[Date: 01/01/800 A.S.] [Error]
[Personal log of John Blackwell: #001]
[Title: Blah.]
First of all, note to self: Next time you're able, fix your ship clock.
I've been out here alone for quite a while, and stuff like this is supposed to help your sanity, right? Things have been interesting lately, anyways, so might as well jot down thoughts. Chances are no one is going to read this, but for the sake of studying my own psychology, I'd say its worth the time. But who knows, maybe some day it'll go in my biography, if that's ever a thing. Nothing else to do while traveling, anyways.
Ha, a biography. That's cocky, even for me.
Today- If it was today- Again, my clock got reset when I disconnected the power while tuning the ship. Today, things got a bit... Exciting?
I've been working, hauling boring crap from place to place. Buying cheap selling high. But sometimes, there's these deals that are just too good to resist. Stuff the navy dosn't like you having, and its worth alot. That, and the escape pods I pull from the idiots who try to rob me. Usually, its easy to just avoid the LN.
But- Today, one of their more experienced guys, some ace named Jason something, scanned my cargo while I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. The guy demanded I drop the cargo- And I had alot of value stored. So...
So I did something stupid.
I ran. I blocked his first cruise disruptor with a flare, and tried to gun it- But he hit me with a second shot, and that's where things got fun. He wanted to arrest me, but after all, this is me we're talking about. He had disrupted the trade lane, so I tried to make it to the next ring down. I flipped around, rammed the fool and disoriented him, and boosted off. I hit him with a cruise disruptor of my own, and once his had worn off, I engaged my cruise, and made it to the trade lane. He tried to follow, but I made it off his sensor range. Pretty sure he gave up after that. Probably pretty embarrassed.
All in all, it was a success. I made it to my destination and got a great price for the stuff, but I'm wondering if this is going to become a problem...
Hopefully, the navy has bigger problems than a cunning smuggler. Probably too busy with the Hellfire Legion to remember me.
But, to be honest, I had fun. Outrunning the navy- What a rush. And it paid well.
I think i could get used to this...
[Log end.]
[Date: 06/10/823 A.S.]
[Personal log of John Blackwell: #002]
[Title: Sonofa-]
Gladly, this log was recovered from the [Censored] crash. Oh, and now my [Censored] ship is bleeping me out.
I was smuggling some stuff through Manchester, when this [Censored] Liberty Navy ace comes through. Well, I try to keep my distance- But of course, he comes up to me and asks me to stop so he can scan me.
Well, I just say "Okay", and casually keep moving. Stupid idea, but stopping was the only alternative.
So, he catches on, and that's where things get messy. He chases me down, disables my cruise pretty quickly, despite me trying everything I can. I try the trade lane, he takes that down.
So, I try to run to the next trade lane, but that wasn't working. I circle around the guy, and make a run for an asteroid field nearby. He just kept following me, and he seemed to find humor in it. Eventually, I got to the field, tried using the asteroids for cover to get my cruise going, but no luck. He gives up trying to get me to stop, and he opens fire. I didn't want to hurt the guy- I just kept trying to get away, but I had no luck. I kept dodging, but it wasn't long before something went wrong.
I had to eject, and the ship was torn to bits- His weapons shredded the armor like a cheese grater, and it slammed into an asteroid after I bugged out.
He pulled me into a holding cell on his ship- And, it was a little bit awkward.
The guy was actually kinda nice. We talked a bit. Despite circumstances, I enjoyed talking to another human, who wasn't trying to haggle with me.
As it turns out, the mother[Censored] was apparently the top ace of the Liberty Navy- Lieutenant Commander Avery Reeves. I'd heard some talk about the guy before. Some kind of top gun fighter pilot.
Judging from how well I did against the guy- I must be even better than I realized.
Overall, it was actually kinda exciting. My first time being arrested by the navy.
He dropped me off at an LN station not far from there, where they asked me a bunch of questions.
We actually kept radio contact. Talked for a while, because apparently he dosn't think I'm as awful a person as he had expected.
I think space is getting to me. I said alot more to him than I probably should have. But, he was pleasant company. Not too harsh on the eyes, either- Taken of course, though. All the good looking ones are taken-
Anyways-
Somehow, I get the feeling this isn't the last time we'll bump into eachother.
