Discovery Gaming Community

-Logbook protocol initiated-
--Beginning run-up processes--
...
...
--Database successfully opened--
---Load entry sequence---
'Welcome Commander Falthion...what is it you would like to do?
Available selections are as follows: Logbook Setup, View Archives, New Entry, Edit Entry, Transfer Entry.'
"Activate Logbook Setup menu please..."

'Affirmative sir. Accessing Logbook Setup menu now.'
...
...
...
'Available selections are as follows: Change User Title/Name, Security, Purge Records - {Operation code required}.'
"Change User Title/Name please."

'Change User Title selected. Available selections are as follows: Change User Title, Change User Name.'
"Change User Title please."
'What would you prefer to be called, sir?'
"Heh, now we're getting direct. Just 'Mr.' for now please...yes, that's all. Just Mr. Falthion."
'Affirmative sir. Title changed to one 'Mr. Falthion.' What else would you like to do sir? Available selections are as follows: Logbook Setup, View Archives, New Entry, Edit Entry, Transfer Entry
"I'd like to make a new entry, please."
'Affirmative, {New Entry} selected, dated 07.10.818 A.S.'
"Note to self: Figure out how to make the options setup on this book less roundabout, and more like MARY's protocols. Furthermore, once I am able to upgrade her to A.I. status, maybe she will know. A Virtual Intelligence is only as good as its programmer and user. Now for the real deal...Oh! I almost forgot, please entitle this as Entry #1: Rebirth before I forget."
'Affirmative sir. Entry numbered and titled #1: Rebirth.'
*Recompiling log entry for change to take effect*
...
...
...
*Recompilation complete* 'Sir, the updated entry appears as follows:'
Entry #1: Rebirth



Wow... I have not entered anything in here for what must be years. Ever since I had been taken hostage by those no good mercenaries in Kepler......Bah, I don't want to think about that now, bad memories, and I'll put that in a definitive 'Archive' all by itself on a later date for the sake of reflection. To business: I'm finding myself in late Colonel Savoy's position more and more, with the exception that I feel as if I'm becoming a little more ostracized by my comrades each day, aside from Golanski and Frederick. We've had so many new recruits come into The Order as of late, but not one has shown any relevant interest in helping out with our studies in Research and Development, or extensive reconnaissance in the 42nd.

I understand we need the front line guard there to help fight off the BHG, Nomads, and any Outcasts, Phantoms, Pirates, Smugglers, the rare Corsair who's so outspoken s/he has a physical outburst towards us, or other undesirables who decide to intrude into our home. I for one, while I was not present at the incident in question, feel our shattering alliance with the majority of the Corsair empire is and will be a mistake that haunts us in the future. Yes, while I do not agree with all of their practices, such as Artifact smuggling - I'll delve into the dangers of that in a later entry. At any rate, I feel that we're limiting ourselves in this fashion, and it's eventually going to take a serious chunk out of our backsides as a whole.

Just look at how strained we are at keeping the Bounty Hunters Guild out of our own home! At the going rate of our dwindling supplies, we're going to crumple from within sooner or later! We cannot sustain these damages and repairs to so many craft at such a rapid rate. Our engineers, as talented as they are, have to eat and sleep at the very least, and they're pressed to do those simple requirements needed to live! Argh...it is simply...overly frustrating to see us spiral like this. Perhaps my view is limited, maybe we are okay, but I continue to feel that High Command is not looking at the picture as a whole. We need support confound it! Yes, the Zoners have gone above and beyond what could and should have been asked of a normal ally, but we cannot continue to press them too! Sooner or later the BHG will take a stance against them supplying us - even though it remains secret for now, how long can they remain covert and 'neutral'? We're putting good people in a hard place unnecessarily because of our stubborn attitudes! Heck, even the Liberty Navy and LSF aren't as bad as we make them out to be! I don't know about the LPI, as I haven't been into Liberty as of late, but several members in the other two organizations see some sense in what we're trying to do. I'm going to continue to try to speak with some of them on a limited basis when I'm in Alaska doing research next time, and see if we can come to any sort of agreement on our presence and the need for increased security in the area. I mean heck, if I can give them examples of Nomads in Liberty space, and they actually increase security in particular sectors that were mentioned at risk, then there's hope, right?! Hmm, come to think of it, I had those logs of that conversation around here somewhere...*rustling of papers* Bah...I'll find them later. Maybe MARY actually had a digital recording of the whole thing.

Back to before: Maybe I'm just a pipe dreamer...an overly optimistic and delusional fool. I really hope that's not the case. I'm trying...really trying to do what I think...feel...what I believe is the best for humanity's survival in these overly trying times. Hmm....I'm too drained to think any more clearly now. I need some sleep. Hopefully MARY can keep running the analyzing procedures on those Alien Organisms while I rest. The One Above knows she works hard - even if she's only a V.I. I've created to help this work...heck, if only I could find a true life partner who could understand me in this fashion. Although I'm not sure what woman would want to put up with this whole 'attempt to save humanity' crusade I've embarked upon. Bother...I'm rambling. That's enough for tonight.

"MARY love? Please turn off the voice recording on the logbook if you would?"
'Affirmative sir. MARY here. Voice recording is now switched off. Are you finished sir?'
"Yes, I'm done here. Please shut it down for me. Could you be a dear and also turn the lights off over the bunk as soon as I've had a chance to relieve myself at the toilet and brush my teeth?"
'Consider it done sir. I have it logged you wish for me to keep the analysis procedures on these organisms going throughout your rest. Is this correct sir?'
"Yes love, please do so. Thank you and good night."
'Good night sir. Might I remind you, however, that this version of 'time' is rather relevant? Said definition fully depends on which heavenly body's rotation rate you are setting your schedule off of.'
"Hah! And that, that right there, is why I love 'ya MARY. Pure, unintentional machine humor...Well, I'm off to bed then. Best of luck with that dear."
'As you wish sir. Lights to be dimmed and turned off in five minutes'


-Shutting down digital logbook-
*Security lock activated*
--Logbook shut down complete--

(//OOC: I do apologize for the piecemeal update here, but my connection has become rather shoddy, and I don't want to lose what I've got. And yes I'm backing it up on a word processor as well :yes:)

-Opening logbook; user: Ash.Falthion-
'Welcome Mr. Falthion...what is it you would like to do?
Available selections are as follows: Logbook Setup, View Archives, New Entry, Edit Entry, Transfer Entry.'
"I would like to make a new entry please."
'Affirmative, {New Entry} selected, dated 07.16.818 A.S.'

Well, I'd decided to take on to a little reconnaissance today. It definitely was not as simple and contained far more harassment than I would have preferred, versus doing the organism collection and analysis. Not to mention doing so after that incident in Minor and Alaska with the Liberty Navy? Whoo...these are troubled times indeed.

I understand Henry's frustrations with High Command, but I do hope he does not go doing something brash that he and all of us in the intelligence division, OSD, the 42nd, WEDJAT, and alike would regret too. On that note, I'm going to try and talk to Admiral Kaylee Staite about merging all of our intellgience/recon/research operations under one banner. Perhaps something like the Order Information Division...something more formal sounding probably. But this way, we're all working as one cohesive unit, rather than several tiny, scattered ones.

At any rate, that's not the point of this report. I can always make another if I need to blow off some steam and put that to notes. This entry is regarding my expedition into the Omegas in search of Das Wilde, their systems, and the planets, nebulae, stars, and organisms that inhabit them. Both in space and planetside.

I'd started out from where I last left off, at Yanagi Depot in Sigma 13. I'm extremely thankful that the Junkers were hospitable in allowing me to moor the Shu at their facility. I know we may not be on the best of terms, but they were amicable enough, and that was more than I could ask for in these times. It would have been a might bit uncomfortable to have to sleep in the Spatial for another night - putting me at a week straight in there without a bunk - and without a restocking on supplies.



At any rate, I moved from there to the Frankfurt JH, then skirted the edges of Frankfurt - out of sight of the Military, Police, Corporations, and any other eyes - and made a run for Dresden, the door to the Omegas from Rheinland space.


As I was proceeding, I'd decided to hail Elay, the gunboat captain of the Sun.Core, and ask how things were back at 'home'.


Unfortunately, my initial attempts were disrupted both by distance, and nebular composition. I then pushed the transmission signal off of Mainz storage depot - it being a depot and all, and not really experiencing high comm traffic - and finally got through to Elay.
Log 1 w/Elay
Log 2 w/Elay
Transmission Relay 'bounce' location

Once I'd moved into Dresden, I then continued to bounce the signal off of the other stations in the area, such as Bautzen and Leipzig.


The Hessians did not take kindly to my presence, and were a continued nuisance throughout the entirety of this expedition. I moved to Battleship Altenberg to take a brief respite - after turning off my transponder of course, and donning some more 'casual' attire - thanked them for their hospitality, and continued my journey on towards Omega 11, 41, and then to 47.

