1. Who else has a ready supply of lightly-defended science cruisers besides a science colony?
You know, Bolivia has a lightly-defended supply of high quality natural gas. And we happen to need it for this winter. Now wait here for a minute, I'm going to propose the government that we invade them and steal it from them. I'll be back in a minute, ok?
If the LR hadn't been stealing gas miners from the Jovians, then the node would still be a secret. They are in this war because they are thieves.
The fact you need something doesn't makes it acceptable to steal it from others. Are those the moral values of the LR? They are nothing but glorified pirates.
2. It is a bit hard to rescue a vessel that is being attacked by multiple Reliants, especially when you have other issues.
Yes, it is. Mine is mainly an emotional reaction, but an overwhelmingly intense one. They should have gathered intelligence before sending us in. Damn! They shouldn't have send us there in the first place.
3. The LRD Luna, the pride of the Lunar Navy and a completely irreplaceable vessel, should not be on the front lines of a three-front war.
Yes it should. War vessels aren't there to show the world how pretty they are or how menacing they look. They are there to wage wars. Especially when it's a survival war.
4. The Ark Royal is one Constellation out of many. Did you see how many cruisers you had with you in "Thirty Seconds Over Earth..." and "Neptune Mayhem"? The LR had all those plus what was needed to hold off the wolves at their front door. One replaceable ship is not as necessary as getting the rest of the fleet to safety.
One replaceable ship that, thanks to the admiralty of the LR, had to wage all the war almost by itself. And it did.
If they keep treating their military assets that way, they will soon have to resort to conscription anyway.
Oh, and the other forces probably aren't heading to Delta Serpentis since resupply would be an issue since transports can't make the jump through the node, and they would just end up fighting each other for the system once the Lunar Republic (which needs a new name now) was defeated.
Yes, Delta Serpentis is definitely a nice place for cowards to hide while other persons fight their war, without risking their precious destroyer.
The LR admiralty constantly reminds me of some other admiralty I wish I could forget. But that's not a topic I want to discuss here, nor now.
Suffice to say, that considering they (the LR high command) just fled and didn't even secured some communication link to give the excuse of being in a safe place to impart orders and coordinate the war, they are cowards in my book.