I am happy to report some breakthroughs in my project. First of all, since Fatima returned to our ranks from Kusari, we've been able to draw up a lot of plans for a new engine. I'm hoping it'll eventually be able to run off of Leeds' smog, but that's a long ways off. The first prototype was constructed, but unfortunately ran into some snags. Luckily, speak with a fellow engineer to help sort that out.
So then, a couple months back, I sent Dan McKay to the Junkers' Vieques Shipyard in the distant Puerto Rico system along with Sierra to get some info. It turns out he wasn't there but one of his associates came along with some components that would help out, along with a load of manifolds for our projects. I went to work on that, but then I got distracted as Fatima and I went on a trip to Islay to, err, check on Planet Gaia's status. Yeah, definitely that.
Finally we have return to Skye to work on this project. If all goes right, we should be able to get a prototype installed on a couple of our ships. Unfortunately, it's looking like it's quite large and will only fit on a transport or liner without causing issue. We hope to get it reduced in size. To finish it though, we'll need approximately 4000 standard units of engine components from both Kusari and Gallia, plus a couple of those nuclear devices we just received. I'm willing to shell out some extra credits for these parts to get this sorted out quicker, as well.
First I've taxed a very stubborn Bowex trader for a small sum of 5.500.000 credits. And that was just the beginning.
The fun started when a certain [FL-ER] transport dropped out of the trade lane. Because I was already shooting another silent suicider, he managed to get away and piss me off. Meanwhile, I was joined but our brother Valez.Junior. Quite a nice guy, I have to admit.
Then that Bowex trader came back with his wallet full of credits. That greedy bastard didn't wanted to share, so he bites the dust now.
And suprise. [FL-ER] a-hole is back. So yeah, price was higher this time. After we've started to have a little talk certain thing attracted my attention. Something was comming. It was so glorious, so magnificent, so intimidating. Hah, joking, It was just that major Nunes with his cloaking ship. Little coward.
Anyway, [FL-ER] transport decided to be stubborn and he didn't sent me the money. Well, rest is pretty obvious. Guns blazing, hot pursuit and transport's crew is dead. Good, one problem less. Meanwhile Valez.Junior scored a kill on a corporate Stork.
Anyway, that cute Nunes decided to hop in with his almighty vessel. After some pursuing, shooting and cursing me and his ship's explosion convinced him to jump out of his vessel. As a side note, those cloaks make explosions prettier
Anyway, this is the summary of today's action:
Code:
[03.10.2014 19:39:27] You have received 5.000.000 credits from Atlas_Movers
[03.10.2014 19:55:07] You have received 1.000.000 credits from [FL-ER]Major:Nunes
[03.10.2014 19:45:26] Death: Miner_Jones was put out of action by <G>Flora' (Gun).
[03.10.2014 19:56:40] Death: Atlas_Movers was put out of action by <G>Flora' (Gun).
[03.10.2014 21:08:22] Death: [FL-ER]Engr.Ascendancy was put out of action by <G>Gaian.Raven (Gun).
[03.10.2014 21:08:42] Death: Sulla was put out of action by Valez.Junior (Gun).
03.10.2014 21:11:24] Death: [FL-ER]Major.Nunes' was put out of action by <G>Gaian.Raven (Gun).
Well, that was fun. I wish you such adventures too! Clean skies.
I'm currently on Freeport 1 after having my first flight with one of those new, shiny Titans that came to Torshavn few days ago. Damn, those things are beasts!
My day started with taking out a pitty pirate that consirdered saying "go back to the kitchen" a very good idea. Right.
Code:
[12.10.2014 21:06:19] Marauder: go to kichen naw??
[12.10.2014 21:11:32] Death: Marauder suffered a self-administered loadout error (Mine).
Next thing was a little walk in Omega 3. And suprise. Tons of FL-ER around. Seriously. When I was near Freeport 2 there were at least 3 fighters and a gunboat piloted by wannabe colonel Nunie himself watching me. They seemed to be very nervous.
Anyway, I've noticed in the system wide comms that there's engineer Mycroft somewhere around. That lucky bastard won a dice round with me. So yeah, I've started to look for him.
Those FL-ER escorts were getting very CD happy every time I was leaving no fire zone. Too bad. I'll have to teach them a little respect next time. So yeah, I was hanging around the Freeport when I saw something. Well, just this:
I have no idea what this thing is or to who it belongs. However, I think that's a good business oportunity. I bet that those folks would like the Brotherhood to not know about the base, and we all know that digital data has a tendency to... disappear, if you know what I mean.
I've just came back from a long trip to Gallia and I have to say that our new Serenity transport is performing admirably. Also, those gallic space stations are simply huge! I wonder where did they get all those resources to build them...
My cargo were Blue Jillies. I've picked them up at Merzig Depot in Saar system. Honestly, I couldn't live on such station. It's almost on the edge of the sun's corona!
Anyway, the main point of this report is a certain interesting planet within Saar system called "Saarbrucken". It appears to be a habitable world, and from what I've heard on Merzig it has some quite unique native species. A little trip down there, maybe? After all, both Boulder and Albatross are capable of planetary landing without using docking rings.
The trip was relatively calm, without any interdictions and such. I've arrived at Versailles Residence, a huge station apparently built for just one person, and unloaded the Jillies. This route appears to be quite profitable, but not as much as artifact trade. On my way back I've took a load of weird things called "nanotubes" to Invergordon Space Port.
