Today again we proceeded carefully into Inverness for a recon run to see what we could find. Since continuous reports are received of Nomad activity in the area, we once again moved back in. Our first stop was to Freeport 14, and we requested more intel on any possible Alien contacts they had encountered.
They did send us some data on alleged sightings and attacks that are consistent of what we experienced in the past. From this point, we deployed further into the system. As we moved, our sensors did not at first detect very much, but we did see traces of the signatures that we located from Coronado, leading us to believe similar activity was occurring in here. Our next stopover was at the Invergordon Space port, who were not as open about local activity, but they did mention that they have lost a handful of ships through suspicious means lately. This piqued our interest, and so we thanked them for their divulging of information and went on our way.
Several hours later as we progressed towards the south of the system, we were briefly attacked by a Nomad patrol, they seemed unable to do any noticeable damage to us, most of which were destroyed and the others retreated. Shortly after, we detected on long range radar a number of other ships approaching, including a number of capital class vessels that appeared to identify as Auxo ships most likely, this prompted us to withdraw from the area and activate our cloaking device, as we were unwilling to engage with them as to why were in their system.
Overall, this is suspicious activity to say the least, with Nomads assaulting us, followed by Auxo arriving conveniently shortly after. This will warrant further investigation later, as to which time we will likely need to employ more covert tactics to find out more as to what is going on in there. A few Nomad ships alone is concerning, but we will need more data before anything can be done.
November 26, 828 AS
We were alerted by Kaplain of a high priority communication from the Order, who requested our presence in their system. Something about needing to inform us of important information to do with Nomads. We are going to need to shelve our plans for having our sensor array inspected by the Phoenix until we see what they have for us. Anything that can further our knowledge to annihilate the Nomads easier is the highest priority for us. They mentioned a place called “Fort Carthage” but did not tell us as to where that place is, as we have no information on such a location.
November 30, 828 AS
Today we arrived at Omicron Mu. Speaking with the CV Nekhbet, one of their command ships, the captain of the ship went on about some sort of new threat that they had been monitoring.
Apparently something to do with Kepler has them concerned. There are various spacial anomalies in there that they believe are connected to the Nomads and possibly something else they call the “Sentinels”. I am not exactly sure what these are, being another type of Nomad subgroup or an entirely new threat, they did not seem to have much intel on them. They insist that this scientist called Vincent Abrams has stirred something up in Kepler and this has become a cause for a newer threat that has begun to emerge. Although I am a bit skeptical as to what could be more threatening than Nomads, this could warrant a further investigation by Delta 4.
In the meanwhile, they requested our presence at Akabat should a emergency come up, and we assured him that if the time came, we would be there to help in any way possible. The news about Kepler does remind me of intel I was briefly looking over some time ago, that Kaplain had someone poke around Kepler to see what they could find, perhaps I should take another look at it and send it over to my astrogation team for analysis.
We have some down time for the next 2 days at least while the Stormhawk undergoes some maintenance at Livadia under the direction of the Phoenix group. It is high time our special array get the attention it needs, I don't want to be stuck without our primary means of defense.
Upon our arrival at Livadia, we again were directed to proceed into a dry-dock for inspection. Our technical team informed them that we do use a Nomad Fuel-cell as the main power-source for the Phoenix array. They seem to be already familiar with the use of Nomad tech to some degree on their own ships and may have some in use currently. I find this curious to say the least but not exactly surprising based on what I hear the Phoenix do out there.
They took some time to diagnose our systems and informed that our power transfer and interior cabling system was not up to the proper specs in order to have the best functionality of a Nomad power-source. Waxford and his team assured me that our systems were configured properly after so many tests, but of course we are newer to using such things and therefore it is understandable that we can use some help. They plan to make upgrades on some of our power relays in the area of the array and also in a power matrix that converts power from the reactor. The Stormhawk will thus be out of commission while this happens. I have been promised by the staff here that our ship will have a slightly more efficient power-transfer rate which should help greatly in the near future.
December 7, 828 AS
Well some time off served us well, most of the crew got to relax for a short while. Since we do not have much down time, it was well deserved. Now that repairs are complete, we must get back into it. The work at Livadia went off without any trouble, the engineering team reports all systems green and the maintenance team at Livadia have confirmed everything is in order for us. I'm glad we can have this problem behind us finally.
We deployed to Omega 11 again, the main site of our testing of the array and calibrating it for best efficiency.
Our arrival there went without incident, and after proceeding to a remote location, we started our trials of the array once again. The technical team did run into some minor issues with maintaining a precise omni-directional sensor sweep, fortunately this came down to newer control software that was sent to us by their team that would make it easier to manage the system.
