Captain's Log: 09 May 821 A.S.
J. Scott, Commanding Officer SV-Atreyu, Corvo Class Science Ship
Today has been a trying and difficult day for the Atreyu. My ship and it's crew departed the Omicron Delta system at a approximately 1200 HRS heading for the Omega systems to study the neutron stars located in that area of Sirius. We were able to acquire valuable data on the types of radiation emitted by these stars and have the preliminary information necessary to develop shielding systems that should protect the inhabitants of those systems from the radiation that sickens them.
When we began our journey back to the Omicron Delta system our long range sensors detected multiple vessels with strange energy readings scattered throughout the system. I immediately ordered the ships to crew to engage our cruise engines and set a course for the strange vessels. Upon arriving at the vessels we conducted thorough sensor scans and determined that who ever had piloted the vessels had died long ago. I sent several crewman and marines to the ships to determine what happened to them and if there was any threat to our vessel.
Upon returning from the vessels my crew had retrieved three powerful weapons of unknown origin and a Derelict Nomad Artifact. Recognizing the danger of this device I ordered my chief engineer to immediately erect a force field around the device and place it in an unused cargo bay under armed guard.
Realizing that many citizens of Sirius would kill for this device I immediately set a course back to the Omicrons hoping that my contacts in the Edge worlds would know of a secure place to store it and prevent it from falling into the hands of anyone who would abuse it. Just prior to reaching the Omicron Zeta jump gate I was ordered to stop by a CORE ID'd gunboat. Once the GB scanned my vessel they detected the device and immediately became hostile ordering that I drop the device immediately. Before I could even make a decision to surrender the device or not an Order Carrier uncloaked and opened fire on the gunboat and told me to head for the Omicron Mu system.
Unsure of who to trust at this point and fearing for the safety of my ship I fled to the Omicron Zeta system at full cruise and searched for a friendly station to dock at until I could figure out what to do with the alien device. Long range sensors detected a neutral installation in the Yap Edge nebula so we set a course to the station with the CORE gunboat in hot pursuit.
Upon arriving at the station scanners detected three CORE Battlecruisers enroute to the station. Realizing that the Order vessel couldn't protect my ship even if it wanted to I decided to follow the demands of the CORE ships. Their demeanor changed from hostile to almost friendly as we set a course to the Omicron Rho system to deliver the artifact and I finally breathed a sigh of relief thinking we were out of danger. The captains even apologized for the trouble and offered my ship 40,000,000 to compensate the crew for their horrific experience.
After a brief stop at Capetown Station so the gunboat could rearm we continued towards the Omicron Rho system. I asked about the defenses near the jump hole and was assured by all four CORE vessels that they would be deactivated and would not fire upon my vessel. I assumed that they were an honest group of captains and that they wouldn't intentionally cause harm to a civilian research ship and ordered the crew to take us into the jump hole.
Immediately upon entering Omicron Rho three CORE Battlecruisers stationed at Rho side of the jump hole opened fire on my ship causing extensive damage and casualties before I could thrust out of weapons range. Once clear of the cruiser's weapon salvos the gunship demanded that I immediately drop the artifact or face certain destruction. Since my ship was heavily damaged and the gunboat had just rearmed I knew that I could not refuse his offer so I surrendered the device. Once surrendered the other three captains could be heard over the communication channels saying "We can just kill them now anyways".
Luckily they received orders back to the Omicron Zeta system and left my ship adrift in the Omicron Rho system. Knowing that it was not safe to remain in the system I had my engineers make enough repairs to get the shields and cruise engines online and we headed back towards the jump hole strafing to avoid the incoming cruiser fire that would surely destroy my vessel and kill it's civilian crew.
Arriving back in the Zeta system I headed to the only place I could think of that was free of any treacherous CORE ships... the Omicron Mu system. Not knowing if we would be attacked by patrols in the system I activated all weapons upon entering and was prepared to defend my ship if needed. Once in the system the Order Carrier from before apologized for not being able to assist and offered me docking privileges aboard one of their stations.
Now 12 hours after the betrayal in the Rho system my ship sits on an Order base being repaired, my crew are being attended to by Order physicians, and I am having a drink from an Order bar. I still don't know that I can trust the Order and I am not certain that I want too, but I do know that I cannot trust the CORE and will maintain a full combat alert anytime one of their vessels is in range in case they decide to suddenly open fire again.
