I finally got the chance to upload this, so I hope I haven't missed much. Anyway, a recap over the last few days. I started off on Mactan, where I got my training shuttle, so being the utter dunce I was- I instantly went for a high-profile mission to get rid of some undesirables from the field. Needless to say, that ended up being ill-advised to say the least.
After that fiasco, I quickly got a replacement shuttle and set off for Alcatraz instead. Since I had to get all buddy-buddy with the folks there anyway, I thought it was the more logical thing to do. Sure enough, the missions there proved to be much more manageable and I soon enough got more comfortable equipment such as the "Cball" missile launcher which allowed me to tackle some larger challenges.
That hasty retreat aside, I soon enough was very welcome at the Rogues and Outcasts alike, so the rest of those missions were spent to upgrade my ship, not to mention to finally hack my transmitter to guard and erase the old callsign for the new one.
After that, I went to the Pennsylvania system to get my reputation sorted with the Junkers, but as I was doing a mission I encountered a Vigilantes Dreadnaught of all things.
Actually, funny thing is that I ended up completing the mission anyway, since the target was right next to the California Jumphole.
After I did, I instantly tailed the hostile ship as it moved through the field, over to Minor and then off to Magellan. Note, the ship's comms were completely silent throughout the encounter.
I broke off the persuit as it was leading me too close to installations with hostile patrols and base-fire.
I returned to Penny and after a few more hours, I had the finances to to scrape up this thing.
I am currently on Leiden though. Hopefully will be able to update this with something a bit more interesting next time.
Singularity interstellar gate relays. Trade lane tachyon transmitters. Planetary grids. Billions of billions bits per nanoseconds. The Sirius Neural Net Network. For most a world of chaos flooded with useless garbage. For a Lane Hacker a collection of hidden patterns waiting to be discovered. A source of truth.
When a message from a small terrorist group known as Antimatter Disaster Maniacs of Infinite Nocturnal Sinisterness, in short the Maniacs, reached Mactan Headquarters it was not treated seriously at first. The group preyed mostly on individuals of severely limited intellectual capabilities - a typical Liberty Navy secondary fleet captain or an independent corporate slug. Good riddance. However, recently the Maniacs had also hit several high priority targets. It is rumored that Estefania Casta, administrator of the Ghosts of Razgriz was assassinated by them. It is also believed that Lord Moka of the Padua Liberty Rogues withdrawn from public life due to threats issued by the group. The pattern was too obvious for Professor Nicole Hunter. For an unknown reason The Maniacs wanted to destroy the alliance between The Outcasts, The Liberty Rogues and The Lane Hackers within Liberty. She was obviously next on the list. This fact coupled with the intense neural net activity linked to the original transmission has caused a serious stir in Mactan's Headquarters.
- Maybe it's just a provocation...
- It must be LSF, nobody else has such a tech...
- I wouldn't treat it seriously, it's a hoax...
- Seven singularity engines using event horizon particle acceleration effect could produce that much energy...
- It would be so unstable, maybe a week before...
- Silence!
Professor Nicole Hunter entered the command room and everyone focused their eyes on her. Recently she was completely occupied with a top secret project called Transcendence and rarely interfered into daily Hacker affairs.
- We all know that it can be a hoax. We also know what it is at stake if it isn't. But we will do it our way and we will strike first. We will monitor all transmissions on this frequency and wait for a winner of this lottery to emerge. And once it happens, we will intercept the package in transit. Mr Rafael Drake, you're responsible for monitoring this frequency. Mr Scorpius, Mr Trigger, you and your strike teams take command of our Equivocator liners. Load them with Interceptor fighters and enough fuel to stay cloaked in the Border Worlds for next several days. Any questions?
***
Several days later a young Lane Hacker was referring fresh intelligence to Professor Nicole Hunter in the Mactan's Headquarter.
- It's true, Professor. Direct witnesses we interrogated in Leeds saw two Valor class battleships being torn apart by a lone bomber without escort.
- The energy...
- Yes. The energy signature was not like anything we saw before.
- You said...
- Yes m'am. Without escort. We believe that Bretonians...
- ...prefer to ambush unsuspecting Gauls with small forces. Thank you. Inform Mr Scorpius and Mr Trigger that we are going to Leeds. Our Equivocator liners should be equipped with Spyglass arrays this time. And one more thing, Initiate.
- Yes, m'am?
- If you ever interrupt me again you will end up chained in the Airdrie Mania Interrogation chamber. Understood?
***
Aboard HMS Thunderer, a Dunkirk class Bretonian battleship, a young officer was reporting news from Leeds to Admiral George Richard Hall.