After some hours, we drifted further into the system, beyond the planetary belt and encountered a small group of Corsair ships. They were there to apparently conduct scientific research at a cluster of local gravimetric anomalies. We have not seen these anomalies nor heard of them before, but they were quite interested in gathering data on them.
Their team leader was a scientist working for the Corsairs that had been hired by them to further their research in the area. They mentioned finding something similar out in Omicron Lost. I find this a strange claim since we were unable to find anything worth looking at in there a part from some Nomad ships patrolling. I suppose a second look in there again should be warranted.
What steered our conversation in a interesting direction was the fact that he claims that he was based out of a installation near Planet Knossos in Omicron Xi. We have not spent much time there due to low reports of Nomad activity in that area. What was even more concerning was his claims of “Alien ruins” in that area, possibly even of Nomad origin. I can't say I have jumped off my chair so quickly in the past, asking for more information on such claims. He assured me that they were very much real and that the Corsair fleet known as “Deterrence” had setup a base of operations there to both examine and possibly be profiting from them in some way. I have no idea if this may be true or false, our current data of that planet is very limited and it was thought in the past that there was nothing of value there. Those claims could be false I suppose. I requested the likelihood of us being permitted to enter that area for our own investigation. Although he said that they were looking for potential business partners, they aren't so welcoming to foreign warships. Although I don't fancy the idea of openly stepping on another's territory like that, if there is something there we need to see, we will get in there one way or another.
I intend to talk to Kaplain about this to see if he can find anything about this Deterrence group and see if they are worth looking further into. Until then, I intend to monitor our sensor systems closely to ensure they don't fail again.
Once again Kaplain's contacts came through. Today we learned much more about this Deterrence section of Corsairs.
Apparently they have only recently come into wide operation, stretching themselves beyond Omicron Gamma and into other areas. Their goals apart from continued expansion, seems to include various business proposals to prospective allies. They are going out of their way to contact almost anyone that will talk to them and enter into agreements with them for their trade deals. They also seem to have a number of scientific endeavours at play, as noted by that science team we found in Omega 11. I am directing a communique be sent to them immediately to inquire about their claims in Omicron Xi. It had my staff very piqued at such grand claims. If there are secrets in there containing further intel on Nomads, we will find them.
Also, Kaplain forwarded a secured download of updated known Jumphole locations. There are a handful which are new to use, based on reports of scouts across the Lower Omegas and some Omicron locations. This will no doubt help us further in travelling to where we need to be easier.
December 13, 828 AS
We found out from a large data dump sent to us from Kaplain and Corinth that this Azurite gas appears to have some potential use for us. Azurite gas seems to have effects that react with high energy sources, and can be used to create a much more efficient conductor for power management. What is even more curious is how it appears to react when exposed to various types of Nomad technology.
The Azurite can be used to manipulate such technologies in a way that is still under investigation, but this leads us to having high hopes to unlocking more secrets about our primary enemy. This is quite the discovery that researchers have been making on Corinth and since we have been using a small amount for our testing, our science team onboard insists that with further research, a use of some sort could be found for it in our favour. Using what data we have on Nomad technology both from destroyed vessels and old relic sites, I think we can find a solution to this problem, hopefully in the near future. For the near future, I am directing the bulk of our science team now to begin looking for similarities in both the area we recovered the gas from and currently known Alien tech.
I was up all night, almost couldn't sleep at all. Was having some strange dreams about what we saw. Going to need to check-in with the med-bay just to be safe.
I am just astounded at what was lying just out of our notice and for such a long time. It is disturbing that the Corsairs had access to this area for such a long time without telling most others, but I understand their caution. I seriously question if they have other secrets that require our attention, space is vast, but I feel finding such secrets is getting harder everyday. Regardless, the data collected from our experience at Knossos has simply overloaded us for the time being and after a initial overview is complete, I plan to return there in short order, after we have our local affairs in order.
Our adventure began outside Freeport 9, where a Deterrence Escort ship arrived to greet us and give us the low down on what would happen. The first order of business was the fact they wished to send us a sample of the relics they have uncovered originating at Knossos apparently.
I thought it be prudent to assign Gatecrashers to handle them during the lock-down procedure and have them closely monitored, as we have no clear idea of what state they are currently in. A small amount of them do seem to be in a sort semi-active state at the very least, with the majority of them being what appears as what could be panels or possibly conduits of some sort. No doubt we will learn more soon.
After the relics were received, they instructed us to follow them into Gamma, then promptly into Xi. We have been on this route a scant few times in the past, albeit more covertly as we do not want to attract unnecessary attention through their space.
