SENDER:Vincent Proch, Schiffskapitän RECIPIENT:Schifffahrtsbürokapitäne LOCATION:The Ring, New Berlin System SUBJECT:Sigma-Bretonia convoy ENCRYPTION:Medium
Guten tag, meine Damen und Herren.
I am glad to have been a part of a successful convoy operation in the past week.
We began in Sigma-21, where the Berlin and Ironmore were to be filled up by the Kapitan of one of our independent contractors, in Trash.Compactor. However, before the conclusion of this operation, a GMG gunship arrived to warn everyone present to clear the field. The Basti, still on its way from Wichter, was also ordered to turn back. The GMG Kapitan suggested that we use the nearby stockpile inside Mekong depot, but Trash.Compactor ascertained that they only had 1000 units at present, which he promptly purchased.
While the situation did not escalate to any threats or acts of aggression, I believe that this was our only warning. If we aim to pursue this route in the future, we must make prior arrangements with the Guild or Kishiro, as it seems that they are not eager to sell off their supplies to allcomers. I would strongly advise against making use of the field "on the sly", as safe transport through the Sigma-13 systems remains an important cornerstone of the Zurich-Honshu route.
A communication transcript of the encounter is attached.
[05.02.2023 20:34:20] SEO|T-Ironmore: we've got GMG on scanners
[05.02.2023 20:34:40] SEO|T-Ironmore: It's a gunship, greeaat
[05.02.2023 20:34:44] Trash.Compactor: HIDE
[05.02.2023 20:34:45] SEO|T-Basti: No, no...
[05.02.2023 20:34:58] GMG|Kani.Maru: Good day, but the Guild has to tell you something [05.02.2023 20:34:59] SEO|T-Basti: I don't think they're hostile.
[05.02.2023 20:35:00] Trash.Compactor: Ironmore hide!
[05.02.2023 20:35:00] SEO|T-Ironmore: Guten tag
[05.02.2023 20:35:09] Trash.Compactor: Yes? [05.02.2023 20:35:15] SEO|T-Basti: just talk to him
[05.02.2023 20:35:15] Trash.Compactor: I've filled you up
[05.02.2023 20:35:16] Trash.Compactor: go
[05.02.2023 20:35:18] Trash.Compactor: while there's still time...
[05.02.2023 20:35:19] SEO|T-Basti: Ironmore, go
[05.02.2023 20:35:26] Trash.Compactor: What is the problem?
[05.02.2023 20:35:30] SEO|T-Ironmore: We're conducting a mining operation for our refineries [05.02.2023 20:35:33] Trash.Compactor: They are gonna kill you!
[05.02.2023 20:35:35] GMG|Kani.Maru: If you have been paying attention to the laws of the Sigmas, this mining field can only be used by GMG and Kishiro
[05.02.2023 20:35:43] SEO|T-Ironmore: There's a shortage of reinforced metal containers
[05.02.2023 20:35:55] GMG|Kani.Maru: It is regrettable, but the law must be respected
[05.02.2023 20:36:01] Trash.Compactor: We are terribly sorry. We will leave now then
[05.02.2023 20:36:21] SEO|T-Ironmore: Is there a chance for a warning? We are not looking to cause issues with the Guild [05.02.2023 20:36:22] Trash.Compactor: MOVE
[05.02.2023 20:36:26] GMG|Kani.Maru: In the meantime you can buy Uranium ore at Mekong station [05.02.2023 20:36:37] SEO|T-Ironmore: Take it easy
[05.02.2023 20:36:41] SEO|T-Ironmore: I can't run anyway
[05.02.2023 20:36:50] SEO|T-Ironmore: That's just what we'll do then
[05.02.2023 20:37:00] SEO|T-Ironmore: Could you escort us there? [05.02.2023 20:37:02] SEO|T-Basti: Almost there
[05.02.2023 20:37:06] GMG|Kani.Maru: For now, please vacate the area. If you want a request, please send it to us
[05.02.2023 20:37:17] SEO|T-Ironmore: Understood, moving out
[05.02.2023 20:38:25] SEO|T-Basti: Guten Tag Kani.Maru GMG vessel
[05.02.2023 20:38:29] SEO|T-Ironmore: Basti, be advised, Mekong station is looking like your next stop
[05.02.2023 20:38:40] GMG|Kani.Maru: Good day, Basti. The laws state that only Kishiro and GMG have mining rights within the system
[05.02.2023 20:38:42] SEO|T-Ironmore: I would recommend availing yourself of its facilities
[05.02.2023 20:39:07] SEO|T-Basti: Oh.. apologies for that... this is kind of awkward [05.02.2023 20:39:40] SEO|T-Ironmore: I will be waiting at the pre-arranged rendezvous. I hope we can get there in one piece...
