Well, things have been pretty interesting lately. Among other things, I bumped into Alexander Soroy just the other week; I thought he was dead! Boy is it great to have him around again! Alex has said that he does not know where Gerald Willow is, which is a bit disappointing. But, at least Alex is back, that much is good enough for me! Speaking of Willow, Alex and I have been out and about Sirius on the lookout for him. It is doubtful we will find even a clue to his whereabouts, but we have to try!
Because of... Uhm, problems in Kusari recently, I have decided to lay low in that section of Sirius. If I can, I just avoid it altogether, but if necessary, I can go into Kusari with my Hayabusa and blend right in with my callsign: Phoenix One. While I am on the subject, I have dubbed our exploration team “Phoenix Squadron.” I figured we may as well do some exploring for old time’s sake while we look for Willow, and, since phoenixes are majestic, awesome creatures of myth, I figured, why not?
Okay, so now that I have the summary of recent happenings down..
Alex and I have found ourselves in Rheinland for the past week. You know what I like about Rheinland? No one knows me here, unlike the other Houses. A fresh start has been given to me, and I love it.
Right now Alexander and myself are aboard Heisenberg Research Station in the Koeln system. This place is owned by Freelancers! Which means this could be the perfect place to work on things and crash for the night. Plus, even if things get hairy in the rest of Rheinland, since this base is open access, we will not necessarily have to pack up our things so swiftly.
As long as we keep our noses out of other’s business here, what could go wrong?
Alex seems to have gotten a hold of his old contracting firm, Black Gate Services. And along with it, a ship supplier. I swear, these Black Gate folks must really trust Alex. Not only has this company supplied both Alex and I with brand new vessels, but they even shipped us a Gasherbrum Gunboat! It is as if they are funding their own private army and then some.
I am uncertain of what this means for myself and where I fit into all this, but it looks like I have a new contractor. At least this one looks willing to shell out generous compensation for the dangerous work Alex and I are going to get into.
And believe me, with me and Alex soon to be out there exploring the edge worlds, odds are we shall be facing off against more than formidable foes that will no doubt do a number on our vessels. Ship repairs do not pay for themselves!
Today we decided to take a trip to Liberty; after all it was Willow's last known sector location. We found ourselves in Texas for starters, having come from Rheinland. I had heard rumors about an incident having occurred in Texas roughly 300 years ago, involving some jump gate research and the reason for the dark matter clouds occupying the system.
Well, we found a few things, namely a few wrecks within the dark matter; a jump hole to Pennsylvania in the northern dark matter cloud, and the remainders of a station within the southern cloud. A quick Sirian Interface check of the debris showed that the station is - or, rather was - known to be Dallas Research Station Superconductor Laboratory. Perhaps this is something worth looking into, if for nothing but a bit of historical knowledge on Liberty.
After our investigation in Texas was complete, Alex and I decided to check out what was inside a jump hole that we found in the southern debris field.
Turns out it was the Junker's home system. I thought to leave swiftly, but something in the distance caught my eye. It looked to be a neutron star surrounded by a gargantuan system of orange rings. I would not mind going back to that system in order to try and figure out what exactly is going on with that grandiose spatial anomaly.
But alas, sticking around would have prompted an entire squadron of not-so-happy Junkers to pursue us. So, we reversed our course and went back to Texas in order to take the opportunity for a momentary respite.
Several weeks have passed since Alex and I arrived in Liberty; months even. Manhattan; Los Angeles; Denver; Houston. Nothing. What little evidence we had on Willow's whereabouts turned out to be nothing but false leads and dead ends. Augh! Why can't we find him? At least if we knew Willow was dead we wouldn't be wasting our time searching for him!
I shouldn't think that way. Got to stay positive! Alex and I decided to check out his and Willow's old apartment for any potential clues that Alex may have missed. Unfortunately, it has been several months since Willow's disappearance, and the apartment is now occupied by new residents. We asked the new residents if they knew anything about what had happened in their apartment only months ago, but they said the place was cleaned out before they had moved in. Darn!
We are going to be heading out to the independent worlds soon, to see if Willow may have left anything anywhere to lead us to him. I ought to start preparing my Blossom for space again. Speaking of, I really ought to ditch that thing somewhere; pirate ships do not do one well for remaining subtle during investigations. I shall see about having our employer shipping my Falchion to Barrier Gate. That only leaves where I am going to store my Blossom.. Perhaps the Zoners in Baffin could assist with that? A little monthly payment for storage and maintenance costs never hurt.
