Far Eastern Frontline: A World on Fire Cinder

Protestation

Let the records say that I, Loreena Morgenthau Faust, may have these words revelated on mortem

United Cascadia National Marine Guard 133rd Division "Black Eagles." Most importantly – a proud mother of three, may the Dust trail them far.

1. I hereby swear by the Mother's name in Dust that the written/spoken evidence I shall unveil will be the truth, but beyond that, the whole truth, nothing else comes close, so abides the Mother. By swearing this oath, perjury holds above me as a sword. Make justice though skyfall.

2. I was just another, if notable, officer, serving simple peace enforcement operations in Central Cambodia, Vietnam, Sumeria, Malagasy, Manchuria, and Zion. It was around that time I was introduced to Valentin Gaulther – the person everyone knows as Crimson 1. The fight, even in a hardened soldier, can only burn its embers so much before it requires respites of peace, and I cherish the children I raised in the years after, right up to time of writing.

3. My path of infamy began in AC 417 when I led the Black Eagles into the Oceanian Containment Mission; I was a Colonel then, and I worked in close coordination with my peer, Morgan Elizabeth, to enact subjugation tactics against Oceanian defenders by firebombing crops and leading Marine and Air Force raids against shipping lanes and routes. We were feared for our brutal triumphs, so to speak, against captured mercenary pilots and soldiers, the survivors of whom could remember body parts like slashed heads.

4. Soon, my men questioned my behavior; they reasoned that mercenaries were just people working for a living, no better than us fighting to put on the table. I countered that those lowlife scum, with their brilliance and talent, chose this path and willingly served a corrupted nation that mocks the morality of being and wants a world entirely for themselves, the morality of dealing with others be damned.

5. I was pulled out from the final battles of the Oceanian War; I could still recall the Federation air battleship Zetec heading off to decimate the defenders of Uluru, but indiscriminately the long-vacated homes of one family too many and the footage sight of flying wings decimating once-humble abodes. The last guns were put down later that day, and the war was over for a little while by then. Though no tear was shed from myself, my heart broke at the sight of what the Federation's viciousness. I may have fired the gun, but they gave me the trigger for it.

6. The war's end saw me having more liaisons with a fellow officer named Gretchen Melissa Wagner. We had a great time together and wed ourselves, then I left active service to personally raise my children. I won't bore you with details, but they had a taste of the Cascadian earth and its fruits and I have hope they shall savor it for the rest of their days from Dust.

7. I was among the many Cascadian officers in defiance of the Federation in the weeks before the Cascadian Conflict erupted; however, a large portion was what I gave to my children – they needed a nation and one intact for them to thrive under.

8. When we actually went to war, we were on the backfoot, large swaths of our forces crushed under the iron heel of the Federation. My Marines, with their capabilities, could barely hold things together. That was when I decided to unveil our little discovery in Oceania – a communication device that taps into mercenary frequencies. We handed it to whatever political figure we could find for fishing mercenaries. I hated having to do that, but pragmatics are pragmatics.

9. One of General Headquarters' more junior members, Joshua Griffiths, went off using the comlink device on his own; he then lured two Federation Navy vessels, FNS Jerusalem (BBA-21) and FNS Cat-Eye (ES-11), into open vulnerable territory in the Burning Coast. We seized the opportunity, told our grunts what they needed to know (except for the leak), and our cause struck gold. I only wish it didn't come at the cost of provoking the Federation through this unprecedented a mercenary presence and me myself pulling a little unconventional measure to bolster my personal finances...