My ship will be repaired within days and we will continue our mission of exploration, but the damage to my crew is irreparable and it will take months before things begin to seem normal on our ship again.
Captain's Log: 10 May 822 A.S.
J. Scott, Commanding Officer SV-Atreyu, Corvo Class Science Ship
Repairs to the ship have been completed and all but the most injured crew members have returned to duty. I have suspended our research mission momentarily in order to pay for the repairs that were required after The Core assault. We have hauled 1000 units of Iridium to Newark Station in New York which more than paid for the repairs.
While we were in New York I granted the crew some leave so that they could relax before we headed back to the Omicrons to continue our mission of scientific research and discovery. With the help of the autopilot I took the ship into the Pennsylvania system and took on 1000 units of alloy to sell at the Freeports in the Omicron systems. On the way back from Pennsylvania a Rogue snub craft disabled the lane and demanded I drop my cargo. Instead of following the pirates demand I fired two Razor salvos and destroyed his vessel. Prior to departing the New York system I left the rogue with the local police authority on Manhattan.
Back in the Omicrons an independent Core ID'd Battlecruiser disrupted our cruise engines approximately 10 kilometers from the Omicron Zeta jump hole. As a precaution I immediately ordered the crew to go to battle stations and charge the newly installed Battle Razor in case this individual was as dangerous and unpredictable as the others I have encountered. Luckily the Core vessel just wanted to "Say Hello", I am beginning to think that they just like to harass people for the fun of it. Either way when we are in their territory I will maintain a full defensive posture to ensure my crew and scientists are safe.
Once in Zeta we encountered two Nomad patrols and quickly eliminated them before they could call for reinforcements. Luckily the rest of the journey has been fairly quiet. I am currently looking through old system charts in an attempt to select a system for our next scientific survey mission. My hope is to be able to explore the Aegian Nebula and the radiation it emits in the Omircron-94 system but I will have get approval from the Corsairs in that system which is unlikely at best. If we are unable to secure passage to the Nebula then I will shift to the Tau systems since we have already explored all the accessible Omicron systems and do not have any desire to head deeper into Nomad controlled space.
Captain's Log: 14 May 821 A.S.
J. Scott, Commanding Officer SV-Atreyu, Corvo Class Science Ship
We have recently been given a six month approval by the Liberty Navy High Command to store a small quantity of human remains on board our vessel. This approval will significantly improve the quality of data we are able to gather in regards to spacial anomalies and their affect on human tissues. My sincerest appreciation goes to the Liberty Navy and their ability to recognize the scientific value of our research.
In light of our recent research approval I have returned the ship to Liberty space in order to carry out work in the various nebulae in this region of space. With the [LN] approval we will not have to worry about being arrested as smugglers and can therefor conduct our research unimpeded.
As of today we have conducted primary surveys of New York, Texas, Puerto Rico, Humboldt, Vespucci, Magellan, and Kansas. We hope to finish primary surveys in the remaining Liberty systems within the week. After going through the Puerto Rico jump hole in Texas we were immediately attacked by a large space station and multiple weapons platforms. I immediately ordered the ships crew to engage the cruise engines and put as much distance between us and the jump hole as possible. This attack left our ship with a badly damaged hull and an exhausted supply of nanobots and batteries. Scans of the system detected several more hostile stations and one station with an unknown IFF. Knowing that we were in desperate need of repairs and could not go back through the jumphole we set a course for the unknown station with the hopes of being able to repair our ship and resupply our batteries and nanobots. As luck would have it the station was of a neutral affiliation and granted us docking permissions in order to make repairs to the ships hull. Unfortunately the station did not have any batteries or nanobots so whatever repairs we made would have to last until we made it to friendlier territory. I want to convey my deepest appreciation to the administrators of Puerta de Tierra.... myself and my crew most likely owe you our lives.
Since the Texas jumphole is effectively blockaded we set course for the Humboldt system to try and find a way back into the core of Liberty space. Once in the Humboldt system we detected a Liberty Rogue base and immediately set course in order to resupply the ship. I generally try to avoid bases that most people would consider to be criminal in nature but desperate times call for desperate measures. The Rogues on the station were surprisingly quite hospitable and respectful which surprised most of my crew since their reputation is the opposite. Still not wanting to push our luck we departed for the Vespucci system as soon as the resupply was finished.