- They went down like flies, Admiral. They did not even send a distress signal.
- Were there...
- No sir. There were no survivors.
- The explosion...
- Yes, Admiral. The impact was of magnitude we never saw before. Now we will surely win the war...
- ...only if the Gauls won't manage to destroy this prototype. We need every available unit to form quick reaction forces. If Thor falls into an ambush, we need everyone to rush and save it at all costs. Even the bloody Privateers and BPA, so please inform Chief Commissioner Marcus Wright. And one more thing, Lieutenant.
- Yes, Admiral?
- If you ever interrupt me again you will end up in the infantry on Leeds on the very front line. Understood?
The operation was a disaster. Approximately around 2045 me, Mr Rak and two Liberty Rogue fighters took position in Leeds at sector G-7. Meanwhile Mr Trigger aboard our Equivocator liner with Mr Anton Chigurh ready to launch in the docking bay cloaked and set an ambush in sector F-8. Once the signature of the hostile Valor battleship was emitted it was only a matter of time for BAF forces to arrive. It appears, however, that they triangulated the source incorrectly and due to this mistake, instead of falling into our trap in sector F-8, they found our reinforcements in sector G-7. Once Thor accompanied by two BAF fighters discovered our position, we had no other choice but to quickly attack the hostiles and focus on disabling the superbomber. I immediately called Mr Trigger to come to our position. Once Equivocator uncloaked, Mr Chigurh joined the fight, while we pinned down the Thor. Just when Mr Trigger was about to send a strong EMP pulse to disable Thor and beam it, Mr Rak destroyed it due to inaccurate cover fire.
This is when the entire operation became a total chaos. Mr Trigger beamed the remnants of Thor into Equivocator's docking bay and initiated cloaking procedure. In the same time one of The Liberty Rogues was shot down. Just a second later another BAF fighter appeared on scanner. When we managed to destroy one of the escorting BAF fighters, they called for any reinforcements on system frequencies, which attracted a large group of secondary fleet of Liberty Navy visiting Leeds. Several cruisers forced us to disperse. Mr Rak withdrawn immediately due to concentrated fire of two cruisers. Me, Mr Anton Chigurh and one remaining Liberty Rogue were making a chaotic distraction to allow Mr Trigger safely reach Mactan. Once it happened I ordered retreat.
I can only hope that we will manage to put the bomber together and all this nightmare wasn't for nothing!
After getting some rest after yesterday's outing with Mr. Scorpius, I ended up having to drag out the freighter in order to save our new playtoy, which had gotten attacked in Colorado by a handful of snubs.
The ship got away and we were able to score quite a few shots on our beloved cooporate doozies, two of which I had the chance to score myself this time.
Something went haywire with my guncams, so most of them turned out pitch black, but I did get to salvage a few. You can find them here:
Following are the two viable strategies for successful employment of the Superbomber:
Shadow Guardian
The Superbomber flies safely outside of scanning range of standard system traversal trajectories. Its apparent energy signature is well recognized within nearby systems, which causes majority of capital ship captains to withdraw to docks and cease operations. This intended effect allows our fighter forces to act undisturbed. Our assassins and operatives can normally conduct operations without danger of being overrun by a large capital fleet.
Oblivion Eagle
The Superbomber is left cloaked in an ambush position while standard operations are conducted. When they are interrupted by the enemy capital fleet, the Superbomber is quickly brought in and withdrawn immediately after destruction of hostile capital ships and then cloaked again in another ambush position.
Prolonged combat operations performed by the Superbomber without proper support are ill-advised.
Just a report about yesterday's outing.
I was given a task to accompany Mr Brokenclaw on the Thor, a task which went down reasonably well.
Mostly because the fellow had to leave soon after we launched, so...oh well.
The outing began with me moving to colorado, where I secured the gate and waited for some traffic to pop in.
The first costumer was a freelancer eagle, which, upon closer inspection, seemed to be on rather bad standing with the Liberty lawfuls. Call it a haunch.
Anyway, the encounter was rather short, as the fellow ended up wrecking a few patrols and, without either of us saying a word, left for Pueblo.
Now, after that things got a bit more interesting as Mr. Scorpius joined our group and, while they got held up in New York, I got my second contact. Needless to say that the fellow was rather true to his name and, after a bit of talk and discussion about his cargo, he realized that our group was a fine investment.
Another notable encounter was this one fellow here. After confirming his identification, I was tasked by Mr Scorpius to dispose of the individual. The guy retreated swiftly, after he realized that tackling a freighter and a gunboat was not the best of his life choices.