Seems the war in Bretonia rages on. I can still hardly believe that the Kusarian Navy is working with the local Armed Forces now! And those Gallics.. I still need to do some research on their nation. I have not had time to do so lately, what with all the excitement with Alex going on. Maybe once we finally find Willow, we can take a trip to Gallia for a bit, then head back to Los Angeles for a bit of relaxation.
I will admit, it sure has been nice spending most of our time planet side lately. All that time spent cooped up in space craft and aboard orbiting stations can drive a man nuts! Humans really were not meant for space travel. Yet here we are, traversing the stars as a daily pastime.
So today I was out exploring Rheinland when I bumped into one of Black Gate's heavy transports in Frankfurt. I had received a distress signal on my military band radio transceiver and, after seeing that it was from an aforementioned Bretonian firm's vessel, I saw fit to investigate. Upon arriving at the scene, I found the Garrison sitting by its lonesome between planets Holstein and Heidelberg. As it turns out, a Rheinland Military patrol beat me to the punch, and were already chasing off an unknown pirate vessel that had been threatening Black Gate's Garrison.
The most discerning part of the entire escapade however, was not the fact that it was just a pirate vessel. Apparently it was the Rip Van Rorry, self-proclaimed "King of Pirates, the Sigmas, and whatever-else-you-can-imagine." I have had a few run ins with said Rorry in the past, most of which have been... Less than pleasant. I digress however. The fact that it was Rorry is not the worst part.
Reportedly, the captain of the Garrison stated that the pirate vessel in question was a Scorpion class gunboat. Hai, you heard me. A Wild vessel, out in open space, and being flown by that... Rorry fellow, of all things! What in the heck is going on these days? Has that man been captured and interred into the ranks of those foul, disgusting nomadic human monstrosities?
Later that day, both myself and Alexander Soroy were called to meet with a representative of Black Gate Services. Ugh, did I mention how I loathe meeting with businessmen? That elderly sad sap was really grinding my gears. Just when I thought we were going to find out more about that Scorpion, he completely ignores our inquiries and just lays a simple retrieval mission out for us!
On the plus side, the deal was easy to fulfill, and it netted me ten million credits. That is enough to sustain my Blossom for the next six months, at least! I did not even have to shoot anything! That reminds me: I have decided that for now, it is unnecessary to remain hidden in the shadows. I am keeping my Blossom. I simply cannot let it go. It has far too great of a sentimental value to me.
Anyway. After retrieving the documents that those danged Black Gate desk jockies wanted, I met up again with the Garrison and escorted its crew to their designated drop-off point for the data.
I met with a rather peculiar man in Coronado, who was the one in charge of receiving the documents I had just retrieved from Gallia. He spoke it a slight lisp, and seemed very intrigued by what I had brought him. Needless to say, he was an enjoyable individual to speak with - much different than the regular Black Gate employee.
I had iie idea that I would come across such a vast amount of wealth in such a short period of time! At this rate I might even be able to fund my own gunship!!
Okay, maybe I should back up a bit. To recount recent events...
About a week ago, I bumped into a strange Junker trying to fence a Gallic Artifact. What? Really, a Gallic Artifact! Of all things! I had never heard of such a thing before, so after a bit of haggling, I managed to get the Junker to hand it over for eight hundred and fifty thousand credits. A bit steep for a single trinket, but it was so exotic that I just had to have it. With some luck, we can discover just what this little toy is.
I figured the Research and Development Department of Black Gate could figure out what to do with the thing, so I met up with that same individual in the bright red Stiletto. Alexander must have gotten them their little toy from Omega-15, because I received a payment for it, as well as the Gallic Artifact. Thirty five million credits.
To celebrate the occasion, I have painted my Blossom!
Not a day later, Alex and I bumped into a rather friendly - and notably wealthy - Bretonian in Colorado, who introduced himself as Jordan Peterson. Because the two of us had just made a hefty sum of credits, we decided to accompany Mister Peterson for free! Our trip took us into Kusari, which after a bit of initial worry, I noted that the paint job on the Blossom helped it to avoid suspicious eyes from the law there. Man, that guy's vessel was huge!
Though he was a Bretonian Privateer, he was clearly off his rocker, so I decided to risk it and assist the tradesman, who was hauling Nano Capacitors - not even an illegal commodity! I was able to help the transport deliver his goods, but that blasted Bretonian followed us and wrecked the transport! I managed to force that Privateer to dock with a nearby station, after he sustained heavy damage. I called in for a salvage crew to try and help clean up the whole mess. On the bright side of this, the trader's cargo was delivered safely, so not much was lost.