[05.02.2023 20:40:01] SEO|T-Ironmore: hopefully they have a nice stockpile
[05.02.2023 20:40:23] Trash.Compactor: 3K PER UNIT?!??!?!
[05.02.2023 20:41:43] SEO|T-Ironmore: Okay, I am near Wichter
After returning to Wichter, we proceeded along the route, stopping by the Breuninger depot to fill up from its seemingly endless Aluminum stockpile. Before proceeding to the Omegas, Basti ordered us to wait for our escort, the gunship Hitman-76. We assumed formation, and departed in good order.
Despite reports of danger in the Omegas, our passage was uneventful. We unloaded our ore at Belvedere and planet New London, and Basti's Kapitan went to contact an independent BMM contractor (Bavaria.George) to conduct the gold mining operation for the return leg. Meanwhile, the Kapitan of the Trash.Compactor pulled out of the convoy due to a scheduling conflict. Kapitan Locke of the Hitman-76 gunship scouted the Dublin mining field, finding it to be empty. As we proceeded with the operation, we were visited by a Bretonian gunship and an advanced snubcraft - a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.
The officers of the Armed Forces gossiped with us about the safety of the Dublin system. Kapitan Henry believes that the Molly threat is growing ever more prevalent, which has forced most of the miners to only work for contracts. This confirms the reports of Manz about the perpetual emptiness of the depots created for the purpose of maintaining gold ore stockpiles. Whether by luck or due to the increased security presence, we were left unmolested.
After ending the operation, we proceeded back to The Ring, with the BAF providing escort as far out as the Elbe Border Fortress. Once again, our journey proved to be uneventful. We parted ways in planet New Berlin orbit, with confirmations about future convoy involvement.
SENDER:"Kurt Weiss, Crewmember" LOCATION:Alster Shipyard, Hamburg System SUBJECT:My recruitment + Ship being readied ENCRYPTION:Low
Guten Tag new friends and colleagues,
I would like to first offer my sincerest thanks for the warm welcome I have received with SEO. I hope that this is the beginning of a long and fruitful working relationship between us all.
As of 1600 standard time, my employment with Kruger has come to an official end, meaning that I can now focus fully on the future.
To that end, I am very glad to announce that I have been able to secure the necessary funds (special mention to Kapitan Muller of the Roter Gepard and Kapitan Morley of the StarHauler ) and permits for a Titanic-class tanker vessel, the Sternschlepper. She has just completed her fitting out at Alster, and I look forward to seeing what she can do on her maiden voyage as soon as can be allowed. Once her shakedown is complete, she and I will be ready to join the transport fleet for cargo operations.
SENDER:Vincent Proch, Schiffskapitän RECIPIENT:Schifffahrtsbürokapitäne LOCATION:Planet New Berlin, New Berlin System SUBJECT:Koepchen Depot supply reorganization ENCRYPTION:Medium
Guten tag, meine Damen und Herren.
I am happy to say that the reorganization of Koepchen Depot has been concluded. Herr Linhardt has requested that I replenish the fuel stores with MOX, and clear out the scrap metal stockpiles left by the previous owner. The arms dealer at Kreuzberg pointed me in the right direction about the scrap metal. I have to admit that to my surprise, the junker crews there were surprisingly professional and efficient.
For the MOX, I decided to send out a comm to our buyer at Belvedere. Sure enough, they have plenty of fuel available due to the convenient stockpile location, only a few klicks from the refineries. I decided to take a shipment there from Breuninger and get a discount on a batch of MOX to take back. Unfortunately, I was intercepted after jumping to Stuttgart by a Red Hessian pirate transport (callsign: GT-Dorsten). The captain seemed reasonable, and allowed me to continue on my way after tractoring in a third of the uranium and some of my supplies. A communications transcript is attached below.
[18.02.2023 01:21:43] SEO|T-Ironmore: Ah great. A visitor
[18.02.2023 01:21:49] SEO|T-Ironmore: What is it you want mein Herr?
[18.02.2023 01:21:52] GT-Dorsten: Achtung, ALG ship
[18.02.2023 01:22:02] GT-Dorsten: We are seizing your cargo in the name of the Hessian cause
[18.02.2023 01:22:20] SEO|T-Ironmore: Very well. Are you sure you have the means to store it effectively?
