"Is this thing on?" The young Balados finally rear his head?

"Is this thing on?" The young Balados finally rear his head? - Printable Version

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"Is this thing on?" The young Balados finally rear his head? - Sorrontis - 07-06-2016

Index knuckle lightly tapping the camera lens

"Yep, it's on. Now, where should I start? I've never made a video will & testament before."

Balados, sits there for a few minutes with his chin resting on the desk, starring intently into the camera.

"Oh, I know! ... I better restart from the top!"

*beep*
*beep*
*beep beep beep*

"This is my video will & testament. If any one finds this recording, it means, well, I'm dead. Please bring it to the nearest Liberty owned base, I'd really appreciate it."

"My name is Jeremy John Johanssen Jr. Yep, thanks dad, that's funny. I go by the codename Balados. Why? Because it sounds strong."

"Right now, it's June the 26th, 823 AS, making me just over 21 years old. I was born on Planet Houston on April 4th, 802. My parents both still call it home. But, let's be honest, it's a big place out here, why wouldn't I want to travel. Oh, yeah, my parents name, I forgot. My father is Jeremy Johanssen, and my mother is Elria Johanssen. They own a small shop on the planet, sell fruits and vegetables. Delicious stuff really. Don't tell anyone, but they have a small biofarm in the back. That's why all that stuff is so fresh."

"So, you're probably wondering, what does a young kid, fresh off the farm, doing in space? Well, I got myself a flight contract with Ageira. I'm moving some stuff between the Ontario and Colorado Systems. It's not the best paying job, but they're trying me out for something bigger. That's what they said. They even paid for my Sunburst and everything; which, according to them, I'll pay off in a run or two. To be honest, I don't even know how to use these turrets. I better be careful. Good thing these systems are rather safe."

"Well, that should be about it. You can get this video, and whatever's left of my account, to my parents ."

"Mom, Dad. If I don't make it home, just know that I love you. Always remember that I died doing what I've always dreamed of."

Balados kisses his fingers, and presses them against against the lens

*beep*

Balados stands up from his desk, walks towards the pilots chair.

"Here we go, you shiny new ship. Take care of me, and we'll get along just fine."

Current Business Deals

Concluded Business Deals

Piloting Experience

Message Encryption

RE: "Is this thing on?" The young Balados finally rear his head? - Sorrontis - 07-07-2016

*beep*

"Well, my first flight went well. I made the round trip between California and Ontario without a hitch! It was great! I just fired my turrets for fun. And the best part, I made 600 grand! That's more than my parents made in the past 10 years! This is great!"

*beep*

...

*beep*

"I'm supposed to say something cool.... Like... ummm.... Balados, signing off!" Balados salutes to the air

*beep*

...

*Beep*

"Wait, how will anyone know what day it is... It's June 29th, 823. I gotta find a better way to do this."

*Beep*

RE: "Is this thing on?" The young Balados finally rear his head? - Sorrontis - 07-07-2016

*beep*

"Holy s**t! I almost died today. My trusty turret and shield failed me. Six! Six lane hackers tried to get my haul of military vehicles. I ran to the sierra ice fields to hide, but they kept on coming! I almost died. S**t S**t S**t!!!"

"But it all worked out in the end. I was able to steer towards a lone Navy Fighter Patrol. The dude totally destroyed those Lane Hackers! They tried to scurry away like the rats they are! Sorrontis, weird name, then escorted me to Planet Los Angeles. Totally nice dude. Before he left me though, he offered me a job. Not like the usual jobs. He wants me to find information about him! That's really creepy right? Well, I said yes, why not, the dude saved my life. I thought that'd be it, but he bought me all this stuff to install on my ship. Hopefully I can fight of the next pirates that'll try to get in my way."

"This isn't how I was planning on ending the month. I better log off before I get another panic attack. Here's to June 30th."

*beep*

RE: "Is this thing on?" The young Balados finally rear his head? - Sorrontis - 07-07-2016

*beep*

"So, after a few days relaxing on Los Angeles, I decided to fly another load between Ontario and California. Boy, was that a bad idea."

