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[S31-Zero-Order]

Well, this is my first log as acting commander of the APG - Lightrider. I was assigned to it and was instructed to continue my usual duties as a special operations agent for the APOC Military shortly after an almost-successful training exercise at Shemjaza, the capitol of Elohim and our faction. Being that I haven't yet recieved any standing orders or requests (although that'll probably change soon), I'm going to start off with incident and personal reports from history. Until there's a more recent encounter of some kind to talk about, I'll keep it like that until further notice.

- Zero

[S31-Zero-Order]

Incident Report: R79145-29


About a year ago, I used to use a light fighter. During that time, I made sure that I was as much of a nuisance as I could make myself. I took out my frustrations on Liberty trading vessels operating in New York. I would attack from either a debris field (there are three or four if I remember right) or the Badlands cloud. The solar objects would scatter and distort my ship's signal, causing my position to be hidden from sensors until I attacked. After killing off multiple trade convoys with the help of Dazzie, a good friend of mine, around the Baltimore shipyard area, we hacked the trade lanes a flew to Manhattan, the capitol planet of the house of Liberty. With that, Newark Station sent out a distress signal that signaled the lockdown of all gates in the system. The jumpholes were too far away to be of any use to escape. The Liberty Navy, issued a 20-minute bounty on our heads to eliminate us for good. With as much trade traffic that goes throught that system, they could only keep it closed for a short amount of time unless there was an invasion of some kind occuring. With the speed of our fighters, our skills combined, and experimental armor repairing us, we were able to hold off for the 20-minute period and could've lasted much longer had it not been for a hostile battleship that was approaching. Gunning our cruise engines, we left through the Magellan gate after killing off more than 10 of the bounty hunters to return back to Elohim. It was easily one of the toughest fights I've ever been in. I do still think about her, too. I haven't spoken to or seen her in months and would love the oppertunity to do so again.

- Zero

[S31-Zero-Order]

Incident Report: R45368-43

Over the course that I've been fighting for the APOC, I've come to notice that a few of the pilots have things to offer in exchange for their lives. They happily agree to part with it if I would let them go, generally. I accept their... "gifts"... if you can call them that, and agree to let them go. For an hour. In that single hour, they have the oppertunity to get as far away from me as they can, sometimes even going so far as heading into Cylon Space or into Bellerophon out past Tekagi's Folly. Still, although I give them the chance to survive, some still remain in the same system and exact same area, simply resuming their original tasks. They're either trading, freelancing, talking to others, or whatever other random task you can think of. I would think that they would take better care of their ships and well being, but I guess people will never cease to surprise me...

If extortion is the route I need to take to bring down the house governments, then so be it. Every piece of equipment and round of ammunition will bring us further to our goal.

- Zero

[S31-Zero-Order]

Personal Log: L04362-19


Well, I recieved my orders today. The Lightrider has been assigned to an assessment op searching for some ship called the APR - Chrome. For what I could tell from the specs, it's a ten-man scout corvette. It's a very light and nimble craft. I don't see how it could just be randomly stranded out there in Raytheon. There's absolutely nothing in that system except the occasional junker and the foolish miner looking to get rich right about the time he's about 100 years old. Going after rocks that didn't have anything to them to begin with was probably not the brightest idea. The advertising about the fields were a massive overestimation of their worth. I've already surveyed them. I know.

Anyhow, back on subject, nobody knows exactly what the Chrome found. Maybe a weapon? Some equipment that we can reverse-engineer? Who knows. The fact that nobody's heard from it on this side of forever isn't helping matters much. How was it that we managed to get a probe in there and stumble on it anyhow? Something's not right. I've looked over the report again and again and I can't help but feel like I've missed something in it. It came from our intelligence office and everything's legitimate, but maybe there was something wrong with the probe? I don't know. Maybe I'm just overreacting... or paranoid... or the beer's talking. From as much as I had to drink tonight and from the way I feel both physically and mentally, I think it's the beer.

Either way, I'm eager to try to figure out what it is that's down there and, at that, if anything's even salvageable. If we can, we're to get the recon ship to home. I think that that objective might be out of the question...