The journey into Xi went without incident. Upon arrival they directed us to move in the direction of Knossos to begin our exploration of the nearby area. At this stage a additional escort arrived to assist. We followed them for some time towards and into the nebula cloud where Knossos is located. We were not interdicted by any Corsair patrols which helped to save much time. About ten minutes later, we arrived in the upper orbit of Knossos and began to feel the gravity well of the planet. We were pointed to a specific position near the planet that would contain possibly active Nomad defense platforms. This discovery would be just the first of many firsts we would see that day. We moved into close range of clearly active Nomad signatures and found that it was a indeed a Nomad structure featuring several weapon emplacements.
Being already at Condition Red, we were ready to counter any possible attacks the structure would make against us, though the Deterrence escort noted that it's power system was likely highly depleted and unable to run at maximum power nor target other ships effectively, no doubt them having experience avoiding them in the cloud. Our scans we made of them showed almost exactly similar properties as we have found in other areas of known Nomad structures such as Coronado and Minor. This is critically important for us as we need more data to corroborate theories that we have. I do intend to continue explore possibilities to enhance our systems to prove further effective in combat using such data.
Our guides were eager to take us to the next zone of interest. We moved on to a closer orbit to Knossos, to a place that they prefer to access the planet itself from. The local Corsairs have a way of proceeding inside Knossos itself using a particular area of the planet that is somewhat “safer” to access than anywhere else. I have never attempted to make a planetary entry yet, but we were willing to try our best based on what was at stake there. At this point I ordered Condition Blue on the ship, to prepare for entry of the atmosphere. We received coordinates of the path to entry from the Deterrence ships, which made guiding our entry much easier. They then proceeded into the atmosphere and asked us to follow them. With stabilizers at max power and shields up, we carefully made our entry. After several minutes and a somewhat bumpy ride down, we arrived into a more open zone and the clouds cleared out for us in surrounding area.
The first thing we had to do was compensate for constant drift of the local winds, which were not significant but it still was a factor that you don't encounter in normal space travel. Another variable present was the significant radiation. Although it was moderate, it was not a issue for our shields, still I requested that it should be examined for later to see if it could have any effects on our Phoenix array. In the distance we could see some large structures, reminiscent of what we had seen in the past.
After some checks to our systems, we proceeded with our escorts towards what were the ruins they claimed were present in the planet. The Stormhawk quickly advanced into close range of some old power generators which did show some activity on our sensors as being in operation, though at very low levels, likely a good thing I imagine. Some brief scans made of the item showed identical features to the platform we had encountered earlier. No doubt another area we will need to make a more indepth scan later.
After this we moved toward the middle of the debris area to the zone that they used to gather the majority of the relics which they likely use to their own ends. Such a place that is relatively un-controlled and freely disseminating Alien relics of likely Nomad origin could be a problem, as we do not know if they could involve radiation poisoning or have anomalous effects to their owners. I will need to confer further with my team later about this. We did not spend a long time there, likely Deterrence has other things to handle and does not want to oversee us for several hours.
The next part was no doubt the most astounding discovery we would make to date. Just before, they touched on the fact that they know of a “functional” Nomad Jump gate in area. I hardly did believe him when I was first told about this. Although we have seen a derelict gate in Minor, a active one would be ground-breaking in our research. We were quite eager to see it up close and so after some time flying further through the atmosphere, we saw it.
I immediately ordered a full multi-spectrum scan of the gate. We saw evidence of a power-flow system and gravity stabilizing system that likely keeps it held in place. We insisted to hold there for a while to see what could be found from our scans, unfortunately some of them were returning strange readings as likely we will need to corroborate them with the past locations we have encountered. The further scans also revealed likely a active Nomad powercell within, it's main power source we think. Also, they use a variation of our magnetic acceleration system that our own jumpgates use but in a unknown configuration. We requested to see if it could be safely used, to which they acknowledged it could be. After marking it's location for our future reference, we made preparation to jump through. I requested to ready all hands on deck in case of anomalous effects could occur during the jump, just in case.
After clearing all systems green, we followed them as they moved through the gate. As we moved through it, we experienced a different type of wormhole turbulence. My science team suggests it has something to do with their differing use of magnetic control systems to move us to between the gates.
Upon arrival in Omicron Beta, the system where the gate leads to, we conversed further about current operations in the area, to which we went into more detail about what we do. They seemed to approve of our use of excessive force against the Nomads, likely because they have had their own problems with them. They invited us to return to Knossos at any time in the future un-accompanied to make further runs on the areas we were shown. I will no doubt have us come back to Knossos soon after we have confirmed a few things and dropped off the load of relics that they sent to us. The boys at Corinth are going to have a field day.
This was one heck of a wild ride, we saw things that we thought previously were likely impossible for us to find or even existed. I am quite glad we ran into that researcher in Omega 11, quite the chance encounter I must say. With everything we found, I can imagine we will have a immense amount of information to pour over in the near future and I am now certain we will be able to unlock more of the Nomads secrets. Anyhow, I was up far too late putting down this log, there will always more to do tomorrow.
