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Shark Tales

[Omicron Delta]

Freeport 11 has been crippled by a nomad attack. A lone freelancer witnessed the tragedy, but was unable to aid the station due to the size of the assault fleet. The infamous nomad group known only as the 'Keepers' are believed to have been behind this attack. The freelancer managed to recieve a signal emitted from the alien craft and record it. This signal was analysed by an AI with the help of Freeport 11 analysts who were in system at the time.

Later on that day a collection of fighters floated outside the wounded Freeport, discussing the massive nomad activity in the system. A lone nomad scout was watching them from a close distance. No-one could have predicted what happenned next.

[New York]

After a tense period of negotiation, the self-proclaimed research team consisting of a Corsair, and Outcast, an AI-controlled ship(heading to Bretonia for study) and now myself(James Rennie), were being escorted to A little-known system...

[Alaska(gosh where's that?)]

Heated discussion ensued as the bewildered Liberty forces kept their calm and assessed the frankly crazy situation. At this point I was wondering why I faced destruction yet again. It was to do with Nomads... my favourite blue aliens that nearly ruined my life. But I was assured this time it was different. Riiiight.

In exchange for our lives, we allowed the LSF/SA forces to take the alien to Research Station Willard, where it is currently being examined. We were promised it would be kept alive. I am on my way to an anomaly in the New York system to investigate the connection between it, the strange signal and the Nomads. Wish me luck.

I will add more detail as I get the time to fill in this journal. SkyShark out.


// IF YOU WANT TO ADD STUFF PLEASE DO SO!!! Journals, news reports, get it in!
Right From The Corsair's Mouth

Log 1-Rodriguez Varquero, Corsair Guard.

How the heck did i end up in this place? All i did was buy a couple o' guns at rochester... but yet, all of this... all of this dragged me into it. all i wanted to do was go home. *sigh* well, i might as well expand on the situation eh, so if i want to read it over again and ponder, i may...

...It was a peaceful run, from California to New York. The journey to California had been quite a tedious one, being part of the the Corsair guard, hatred spewed out in epic proportions. My agent, Mr. Sparrow had asked me to come to rochester, for the weaponry, and which i did. after the purchase, i did the switch in guns, and after a coffee break, launched from rochester, to head back home. but no. things aint always so smooth...

...What happened next, i cannot explain. Cruising above manhatten, at least 50k higher, my radar picked up a still object on scanners. ofcourse, i was freaking out, since i was, after all in the Liberty capitol. but, after checking and rechecking, my panic dropped. it was a wreckage. of a Libertonian transport, and its...Gunboat escorts?! what the hell? transports dont ever have GUNBOAT escorts!!! Some thing was very wrong here...

...Coming closer, i realised, the ships had been crippled, and had their hulls ripped through, almost as if someone got a huge claw, and was clawing at the hull. Upon scanning the hold, i picked up a strange radiation reading. strange. the radiation was enamating from a lead box. the radiation was strong enough to be picked up, but weak enough to do any major damage to my body. thank god for that. my curiosity has landed me in alot of trouble, and this could be one of those moments again. why didnt i just go home...

Scanning. reading suggest it is a power cell. i sit there, dumbfounded. a nomad power cell? in liberty? what the heck is a nomad Power cell in the first place?!i pick it up with the tractor beam, all the same, stash it in the corner of the cargo hold. cover it up with alotta other useless crap i was carrying. who knows what this cell could do in liberty. might as well take it and hide it. but where to hide it...i know!! Toledo. they are always looking for nomad related stuff to conduct research upon...

...Heading to minor now. via alaska... Just hope the Authorities havent realised that they have a corsair in the system, about to head home...thats definitely what i dont want. exellent. the jumpgate is clear. but oh hell. wait. what are the unlocking codes? whataminute... i dont need 'em.. what the heck? oh. i forgot. i got me a nomad power cell... Jump initiated. i enter alaska. the last thing i remember, is jumping into alaska, before falling unconscious...

