Today was a full day, a VERY full day indeed. A life-changing day even, some might say Me, Ruben and our escorts undocked from Beaumont and headed to Colorado. We had to be extra careful , if even a single Xeno saw us , he would have to kill him. No one was to know of our operation. Fortunately , we didn't see one single Xeno the whole way there.
As soon as we arrived to the Silverton field , I found myself a good, quiet spot and started mining. After a few minutes , a large Xeno strike squad appeared. We were severely outnumbered and I wasn't willing to risk such a big load of Silver , not to mention our ships... and lives. I somehow managed to put out an emergency transmission amidst all the dodging. Not an easy thing to do , considering the Mining Ships size. All I had to do then was stay alive. We even managed to take down some of the attackers. I was glad to know that all my time spent in a clunky mining ship didn't affect my aiming. The Mining Ship may be big , but it packs quite a punch when used well. With a couple of well aimed salvos , I managed to blast the bomber and blast the shield on a couple of the fighters. Ruben did well too , but his Pirate Train didn't really have the offensive capabilities, nor did he have my superb skills, HA!
Fortunately, a wing of fighters appeared shortly afterwards. The odds were turned , and we had the upper hand. Happily we managed to dispatch the Xeno squad without any casualties and minimal hull damage.
A while later , back at Beaumont , I met up with one of the people who answered the call. His name was John Rome. He said that as soon as he heard my transmission , he gathered a wing of fighters and headed to my location. Good for me, if it wasn't for him , me and Ruben would probably be fried by now.
But here is where things get interesting: Apparently John is part of the Junker Congress , a group that stands for the Junkers rights. He also said that from what he saw from back in that fight , that I had the right stuff to be in the Congress. The offer seemed quite tempting. And guess what , I accepted!
I have always wanted to be able to do more for my fellow Junker. I have seen Junkers from all across Sirius. I have worked for some , some have worked for me. We are the main target for suspicion for everyone. I am not saying that it isn't righteously so , but if I can do anything to shelter my fellow Junkers from its consequences , then do it I will!
Its time to start a new chapter in my life. Mining was fun, but there are more important things to do. Not all of it will be for the Congress of course. I have amassed quite a healthy amount of cash over the years. Maybe I should get some more ships for my fleet, spice things up a bit.
Good news! My application has been accepted! I am now a proud member of the Junker Congress. I have met some other congressmen. They seem like a really pleasant bunch. I can't wait to work with them, I am sure it will be interesting to say the least.
On a more personal note , joining the Congress has also vastly increased my contact list and privileges. Personal docking space in Vieques to name one. The Congress intel is so vast its astonishing , even for a well traveled Junker such as myself.
I said in my previous log entry that I thought of expanding my fleet. Well , I have started working towards that. I bought a Pirate Transport , one of the new models. That thing is heavy armored , powerful and has a considerable cargo hold. It will be good to fly something other than the good old Mining Ship. I stationed it at Vieques for upgrading, by the way. I heard rumors that the ALG is thinking of starting operations in New York. If that indeed happens , I want to have the thing ready for some scrap hauling. I bet this thing can make it to Malta or Crete and back without a scratch.
Also , I'm thinking of buying the schematics for a Salvage Frigate. They look pretty basic though, so I will have to take a good long look at them. A few modifications here and there and I will hand it over to the Vieques engineers.
Well , I finished loading up the Pirate Transport with Hull Panels. I'm guessing the Outcasts will like something other than slaves for a change. Also , the trip to the Omicrons will give me enough time to work on these schematics.
What if I got a bigger power-plant than the usual... I would have clear up some space here ... maybe there ... Hmmm ...
Well, today I set out on my Pirate Transport. But not without a little surprise first. I got a message from my mother. She was digging through her old stomping grounds in Beaumont and she came across some Salvage Frigate blueprints made by my late grandfather, Bernard, amidst other crap. Looking at them, I've gotta say, the old man sure knew his way around a ship. The design is simply astounding. A sturdy, solid base, all vital components are kept to concentrated areas that are packed with triple-layered armor and personal kinetic barrier generators. The rest of the ship is practically highly compacted scrap. From his calculations you can tear 74% of the ship's mass and it will still fly like it's brand new. Of course, there was still plenty of room for me to tinker with.
The test run on the good old P-Trans ( as I started calling it) went well, great even. No problems at all. Not even in Omicron Theta, a system which is swarming with Bounty Hunters. I guess people think twice before messing with this little powerhouse. First time I visited the Outcasts home, its a nice place If you can call nice a place filled with drug addicts “nice”. I took a load of Cardamine back to Beaumont. That thing is always easy to sell. I ended up with a good profit margin. This thing practically pays for itself!