Balados stands up, walks around the room, shakes his head, and sits back down at the camera.

"Everything was going well. Like my first run."

"Just as I exit the Trade Lane near the Cortez jump gate, I get rushed by four lane hackers. Luckily, I had some practice, did some simulations. I was ready..."

"Or so I thought. I took two down, it was so simple. But, just as I get some hope, three liberty rogues join the fray. At this point, I just can't take it anymore, I'm weary. I'm not a combat pilot. I did the only thing I could. I took the jump gate to Cortez."

Balados lets out a wry laugh.

" 'Take the jump gate, you'll get away from them.' That's what everybody would say. It's a smart move. Well, not this time. Something went wrong. I heard a bang and a rattle, and the entire ship filled with smoke. Now my nav map is fried. I made an emergency landing on Caracow. Curacow? How do you say it? What ever, that makes not difference. I'll fix my ship up, and I'll make my way back to Fort Severn. Who knows what else is damaged on this ship."

"Well, I'm taking a nap, and I'll fly out tomorrow."

"It's July 6th, 823. I'm logging off."

*Beep*

RE: "Is this thing on?" The young Balados finally rear his head? - Sorrontis - 07-08-2016

*beep*

"Another day, another successful trade mission. My contract with Ageira has officially been put on hold. They don't need me to move more supplies to Fort Severn."

"With the time off, I've started my own shipping route. I found out that there is a large demand for Liberty Military Vehicles in Bretonia. I've been doing a few of these runs; it's making money hand over fist. I've also sent out a broad net for temporary employment, but no fish has taken the bait yet. I'll wait. Right now, I've got my eyes on a shiny new ship. I almost have the required 11 million. Huge cargo hold! It'll be great. Just a few more Liberty-Bretonia runs.

"Logging off on July 7th, 823."

*beep*

RE: "Is this thing on?" The young Balados finally rear his head? - Sorrontis - 07-09-2016

Balados is starring at his new comms system. Completely confounded, he presses buttons randomly until he finds what he's looking for.

*beep*

"Well, that was frustrating. I guess that's normal when you get a new ship; and boy, do I have a story to tell you."

"I finished a few runs to London. This gentleman had a thirst for Liberty weaponry. I went through the proper Ageira channels, it was all okayed. Anyways, I made the eleven million I needed to buy my new transport. A brand new Mammoth! That's right, I own my ship now! I'm my own captain! Isn't great!? I no longer fly that second hand Sunburst. Anyways, that's not the story."

"So, I get to Manhattan, money in hand. I go down to the shipyard, and I start chatting up one of the sales dudes. His name was... Mareck... something. Well, it doesn't matter, he doesn't work there anymore. Anyways, I talk to the dude, and we get talking. I already know what I need, so I do the thing were your indecisive to see if he'll drop the price. He did, 100k credits discount! So that was awesome!"

"Well, while were signing the papers and all that jazz, we're talking about my work. He's asking me questions like 'What do you haul?' or 'Where are you going?' and 'What's your route?' Just friendly questions. So, when everything signed, he says the ships all good to go. So, I go to the commodity trader and fill up my hold with Liberty Ale.... mmmhmmm Liberty Ale."

"So, I do my route, go through Cortez like I usually do to get to London. That's when three lane hackers knock out the trade lanes. No big deal, I'm in a mammoth, I've got five transport turrets. They'll do nothing to me. So, I take aim and fire. 'CLUNK' 'What?' I fire again and again 'CLUNK' 'CLUNK'. I look down to my weapons panel... I don't have turrets. He didn't get them installed. So, like any smart freight pilot, I start flying straight to the nearest port. My shields and armour should last long enough."

"So after a few seconds, the lane hackers realize that I'm not firing, and they start their attack. 'THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK' All in rapid succession. Their shots are going right through my shield, turning my ship into Liberty Cheese. So, I'm scrambling to the ship's core. The shield's there, but not connected. This definitely wasn't a coincidence. I made it to Curacua, with a semi damaged ship. Most of my cargo was intact at least. Luckily, I'm known on Curacua now, so I was able to get it all fixed."