Anyways, gladly, I was able to afford a cheap replacement ship. I went back and recovered as much as I could to install on the new sunburst, but most of it I had to just re-tune. I was able to make up most of the cost selling what I didn't need on the new ship, and the scrap I couldn't use.
Shouldn't be too much a set-back.
Oh, and a note to self: Try "Ice cream". Avery mentioned his wife liked it, and from how he described it, it sounds good.
He seemed rather bewildered when I told him I'd never had any.
Must have had cows, on his home colony- He said it was some kind of dairy based stuff.
Heh, I was just like- "How the hell do you cream ice?"
Aaaanyways-
[Log end.]
[Date: 06/22/823 A.S.]
[Personal log of John Blackwell: #003]
[Title: Calm Before the Storm?]
It has been a little while since I've paid attention to this. My slice of the galaxy has been quiet. Uneventful, mostly. I've been handling simple shipments, and I've about made enough to make up for my recent losses.
I spent a little bit of time on Manhattan. Nice place. Im more comfortable in space though. It's infinitely more interesting, and on the ground I tend to feel a little less comfortable.
Lately I've had plenty of time to rest. I think I might be getting rusty though. Not enough action, lately. But the quiet is nice.
Hopefully it isn't just calm before a storm.
But with my luck, simply thinking that nothing will go wrong probably eliminated every alternate time line in the fifth dimension in which things don't go wrong.
But for now... I'll just be enjoying the quiet.
[Log end.]
[Date: 07/21/823 A.S.]
[Personal log of John Blackwell: #004]
[Title: Combat training, and nutty ideas.]
So, yesterday was educational. I guess. Met this pirate guy, apparently a real good dogfighter. So, we struck an agreement- He's on better terms with outcasts than I am, apparently. Got him to take me to Omicron Alpha, and buy some Cardamine for me to transport. (I had alot more cargo space than he had on his fighter, of course.) Along the way, he showed me all kinds of interesting things. Jump holes, mostly.
On the way, we found the remains of the Hispania. It was near our Cardamine source, so I hid in the wreckage, to throw off the outcast patrols.
So, he fills up my cargo and gets a small load for himself. It went mostly smooth, but we actually ran into some Gallic forces. A battleship just out of range, actually- But gladly, that didn't go badly. Once we got to Liberty space, we laid low and took jump holes.
Things almost went to hell- We nearly ran into a fricken Liberty battleship. Gladly, they were busy with that Gallic incursion. So, overall, it went well. The guy taught me to quickdock, and we made a good deal on the haul.
Afterwards, he challenged me to join him in a flight sim, and do some dogfighting practice. He taught me alot, mostly basic stuff though. But, it was helpful. And, I almost beat the guy once-
As for the rest- I almost decided to rob a guy a while back, but it went pretty pitifully. He entered a trade lane before I could even say "Howdy!".
With what that guy taught me- Well, maybe I can pull it off smoothly, some day. I bet there could be big money, there.
Hm. I don't know.
Avery would probably be pretty disappointed...
But, I'm not gonna hurt anyone- I mean, hopefully it goes smoothly...
Anyways, on another topic- I've been exploring systems lately, and I've found some weird stuff. Jump holes to far out systems. And some other stuff- I'll check it all out, some day.
For now, Im just gonna sit back a while, though.
[Log end.]
[Date: 08/22/823 A.S.]
[Personal log of John Blackwell: #005]
[Title: Been a while.]
I've been neglecting this. I spent a little vacation on the ground, for a while.
So, alot has happened. I was contacted by this weapons dealer, to help with shipments. Nothing has been agreed to or discussed yet, because I think the guy is busy, but it sounds like a rather profitable operation. They aren't on good terms with Liberty, though.
Actually, they were wanting me to help with stirring up a little trouble for them. It sounded like fun, but I'm not really sure where we're going with it.
So, lets see... What else.
Oh, right. I met up with that pirate again. Apparently he calls himself 'Pheonix', or something. We snooped around, caused some mischief in outcast space. Out there, we saw some interesting stuff- We happened to run into a... Situation with the Order, and the Auxesians.