Once I managed to pass through Dresden - which was surprisingly empty by the way - I moved on into Omega 11. Once in O-11, I stopped by an old haunting spot, Solarius Station, and moored for a brief bit of maintenance, a few extra panels put on the wing and laid over the engines and cockpit base for radiation shielding, grabbed a bite to eat and a cup of tea at the bar, and caught up on the latest information passing through the underground channels there.


Once satisfied that I would be safe passing through O-41 and beyond, I headed there... to Omega 41, the Gateway of the Omegas. I did have a little trouble with the Hessians, as well as the BHG as I moved to the O-41 JH in Omega 11, but thankfully - and rather unexpectedly, especially for an Order pilot - the Corsairs moved to help me.
Help from the Corsairs against the Hessians
I'll have to issue a somewhat public message of gratitude to them later on via the link that I'm allowed to transmit on.
'Sir, if I might interrupt you, that last image and several more in your queue for the logbook appear corrupted in some fashion. I will not be able to bring up their original forms. They will need linkages to the databanks, from which they can be displayed.'
"Technology...nigh impossible to live without it, and incredibly frustrating to live with it...all right then lass, have at it! *grumbling*"

Omega 41 was without incident, aside from the continued radiation exposure from the Neutron Star. I swear that thing is going to be the end of the system - as if it hasn't been already - at some point down the road. At any rate, I docked at the freeport and proceeded onward to the Omega 47 JH.

As I entered into 47, I initially had a choice to make: Do I go straight to Omega 5 and then begin my observations, or take a small detour to Omega 49, visit the Zoners at Gran Canaria and Lanzarote Station, pay my respects, and then move on?

I decided on the latter primarily because I was readily ambushed by Red Hessian Odin VHFs after leaving the cloud that surrounds the JH from Omega 41 and Battleship Fes on 47's side. The Odin is a scary craft indeed, especially when in use with 'pack tactics'. They nearly shredded through the left side of the Spatial, with the nanobots working furiously to repair the damage. Thankfully that Cheetah Thruster I had spent so much on paid off, and I got away as the two base left side Ageira engines bled out and died on me. The other four were balanced for thrust, and I continued on from that point without choice to my new desitination: Omega 49, and Gran Canaria/Lanzarote Station. Thankfully I made it there without much more incident, aside from a little navigational misdirect, which I overcame by shutting down the autopilot.

Once in Omega 49, it was as if I was with family. The Zoners took me in rather readily and essentially ordered me to leave the craft in their hands and relax. I visited the planet, spoke briefly about the Goddess' philosophy with some followers, gently refused a pineal, out of the concern that I was not worthy or dedicated enough to her...at this time at least. I moved on to Lanzarote to re-equip the military-grade equipment on the vessel, and from there, explored 49 for some time.The nebula is indeed a wonder to behold. While the glare one experiences on the cockpit shielding glass may at first be rather overwhelming, once used to it, beauty simply seeps from all corners.


I'm becoming rather verbose and flowery here...to business. After taking time to explore the nebula, I posed the question to nearby patrols and convoys as to what would be the quickest route out of this system to Omega 5 and 11, all the while avoiding house space as much as possible. One patrol out on the fringe of Omega 49, near sector H, stated that the Coalition, that is the Sirius Coalition Revolutionary Army, or SCRA for short, was housed in Omega 52, a system adjacent those that I wished to survey.

Prior to what was probably one of the most hostile and dangerous systems I've ever entered into in my life -to include the Nomad worlds - I did a bit of surveying of the heavenly bodies in Omega 50. The stations there act as freeports, all are welcome to use the facilities so long as no fighting goes on around the stations' proximity. Below are the scans I'd obtained of two planets in the area, Tarrafal, a Gas Giant, and Sal, a planet with a unique ring structure.

...
...
"Blast it all. Side note: The image from Sal's rings does not transfer properly from the camera database to the logbook right now. I'll have to reload it at a later time once I've finished analyzing the pilots and the Nomad samples obtained. Making a link to the camera databank for now...."
Planet Sal's Rings

Now while they did say I could travel from the current location in Omega 49 to Poole, then on to New London, Cambridge, and eventually Omega 5, I did not want to cause further trouble there, as Bretonia surely has its hands full enough with the threat of Kusarian invasion. They most likely would not take kindly to an intruder from far outside their borders. Therefore, I opted for the path less traveled, which turned out to be so for a very particular reason...the Coalition does not take kindly to anyone, even their pseudo or soon to be allies.
Through to the SCRA system and to the Wilde beyond

I most unfortunately do not have any video evidence here to keep as a record, as the opposition was so stiff upon entering the system, even after announcing my intentions and affiliation. I had but one moment, however, that I dared deviate from the flight controls and put the lens operation system into working order rather quickly. Below is one of their four stations within the system that I managed to briefly capture in an image...
SCRA Station; nav map location unknown

I tried reasoning with them, explaining that we had been in negotiations for several months now, and that had been the reason the Corsairs split ties with us! They wouldn't hear any of it, though. Fighters, Bombers, Gunboats. They all swarmed me, and I was almost overwhelmed at one critical point, as I was going around the far side of one of the planets, attempting to escape back into the ice field. I could not locate the hole out of that system to Omega 5, and retreated back the way I'd come, limping to Boa Vista station. Thankfully the Zoners there took excellent care of me, treated the few bruises I'd sustained getting thrown around the cockpit as the craft was thrashed during the engagement, as well as mending what could be fixed on the Spatial. I believe the craft may be rather spent, as one of the Ageira engines only makes it to 65% output now, and the thrust is a little tricky to calibrate on the opposing three engines particularly because it is that same lowest one on the left side that had sustained a lesser degree of damage just before from the Hessian Odin VHFs.

Once back in Omega-50, I moved from Boa Vista to Porto Novo, picking up some supplies to bring back to GC as parting gifts. I know they run the route every day back and forth, but I felt it necessary as a sign of my thorough appreciation for all they'd done, keeping me alive after that brief foray into new and unknown territory. Heh, I hope that small update to my nav map was worth the close cost on my life.

Thankfully, still being alive, I then moved onward to Omega 47 once again, and this time, proceeded into Omega 5 directly...well, as directly as any researcher/explorer will do. I did stop briefly, despite the Hessian base nearby, and orbited one planet Tangier to take a reading of it.




I also spotted an anomaly that was heretofore unseen to me. I'd picked up a very slight pitch in the signal inside of the O-47 cloud that houses the Omega 5 JH. I proceeded to move closer and came upon this


I do not know who owns it, or what its purpose is, but being a 'temple', I can only guess it houses some faction or cult of a religious following of some sort. No shots were fired at me, but I will not intrude for the sake of causing some disturbance that I might regret later on. I moved away and proceeded to the Omega 5 JH promptly.
Omega-5 JH in Omega-47


Inside Omega 5, I made quick time to Cadiz base. We may no longer be on the best of terms with the Corsair Empire, but they still hold enough respect for us to allow us to dock and repair at their facilities, even if we're often given the cold shoulder in the common areas this is more than enough to ask for at this point, especially with the Hessians seemingly undeterred to obliterate me at every step.

From Cadiz, it's a bit of a hop from Sector D5 to E3, where the Omega 55 JH is located. I'm actually thoroughly glad I'd gone in with the higher ups on that intelligence gathering mission into the area before, when we were pursuing an infected Rheinland Military pilot. If not for that, I would have been rather lost in finding the location into the Wilde system, and not have prior knowledge of the acute dangers it houses. No mistake, these infected beings are definitely dangerous. While some may be partially inquisitive to any 'visitor's' intentions, they still maintain that xenophobic killing desire given to them by the nomad being controlling their minds.

Omega 55 is no picnic. The cloud in the system chiefly houses the Wilde bases, and as such, one is readily exposed while out near the star or planet housed inside the system's borders. Going in here alone may have been yet another of the extremely foolish things I have done in search of answers to these beings.

The initial part of the foray into this system was surprisingly without any problem, other than that I rather promptly fell asleep after passing the unidentified planet, and left MARY on the scanners to analyze the surrounding nebulae, stars, and other celestial bodies. I woke up some hour or two later, only to find myself 252k away from said planet, at the far reaches of the sector. I got back up to the flight controls, panned around for a bit to see what was so far out there, and let me just put down here so that I remember, the view was astounding! It is so clear out that far, and even closer back towards the center of the system, but there is no one out there to disrupt the study of the heavenly formations, which is what makes it so wonderful. I'm rambling again, so I digress...
...
...
-Error loading images; Databank transmittance level exceeded-
"Well...bat crap on a stick." *sigh* "Okay then. MARY? Please link all further images to the databank and just have them pulled from there for now when I try to access this particular log in the future?

*Running linkage process*
...
...
*Linkage process complete* 'It is done sir. Is there anything else?'
"No, not for now. Thank you MARY."
'As you will sir.'