"Talking with the ship repair guy, he told me he could put on the turrets on my ship, but it was going to require some refitting of the cargo hold. So, I ended up losing 2% of my capacity so I can defend myself. Big deal, right? I prefer making it home than making a few thousand credits more. But still, its quite frustrating. That guy on Manhattan should have told me all of this. But of course, he probably wasn't a good person. So, I called Liberty Security. Let them figure out if he made a mistake, or if he's working with the hackers."

"It's the end of the day, I might as well sign out and go to bed. It really was an eventful July 8th. ... ... 823 A.S."

*beep*

Balados continues to browse the comms. He's looking for the Ageira database.

"I really need to update the roster. I don't want to get in trouble."

Finding his name, Balados starts editing the entry.

Vessel Identification: The Fat Whale
Freight Class: Mammoth
Crew Size: ..... .....

"Umm... is that including me? I'll put one for now."

Crew Size: 1
Cargo Size: 2,155 [with armaments]

Armaments: 5 Civilian Transport Turret
Shield Designation: Medium Transport Graviton Shield
Shield Capacity: 50,000
Engine Designation: Advanced Thrusters

RE: "Is this thing on?" The young Balados finally rear his head? - Sorrontis - 07-10-2016

*beep*

"Well, that was a nice day off! But, shipping never sleeps. So, I've got great news. I was awarded a twenty-seven million credit contract between Ageira and GMG. It's a heavy route, but it's my biggest contract so far. Since the route is quite long on the way back, I took a private contract with a small farmer's alliance. I'll be transferring rice from Deshima Station to its Planet Denver, through the Galileo System. It's a small contract, only six million, but it's definitely worth the risk."

"This contract will be enough to let me afford my next ship, a beautiful Heron!"

"That's it! A great July 9th."

Balados winks at the camera.

*beep*

Balados rereads the dispatch order, smiles gleefully, shuts down the terminal.

"I'll get a good night sleep, and then loads of flying. This'll take me five runs if all goes well."

Quote:
Encryption Level C

Mr. Johanssen,

We have received an order from GMG for 2,500 units of Trade Lane Parts. After careful review of multiple sub-contractors, we have deemed you the best option available at this time. You have been awarded this contract.

Trade Lane Parts are available Pueblo Station in Colorado, and must be delivered to Planet Miura in Okinawa.

GMG must receive all the aforementioned parts by the end of July 22nd of this year. And as always, you will be fully responsible for your cargo.

Fly safe.

Ageira Dispatch,
Authorization AA-2019-ZH
July-9-823

Encryption End

PS: Congratulations on the purchase of your new ship. Ageira is appreciates your efforts.

RE: "Is this thing on?" The young Balados finally rear his head? - Sorrontis - 07-11-2016

*beep*

"July 10th... what can I say. I started my deliveries, and boy is that a long run. And, probably worse, it's dangerous."

Balados lifts his hair to show the staples for a rather large cut on his forehead.

"Every one in Kusari space apparently hates me. It's the Hogosha, or the Alliance, or the Dragons, or the golden flower power boys. It's non-stop. Every time I take a corner, my trade lane route is disrupted. And then, going through Galileo, that's no joke. Hackers, Xenos or the Lib Rogues. It's a free for all, and I'm the buffet."

"Well, a couple hours ago, I got hit by a mixed group of Alliance and Hogosha pirates. It wasn't too bad. Their weapons barely damaging the shield, so, well, I ignored them."

Badalos starts laughing.

'That probably pissed them off. One of them had some kind of missile load-out, because what ever hit me, hit me really hard. The entire whale just shook, and I slipped from my console, whacking my head on it. Luckily, I had a med kit nearby, so I set a course on autopilot, and got working on my forehead. That should explain the staples, right?"

Balados stops for a second to think.

"I think its time for me to hire a crew member or two. You know, someone maybe trained in fixing ships or fixing humans. Or a turret gunner, that would be nice. I wonder if Sorrontis would take the job... ... ... Probably not."

