I was doing rather a lot of attempted damage control on various websites from my cellphone while I was on vacation (and sick, which sucks by the way never do it), and it does seem like my confirmation message was swallowed by my Android phone's browser at some point in time.
Kurushi's Lazar N24 was/is/shall be the winner. Don't run away, we still love you! The suspense of the new pilot's arrival will finally come to fruition for the sake of the pilots when I drop the big huge battle IC update tomorrow, with Maps and Landing Sites and Fleet Action vs. the Angel and Oh Man It Will Have Been So Worth The Wait. If I say grandiose things like that, maybe it will even come slightly true. At the very least you have my permission to pretend that it was worth the wait. Whatever helps you sleep.
For my part, it really aches at me that I didn't handle my preparation for the journey the way I wanted to and you guys ended up floundering for a solid half a month (giving Zeruel all the material he needed, taking care of the new pilot recruitment, etc.). But alas, such is the way of the Holidays around here. Let's see just how well I've still got that magic touch tomorrow.
EDIT: Alright, looks like you guys (Lothmar) put together a real game plan for the battle. That's good, I'll take as much of it as possible into account.