To: Liberty Navy command, the Order command

[Fins]

Encrypted: standard personal encryption protocol, passwords sent to involved parties
From: Fins, captain of [ALG]-TGS-Bornsen
To: Liberty Navy command
Hidden copy: the Order command

transmission starts

Jentlemen, i believe i owe you a personal explanation of events which took place few days ago. As you already know, X-shuttle Bornsen, vessel of ALG under my command, flew through Zone-21, Alaska, Omicron Minor, Omicron Zeta to Omicron Iota, and back to outskirts of Zone-21, where it was stopped by LN vessels and then badly damaged, its cargo holds stipped empty (though it was just some Scrap Metal and a couple of Xeno pilots in it), and yours truly ejected into space in one of ship's life pods.

It all started when i was transporting a load of toxic waste through liberty space to one of ALG refineries in Rheiland (which is approved business in both houses, that is). Delayed due to 3 bunches of Xenos' fighters all of which i managed to defeat on my way through (oh yes, those rear turrets of x-shuttle are quite nasty), i didn't notice that one of my engines, damaged in the last dogfight, was heating one of starboard cargo sections. Toxic waste in there boiled, and fumes slowly but steadily went through the ship, eventually reaching the deck. By the time i reached Hudson, hallucinations started. Not long after, intoxicated, my mind switched back to most strong memories it has - ones of the days when i was a captain of the Order gunboat. Emotions which i thought were long forgotten - took over, and in a dream-like state, the only thing mattered: find and kill some nomads.

With her captain and most of the crew being badly intoxicated, Bornsen went back to New-York, and went through the route i knew existed. By the time she reached Iota, though, the poison took its toll, bits and pieces of memories became all too distorted, and i flew my ship into emptyness, and through fields of explosive rocks. We were hit twice by those, but shields survived. Good thing i forgot by then where nomad bases are; should i go there in such a state, Bornsen would be utterly destroyed.

I remember i talked with someone - or someones? - through system-wide channel in Iota, but what i said only black boxes know. Eventually, losing last bits of strength to the poison, i stopped the ship and fell into half-sleep, half-dream.

The ship would probably become a ghost ship with my and others' bones in it, if not for the fact that while stopped, the damaged engine stopped to produce the heat, and eventually air-cleaning system of the ship reduced toxic fumes' concentration to practically zero. The crew, including myself, woke up with terrible headache. You can imagine how terrified we were finding ourselves deep within a field of explosive rocks in a system which is probably more dangerous than any other known in Sirius. The first thing i did after realizing why we were where we were - was to jettison all the toxic waste right then and there, even before field repairs to the damaged engine.

I did my best to get out back to Liberty space ASAP, but just outside Zone 21, Liberty Navy stopped me, and demanded to abandon the ship. After sending my crew out, i decided to stay onboard, locking myself in a lifepod, saying to Navy vessels that i won't resist nor move.

They blew Bornsen up, leaving little more than a burning skeleton of the ship. It took alot of money and quite some time to fix all the damage...

Thankfully, ship's logs and black boxes proven to ALG insurance company that the whole thing was an awkward accident, and thus insurance covered ALG's and my personal losses. This can't be said about possible suspicions you people might have. That's why i attach full black boxes' record as well as insurance's company report to this message for you to see.

P.S. I'll be damned if i'd ever again transport Toxic Waste which is not in sealed pressure-proof metallic containers, and i already have new engine monitors and temperature monitors installed right above the ballistic computer. Ironically, "peaceful" work at ALG got me closer to be killed than anything i can remember. Granted, lots of specific circumstances had to pile up. But nonetheless i'll see to make it totally impossible for anything similar to happen again with any vessel i command.

Singed: Fins


Attachments: ship's black boxes' logs, insurance company report (confidential).

End of transmission

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Do you see the groundhog there? No? Me neither. But, it's there nonetheless.