...i wake up on Toledo, in the Medical Wing. an order pilot found me floating in alaska, with that cell in my hold. obviously, he rescued me. The Order had already taken the nomad power cell, to conduct tests upon, and hide it from any other's view. thank god. at least i know its safe. i have my sandwich, and launch into orbit. surprise suprise. nomads and the Order, fighting. except one certain Nomad. It called itself Specimen.32. It was ehibiting peaceful behaviour, allowing me to come VERY close to conduct scans. almost, as if playing. it tried to communicate, but i didnt reply. how could i? i didnt understand a word it said, unfortunately. so, i bid it farewell, even though there was a Legate nearby, trying to hunt the lil squishy down. i didnt help. the squishy wasnt harmful. it just wanted to roam around. it was like a child. i engaged cruise and headed to the delta jumphole. it was following me. i jumped, and reached omicron delta. two seconds later, it was on my scanner again. it was following me, as if we were playing a game of cat and mouse. interactions between it occured again, and this time, the Specimen came up close to me. i was fascinated by the look of it...

[Image: screen1681.jpg]

...Two minutes later. confusion. a zoner. a corsair, being me. a freelancer. an advanced AI. and even an outcast. in the same bloomin' system. for a similar bloomin' reason. as if we had been summoned here. i must say, it was the weirdest day of my life.Wait till i tell you what happened next. you will be in an utter state of shock...

// a seriously good bit of roleplay done yesterday lads, hoping to conclude it soon:)
from: persephone II



"Right, yesterday was indeed a strange day. - i was maintaining some secondary systems on the ship while i picked up intense chatter from freeport 11. Since it turned out to be a collection of various forces around, i prepared my shuttle and headed towards the station.



needless to say, i was surprised to see so many units there. - one very suspicious AI unit that claimed not to be in contact with the dreaded harvesters yet using harvester terminology, an outcast, a corsair and a lost nomad that looked like it had assimilated some human fightercraft.



furthermore there was a destroyer with of unknown origin and a fleet of bounty hunters. i must admit that i was more than overwhelmed by whatever went on there. the whole situation was highly infectous and everyone was very excited about something. there were talks about anomalies, a nomad attack and other things.

at that time i decided to simply make sure that the factions around wouldn t rape each other within the stations close range.



i am a bit concerned about the news of a nomad attack on the station. the nomads had spared the station for a long time now. and we have maintained a defensive approach towards the nomads. however the news of nomads attacking freeport 11 without being provoked aswell as a nomad unit in close range around fp11 with obviously "looted" weapons and equipment, not responding to any hails is troubling.



i would be grateful to receive a detailed analysis about the nomad attack, - who was there what happened before they attacked, what forces were present at that time and was there any communication. - many things lay in the thick fog of guesswork right now.



i have returned to the persephone and powered the systems down to maintain a low signature - but will keep an uplink to the zoner satelite."

Log 2-Rodriguez Varquero, Corsair Guard.

...present in delta, united for some cause, we were. the weirdest thing ive ever seen,especially where a corsair guard and outcast were willing to work together, by forgetting their differences. apparently the specimen had contacted more than one person. alphaone, the freelancer had made contract with the nomad as well, as well as the AI., well. indirectly. the AI picked up a tranmission, which seemed to be comng from the zoner sattelite present near the minor jumphole. uncanny. the message wasnt sent by the station. an external source had a play in it...

...all the others, gathered round had been drawn to the freeport. the AI was trying to decrypt the message alphaone had picked up during the keepers' raid. hunters. a core hunter battleship undocks from the freeport. to our astonishment, he doesnt engage. instead, he leaves, while another, egoistic hunter, nears the freeport, and threatens the outcast. he leaves soon, however, as do the rest of the hunters. this is definitely a wierd day. hunters, outcasts, corsairs, freelancers, sunbucks' AI, zoners. all in the same place...

...the AI decrypts the message. his translation doesnt bode well. the Anomoly in New york, and in Cambridge. their activity has increased five fold. the field around them has increased in radius. the AI's creator, Greg is in trouble. andwith that, the AI leaves. THATS when we decide to forget our differences, and move as an expedition team. the anomolies needed to be studied, and for that reason, we head out towards New york, via the dreaded Alaska system, daring the Nomads, the Core hunters, the Navy patrols. little did we know, the navy was awaiting us, on the other end of the Jumpgate to New york...

