6 February 3306 - After Action Log (cont.)

Arrived at the Taevaisa system 26 August 3305.  Initiated a quick system scan.  Roque and Derekas Installation located 232ls from Class F host star.  Checked for any lurking adversaries.  Scanner showed several ships near my position.  Mostly small fighters.  Friend or foe I was soon to discover.  Selected the station in the NavPanel, positioned the ship to navcomputer vector and eased into the throttle trying not to look too suspicious.  Admittedly, that's a bit hard to do in a FDL.

Speed gradually increased to about 1.5c and could see that one of the ships broke off, taking position high and left on the same course.  A Viper MK IV.  I braced for the interdiction attempt I knew was coming.  I was thinking that I might be able to handle a Viper.  Depending on the experience of the pilot of course.

The viper pilot tried to intimidate me via local comms at first but I kept radio silence as ordered.  Just about to break supercruise near the station, hoping to get to the no-fire zone as fast as possible, when the interdiction began.  Now was the time to use those evasion techniques I studied minutes earlier while jumping into the system from Achenar.  But, is was quickly obvious this pilot had studied the same techniques and knew how to counter them.  Before my FSD broke I submitted and immediately deployed the Pike's hardpoints.  Power to shields and weapons I targeted the Viper, weapons leading and locked.  Simultaneous fire from the Pike's engineered pulse lasers and multi-cannons hit the ship hard, crushing his shields.  His fire ineffective on the first pass against the Galactic Pike's shields.  While I prepared for the next pass, hoping to kill or be killed, battle rage intensifying, I heard the Pike's computer announce, "Surge detected."  The Viper was preparing to run away via high wake.  I let off the throttle pointing my nose back in the direction of Derekas.  10ls to go.  Didn't see any more ships nearby.  I was sure we were in the clear finally.  1k from the station I broke out of supercruise.  When within range, we were given the  go-ahead to enter and dock.  Gear down, ship's engine shutdown.  I got up to find my "cargo" and escort her to the VIP exit hatch.  She wasn't there.  No sign of her onboard or at station receiving.  I began to wonder.  Was she ever here?

During this conversation I was having with myself, the ship's COVAS, Celeste, calmly requested that I return to the bridge.  We were being threatened with annihilation if we didn't leave immediately.  What?!!  The engines would take a minute to start.  I needed at least 5 minutes to prepare for departure.  Got back to the bridge and contacted station ops to inform them I was preparing the ship and would lift off as soon as I could.  Engines at 95% when the first volley of laser fire hit the ship.  Just a warning they said.  But the energy drain from the shields delayed the engine prep by another minute.  Come on baby, don't fail me now.  Notified station ops I was ready to launch at 97%.  Gear up, throttle up, nose to the mail slot.  The station gave me a parting shot aft as I departed the station.  Whew, I made it, just need to boost away and jump to the nearest low security system I could find.  Was about to check the NavPanel when I notice the scanner had lit up with about ten fighters and one Anaconda.  All blocking my departure.  Throttled back, trying not to ram any of them.  I opened local comms to let them know I just wanted to leave the system peacefully.  No response.  Well not through the comms anyway.  A short minute later shields were down and hull was at 50%.  I had no way to escape.  I didn't dare bring up my hardpoints. Finally got a response on comms.  "Prepare for boarding."

After shutting everything down I moved to the hatch to confront whoever came through. But, all I remember was the door beginning to open.  All began to fade to black.  I knew I was falling to the floor but didn't feel anything.  My last memory was a large shiny black boot stepping onto my ship.

31 January 3306 - After Action Log as not able to access daily log during my most recent assignment.

Has been a while, again. Here's the story so far.

Arrived at Wilson Vision, Achenar System, 25 August 3305. The station is quite small and nondescript with a refinery based economy. I reported to the station's admin head wearing my Class B Empire regalia and checked in at a common data console. After a quick bio scan to verify by IDENT, I was escorted into another area of the station for a brief on the faction's current status. My handlers knew me as only a Prince and treated with the highest respect. No one at this station knew I was also an Admiral with the Federation. Inwardly I was worried the assignment they were about give me would highlight my inexperience as a fighter pilot. Princes of the Empire are well known for their deadly fighter ranks. But, you don't make it to the rank of Admiral in the Federation without being able to go all in even when you don't have the cards.