Kinda funny. I was carrying around some alien organism samples. Very few, but they got pretty upset over that. Funny thing, though. They got upset about it, but Phen ended up getting in trouble for it. I don't think I told him about it prior- He seemed pretty pissed off. Eh, anyways, he bugged out after a while, I stuck around. As it turns out, Avery was there. Wasn't expecting that at all. I sat and watched, listening to the tense diplomacy over the comms. Eventually they got annoyed with my presence, so I bugged out.
Aside from that, things have been pretty quiet. I've been making shipments back and forth from time to time.
I've been looking around new places, exploring the galaxy. I think I'm going to start going further and further out, soon.
Anyways.
[Log end.]
[Date: 10/04/823 A.S.]
[Personal log of John Blackwell: #006]
[Title: Upgrade time.]
So, I've been neglecting this again. A while back, me and a guy in a liner were transporting some casualties from Bretonian space, over to a medical center. That was nerve racking, because we had no proper medics for on-board triage. It went well though- Not too many people died on the way.
Got to talk to Avery briefly, over comms.
Aside from that, things have been pretty quiet.
I've been out here trading for a while, and taking some bounties here and there. I think it's time I upgraded though. Pretty soon I'm buying a bomber, and maybe from there I can go for bigger prey. Maybe pirate some transports. Won't be hurting anyone, so what's the harm? It's about time I got a nicer ship than the sunburst, I guess.
[Log end.]
[Date: 10/06/823 A.S.]
[Personal log of John Blackwell: #007]
[Title: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.]
The log is silent, for a few moments. A bit of shuffling can be heard, before the speaker takes a deep breath.
Okay... I... Don't even know what to say, really.
Um... I'm still a little shaken.
I'm alright, though. The people of Barrier gate station have been hospitable. They helped me after they found me.
Where do I start...
Alright... Where I left off... Lets see.
I got that bomber. A waran, heavy bomber outfitted with EMP cannons and dual Nova torpedos. It's a nice ship. Well, it was. I was exploring out in the Coronado ice fields, when I found something strange. It was this... Ancient looking jump gate. I don't know where it was from, but it wasn't Liberty, Gallic, or anything. There was a bit of wreckage around it.
So... I went in. It lead to the Drake system, and I explored. The place was odd. Bits of wreckage and debris everywhere, and scattered weapons platforms.
I looked around for a while, seeing some radar signatures in the distance. Eventually, I slowed down to look at something.
These ships started showing up. Unknown signatures, but they looked like Rheinland and Kusari, mostly. They had strange weapons, and they packed a punch, so I kept moving.
I checked out this odd station. It opened fire, and took down my shields, and a few dozen ships showed up and chased me off.
Eventually I found a jumphole to Newcastle. It was heavily defended, but I fought my way through, taking down weapons platforms. There were at least twenty of the ships, and I was taking a beating. I made it through and retreated to Newcastle, where there were a handful more of them scattered about an ice field. I was able to get away from them, into open space, where I was finally safe.
I repaired my ship with the last nanobots I had left, and let my shields recharge. I relaxed for a few minutes, and it seemed the worst of the day was over.
I spotted a trade lane in the distance, and went for it. Along the way, there was this guy with a police ID, and he was being attacked by a few dozen fighters- Mollys, Golden Chrysanthemums, and rogues, it looked like. His shields were down and he was taking quite a bit of damage, so I stepped in and helped him mop them up.
I needed repairs badly, and the people of the area didn't seem to like me. I had a handful of fighters gang up on me, and I barely escaped. I limped back to where I started, losing power, going through Baffin, eventually back to Coronado. That's when... Well...
As I made my way back to Border Gate Station, I got a ping on my comms. He was registered "K'Hara". I think his name was... Kal... Something. I don't remember...
He was asking about my presence there... He seemed angry. I think he... I think he came from the Drake system. I undocked again, and foolishly went to investigate where the ancient jump gate was... When I got hit with a cruise disruptor. I stopped... This strange... Ship, I guess, came close. It looked like... I can't even describe it. He contacted me again... Said something about... "Enlightenment", and made a threat. I... I suspected what he was...
I tried to leave, and he seemed disgusted. He followed me a short ways, before opening fire. I tried to escape, but he had those strange weapons- They melted through my ship's armor, and I had to eject. I think he assumed I died in the crash...