The Far Reaches of Omega 55
Re-entering nav map locale for the system

I plotted course back to the planet in order to try and study it some more. As it stands, no data exists on it, so I did what I could via visual and signal returns. I did not receive much back from it in the way of signals unfortunately. The atmosphere is thin to nonexistent, the crust is of moderate thickness, and no scans of life on the initial run. I would need to be able to go planet-side to do more detailed work, and perhaps actually land and go have a look around with a portable unit to see if there is any flora or fauna to be seen - especially if there are cave networks.
In orbit around Omega-55 unidentified planet
Unidentified planet location w/in Omega-55
Initial scan of Unidentified Planet

In orbit were two craft of interest. They had names painted on them as vessels of note. One Hessian and one Corsair vessel each, of swaggering pilots of old. Unfortunately, no life signs were aboard, so they've either expired or been...removed by Das Wilde once they were discovered.

Upon moving further into the nebula from this planet, starting the scans of the nebula, and making a pass on the two bases I'd been 'introduced' to formally during The Order's last foray into this system, I finally encountered the beings that inhabit this forsaken place.


I tried to make initial contact, but they wouldn't have any of it, which is strange, as they actually spoke with us last time. I suppose because there was not a significant amount of force present, they simply wanted to eradicate my vessel, tractor me in, and have a nomad vessel consume my mind. While the Spatial certainly isn't the most agile vessel, I'll give it to her for taking a beating.

The lowest left engine continued to give me problems as I had to often go to max thrust on all engines, so my turning radius and speed to the left were often jarring and shifting, making me an easier target. I came close at one point to having the wing on the right side sundered because of this, but thankfully shifted back and turned right, managing to evade fire long enough for the nanobots to repair the wing to stable condition, and the shields to regenerate. The fight waged on for several minutes, and as sweat drenching and harrowing as it was, I think I actually enjoyed it just a little bit. No, not the act of harming another, even if it's a human being that's been subverted and is being controlled by a xenophobic alien being, but of flying, really flying again, even if it unfortunately involved the destruction of well crafted vessels. Thankfully no one had to be killed in this skirmish...yet.

We'll see how High Command views the Wilde pilots, and what they want to do with them. We've already had a few of the less experienced pilots of the Kusari Wild - or Aoi Iseijin - who patrol the area just outside Tegaki's Arch, as well as the Omicron-92 JH, captured and brought back to Toledo for detaining and examination. I've not been down to the labs yet, but I'm going to hazard a guess that the folks down there are making some form of progress in their study of the infectees.

Once again, I'm digressing, but...this was a good, yet busy day, and I feel the need to expound on each aspect. As I was stating, though, the battle took some time, but I managed, with the help of MARY constantly feeding me position updates, and the Spatial's immense hull holding out through all that laser-fire, to destroy the six Wilde ships pursuing me, and continue on with the research of the system. After I'd left MARY with the auto-pilot program and gone back to ensure each of the pilots brought into the hold was properly bound and secured, I proceeded further into the asteroid field, once again in search of the bases that Primary Fleet members and I had visited in an earlier foray. Unfortunately, there were four of us that time, with a significantly larger amount of firepower present, to include a reconnaissance cruiser and a gunboat. Me now, only in my somewhat meager Spatial by comparison, was actually a force worth reckoning with.

I eventually came upon both bases, entering further into the Ostrava Asteroid Field, finding Recklinghausen visually first. Meerbusch Base came up shortly thereafter.
Recklinghausen and Meerbusch Bases

Besides them being asteroid-encased bases, I could not gain anything of value at the time. I had the engines set to continuous cruise, in the event that I might become swarmed again...which did end up happening shortly after these photos were taken. Once again, however, MARY's position vectors and the hull of the Spatial saved my bacon, and after a furious fight with eight Wilde pilots, fourteen then resided inside the passenger cargo compartment of the Spatial, bounded and restrained, and I felt it fine time to high-tail it out of the system. Without proper escorts, I dared not venture further into their territory and search further for possible additional bases, jumpholes, or anomalies. I will try to return with an escort from either the intelligence division, under Admiral Staite's orders, or from Primary Fleet...perhaps I should ask R. Adm. D'Souza about that matter.

The only other point of note from this voyage would be the brief scan I obtained of a Das Wilde pilot during the second skirmish. Once I had the hostile numbers opposing me down to three, I hazarded a chance to swing to the left control board and scan her ship. Below is what turned up.
Das Wilde ship scan

As displayed, Nomad weaponry is present, and I really wouldn't be surprised if some of their ships have been outfitted with Nomad energy production units, or powercores, as well. Heck, if they are doing research with the Slomon K'Hara beings, they might even be working to integrate their shield production units with the Rheinland vessels! This is just conjecture at this point, though, so nothing solid as of yet. The intel division - probably OSD in particular - would need to get its hands on one of the vessels and have a chance to study it, as safely as possible, to determine if any radical changes have occurred, or are being implemented at this time.

Ash sits back after that excruciatingly long entry, surveys its contents once more before finalizing the input procedure, and then moves from the chart table to the bed, completely unaware he's forgotten to lock the logbook himself.


"Sweet mercy that was a long day and a half. Hopefully OSD turns up something with these Wilde individuals. I need some sleep though if I'm going to continue these forays. MARY love? I'm going to catch some shut-eye. Could you please continue to run the scans on the Nomad specimens contained in the analysis vault?"
'Consider it done Commander Falthion.'
"MARY, please...it's just Ash."
'As you wish sir.'
"Augh, fine, sir it is then. I'm nodding off for now. *grumble* blasted proper *mumble* protocols.... ... ..." *snnrrzzt*
'Enabling logbook shutdown and security process.'

-Shutting down digital logbook-
*Security lock activated*
--Logbook shut down complete--

-Opening logbook; user: Ash.Falthion-
'Welcome Mr. Falthion...what is it you would like to do?
Available selections are as follows: Logbook Setup, View Archives, New Entry, Edit Entry, Transfer Entry.'
"I would like to make a new entry please."
'Affirmative, {New Entry} selected, dated 07.18.818 A.S.'

Ash sits back in his chair in the back part of the Spatial, looking at this particular entry he's swapped from his old paper log book to the new one, linked to MARY and the Spatial's databanks. He's pensive, reflecting on what this has meant for him thus far. These beginning events defined him and gave him a solidifying base for his character, his ideals, and morals. The events surrounding his first encounter with Das Wilde, the initial institution into The Order, his application, trial by fire (quite literally) and eventual acceptance into the 42nd, and then...the mishap. All of this shaped him into the individual who now looks both thoughtfully and longingly at the new entry in the logbook, as well as his penned copy in the leather backed book that helped him keep his sanity and devotion during his imprisonment.

Looking back at this is...hard for me. All the time that has passed, all the good friends that I've met, and have faded away, and these new beginnings.... This is a lot to process, and trying to step up doing patrols and research simultaneously is not making anything easier for me. I feel burned out. The fiasco with the TCG isn't going to help though, and if High Command gives the word for Primary Fleet and all associated branches to set them as hostiles from this point on, well I'm afraid as to whether or not we're capable of handling another problem on the side to all that we're currently dealing with. We can only continue to ask so much of the Zoners, and anything that High Command asks of them regarding particular military support, be it in the form of manufacturing armaments, ships, or providing escorts for our agents...that's more stress on them, that they shouldn't be having to take on. They're already strung thin trying to monitor the Freeports in these times of strife, enforcing the No Fire Zones (*Note: NFZs for short), working diplomacy among the houses, and hopefully trying to appease the Gallic people, since their recent appearance from seemingly out of nowhere. And yes, if someone gets a hold of this and is wondering how I, and Order agent, came to find out about Gallia, we did have a Gallic mercenary end up shooting through Minor somehow...probably a random warp from some unstable jumphole...but at any rate, we discovered enough from him to know that they too, should be considered a threat. At any rate, not the point of this report. Below is the communique I sent to now Colonel Savoy - should she ever return to her position - regarding my freedom from imprisonment, and extreme gratitude for being able to return home to Toledo and The Order.


Colonel,
Ma'am, I received a pretty archaic wave of your promotion and the restructuring of our ranks. I apologize for my extensive absence since the last communique I'd sent you regarding my work in Zoner and Freeport space. I did see that I'd logged nine new wave-based messages since my departure from the group, and I do further apologize, because in the attempt to access them, they were lost. I assume the messages from you all or whomever else had attempted to contact me were so old that the system had simply kept a record of how many I'd missed in my absence, rather than the messages themselves.

At any rate, to the point of my message. I was compromised in the worst way possible that I've experienced during my relatively short time serving with you all. The only part of my identity that was not linked to me was my callsign, which I rid myself of as soon as I'd been tipped by a friend that my identity had become well known to the Bounty Hunters Guild, Liberty Security Forces, and several Outcast sects. One of my contacts in Freeport space had apparently pulled the proverbial carpet out from under my feet while I'd left a station in Sigma 19 early one morning, to start a very long recon trip around the Border and Edge worlds, searching for evidence of Nomad influence and occupation within remote parts of various sectors. My friend, whose name I will not give here, due to the questionable nature of the security of this wave, warned me about two hours after my departure from the station, that my name had come up in conversation within the bar there - he was covering for me to make sure I hadn't developed any tails, which I obviously did, and a long one at that.