We'll only know when we get there. 10 hours to go and counting.

- Zero

[S31-Zero-Order]

Incident Report: R20312-94

I came across a COP Snare-Class fighter today in New York. Originally, I was going to continue about my business. Then, Baltimore Shipyard and Fort Bush issued a code red on him, deploying their security fighters because of gunfire. That gunfire was probably meant for me, but clipped the station instead. I undocked from the trade lane and went after him in my FA-27c. The fight was going smoothly, but the Snare is faster than the FA. His weapons didn't do much damage, but his load of plasma torpedoes did. After a single mine ripped away my worthless (and I say that with extreme emphasis and predjudice) countermeasure dropper, I was forced to try to evade the inbound torpedoes with my thrusters, to which I was successful, but still sustained heavy damage to the rest of the ship after the first's impact. Finally, I was able to knock out the engines as he was evading. The ship sputtered and tried to shift in different directions, but it was of no use. I finished it off with my guns. After the fight, I was forced to limp back to the Tekagi's Samurai base in Colorado. I almost cried when I saw the bill for the damage. It was for 19 million, excluding the cost of replacing my mine dropper, countermeasure dropper, and one of the cruise disruptors. The plasma torpedoes I'd pulled in might have padded the cost a little, but the fight wasn't worth the damages.

I need to get better. Both at flying and choosing what to use in fights. The damage was unacceptable.

- Zero

[S31-Zero-Order]

Incident Report: R30421-64

So, I just got a transmission today from the council. We've got a new pilot, apparently. The name's Himawari. She can fight fairly well from what I've heard, but I haven't yet seen her in combat. It'll be nice to have another wingman available. I'll have to give her a test run. [Door slides open in the background] [Female voice: You'll do what with her?!] Erm... That's not... [Silence] End report!

[Signal disconnected]

- Zero

[S31-Zero-Order]

Recommendation Report: A23412-39

I encountered two pilots today while on patrol. Both are seasoned pilots and neither have pledged to a clan. After fighting one in a single fight that lasted more than an hour, I came to the conclusion that that was the kind of pilot that we needed. The fight lasted not because of outside forces or by a lack of skill on either sides, but by the sheer ability of us both to endure and survive a constant firefight. His maneuvers and piloting capabilities were impeccable. His aim, however needed some work... That's not a problem. [Laughing in the background]

The second, although I haven't fought him yet, claimed to be a veteran of another killer clan in a different sector. It'll be nice to fight a fellow pilot with some known experience. Now I just need to check to see if he has the bite to add to his bark. We'll see sometime later.


When I get confirmation of their decisions about joining, I'll submit my recommendations.

For the Brotherhood!

- Zero

[S31-Zero-Order]

Incident Report: R48572-27

Today was somewhat uneventful. I've adopted a new technique for gathering up ammunition by harassing trade convoys. Freighters generally pose no threat unless they catch you off guard with their guns, so there's very little skill required to kill them off. So long as they're not affiliated or work with a house government, and if I'm in a good enough mood, I simply rob them of their ammunition and let them pass. That doesn't stop me from killing them later, but it gives them an alternative to losing everything. Resistance, as usual, is still unadvised, but preferred.

Aside from that, I shot down another fighter today. He was poorly armored, so I simply dropped his shields, ran him down on nanobots and shield batteries, then proceeded to launch a never-ending stream of cruise disruptors. It cost me half of my stored disruptors, but it killed him in the end. That was the most fun I've had in a while!

- Zero

[S31-Zero-Order]

Incident Report: R34523-29


I managed to get revenge for Himawari the other day. I made my way into Omicron Gamma and used guerilla warfare tactics and strategies to bring a healthy amount of Corsairs down. I started in Omega-41 and used the radiation pockets to hide me, then I moved into Omicron Gamma and used the cloud at the Omega-41 jump to do the same. I managed to shoot down over 90 Corsairs. I couldn't stay long. With so many missing, they were on high alert and swarming everywhere in search-and-destroy teams. Quickly, I flew to the inner star, dropped the pilots deep inside the corona and narrowly evaded destruction as I retreated to Aleutia.