"Which reminds me, I really wonder why he asked me to look into his past. I have absolutely no way of doing that. All his files, even the one that he showed me are encrypted beyond my security level. I'd have to do something illegal to get the data, and well, that's not a good idea."

Balados shakes his head, and decides to change the subject.

"So, three runs down, three more to go. Yeah, I thought it was going to be only five runs, but I can only carry four hundred twenty units of parts per run. Apparently, I'm not too good at math. So, if I do five runs with my full load of four-twenty, my last run will only take four hundred units. I might be able to carry something else too."

"Well, it's late here on Planet Miura, and I'm tired and hungry. This is it for today."

*beep*

Balados leaves his terminal and walks to exit his ship.

"You know what, let's spoil myself. I'm going to eat something expensive, like ten thousand credit expensive. I'm ahead of schedule, so if I drink a little too much, I can start later in the day."

Balados starts to walk towards a more interesting part of town.

"I just realized, I think I have enough credits to purchase my next ship already. I can just stop by Planet Honshu on my way home buy one if they have it in stock."

RE: "Is this thing on?" The young Balados finally rear his head? - Sorrontis - 07-12-2016

*beep*

"I really shouldn't have trusted those crooks on planet Honshu. It took for ever to get my new ship. 'What message? We never received a message.' What a load of crock. It took them six hours to get a Heron off the line, and the refit it like I wanted it. And, it cost me half a million above price because they can't even check their messages."

"Well, what ever. It's a beautiful planet, I took a walk and met an interesting person. He goes by the name 'Shadow' which isn't very imaginative. He gave me the contact information to this information dealer, António Delgado. Dude said that this man can get his hands on any information one could ever want. Maybe, just maybe, I can help Sorrontis out this way."

Balados looks around the cabin

"Obviously, we're in the Heron now. I couldn't make a log, since they took my Whale as collateral, which is totally fine. They ended up buying from me."

"Also, one good news is that I met a robotics company that wants me to start a new contract; twenty thousand robocultivers to planet Denver. That's a lot. And even better, Planet Miura renewed the contract, but with a different freight, unlimited superconductor parts. Well, I should but quotations around 'unlimited'. They just don't know how much they need for now. So, that's all good news."

"Its the end of the 11th of July, I'm updating my personnel file, and hitting the sack."

*beep*

Vessel Identification: The Pecking Order
Freight Class: CT-53 "Heron" Civilian Train
Crew Size: 3
Cargo Size: 2,950 [with armaments]

Armaments: 6 Civilian Transport Turret
Shield Designation: Medium Transport Graviton Shield
Shield Capacity: 50,000
Engine Designation: Enhanced Thrusters

RE: "Is this thing on?" The young Balados finally rear his head? - Sorrontis - 07-14-2016

*beep*

"I've lost five million credits!"

Balados starts crying a little

"God d****** golden flower boys, why do they always come at the wrong time! Let me explain."

Balados wipes away the few tears shed

"I was coming up near Planet Izu, when suddenly, a group of GCs start attacking. Since my crew was off this night, I couldn't handle everything on my own."

"After a while of fighting them off, I suddenly hear alarms ringing everywhere... 'Planetary Collision Alert' ... I thought I was going to die."

"So, I move from the gunners console and run to the pilot station. I try to turn out of the planet's atmosphere, but I'm too heavy. I'm starting to burn up. There's only one thing left to do, jettison my cargo. That made me lighter, and I was able to get out of the atmosphere. That was 2900 units of synthpaste... and two captured golden chrysanthemum pilots. That explains why they were attacking me. They didn't want me to bring their fellows to the authorities. Why didn't just say that. They didn't say anything."

"I lost so much money because of them. I really wish I had insurance on that freight."

"Oh well, no point crying over incinerated synth. I'll make up the losses in a few more runs. At least I'm still alive."

"That's it really, I'm just going to stop for today. Not really in the mood. It's July 13th, 823 A.S."

*beep*