I gave him two locations to reach me at, which were supposed to throw off my would-be pursuers, and we would rendezvous at a predetermined safe-hold and come up with a way out for myself, and him if he had been compromised as well. Unfortunately I soon took glancing weapons fire as I made my way to a jump hole, and worked to lose my assailants in debris, radiation, and particle fog. After having given one warning that I meant them no harm, but would return fire if they did not cease/desist pursuing me, and several holes later, I was free of the initial pursuit. This was now seven hours from my initial departure, and I was late to meet with my friend. I made it to our spot eventually, but he was not present, as I had assumed - he had to leave to avoid attracting attention to himself. I went to a secondary spot we frequented from time to time, deployed a small buoy with a transponder signal he would know, along with a brief recording to alert him in checking our other meeting spots.

I had then attempted to make it back to general Order space to seek refuge and await a chance to contact you or another in the 42nd, while in a save haven - though we both know exactly how 'safe' the Omicron systems we have set up in are. I couldn't make it back unfortunately. The tip off was well worse than I had known or thought; Zone 21 was swarming with LSF and Bounty Hunters outside the minefield, searching for me. There were even a few Freelancers who'd apparently been promised a sweet deal and were waiting for me in Omega-41 and Omicron Gamma. I obviously did not have the funds in my coffers to pay them off, so I disabled one vessel and tried to make a run for Theta. I didn't get very far before I was pursued further by Bounty Hunters in Gamma and further in Theta. I wasn't about to bring trouble and the possibility of those who didn't know the Order's main base location through to 74 and beyond, so I diverted to Sigma-17 and tried to lose them. I was pretty banged up at this point, on my last two sets of repair drones and shield reserves, and my fuel was being tapped to 1/3 of its full capacity. I knew I was pretty much screwed at this point, so I'd steeled myself to a particular course of action and stuck to it. I went through to Sigma-19, then on to Omicron Beta. I knew I was way out in the 'boonies' of space by now, and only the most tenacious of pilots were still following me. I had no idea how complex the contract on me was, nor do I still.

There was no escape from these guys, so I brought myself to do something I found extremely distasteful: I took the life of one of my pursuers by inducing a high-stress maneuver on the ship and ramming it into the left wing/side of said pursuer's ship. S/he exploded and I ejected just before the collision. I was really hosed at this point and consigned myself to being tractored into some schmuck's cargo hold - but, I think you'd be proud of me for this boss, I didn't go into that hold empty handed. I brought a laz-cutter with me and some liquified titanium to fill the mischief I planned on creating.

So, I was stuck in my suit in a pre-constructed pod in this guy's hold, with him speeding off to some spaceport to claim the prize of the bounty on me - poor schmuck definitely didn't see this one coming. I'd sacrificed my pistol and energy saber for these tools because I felt I could pull this off, and thank whatever higher power was watching over me, I did. I cut a hole out of the top end of the pod and pulled myself out, re-patching it with the titanium I'd brought with me. I then cut out a panel in the roof of the cargo hold and hid up in there with the electrical cabling - I've got the burns to show from that maneuver, because I cut into the cabling, being in such a hurry. Thankfully, he must not have gotten any systems alerts, because they didn't look for me in there initially.

When we docked and he and his buddies came in looking for me, I'd moved the paneling slightly and made ready to make my escape. There were three of them, and I jumped down, throwing the titanium canister as I went at the back of one's neck. He went face down into a few cargo containers and the other two whirled to face me. So it was me with a laz-cutter against them with pistols in close quarters. I'll spare you the details, but I disarmed them both and made it out of the ship without too much fuss. I knew I couldn't go far, even in the civvie clothes I had, because they had a picture of me from the Freeport the morning I'd taken off. I changed fast and made off with whatever credits I could get from them and a cargo container of some food rations as a possible barganing chip.

I managed to get passage on a cargo freighter out of the station I'd been on and moved for Zoner space, slowly but surely. Once there, I used an alias of Galamas Fidelis, my old title as a Freelancer, and made it to a doctor to request an iris color change, to further obscure my identity as best I could on limited reserves. I was not willing to risk compromising your identities to save my own skin, so I went undercover and disappeared as best I could.

I eventually got a hold of a starflier and started running cargo again to build up my fund of credits. I needed to get back to you all, but I would only do so as a merc or a 'lancer. Eventually I scored myself a Falcon and ran escort and hunting missions for a time. I changed to and X-Shuttle when I had the guts to go back to Theta and purchase it at the Zoner Corfu Base. I used this to accumulate a pretty substantial amount of wealth and then moved back to my oldtime favorite craft, The Spatial, which I had been using prior to my enlistment with the 42nd. I've been using this since in a 'recon' type role and using the excuse of being a self-made individual who has an 'unquenchable curiosity' to explore the stars.

Since then I've acquired rights from several councils and corporations to explore their territories with their permission, trying to find one of you or my old contact. I ran into him while patrolling out in the Edge Worlds one day, searching for his broadcasted signal. I knew chances were slim, but I found him in a nebula cloud, hunting for Outcasts, Nomads, or Nomad supporters - they're all the same to him. We headed off further into the cloud, hid in an asteroid and parleyed at length about the situation from our past split up to that point. He brought me up to speed on the Order's holdings and situation regarding the Nomad incursion and Bounty Hunter/LSF threats. I'm now sending this over a scrambled/encrypted frequency, and I hope you get this ma'am.

I've missed you all terribly and do hope to rejoin you someday soon. If you can spare me some locales you all have been 'known to frequent', I'll try to find one of you and bring you up to speed on my status and the feasibility - in your opinions - of reinstating me into the 42nd, if you'll have me of course.

I wish you all well and hope to talk over a more secure and reliable communicating frequency once able.

Staying true to myself as always,

Ash Falthion

"MARY? Please shut the book down for now. I...I need to think about some things, particularly where I stand on the current problems both within and without The Order."

'Affirmative sir. Shutting down logbook.'

-Shutting down digital logbook-
*Security lock activated*
--Logbook shut down complete--

-Opening logbook; user: Ash.Falthion-
'Welcome Mr. Falthion...what is it you would like to do?
Available selections are as follows: Logbook Setup, View Archives, New Entry, Edit Entry, Transfer Entry.'
"I would like to make a new entry please."
'Affirmative, {New Entry} selected, dated 07.19.818 A.S.'

This is a log of the events surrounding my return to Omicron Minor and Omicron 100 following my departure from the study area of Omega 55 and Omega 58.

I'd decided that even after the encounters I'd had in Omega 55, that I desired still more information about these enigmatic beings. The Resheph that I'd accompanied in our previous venture to this space had mentioned that picked up a second spatial anomaly inside the Omega 55 sector, similar in signature to the Omega-5 Jump Hole. Going on a whim, I figured this to be another jump hole within the Wilde's supposed 'home' system. If this was true, they either had yet another connecting link by which to exploit the Rheinland house, or the outlying systems such as those of the Corsairs, Hessians, Zoners, and the like. Regardless, I felt that this had to be discovered so that in the future, our reconnaissance team could venture further and discover exactly what the zone was. After an hour and a half of searching (Toledo rotation parameters), I came across the anomaly I'd been looking for. This, however, was not without incident. I'd had the hairs up on the nape of my neck since passing that accursed desolate planet and venturing further into the system. It was then that I heard them over the comlink, cursing and hissing at me for having some of their brethren in my secured bay. I knew that it would be worse now, with more cargo on board, and prepared myself for another harrowing battle. Halfway through the engagement, with two Wilde pilots down, I came to notice that the nanobot and shield battery count on my craft was unusually low. I immediately queried MARY about it, and she cited that earlier I'd made it a parameter in her programming not to make a request to the dockmaster for additional nanobots or batteries, unless I specifically asked for them. On top of that, there was an input line for me to specify how many were to be purchased. Sweet mercy! How tired had I been to make that silly order?! At any rate, I could not undo my mistake now, and had to fly anticipating more damage to the ship, and the Wilde were not about to disappoint.

The battle raged on for some ten minutes before the area was again clear, I brought all the pilots in who were drifting about in space, bound and secured them, and locked down the bay once again. I rechecked all the Nomad organisms and sought to make sure that no communication was being attempted between them and the Wilde agents. Yes, while they've already got an organism inhabiting them, who knows what a regular Nomad...heh, can't believe I just used those two words in the same sentence....could accomplish if left in proximity to an infectee.

I continued on with my patrol of the sector and eventually came to the anomaly that the sensors and scanning equipment had been searching for all the while. With it charted, it was time for me to return all of the infectees and nomads to Omicron Minor and the OSD for evaluation. Curiosity of looking at the hole got the better of me though, and I did the unthinkable. I plunged into the unknown system alone. I would come to regret that decision rather abruptly.