[18.02.2023 01:22:34] GT-Dorsten: You are to drop anything that we can use. Arms, medicines
[18.02.2023 01:23:11] SEO|T-Ironmore: There you are. Those were from the deep stores
[18.02.2023 01:23:19] SEO|T-Ironmore: Always good to have spares, ja?
[18.02.2023 01:23:27] GT-Dorsten: Naturlich
[18.02.2023 01:23:48] SEO|T-Ironmore: I think you missed the medicine...
[18.02.2023 01:24:16] SEO|T-Ironmore: So, is my crew free to be on our way then?
[18.02.2023 01:24:24] GT-Dorsten: You are right. We can't make much use of unrefined Uranium, but we know someone who can
[18.02.2023 01:24:40] GT-Dorsten: Yes. Glad that you understand how we work, kapitan
[18.02.2023 01:24:51] GT-Dorsten: You are free to take back anything we can't store
[18.02.2023 01:24:53] SEO|T-Ironmore: The cost of doing business *he sighes*
[18.02.2023 01:25:16] GT-Dorsten: Now we're out of hier, before the Military arrives
[18.02.2023 01:25:18] SEO|T-Ironmore: Can't say I wish you safe travels, but take care of your crew!
After refilling at Stuttgart, I saw some promising comm advertisements about some kind of sale at Freiburg. Sure enough, an infrastructure supplier is selling off a lot of their stock to their partners in Bretonia, Birmingham Station in Manchester. This route can be something to keep in mind for the future, though I am not sure how big the stockpile is. In any case, the rest of the run was uneventful, and I returned to Koepchen with the MOX still mostly intact.
With Koepchen up an operational, I am sure there will be multiple resupply contracts in the future. Herr Linhardt has provided access to the warehouse database, so any of the other captains can feel free to stop by during either the Bretonia or the Zurich-Honshu route and see if anything needs refilling. I have also heard from the crews there that they're gearing up to start pre-processing a good amount of toxic waste, so I would expect a large-scale contract for those shipments in the upcoming weeks.
SENDER:Vanessa Kauffmann, Forschungsdirektor RECIPIENT:Schifffahrtsbürokapitäne LOCATION:Oder Shipyard, New Berlin SUBJECT:Mobile Laboratory Grannus ENCRYPTION:Medium
To my esteemed colleagues,
To those who I have not had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Vannessa Kauffman. I have recently accepted the position of Forschungsdirektor for SEO and look forward to working closely with everyone to develop new and exciting technologies for us to open up a lead in competitive environment of the disposal market.
To that end, it is my pleasure to unveil the newly refitted Grannus, a Corvo-class mobile laboratory.
With her commissioning, SEO gains a platform of unparalleled R&D potential as a powerful vehicle for in-the-field survey and experimentation, and her sturdy build will ensure that her and her crew will be comfortable in the hazardous environments that we often all must find ourselves in, in this profession.
I would like to express my thanks to the company for approving the funding for this purchase, and I hope that this is the start of a venture that will see SEO's research capabilities, both mobile and static, become the gold standard for the industry.
FROM:Basti Legion, Vorsitzender of SEO LOCATION:Wuppertal Refinery, Köln SUBJECT:Report ENCRYPTION:Medium
Guten Tag Kollegen,
This report is from a week ago. Due to many other important duties like purchasing 2 new bases, I didn't have time to finish this one. Here it is now.
As we had a big order of Uranium requested by NSE, I organised a convoy of transports to deliver a big part of said order. We met at Wichter Station and headed to Sigma 21. A Kishiro miner we contracted already stood ready to mine for our transports, as we have a denied request to have mining rights from the Gas Miners Guild. Not long after a GMG gunboat came checking in on us but saw we did all by the book by having a Kishiro miner.
Passing New Berlin we met up with a Aegis Bounty Hunter under the callsign of Aegis|Jackpot. We hired him to escort us to Cambridge. The road itself was safe and we had no problems reaching our destination. For the return trip we filled our cargo with gin. The return trip was was calm, but time flew by as my Kollegen und ich had interesting conversations with the Bounty Hunter. We said our goodbyes to the Bounty Hunter at New Berlin and after docking on the planet we had a nice Rheinbier at a local bar.
SENDER:Oliver Manz, Sicherheitschef RECIPIENT:Board of Directors LOCATION:Koepchen Depot, New Berlin System SUBJECT:Storage depot location in Cologne and Gallic waste disposal route ENCRYPTION:High
Guten tag, meine Damen und Herren.