The brief was given by an intelligence officer of the Achenar Empire Party (AEP). He was small in stature, thin lipped, grey hair and steely beady eyes. When he looked at me it felt like a Thargoid scan to the brain. He introduced himself; "Junatan Kineko, Ministry of State, Achenar Empire Party" while my handlers showed me to a vary nice chair at the head of a small table. "Your Eminence," Kineko began, "thank you for arriving early to assist us in the matter that currently confronts our party in Achenar." He continued telling me of the schism taking place between the AEP and the Taevaisa Imperial Society (TIS) in the neighboring system of Taevaisa. Governing practices of the AEP are 'to' the people while practices of the TIS are 'by' the people. This seems to be creating financial and political losses for their investments in the Taevaisa system. The pending assignment, issued by Arissa Lavigny-Duval herself, is to deliver an AEP operative into a planetary outpost called Derekas Installation on Roque, a high metal content world. I struggled not to show my relief in learning this would be a delivery mission and not actual combat. As the meeting closed and my handlers led me to the door, Minister Kineko left me with the warning, "This operative is a high priority target for our adversaries. You will most likely be attacked many times before reaching your destination. If you fail, don't bother using your escape pod. Death in the Black would be much less painful than death at the hands of the Empire."

Next morning, I began preparing Galactic Pike, my Fer-de-Lance, BDH-30, for the trip to Taevaisa. Minister Kineko came to the pad about 10 minutes before my scheduled departure window. He informed me that the operative was already on board. No need for introductions. Orders were that I was not to see or speak with her during the flight. After my acknowledgement, we said our farewells, I completed the Pike's pre-flight checks, entered the coordinates into the NavPanel, requested departure clearance, and boosted away from the station at max throttle, all power to engines. Positioned the ship toward the vector indicated the NavComputer and engaged the FSD as soon as we were out of mass lock.

During the jump, I practiced some evasive maneuver techniques I found in the Codex.

21 August 3305 – You’d think a Federation Admiral or a Prince of the Empire could afford a proper vessel to explore this wondrous galaxy. You’d think an Admiral or a Prince would have amassed the experience it takes to command said proper vessel. A vessel, by sight, that proclaims superiority within the Universe. Well, not this Admiral…not this Prince… It all began with my attempt to collect the credits I needed for such a vessel, but my delusions of grandeur just about ended my career, almost killed me to be more precise. First by taking on the Thargoid after completing Guardian Tech engineering then, drinking myself into oblivion because of the nightmares I had from the experience. Despite my preparations, I failed. Lost two ships. Engineering Improvements made just weren’t enough to keep me flyin’. Thank God for my escape pod, and the courage of my wing mates, I made it back to Shinrarta Dezhra. After recovering from my wounds the second time, I couldn’t face the black again. Couldn’t face the fact that victory was so far out of reach. Couldn’t face the fact that I, Admiral, Prince, could not defeat them. Lavian Brandy had become my companion, my wing mate, these last two, three months. I’ve lost count. Kept it up. Until it finally hit me…”Damnit, I can’t let them take the sky from me! I gotta get back out there!” Woke up to someone pounding on my door not knowing what day it is. The pounding in my head matched what was happening at the door. Getting there was a struggle. Had to stop the pounding. Opened it to find Lieutenant Scanlon, Admiral Funari’s aide there. He handed me an envelope, then with a disgusted look on his face, turned and walked back to the station lift. Not a word. Confused, I closed the door and looked at the envelope. TOP SECRET and CONFIDENTIAL stamped onto it. My name hand written on one corner. Stumbled back to my chair and opened it. Second sentence in I had to stop. Hangovers and reading do not work hand in hand. Had to hydrate and medicate first. An hour later, I was able to read the complete message; I sat uncomprehending for what must have been another hour. As my mind cleared, I still couldn’t believe the order “Leave for Achenar immediately.” Why would the Federation want me to fight for the Empire? The orders are to take my best fighter to Wilson Vision. An outpost in the Achenar system and report to CMDR Wagar, a member of the Achenar Empire Party, for duty as Flight Leader. Looks to be a lengthy assignment…I hate packing….

11/28/3304 - Haulage missions become more than my T-7 could handle. Ended up getting a T-9 sooner than I thought. Galactic Carrier (BDH-11). With her I've been able to keep up with the workload for Mother Gaia. However, after my recent promotion to Vice Admiral, I've been reassigned. There's been an increase in data and courier missions. Parked my T-9 and cleaned up my Viper in preparation. Not sure why, but have been quite successful so far. Only one unsuccessful interdiction attempt. Mother Gaia is pleased with my efforts and dicussions of my progress toward one final promotion are being held with her staff. Will continue to move data until reassigned.

