11 replies to this topic

[Zeta]

<UNENCRYPTED MESSAGE, PLEASE LISTEN OR READ THROUGH FOR DISSEMINATION INFORMATION>

I've decided to keep a journal for myself, though I don't know how often I'll ever update it. I've decided to do this so that if ever in the unforeseeable future I find a "time anomaly" like the one that brought me to this universe... I've decided at this point that if this ever happens I will not be returning home. I have found a life here, a cause, and many loves, though they don't seem to stick for whatever reason. However, I will fire a copy of this journal through in hopes that it might make it back to my time and space to let everyone know what has happened in my world so far.

Attached to this journal is a copy of several data files that play out my time here so far from the time that I would have gone missing from my time till now. The following journal and attached files are encrypted to my extended United Earthen Forces serial number, which has not been used since I arrived here. I am encrypting this journal through Beta, aboard my home ship Domain on tri-redundant crystal oscillation drives. If this should arrive at someone who can legitimately unlock the following, please notify the United Earthen Forces, Air/Space Corps (UEF-ASC) Command to distribute to the list in my most recently filed Last Will and Testament.

Thank you,
Staff Sergeant Richard J. Smith
United Earthen Forces, Air/Space Corps



<BEGIN ENCRYPTION>
So, first entry then.

It was the first day back from my vacation, which I've spent most of it on Tanya's Base, Colorado, both in the Tavern and in the medical wing... yuck.

So, for my first day back, I get a surprise. Turns out that the "Higher ups" in the Corsair chain of command have decided to assign the CCoF it's own repair and maintenance team. Not so surprising, except that they decided to put me in command. The team consists of ten specialists, each specializing in a specific field; Avionics/Controls/Displays, Flight Control systems, Electronic Warfare, Environmental, Engines, Power, Weapons, Hulls, and Fabrication/Acquisitions. Also, there are another ten maintainers that have general repair knowledge and can work any system under the guidance of the specialists. This is so that there isn't a shortage of any one field. They also have assorted skills that can be useful in the future, like scan operators, heavy machinery, etc. This makes 22 people on the team, including myself and my second in command, that are currently stationed on Tripoli. I specialize in Avionics/Controls/Displays, so I may still get to do some hands on work.

This is a big jump from the maintenance dispatch office I was working in until a few months ago. I feel extremely lucky to have gotten that job, let alone this job, being that I'm considered an "Outsider" to many in the the chain of command, which is something that will never change. It's funny though... I got the blessing of many of the higher ranking pilots in the regular force, who trusted me with their ships, and in extension, their lives, but they will never trust me with a Corsair woman.

So, being that flying under the CCoF is still first priority, I'll need to make sure my 2IC is on the ball. Unfortunately, running the tavern has now slipped to third, but I have Krystal to pick up the slack there so it should be no problem.

I've also decided to keep a tally on how often the team has to repair Scorpy's ship, so I better find a very, very large marker board.

Anyway, I'm back to Domain now, so I'll end this entry here.

...Edited because I decided to go a different route with the story...

Edited by Zeta, 27 February 2011 - 02:56 AM.

[Zeta]

Second Entry, maybe this thing will stick after all.

Today is my last day off for the weekend, and I'll be fully moved into the new office tomorrow. I have selected my second in command (2IC), being Roberto from the Avionics Specialist section, which will leave Lopez in charge of that section. Roberto and myself have had our... misunderstandings before, but I think that it will all work out in the end.

So, looking at my current ship statuses has been making me slightly depressed recently, I have been spending most of my time lately between fixing up the Corsair's aging Titan fleet and working at the Tavern, that I haven't really had the time to put my own ships into repair. The Pachyderm blew a seal between cargo holds that's left part of it unable to hold atmosphere, and unfortunately that makes the entire ship unsafe... again... One of my fighter's engines randomly stops accepting commands from the throttle control. I'm thinking that will probably be an issue with the fly-by-wire integrated control bus, but I can't be sure yet till I can find the time to go through the diagnostics output. Which leaves me with Domain my over sized personal "civilian" marked home ship, though it is actually armed as a battleship and I think that the LSF is starting to take notice... I wonder why though... I'm still waiting for the hunters to notice it's actually a CCoF battleship in disguise; My cruiser shuttle which is unarmed and without shield, but is electrically cloaked (gives off the same scan readings as an asteroid) and not on any watch list. It's easily changeable if it does end up on a watch list; and my Indy racer which is also civilian registered and allows me to get around Colorado without cops and hunters on my tail. As twisted as those groups are, there's no telling what they would try when the AHC isn't looking.

