Hallo all! Just had a rather good run so, in the best and oldest of traditions, I'm sending this report via the pub terminal.
I departed the Dublin system with a hull full of Gold, no Molly activity today, but then again they've been awfully quiet of late.
I met our new escort pilot, Fyn Adler, in the Cambridge system. He had agreed to accompany me through the Omegas to Munich on his first mission for Bowex.
We passed through Omega 3 without problems. Fyn seems an interesting chap, shall have to get to know him better. When we reached Omega 7 however, lady luck decided play with us a little.
We encountered a Rhineland gunboat. Fyn reported it had been attacking Gateway vessels so upon entry I immediately made for a trade lane. The gunboat disrupted it... and the next one. My suspicions aroused I made to run for it, heading away from the lanes into space. The gunboat followed and disrupted my cruise, demanding it be allowed to scan my cargo. I wasn't sure if the Gordon could survive an attack from the gunboat, Fyn certainly would have been destroyed. I therefore halted the Gordon and allowed the gunboat to scan her.
The gunboat then requested we contribute 100 Nanobots towards "maintenance", an odd request, which I granted. It then allowed us to continue. When I queried its purpose and the reasons for which it had destroyed the Gateway vessel it responded that Gateway had broken Rheinland law.
Now, I may not be friends with Gateway but I know when somebody is telling pork pies. Gateway do not smuggle or run blockades, and also Rheinland law doesn't apply in Omega 7. There was definitely something odd about this ship.
It engaged its cloak soon after and vanished from our scopes... I'm not aware of normal Rheinland gunboats having that capability.
Anyway, we proceeded through Stuttgart and entered the New Berlin system. Well, I did.
Apparently something had caused a major malfunction in Fyn's transit, he vanished from the scope for a while (enough time for me to get to Frankfurt) and then reappeared on the edges of the New Berlin system, miles from any lane or jump gate. I reached Munich and he attempted to pass through a gate into Frankfurt, once again something occurred to disrupt his passing through the gate. He eventually arrived in Munich, somewhat shaken, and I took him for a few calming drinks while the engineers looked at his ship.
Apparently his engines were malfunctioning and emitting a strangely named particle (Muons or something), that was disrupting his jumps. The engineers had limited it as best they could but it was going to be a bumpy ride back to Bretonia.
The trip back to Leeds was uneventful for the Gordon but poor Fyn was bounced around mercilessly. The crew were snickering somewhat at his predicament but when I threatened to stick one of them in his hull they clammed up fast enough.
His relief when we passed through the last Gate and entered Leeds was palpable. Anyway, I paid him his due as an escort and recommended he get a new ship. He should be joining me here in the Huntsman's shortly. We'll celebrate his survival and another successful trip for the Gordon.
-----------------------------------------------------Incoming Transmission-----------------------------------------
To: Bowex InfoNet
Comm ID: Herr Fyn Adler
Source: Planet Leeds, Leeds System
Sirs, today after recieving confirmation of my employment I proceeded to Bretonia for orientation. As I entered Cambridge I was contacted by my friend Herr Frank, who requested I accompany him on a trade mission. In compliance with my obligations to submit an account of this event, I inclose an exert from my personal log;
Quote:Still flying my valkyre, I guarded my friend's ship through Cambridge and Omega-3, till we reached Omega-7. I scouted ahead to make sure the coast was clear.
A gunboat of the Rhineland Militar was at the gate, and sensors indicated it had fired upon Gateway trade ships. I asked the Rhineland captain what had happened and he did not discuss the event. Concerned the captain and crew of the vessel had gone rogue, my friend Herr Frank took his train and ran, but this upset the gunboat captain. He demanded we stop and Herr Frank wisely complied. It turned out it was but a routine scan, and the captain requested a few nanobots to help fix up some damage that had occurred on his ship.
Once in Stutgart I contacted the battleship in orbit and inquired about the gunboat's activities. They stated movements of Rhineland Military vessels were classified, confirming in my mind that the gunboat was operating under the authority of the Kanzler. I am now fairly sure that the Gateway ships had been shot down by Korsaren, and the Gunboat had dealt with the attackers in kind.
