Captain's Log: Alexi.Stukov

[AlexiStukov]

<ALL SYSTEMS ONLINE>
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<COMPUTER CORE ACTIVE>
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<DATA NODE INITIALIZED>
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<Captain's Log: Entry 000.001>

Blasted thing... how do you work th- hmm? Oh, it's on! *ahem* Well, that wasn't too difficult.

I must admit, I'm not quite sure what's gotten in to me. Just a few weeks ago, I'm just a simple merchant, journeying between the stars in search of profit and... well, profit is all, really. Ever since that little incident with the Siege Cruiser I "borrowed" several years back, that's been all that I care about. The politics of Sirius aren't of interest to me, except when it gets in the way of business.

I've passed through the Leeds system, shipping Boron or MOX or whatnot, more times than I can remember, and let me just say, each time I like what I see less and less. The Kusari navy's been pushing hard, and for some reason, the thought of the Kusari flag flying on New London is just something I couldn't stand. It's something that's nawed at the back of my mind for weeks now, something I can't quite adequately explain. For all the money I've amassed over the years, what good is it if I can't stand the sight of what I see every...

<SYSTEM ERROR: DATA NODE LOCKED>
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<RE-INITIALIZING SYSTEMS>

<Captain's Log: Entry 000.001a>

This ship is barely holding together *mutters something incomprehensible* came out of the Omicrons.

I figure I owe it to myself, my future self, to explain things before things get rolling too far out of hand. Who knows? Maybe some day posterity will actually be interested in my fate.

So there I was, one week ago, sitting on top of a nice credit account of several hundred million, flying around in my Zoner-made transport. And now, here I am, standing on the bridge of a Geb-class light carrier.

What I did was stupid, rash, and possibly suicidal. Stealing ships that don't belong to me is something I've done before. I figured, if I can snatch a cruiser right from out of Norfolk, I can get something even better, too if I apply my resources. I'd heard rumors about these Order ships from Corsairs on the fringes of space, and the idea got in my head 'Now that sounds like it could cause some real damage.' Oh yes, I forgot, what I mean to say is that I thought it was the perfect ship to bring the fight to Kusari. That's right, here I am, a mere trader, trying to take on the might of the Kusari empire. But finding these Order ships would be no small task. So I immediately...

<DATA CORRUPTION ERROR>

<CAPTAIN'S LOG: ENTRY 000:001c>

...Order base deep in the Omicron systems. Having performed a few missions for them, I got them to trust me enough to allow me to travel the area unsupervised. By then, I had bribed enough people to finally make some headway in locating the Order shipyards, and the specialized counterfeit software from Ames Station had arrived. So, yesterday, I finally decided to take the plunge. With a few mercenaries I'd hired, I broke into the Omicron-100 system, using the codes I'd acquired through one of many, many, many bribes to deactivate the Order defenses and made my way to the shipyards.

Of course, it wasn't long before we were detected and a security force was sent to dispose of me. But I knew where to go, I'd practically memorized the details, and it wasn't long before I'd overriden the station's security lock-out and boarded the shipyards. After that, it was only a matter of choosing the ship to... well, I'll keep it frank... to steal. The skeleton crew aboard the Geb I'd chosen was promptly incapacitated by my men. By the time the security detail had arrived on the scene, we were in command of the ship, as much as six people can control a ship of this size. I then set my old ship to automatic and remotely initiated the self-destruct. My ship launched immediately and crashed into the nearby planetoid amidst a hail of gunfire. With the response force thinking I was nothing more than a thinly-spread cloud of vaporized particles, all that was left was to wait and....

<DATA CORE SHUTDOWN>
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<CAPTAIN'S LOG: ENTRY 000.002>

...snuck out of the Omicron systems with my new ship. I should be safe here on the fringes of known space out in the Sigmas, while I take stock of things and equip the Geb. My credit account is starting to run low, but I can manage. Moreover, I ought to actually name this thing...

Oh well, I'll think of that one later. Signing off.