I'm sorry to interrupt you during your journal, but we are approaching Casa Una.
Thanks Beta, open a channel as soon as they contact us and request our regular clearance.
Will do.

Well, time to close this entry. We are heading into Casa Una. It's a Corsair sanctuary that even in my private journal I wouldn't show the location. Just that it's way off the charts, not likely to ever be found by anyone that doesn't have clearance.

And with that, I end my entry.

[Zeta]

So then, third entry. Not as regular as it should be, but it's a work in progress...

I probably shouldn't put this even here, but I don't think anyone can decrypt it... the encryption standard is an old Earthen tech style that I'm sure no one has seen... and I would love to show the people back home this. So I'll just have to talk about it instead. That and there's nothing else of note going on right now.

Casa Una is a Corsair sanctuary that is completely surrounded by a very dense, bubble like mine and passive scanner field with the exception of a few "entry control points" that are ringed with weapons platforms , battle stations, and/or the occasional gunboat that make sneaking in/out or assault impossible, let alone that the location is very top secret and is extremely off the grid. This whole thing was an idea that some genius elder had many years ago to safely move some of the growing population off of Crete into secret "sanctuaries" that are designed to protect citizens from the retaliation that could occur due to military actions. The idea was originally disregarded and for whatever reason, that particular Elder was made to be the joke of Crete, something that has since been hidden in history. Turns out that the idea wasn't entirely put down, and that's how the experiment known as Casa Una was born. At the moment, it's not any bigger than some of the cities on Crete, and it's packed with stations that are designed to stay exactly where they are, and there are several shuttles that anyone can use to get between them, some of them auto piloted. One corner of the sanctuary goes through a cloud that isn't yet occupied by anything except for rocks. For this reason, I've decided that it would be a great berthing point for Domain when I am here.

One of the highlights is a huge secret research and ship building station that's even bigger than the command station. This station is called Prophesy Station. The only way I was able to get clearance to even look at the hull was because the station commander knew the CCoF leader, and was also buddies with the sanctuary commander. Also, they wanted some input from a military viewpoint.

The only other reason that I am apparently allowed to be here in the sanctuary is an Elder relations stunt that the sanctuary commander is trying to pull. Apparently, the Elders are looking down on the whole experiment, so the commander thinks that elders will look at it differently if one of their military groups were involved. I won't complain, it's somewhere I can leave my home ship where I won't be worried about attack from the outside. The only catch is that if Casa Una is located by hostiles while I am here I am to run intercept so that they don't have to show off their secret ships sooner than they want.

Anyway, there's nothing else to talk about, so I'll close this entry here.

[Zeta]

<Entry start>

Welcome back, Rick. How was your mission?
Thank you, Beta. When you get a chance, can you upload the journal entries from mobile drive echo? I'm sure you'll find the answer there as well.
In progress.

<Begin mass upload and copy to main journal...>


Figured I’d keep a mobile journal on my way to my next mission. It was an extremely short notice tasking from Nobodie, the leader of the CCoF which is kinda like a special ops unit back home. One of the Elders has a daughter that lives on one of the outreach stations. She has apparently received some special attention from some bounty hunter/tracker that seems to be attempting to get on her trail. The Elder asked the CCoF (behind the backs of the other Elders) to quietly extract her from this outreach station to Casa Una, the hidden sanctuary zone I’m currently “stationed” in. I volunteered immediately when I saw the picture of this particular daughter. Her name is Serena, and she is one of the most beautiful Corsair women I have seen. Being that the CCoF is currently busy and Nobodie had some paperwork or some other boring thing to do, and in turn, the repair work on the CCoF ships is slow right now, I was chosen… Much to the dismay of the Elder in question, of course. So it looks like the “outsider” has struck once again. It’s not like he can ask anyone else to do it, because that would attract the attention of the other Elders. So now here I am aboard a small stolen Bretonian shuttle with a pilot who doesn’t talk much. I’ve decided to bring only my sidearm and my sword, I doubt I’ll much trouble where they’d be any use anyway, as most of it is going to be in flight if there is any… One can hope, anyway. So I’m off for now, going to bug the pilot some more and see if I can at least find out her name.

