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Lennox

01-27-2016, 06:16 PM
Black box entry #001; 27th of January, 823 A.S.; Reconnaissance Cruiser "OCV-Sanity"
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[Image: evora_shot.png]

This is Operative and current Captain of the Recon Cruiser Sanity, Johan Lennox. I'm starting this logbook in order to defy any possibility of losing data due to destruction of the ship, boarding attempts, infestation or other possibly harmful encounters with ships, unknown entities or other unknown anomalies. With that being said, this will not be your usual kind of logbook.

I don't know where to start. It has been two days since we left space dock in Omicron 100 and we've already had things happen that left most of my crew questioning their own beliefs and at some point that of mine as well. Especially when we encountered a yet to be identified lifeform, known as "Ish'tar", it almost came to a mutiny on the ship. But I knew the significance of that vessel and the possible threat coming from it just as much as anyone else. At some point I had to resort to putting my communication officer to the ship jail since he refused to send anymore messages out. While on edge, the rest of the crew saw my point at the end and decided to obey my orders. After all, shooting a lifeform nobody actually knows anything about as stupid as it can get. So we stayed and tried to communicate with said entity as long as possible. While that did in fact attract Kusari Naval Forces to the scene, we were lucky that their captains were considerate enough to not threaten us, as they were probably as thrown off by the unknown's presence as us. At the end, however, even LSF ships joined in and we had to make a run for it. It's always again incomprehensive to think about the amount of energy that "thing" put out. So much that even the LSF couldn't ignore it. After our...chat, I'm not sure if I should be worried or be thankful that it did actually share some of its knowledge with us. However, that's a topic that needs to be thought through thoroughly and therefore a "story" for another time. While the escape from Kusari was successful, the mental condition of my crew was way worse than I anticipated. Communicating with a strong telepathic entity like that takes its toll after all. I myself, however, still found myself healthy enough. Probably due to my previous experience with general psychological disorder and telepathic contact with the Nomads. That didn't change anything about feeling confused after said encounter...it almost felt like back then...

So, the event couldn't quite be placed anywhere yet but one thing it did confirm for sure was that, after all this time, we still know so little of the world around us. Perhaps it's not our time yet to do so, just like Ish'tar stated back then. But I'll be damned to sit idly by and wait for a miracle to happen, that I've sworn upon returning to the Order.

One day after the encounter with the entity "Ish'tar" we were, after fleeing from Kusari, on our way back to the Omicrons via the Sigmas. We were to rendezvous with an agent in Omicron Minor to talk about the status of House space, specifically Rheinland. It was no mystery to us that the situation there would continue to worsen, due to its weak state after the bloody war with Liberty. That opens up a whole new threat by "Das Wilde" through the Omegas and there's little the government itself can do to stop that. The agent also reported that nomad technology is being stored by the MND and worse, they are actually experimenting with it. While that is nothing new, the scale of said operations seems to have been increased a lot since Rheinland lost the war. I don't know what they are booking on by researching things they do not understand but it was clear that Rheinland should be our number one concern in fending off the Nomads from the colonies.

Then something questionable happened again while we were discussing the state of other Houses around Sirius. Out of nowhere the Normandy, a Navy tagged Valor which we probably know all too well emerged in Minor. We tried to contact the captain of the ship but they wouldn't tell us anything of where they are headed or what they are there for. But I guess they at least gave us the same old "none of your business" line...heck, I would have been satisfied with something like "keeping nomads at bay" or anything...

...

Then again...it's only my memories of that ship that make me feel like...that. That or the past of a former...friend of mine, if she's still alive, are also buried with that gallic ship, perhaps that's why I feel so wrong about it suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Anyway, this'll be the end of the first entry...

Logbook entry complete. Disable recording...

