitoris Chapter of the Sacred Throne Order
Divine Commodore of the 24th Imperial Crusade
I seek to confirm that the “codes of righteous warfare” include respecting the integrity of independent journalists and news organizations, especially those who were already planetside before the invasion commenced.
Viverina Cielvoss
Chief Operating Officer
“Tales of Floseswin” Broadcast Service
Edit: It is obvious we cannot expect as much in space.
I believe the codes pertain mostly to the treatment of enemies and conquered peoples.
Freedom of the press is not an Amarr concept, and it will not be guaranteed in the codes. Any allowances made to journalistic entities will be at the personal behest of a commanding officer of our forces, up to and including Lord Arrach Sarum himself, should he choose to make a ruling on such matters. As for my part, I will allow reporting so long as it is done truthfully and responsibly. I pray you will remain unbiased and fair in your coverage.
Ms. Cielvoss, the StormWind Private Military Circles policy is to respect and protect the integrity and ability of news organizations to cover any ongoing arenas that StormWind is engaged in.
Please either contact myself of ground side commanders for any coordination and/or security needs.
On behalf of my father, Chief Navigator Vladimir deSilvestris, I am proud and honoured to confirm that the Household Forces of the deSilvestris Family are available in any required capacity for all Operations.
The whole point of Sarum operations is to Reclaim the full population. That includes the civilian militias. They’ve put it clearly enough before: "“Run and you shall be crushed. Stand and you shall fall. Kneel and you shall be saved.”
Well then, those people sending mercenaries to Floseswin on the Republic side should be aware that their units cannot be relied upon by the Republic armed forces, and the Floseswin militias.
And money is worthless if the store you’d spend that money is vacant. Fighting there would stop fighting at home if they do well enough. At least for Matari mercenaries.
Lord Consort Newelle. Since our conversation in Floseswin, over forty-eight hours have elapsed. Still, I have received no update as to my request to anchor new orbital facilities to establish direct contact with the journalism teams of the “Tales of Floseswin” Broadcast Service.
I have been informed by Chapter Master Lok’ri that this situation is a “Newelle Family, as vassal of Sarum, matter” not an “Excubitoris Chapter Matter.”
Therefore, again, I must appeal to you directly. How can I issue any directives up to and including an evacuation order to my personnel without reliable means of communication? Every hour that passes is critical.
Perhaps Ms. Cielvoss should be allowed to establish her satellites. Perhaps the Minmatar should see live footage of the slaver ships descending upon Floseswin IV, coming for our people. Perhaps they should see our new labor force being stuffed into the Excoriator and Auspex Class Slaver Ships and taken away to a better life. If these sights enrage the Republic to war — total war — so much the better, for as it is said:
“War is not hell, far from it. War is beautiful. War is divine.”
Even so, may the Full Reclaiming of the Minmatar People come quickly. Amen. Amarr Victor.
We have successfully re-established contact with the Tales of Floseswin ground teams and the situation is more grave than I initially anticipated. Several Tales of Floseswin-flagged supply facilities connected to IPMA-protected transportation links have gone dark. Unverified reports broadcast on local planetary networks include fears that the employment of Red and Silver Hand and Shining Flame mercenaries allow the Sarum Expeditionary Force to bypass the SCC Independent Planetary Management Act and occupy capsuleer-owned facilities, in contrast to the cordons set up by the Khanid military in Kahah.
It also seems that the fighting has engulfed and cut off several ground teams. While I still have hopes that the belligerents will recognize the FoF press credentials identifying these brave journalists and war correspondents, our operations staff and editorial team is in agreement that the hostilities will only likely worsen. We applaud the tenacious dedication to journalism exhibited by our veteran war correspondents who wish to remain, but this conflict is of a novel nature and there is little guarantee that CONCORD laws and regulations pertaining to journalists in conflict zones will be observed.
It is with a heavy heart that I have therefore issued a recall order to all remaining ground teams and have initiated contingency evacuation protocols. Any and all footage, recordings, and reports of a critical nature will be directly transmitted to space and relayed by orbital communications satellite, which is operational due to the generosity of Lord Consort Newelle. All other data, equipment, and personnel will be secured for transport to our still-operational launch pad.
A small contingent of our operations staff and independent security contractors will remain at our launch pad site to coordinate and, if necessary, negotiate with House Sarum and/or Territorial Defense Guards forces should Tales of Floseswin ground teams caught in the fighting be allowed safe passage off-world.
As noble vassals and fervent supporters of the Sarum Family and the Reclamation, the House of Osman and Imperial Acquisition wish to extend our unending support for your divine cause. We will have a dozen slaver transports in Floseswin IV’s orbit within a day. The Reclamation will begin in earnest brothers and sisters, may God continue to guide us in our Divine Cause.
By now it is evident the 24th Imperial Crusade will not be able maintain space superiority in Floseswin. I have been planetside preparing defenses and contingencies for the combined Newelle, Gallius, and Elkin deployment, in emulation of the Sarum forces fortifying in the last few Upper Rebel province systems that remain in our control.
We shall make the inevitable counter-attack bleed for every inch. As Satach filled a valley with the corpses of the Empire’s enemies with his final stand, so shall we if the Matari attempt to root us out before our work is complete. I pray our sacrifice will be of worthy to God and Empire, should this come to pass.
To the rest of the cluster, know that we will not yield. Our loyalty is absolute, and our will unbreakable. Come to terms or suffer through the alternative: death. Ours. Yours.