December 22, 828 AS
After a prompt return to Freeport 9 and trying desperately to begin cataloguing as much as possible, we are now arriving at Corinth to offload most of the relic items procured from the Knossos expedition. It is important we try to find out as much as possible from them and in a good time-frame.
A small number of ones, specifically those that seem to react to our Nomad Powercell onboard will be kept for further study to see if they can be put to any sort of use. Gatecrashers will have a full time job in the near future keeping things safe and assisting with transfers. For the foreseeable future, we will be working much harder on both finding new paths into their technology and moving to adapt it into our own by any means possible. In addition, in another week or so once we have a better feel of what we need to look at, the Stormhawk will return to Knossos for a deeper look into what we found.
Time spent lately in long hours making recon runs has earned us some brief time off at Freeport 11. We plan to make a stop there shortly after reviewing a few things first. Also hope to bring on a few spare supplies that Kaplain apparently had sent our way.
On a positive note, as we made our way back towards Delta from Zeta, we received a priority comm from Freeport 11 that a large Nomad warship was attempting to intercept ships near the Zeta Jumphole in Delta. We hastily moved into Delta to find a small number of other vessels already en-route to assault and destroy it. We joined in the fighting as quick as possible, both a Core Battlecruiser known as the WV-Unity and a Zoner Destroyer called the Elusive helped in it's destruction.
Knocking out a large capital class vessel like that is a significant blow to their operations in the area we believe, and even if it isn't, halting their advance in that area is still very important.
December 29, 828 AS
Yesterday we made a return to the extensive treasure trove that is Knossos.
The path there went without incident. As soon as we arrived, we made our course quickly to the ruins. Our goal was to take a much closer look than we had before and get further invasive scans of as much of the ruins as possible.
At the time, we found no other patrolling ships in the area, which was good so that we would not be interrupted by bothersome people. We needed several hours to slowly make our investigation and fortunately, we collected data that we were hoping for.
First, we proceeded “above” the ruins, based on our guess of how they are oriented, to get a better wide angle reading on what we were looking at.
The smaller, what we think are support structures, are placed somewhat evenly apart, and they likely share some sort of connection with the function of the facility as a whole. Although scans show no significant power readings on any of them, they do seem to maintain somewhat of a orbital sync with the larger central structure. The science team is not sure how this is possible based on what we saw, the current hypothesis is that they maintain a gravity control system that is beyond our understanding as of yet. This is the first of many factors we found there that proved to be intriguing.
The Stormhawk moved in very close to the central ruins after this point. The structure contained several minerals and elements we know of, such as iron and beryllium. What caught our attention were a number of a unknown materials that our sensors could not penetrate nor identify either. Although the radiation of the local zone was moderate, we don't believe that was a factor here, as our Phoenix array is tuned to work in various radioactive zones. It might be that they use some type of sensor-dampening material or otherwise our sensor array is simply unable to dig deeper inside.
What was identified were a number of sections, likely each part of the structure which has it's own role and a number of other parts which looked similar to what could be station decks. The sheer size of the main site was several kilometres wide, almost like a large asteroid so what it's purpose here can only be speculated upon. We believe it could have been inhabited at some time in the past but was abandoned. Similar to the smaller outlying structures and weapon platforms, the main one appears to have it's own way of maintaining stability while in the atmosphere of the planet, no doubt another feat of engineering. Minor radioactive emissions were also found emanating from the central structure, but we again could not get a firm reading on where exactly they were coming from.
We moved in to the area that Deterrence ships claim is where they mainly pick out their relics for shipping. Several smaller chucks of the structure were floating in the area including many very small pieces less than a meter in size.
We took this opportunity to gather what we were able to pickup into the cargo hold. The majority of it was simply rocks and useless items but a handful of items were identified as being what very well could be internal components to the structure. These will be taken for further study at Corinth and hopefully we will discover more secrets from them.
After spending nearly a day on our trip there, we pulled back near one of the outer structures again to get one last look at them and make a wider scan of the area. Unfortunately, there was not much else to find.
What I am hopeful for is the fact that with all the data we were able to capture today, will prove very useful in advancing our new project that started not long ago. With this new venture, we hope to ascertain how to create a synthesis of technology between Nomad and Human so that we may be able to gain a unique advantage out there. I have high hopes, we have some of the brightest people in our Unit and they have always come through in the end.
