[b]Accepted[/b]

Faction name: [i]Excoriator[/i]
Faction type: Loyalist
Faction leaders: Captain Lisandro Orelios, Commissar Vlatis Sarien
System: None
Holdings: None
Bio: The [i]Excoriator[/i] is a [i]Nestra[/i]-class heavy cruiser. Like other heavy cruisers in the Arcturian Armada, the [i]Excoriator[/i] was built to bridge the gap between the massive dreadnoughts and carriers and nimble light cruisers and frigates. The result of this marriage of strength and speed is a vessel with sufficient firepower to take down mighty destroyer-class vessels, and the agility to escape these mightier vessels in the event that the battle goes sour. The [i]Excoriator[/i] boasts such tremendous firepower and admirable thruster output on the part of two fusion powerhouses. As one of the smallest vessels in the Armada to carry multiple fusion cells, the [i]Excoriator[/i] has the endurance to sustain battle, conduct energy-intensive maneuvers, or any combination of the two. 

To be sure, a vessel as versatile as the [i]Excoriator[/i] requires an exceptionally talented commander to take full advantage of its strengths. Even so, one can scarcely imagine a commander as well-suited for the [i]Excoriator[/i] as the celebrated Captain Lisandro Orelios. Captain Orelios first cut his teeth during the Cerulae Insurrection, one of those initial brushfire conflicts that precipitated the current crisis. At the helm of the frigate [i]Saint Dyann[/i], Captain Orelios performed a daring entry into Cerulae's atmosphere through a barrage of anti-orbital fire to land his vessel deep behind the rebellion's borders. From a hidden landing site within the rugged jungles of that planet, Orelios and his crew launched a counter-insurgency against military outposts and manufacturing centers on the surface. His prowess and initiative at Cerulae earned Captain Orelios command of the [i]Excoriator[/i].

Since the onset of the Pretender Crisis, Captain Orelios and his stalwart crew aboard the [i]Excoriator[/i] have performed admirably - but have not had the opportunity to distinguish themselves. That chance came unexpectedly, when Commissar Vlatis Sarien - one of the noblemen appointed with politically-oriented posts within the Armada - rendezvoused with the [i]Excoriator[/i] during classified patrol maneuvers. Commissar Sarien brought with him dire news: Almata had come under a relentless siege. Captain Orelios knew he had to make haste for the imperial homeworld at once, but he would have never believed his assigned mission had a Commissar not personally delivered the order.

And so, Captain Orelios and his crew divert immediately from their patrol in the remote Hinterland Space with this mysterious Commissar aboard to carry out his daring mission at Almata.