...a battlecruiser, 2 cruisers, 4 fighters. a whole battlegroup waiting for us. we tried to negotiate, to make them see reason. to no avail. they wouldnt let us pass, except through gunfire. the presence of the nomad specimen, corsair guard, outcast, and a libertonian was too overwhelming for them. the fear of the nomad infecting everyone was too great to allow us deeper access to Liberty...

...after heavy negotiations, it had been decided that we all were to escort the specimen to the prison station fairbanks, in alaska. the Navy would escort/lead us. the specimen was to be taken into custody for examination. they didnt realise. ever second's delay was causing abnormalities in the anomolies. they NEEDED to be contained, and then experimented upon. they held the key to this whole incident, and the specimen as well...

...in the end, the decision was made by the LSF director, copeland. the Nomad was to be escorted to the Research station willard, but wass to be escorted by us all. anything out of the ordinary, and the nomad was to be blasted out of the sky. but nothing happened. the creature, confused as it was, complied. it followed the Skyshark to caifornia. it did however, telipathically engage me in conversation. it was feeling fear. fear of the law-boys. they were about to inflict grevious harm upon him, it said. especially the bloodmoon. the commander seemed almost genocidical. but before it could say more, we had arrived at the california jumpgate...

...we jumped through, and continued on our way to willard, with our navy escorts. we reached, and thenomad was taken into custody. the LSF director *spits* gave us 10 seconds to leave, but didnt make it explicitly clear. only wjhenhe started to count down from 5, did i realise what was going on, and warned the group to flee. we got out, and the Director let us go, not persueing at all. i wonder what will happen now. im in hiding, but still in liberty. the junkers are not the most hospitable. but...i wonder if this nomad holds the key to other things...
Excerpt from the personal notes of Victor Reyes, member of the Outcast Falcon squadron.
Callsign: Falcata.002


A long time has passed since I had last seen my squadron compatriots, and I wish they were with me right now. I can't even remember when I last saw the green Maltese sun rise over the orange hills, but I cannot return like this, shamed and defeated.

(...)

It was in Liberty that my eyes were opened, where I first sensed the presence of the Great Destroyers. They had came to me in the darkness of the Badlands and given me instructions, ones that I could not decipher. I soon realised however what I was required to do, when the turncoat manifested himself in the ranks of Liberty's secret operatives. I had made my way to Omicron Minor, knowing full well that the Order has no love for my kind. Nothing could stop me from carrying out this task, I was guided through the winding mine fields of Zone 21 by a force unknown to me and as I reached the great gate, it too had activated before me. In the vast, dark space in the heart of the Omicron sector, there I had provided assistance to the turncoat all the way until his return to grace in his homeland.

I had began to lose hope in ever understanding what the Great Destroyers have wanted of me, however like a true miracle then and there an image flashed through my mind again and again. I had no doubt that I had done my task well, and I had left the peril of Omicron Minor to itself, to await in the great wastes of Hokkaido for the next chapter to begin. To exact training under the watchful eye of the honourable warriors of Kusari, brave men and women standing together to fight a common foe.

A full moon had passed Malta as I continued to train myself in the art of the mind. I embraced the orange dream, gave myself away to it wholly, and in return it had granted me control over it's needs. I had fought off the vile keepers of New Tokyo side by side with our allies. I had barely began to be wholly accepted into their ranks, when the next vision had stricken me. It showed to me great mountains floating in space, great ships surrounding it, all held in the hands of the great purple haze. I saw it backing away from me until I was enveloped by a tunnel and recognised that the vision is showing me a landmark in Hokkaido. That is when I knew what needed to be done. I had bid farewell to the honourable Kusarians and proceeded to the system known as Tohoku for the next chapter of the great plan to unveil.

The great mountain there, although devastated and nowhere near as glorious as in the vision had called to me, and I followed it all the way to it's peak. That is where I had been veiled by the light and lost track of time. When I regained my consciousness of the world around me, I found myself floating beyond the scope of existence, heading towards a base. Freeport 11. It had held no significance to me at the time, but I decided to continue my course. That is where I met the piece holders. First the neutral one arrived, the resourceful thinker. Then there was the purified, the unhuman, the artificial one. The one with the link to all artificials. Soon after the brigand was there, with his quick ship and quicker skills. Although a Corsair and a great enemy, I have seen past all that. The great plan is far more important than our petty differences. The Zoner defender had made it's way there soon after, ever vigilant over the Freeport. Watching over all this was a lost one, a former hand of the Great Destroyer. A Nomad made but human meddled guardian.
I have learned much that day. I have learned that in pursuit of a common cause, even different races can unite and prosper. I have learned that the everpresent hands of the Great Destroyer, the Keepers of the Sphere have attempted to find and eliminate us here. I have learned that the next chapter is about to unveil.