I had heard rumors that a group known as the Hellfire Legion based itself out of the Vespucci system. From what I knew the group is dedicated to the complete and total destruction of the Liberty Navy, but generally did not harm civilians out of a twisted desire to protect Liberty. Thinking that they wouldn't harm us and knowing that there was a jumphole into Magellan we entered the Vespucci system. Again we were attacked immediately upon entering the system, however, our shields held long enough for us to get out of weapons range and the ship did not take on any additional damage. The Magellan jumphole was guarded by what appeared to be an Outcast cruiser but it was displaying a Hellfire IFF. I am not sure if the ships sensors were damaged in the previous two attacks or if it is indeed and OC cruiser. Either way we maintained full cruise approaching the Magellan jumphole and entered it without reducing speed so that we could avoid any damage from the Hellfire capital ship.
The voyage from Magellan to New York was quick and uneventful which was a welcome change from today's events. We are currently undergoing repairs at Baltimore Shipyard and studying the data we collected. Once we survey the remaining systems a decision will have to be made as to which system provides us with the best chance of successfully completing this phase of our research. As of right now I would very much like to study the cloud near the Magellan jumphole in Vespucci but there are still a dozen or so Liberty systems to survey.
-----UPDATE----
We have received an encrypted transmission from our friend in the ##REDACTED## system so we are immediately setting a new course and should arrive by the end of the week. I am wary of this visit but some friends can't necessarily be refused.
Captain's Log: 18 August 822 A.S.
J. Scott, Commanding Officer SV-Atreyu, Corvo Class Science Ship
After over a year of being out of commission the Atreyu has been upgraded with the latest technology available making her the premier science ship in Sirius. While on Willard Research Station we were able to install several new modules that will greatly expand our deep space exploration and research capabilities. We have added a Mobile Medical Unit with full surgical bays, a Reconnaissance Module, Research Corps, and a Survey Team as well as our normal compliment of scientists.
Our medical teams were instrumental during a battle at West Point between Liberty forces and forces of the Hellfire Legion. We were able to rescue many fighter pilots from both sides as well as the crew of a Liberty Dreadnaught and Gunboat. There were still heavy casualties on both sides of the conflict, but thanks to our exceptional medical staff the number of deaths was greatly reduced. I am going to consider this as a successful shake down cruise of the newly outfitted ship and return to our previous stellar anomaly research.
-----UPDATE----
My ship and it's crew have departed Barrier Gate Station in the Coronado system after gathering supplies for our newest research mission. We will be traveling through Kusari space into the Tau's to chart the systems and look for any spacial anomaly's. The ultimate goal is to be able to explore Gallia space, but at the moment their forces are too hostile to us and we cannot safely travel there.
Captain's Log: 21 August 822 A.S.
J. Scott, Commanding Officer SV-Atreyu, Corvo Class Science Ship
The journey from Coronado to the Kusari region was uneventful. I decided to take the ship to the Hokkaido system to study the radiation belt that is emitted from the system's star. The belt is unusual as it spreads horizontally from the equator of the sun instead of omnidirectional like we have seen from most stars. My chief astronomer believes that this is due to the extremely powerful magnetic fields that that the star emits. We have left a probe in near orbit to gather more data on this phenomenon.
After leaving the Hokkaido radiation belt we received a communication from Willard Research Station asking us to redirect to Gallia and attempt to retrieve an element known as Prometheum. It would seem that this element is quite fascinating and has numerous uses in research as well as some medical applications. One of my contacts directed me to a Council Controlled system where I could retrieve some of the element with little risk of encountering Gallic forces.
While in the Gallia region I took the opportunity to map as many friendly bases and jump holes as I could in the Burgundy, Champagne, Lorraine, and Lyonnaise systems. We were able to gather a few units of Prometheum from Planet Marne in the Champagne system at a reasonable cost. The stop at Marne also allowed my crew to relax a bit since we have been going from jump hole to jump hole the last few days and JH travel isn't quite as smooth as jump gate travel. We were able to also do some maintenance on the ships cruise engines since they have been engaged all most continuously since we arrived in Gallia.