Later, the people at the base found my escape pod, and brought me back along with what was left of my Waran.
They told me that the... K'Hara was a Nomad. I'd never seen one before... But I've heard horrifying things.
I just...
I hope I'm not somehow infected... He left. Maybe he assumed I was dead. I just hope the weapons couldn't have done something...
I don't know.
There's a brief moment of silence. The speaker takes a deep breath, before speaking again.
I just need to relax. The people here have helped a bit. I'm having my ship repaired. I'm just a little shaken.
I don't know when I want to go back out there.
[Log end.]
[Date: 10/26/823 A.S.]
[Personal log of John Blackwell: #008]
[Title: Getting better every day.]
The navy finally gave me back my personal log. I really screwed up this time...
Since last entry, I've made some progress. Fully repaired and armed my bomber. I've been able to pirate a couple of Liberty corporation transports, and made a few credits. Gladly everything had been going smoothly.
At least until a couple days ago. Jesus-
*The speaker sighs, and after a brief pause, laughs.*
Oh man. What a week.
So, I just came from Texas to New York, and happened across this smalltime civillian transport. No big deal, but there was something going down in Texas.
Long story short, I end up opening fire on this transport, not too far from the jump gate.
Big damned mistake, apparently.
So, out of the Texas jumpgate comes THREE. Repeat, THREE Liberty battleships.
THREE OF THEM.
Their IFFs tagged them Durango, Salem, and Mount Hood, two of which I'd already heard rumors about.
They immediately spotted me, and ordered me to stop attacking. Seeing as I wanted to live, I did as they said, but I was pretty screwed. They questioned me, and foolishly enough, I took the first minor distraction I could to make a run for it, to the next trade lane.
I made it, but they followed me, and I left the lane half way in to make a break for the badlands.
They kept on my tail, but I managed to dodge all cruise disruption, and made it to the asteroid field, which slowed them down significantly.
Not enough, though.
One of them decided to go back to more important duties eventually, and I had almost outrun them, when I left the field, and got stupid. It seemed they were about to catch up to me again, when I got an idea that, in retrospect, was absolutely moronic.
Instead of continuing back to the Texas jumpgate, which was ahead, I doubled back, going straight towards the Mount Hood for a close flyby.
The rest is easy to guess. As I tried to circle around, they pretty much scrapped the Plymouth, and tractored my pod in. They took me to Manhattan for questioning, and held me there for a while, but eventually released me. No real harm was done, after all.
As exciting as all this was, something worries me, though. I've been hearing talk of Nomad sightings around Liberty, and I could have sworn I saw one stalking us in the badlands, that day. A big one. It could be my imagination, but...
I don't know. The Nomads still just scare me a little. And they're always out there.
Talk has been circulating more and more, and it seems like every time I hear about a sighting, it's always closer to house space than the last.
But anyways...
I'm still having the Junkers piece the Plymouth back together at Rochester, and for now, I'm just making trade runs.
I've been hearing news about a situation in Gallia. They might be hiring transports to take cargo to Council space, and it could be very profitable. I think I'll look into that.
THREE Liberty battleships though, man. To be honest, I was pretty excited, and I did excellent in the chase. If not for the stupid move, I'd have gotten away... But yea. Getting better every day, huh?
Anyways...
[Log end.]
[Date: 11/04/823 A.S.]
[Personal log of John Blackwell: #009]
[Title: Less depressing]
Recording.
Shockingly nothing particularly bad has happened for a few days. That's a nice change of pace.
Everything has been going very smoothly, actually.
Lets see...
Since last log, I've had the Plymouth repaired. I actually made some small upgrades, particularly to the avionics. The Junkers are starting to like me more and more. Maybe it's just how much I've paid them in repairs.
*He laughs a bit, and pauses to remember.*
So, business has been going well. Succesfully pirated a small group of miners, and some smaller targets. Haven't made more than modest credits yet, but it's decent. Enough to keep myself fed, certainly.
The other day was an interesting change of pace, out in Rheinland space, I believe. There was a trading ship marked Royce Taylore, which I decided to lure away from the trade lanes with the false offer of a special deal. Turns out they didn't have all that much, but they made me an interesting offer. In exchange for an escort, they would pay me more than I initially asked for, paying partially in advance.