11/21/3304 - Has been an exhausting couple of months. Still working with Mother Gaia. Promotion to Rear Admiral has required more work than I thought. Although, I did make Explorer Elite a month ago and Trade Entrepreneur last weekend. I picked up a T-7 Transporter to keep up with the amounts of cargo Mother Gaia needs to be moved. Named her Galactic Transport (BDH-07). Great ship in my opinion. Fantastic fuel/jump range. Great view out of the canopy. And of course, plenty of cargo space. Think I'll eventually pick up a T-9 just to keep up. Mother Gaia expects a lot from her rear admirals. Been getting a lot of grief from the fighter pilots. They tell me I haven't flown enough combat missions. Maybe, once I've fulfilled my cargo transfer requirements with Mother Gaia, I'll pick up a Viper IV or a Vulture and try my hand at combat. I have a Viper IV now. Galactic Data Courier (BDH-00). Use her as a fast courier transfering boom data, internal reports, etc. and to collect materials in the various signal sources in system. She might work as a fighter. I'll have to double check her stats with the other fighter pilots in the squadron. Got to go, Mother Gaia has another assignment for me. Wants me to report tomorrow morning, 0630. There's an old Earth tradition that takes place tomorrow. It's called Thanksgiving. I have taken part in the past. Doesn't look like Mother Gaia plans to celebrate it though. Space is huge and so is the workload needed to keep it running.

08/21/3304 - Daedalus Station, Sol. Assignment from Mother Gaia has been active for almost two weeks now. Not completely sure what's going on but, there's been a lot of action. Decided to leave the fighting to more experienced pilots. With my Broker/Pioneer ranking, I've been taking missions as a courier and light trader. Moving intelligence and supplies as fast as Galactic Discovery is able. Operation Commander has noticed my sustained success. No losses...yet. Sent me on a few planetary scan missions as well. A couple of close calls but my escape skills improve with each one. Collected some pretty valuable data for Mother Gaia. As long as I'm needed I'll stay on with the Federation. If I don't deserve a promotion for this action, I might stay with Mother Gaia until I do. We'll see what the future holds.

8/8/3304 - Departed Galitini a few days ago headed to Sol hoping to do some work for the Federation for a while. Worked for them a few months back and earned a promotion to Lieutenant Commander. Thought that might get me access to some better paying assignments. Took a day to get back in the swing of things but so far, things are looking good. So good in fact, I picked up one of the newly updated Kraits. A Krait Mark II. Named her Galactic Discovery (BDH-06). Had to canibalize Galactic Explorer II a bit to get her running the way I like. With the module transfer I'm pretty happy with her. Quick and agile with plenty of space for the modules I'm familiar with. Excellent fuel management and she'll boost every two seconds. Came with a new AI as well. Carina. Still trying to figure out her programming though. Seems pretty bored with it all sometimes. That brings me to a total of four AIs. Sometimes gets chatty in the cockpit between them all.

Started Federation service with Mother Gaia out of Daedalus Starport running a few courier and haulage missions first establishing some profitable contacts in several systems near Sol. When I returned, there was an All Hands called by Starport Operations. All pilots were to report to the Starport Readyroom at 0700, 8/9.

Parked Galactic Discovery for the night. Will report as ordered in the morning. Scuttlebutt from the other pilots is that this is a big deal and will require support from fighters and transports. Looks like I might be here a while transporting messages and supplies for Mother Gaia. Maybe a promotion in it for me if I don't die. For now, to the bar for a couple then my room. Going to be an early start tomorrow.

8/3/3304 - Despite the terrible news I received as I made my approach back to Wafer Outpost, I was glad to be back. Had logged an additional 2000 LYs out into the Black that took me 3000 LYs from Galitini. Was beginning to think space monkeys were real. Have more than 50 new systems for Mr. Orion. Or rather, whomever has taken over the company. Mr. Orion passed away while I was gone. His daughter by his side.

After verifying system shutdown and downloading my exploration data into the Outposts System Registry, I headed to my room and straight for the beautiful bottle of 18 year old I'd hidden away. Poured a tall glass, sat down on the nearest cushioned object, drank, and passed out.