And so the resourceful one and the artificial one made their to Bretonia to study a call emanating across the colonies. Myself, the Brigand and the Guardian had split from them and made our way to Liberty to call upon the crucial one in the visions. To uncover the physical piece from the Badlands the Brigand had hid.

(writing unintelligible)

The visions spoke of the Enlightened, the one to lead the warriors of all the groups, the great representatives of Mankind. One that can put aside all prejudice and with great skill and control lead the best of man to battle against oblivion. I have a lingering feeling the Enlightened one will present himself to us, very soon.

(rest of page torn out)
The Morning.

It was a quiet morning, on Manhattan, the birds chirping, the wind breezing through my window, the sun shining, Making this morning, wonderful. Until the call, I get a distress call from the blood moon, saying im needed in alaska. So i head to the launch pad, mad over the morning ruined.

Typical of course, artifact smugglers always running through alaska, which is all i thought it was, just another smuggler who is cocky enough to think he can outrun the law. But boy was i wrong, i get near Fairbanks as my radar filled with unknown ships. three to be exact, i get closer.. no one is moving, no weapons exchanging, nothing..

An outcast, a corsair, and a nomad and the skyshark.. My head, rushing with confusion had no idea what was going on! I armed my weapons and was about to engage, when i was filled in about what was going on, I didn't get much, as i was so utterly confused as why everyone was not shooting each other. Turns out The outcast corsair and the skyshark all wanted to bring this nomad to the badlands. I denied, of course seeing how the nomad could easily get away in the rocks and clouds.

We were talking for a good 20 minutes when a decision was made, i decided to have everyone bring this nomad to Willard, where it would be studied, and questioned. The nomad seemed as though it was afraid, which was odd. Now was the time for the escort, so much for my morning.

The Escort

Was odd, seeing all these ships hostile to one another, yet not opening fire, except for the bloodmoon. All he wanted to do was shoot, who ever let the crazy nut in the navy deserves to be shot. Still as confusing as it was, it felt good in a way, no hostilities were shown, everyone wanted to get the nomad to safety.

We jumped through California, everyone. it went rather well, and was easier than expected. Now was the time to get to willard.

Arrival

We arrived, minutes later. the nomad, showed fear again.. almost felt sorry for the fella. But he complied, and went into the docking bay with no problems. I then decided it would be best for the outcast and corsair to leave..

I had a feeling they would not comply with words, so i gave them 10 seconds.. watching them sit there i hinted what would happen in about 3 seconds, i ordered the LSF and navy ships to fire, leaving little damage to the outcast and corsair, i told them not to pursue, as a fight is not what i wanted. But to keep this nomad well.

I haven't seen them since, and i hope our next encounter won't be a unfriendly one.

Night Fall

As night fall came, i was getting tired, but could not sleep, as i didn't believe what had happened earlier in the day. When the next day comes i will head to willard, until then. I will sleep, and enjoy the morning that follows, so i hope.
SYSTEM LOG

ENTRY #8642

Today was a very odd day. In more ways than one. Let me start at the beginning.

I am an AI. Most AI that you see speak in the third person; this I did also until today.

I was flying out in Omega-49 conducting some research when I picked up a signal emanating from Omicron Delta. Normally this wouldn't be enough to cause alarm, but I was suspicious of it nonetheless.

I had good reason to be.

Once I left Gran Canaria, all my memory banks were wiped of data involving the transmission. I was worried about this, because the resulting gaps left negative data that executed. When I came online again, I was in Delta, with a very odd group of people.

*************************

What else do you call an Outcast, a Corsair, a Freelancer, a Zoner, a Nomad, and an advanced self-aware AI, anyways? It was very abnormal.

...........................Running datacheck for log errors..........................None found..............