Some of Delta 4 has voiced concerns as to the purpose of the Corsairs and their insistence on both gathering and disseminating the relics they are finding here. I do share the same thoughts, considering that due to the relics' alien nature, they could prove to be harmful to humans in some fashion. This has been confirmed of various Nomad tech in the past. As soon as we have more intelligible data on this area, I plan to have a long consultation with our command staff about if something should be done with the Knossos ruins. The spreading of alien items on a wide scale could have far reading effects and may cause harm in whatever place they are taken to.
Just got a very interesting comm sent over from Kaplain. It seems that our efforts have impressed the Order enough for them to give us further access to their territory. That unmarked Jumphole we stumbled on in Omicron Mu several months ago leads to this Omicron Epsilon system. This Epsilon system might hold assets that the Order does not want many seeing I assume.
I am glad we have gained enough trust for them to have more free reign in the Omicrons, since that being the primary zone of operation for the Nomads, as far as we know. Captain Marcus Ward wants to lead us on a tour of the area so that we can get acquainted with it. Kaplain specifically has voiced his eagerness on attempting to gather as much intel on that area as possible. Although I don't intend on trying to spy on the Order, there might be secrets in that place worth hunting down. Regardless, Ward has requested our presence up there in short order, so the Stormhawk will depart for Omicron Mu immediately.
January 2, 829 AS
Quite the eventful and beneficial day for us. Just two days earlier we received a message from the Order that they were upgrading our security access to their space, as thanks for our continued efforts to help against the Nomads. Being permitted further access to Omicron territory will help us a lot in the long term.
Our journey began in Mu, where we rendezvoused with Captain Ward at Taba station. From this point, we were escorted to the Jumphole into Epsilon. Ward informed us that their security protocols are kept very high for that system, thus why we were stopped so long ago. This reminded me of some stories I heard back when I was in the Navy, there were rumours of a area in New York that was off limits to general traffic, a high security zone of some sort but I never saw it myself.
Upon arrival into Epsilon, he took us on a circular touring path around the mid rim of the general area. One of the first landmarks we saw was a Jumphole to a system they call Omicron Psi. This system does not show on any navmap we have, though based on it's position, it likely proceeds further into the Omicron sector. Ward did note that the system would be familiar to us, and said that it a entry point into Nomad Space.
After consulting with my astrogation team, they believe it could be that highly radioactive system we explored with Ward earlier last year. This would rouse a lot of interest with Delta 4 and I bet that once Kaplain hears of this, he isn't going to sleep for a few days. Getting open access back to such a place could be critically important for both assaulting Nomads and hopefully gathering more intel about them. I will put forth a plan in the near future to return there now that we know it is reachable beyond a Jump Drive.
Next, we moved on to a area that the Order noted unusually high Nomad activity. They theorize that the Nomads have a significant interest for a unknown reason, and is one of the main reasons that it is locked down to outside travel. The Stormhawk was directed near the edge of a denser asteroid field and a number of small Nomad ships did arrive to attack us. Fortunately they were easily defeated and did not pose any threat there.
Ward asked us to use caution in Epsilon because of this and to not put ourselves at unnecessary risk. Although we want to respect the Order's wishes, we must also continue to do what we must to further our goals. I will instruct Dahxie to examine the area for any alternate routes around the asteroids in the system there so that we may return later for further analysis.
Epsilon also is a well-connected location, with another Jumphole leading to Tohoku. This is a area controlled by Kusari that the Order does not venture into unless required for their operations. There isn't much data on Tohoku, other than it used to be a ancient government stronghold of Kusari, before the major government moved to New Tokyo. Ward added that there is a suspicious presence also in Tohoku, unmarked ships that attack them a part from the Kusari patrols. This is concerning to say the least and they appear to be very worried about it. I don't imagine us venturing freely into Kusari space as a good idea, but considering the system is connected to a location that has a active Nomad presence, it could be worth our time, albeit covertly.
The last place on the menu for us was their primary operations center for Epsilon, Fort Carthage. It is good to finally see this location in person, since we were invited to it in the past but we were not given exact coordinates back then. It is a bit strange to say the least, but it is not a issue worth
worrying about I suppose.
Regardless of all this, Ward informed us that we do have provisional access to Carthage for basic repairs but to avoid mooring up there if it is not required. Due to the nature of their security, they would likely demand scans and invasive inspections of the Stormhawk, which of course cannot be allowed.
Overall, it was a very intriguing trip for us overall. As Delta 4 continues to expand it's horizons, the more locations we can access to hunt down the Nomad threat, the better. We still assume that the Nomads or Wild at the very least may have hidden strongholds some where near the Inner Colonies, but finding them would no doubt prove to be very difficult. I am looking back at reports we received some time ago from a crack scout pilot that Kaplain hired on, I will need to keep them in mind if we ever get reports of suspicious activity near more colonized zones that would be tricky for us to access easily.