BREEP..BREEP... What's that? It's the room's intercom. An AI I don't recognize saying my presence is requested in Ms. Orion's office. I was to report no later than 0900. I didn't even know where I was for a moment. Or what time it was. Or what day it was. Slowly I began to collect my whereabouts. It was the morning of 8/4. 0835. Then it dawned on me, "Ms." Orion's office. Well, now I know who had taken over the company.

Jumped into the shower, shaved, dressed and headed up to "her" office. Walked in the door at 0905. Almost made it. Ms. Orion showed me in and asked to to take a seat. She'd received my exploration data from the Outpost. I didn't get the feeling that my trip made an impression though by the look on her face. Probably due to her father's passing I told myself.

"Mr. Verse," she started, "I'm sure you've heard about my father?" I nodded. "He was a very proud and honest man." I nodded. "But, this company, which he struggled to create, spending his entire life building from scratch, just couldn't compete with the other mega-corporations in the Black. I'm sorry to say that be've decided it's best to shut down operations." I began to wonder if I was going to get paid. "However," she started, "my father did take care of a few items in his will. The Python and 10 million credits, payment for the two jobs you took for him, have been set aside in a private account unknown to his creditors. I have downloaded the payment into Galactic Explorer II's databank and she is waiting for you in Hangar Bay 21. Transponder codes have been re-coded. I have a meeting with my father's creditors this evening. They are due to arrive in the system this afternoon. My recommendation to you is to take yourself, the credits, and the Python, off this outpost and out of this system before they arrive. They will have their lawyers in tow and you know they have a knack for freezing and seizing assets. Thank you for your dedication to my father in his last days. I'm sorry we couldn't work together longer. I wish you much success in the Black, Mr. Verse. Goodbye." She turned and left the office through the back exit.

Well...that's that then. Not how I had invisioned this turning out when I signed up a few weeks back. Guess I'm leaving in a hurry...again. I left the office and started back to my room to pack. Going to have to come up with a new way to Keep Flyin'.

7/20/3304 Praea Euq MB-D b16-0 Finally made it to my destination in the Orion Spur of the Orion-Cygnus Arm. Where I ended up on my first trip for Mr. Orion. Have begun the trip out toward Centaurus Reach in the Sagittarius-Carina Arm. Making pretty good progress so far. Now to stick with it. Gets pretty lonely out here. No one around for hundreds of light years. If it weren't for my AI crew, I think I'd have gone space mad a long time ago. My "crew" consists of Vega, Archer and Eden. They are programed to keep me focused and on task. Remind me to lower the gear or give power to shields as I'm landing the ship after a long day exploring. Vega and Eden have a very useful feature progrmmed into their data banks. Information from basic planetary motion to advanced quantum theory. Keeps me fresh for my next Federation license exams. Just wish they could bring me a cup of tea sometimes. Eden is keen to discuss her future as a real human. Vega is simply fascinated with everything science. Archer just wants to sing. I wish he'd quit apologizing and sing a complete song. Anyway, I've discovered over 100 systems so far for Mr. Orion. Have a couple thousand lightyears to go on this trip. We'll see how I do at the end. If I don't wind up doing a faceplant on a planet or burning up getting to close to a star.

Two days later, dressed in a clean, less wrinkled, flight suit, I went up to see Mr. Orion. I hoped he hadn't found another pilot for his needs and had prepared my excuses as to why I failed him on my first mission, just in case. But, amazingly, I could tell when I walked in that I wasn't going to need them. Mr. Orion greeted me like I was a long lost best friend. Told me to "Sit down, take it easy. Here, have some breakfast." There was quite a spread. Everything you'd expect and even some local favorites. I dived in. I hadn't had "real" food in years.

I had just finished my fourth plate when Mr. Orion asked me to take a seat in his office. He shut the door behind me. "I have a very special offer I'd like to discuss with you," he said. "This time, do right by me, and I'll give you the Python you named Galactic Explorer II. I'll even throw in a year's insurance." Sounded too good to be true. What was he going to ask me to do? Kill someone? I thought, okay, sure! Sounds like a great deal to me. But, I should probably hear what the offer is first. Then do whatever he says.

Turns out, the offer was exactly the same as the first mission he'd sent me out to do before. Only, this time, make sure the first discoveries are true first discoveries. Get out there, 2000ly plus. Bring him the data and the ship would be mine. This time I did't hesitate. "Yes, sir! I'm your man. I'll be back with a ship load of exploration data filled with first discoveries quicker than you can engineer an A-rated Conda."