Lennox

01-29-2016, 09:53 PM
Black box entry #002; 29th of January, 823 A.S.; Reconnaissance Cruiser "OCV-Sanity"
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Continuation of logbook. Our vessel is currently parked at Freeport 11 in Omicron Delta. Since the last recording we've made a lot of progress in trying to understand the entity "Ish'tar", or at least its words. Reason for that is its appearance above Meskhenet station in Zeta when we were around, alongside a lost Freelancer name Kanae. Reason for its appearance were unknown. Just like when it appeared in New Tokyo, it didn't show any hostility towards anyone either. In fact, it even was able to completely disable Meskhenet's defense system and rendered the personnel aboard it consciousless. Other than that, nothing else happened. We talked, like before. However, this time it was different. It rather seemed like we found common ground to communicate at. The "formalities" weren't as hard to come by as they were before, so we got back on topic rather quickly. The endgame.

Now this is something I haven't really mentioned before. Back in New Tokyo the entity spoke of an endless cycle, where we would be caught in until we would evolve. Yesterday at Meskhenet it revealed to us the keystone to break free of said cycle. To be able to evolve and to then end the conflict with the Nomads, one way or another. While I can't really imagine how that would happen, I was given a name. "Lena". Ish'tar said that in order to evolve as a species we need her help. The entity called her transcendent as she seems to be different from normal people. Even the Wild couldn't be compared to her, as Ish'tar stated. While I'm not quite sure what to think about such information given by lifeform that is way superior to us in every regard, I do think it speaks the truth. However warped such truth may be...time will tell. For now our top priority is to find that Lena character. What happens after that, I do not know. I already issued a refit at space dock in Omicron 100 and contacted Overwatch Golanski.

I just hope we aren't too late...

End of entry. Recording finished...

Lennox

01-31-2016, 01:56 PM
Black box draft #003; 31th of January, 823 A.S.; Freeport 11
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Additional entry, Johan Lennox. It has been about six hours since I landed on the Freeport and no sleep so far. While it went rather quiet after the successful defense of Freeport 11 and the system itself, I still can't quite believe that all that happened in such an instant. What was their reasoning...why now? It's been quite some time since I witnessed a battle this bad around the Omicrons, the closest memory to that being the fighting before the fall of Toledo. Yet that event was bound to come...we knew it beforehand, or at least felt it. This was something entirely different.

It all started with a discussion between Core and Order around the Freeport in Omicron Delta. The atmosphere was intense, heated up by the differences of opinions about what side would be superior. While the Order was heavily outnumbered, we were lucky the Zoners decided show up, encouraging everyone to remember the no fire zone around the station. For a moment I thought the Core would still insist on attacking despite them being quite outgunned by then. Eventually, though, they withdrew the majority of their ships back towards their site of the system. That was when the chaos started. Detecting suspicious activity to the south-west in the system, the fleet of Zoners, Order and even some Core ships went to investigate. Apparently long range scans couldn't detect any ships in the area, however, as soon as we arrived at said coordinates, Nomad ships appeared out of nowhere. While unclear if they either remained cloaked in that area to start a surprise attack or used pinpoint-accuracy jump drives to intercept, we soon found ourselves facing many, many more K'Hara than anticipated.

Everything went to hell at that point. It seemed the Nomads have started a full scale invasion of the system. They came in huge waves, with Marduks, Irra's, gunboats and fighters. However our fleet remained strong, giving the aliens a battle they would remember for quite some time. It was bloody war. Neither side had any intention to stop any time soon. When the fighting dragged on, Freeport 11 was reported to be under heavy attack. For the next dozens of waves we would see ourselves defending that station. It is what holds Delta together after all.

War. Whatever people say, until you've experienced it, there is no precise description of how it feels. When I fought in the battle yesterday, I thought for sure at some point that I wasn't gonna make it. When thinking about it, it seems like the battle didn't last that long. But every minute in the heat of it felt like an eternity. A hell that would never end. The Nomads exploited that and tried to invade our minds with their telepathy. It surely threw off some people in the fleet but I remained strong. Psychological warfare was something they could do quite effectively after all. And that was when the last attack came. A gigantic wave of Marduks and smaller vessels...raining havoc and destruction upon us. Luckily and thanks to the great ability of our fleet to coordinate, we managed to bring down those vessels as well. At that point the battle was over. Everybody started cheering and I found myself relieved. Couldn't quite believe that I made it through all of that. It was at that instance that I didn't feel any hostility towards the Core, or anything but the Nomads, really. Because if it wasn't for everyone combining their firepower and metal, we would have lost that battle for sure. While that won't ultimately change any relations between us and the Core, I found some form of respect that I haven't felt before. Regardless of that, though, we are still enemies and I'm sure that if we meet again today, it will start where it left off yesterday, before the fighting.