[Zeta]

Second phase of “Operation, Hot Hispanic” is to follow a completely randomized waypoint course to the outreach station, called “Rask” probably named after an Elder, and meet the beautiful angel and bring her back to Casa Una a day later. I’m eager to meet her, as well as get back onto a solid metal structure. I get that way when I’m a passenger on a smaller ship I’m not in control of. That’s not to say that the pilot, whose name I found out is Ysabel, is a bad pilot. Actually, it’s quite the contrary. She’s an excellent shuttle pilot. She flew through an asteroid field with ease when I was sure that the shuttle wouldn’t even fit. Keep in mind, this shuttle is easily twice the size of my fighter. But as much of a hurry as I’m in to be able to walk around, I’ve started getting these bad feelings. Ysabel thought for a second that she had seen another ship on the scanners, but couldn’t verify. We took a loop course back to an earlier waypoint to be sure we weren’t being followed, but we never say anyone. We are back on course now, but I just can’t shake the feeling. The trip one way is about 26 hours with all the waypoints, but we only have about 10 hours left. I’ve already had a nap, so I’m going to take over for Ysabel for a while and let her sleep some. I’m probably going to extend the trip out and re-randomize the next few waypoints and see if I can find a tail. Looking over the specs of this shuttle though, I’m not sure I want too.

[Zeta]

Just arrived on “Rask” and everything seems to check out. I added about two hours to the flight before making the initial approach, but I was unable to find any sign of a tail, but to be on the safe side, I had Rask control on alert, but they also did not spot anything other than a Corsair miner returning from a asteroid field nearby, which is in the opposite direction of where we came from, so I feel better about all this. After all this, I finally got to meet Serena, and… Oh my, she certainly came from good roots… and grew into them quite well. Also met her liason, Manuel. He’s there as a type of body guard, though I wouldn’t understand it as old as this guy is, but I’m not complaining. He’s a shuttle pilot as well, so maybe with him and Ysabel flying, I can spend more time “escorting” Serena. So far, things have gone off without a hitch, let’s hope it stays that way. We are scheduled to take off in 12 hours, so I’m going to get some face time with the angel.

[Zeta]

Holy crap… That’s the short version of what’s happened today. We are in flight about four hours earlier than scheduled, but for a very good reason. About six hours after we arrived, Manuel had us switch up the rooms. Not an hour later, someone shows up at what was originally Serena and Ysabel’s room and just walks to the door then away, then to the door, and then away again. Finally, I got fed up and walked out and startled the guy. He was from the mining craft the followed us in before, which brought back suspicious feelings. He apologized and said he had the wrong room and walked off, in a very quick manner. I didn’t have a good feeling about it, and neither did Manuel. So we made the decision to arm up, grab the girls, and get the <heck> out of there, but quietly. We woke the girls up and got them packed up and on the shuttle without anyone noticing. While Manuel was in the controller’s office working out a quick flight plan to get us away from the station before starting a random course back to Casa Una, I was checking something on a landing strut. It was pretty quiet before the engines started up, but right before they started up, I thought I heard a shuffle. Reflex caused me to extend an energy “sensor” field and found exactly what I was afraid of. With the field I was able to make out two bodies hiding behind a stack of boxes not too far away from the shuttle, as well as Manuel on the far end of the bay. Being that the shuttle was the only craft in this bay, I knew they didn’t belong. Without looking away from the landing strut, I reached up and tapped the commlink in my ear. I told Manuel to look at my six for a stack of boxes. He clicked back in response and moved his way around the side as if he was looking for something. Apparently the trick worked because I felt them both run out, one at him and one at me. I had been hoping for a quiet escape, but I wasn’t counting on it. I spun around and saw that my attacker appeared to only be armed with a knife. I had to focus on mine, so I could only hope that Manuel would be able to hold his own. I moved across the Shuttle door to block access, and opted for a quiet approach and left the sidearm holstered, as to not alert anyone and possibly delay our departure. Even when adjusting my mind speed reflex to make everything slow down (in my perception anyway) I found the attacker challenging. He really knew what he was doing, and I found myself blocking more than countering. I knew I had to end it quickly, but I also wanted to use only the minimal force I could to knock him out. I heard a loud snap from behind me and snuck a peek in the direction to see Manuel’s attacker dropping to the floor with his neck in a very awkward position. When I came back around I saw something that I won’t soon forget, and knew I had no choice in my next move… My attacker pulled a thermal grenade from who knows where and had his thumb on the detonate switch. I fear that given time I could have found a better way, but with one hand I reached for the grenade, and with the other my sword on my back. One hand grabbed the arm with the grenade and I watched in slow motion as my blade made a quick slash across the attacker’s neck. I spray of blood and a gurgle, and my reflex perception returned to normal. It was all over, and I had managed to disable the grenade before dropping it to the floor. I only stood there for a second before sheathing my sword and entering the shuttle. Somehow I managed to avoid the spray, so I won’t mention this to the girls. We just left the station and we are going to wait a couple more minutes before making a report to Rask, which I need to prepare now…