Due to the fact we are now advancing this project of Azurite use, we likely will need as many resources and data as possible to help us along. One thing is for sure though, going forward we must not lose focus, so that Nomads and their thralls do not gain advantages anywhere. What we saw earlier shows how extensive their influence is, and it will take every effort possible to stop them where they stand.
Today was a big day. What took several days of pre-planning finally came to fruition. Since we were made aware of the route into Omicron Psi from Epsilon, plans were made shortly after to journey in there for our analysis.
Our entry of the system was met with little resistance, with only a handful of nomad scout ships in the area. Once they were defeated, we made our way around several sectors of the system to explore and investigate anything of interest.
Since staying in such a hostile zone for a long period is dangerous, the Stormhawk quickly made it's move across areas that were towards the opposite side of the system. We observed what are the same planets we encountered before, though nothing of any importance was sighted on them.
After this, we proceeded further north, and activated the cloaking device at this point as the Nomad attacks seemed to be increasing over time and we were not planning to sit and shoot every Nomad we ran into. That combined with the very high radiation in the system caused us to keep our time there short. In the northern area of the system, we sighted a asteroid field that we had not seen before. Although I wanted to take a closer look at it, it was not in our best interest to begin combing through a asteroid field. That location will be marked for later.
We sighted a small nebula as well that had strange properties, but with our scanners unable to penetrate it whatsoever and with the cloak having limited time left, we moved past it. One of the main reasons of coming to Psi was to hopefully have a closer look at Nomad ships themselves, since we believe that based on the information we have so far, this likely is a system they have full or near full control over. If this is true, then the ships here will be both more numerous and likely not moving very fast to avoid or assault human ships. We used this assumption to get into closer range of several of their ships and formations. Pointing our Phoenix array on them, we were able to get many intensive scans of the vessels. Although a large part of the data that came in has been translated into various unintelligible reports, it will no doubt come in handy significantly in the near future as we continue to develop our Azurite hybrid system.
Shortly after we took some scans, we moved to prepare to leave, but during this time, some Nomad ships near our position activated a unknown type of energy blast which caused our cloaking system to shut down. We attempted to re-engage the cloak but it would not reboot correctly. At this point we then had to make a more hasty retreat as we detected many waves of Nomad ships heading in our direction and we would no doubt be destroyed had we stayed any longer. This is very concerning for us, as now that we know that we have a possible vulnerability with the cloak, it must be further investigated and if possible rectified. I will direct our engineering team to look into what exactly happened and what their plan is going forward.
January 18, 829 AS
We spent many hours in Nu the other day, once again with the Alien structure that is present there. We know that it must have something to do with the Nomad's high activity in that system, as they have many ships protecting it.
Once again relying on our Cloaking Drive, we moved into close range and tried to ascertain any newer details that we missed on our past trips here. Current theories point to the fact that it is of similar construction to the ruins at Knossos. The science team thinks that the Knossos ruins were of very close to being identical, based on the configuration data we procured while at Knossos. Radiological readings made there have shed more light on the power signatures we encountered at Knossos. At the moment, we know that the Nomads use these powercells for various types of power generation. Our sensors can read very similar and far stronger readings from the structure at Nu.
This leads us to believe that it is likely controlled or at least constructed by the Nomads themselves. As to it's purpose, we are not yet positive on that, but several theories are starting to pop up now that we have stronger solid data at our disposal.
Also, the cloaking device seemed to run into a issue during our scans and Waxford believes it was going to fail likely very soon. We had to pull back to a safe distance before something drastic occurred. We had already spent quite a while on station near the Nomad structure, so it did not cost us much. I am very worried that more problems may happen with the Cloak, so I will direct Waxford and his team to investigate how to fix this problem. Things that the science team is working on with creating hybrid systems may also be able to find a solution to this, based on what I am hearing in respect to power improvements.
The running guesses right now are either a production facility or a living compartment. Both would be of great concern for us and although we would not make any offensive action against it at the moment, gathering this data should advance our long term goals of both creating hybrid technology and delving deeper into any weaknesses. Much of the data we procured will be forwarded to Corinth, hopefully they may find things our people miss on the Stormhawk.
All in all, it was a very successful operation, we will need to keep a closer eye on Nu for the near future, perhaps find someone to feed us some intel on local Nomad actions from the Outworlders at Rarotonga nearby.
January 26, 829 AS
We put down for some diagnostics on our life support system at Freeport 9. Since a full workup has not been done in a long time, it was overdue. During this time, I will be in consultation with Kaplain and his team on latest developments. A lot of intel and data overall has been taken in within the last two months so we will be discussing short term goals.