With that being said...I will take my rest now, been a long bloody day...

End of draft. Recording finished...

Lennox

02-04-2016, 03:14 PM
Black box entry #004; 2nd of February, 823 A.S.; Reconnaissance Cruiser "OCV-Sanity"
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Continuation of logbook. Added last entry to the black box as well. Finally the OCV-Sanity can leave space dock again. The sensor arrays have been upgraded which will allow for better collection of data, communication as well as the processing of strategic information. In addition to the ship receiving a major overhaul on the software, all interiors were reinforced to prevent any sort of depressurization or other internal damage caused by heavy weaponry or ballistics. It was prepared for the worst circumstances possible which I am pleased to see. We can't take any chances the way things are at the moment.

With that being said, we made some progress on the data gathered from the unknown entity Ish'tar. In addition we were contacted by a couple of freelancers regarding such matters, who let us in on some personal encounters with the entity as well as another factor in these lines of events. One of those freelancers is one I mentioned before. A pilot named Kanae Tsukiko. She was present at both appearances of the unknown lifeform in New Tokyo as well as the one in Omicron Zeta. These are the recordings from that conversation...

[+]Spoiler

Now, I'm not exactly sure what role Kate and that cruiser will play in the future, but if push comes to shove, we might just need their help. If anything, we most certainly need it from Kate. Her possible knowledge about all this might help us a great deal. I also have reason to believe that she has some information on Ish'tar as well. However little it may be, we need all the help we can get.

Indirectly connected to that seems to be a material called Azurite A6. The first time I personally encountered the substance was when we encountered a certain James Erzie, whose ship was slowly succumbing to the consuming effects of the azurite despite his best attempts to shield it and contain it as safely as possible. Back then in Omicron Mu he explained that the matter itself would be some sort of conduit for energy and neural transmissions. While obvious that the material is connected to the Nomads, we couldn't quite place its purpose. Thankfully, said person James Erzie decided to take it upon himself to continue his dangerous research aboard his ship and later on decided to join the Order to work on an answer together. While it's quite an achievement to have won him over for our "cause", we are still far from finding something useful, at least for now. Until that time comes, we will continue our runs through House space, especially Rheinland, and try to find out more. Maybe we can even find more of that material and people connected to it, so that we can at least have a general picture of what we're dealing with.

We will be heading out soon, so I will cut this short. Until then...

End of entry. Recording finished...

Lennox

02-04-2016, 10:16 PM
Black box entry #005; 4th of February, 823 A.S.; Reconnaissance Cruiser "OCV-Sanity"
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Continuation of logbook, Johan Lennox. We've just arrived back at space dock from our journey through House space and I've firstly got to praise my crew for their excellent performances today. Not a single member acting up in a matter of distrust or questioning my reasons, even after what we went through to get back here. And yet the danger isn't over.

It all started when we attempted to pass the Dresden system on our way home. While usually I tend not to overreact over some weird people flying ships they couldn't have possible gotten their hands on in a normal way, the pilot of this one proved to be quite interesting in the end, to put it low. The ship in question was a Coalition Storm gunboat of which I haven't really seen too many lately. In any case, the person called "Kole Buriet" seemed to know something about a weapon that is housed in her ship. A weapon belonging to the Nomads which seems to utilize Azurite A6 in a way. A material I recently took quite an interest in. She linked the azurite to an event that occured in New London, when Nomads attempted to invade the system but were pushed back by the military's presence. Then, in an attempt to get rid of the planetoid the K'Hara brought along, they mined it down until nothing was left. And as it turned out the material mined from that giant bolder was azurite itself. I had my doubts for a moment but as soon as she brought her Hegemon I knew that she might be in big trouble. After all it was a whole 2500 units...