Direktor Linhardt has assigned me the assignment of examining the potential route our transports would take if we were to ship pre-processed toxic waste from Cologne to Burgundy. The potential location of a depot in Cologne and the route is outlined below.
With Wuppertal still not consolidated under a single administrator, I would recommend setting up further away from the station until further notice. With the debris field located in far Steinfurt orbit, I propose to match Wuppertal's orbit, but move closer to the atmosphere. While I heard rumors at Wuppertal that another depot has actually fallen into the planet a few months ago, I presume this was simply thinly-veiled disapproval of our venture. With adequate monitoring of orbital dynamics and enough fuel in the stockpiles, we will be able to make minute adjustments to our orbit if necessary.
Drone footage is attached below:
It terms of the route itself, we can simply adopt one leg as outlined by Captain Proch in his report. In addition to purchasing Molybdenum ore, we can purchase from the Military Salvage stockpile at REDACTED in Picardy. I checked in with the administrator, and the old license negotiated by ALG directors seems to still be valid in Gallia.
SENDER:Vincent Proch, Schiffskapitän RECIPIENT:SEO transport and mining captains LOCATION:Koepchen Depot, New Berlin System SUBJECT:Nurenberg border station maintenance and triangle run ENCRYPTION:Low
Guten tag, meine Damen und Herren.
With an upcoming purchase and relocation of a new base, Herr Linhardt and Herr Legion recommended that our crews inspect the station and provide maintenance where necessary. To facilitate this measure, my vessel made a number of preliminary deliveries (supplies and repair materials). This amount should be enough for approximately a week, so an additional delivery should be made if the preparations are to take longer. The timestamped deliveries are attached below.
I then proceeded to Oder Shipyard to look for paid volunteers for the venture. To my surprise, I was immediately swarmed with applicants, which is likely to do with the tidy sum we're providing for what is a relatively short-term contract. I dropped them off along with the last shipment of supplies, and checked in with our foreman to ensure that everything was in order.
After completing these shipments, I went back to shipping pre-processed waste for the Koepchen-Wichter contract. After the latest count, 22,860 units have been shipped to Wichter, with an additional 4566 units shipped to New Augsburg to compare refining pipelines. Timestamped deliveries are attached below:
After the HazMat canister contract has been fulfilled, I incorporated the route outlined by Herr Manz into the triangle. Instead of shipping the HazMats to Koepchen, I delivered them to Abberville in Picardy, and took Military Salvage back to Planet New Berlin, before returning to Koepchen and picking up more Toxic Waste. I encourage more captains to familiarize themselves with this route, as Herr Linhardt has informed me that the next toxic waste contract with Wichter will include sums of up to 200,000 units. I am glad to hear that our pre-processing pipeline is paying dividends, but with this volume more transport and mining vessels will be needed to meet the new demand.
SENDER:Kurt Weiss, Assistant-Director LOCATION:Belvedere Refinery, New London SUBJECT:Convoy Report ENCRYPTION:Medium
Guten Tag,
I am very pleased to report the conclusion of a successful convoy that ran today between the uranium ore fields in Sigma-21 to Belvedere Refinery in New London. Though a relatively routine operation, detailing some of its highlights may serve as a good example for future ventures.
At roughly 1700 standard time I received a communication aboard the Sternschlepper from the kapitan of our transport ship SA-15 that they had come to a mining arrangement with an independent Kishiro vessel, known only as the Kishiro.Drone to fill up on uranium ore in the Sigma-21 system. As we were not working to any formal timetable, I accepted, and transited from the New Berlin system to the mining site, where we were also joined by the transport Frankfurt.
After a short delay due to the Kishiro.Drone having to leave the site and return, the holds of our three ships were filled in good time and the captains of the SEO vessels agreed to set a course for Belvedere, the Kishiro miner retiring at this point.
Knowing the relative value of the total cargo, we sent a request out to Security to authorize an escort, which was duly approved and we were shortly later contacted by the gunship Basti. The original route plan was for us to meet up with the Basti at Planet New Berlin, but eventually it was decided that they would act as a forward scout into the Omegas.
This turned out to be a wise decision. While transiting the Omega-7 system, we received word from the gunship that a Corsair ship, identified by its callsign as the DTR-CCS>Conquistador of an indeterminate fighter model, was encountered in Omega-3 and had charted an intercept course on our convoy.
Both a quick prosecuting action by the Basti and a reversal of course by the Sternschlepper and the Frankfurt ensured that the Corsair vessel was not able to cause any harm, and they disengaged after entering Omega-7. The SA-15 was cut off from the other ships when she jumped into Omega-3, but was saved by good fortune as the Corsair transited in the opposite direction at the exact same time.