Delta 4 intends to delve further into this Azurite tech in which we are now exploring the development of. It seems we may need to procure more Azurite for our current tests and hopefully manage to build a hybrid control system along with a prototype Azurite Fuel cell. We hope after this is done, that we will have a effective way to augment our systems further. I know that the Cloaking Device is something that could use enhancements based on recent problems. In addition, once we have some of this squared away, Delta 4 will continue to make a more aggressive response to any Nomad incursions. On account of us holding back and making more scientific discoveries, we cannot hold back from our offensive operations as well.
I was starting to wonder when we would get another good shot at blowing up some Nomads. Looks like we finally got our chance yesterday.
While transitioning through Omicron Xi, we received a wide band communication that a corsair assault group was requesting assistance to defend their assets at Knossos. The word was that a fleet of Nomads were attempting to take control of their primary operations zone out there. Naturally, we obliged to assist.
Immediately we proceeded towards Knossos and prepared to make atmospheric entry. After short checks were made to ensure safe entry, we then flew into the upper atmosphere. After approximately 15 minutes, we arrived inside Knossos. At this point we followed a corsair ship en-route to the combat zone. It seems that the Nomads were hovering around their derelict structure.
The Stormhawk engaged the Nomad fleet immediately alongside the other corsair ships. The Nomads seemed to be surrounding the whole structure, as to their purpose there, we are still not sure. Theories revolve mainly around them trying to capture it or making some sort of recon push.
We first moved into a defensive line and the Corsairs deployed several smaller ships to try to distract the large dreadnoughts. The Nomads began to come about and moved to intercept our ships. The assault began and orders were given to hold close to the line as to not get broken a part and picked off by the Nomad forces. At first, only a few of their ships broke away from the structure to attack us. This proved a mistake on the Nomad's part as the longer range assault ships managed to weaken them enough so by the time they moved within closer range, us and the other front-line ships were able to destroy them without a lot of trouble.
During the duration of the fight, more and more of the Nomad warships descended towards our line. Several corsair ships took some damage and a few even were destroyed. Fortunately we kept at a distance to prevent taking heavy damage while their vessels did the majority of the damage. After a little less than a hour, the battle was nearly over as the Nomad ships were taken a part quicker as their fleet began to succumb to the superior tactics of our ships. Eventually only a few of them were left and were quickly dispatched. We ensured that none were able to escape.
The Nomad fleet was destroyed not long after, and the area was scanned for any remaining ships. After confirming no Nomads were left, we followed some corsairs to a base they are holding in Knossos. They are using it apparently as a place to hold their artifacts and other items for transport, also as a rallying point for their operations within the planetary atmosphere.
We spent some time to make sure that we did not sustain any damage that would prevent us from exiting to space. Once those checks were done, we then departed from their base there and back to Freeport 9 for minor repairs. All in all, it was a good day and a concerted effort was made to stop the Nomads advance in their tracks. We look forward to the next time we can make such a assault.
February 13, 829 AS
I was sent some intel reports today from Kaplain about potentially troubling developments in the Tau sector. Our contacts out at Holman have reported that a number of unidentified ships were recently spotted out in the Orkney system. I don't believe we have been over there before, since that appears to be Gallic space which I know is usually quite locked down from outside influences. Eyewitness reports that have come in corroborated the fact that several ships made unprovoked attacks against civilian and naval ships in Orkney. Rumours were circulating of seemingly “alien” ships coming out of no-where. After inquiring about further details, Kaplain was not able to find out much more, only that there have been a number of reports by the local Navy in asking most civilians to vacate the area due to “unknown hostiles”.
This all leads us to believe that there very well may be Nomad ships or similar vessels operating out there. If this is the case, we must know for sure what is happening. Any further territory that the Nomads could be expanding into must be put a stop to, and as soon as possible. Unfortunately, due to the battle we had not long ago at Knossos, our engine system sustained some partial damage and we cannot make a long distance trip at this time. To get the ball rolling, we will deploy a special scout ship to Orkney and see if they can uncover what is happening out there. Based on what I am told, they should be able to find out something useful, I hope. The repairs to the Stormhawk will take some time, so we are going to hold at Freeport 9 until repairs are complete.
The repairs currently underway are now set to be completed within two days. This short break was helpful, as it allowed my command staff to consult in greater detail with our people on Freeport 9. We have further updates on developments within the Lower Edge worlds and some of this data may be important in the near future. Most of it is not worth mentioning now, but perhaps in a future log.
I have also requested further updates from Kaplain about the situation in the Taus. Since we dispatched a scout ship to investigate, have yet to hear back. Hopefully they are still alive and have found out something. Only time will tell, but I got a strange feeling that something is brewing out there.
February 22, 829 AS
It seems our patience finally paid off. Kaplain received a high priority comm from Holman about what was found over in Orkney. I will say, I was expecting something to be there, but not to the degree we were shown.
Our scout ship not only managed to locate a Nomad presence, but a significant one. It so happens that during one of their recon runs they managed to fly into a engagement between the Gallia Navy forces and a sizable group of Nomad assault ships. They barely managed to survive, but grabbed as much data as possible from their run.
The scout forwarded a report of their own on the situation also. Appears they had quite the experience.
Personal log: Sarah Mohcam, Scout runner for Delta 4.
I don't even know where to start. Is this even worth what I am being paid for? First I get told to fly back to where I was brought from. Next, they wanted me to fly into a place that from reports I snagged before going were filled with “randomly destroyed” and “ambushed out of no where”.
I guess this is just part of the deal, but I was hoping for something that wasn't on par with the Gallic war in terms of intensity.
So, anyway, I fly out to Orkney for the 2nd time and start sniffing around some of the trade lanes. After what was just a hour of running around, a number of different ships come in from open space, running for the trade lane at max speed. They start shouting stuff over the comms that were along the lines of “Turn around and fly away, we just lost half of our convoy to these weird glowing ships.” I guess sometimes you are just in the right place. I asked quick where they last saw them and gave me a rough guess, but were too busy with their systems to be specific about anything else.
I moved near a planet in the system and several Gallic ships were formed up, it looked like they were getting ready for something. I tried to hail them but got no response, until one of their escort ships told me to stop trying to contact them and to leave the area. I never liked Gallics and don't take orders from them. I backed off a little and the bulk of their fleet started to move near a asteroid field in the system. They didn't seem interested in me so I wasn't worried. But it didn't take long to find out what they were after. Several Nomad ships emerged from the asteroids and promptly moved into attack position to engage the Gallic fleet. This got really interesting here. Several battleships took the lead and unloaded what I assume was “everything they had” on them. Huge explosions on both sides ensued, a large battle began and it looked like they were settling in for a close slog. Some of their ships took a lot of damage and had to pull back, but same with the Nomads, their leading ships being turned away and some being destroyed. During the fighting I got close and tried to snag some shots of their ships and scan what I could. The battle did not last very long as additional Gallic reinforcements and even another battleship class I had never seen before entered the fray. They identified as the Order and were moving with the Gallic ships, they must really have some exotic tech out there I'll say. Some of the remaining Nomads fell back and I could not tell where they went.
This whole thing got way hotter than I was hoping. All I know is, this had better be worth me nearly getting killed.
The information we have now points to a what can be classed as a major Nomad presence in that sector. Not only did they find the primarily-known classes of Nomad ships, but also these variants that appeared to be far stronger than “normal” Nomads. This may have something to do with what the Order warned us of, based on some database checks that we have made. This warrants our immediate and full attention. By tomorrow I will direct us to make prep to deploy via Jump drive to a location near Orkney. At that point the Stormhawk will enter the area and hunt down whatever threats we can find. This is the progress we have been waiting for.
Yesterday we arrived at Orkney. A wide-spanning recon run will be made to several locations around the system. The current plan and hope is to locate any Nomad presence. Based on data collected already, I am confident we will find....something.
We have been sent information that Order agents are already in-system and may know more about the current situation. If possible, we will try to contact them to create a joint action. Our itinerary for the next three days has been planned out and as such we will visit any major area of traffic and known smuggling routes, based on the intel we have so far.
According to Mohcam's data, chances are we won’t need to search for long to find what we are looking for. Going to have to keep the Stormhawk's weapon system hot in case something happens.
March 5, 829 AS
It has been about a week since we arrived in Orkney. I feel we should have arrived earlier.
The situation is bad from what we have seen at first. There has been quite a lot of destruction in the populated zones. Trade lanes have been hit as well as some of the local Gallic installations. News reports in the area tell of strange vessels appearing from seemingly no-where and attacking anything they can reach. Although the Gallic forces were able to hold the area, it wasn’t without losses.
Shortly after our arrival in Orkney, we made contact with an Order command ship in the system. Their commander informed us of the developing events in Orkney and advised us caution.
Their pilots were doing what they could to recon the area and assist Gallia ships where possible. We let them know we would help in any way we could. The last several days have had some success against the Nomad invaders. Thus far we managed to stop a Nomad assault cruiser that was trying to intercept a relief convoy and pushed away a few fighter attack wings.
We were able to make inquiries to the current situation and Sarah called up her IMG contacts. It took some convincing of the Gallic defense forces but after 2 days of waiting they forwarded a limited amount of their intel on Nomad movements in the area.
Even though we have shown the Gallics that we are trying to help them, they insist that the situation is properly under their control and don’t seem to want us there on the long term. Regardless of their stance, we will continue to patrol the area for the next week at least in hopes of downing more Nomad ships.