As soon as I came out of faster than light travel (FTL) from the hole, I was immediately assailed by weapons platforms and numerous Wilde piloted Wraiths. I knew my mistake could be the end of me, as jumpholes require time to gather the dispersed energies from around them each time after their use. Twenty blistering and grueling seconds went by so slowly, I thought that I would not see their end. Thankfully, MARY alerted me the hole's signature composition had reverted back to the norm, I gunned the Cheetah Thruster and made a run for the hole. The wing took a lot of laser fire, with the locking clamp beginning to lose its integrity, but I made it through and was experiencing the none-too-smooth travel of a jumphole faster than I expected. I came out, a little worse for wear, back where I had been thirty seconds before. I was now severely low on nanobots and shield batteries, so I set a cruise course around the lower sector edge of the star, and moved for Omega-5.

Das Wilde ships would have nothing of the sort, though, and I was engaged about 20k from the hole again, with nine ships coming at me piecemeal, in groups of two and three at a time. All nine were eventually dispatched after about seven minutes of fighting, and that base left engine completely sputtering out. Thrust was now extremely hard to control, and I started turning back towards the system's sun. I quickly ran my hands over the thrust management controls, told MARY to keep scans going, and help me fine tune the calibration of the controls where I was missing anything. Thankfully we fixed it as good as we could, pushed on to the hole, and made it through just as five more Wilde ships came up behind us, beginning to let off salvos of fire.

Thankfully they did not chase past the JH, and we moved, fairly scathed, to Cadiz. The Corsairs let us dock, and helped me see to the repairs of the ship. Damage was extensive, and cost me 200,000 Cr. For the sake of research, I think, and hope it was worth it. They know me now...my ship, my communication ID, I'm at risk going back there alone.

Once repaired and restocked on batteries and 'bots, I made sure the infectees and Nomads were once again secure, and moved out to Omega 41, Omicron Theta, Omicron-74, then to Kappa, Delta, and eventually Minor.

Of note, I did encounter one Nomad patrol in Kappa that I dispatched...those blasted Wilde pilots almost seem harder to disrupt than these Nomads do...are they really that much better with a human vessel controlled by a Nomad being? That'll be another topic to think about...hmm, need to highlight that for later.
Nomad patrol encountered in Kappa

*Research Note: Are Das Wilde really that much better than pure Nomads? Does being a human vessel controlled by a Nomad being give them an advantage in reflexes and reaction time?

On my way through Delta, I should note that I'd picked up some Silver lying around from the wreckages in Omicron-55, and decided to drop it off for processing and distributon at Freeport 11. They thanked me kindly, and I continued on to Minor.
Silver dropoff to FP 11
Returning to Minor via FP 11

Once in Minor, I had MARY check up on the sector while I went to ensure the 'passengers' -both Nomad and Wilde alike- were secure and incapable of breaking their containment units and bonds respectively. Satisfied with that, I returned to the helm and found that there were two signatures close to the Isis and Toledo.

I came upon two individuals labeling themselves as recruits, and one was, oddly enough, a former prisoner and trespasser, Harrison.Solo.... I was intrigued at this, and they said that the convoy escorting him had come under Nomad attack, and somehow, he was granted use of a fighter or a turret aboard the ship escorting him, and he 'bonded with the members guarding him'. Personally, I'm not thoroughly convinced of the story, but that's not up to me to decide. I'll alert High Command about that and we'll see what they decide to do. The other fellow, one Nate O'Malley, stated that his brother, Torin O'Malley, was an Order Guard commander. Now I'm not the best and remembering names, but I don't recall a Torin in our guard fleet, which would be Primary. I'll have to see the roster and ensure he's there. Otherwise we've got potential thieves posing as recruits, which encompasses two of the things that anger me the most: Lying and stealing.
Possible recruits in Minor @ the Isis
Discussion with possible recruits pt.2


I moved on, having logged the brief chat with them, and moved to Omicron 100 for the contained transfer of Das Wilde and the Nomad specimens. Unfortunately no one from OSD was around, so I moored aside Lisbon, had the Shu locked down, moved via spacesuit and guide rod from Lisbon, down to a docking door. Once I was satisfied I had found a proper containment bay for the subjects, I transferred them, went back up to the Shu, and prepared to go back to Omicron 74 for a time. The total count of them is below.
End Wilde+Nomad count in secure bay

I was surprised to find someone undocked in a Sekhmet and orbiting Lisbon, with the tag of [TFPO]Lt.XraniTel.... I was completely unaware we had an independent wing with that designation. Perhaps it had cropped up during my absence, but there was no record of it in the database I'd been given upon my return, and I had MARY double check it while we briefly converesed. His russian was good, but his standard english rather poor. I'll have to talk to Mike or Henry and see if they can get anything else out of him. Perhaps he was part of the Coalition before joining us? I'm not sure...I'm at a loss on that one.
TFPO Designation

Speaking of The Coalition, I encountered one of their ships on my way back through Kappa! I had thought he was a normal pilot at first, and come to find out, 'he' is an AI operating a gunboat! The speech database he had equipped with his core, and the voice synthesizer was actually quite impressive. At any rate, I'm geeking out over technology here, to the point: We moved through 74, past the Freeport and to Omicron Theta. I stayed on his wing back through to 41 and held at the Freeport there while he proceeded onward. A rather polite sentience, I must say, and good with his turrets when we had encountered three Nomad patrols in Kappa.

I'd spoken to this sentience about acquiring the ability to move through their sector 'peacefully', as we were now supposed to be in an alliance. He confirmed that we were indeed in a solidified alliance, but brought up something interesting...something I'd never thought of before. We require a visa, certified by their governing official, to pass through their space unhindered. I now need to figure out who to contact, and how to reach them, so that I might process this request. The Omegas have so much to study, and if I can gain access to another system, that's a huge gain for our divisions!

Below are the logs of the discussion with the sentience.

Coalition AI discussion log 1
Coalition AI discussion log 2
Coalition AI discussion log 3
Coalition AI discussion log 4
Coalition AI discussion end

"I'm beat for the night MARY. I'm heading back to sleep."
'Sir, you incurred no violence on your person by anyone. How is it that you are 'beat', as you state?'
"Aaah...it's a figure of speech MARY. Something someone says to imply they are tired, without stating it directly."
'I still do not entirely comprehend it sir, but I will store it in the databank.'
"Right love, shut 'er down!"
'Initiating logbook shutdown procedures.'

-Shutting down digital logbook-
*Security lock activated*
--Logbook shut down complete--

-Opening logbook; user: Ash.Falthion-
'Welcome Mr. Falthion...what is it you would like to do?
Available selections are as follows: Logbook Setup, View Archives, New Entry, Edit Entry, Transfer Entry.'
"I would like to make a new entry please."
'Affirmative, {New Entry} selected, dated 07.19.818 A.S.'
-Error... {New Entry} already exists for this date.-
"Blast it all....MARY!! Love, can you please fix this blasted thing so I can put a second, third, or however many in the heck entries I would like per day to this silly thing?"
'I will attempt to change the parameters sir. Parsing the code now.'
*Parsing logbook parameter code*
...
...
...
*Process complete; parameters altered.*
'Sir, it is finished. You may now make multiple entries per day as you desire.'
"Excellent. Thank you love. I was at a loss as to how to do that myself for some time now."

Curses! I knew it! Those two, or his 'brother' are not listed in the rosters! Now I'm going to have to let High Command know we've got imposters at the very least. Hopefully his brother was a former member...wait no, that wouldn't work! He said his brother was on the escort, so he would have to be an independent member at the very least, and they're all logged as secondary fleet members, regardless of their naming conventions! So they are sneak-cheats then....Why do people have to resort to lying? So much potential for good in us all, and we resort to this. I refuse to give up on humanity though. There's still good out there, and that, regardless of how bad things get here, is what I'm fighting for in the end. That ideal is what keeps me from giving up.

"Shut it down please MARY. I've got to go report this to High Command."
'As you will sir. Initiating logbook shutdown procedures.'

-Shutting down digital logbook-
*Security lock activated*
--Logbook shut down complete--

-Opening logbook; user: Ash.Falthion-
'Welcome Mr. Falthion...what is it you would like to do?'
Available selections are as follows: Logbook Setup, View Archives, New Entry, Edit Entry, Transfer Entry.'
"I would like to make a new entry please."
'Affirmative, {New Entry} selected, dated 08.06.818 A.S.'

It's been some time since I've made an entry here. Research has been slow to progress, yet many more subjects to study have cropped up since the last entry. I've continued to try forays into the territories of Das Wilde, but feel that I could use a companion or two along, so that they can aid me in fending off the infectees while I attempt to conduct scans and study the results in-sector. Mr. Richard Maack has recently worked with a trading convoy and been granted permission to obtain the license to a Zoner 'Conference' Gunboat. He's expressed interest in the forays, and may accompany me in the future - I value Richard greatly as a friend, so if he's up for it, hopefully we can make a working habit out of this. Maybe I can get Whesto on board with this too. He's returned recently from a lot of diplomacy and some exploration in the Border Worlds...I'll have to send him a wave and see what he thinks about it.