Following this brief encounter, the Basti retired to Freeport 1 where we also regrouped as a convoy. From there we continued to our destination without any further events of note. A combined total of 14,400 units of uranium ore were delivered to Belvedere.
SENDER:Kurt Weiss, Assistant Director LOCATION:Belvedere Refinery, New London SUBJECT:General Report ENCRYPTION:Medium
Guten Tag,
This is a two part report, the first simply being to confirm that myself and the crew of the Sternschlepper have completed our familiarisation with the Gallic trade route and are ready and willing to operate along it in the future. I have not had the...pleasure, of flying through Gallia before, and I will admit that it is quite a sight, even if we only ventured into its fringes.
The second, more substantial part of this report is to communicate that my vessel was able to conduct a minor resupply operation to Brighton Business Concourse. Though materially a modest undertaking, it was not without interest.
This afternoon I was made aware that my ship had been selected to undertake the resupplying of the concourse and made the transit from New Berlin to Dublin to meet the BMM ship contracted to fill our hold, the Bavaria.George. We made the rendezvous in-system and the first haul was deposited at Brighton in good timing.
Upon returning for the second load, the operation was disrupted by a pirate vessel, Mianadoir_oir. Unhappily my sensors officer was unable to take details, but to his credit he gave us enough warning for us to fire up our cruise engines before the pirate arrived. That being said, it appeared that the Mianadoir_oir was much more concerned about the 'crown puppet', and by that we assume the Bavaria.George. It was unfortunate to note that as we left sensor range, two scanner contacts had effectively merged, and we assumed that the pirate had caught the miner. With little choice, we proceeded to New London and delivered the second, partial load to Brighton.
After some time had passed, and with discussion of the bridge officers, we decided to go back to either resume the loading operations, or to look for survivors. arriving on site, we were glad to see that the Bavaria.George was in one piece and ready to continue filling our hold. It was noted that in the ensuing time though, that they were no longer flagged as a BMM vessel, instead flying with IMG identifiers. We declined to enquire much outside of the basics as the crew of the mining ship had no doubt had a very nerve-wracking time and were tight-lipped about the affair, but still insisted that they complete one last load. To that end, I was able to deliver another full cargo of gold ore to Brighton, after which we ceased operations for the afternoon. The total gold ore delivered came to 12750 standard units.
SEO|T-Sternschlepper - Titanic class - Unharmed, 12750 units of gold ore delivered to Brighton.
Bavaria.George - Hegemon class - Apparently unharmed, conducted mining, changed affiliation from BMM to IMG.
Mianadoir_oir - Unidentified pirate - Details mostly unknown. Disrupted mining operation. Was not present upon return.
In conclusion, though I am very glad that the miners were ultimately safe, it was a grim thing to leave them to their fate. Having personally worked on a mining ship, I know something of the fears that these brave souls must live with on a day to day basis, and I wish there had been some way to meaningfully aid them. However, the Sternschlepper is no combat vessel, and I believe that though a sad decision, the act of prioritising my ship and crew was the right one.
I would perhaps recommend, both to SEO and BMM to be vigilant in the Dublin system or any mining site for that matter. Employ either company security to cover your operations or hire a private individual willing to do the job, or at the very least have a vigilant pair of eyes on your sensors at all times.
SENDER:Kurt Weiss, Assistant Director LOCATION:Fort Bush, New York SUBJECT:Salt Lake Supply Report ENCRYPTION:Medium
Guten Tag,
I am submitting this update for the sake of record keeping. After we received the details of the contract between SEO and AWES for the supply of Salt Lake Station, I ordered the Sternschlepper out from New Berlin on the 15.03 to assist with the operation. Travelling via Hamburg, we took 5000 standard units of critical temperature alloy aboard the tanker and proceeded in good time to New York, whereupon we completed the deliveries. Unfortunately the system that logs the transfer of goods aboard the Sternschlepper chose this time to violently short out and we were forced to return to Wichter Station for repairs by an approved SEO team.
After this minor detour to repair the defective computer we were able to both recover the missing log entry and resume operations today (16.03). Returning to Liberty, we picked up two loads totalling 10,000 standard units of industrial hardware from Planet Houston and delivered them to Salt Lake Station, again without incident. The Sternschlepper is currently docked at Fort Bush while most of the crew have taken shuttles off of the station to Planet Manhattan for some shore leave.
Proof of delivery of the critical temperature alloy: