Incoming Transmission
Name: Airom Artnam
Comm ID: AiromArtnam
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Resume log entry
Hmm. Seems to have cut me off early there. That should teach me not to tell my whole life story in one log entry.
At any rate, as I was starting to say before the log buffer ran out, That's where I stand as I dictate this log. I'm still deciding where my path will lie. Who knows, maybe I'll follow in my father's footsteps and join the Rheinland Military. But for now, my path is the way of the hunter, striving to rid the universe of the Nomad Spawn that plagues Rheinland.
Incoming Transmission
Name: Airom Artnam
Comm ID: Airom_Artnam
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
The hunt is off, for now.
Let me back up a bit. During the course of my hunts over in New Berlin, I had managed to locate the system The Wild was operating from. It seems they have far more numbers than I realized. I need more firepower if I'm going to beat them.
So I decided to start retooling my relationships with the universe. To start with, I headed to New York to get my IFF computer reset. It wasn't an easy task, because the techs at Pittsburgh told me they needed to send my ship back to the Strausland to get it back into shape. So I took the Starflier they offered me in exchange and headed back to Manhattan to visit the rest of my family while they fixed my ship.
I had given all the expensive gear I had collected to Knucklehead for safe keeping, so when they told me the IFF system was ready, I gathered up the weapons of my choice and headed for Strausland to reclaim my ship.
After a bit of fine tuning with my weaponry, I saw my computer needed a few more tweaks, so I decided I'd go pick on a few Xenos over by Ouray. Things were going well, as their weapons could hardly put a dent in my shields, but the computer wasn't reacting as fast as I thought it would.
I decided to concentrate on the station and the weapon platforms around it, so I had my radar listing just them. This wasn't a problem, until suddenly I spotted what looked like a Nomad fighter heading my way. Seems a Xeno had managed to get a hold of one of the little squid fighters and wasn't too happy with me shooting up the base. Go figure...
Anyway, with the element of surprise belonging to him, I decided I'd better make tracks if I wanted to survive. I managed to get away from the base, but the squid was still on my trail. I darted all over that asteroid field, but I couldn't seem to lose my pursuer. Finally I managed to get to the south side of the field and headed toward the New York Jumpgate. I wanted to see if I could shake him loose, so I looped back around him a few times. He took the bait every time, but was on me quicker than I liked. Finally, he managed to hit me with a disruptor missile, and I wasn't going to be running anymore. So we started to battle.
I was a bit short on shield batteries from the earlier encounter, but I had the agility to match his turns. We tooks turns scoring hits on each other's shields, him managing to nibble more than me. Thank goodness I had the extra layer of armor installed.
As we looped around, I managed to gain ground against him, and he began varying his approach to try and overtake me. Unfortunately for him, his maneuvers backfired, giving me plenty of time to score several solid hits on his shield, finally bringing it down. From there, it only took a few shots to take him out, as his ship was very light on armor.
I made my way around the sector, seeing what I could see and fine tuning my loadout. Eventually, I found myself on Freeport 11.
It was there that I bumped into an old friend of my father. I had seen pictures of them together, but I wasn't sure it was him. My father had told me that they had been stationed together on the Westfalen some time ago, and had become fast friends.
When he noticed I was looking at him, a look of surprise crossed his face.
"Excuse me, son, but you wouldn't happen to be related to a Sgt. Gerald Artnam from the Rheinland Military, would you?"
I answered that I was his son, Airom.
I thought that might be the case. You look just like he did the last time I saw him.
He told me about some of the close calls they had had together, the patrols around the rock fields, run-ins with Unioners and Hessians and even the occasional Rogue. They'd lost contact with each other when Dad got transferred to Frankfurt, and my dad's friend wanted to know what had happened to him.
My face turned somber as I recounted the story of my dad's departure from Rheinland and his years in hiding. About the ill-fated trip home that cost him his life. And finally about The Wild, and what they had done to him.
He noticed the bitterness in my voice whenever I mentioned The Wild.
"You know, Gerald wasn't the only one who noticed what was going on in Rheinland. I also saw the drastic changes in the higher ranks. I left too. But I couldn't just go into hiding. I needed to find a way to stop what was going on." He paused to make sure no Bounty Hunters were listening. "That's why I joined The Order."
"The Order?" I asked, confused. I knew they had something to do with the Nomad invasion, but the information was sketchy at best. Come to think of it, they probably meant for it to be that way...
"That's right, I work for The Order now. We have a base not far from here, where we keep an eye on the hypergate that ended the Nomad War."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"It's simple. The Wild are the remnants of the Nomad-infested Rheinland Military forces. When the Hypergate was activated, they lost contact with their masters and have been roaming that corner of the sector trying to follow their last directive. To kill any humans they encounter.
"You see, your cause is closely linked to ours. We strive to keep the Nomads and their contamination in check, so they cannot threaten anyone again. Just as you seek to eliminate The Wild."
"I'm beginning to think neither task is doable."