It turned out my feeling about the azurite was correct after all. When we relieved Buriets ship of all the alien material, we stored up as much as we could and destroyed the rest. While the Reseph in its cargo hold doesn't offer special protection from the effects of azurite, I deemed it necessary for us to bring this substance as far away from the colonies as possible. We can only hope that the Sanity won't succumb to its effects and stay strong until we can load it off. After a short while of silence, we received unusual readings of our surroundings and soon were under attack by Nomads. I immediately had to think back to the day when we fended off the invasion fleet in Delta a couple of days ago. The readings from then weren't much different from the ones we picked up in Dresden. And so it happened that we had to fight for our lives to get out of the mess, since a mere Reseph cruiser was no match for gunboats, Irras and Marduks combined. Luckily we had a Hessian battleship helping out with this crisis and were able to thwart their interest in either us or the system itself. Together with the Hegemon, we left the system and continued to proceed towards the Omicrons. At this point I had already decided to bring Buriet along with us, as she stated before that she is wanted in Rheinland and Liberty. On our way through Frankfurt and the Sigmas we had a lot to talk about:

[+]Spoiler
[Image: sigma17_shot.png]

Upon arriving at the middle of Sigma 17 we encountered an Oracle. While I told Buriet to proceed to the Omicron Minor jumphole, we would stay and confront the mysterious figure. While at first, I thought the pilot of the "Witch" was sincere about their beliefs in peace and unity, our conversation soon took a turn for the worse however. Putting her cards openly on the table, the pilot said that the ways to achieve such peace were either to become a host for nomad incubi, or go through the troubles of experiencing massive genetical alteration through cardamine. While that person seemed very sure of herself, I stated my own opinion on that subject and eventually left the area. After all, there was nothing left to discuss there.

Now, the next set of communications will hold information of something I haven't heard or seen before. It is apparent that the Nomads have much more up their sleeve that I initially thought. Whether currently active or not or if it even exists, we need to quadruple our safety precautions in space or else that...thing, if real, will catch us off guard.

[+]Spoiler
[Image: freeport11_shot.png]

At the end of the day, we left Buriet to her business and left for space dock in Omicron 100. T'was a long day coming to an end and I was sure that if we left the azurite in our cargo hold for much longer, it might not be possible to be removed in the end. Currently the process is underway. After this is done, everyone will take their well deserved off-time until the Sanity is ready for action again. Now, since this entry is complete I want to speak out my thoughts of what I believe the connection between azurite and the Nomads is. It's a very powerful material resonating with a lot of neural energy as well as pure energy itself. I think that we're on the verge of witnessing a massive cross-Sirius invasion by the K'Hara. It seems like they delved into some form of hyperspace technology which enables them to travel freely through space without using jumpgates or jumpholes. The key for that to be possible seems to be Azurite A6, the material we collected a couple of hours ago. It somehow seems to create a field of energy, which can easily be traced by other Nomads, thus enabling them to jump vast distances in a matter of seconds. I'm not sure whether or not there is something I'm missing, but the azurite might be part of some sort of a "mobile hypergate" device, of which the big version was originally created by the Daam K'vosh. I do not know how sophisticated this technology is, or if it's even complete. Nontheless, it should be our top priority to find any traces of azurite and get rid of it as soon as possible. Be it by destruction or relocation. That being said...this only adds up to the many problems we're already facing...

Entry complete. Recording finished...

Lennox

02-05-2016, 11:47 PM
Black box entry #006; 5th of February, 823 A.S.; Reconnaissance Cruiser "OCV-Sanity"
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Continuation of logbook. Doctor James Erzie. Quite an interesting person. He knows a lot about azurite and anything else surrounding us or what we are working with or fighting against. Definitely one of the more gifted people I've talked to so far. He believes that azurite is something incomprehensibly powerful, something that can help us stop this war. Or so he says at least. However, I have reason to believe in what he says. For that reason, I've already made preparations for the field test we'll be running, as well as contacted the group of scientists he spoke of. "Ingenious", a bunch of Zoner scientists, who he believes are the only ones that can construct a certain piece of equipment needed to conduct the project. Additionally to the construction of that vessel, we will need to have some parts of the Sanity modified in order to meet the parameters the doctor told me about. I did already forward this to space dock and they began preparations, however, all of this leads me to believe that we're in for something we might not be able to understand...even Erzie himself. Call it a feeling...but things might not go the way they are planned.