I was able to isolate the negative data and invert it into something analyzable, but in the process it executed. I was erased and remade. Everyone was pretty surprised; I had just achieved sentience on a level unmatched by any other, with the possible exceptions of the enigmatic FTGW and PSI-Borg.

AlphaOne, the freelancer, had been able to copy the databurst off of a listening satellite in the system, and I was able to run a datanylsis on it.

It made no sense. No matter how I looked at it, there were no matches from any known encryption codes.

Acting on a "hunch", as organic beings are apt to term such things, I asked to scan the databanks on Freeport 11.

More negative data. By negative data, I mean it was inverted. all the 0's were 1's, and vice versa!

I pulled it off the computer, and ran a match/mesh algorithm on it with the data I had captured. They matched up and formed a single chain of data.

This chain matched exactly the signal Alpha had copied.

I was worried. A lot. I called in a favor from a neutral party, FTGW. The Zoner wasn't happy with that. I sent the packet to FTGW for analysis and to see if it could find a decryptor.

It could. Within moments a code had been reuploaded to me, and I ran it on the data.

Nothing could have prepared me for what was in there.

FTGW said that it was coded with an algorithm that was ancient- old when it had been created. I knew that could only mean one thing.

Daam K'vash.

LOG ENTRY ENDED
Logs from Dr.Manigan
Stelar date: *Classified*
Location: *Classified*
Second mission day


Today, I have received news from the LSF high command that a nomad specimen has been captured and escorted by Mr Copeland, skyshark, a outcast and a corsair. "UHHH what the" is what I though, I gotta be dreaming, they are all enemies to eachother, they should be cutting their heads off. The report indicated that they were bringing it to Willard station.

After this repport I have ordered the ship to jump to Willard. With all the experiments we did with the nomads we have been able to discover a lot of technologies. The nomad are a gift for humanity, a chance to discover new technologies, remedy to disease, attrition, etc.

At our arrival at Willard, we stayed outside of the base, since the ship couldn't dock with it, I then took a shuttle to the base with some workmates.

"A nomad cooperating with humans, this must be a trap, nomads are smart creature, they know how to outrun us" I said to myself.

Me and my men headed for the laboratory, to take a look at the specimen itself, and to study it.
SYSTEM LOG

ENTRY #8643

I headed out for Cambridge to meet up with an analysis group we had formed.

The news was grim. The anomalies in New York and Cambridge were destabilizing, and it seemed that the key was in the codes I carried.

The SkyShark, a Liberty Gunboat, met me there. The captain was an old friend of AlphaOne, and they were flying together to try and figure it all out. From what I can decipher of the transmission, it came from the Upper Unknown system, sent by the Hybrids. Don't ask what they are, even I don't know.

We've got to get to the bottom of this fast. The fate of the galaxy could well rest on it.

I will log more when I learn what exactly is happening.

LOG ENTRY ENDED
Log 3-Rodriguez Varquero, Corsair Guard

...pretty wierd, life is at times aint it? who would have thought that a corsair and outcast would be side by side, exploring the mysteries of nature, with not a single gun fired. not me, and rightly. It had to be a dream. why else would i be on Beaumont, with a message someone wishes to meet me...

...i woke up, docked on the junker base in the Texas system, called beautmont base. apparently, i had a message for me. someone wanted to see me. i had my doubts of my dream all of a sudden, since noone apart from Diego knew i was in Texas. something had to be happening for all of the weird thing happening...

...being dressed, i made my way to the cafe, since my stomach was begging to be fed,growling like a bear. reachin the cafe, i see an outcast sitting at the nearest bench, looking at me, smiling... i was doubting my dream more than anything. was it a dream or not...

...the outcast knew my name, which he called out, and beckoned me to head to his table.i knew for certain this wasnt a dream anymore. everything that had happened WAS real. we had a.. somewhat restrcited discussion, as to what the next stage was. miraculously, we agreed on one point. the New york Anomoly. its activity had increased tenfold now, it was increasing in diameter, and had a small, contained radiation field around it. the situation was wa too important to be ignored...

...we launched from beaumont, falcata, and talon, side by side, leaving behind the talks of surprise and gasp, and headed to New York. the public way. or the hidden way. what to do, was our next objective. we needed to get to New york and start our work. Cambridge was being covered by the others...