I had the schematics ready by then so I headed to Vieques. I think I did a good job on them. Some new, reinforced alloys in the crucial areas, an improved power-plant at the expense of cargo space ( it was a pain to expand the reactor room into the cargo bay without interfering with anything. The shield recalibration alone took me half the trip to figure out. I'm sure it will be worth it though). I also replaced some of the old inefficient cranes with some modern Mining Lasers and the old smallish storage depots into advanced sensor arrays. I had to put these outside the "vitals" barrier though. There is still an on board sensor so either way it ain't blacking out completely. Junker Rule: Never follow original schematics to the letter. Even if it was made by a genius. Its what makes each Junker ship so unique.
I trust the shipbuilding crew back in Vieques to follow these to the letter. Would be a pity if all my work was for nothing , right ?
My next destination is Crete. I have heard that the Farmers Alliance has put a bounty on the Congress, so I want to flex the good old diplomatic muscle a little once again. Show the 'Sairs just how valuable we really are. Maybe then they will hammer some sense into the Farmers heads. I'll take a load of food. The good stuff, for them to stuff their faces.
I gotta hire someone to deep-clean my cargo bay ... I don't want the 'Sairs to get food smelling like Cardamine.
Another safe trip the Omicrons. Being in this ship is starting to feel like being inside a fortress. The first time I visited Crete as well. It wasn't exactly as ... dressed in orange, but it was nice nonetheless. On the way back to Beaumont I brought some of those Artifacts the Corsairs keep yapping about. Looking at my bank account , I must testify, diplomacy pays off rather nicely! The folks at Beaumont will have this stuff swarming the black markets soon enough.
As soon as I reached Beaumont , I got word from the shipbuilders back in Vieques. They had just finished the ship, so I flew straight towards Vieques to collect it. It was truly a sight to behold, a masterfully crafted ship. My alterations to the original design were quite noticeable as well, both in appearance and in the amount of credits I had to dish out to get them...
Well , I guess I wont be needing this Pirate Trans anytime soon. The Frigate surpasses it in almost every way. Should I sell it or take it apart and save stuff as spare parts...
Time to take this thing out for a test run. I already have a course set. The Hessians in Casablanca seem to be buying Counterfeit Software for a really high price. I have no idea why they are doing so, but it pays , and thats what matters. I already arranged to meet one of Rubens Hacker friends. He is giving me a full load of the stuff in Ames. Fortunately for us those Zoners turn a blind eye to almost everything.
After that , I don't know. I guess I will fly around Sirius with this thing , smuggling stuff around. All the action as of late has been heavy on my pocket. Its about time I start to compensate for all that money I spent.
Way too much has happened over the last couple of months.. For starters , I am now the proud owner of a Rheinland Pirate Cruiser. It was why Karl wanted to meet me. The ship was about to get decommissioned , and he chipped in a few favors and managed to get his hands on it. Then I had to call Joshua and Ruben and we had to tow the ship from Vogtland all the way to Kreuzberg. Then I had to buy tons of materials to craft the parts to fix the thing and then I got Ruben , Joshua and Karl to be my crew captains! I named it the Ferocity, based on my name and on our ferocious protective nature.
I put the cruiser in Vieques docks for now. I'm not gonna risk going out in plain sight with that. The local law forces wouldn't fancy it that much. But you can bet your ass that if the Xenos come knocking down our door here in Liberty or the Hogs try to pull a funny move in Bretonia, they will have this big fella there, waiting for them!
Well, time to start trading again. I heard of this huge Junker station in the borders of Bretonia called Invergordon. I'll pay it a visit.
I nearly almost forgot about my log, but then again , I haven't had minute to waste. So , updates!
First of all , I found that Hog that made me hide my identity all those years ago back in Rheinland through one of my contacts up in Kusari. I got the perfect opportunity to kill him... and so I did, but it came at a huge price. Now my Ferocity is nothing but a wreck floating around in the Yanagi field. Well , at least I will never have to call myself Mr Unusual ever again...
Oh , Ruben joined a splinter group called the Jackals. I don't know if he did that because he is sick of our diplomatic ways or if he just wants to start shooting our enemies with no regards for the consequences... Well , either way , he is untraceable now. He even got a codename and all, and didn't tell me what it was! "For my own safety" he said. Well , maybe he is right, but I am still worried about him... I just hope he doesn't do something stupid like fight a Kusari Battleship head on... And knowing him, he probably would.
Looking back , I remember mentioning Invergordon in my last entry. Well , I absolutely fell in love with the place. It is quiet, yet so intriguing. I stationed all my ships there. I can easily access both Liberty and Bretonia. I have even scouted and scanned the place in look for goodies and transmitted a report to the Congress.