Admiring their entrepreneurial attitude, I gladly accepted their offer, and accompanied them to New London, and then back to Rheinland space.
It was mostly uneventful. We saw some strange things in the Omega systems.
Met with a bretonian, who didn't like me much. Zura and I- That is, the pilot of the Royce, talked a bit on our routes. Of particular interest was the discussion the three of us had about Nomads.
They didn't know too much about them, and Zura had never seen one up close, before.
Actually, that got me thinking about my encounter quite a bit. The Nomads are obviously very strange. The other two, and as it would seem, most of the galaxy, simply want to shoot them on sight. I'm more inquisitive, though. I don't want to start with unneeded hostility.
I find it fascinating that they communicate telepathically. When I met the K'Hara, I was obviously nervous. But at the same time, when they get into your head, it can be... Strangely soothing. It was pleasant, in an odd way, to feel that sharing of thoughts. And a total lack of dishonesty.
...I mean of course, all it wanted was to assimilate me, but it certainly wasn't going to lie.
As much as they scare me, I'm more curious than ever, now.
Perhaps I'll have opportunity for conversation again, some day...
Ah, but anyways. The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful, until the end. The Breton had left us. We got to New Berlin, and I guided Zura to Kreuzberg depot, as an ion storm was approaching. They got there before I did, and I got caught in the storm. I lost power, and rammed into some scrap metal, and gladly took very little damage. Once the storm was over, and the power came back up, I quickly docked at Kreuzberg. Turns out Zura was worried.
Heh, anyways. I set them up with Iron Scavenger, in case they wanted to make some diamond deals with him. And of course, an offer to be their escort any time they needed.
All in all, things have gone well recently.
Not sure if I should hope to, or not to see Nomads again. Well, anyways. The junkers let me have some space in the Kreuzberg hangar to sleep, instead of in my ship. It's actually nice to have some gravity, without having to put my ship in a spin.
*He yawns, and a bit of shuffling is heard.* Actually, some sleep sounds nice.
[Log end]
[Date: 12/08/823 A.S.]
[Personal log of John Blackwell: #010]
[Title: Diplomacy]
Recording.
I finally made my way back home. I had difficulty with some new residents of the surrounding systems, but after much infuriation, I made it to Gran Canaria. It's been ages, and no one there remembers me- Not that I ever knew many people. I suppose it's a fresh start. The zoners treat me well, despite this. The corsairs haven't been so hostile, either.
Feels kind of strange, being back home. These systems are less safe now, though...
When I first tried to come back, I had issues with numerous factions spreading about, here. The Core have a particular disdain for me, and things got nasty a couple of times.
And...
The Nomads. The Omicrons is where they're known to come from, of course. I was venturing out farther than usual, out to Omicron Beta. I ran into one of them out there, and he seemed quite unhappy with my presence. I made my way back to Omicron Xi, apologizing for my trespassing, but he followed me. The chase went on a ways, before he started firing and it got dangerous.
I ran to a base, hoping that would scare him away- It did not. I decided to fight, but it only ended badly. He destroyed the fighters and weapon platforms protecting the base, and I was taking alot of damage, even dodging most of his fire.
Apparently angry that I brought a Nomad to their base, the humans there opened fire on me, too, and I'd mostly lost my advantage there.
I didn't want to hurt him, still- But I needed to escape, and attacking seemed my last option- But in the end, I had to run. Eventually he gave up, as I headed back to Thira colony- All out of shield batteries and nanobots, and everything on the Plymouth was going critical.
As I understand them, the Nomads are benevolent, but they are absolute in their goals whether those they... Enlighten... Are willing, or not.
Diplomacy is hard.
I don't feel it's my place to integrate with them... Or, whatever such a process could be compared to, if anything. Not... Yet, anyways?
I still know so little about them. It may be unsafe, but I do wish to learn more- Perhaps communicate with more of them. They are absolutely fascinating. They still scare me, but I'm growing more and more curious.
I think I'll continue exploring. I've been very, very alone out here, though- I may try to contact people. Maybe gather information, or maybe just recruit some company for my travels. I dunno'.
Until next time...
*A series of electronic beeps and mechanical clicks, followed by the sound of engines roaring to life can be heard.*
[Log end]