With that being said, further explanation regarding the project is required. To start from scratch, it's an attempt to reverse the technology of the Nomads using azurite together with an active nomad power cell, which will create a warp event, through which the Nomads can travel a vast distance. As far as I understood, Erzie plans on seizing that opportunity to travel to the other end of said event. He called it a "white hole", the singularity he will travel through. Once on the other side, he intends to gather as much data as possible and then send it all back to us, using a specialized transmitter he will be preparing. Now, the bizarre part of this is that the doctor himself will most probably be stuck on the other side after this. If the field test actually turns out to be working, I have no idea what I'd do. On one hand I'm glad there are people like him who are not scared to offer their lives for the future of everyone else and give us a possibly big advantage but on the other it really hurts losing such a big asset to an even planned event like that. Especially considering how much I value his work and personality, I need to consider pulling him out of there if something goes wrong. We need to make sure we're prepared for everything that can happen. Especially with the Core and Nomads around...

That would be all for now. I will also attach the logs of our conversation, in case we need it for the future...

[+]Spoiler

Entry complete. Recording finished...

Lennox

02-08-2016, 11:13 AM
Black box draft #007; 8th of February, 823 A.S.; Dabadoru Station
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Continuation of logbook...at least if I can figure out where to start. Barely slept at all and am not really sure if I'm losing my mind right now or not. Anyway, Ish'tar appeared in Omicron Delta, as always making a grand entry infront of everyone around Freeport 11. T'was impossible to miss and although many different people and even Nomads gathered around it, the atmosphere felt a lot different from any encounter before. It was...peaceful, to a point where not even the K'hara were acting aggressively, or perhaps I was missing something the entire time?

Regardless, the entity showed us sequences in our minds about certain choices "available". While I always try to remember that, I as a human have to make my own choices in disregard of anyone else around I had felt somewhat drawn to the lifeform like never before. Perhaps it was just the desire to stop all the war that was pulling on me, or I felt awfully fond of Ish'tar itself...While this might sound odd, everything around it just seemed like that one beacon of hope...something that you want to hold onto and never let off again. Especially as the sequences started to form in a way I hadn't expected...regardless of the pictures shown, I had to stay strong. I can't and will not throw everything away I and everyone I worked with stand for, that I know for sure. Nontheless, a step forward for more understanding was something I'd never decline, for better or worse. However, nothing really happened. Apart from the entity stating that we have to "unchain" ourselves...as if meaning to put down our affiliations? I've not yet had much chance to think about it more clearly...but for then, there were more urgent matters to attend.

Like Doctor Erzie passing out during our "meeting" with Ish'tar. While I have a hunch about where he is traversing right now, I still can't quite believe that, out of nowhere, that woman appeared on the Talendar. At first I thought it would be some sort of AI that has gone sentient over a small amount of time but the more we talked, the more convinced I was that she was human. That said, the person stated that the last thing she remembered was her being with her son some fifty-or so years ago. While, other than that, I couldn't get much else out of her, I decided that it was time to take a breather...and think about it at another time. After all, the "conversation" with Ish'tar seemed to had taken quite a toll on both my mind and body...or it was something else. Regardless, this is all for now...

Draft complete. Recording finished...

Lennox

02-09-2016, 06:21 PM
Black box entry #008; 9th of February, 823 A.S.; Reconnaissance Cruiser "OCV-Sanity"
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Continuation of logbook, added last draft to the black box. I'm finally back on the Sanity after the weird series of events happening here and I can't really say it stopped until just recently. While I was preparing to return to the Sanity, that was still docked at Dabadoru station, I felt something similar to the day before. A vision calling out to me. It was almost the same I had seen the day before, in the encounter with Ish'tar. However, this was the first time I felt it from...far away. While I couldn't manage to make out its origin or anything that would help me understand the reason behind this second wave, it did nail something in my head. I had almost forgotten about the person that was shown the day before. She was shown again. That girl talking, I thought I would lose my mind. At that point I realized how much I had gotten used to the ways of the Order again. And it wasn't a good feeling.