That's all for now. I'd like to contact LWB about that planet. I'm very curious about it and I wouldn't mind having a little trip down there.
*The transmission begins to fade in, displaying a face familiar to few, a dark-skinned man with a wild, incredibly filthy mane of dreadlocks, one eye replaced by green, glowing wetware, and very bony facial features. It is obviously an old, poor-quality recording system being used, and it shows in the amount of grain and interference throughout the message's entirety. The man first waves, his palm showing to be dry, skin cracked, and riddled with medical patches, scars and old burns, chemical or otherwise. He then speaks, his voice hoarse but powerful- A drive behind his heavily accented tone, and a strange glimmer of life in his remaining, healthy grass green eye.*
"Bruddahs, sistahs, hear me now. Me speak ta everyone- New an' old, all de same ta me. De fait'ful return, even if some tink I be missin'- I be dead. De truth, bruddahs an' sistahs, far from it. Me been on da Muddah, Gaia 'erself, wanderin', learnin'- I stayed as far as she wanted me ta stay. Den, she let me go- And here I be now. Me ku back, me bring news an' tidin's- All will share in de new riches, de new gifts we been given!"
*He raises his arms triumphantly- This brings an idea of his features to the viewers. He looks extremely malnourished and starved, so much so that his long, tattred, filthy synth leather coat looks more like a monk's robe on him. In spite of this, he appears perfectly fine.*
"I call yuh all nu, ku ta de Hell. Some of yuh know 'er well, some don't at all. Dose dat don't- She be on Islay base, our ol', loved, nigh-forgo'en beergarden. Ku ta here, an' me show yuh de wonders o' rebirth... Fruits of me labours, work of me arms... For all you, bruddahs an' sistahs, ta marvel in an' enjoy. Ku, find yuh new home now. Me waitin for yuh- De magic word be; Two, five, eight, zero."
*A brief grin flashes across his features, before he stands up and moves away from the camera- Behind him, the scenery of Islay's favourite Beergarden, in particular the lowest level, which bore the entrance into the warrens. The massive sliding door had been altered, now holding in their center a keycode operated entrance; Oldschool, but fairly effective still- Above, etched into the door and riddled with red and green spraypaint, were a trio of words: "Depths of Hell". The image lingers for another few moments before the transmission ends.*
Bruddahs, sistahs. Me ku wit' news. Me launched in de Pilgrim earlier, set course ta Gaia, an' put on me best lookin' shoes. Ku ta Gaia, not'in much happenin', me firin' probes ta scan de ice from atmosphere, den tings get real weird, real fast.
Me start hearin' dese voices, from inside me head- Not'in, seem ta me, at first. Me had few drinks, burnt a few fat ones of de Kalisti gold- By de way, de stuff in jars, under de bar in de Depths, 'elp yuhselves. Soon me notice sum'tin' strange, an' me see de Mudda, Gaia, right? Bu' not Gaia like me saw, when me traveled on 'er, but strange- Dere dis girl standin' dere, too. Me still t'ink dat jus' a hallucination, me get 'em a lot. T'ink maybe de biolab scrubbers need ta be replaced. Den, dese squids begin appearin, yah? Big, glowin' purple squids, in space, an' stuff- Wit' some tentacles, wut have yuh. Den, me back at ship, an' me look at scanner, an' me see BIIIIG squid, yah? Like, three-four times de size of de Uxellodunon, mon- It be real big. But den, de squid jus' disappeared!
Fah sum reason, de squid didn' wanna eat me, jus' wanted ta know wut me was doin', yah? So me say, me scannin' de icecaps on Gaia. Normal t'ing ta do, me t'ou't. Den, de squid jus' go silent- De 'Dunon rumbled den, an' she nearly sent me flyin' an' crashlandin' on da Mudda, so den me fired up de engines an' got de hell outta dere. Weird t'ing, weird. Me t'ink dere a squid infestation in Edinbur'. Jonah out, fah now.
There's been a lot going on lately. I finally acquired those engines parts I had been looking for. Those fellows are good at deliveries if we need more in the future.
Since then, I went to work for a former business acquaintance from back in me Dublin days. This led to a trip out to the edges of civilization, out in a system called Omicron Delta. I worked alongside a nice girl out there, with a good mind for engineering. Combined with what we came up with before, as mentioned in my previous message check in, I think we have enough for this prototype engine. It is a bit haphazard still, but it should suffice. I sent the Windbirds" Refuge along to Cape Soya for installation, hopefully that can happen soon.
If all goes according to plan, to start this engine should be able to run on either H-Fuel or Promethene with the flip of numerous switches. This is the first step in my research toward building that engine which would take in smog from Leeds to power our ships and clean the system at the same time. It's a long way off, and the prototype is damned bulky, but it's a step in the right direction. I've attached my current schematic for reference purposes, or if anyone has any modification suggestions.
It looks like the experiment with the Windbird's engines have worked nicely. At least, it hasn't exploded yet. We've been talking here on Skye, and we'd like to see if we can make a Claymore-compatible version. We'd need some experimentation for this first though. Are there any Claymores around that might be willing to try this out? It'll still take some time to get fully sorted, of course.
If you're able to overcharge it a little, I'm all for it!
My Claymore is currently moored at Holmfirth, so it'll be a quick walk to move it over to Skye.
But mind that we have a bit busy schedule, so we'll only be able to hop in, get it mounted and then get back to Holm.