"As long as you let your bitterness and anger rule your life, I'm afraid you'll be right about that. Fighting out of anger never solves anything. But if you fight for something worthwhile, like protecting the whole sector, you'll be surprised what you can do."
"I'm not sure I can d..."
"Just keep it in mind. Take some time to find yourself. It's worth it. Trust me."
"I'm not sure I can with Dad's old ship. Everytime I look at the battle scars behind the cockpit, it reminds me of what they did to him. Of how they..." I couldn't finish the thought, I was so choked up at this point.
"Hmm... Tell you what. Go see the ship dealer on the Battleship Isis. They have a ship there that should suit your needs. I'll make sure your father's ship is retired with dignity. I owe him at least that much."
"That sounds like a good idea. Thank you."
"I just think Gerald would have wanted to be remembered for what he had accomplished, not how he died. He raised a fine family by the looks of it, and spent his days trying to protect the things he loved."
"You know, you're right. Thank you for helping me figure this out."
"So what are you going to do with your life?"
"Well, Dad's friend William said he really enjoyed being a mercenary. Helping whoever you can, whenever you can. And not having the Guild to tell you what to do..."
"Sounds like a fine choice to me. Head on out to Toledo. You'll find the Isis in orbit."
"Thanks again. Take care of yourself."
"It was good to meet you, Airom. Good luck. I'm sure we'll meet again sometime."
With that, I set off to find Battleship Isis. When I arrived, the ship dealer told me he'd been told to expect me, and that he'd take good care of my father's old ship. He pointed me toward a ship that I'd never seen before.
"It's called the Talon. She may not be the prettiest ship, or the most maneuverable, but she can pack quite a punch."
I was certainly impressed. I transferred my equipment from my old ship to the Talon and set off. I called up Knucklehead to get a couple of the collectables I had given him ready to go. We met at Manhattan and I loaded the guns onto my ship.
I've been a few other places around the area, keeping my IFF system properly tuned, and generally being a nuisance to the Xenos. I'm still working the bugs out of this new ship, but she's definately one I'm going to keep for a while. And it feels good to not be reminded about sad things all the time.
Incoming Transmission
Name: Airom Artnam
Comm ID: Airom_Artnam
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
Well, I suppose I should update my logs a bit.
A couple nights ago, I left Manhattan and wound up in conversation with a couple of fellows, one Tavei-something and one Shagohad. I was about to head for California on my way to Bretonia, but my curiosity got the better of me, and I met up with them at Norfolk. Turns out Shagohad was flying a liner similar to the one Eman flies. So I figured I'd give Eman a call and see if he'd like to compare ships with him. I'm not sure what Eman did from there, but I hear they got into a bit of a sparring match. I'm sure Eman will mention it in his logs soon.
Anyway, after calling Eman, I decided to spend the night at Norfolk.
The next day, I figured out that while the Talon may be able to mount a lot of firepower, its powerplant won't let you fire it all for long. I also began to miss the agility of my old Wrath, but I really didn't want anything reminding me of what I was trying to move on from.
In my fight against the NovaPG pilot a week or two ago, I witnessed first hand the agility it had. So I decided to ask around on where I could find one. Knucklehead mentioned seeing them at a Zoner planet called Gran Canaria, so I set course for there.
Knucklehead had told me the easiest way to get to Gran Canaria is to go through the Dublin system, so I found my way there. When I arrived, I spotted a trader and a Molly who happened to be in the UOG. They asked me what I was doing in the system, and I replied I was just on my way to Gran Canaria. They didn't bother me after that, and I found my way to the Omega-49 system.
After buying the Raven's Talon, I found I couldn't mount all of the same weapons I had on the Talon, so I was going to give the Colada del Cids I had back to Knucklehead for safe keeping. But first, I wanted to explore the system a bit more.
When I launched from Gran Canaria, one of the Temporary Autonomous Zoners greeted me. Seems she was advertising some sort of festival they were having. The name wasn't really all that appealing, so I politely said I wouldn't be around for it.
As I found my way to Lanzarote base, another of the TAZ came into the system and asked how things were going with the festival. They were trying to come up with a different approach to advertising the festival as I left the base. I set a course for the far side of the system. I thought I had set the course so it would be well clear of Planet Fuerteventura, so I opened the comm channel to give them my input on the festival, only to be interrupted by the computer warning me that I was entering the atmosphere. Before I could react, my ship was dissolving around me. I managed to escape, and even managed to retrieve most of my gear, but the Coladas I had in my hold did not survive the encounter. Oh well.
Wanting to replace my shield busters with something, I set out for Falkland, thinking that's where they sold the Advanced Debilitator pulse cannons. When I got there, I figured out that they didn't have them after all, so I started to loop back to the New York system, passing through some of the outlying systems on the way.
My course took me through New Berlin again, so I decided to see how I would do against the Wild who showed up there every once in a while. The hunt was a little rocky, but I was able to take a few out before a Rheinland Gunboat showed up to chase my prey away. The hunt is not the same when such a large vessel is involved, so I continued on my way to Detroit Munitions, one of the places that did have the guns I was looking for.