The fourth encounter was a ship that was spotted with the forementioned Samura guy. This time he was hauling some boron. After being asked how much he would like to contribute to the Hackers, he ended up being rather generous. Perhaps he accidentally added an extra zero?
By this time Mr Brokenclaw had left us already and the Thor was being controlled by someone else. Anyway, I was given new waypoints by Mr Scorpius and headed towards the Detroit field, where we found a rather interesting sight. A zoner gunboat with prisoners.
Sadly, as quickly we wanted to reclaim the cargo, we were jumped by a lawful snub squad and had to quickly retreat. Obviously, the zoner ended up choosing me as his target.
At that point I've no idea what happened, because as far as I could tell- both Thor and Mr Scorpius had escaped, while I was left with the task of acting bait. Needless to say, it quickly ended up turning the other way around, when the Navy snubs failed to disrupt me and I flew away.
Annnnd then suddenly. Yeah. No idea what happened there. I am currently waiting for the boat of mine to get patched up.
Today I had Mr. Scorpius guide me through my aptitude test, which went reasonably well. For that I have to thank a couple of USI freighters and a rather unruly freelancer pilot, however the next one was much more compliant to my demands.
I also encountered a Zoner serenity class transport, hauling Nanocapacitors, who (for some bloody reason) offered to take up duty as their escort. Sadly, at the time I was already gathering up for a trip around New York with Mr. Scorpius and Brokenclaw, so I had a good enough excuse to deny his request.
After a small pause back in Cassini, I finally had a chance to hook up with Brokenclaw and Scorpius. Sadly, our RV was changed as Scorpius, who took over as the leader of our operation that time, spotted a few targets at West Point. Brokenclaw was moving in from California, while I was stuck in Colorado, so I ended up arriving late, when the fun was already over for the most part.
Brokenclaw, who was piloting the Thor at the time, ended up getting systematically disassembled, so Scorpius hit the panic button and we quickly left.
After that, we crash landed on Buffalo for some quick repairs, but it seemed that Scorpius's ship needed some longer repairs, so I ended up having to pull our mercenary friend away from the Faze creep.
Actually, we did try to take out the sabre, but since it was a combination of our sub-par fighting skills, the Badlands and a rather nasty ionization on the target's side, we ended up breaking off.
Nothing too major on my part, really. Hopefully will do better next time.
Again, the full guncam shot folder can be accessed on our server HERE.
A small update on what just happened in Manchester.
Me and Mr Brokenclaw were setting up a tiny little blockade with the intention to pester some targets, when the most interesting thing happened.
My radar went haywire and it could only mean one thing. A nomad entitiy. A very young nomad entity. It seemed that by the time I got the chance to scan it, the damn thing had already entered cloak, before either me or Brokenclaw could get into range.
However.
As we both returned to the lanes, my ship began to take unnecessery manouvers, as if something invisible was ramming into it. And since the contact with the nomad was made only a few moments ago, I did the most sensible thing I could think at the time.
Yesterday I managed to remotely mania interrogate a pilot of primary branch of Universal Shipping. I attach detailed interrogation transcript for instructional purposes in persuasive manipulation techniques.
Kind regards,
Nicole Hunter
...live.feed.lost...
...receiving.attachment...