What has prompted this entry, however, is not so much research as security related. Lately we've had many pilots in The Order taking leave due to the increased stresses imparted on them from combat in the past month and a half. In their wake have cropped up numerous ill-trained independent pilots, many of whom appear to be suffering from the aptly termed 'lawl syndrome'. Several of these pilots make no sense in their communications, and while they do not display habits or actions commonly linked to Nomad infection, they present a risk to fellow pilots nonetheless.

These individuals appear increasingly bloodthirsty, often becoming enraged at the slightest questioning to their mental faculties and stability, or challenges to their legitimacy of operation. I'm going to put forward a pretty detailed report, about two individuals in particular, whose vessels are labeled 'Him' and 'Upuaut'. Somehow these idiots gained access to a Hathor and an Osiris. I can only assume they came in under the guise of agents, held the manufacturing and/or maintenance crews at gunpoint, and stole the vessel, else they forged documents and took two vessels that had been sitting in dry-dock, just post-repairs. Either way, it's a violation of our security, and they're thieves or liars. I'm not going to sit by idly and let this serious infraction occur. High Command needs to know and act on these issues. Personally I'm of the opinion we strip them of all personal possessions and toss them to the Outcasts. Maybe life as a grunt worker will teach them some humility at trying to make off with our equipment for their own benefit.

Honestly! How selfish can people be?! We're at risk of a xenophobic species wiping us out, infighting all around ourselves, and Gallia being poised to sweep through one or more nations at any moment, and bring everything crumbling down around our feet...it's...really hard to keep going sometimes. It feels like the folks in the Intel network and the few that are trying to keep the OSD going strong are all I have left to count on, in addition to the Zoner friends I've made from recent contacts among the ZA...the ZTC in particular. I just hope all the work we're trying to do out here doesn't end up being for nothing. I suppose I can only continue to try and study the research already put forth from the scientists over Sirius, and try to further educate myself from this, and my own studies of the subject specimens both in containment and out in their element, as much as I am safely able.

Henry stood up the 30th division a week and a half ago. We've got good membership for the new bomber wing....Hopefully they can stem the tide of incursion from the BHG and LN, if things go south with Hale and Co.

I'll make another entry in here shortly. I need to keep writing all these events down. Things are moving so quickly now, and there's going to be a time that we need to look back on all of this and reflect on the actions we took under pressure.

I'm done for now, hopefully I can clear my head after some tea and sleep and write more.

"MARY, that's all for me. I need rest. Please shut everything down for me. Put us in orbit over Harris for now, far side of the planet so we don't stir up trouble with the Gaians and Planetform. We don't need any other 'political side' hoo-hah at the moment."

'As you wish sir. Dimming lights, auto pilot engaged with course plotted, and shutting down your logbook.'
"Thank you love."


-Shutting down digital logbook-
*Security lock activated*
--Logbook shut down complete--

-Opening logbook; user: Ash.Falthion-
'Welcome Mr. Falthion...what is it you would like to do?'
Available selections are as follows: Logbook Setup, View Archives, New Entry, Edit Entry, Transfer Entry.'
"I would like to make a new entry please."
'Affirmative, {New Entry} selected, dated 29.07.818 A.S.'

"Hmm...I need to backdate this. MARY? Can you override the logbook's basic command prompt and please put a backdate to associate with this and several future entries please?"
'One moment please sir. Querying request.'
...
...
...
*Formatting error* *Program parameters exceeded* "Crap...Crap!!! MARY! Quick, save the logs, all of them, fast!"
'Sir, shall I work to salvage this pho-*chirp*' "Logs first! The pictures are secondary!"
'Processing your request sir.'
*Parsing logbook data*
...
...
'Sir, the logs have been salvaged. If I could express an emotion, I believe it would be pleasure at accomplishing this task.'
"Thank you love. I'm glad we didn't lose that. The photos?"
'Several files were damaged sir. I may not be able to bring all of them back up at this time. I have the records as to where they were in the book, and I can attempt to recreate and/or repair them as required, if you would like.'
"Yes, please do if you are able."
'I must forewarn you sir, this will drain a considerable amount of processing power from the general task core. Do you still wish to proceed with the operation?'
"Hmm...yes. We're at a point that we can afford to do so. Solarius is turning out to be a safe holding point for now, especially with the Hessian and Corsair conflict around Cadiz. Please go forward with it. We'll be going back to Omega-55 and 58 soon enough, but not so shortly that it should be a problem."
'Affirmative sir. Beginning processing and restoration of images now.'
"Lass? I've got a question for you: Can the process be stopped and resumed again later? Say we need to scramble out of here on an alert, and we must have full capabilities aboard the Shu?"
'Calculating...I believe it should be possible. I may require a small amount of core power to maintain the process in a low-state, but it will be significantly less than the current active state.'
"Ok then, continue on. I'm going to go check the locks on the holding bay, then we can try to reboot the logbook and make an entry."
'Sir, I believe the logbook is a non-functioning unit for the time being. I may be able to try and restore it, but you might be better off either seeking another server format for it on the current station that we reside, or I can try to build one from my core intelligence here.'
"If that...is an option, and you're not going to overload your own core, then that might be for the best. Are we likely to have hiccups in the future? Is it going to endanger you, or the core's stability?"
'No sir, it will be integrated with me, rather than my accessing a program from the side. I will be able to manipulate it at will.'
"Very well then. Please continue."

--Entry logged in MARY core--
--Set task: Creation of internal logbook program for entry storage; user: Ash.Falthion

*Entry storage linked to MARY core*
*Creating entry parameters*
-Formatting complete-
*Establishing post and pro-dating function; enable on log entries*
-Function established-
-Reformed logbook created; lock down process-
*Security lock protocol established*

-Accessing MARY core; route to sub process: logbook-
-Sub process: logbook accessed; begin process run up-
*Logbook protocols initiated; run up complete*
-Opening logbook; user: Ash.Falthion-
'Mr. Falthion, you've accessed the logbook that is now a native part of my core. How may I be of assistance?'
"Let's see if this works out right, huh lass?"
'Sir, I have attempted to create this new entry state as similar to the old logbook as possible. The entry selections that follow are as close as I was able to represent and/or replicate from the old template.'
'Available selections: Access Logbook Sub-process Mainframe, View Archives, New Entry, Edit Entry, Transfer Entry.'
"Lass, you've done a fine job here. I want to remember how you saved these logs. Please rename the Access Mainframe subheading to MARY's Logs."
'Processing your request sir.'
*Rename selection:Access Logbook Sub-process Mainframe. [MARY's Logs]*
-Naming change complete-
'It is done sir.'
"Excellent. Let's put the first log in then!"
'First entry in MARY's Logs , {New Entry} selected, log creation dated 29.07.818 A.S.'
'Log back-dated to 13.07.818 A.S.'

Well, I've finally got a free moment, here on Solarius and waiting for the Spatial, or rather Shu, to be repaired, that I can finally make a proper entry in this logbook. I'm blessed to have MARY, and I have Chase to thank for that. MARY, or Mobile Autonomous Ramate Yeowoman and MACY Master Artificial Custos Ylem . Two artificial intelligence cores that he came up with, utilizing MACY as the base model, thereby 'spawning' shard units from the core. A brilliant man. If only I can amount to something similar in my lifetime...I'll not mope around though, as that doesn't get anything done, same with complaining.

Das Wilde...it always comes back to them for me. I'd been holed up at Bornholm Depot for a few days, trying to decide a best course of action to proceed from that location. The BHG had been present in the Omegas a few days prior, and I was not in the mood to tangle with them. I may be part of an organization that has sworn pitched combat against them if encountering aggression, but at this time, I see no need for such frivolities. If they come at me, then I'll defend myself - and I'll most certainly defend my kinsmen - but the Nomads, or K'Hara as they're called in lore, are the bigger threat here, I feel. As such, I launched from Bornholm -
*Quick note to self, bring supplies to include Oxygen, Food Rations, and some Deuterium to the station as repayment for the Junkers letting me stay there
- and made my way through Omega 15, scouting as I went.
Launching from Bornholm Depot
Charting out Omega-15

I soon came upon a planet that was not in the Shu's data bank, so I pressed closer and took readings on it.

Charting Planet Skagen

Planet Skagen; of course the surveying was not without incident, as some Corsair recruits decided they wanted what I had in my cargo hold. I proceeded to fire the six Ageira engines which have not failed me yet, and sped away.