The journey to Willard was a little more interesting than the trip to Marne. It would seem that the Gallic Royal Navy does not want any prometheum leaving their sector of space. From what my scientists have told me this is most likely due to the fact that it is a very important component in the construction of Gallic engines. We were attacked by 10 separate Gallic patrols and were able to easily disable them due to our weapon system upgrades. After disabling the patrols engines and weapons we deployed some supplies to last them until other patrols could respond to their distress calls. The Atreyu sustained no damaged in any of the attacks.
We have now arrived at Willard and dropped off 500 units of the promethium as well as a dozen or so blue diamonds that we retrieved. There is much to explore in Gallic space and I have decided to try and find a path to Gallia through the border worlds instead of going through Kusari. We are stocking the ship now and waiting on additional crew because the journey could very well take several months.
Captain's Log: 08 September 822 A.S.
J. Scott, Commanding Officer SV-Atreyu, Corvo Class Science Ship
While at Willard Research Station in California we received a communication from Corinth Research Station in the Omicron Kappa system requesting that we transport some additional scientists to the station to assist with one of their projects. Since I was already had some scientists on board that needed to be transported to Frankfurt I agreed to continue on to the Omicrons.
The journey to Frankfurt was fairly uneventful other than a few Unioner attacks and a conversation with the captain of transport vessel who was asking some questions about the Atreyu. Once in the Omicrons our peaceful journey immediately took a turn towards nightmarish. Immediately upon entering Omicron Rho we were attacked by several Nomad scout ships. Luckily the upgraded shielding and weaponry on board the Atreyu gave us the upper hand in the multiple attacks we endured and we were able to get the scientists to Corinth safely.
Once on Corinth one of the local scientist aboard told me that he had picked up some unusual energy readings in the Omicron Delta system in sector 3E. Since we were only one jump away I decided to take the ship to Delta and investigate the anomalous readings. Upon entering Delta we were again attacked by small patrols of Nomad scout ships which were quickly dispatched.
Within an hour of entering Omicron Delta our long range sensors picked up what appeared to be a station within the Edge Nebula near the coordinates we were given. Wary of Nomad activity I ordered the crew to man their battle stations and prepare for a possible attack. Once in visual range the station immediately began firing nomad weaponry at the Atreyu however initial damage to the ship was negligible. I prepared to reverse course to get out of range of the station's weapons and ordered the science officer to conduct a complete scan of the station.
Within seconds of initiating the scan the station launched multiple volleys of cruise disrupter missiles disabling our cruise engines. Unable to initiate the cruise engines I ordered engineering to divert auxiliary power to the engines and thrusters to get us away as quickly as possible. Before we could get any distance away from the station it launched dozens of fighter craft which immediately targeted the Atreyu's engines. Seconds after the initial fighter attack another wave of Nomad ships attacked this time led by a Nomad gunboat. At this time there were approximately 30 Nomad ships firing on the Atreyu and the shields began to buckle. Since there was no way to target that many ships or do any real damage to the Nomad gunboat I ordered that all power from the weapons be diverted to the shields. Despite the additional power the Atreyu's shielding collapsed under the enormous strain of dozens of Nomad ships coordinating their fire at a singular point of our shielding. At this time we began to suffer massive amounts of hull damage and repair crews could barely seal off one section of the ship before it suffered hull breaches in other sections. Luckily by this time we were out of range of the stations weapons and our cruise engines had been reinitialized. I immediately set course for the Omicron Kappa jump hole and launched every available countermeasure at my disposal to prevent our engines from being disrupted.
The Nomad fleet followed us for a short time but never engaged their cruise engines to pursue us. It would seem their entire purpose was to protect that station and keep anyone from discovering it's purpose. By the time we reached the Omicron Kappa jump hole our cruise engines had failed due to the damage we sustained in the battle. Hull integrity was barely hovering over 30%, shielding was non-existent, weapons were offline, and life support had failed on multiple decks. One of the hull breaches was located in the section of the ship containing our medical bays so our ability to treat wounded crewman was reduced to basic first aid and triage.