The operation took about eight or nine hours, but was a relative success in my eyes. Now I'm just waiting for the usual mission statement on the "greater truth" and yadda-yadda-yadda. The threats are generally empty in my eyes, but I like to keep my eye on them anyways. I've gotta stay cautious. Letting my guard down will get me killed out there.

It's too bad that it had to come to that, really. Himawari was simply doing what she does best and wasn't considering the consequences. I generally respect the pirates and what they do. We have common enemies. However, when they cross the line and attack my Brothers and Sisters, I can't let that go unpunished. I have to act accordingly in return.

- Zero

[S31-Zero-Order]

Personal Log: L42313-98


So, I'd thought about what Tila had said about her special implants after we had our sparring match. I'm thinking about going back to Toledo to see if I can get one myself. She said it wasn't mass produced because The Order couldn't really find a use for it. I'm wondering if maybe they'd been working on a more refined version after they put the prototype in her? It could be possible.

I still remember the first time I'd seen anything like it. Trent and Ozu had infiltrated Tekagi's Arch in the Tohoku system while we were fighting above and trying to fend off the countless defending ships. Only Trent came back out. When I watched the footage from the security cameras, I was amazed to see a large blade fly like a projectile from beneath Tekagi's wrist into Ozu's chest. I didn't think anything like that existed.

Now that I've had it used against me, I know what it does to the user. However, Tekagi never seemed winded nor fatigued in the slightest after he fired it. I understand that I'm a large object to lift, but I would think that even a small projectile would have some kind of noticeable effect.

I'll think about it again later. Toledo may be my next destination if all goes as planned.

- Zero

[S31-Zero-Order]

Personal Log: L49521-04


Well, the wait's been pretty long. Here I am again. It's beginning to look as if my usual workload is winding down. It'll be nice to have some free time to myself for a change. After a few minor setbacks and the work that seems to just keep piling up for me to do, I think it might actually be coming to a close.


Maybe I can continue to update the Codex and finish this damned investigate when we get aboard the Chrome...


- Zero

[S31-Zero-Order]

Incident Report: R48671-12

So, myself and two other Brothers began a trial run of "Operation: Steel Gamble" recently. We took so long on the first run that it was almost impossible for the enemy to not detect us. Trying to fit a large vessel through a condenced field was the worst thing we could have come up with, but it was handy for a trial run for the operation. Actually, come to think of it, had we not brought it, the chances that we wouldn't have made it out of the system alive could've been higher.

We sent in a remote-guided fighter through the jump first. We lost signal with it almost as soon as it jumped in. So, knowing we're walking into a trap, we proceed. The dummy vessel we brought with us gave us just enough time to make it in to the system before it was destroyed. As we ran the blockade of two battleships at the jump, one of us harassed and distracted the system's defenders just long enough for the second fighter to dock at the planet, quickly purchase some equipment, and tear straight for the jump hole with the planet's only defender still firing at me.

With our bounty in hand, we made our way to the jump and ran a weaker, more scattered blockade to victory. It was a good bit of fun.

The name of the operation holds its own meaning: Steel meaning the color of our armor (a bright silver color) and Gamble meaning us not knowing whether we're going to complete the objective. It's a high gain with a very high cost.

I don't want to be too specific as to when and where we do this. That might make things all the more difficult, especially if someone gets a hold of this one...


- Zero

[S31-Zero-Order]

Incident Report: R18273-40

So, after chewing through countless people trying to steal our prize, we managed to secure an automated mapping system probe. Finding these kinds of probes (and intact at that) are quite rare, due to the hazards of open space. These probes travel from system to system mapping out solar objects, stations, and anomalies and store the data in a central database within the probe's electronics.

After bringing it to an orbital science and repair station, the information was downloaded onto our network and is now copied onto my fighter's nav map and charts. The information was incredibly extensive and detailed and has provided me with a full database of each individual system.

That was quite a find, I'll have to admit. I didn't think any still existed, especially in such good condition.


- Zero