[Zeta]

I’ve made my report to Rask and will hold onto it until I can hand it to the Elder at Casa Una so as to not risk another tail. I feel bad about what happened on Rask, but I can’t dwell on it. This situation is just another example on why the equal force intentions exist. Sometimes the only way to save yourself or others is to end your opponent’s life, as was the case. I’ve since relaxed, but Serena is freaked out. I don’t blame her though. For whatever reason, one of her own people just tried to kill her, a reason we may never know. I’m doing what I can to comfort her, but I may have slipped up already. In her traumatized state, she has grown emotionally attached to me in just these few hours. I have no complaints on this, but I’m still an outsider. She’s a Corsair born woman, an elder’s daughter at that. I’m afraid of where this is going, but it may be too late. I was just talking to her and somehow that turned into a kiss. A long kiss at that. I think I may have to keep my distance from this point on, not so much for my sake, but for her’s. I’m going to end this entry here as I try to ponder this.

[Zeta]

We have arrived back in Casa Una, and after yet another kiss, Serena and I have parted ways at central station. Mission complete I guess. I’m currently on my way back to Domain now, and I will take a day before heading back to Prophecy Station to work on the Prophecy Spirits, which is basically a low profile bomber craft that can’t easily be seen on radar or heat imaging. After a couple of days, hopefully, I will be able to find out what the investigation into the incident at Rask will turn up. My biggest thing now is to decide whether or not to follow up on Serena, despite the inherent risks.

I’m ending my mobile journal here.

<...END MASS UPLOAD, ALL ENTRIES COPIED TO JOURNAL>

Thank you, Beta.

[Zeta]

Another update, this time more of a "live update" type deal that is broken into a few different parts, just because I'm bored and haven't made one recently.

Since my last update, I haven't been in contact with Serena near as much as I'd want to, but we've decided to stay on the down low for now, the whole "outsider deal" and all. We just don't know for sure how her father (one of the higher elders) would react. Also, I still have not received the final report from Rask, though I have been told that the investigation is still "ongoing".

Right now, I'm on my way through Omicron Gamma, headed somewhere I don't particularly care to be; Crete. It's been a while since I was last here. Actually, it's been a while since I've been planet side anywhere, really. I'm currently sitting in my fighter, still having random throttle issues, but it's my only working ship that is capable of atmospheric travel. My cruising shuttle would get shredded as soon as I hit the docking ring, and I don't want to risk the Indy Racer being tagged by Hunters or Mercs, which could effectively end my free easy travel through Colorado. Anyway, the reason that I'm going this far out of my way is because the boss, Nobodie, request (ordered) I take part in an emergency meeting that I'd normally not even be allowed in. Anyway, for my "own records" I'll definitely update what's going on in here. Right now though, I need to focus on getting through the docking ring... I hate these things, mainly because the only thing keeping me from crashing through the atmosphere is a energetical-magnetic ring that has been known to fail in the past. I'll keep this entry updating as I go and then upload it all at once.

-------------

Currently sitting in a big meeting room in the main "palace" if you can call it that. There's only three elders here, which is surprising to me. There's Nobodie and myself representing the CCoF, a couple of high ranking general types and such, a few of the highest defense pilots, and what looks to be a crowd of war planners and other piratey types. I had a spat with one of the other pilots that was apparently familiar with who I am and very unhappy that I was there. Of course, as with most Corsairs, ego flys and a fight was barely avoided. I'da thought people would get over this "outsider" crap by now, guess not.

One of the generals is taking the podium, so the mic is on and the next few minutes of sound should automatically attach to this entry.

<General>"First of all, I offer my sincere apologies to the elders that are present here today for changing schedules at the last minute. Everyone else, get over it. In attendance we have the elders, several command leaders, a few selected squadron leaders, outreach commanders, and the leader of the Corsair Covenant of Fortune, as well a liaison to CCoF's Casa Una protection detail. The following is to kept to a need to know basis. Several hours ago, we lost contact with two of our most advanced battleships. As you already know, we do not have a lot of them to spare. A few hours ago, we lost contact with the outreach station Esperanza. Surveillance of the station showed massive damage and hull breaches, and very few survivors on board, as well as a few escape pods that were recovered. After recovery of main computer logs, we believe the responsible party to one of our own, a battleship commander that goes by the name of Colonel Roa. We believe that he has gone rougue and taken control of not just the battleship he was in command of, but also it's twin that has also gone rogue, it's commander by the name of Fernando Estio. We do not know the location of either ship, but we believe other outreach stations and possibly even Casa Una to be in danger, so we are taking a highly defensive stance until further information is available. Leaders will get their orders by secure comm to be disseminated as instructed, those of you who need to stay for further discussion today has already been notified. You are released."