I picked up the guns and decided to take a few practice shots at some Xenos who happened to be in the area, but one of my stray shots hit an Ageira ship, and suddenly my threat board lit up like a Christmas tree. I had no intention of harming the civilians, so I made tracks for Manhattan to let the Ageira folks calm down a bit.
Since I was here anyway, I decided to head home for a while and dictate this log entry. I'm itching to get out and do something, though. So I guess I'll finish up for now.
Incoming Transmission
Name: Eman Modnar
Comm ID: Eman_Modnar
Encryption Key: Public
Access Granted
Begin Log
I was sitting in the Shetland's Officers' Lounge when I got a call from Airom. Seems he'd met another Luxury Liner pilot named Shagohad and wanted me to show him the one I've been flying. I had a hold full of prisoners waiting to be turned over to the authorities, so I figured I'd bring them to the Battleship Missouri rather than the place I would usually take them.
Seems this particular liner pilot was a little loopy and decided to land his ship manually on Manhattan. As I dropped off the prisoners I had brought from Edinburgh, he started moaning about needing more money. Finally, I made him an offer. If he could beat me in a fight, I'd pay him 30 million credits. He accepted, and we made our way to the Connecticut system for the challenge. Another fellow, this one flying an Anubis like they sell on Curacao, was going to spectate. Guy by the name of Tavei-something. Seems I'm just as terrible with names as Dad and Airom...
Anyway, we check out each other's equipment and set a few ground rules, and get ready to fight. He had 3 missile turrets to my 1, but his guns were all level 4 transport turrets, while I have 4 basic gunboat turrets.
We square off a good distance away, and we open fire. I must have surprised him with how much power I had, as I had removed all but a third of his shield with his shots hardly denting mine. At this point he calls a timeout, and says he wants to go get his fighter instead. Fair enough, I say.
When he returned, we square off again and start shooting. After a minute or two, we ended up drifting toward our spectator, and one of Shagohad's missiles locked on to poor Tavei instead of me. Knocked him out in one shot.
We called a timeout until Tavei came back, and we all headed to Newhaven to stock up. After getting myself unstuck from the docking port, we set off to search for a better location for our battle. Our first choice was the abandoned station not far from Newhaven, but that was a little too close to a minefield for our tastes. So we settled on the center of the big race course for our battle. This time, Tavei would be with me against Shagohad.
We squared off and went over the ground rules again, and began counting down.
Tavei and I kept the pressure on Shagohad for a fair amount of time, but I found myself drifting a bit too far whenever he and Tavei were going at it. Eventually, Shagohad knocked Tavei out of the fight and turned his full attention to me. Quite frankly, this helped me out considerably, as he would be easier to concentrate on. A few minutes later, Shagohad fell under my firepower and we thanked each other for the fun and challenging match.
I decided to help Tavei out a bit, as he hadn't been flying long but had done an admirable job in the battle. So I payed him 1.5 Million credits for his part in the fight. I was done for the night so I retired to Manhattan, telling Tavei how much a trader ID cost before I headed for Mom and Dad's place to crash for the night.
So that leads me to this morning. I had gotten a call from Hawaii that they needed some Lux. Goods while I was on Manhattan, so I headed out towards Kusari. On the way there, reports were coming in that a group of NovaPG and Bushido ships were making their way toward Rheinland.
That put them awfully close to the Hawaii and got me spooked pretty well. I was so spooked that I totally forgot to unload my cargo. I didn't realize it until I got to Helgoland station and still had the goods in my hold.
I called up the quartermaster at the Hawaii, and he said they still had enough from the last shipment after all, but that Baden Baden needed some now. So I set course for the shortcut to New Berlin.
It seems the group of pirates had engaged a small RM fleet just outside the planet. And yet, somehow, I thought it would be better to head for Stuttgart by turning toward the planet first. Fortunately, the pirates had no interest in me or my cargo, so I proceeded to Dortmund, only to find another pirate, a Corsair this time, beating up on the police there. I made my way to Bonn and the Stuttgart gate, radioing a heads up to the RM about the Corsair at Dortmund as I went.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, aside from the occasional tradelane foul-ups along the way.
After dropping off the Luxury Goods, I left on my regular run up until I got back to Manhattan. Seems a group of people had heard about some festival over at Gran Canaria and wanted to make the trip. (I had heard about the festival from Airom, and wasn't too excited about it myself, but a paying customer is a paying customer...)
After the group had boarded the ship (about 1800 regular guests and 100 VIP's), I set out for Gran Canaria. The trip was uneventful, aside from the turbulence upon exiting the jumphole to Omega-49. When we arrived at the planet, I found no sign of the festival, but the majority of the passengers were happy to make the trip anyway. The VIP's weren't too impressed, though, and refused to pay the full bill for the trip. Fine with me, I was just glad to get them off my ship. They have a way of complaining about almost everything...
I decided to hang out on the planet and do a little shopping.
Who knows, maybe when I get back from shopping, the festival will have started.
By the way, I picked up a couple presents for Dad and Airom...