If that was not enough, I bumped into a group of miners in Cambridge, and decided take them on as an employer for a while. After only a pair of hours, I made the biggest haul in my entire career from a single contract: Fourty nine million credits.
That makes for a staggering eighty four million credits! Not only could I fund maintenance for the Blossom for... Gosh, two years? I could probably even upkeep the Orchid, too! Maybe I might paint that as well... Or, as I stated earlier, I could even look into funding my own gunship if I make a bit more!
Things are looking spectacular! Nothing can foul up my mood right now!
Recent events in Bretonia concerning the Gallics and even nomads showing up have caused both Alex and I to base all operations out of Planet Leeds for the time being. Before I continue, I should mention: Alex has undergone a legal name switch. He is now called Denzic Shouki, a name given to him by his aunt who took care of him from the time he was 12 years old.
Not only this, but Denzic has also thrown himself in with the Zoners. I was surprised to hear of all this, but I accept his decision. He never really was a fighter pilot anyway, preferring the barrel of a camera lens over that of a gun.
More pressing matters to report, though. Denzic and I decided that we would try and smuggle a few supplies to the Sisterhood of the Chrysanthemums, as a show of good faith. Although I dislike admitting this, it was not the entire Sisterhood's fault that I was metaphorically stabbed in the back by its previous head Elder, Rika Ito.
We were... Held up, however, by something completely unexpected.
At first, I thought it was just a Gallic Cruiser whose commander disliked the fact we were bringing supplies up through the Taus. Then of course... Well, images coupled with what I know was telepathy began to pelt my cranium. That was a dead give away. By then it was clear: We were eyeballing down the muzzle of a weapon being wielded by an infected Gallic vessel..
*There is a clacking noise, like that of a medicine bottle being opened. A brief pause in the audio file follows.*
This little beauty has been helping with the headaches that have been caused by having bumped into a full on lesser nomad, as well as this... Vatan, as the Identification Signature on the neural net showed. I find it odd, that a liquid would work far better than any capsule or pill. Whatever works, I suppose.
I also find it interesting that whoever was aboard the Vatan wanted the bulk of the Elixirs I was hauling to Ainu. I was not one to argue, however. I gave the thing nearly all the Elixirs that I had, save one. I knew I would need it later. Damned images! Why is it always me to be the "lucky" winner on the receiving end of those? Ugch...
Bah, I cannot stop thinking about that one particular... Vision, I suppose it was. It was of a massive Nomad, big enough to devour a planet! In fact, that was exactly what it did! Seriously, this is nuts! What is more... This "Vatan" wants us to kill this thing! A gigantic, humongous Nomad! How in the Cosmos does it expect us to do THAT?!
I am very, very uncertain of all this. But what intrigues me the most is the fact that a clearly infected human vessel wants us to slay a Nomad. Hai. Like, a Wild killing a Nomad. How does that even make sense? I have never heard of such a thing! I thought that all Nomads and Wild served the same purpose?
Whatever the case... This is definitely something worth investigating. Denzic and I have been speaking thoroughly about what we should do about this, and I think our best course of action is to just keep doing what we always do and await further communications from this... Vatan.
Yesterday, I had a bit of a run in with the Kusari Naval Forces. To my utter dismay, one of the Naval women actually remembered me, and that I had worked for the Sisterhood of the Chrysanthemums over two years ago. I did not even expect anyone in Kusari to remember me, much less who my previous employers were. Now my operations in Kusari are that much more difficult!
They offered me prison. Obviously, that was not an option; not when I have this Vatan business to deal with. One of them offered me a compromise, however. All I pretty much have to do is work for the Republic without pay. Defending traders, chasing off pirates and whatnot. I even got started by helping the Naval Forces deal with a couple of Outcasts that were causing trouble in Kyushu.
To be honest, I do not really have much trouble with shooting Outcasts. I never really liked them much anyway, what with their distribution of that orange gas for a profit at the expense of countless lives being compromised. Not to say that all Outcasts are terrible people, however. One of them that we shot at yesterday claimed to be a family man and needed food to feed the kids and wife. I gave the man half a million credits, and he promised not to return to Kusari any time soon.
Later, I headed to Tau-23 and came across a pair of profound interest. I was contacted by one mister Alejandro upon arriving at Java Station; one who had seen myself and Denzic with the Vatan.
Alejandro and his friend Anna, both of the Colonial Republic and Independent Miner's Guild respectively, seem to know a great deal about nomads. I may have finally found some allies to aid in my task set forth by the.. Mastermind behind the Vatan. I need all the help I can get if I plan on going after the biggest nomad in existence.
I just hope we do not all end up dead, or worse...
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