We proceeded to the jumpgate, and I entered the event horizon. The ship felt as if it was going to be torn apart, and my poor Valkyre was flung to the other side of New Berlin. Herr Frank went on ahead, while I attempted to get my bearings, repair the damage to my ship and get back to the tradelanes.
I entered the Frankfurt jumpgate to find the same thing happening again; something was destabilising the vortex. After once again emerging in empty space beyond civilisation, I made my way to Munich and met up with Herr Frank at Planet Nuremberg. The engineers confirmed the fusion reactors of my Valkyre's engines were creating exotic particles which were interfering with the jumpgate process. They recommended I scrap the ship, but I had to make sure my new Bowex supervisor got back to Bretonia safely with his cargo.
Every jump was an ordeal, but luckely I was not thrown off course again, and we eventually reached Leeds.
Herr Frank was kind enough to share half of the profits from the trade run with me; 8 million credits.
It's more than I could have dreamed of; a small fortune for one day's work. It's ten times the ammount I had earned in a month working from Hamburg.
I'm now certain I'm in the right profession. Bowex is the place for me.
-----------------------------------------------------Incoming Transmission-----------------------------------------
To: Bowex InfoNet
Comm ID: Herr Fyn Adler
Source: Planet Leeds, Leeds System
Sirs,
Today I went to work purchasing a new ship. The variety and quality of ships on offer to Bowex pilots is significant, and I found that I could buy just about anything with the small fortune kindly given to me by Herr Frank.
I decided to replace my old and battered Valkyre with a Crusader. It's a fine ship and will fill the role adiquately.
I also purchased a Cyclesdale freighter, which I have christened Bowex)VonDecken, after a German colonel from earth's history who established a German regiment to fight for the British Empire during the days of the Napolionic War.
I was very impressed with the Cyclesdale; it's cargo hold is immense, and it's weaponry could rival a gunboat. I took the liberty of testing both ships in combat on missions for the Bowex Mission Comission in Newcastle. They both performed beyond all expectations.
Back at Leeds, my new ships are fully equipped with ruthless and powerful Bretonian weaponry, state-of-the-art equipment and new Bowex Corporation transceivers. I am currently renting some accomodation on Leeds with a private landing pad.
I'd like to thank the Bowex corporation for the opportunities offered to me, and I look forward to flying with you all.
Konnen wir, profitieren und fur die Konigin und Land gedeihen.
comm id: Mart Bellock, captain of the Wheatstone
Loaction: Planet New Berlin
message begins:
Hi lads and lasses,
I haven`t reported in quite some time I admit. I`ve been busy really, and paperwork is always on the bottom of my to-do list as some of you will understand.
sum up of my activities: I`ve been running around between Bretonia, Liberty and Rheinland. I have been hauling gold, nuclear devices, H-fuel, engine components, passangers, refugees and god know what else.
ran into a pirate on just 1 occasion, gave him the slip. in Berlin, just yesterday, I encountered a harvester. that washing machine with an attidute demanded 50 engine components. well he got em, after we piled up all the shoddy ones. 35 were malfunctioning anyway so we dumped those on him. the remaining 15 we disabled ourselves. soon that metalic moron will find that engine components without a firring fuse are good for a whole lot of nothing.
oh yeah, where is the rest of the fleet? I hardly see buddies to tag along with. or is it just me and my weird working hours?
oh well, that`s about it for now. I`ll keep the cargo moving yeah?
-----------------------------------------------------Incoming Transmission-----------------------------------------
To: Bowex InfoNet
Comm ID: Herr Fyn Adler
Source: Freeport 1, Omega-3 system.
This is Herr Adler, I have just arrived at Freeport 1 after a ruthless attack by der Korsaren.
Last night I received a communication from an executive on Graves Station in Dublin who claimed the BMM had managed to get hold of some 30 carat deposits of the very highest purity Gold. He said he was happy to give Bowex first disposal.
Today I headed off to Dublin and met the guy on the landing pad, he filled my hold with the high-quality gold and wished me luck. I checked the chamber of commerce and decided to ship it to the Ring in the Berlin system.