While the Order's intentions are good, I can't really operate from the Omicrons. I've got to pick up the search again, find Lena and bring her somewhere safe. While I'm not sure if the person in the vision was actually her or not, it has to have a greater meaning. There's gotta be a reason why there was a second 'transmission'. Perhaps it's even connected to the search for Lena, as I know that Ish'tar spoke of her earlier. With that said, I believe that with my great crew and strong effort, we have a good shot on finding that woman, one way or another. We'll be setting sails in about thirty minutes and I don't intend on coming back here without progress...

Entry complete. Recording finished...

Lennox

02-13-2016, 11:11 AM
Black box entry #009; 13th of February, 823 A.S.; Freeport 11
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Continuation of logbook...came back earlier than I expected to. I don't really know what I expected from just heading off on our own with no information about Lena's whereabouts whatsoever. Although, I had already taken measures in gathering information, it still eluded me how a person like her could hide so well. When I thought about it, it wasn't really a surprise. Space is big after all and tracking people down can sometimes prove to be impossible to a certain degree.

Upon returning, the status of doctor Erzie hadn't changed. He would still be locked in that stasis pod with no easy way to release him. Yesterday, though, I found out that even if we were to break stasis, his mental condition could prove to be lethal once released. So for that time being we left him where he was.

With that, I had another thing to worry about. The mental state he was and currently still is in might have been caused by the entity Ish'tar, his 'thread' pulled out of his body, not showing any sign of neural activity, as if his consciousness was at a different place. At least that's how I interpreted Kole's visions. The person I had brought with me from Rheinland on the way back to the Omicrons. I also had reasons to believe, that perhaps out of concern, Erzie himself cut the connection with Kole, as soon as she saw something meaningful. While I can't prove that his intention are still the same as before, I also can't imagine him becoming a malicious minded individual all of the sudden, despite of what Overwatch might say...

Regardless of their statement, or what the next move of the Order will be, I will follow my own leads and clues to realize what's happening in Sirius. For better or worse I might be able to pick up a lead here and there regarding Erzie and Lena, and find a connection between them and recent events. With that said, this is it for now...

Recording finished...

Lennox

02-16-2016, 03:12 PM
Black box entry #010; 16th of February, 823 A.S.; Assault Carrier "OCV-Eclipse"
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*click* This is former first officer and now captain of both the Eclipse and Sanity, Jim Reynolds. I will be in command of said vessels as well as two snubcraft carrying the name "Genesis" in the future. I will be continuing where my superior left off until he returns.

Starting with the departure of Lennox, his reasoning was vague at best. He wants to gather information where the Order could not and contact us if he found anything. That's the explanation I was given along with my new title as captain. Still getting acquainted with it. Although, Lennox's ideals might look weird to other members of the Order, I will continue holding them. His view on the situation of Sirius is quite unique compared to people I've met before, especially in the Order. That said, he probably knows what he's doing with that special 'mission' of his own.

To confirm that, I've already received some information regarding a massive attack on New York. Apparently a Nomad fleet was able to travel there unnoticed. While he couldn't send me many details, it was noticed that a more advanced lifeform was apparently leading the charge. One we all know too well of. The question remains, why did it bother 'talking' to us beforehand. To create confusion, manipulate certain people? Certainly shady stuff, yet confirmed again by yesterdays incident in Omicron Delta, when the entity Ish'tar appeared again, this time openly attacking with a small fleet of its own.

It probably means that there is a lot more to come...and we might not be prepared for it. Time will tell, for the only thing we can do right now is to have our scientists analyze the situation and hope for some answers. That and maybe book on possible information Lennox can gather. Until then, we will resume usual duty in the Omicrons. Reynolds out. *click*
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