Surveillance log: New York, The Superbomber, 15th August
Soares: I wonder why they have so much trouble getting rid of you? Nicole Hunter: They couldn't stop us for years, why should it ever change? Soares: I don't understand how they couldn't from the beginning! Nicole Hunter: Because they are nothing but a bunch of corrupted lackwits. Soares: Corrupted? In what sense? And what about you? Are you not corrupted by your own interests? Nicole Hunter: My interests lie in changing the Liberty into a truly free society, free from corporatocratic dictatorship and pointless social restrictions. Soares: It is a nice ideal, but only theoretical I'm afraid. I don't see how your actions inside Liberty will ever amount to that end. I just can't see it. It seems pointless. I mean, do you have a specific plan? Nicole Hunter: At some point every great man in history heard the same. It's pointless, it's stupid, you will simply fall off at the end of the world... It's pointless, it's stupid, you will never make this thing fly... It's pointless, it's stupid, man will never leave the Solar system... Soares: You should keep your comparison with politics, because this looks much more like politics and you should know better than anyone that you cannot change a system by yourself, you won't change this society. Nicole Hunter: You're nothing more than a corporatocratic slave that has been taught obedience. So I don't blame you for not seeing that there is always another way. Soares: I domesticated myself to work for the maximum profit and that includes making the right allies. Nicole Hunter: But such things happened too. It's stupid, it's pointless, black people will never have rights equal to white... Should I even continue? Soares: Also, you should know obedience is one of the most important factors while living in a community, obedience and respect. It seems to be rather pointless trying to talk some sense into you. We live in two different realities, just know, that violence rarely achieves anything rather than more violence. Nicole Hunter: We live in one reality, it's just you don't see it, wearing the glasses that your masters have put on your eyes. Soares: That is the same talk I hear from all Hackers and also some Rogues for that matter. That we are living under an illusion and can't see the truth. You should stop and try to figure out if it is not you who are deluded. What was it that the government did that was so bad to all you Lane Hackers?! I've heard some of you were ex-Ageira's employees. Nicole Hunter: It's only natural that you instinctively protect the illusion in which you're living. You subconsciously know that if you tried to question it your sense of security would be endangered. That is why you are selling your free will for protection and security. You abide the rules, you internalize them, you even think they are your own. Soares: This is just some crazy conspiracy talk. Nicole Hunter: It's not conspiracy. It's a simple conclusion drawn from the fact that Liberty society in it's current form is designed to suit interests of the few. Soares: That just seems to be the reality of human nature. Selfishness, since the dawn of time. Usually it is the rich that dominate over the poor, saying it in a nutshell. Nicole Hunter: For instance, the war between Liberty and Rheinland. Who is getting the most profit from it, especially its embargoes? Answer yourself a question, who was given the vast exemptions from trade embargoes on Rheinland? Soares: And where are you getting at? Nicole Hunter: The war with Rheinland does not make sense but it's kept going in order to allow those few profit insanely on their monopolies. And now tell me that the Liberty government is not corrupted and works in the interest of few, not the majority. Soares: I do not totally disagree on what you've just said, but how does that concern the Hackers? Or to put it more specifically, how Hackers attacking Liberty and most of all harassing freelancers and civilians, is helping the change? Nicole Hunter: We are the few who saw the corruption on our own eyes and decided to do what it takes to alter the current state of affairs. By destabilizing the Liberty Navy and contractual business obligations of major Liberty corporations we hope to achieve one thing, that the current oppressive establishment is removed from power and a new one is erected in its place. Soares: Under your logic I can understand your attacks on Liberty Navy and corporations, but all seems hypocritical when I witness Hackers like yourself harassing civilians or wandering freelancers that sometimes also fall prey to Hackers like yourself. Nicole Hunter: We do not harass innocent civilians. Enterprising freelancers are usually warm welcomed by us and asked for symbolic donations to our cause. Soares: Well, that is not what I see most of the time. I've witnessed civilians and freelancer being harassed. Nicole Hunter: We often educate them in our ways and try to open their eyes to hypocritical and puritanical establishment of Liberty. Sometimes they are so firmly attached to the illusion in which they live that we had to try our best to wake them up. Not always we are successful at that. Soares: By force, and here's the reason of all problems - violence. I'm just saying this from what I see from my point of view, to me Hackers act just like terrorists. Nicole Hunter: Many of so called 'civilians' are only Liberty provocateurs who fall into aggressive trance on the first sight of our transponders. Those we put down. Soares: That is most likely because they fear you and with reason, because Hackers rarely show any mercy. Nicole Hunter: Standing idle and talking about how bad it is has never achieved anything. Hence we took arms and do what has to be done. Soares: That is what I totally disagree. I think it is arms that never achieve anything. And it is by talking that we can evolve and change. By using violence like you have been doing, the only way you would achieve your goal, would be to annihilate everyone opposed to your ideals. And that will be just impossible because they are just too many. Nicole Hunter: Only those open for a change can be reasoned with. You seem to be one of them. Most are not. And no, not annihilate. Educate. Masses would follow new example when it is introduced. It has been done many times in our history and it can be done again. Soares: What you said, 'It has been done many times in our history', and we still have groups like yours that disagree with the masses and will try again to change everything and we'll enter an infinite vicious circle. As much as I've liked to have this peaceful chat with you, I need to work so I can afford my livelihoods. I am closing this broadcast channel. Goodbye.
I decided to change the operative codename of our superbomber from Devil's Decimator to The Rainbowmaker. As you can see it's rainbow making capabilities are unquestioned.
What is more, it's destructive potential is as vast as it's color making capabilities. It obviously starts from fighters and bombers, through freighters and transports, to gunboats, cruisers and battleships alike. A true Rainbowmaker through all classes and colors.
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