The journey through the jump hole to Kappa was terrifying due to the lack of shielding/structural integrity of the ship and it seemed that the gravimetric forces within the jump hole were going to tear us in half. Upon exiting in the Kappa system we discovered that our engines suffered even more damage and not only did we not have cruise engines or thrusters, but our impulse engines were limited to 25 kps.
I immediately set course for Livadia Shipyard as it was the closest station available and sent out emergency distress calls on every available frequency. Fortunately not long after the first distress call a Zoner patrol responded and escorted the crippled Atreyu to Livadia. Initial reports indicate that we lost 10 scientists, 15 crewmen, the entire medical, survey, and research teams. Engineers at Livadia believe that they can get the engines, weapons, and hull repaired however due to the design of our shield systems they will have to be repaired at Baltimore Shipyard. Once basic repairs are completed at Livadia I am going to take a skeleton crew and travel back to New York without the benefit of shielding.
Captain's Log: 17 September 822 A.S.
J. Scott, Commanding Officer SV-Atreyu, Corvo Class Science Ship
The last week after our encounter with the Nomads has been fairly quiet. The brilliant engineers at Livadia Shipyard were able to get the Atreyu into flying condition again although we still did not have shielding when we left the shipyard. Prior to leaving Livadia I sent a communication to Atka Research Station in the nearby Sigma-17 system to see if we could replace some of our damaged modules and equipment. Despite the station being on the edge of explored space they were very well supplied. My guess is that with it being funded by Cryer they can purchase nearly anything they should need.
The teams aboard Atka were able to replace our reconnaissance module and medical equipment very quickly and at a fair price. We were also able to embark several new additions to the crew including researchers, survey teams, and medical personnel. All of the new crew members have extensive experience in deep space exploration and should do very well on the Atreyu.
The journey to Baltimore from Atka was fairly uneventful and there is not much to report. The Atreyu suffered minor damage to the hull and weapons turrets from stellar debris, but Baltimore shipyard repaired the damage in a matter of hours. Shield repairs also went much quicker than expected. The problem ended up being an burned out power coupling in the aft shield emitters that was causing the entire system to short out. I was worried that the entire shield system would have to be replaced and I am thankful this is not the case.
For the time being we are going to stick to House space while the crew gets to know each other. Hopefully this will also give the crew an opportunity to set up their research labs and enjoy some shore leave while we are in Liberty.
Captain's Log: 19 October 822 A.S.
J. Scott, Commanding Officer SV-Atreyu, Corvo Class Science Ship
While orbiting Planet Manhattan in the New York system we received several distress calls from sector B-5 in the New York system. I immediately ordered the helm to set a course for that location at maximum cruise. Within minutes long range sensors were picking up dozens of ships engaged in battle near a newly constructed Rogue station. Once within visual range the comm officer sent out a system wide broadcast advising the embattled ships that we were only there to render medical assistance to all parties.
By the end of the battle we had taken on several hundred wounded survivors from both sides of the battle. Unfortunately many life pods were either destroyed or captured by the opposing sides in the battle. Once the battle was over we set course for Planet Manhattan so that the wounded could be offloaded to waiting hospitals for further treatment.
Over all the rescue operations went quite smoothly. However, near the end of the battle our sensors detected several anomalies that could not be explained at the time. During one such period of anomalous readings every ship within a 6km radius suddenly had their shields drained. Thinking we had been struck by an anti-shielding weapon I ordered engineering to activate the shield batteries in order to return power to the shields. Engineering tried multiple times to charge the shield banks with out any luck. It turns out that the Atreyu's shields were not drained at all; instead the entire shield system was taken offline. Once we realized this we reinitialized the shields and as of yet have not encounter this anomaly again.
I intend to take the Atreyu back to sector B5 with a survey crew and see if we cannot locate the exact source of this anomaly so that we may study it further.
Captain's Log: 19 October 822 A.S.
J. Scott, Commanding Officer SV-Atreyu, Corvo Class Science Ship
The Atreyu has spent the last three days in sector B5 of the New York system attempting to locate the anomaly that disrupted our shields during the battle near the rogue station. As of now we have not found any evidence of an anomaly in that location. My chief scientist believes that it may have been a new type of weapon that was being tested on board the rogue station. I do not believe the weapon poses much of a threat at the moment because it affected all ships in the area and not just the attacking vessels. We will continue to monitor developments and comm chatter to see if there are any other reports of such a device, but for the time being I am suspending our research into it.