Well , I think that does it for updates. Now onto the new stuff. Taking a good look at my neural net mailbox , I noticed that I pretty much know people from all around Sirius. This gave me an idea: Why not open a small smuggling company? Smuggling important items like prototypes, blueprints or whatever important people need... for a hefty charge. I could use a disguise to cover up my tracks... Well , I will develop on that as I can.
Right now I gotta take another good look around Invergordon and meet some of the local shipbuilders. These guys are complete geniuses from what I have heard. Well , if I had a biodome at my doorstep and didn't need to worry about my basic necessities like food and water , I would probably have enough time to be a genius too! Lucky bastards, these Invergordon folk...
Looking through my old files I came across this little thing again and looking back on other logs, it looks like I had forgotten about it before as well... Oh well, no matter.
A lot has happened since my last entry. The smuggling company I had mentioned before is now set up and covered. Beast's Salvaging & Recycling. Has a nice ring to it, no? I send my employees to smuggle for whoever is paying and prowl the fields for scrap. Honestly, I didn't think it would turn out like this. In between the smuggling runs, salvaging scrap has proved to be quite profitable. Not to mention that Southampton probably throws out enough scrap to build entire battlefleets. Their loss!
I also built a bar in Invergordon, the Purple Mist. It's a good place to hang out, get to know people, gain new contacts for the company. I'd call it a long-term investment with some instant benefits. Like this Invergordon liquor! This stuff is so good... Oh, I hired one of my friends back from Beaumont, Johnny Mullins, to handle the bar. He's a cool bloke and he knows his way around a cocktail.
Now that life is good and I can afford to sit on my ass in my office, filling out paperwork and making money, one thing has been bothering me. Ever since the Ferocity got destroyed I have barely contacted any of my friends from the houses. Ruben is going through a bit of a rough time. The Jackals quietly vanished. Or maybe they didn't. I don't know, the guy doesn't tell me anything. I don't know about anyone else though. Once I got these new contracts dealt with I'll be sure to pay a couple of visits.
That about does it for this log revival. I will be sure to update it again soon.
Well, there's one visit I apparently won't have to pay after all. I got a message from Joshua yesterday. Seems that he is returning to his Molly roots, joining some group called La Tene and settling down in Newcastle. A rather stupid decision... I mean, the Molly Republic just got torn apart, clans are popping up everywhere. Maybe he is just carving himself a niche amongst the chaos. If so, good for him. Also now that he's in Newcastle I can go pay the bastard a visit more often, hah!
Beast's Salvaging & Recycling is still doing good. Having two wars at convenient distance probably helps. Looks like I've lured in some local maniacs. Two sisters that were in employ of the Gordon family. They used to dig up Pilgrim husks and drag them back to Inverness. Apparently they also took a liking to dragging abandoned warship husks from battle sites. While the battle is still going on. I swear, those girls are insane. Still, they are probably some of my most productive employees. As long as they don't get themselves killed they can do whatever they want.
I've almost finished preparations to leave for Rheinland soon. Making the bloody company run on auto-pilot for an entire week isn't easy.
Karl is dead. Already got past the mourning and that sort of crap, but it still pisses me off that he was at death's door and didn't tell me a bloody thing. Then again, maybe he just didn't want me to worry. That does sound like him, yeah... Well, at least my parents were there and I could spare some time to catch up. Been years since I've had a drink with my old man. Same old on their end, lucky retired gits. Maybe I oughta start saving money for my retirement. A tad too soon, but can't hurt.
On the company side of things, I now have a mobile HQ for BS&R. A Pilgrim I modified the crap out of. I named it Sèamhas. Took me for fricking ever too. Then again, it was no easy task. I even managed to cramp a spa in there. A SPA! Needed? Not really. But I wanted one anyways. Still, it's a pity I couldn't add more features... Like having the shuttle bays shoot nuclear cruise missiles...
What's next down the line? Well, the relations between the Invergordon Junkers and the Newcastle Mollys seem to be getting mighty interesting. I think we're looking at a large-ish tech exchange soon. Other than that, I heard rumors that a large-ish clan plonked a settlement down in Forres' north pole. Now THAT could be big. Like Sirius-wide big.
Oh, and the Congress is starting to reroute some rowdy groups/individuals from Trafalgar to Invergordon. Crow says he has a plan or somewhat. Personally, I don't mind acting nice, they're costumers like any other, but the moment they start rocking the boat they'll see themselves dying a slow death in a pod ricocheting off the rocks in the Avlemore Ice Field.