Prior to entering the Omega-5 system, I worked my way through Omega-47, into a debris field I'd previously drifted past without a thought. The Mellia Debris Field, as it is named, may have some significance on the evolution of life forms. Scans aboard the Shu indicated residual biotic matter in the fields. We'd have to call the GMG to help us mine it, but it would be a possibility that the GMG, Order, and Zoners alike could study. Heck, Omega-49 is close by, and Gran Canaria would make a splendid area within which to perform the studies.
Melilla Debris Field at a distance
Within the Melilla Debris Field

As I moved back towards Omega-5 and my launching point of Cadiz Base, Commander Frederick, or Henry to me, sent me a hailing message. He and a new recruit, Ensign Elena Campillo - whom he'd told about my forays and surveying of the Omegas - wished to accompany me on another journey into said territory and possibly see Das Wilde. I humored them, desiring company, but forewarned them against the hazards of the sector. We made good time once rendezvousing at Cadiz, moving quickly through the battlefield that Omega-5 has become.
Returning to Omega-55

Once inside Omega-55, we quickly headed to the Unknown Planet, the sensory reducing heavenly body whose position I'd charted in an earlier foray to this forsaken sector. Henry and Elena wished to see the famous wrecks there. I kept an eye on our surroundings, and none too soon, for we were swarmed by two groups of Wilde ships almost simultaneously, with eventually sixteen or eighteen vessels attacking us overall. We thankfully turned all of them to slag, but not without significant ship damage. Elena was a little shaken, I think, this being her first encounter with these beasts. I don't blame her for keeping a cold disposition; whatever helps her keep her head. She moved off to go back to Cadiz and eventually back to Minor via the Omegas, keeping in radio contact to hail us for assistance should she have needed it. Thankfully she did not.

Henry and I had our hands full then, as we entered the hallowed grounds of the Wilde: Omega-58.


Strange to me at the time, we were not immediately engaged upon our entrance to their home system, aside from the stationary turret emplacements that guarded jump hole access. After reviewing the actions of those pilots, or 'infectees' as I prefer to term them, I see that it was a severe mistake on my part to underestimate the initial 'lack of hostility'. They were setting us up...they're devious, cunning as any human being, and I, and those who I work with to keep them in check, must never forget this.
Into Omega-58

Henry and I were eventually set upon as we ventured closer to the center of the system. Stars dotted the plane-scape, with one sun near the center. Rings of dust surrounded it, effectuating a solemnity, a sense of peace and sorrow simultaneously, that was shattered as we were set upon by these monsters. As we fought, Henry picked up another anomaly on his scanners, which I had not noticed until it was dangerously late, for I was distracted with eight Wilde pilots who were engaging me.
Fighting Das Wilde

Henry continued to drift off towards this anomaly as he fought six pilots, eventually falling out of communication range...this was when the situation began to look quite grim.

Searching for Henry

I'd brought the number of Wilde down to three, with a fairly sufficient number of nanobots and batteries left in reserve, and the current 'bots working fairly fast to repair the holes in the hull, and other structural damage - both from the Wilde and the surrounding debris that I was running into, due to its tight compaction and the Spatial's large frame. As I came to the last two pilots, issuing a taunt to them, I was set upon once again by another nine pilots. I worked the controls feverishly, with the nanobots scurrying ever faster to repair damage that I was incurring at an exponential rate now. As the counter continued to dwindle with my shield battery reserves, and nanobots left in the repair bay, I began to wonder if this was how it would end for me: alone amongst mine enemies would I be defeated, dragged down to their depths and re-emerge as a creature of myth and horror...

Henry Emerges
Thankfully Henry re-emerged from the blackness, in time to shake me from my dirge, giving me a renewed sense of hope. I radioed him as we fought together again, asking how he was holding up. He'd stated that his pilot bay had sustained serious damage, cracked and shattered, and he had though himself a dead man for a moment. He relayed to me rapidly that his suit helmet had already been on when the decompression went off, he drifted towards more debris, and lost his pursuers there. Quickly assessing the damage to his ship, he got out and made fast repairs - not needing to go through the cumbersome process of exiting through the back bay, as his canopy was already blown to bits above - and shuttled off again to find me. I'm glad he's a crack engineer - both our vessels needed his attention after this fiasco ended.

We fought our way back, with him covering me so that I could take the following scans as we left. I was overly frustrated, for I failed to acquire scans of the two bases we'd neared in our brief foray through the system! Curses! We'll be going back there though! The Order needs to know our enemy's capability, throughout their holdings.

Outer Asteroid Belt
Intermediate Asteroid Belt
Inner Asteroid Belt

Once out of the crematory, Henry transferred the infectees to me via MARY's guidance protocol for tractoring cargo. I sealed off the command bay from the containment chamber, and they were shuttled in automatically. Henry was thankfully already sealed, and simply brought his pistol with him for security as he pushed their life-support pods out the back of his craft.
Wilde 'infectee' swap with Henry; avoiding infection

We knew our danger then, even 'only' being in Omega-55 at that time: I was precipitously low on nanobots, and full out of shield batteries. Henry was empty on both accounts, and between my sharing with him, we only had fifteen total; I'd been wanting to give him all of them, in an attempt to repair his canopy, but he was resolute in his refusal to take all of them. We limped about the system, sustaining two more attacks of three Wilde pilots each. Thankfully their ships were slightly salvageable, and we obtained the necessary nanobots and shield batteries to make it further through the system.

I knew we were too far to make it to the Omega-5 jump hole, but we had to get out of there somehow. There was no going back to 58 - not in the sorry shape we were in - so I put the sensors to maximum, went stationary for a brief and unnerving moment, while having Henry pull security. Thank goodness I found a small anomaly on the scanners. We searched high and low for it as its strength grew stronger, eventually finding it after two more attacks by six ships in total. Omega-11, you never looked so beautiful.
Omega-11; our getaway and salvation

We pushed through and came out in sector B3, near Freital Base in 4C. The Hessians were not happy to see us, but we did not care...we were alive! After attempting to parley with them and failing at it, we slipped away as a group of Bounty Hunters entered the scene and provided the much needed - though unexpected - distraction. While I'd love to crush them as much as another Order agent, we did not have the time, nor the energy to sustain another battle. Henry and I limped off to Solarius, where he actually bid me farewell. Apparently Daumann did not look kindly upon his previous interactions with the Rheinland Military or some other officiating group. I moored, told them I was in dire need of nanobots and batteries, shuffled out with a lev-wagon full of them, and tossed the whole lot out an airlock to Henry. Thankfully he came close enough to take them, and continued on his way back to Minor. I'd received word two days later that he'd made it safely, though I'm still concerned about his time without a canopy. I don't know if he submitted to a scan and physical at Cape Hope, but I'll ask him privately when I return about the whole incident.

I'm really thankful we survived, but I'm...I'm downright angry with myself for putting one of my best friends in that sort of danger. He could have been killed, all because I wanted to get information on this enemy that vexes me so! I refuse to put friends in such danger again. Yes, I did need help, but putting someone in a light craft through that was not the answer! I'm going to make a formal request to the ZTC for a heavier craft if they'll allow it. Normally I'd just request the commission of a Resheph, but with the current battle amongst the Keepers, Bounty Hunters Guild, Liberty Navy, and the infected groups, Aoi Iseijin and Das Wilde, The Order's resources grow thin. I'll not deprive High Command of a necessary cruiser if I can ask for it from the Zoners. While I don't want to put them in a bad position either, this is going to be strictly research and self defense while continuing to observe these beings. I'll not get into a fight with the Navy using this craft. The Kusari Explorer has helped in the times I've needed to attempt long range analysis of a heavenly body, dust or asteroid field, or cannot afford to compromise my position by mooring for rest. That being said, it does not hold up well in a fight. Equipping a Hathor with its complement of scanning and research equipment, however, would not have been fiscally feasible - too much of a headache for High Command, especially with the abrupt resignation and disappearance of Admiral Staite. That will have to be a separate entry all its own...

Enough brooding on the past though. I need sleep again while the ship is being repaired. I wish I could risk a shuttle to Freeport 9 and pick up the Khonsu, but it's too risky. I won't compromise my position for ease in continuing research. I'll have to just remain patient and continue to send anonymous messages to High Command.

"I'm done here MARY. Please shut it down. It's good to be back."
'Affirmative sir. Shutting down MARY's Logs.'

*MARY's Logs Sub-process unloading*
-Security lock protocol established-
-MARY's Logs secured-

-Accessing MARY core; route to sub process: logbook-
-Sub process: logbook accessed; begin process run up-
*Logbook protocols initiated; run up complete*
-Opening logbook; user: Ash.Falthion-
'Mr. Falthion, you've accessed the logbook that is now a native part of my core. How may I be of assistance? Available selections are: Access Logbook Sub-process Mainframe, View Archives, New Entry, Edit Entry, Transfer Entry.'
"A new entry if I could please MARY."
'Affirmative sir. {New Entry} selected. Do you need to backdate this log sir, or keep the current date of: 09.09.818 A.S.?'
"Please backdate this one as well love. The date should be 09.05.818 A.S."
*Backdating log entry; date: 09.05.818 A.S.* -Please hold one moment while process completes-
-Log successfully backdated- 'Sir, is there anything else you would care to do before proceeding?'
"That's all lass. You've done an excellent job. Could you please go back to processing the files from Admiral Staite now?"
'As you wish sir. I will be available - as always - should you require my services.'
"Thank you lass. I just need to sit and think again. Dim the lights if you would, please? Also, search my archives of music for something...ambient. A bit somber, but not that wallowing-in-grief stuff."
*Parsing adjectives; analyzing meanings... ...* -Syntax evaluated and understood- 'I believe I've found something that fits the parameters you set out sir. It is by one Mr. Kevin MacLeod, composed prior to the evacuation of Earth.'
"Aaah...so it's some of my parent's, grandparent's, and their ancestors' relics! Excellent MARY. Please, put it on."
*Music can be heard playing in the background, the Spatial's lights dim, and Ash focuses on the console's screen as he tries to gather his thoughts...*

Humanity...what are we turning into? Are we becoming so base that all we can do and think about is infighting amongst our various 'clans'? I suppose I've somewhat isolated myself in these past weeks of rigorous archaeological and medicinal studies, that I've become somewhat numbed to the whole social sphere that surrounds us. It evolves and shifts constantly as we change our opinions about one another...
...
...
I...essentially had sensory overload when I returned from the mists of Omega-55 and 58; combat was occurring all around me, and insults were being thrown left and right akin to confetti and party favors on a holiday or birthday celebration. For many moments I'd wondered if by coming back from my studies, I had stumbled upon friends and acquaintences horribly morphed from their original selves - as if some sort of psychosis-induced outbreak had occurred! The sheer amount of violence I saw as I made my way across the Omegas and into the Omicrons alone was abhorrent.