I have received a message from an old friend on Cambridge asking if I could take some Medstasis bands to a researcher in the Provence system. From what I have been told the Provence system is quite extraordinary and would be an excellent system for the crew to enjoy some shore leave. After taking on 400 stasis bands into the cargo bay I set course for the Provence system via Dublin, Edinburg, Orkney, and Langeudoc.
Our journey started out quite uneventful and the cruise engines were making good time as we crossed system after system. While in Edinburg long range sensors detected a Royal Navy Cruiser that appeared to be following standard patrol pattern. Not knowing if the ship was going to present itself as hostile or not I ordered the helm to make sure we stayed well out of it's patrol path. Luckily the cruiser didn't seem interested in us and the rest of the trip through Edinburg was fairly boring.
Orkney on the other hand proved to be a completely different situation. Not long after we entered the Orkney system we encountered a large patrol of Royal Navy gunboats. Knowing that there was no way around them I hailed the lead ship and stated our intentions and awaited a reply while maintaining cruise speed. After what seemed like ages we finally received a reply from the Royal Navy. Unfortunately, the reply we received was volley after volley of cruise disrupter missiles. I immediately ordered countermeasures to be deployed and began evasive maneuvers. The first few missile volleys were stopped by the countermeasures but one disrupter made it through immediately dropping us from cruise speed. I ordered the helm to engage full thrust and continue to evade the incoming fire while our engineering crews worked to restore the cruise engines. Within a few minutes we were able to reinitialize the cruise engines and set a course for the Languedoc jump hole. Once we began powering up the cruise engines I again ordered that countermeasures be deployed with one small change. Instead of waiting for a missile lock system I decided to deploy countermeasures as rapidly as possible until we were out of cruise disrupter range. Luckily, this gave us just the head start we needed to escape through the Languedoc jump hole.
Once we arrived in Languedoc I assessed the damage to the Atreyu; shields were holding however we had used the entire supply of shield batteries, hull integrity was at 87% with our nanobot capacity reduced to 1/2, and our countermeasure supply was down to 23. Accessing the long range sensors I identified a station orbiting a planet near our location and set a course for it. Once we were in communication range of the station it was identified as Lodeve Space Port and operated by the GMS. They agreed to allow my ship to dock just long enough to replenish our supplies, but would not allow any of the crew to disembark other than myself. Since this seemed to be our only option I agreed to their restrictions.
After resupplying we set course for the Provence jump hole. While at cruise speed we detected several Royal navy patrols which were luckily too far away to cause us any problems. Once we made the the jump to Provence it was clear to me that the stories I had heard about the system vastly underrated it. The Mer Mediterainee nebula was simply stunning and I am looking forward to studying it while we are in Provence.
The ship is now docked at the Monte Carlo Freeport while we wait to transport our Medstasis bands to our contact in the system. While we wait many of the crew have taken shuttles to the various resorts, liners, and casino's that are located in the system. While the ship is quiet and there is nothing that requires my immediate attention I believe I will relax in my quarters for a while. After the last year these few days in Provence may be my first official "vacation" even if I don't leave the ship.
Captain's Log: 19 October 822 A.S.
J. Scott, Commanding Officer SS-Endeavor, Corvo Class Science Ship
It has now been one month since we arrived in the Provence System. While in the system I reached out to my contacts in Gallia to try and get approval from The Crown to operate my ship as a research vessel in Gallia. My hope was that if this was a approved I would be able to explore the various nebulas and anomalies within Gallia and gain a better understanding of this sector. As of now we have not received any communication from the authorities one way or another despite having to pay an insanely large administration fee of $250 million credits. Luckily numerous benefactors have donated to our cause so funding for our mission has not been affected by this.
Since it doesn't appear that we will receive and approval/disapproval in the near future I have decided to depart Provence and head back home. I have also renamed the SV-Atreyu to the SS-Endeavor which was an ancient earth research ship. I feel that the ships new name better reflects our continued mission of scientific discovery and exploration. I am also beginning to raise funds for the purchase of a Civilian carrier to be used for longer exploration missions. While this is still in the planning stages I believe that it will be a great asset for exploring edge worlds.