Well, I guess that went quicker than I had imagined. I don't need to stick around, but I'm not looking forward to the outbound traffic, so I think I will hit up the bar. Heard Scorpy might be around, so I'll bug him and see how his ship is coming along. So I'll end this entry here and upload as soon as I reach Domain.

[Zeta]

Next entry.

It's been a couple of days since I was on Crete, and I finally got both of the messages I have been waiting for. First, and most likely the most important to me personally, is the investigation report from Rask, where I helped rescue Serena, (who I met again at the bar when I couldn't find Black Scorpion) as it turns out, that incident and the Colonel Roa incident were linked. The attempt on her life was to serve as a message to her father, who was secretly a big supporter of the Corsair Outreach Program, which is designed to "de-centralize" the growing population. The second message, in relation, was Col. Roa's first message to the elders. He has apparently decided that the elders have "lost the path of the Corsairs" by allowing the Outreach stations to exist, and that they must immediately stand down and hand over control to him as the new leader. On top of that, he has convinced an entire battleship crew and several hundred pilots and other Corsairs to follow him. The ones that did not follow him have been captured and are being held as hostages as a bonus.

Also in that message, was the first set of defensive orders to protect the outreach stations and, of course, the Corsair sanctuary zone, Casa Una. All ships are already required to be cleared to access the sanctuary, and those that are cleared, are required to take a constantly randomized course through several way points. Now, all the randomized courses go by one of the sanctuary's few battleships, Kino to be scanned and cleared again, presumably to scan for explosives that could be used at the entryways. I actually have two orders myself. First, I am moving Domain into a protective position just outside the main entrance into Casa Una, and will hold there. My orders, coming from Nobodie, are to scan for ships that have not been cleared through Kino, and not to allow them to get too close. I will keep Beta (my "first officer/assistant" as far as any of the higher ranking Corsairs know) on alert while I follow the second part of my orders. I am relinquishing control of the CCoF maintenance team, and temporarily joining the Prophecy squadron. They are the ones who fly and maintain the "Prophecy Spirits" (secret experimental bombers). It's an honor to be part of that team. Hopefully we won't have to use them, but some of the Prophecy Spirits have a new cloaking system that I would love to "see" in action. It's a welcome change to work in the same sector instead of taking a few hour course to my base station everyday.

Aside from that, there hasn't been a whole lot going on. I'm considering asking Serena to come stay with me on Domain for "safety reasons."

End of entry

[Zeta]

Been a while since I've updated...

It's been almost two months since the previous Col Roa incident, and nothing new has occurred. As a result, the security measures are starting to drop back to their norms. I don't agree with this decision. I believe that security is becoming prematurely lax, and that the threat from Col Roa has not yet diminished. However, I am now in no position to make my opinions known, thanks to a particular incident that occurred here about a month ago.

I was hanging out with Serena at a bar in one of the stations in Casa Una, when some drunkard comes up to me with all this "Outsider" bull crap. Now, as long as I have been flying for the CCoF, and in extension, the Corsairs, I've gotten used to this whole "Outsider" joke. But this guy really made a point on it. He just kept pushing and pushing. I'm trying to have a nice dinner (at a bar... I know...) with Serena, who I am fully aware is a full blood Corsair, which technically means I shouldn't be anywhere near her, but whatever. I was fine until he started in on Serena, and then it just got to me. I do not usually have a short fuse, I really don't. But at the moment he started telling her how she was basically mocking the Corsair way, I stood up from my chair and punched his lights out. One hit. No energy release, no reflex speed, just one solid punch right across the kisser. I immediately knew what I had done and realized the position I was in. I looked up at Serena, and she was upset and took off. She doesn't like violence... Crap...

Turns out it was worse than I had initially thought though, this drunk guy turned out to be one of the Casa Una's decision making advisers, which basically puts him right under the Sanctuary Commander. Not a week later, I find myself locked out of Casa Una, and both Nobodie and Black Scorpion down my throat over Holo-Comm. Not a pretty sight. On the flip side, it had been a while since I had heard from Scorpy. But, this was not the way I had imagined that reunion would go. I decided not to give him a hard time about his own incident at the new base, as it would have been very, very bad for both my long and short term health.

So... I am now sitting in Domain, parked outside a random asteroid field on "Patrol" waiting for a decision from both Casa Una and the CCoF, and I still have not been able to get a hold of Serena.

I miss her...