This was only the tip of the spear though. I moved back to Freeport 9, then XV, then to Gammu, on my way to Freeport 11, and eventually Omicron Minor. I did not get that far, however. I picked up little bits and pieces of news as I tried to meet with some of the Zoner's Trading Consortium in their home system, regarding the changes the OSD has had lately - particularly with Admiral Staite's abrupt disappearance. I unfortunately did not have a chance to meet with them either.

Things turned from bad, to worse, as I moved to Gammu, in the Omicron Kappa sector. I picked up more radio traffic as I landed at the main port in Gammu. Not wanting to attract too much attention to myself - as the area had seemingly started to become a sort of haven - if not a breeding ground - for unscrupulous characters as of late, I gathered the little supplies I required, checked the news screens in the hangars for anything urgent, and then made my way out of there post haste, to a small encampment I'd set up in a remote basin some seventy or ninety kilometers from there. It was shielded enough that I would not have to worry about being bothered, but not so far away that I could not pop a distress signal should something unforeseen or unfortunate occur.

I had just begun to settle down into the depression and move into the cave-esque landing area that I'd roughly etched out with lasers and some drilling equipment, when I received an urgent-sounding distress call from a good friend: Richard Maack. Now Richard does not usually have much trouble handling himself amongst some unruly people, and he is a rather level-headed person, which is why this call concerned me. He sounded stressed, and I could hear shuddering noises in the background. He immediately informed me that he and several other Consortians had been waylaid during a meeting at Corfu Base, in Omicron Theta. They'd all scrambled to meet the threat, and he had sent out a distress signal to those whom he trusted, asking for help if it could be provided. Me, not wanting to leave a friend in danger, quickly packed up my things from the crater, collapsed the portable enviro-bubble and launched from the depression.

I should have thought to bring the Shu back, rather than the Khonsu. I ended up being of no help to them, as the sensory and navigational equipment - long overdue for a maintenance checkup and some parts for replacement - ended up shorting out as I came upon the scene: Zoners banded together against Freelancers, Mercenaries and...Outcasts! A melee engulfed Corfu, and after hailing Richard, I moved to try and assist, only to be swarmed upon by the Bounty Hunter's Guild's incumbent squadron around Corfu; a whole lot of good I did anyone... I ended up finishing their ships off, tractoring the annoying sots in, and by the time I'd done that, and Outcast bomber was upon me, and the whole set of systems went on the fritz! I attempted to signal that I'd not engaged in the slightest - although I'd declared that I would help if I could - and was backing off due to systems failures all about. I moored quickly alongside Corfu and for whatever reason, the attackers had some shred of decency to leave me alone as Corfu put out its mooring hooks. Perhaps they did not want to be denied docking rights there...perhaps there is still a shred of humanity and honor left in those who fight. Whichever the reason, I am thankfully alive, and my good friends ended up living through the ordeal as well.

I digress...the main point of this entry is meant to be about Admiral Staite's abrupt disappearance and 'gift' which she left expressly for me at Mora Station.

We were both to meet there roughly a month ago and go over the Kusari Wild 'infectees' that I had bested in combat and had held at Lisbon Station for quite some time. Unfortunately, due to ionic activity and fate's hand, we were not able to meet up. She left me a wave stating that she'd be around Mora and inside Omicron-92 for some time after that, and if I had the time, to come and search for here whereabouts in those areas. My work unfortunately kept me away from Mora and Omicron-92, and I feel it was a grave mistake, for now I am too late. She has disappeared, and along with this, her immense knowledge of the Nomads...the K'Hara and all of the research she'd done prior to the OSD's 'standing up' as an official division of The Order.

I know I shouldn't be too hard on myself - the work I'm trying to take on is rough already - but I feel at fault for not taking the time to speak to her about these things. I've already spoken to Admiral Orley about it, and he's relaying me to our new division head. Hopefully he's easy enough to get along with and work beside; it definitely helps that Michal has returned from his extended tour away, and brief bit of R&R; spirits above know he needed it. At any rate, the 'gift' Admiral Staite left me: Her gunboat, the Ailuros.

Frankly, I don't feel worthy to now be in possession of it, but for whatever her reasons, she saw fit to leave it in my hands. I was rather perplexed at first as to what I would do with it. I moved it to a secure location, and pondered this...fortune. After about two weeks time - and being away from the swarm of events surrounding the Omicrons - I believe I'd figured out why she left it to me: Her research.
She knew that I had been thoroughly interested in the 'infectees' whom I'd scraped up from scuffles against the Aoi Iseijin, as well as Das Wilde; needless to say, I began poring over everything in that ship. Eventually I came across a small booklet with several rather current logs notated in it - old fashioned carbon paper, something one does not find commonly anymore. As I pored over this gem, I came to a page with different code written upon it. I realized it was a backup of her pass codes for unlocking the system's data-banks aboard the Ailuros. What luck! The cache in this ship alone is incredible. It is to my knowledge that she also had a Geb Carrier that she secreted somewhere. I am unsure as to what other jewels of knowledge would be aboard that, but I'll have to settle for what's aboard the Ailuros...

*Two minutes later*

'Sir? Mr. Falthion...Sir, you've fallen asleep at the console. Enacting archiving of current entry; logged reason: Mr. Falthion has fallen asleep.'
*Routing current entry to saved archives*
-Routine complete-
*MARY's Logs Sub-process unloading*
-Security lock protocol established-
-MARY's Logs secured-

"Snrrk! Huh?...Where??? Oh right, I've passed out at the console once again. *Sigh* I need to be getting more sleep on board. It's far too apparent now. Perhaps I'll call Henry and let him know I'm shifting my flight group's duties to Elena for now. She's a tough cookie, and should be able to handle it.

Well, now that I've had my nap...by the way, MARY?? How long was I out for?"
'Welcome back sir. You were sleeping for four standard hours, twenty-three minutes, and forty-one seconds.'
"Heh, accuracy as always. You're a gem MARY."
-Sending transmission to speech analysis- *Analyzing* -Please hold-... ... ... -Analysis complete- 'Sir, the expression conveys praise and a sense of attachment, in the form of fondness, according to the analysis. Is this correct?'
"Yes indeed MARY. The speech recognition sub-routine I installed two weeks ago is doing a marvelous job."
'It adds to my data-banks of storage on human behavior sir, allowing me to better interact with you, or anyone else who may come in contact with me. Mr. Deaucorian for instance.'
"Hmm, speaking of Chase...I've not sent him a message for some time. I'll have to hail him when we're next back in the Omicrons."
'Sir, would you care to engage the console and open the logbook once again, or do you have other matters to attend to?'
"The logbook will be fine for now love. Please open the access panel on the console."
*Opening access panel* -Please enter clearance-
"Access code: Fidelis."
*Processing* -Access code accepted; opening console controls-
-Accessing MARY core; route to sub process: logbook-
-Sub process: logbook accessed; begin process run up-
*Logbook protocols initiated; run up complete*
-Opening logbook; user: Ash.Falthion-
'Mr. Falthion, you've accessed the logbook that is now a native part of my core. How may I be of assistance? Available selections are: Access Logbook Sub-process Mainframe, View Archives, New Entry, Edit Entry, Transfer Entry.'
"A new entry if I could please MARY."
'Affirmative sir. {New Entry} selected. Do you need to backdate this log sir, or keep the current date of: 09.09.818 A.S.?'
"I would like to make the an attached entry to the previous one. A second part, if you could please."
'Yes sir, it is possible. Please give me one moment.'
**Attaching entry to previous entry. Log entry date: 09.05.818 A.S.** 'Please hold one moment while process completes.'
-Attachment complete; Log successfully backdated-

'Process complete sir. Is there anything else?'
"Actually...yes. Please entitle the first and second entries accordingly: The Fracturing of Humanity: An Analysis, and Hidden Gem: A Directional Shift