I travelled to Cambridge and then, after refuelling at the Battleship Essex jumped to Omega-3. I initiated trade lane sequence and headed for Freeport-1 but the lane was quickly disrupted.
I was immediately set upon by 2 ruthless Korsaren vessels; a Bomber, and another vessel I could not identify.
They demanded I empty my entire cargo hold and hand over every last ingot of gold in my posession. I was prepared to fight, when I was set upon by as many as 12 Legionnaires in addition to the 2 ships that had given demands, who seemed to be in-charge. I asked them to call off their friends, but they continued to hammer on my shield which eventually fell. Faced with the prospect of losing my ship and life, I had to relinquish the Gold and with it, all the savings I had accumulated since admission into the company.
After they got what they wanted, they disappeared back into the gloom and I made straight for Freeport-1, my starboard engine venting coolant.
I had encountered Korsaren before, but never had I seen them demand an entire hold of cargo, or seen them fly vessels capable of liberating a leiden freighter's worth of contents. I'm convinced they must have had prior warning about my cargo.
I can only apologise to the company for losing such a valuable cargo. I accept total responsibility and will pay for the consequences; damage to my ship and the value of the lost cargo personally. I regret to inform the company that 500 tonnes of the purest and most valuable gold bullion BMM have ever had the joy to mine...are now in the possession of the despicable Korsaren pirates, which I am sure they will use to make yet more deadly ships to use against Bretonia and der faderland. Again, I apologise for my failure to defend the valuable cargo.
This was only the second voyage of my Clydesdale freighter, the VonDecken. Sadly, it is now crippled and will be in the repair shop of Freeport-1 for many days.
It seems der Korsaren have, after many years of mostly only holding traders to ransom, returned to their heritage as petty thieves. I know most pilots in the company would have been more compotent against such foes than I, but I still believe we must be extra careful in future. I will certainly be reconsidering weather travel through the Omegas unescorted is anything other than suicide.
comm id: Mart Bellock, captain of the Wheatstone
Loaction: Planet Houston
message begins:
Bellock here,
I`ve been making trips from Bretonia to liberty. I`ve been moving refugees, engine components all that sort of stuff.
Currently I`m doing some internal Liberty runs. got me a nice contract for 10 internal runs. when those are done, I`ll head to Rheinland via Bretonia to continue my routes there.
I haven`t encountered a single pirate. how`s that eh?
From: Captain John Riley, Bowex)Chamberlain Source: Planet Sydney, Omega-49 To: Bowex Information Network
Hello, chaps! We just arrived at Sydney with the latest load of refugees and colonists for the Port Jackson Refugee Camp. Since we've got some time before we need to leave, I decided to give the crew shore leave. Most of them have chosen to stay at the spaceport, and enjoy the local amenities. Myself and a couple crew members have chosen to accompany the refugees and colonists all the way to Port Jackson. My wife's family is from Leeds, and they arrived at Port Jackson on one of the first transports out here. Since I'm here anyway, I figured I'd check in on them.
The trip to the camp took some time, since it's located on one of Sydney's less populated southern continents. As we arrived at Port Jackson, I got my first look at the Port Jackson spaceport. It's pretty basic, being little more than a few anti-grav landing pads, and a couple support buildings. It's nowhere near capable of supporting a ship the size of the Chamberlain, which is why we were forced to land at Sidney's primary spaceport, rather than proceeding straight to Port Jackson.
As I stepped off the shuttle, I got my first look at the camp itself. Most of it is a vast array of tents and temporary shelters. Aside from that, I saw a few large resource distribution centers, and even a handful of more permanant looking houses in various stages of constructions. It seems that a few of our people are liking this planet, and are planning on putting down roots. It's certainly nicer than the camps on Pittsburgh and Nuremburg, at any rate. As I made my way into the camp, I pulled up the directory on my datapad, and searched for my in-laws location. The damned computer network down here is ridiculously slow, probably because of how far Port Jackson is from everything else on the planet. After a moment, the location came up on my datapad. To my surprise, it was one of the few finished houses. My wife didn't tell me her family was planning on staying here.
I'm about to arrive at the house. I'll send in a further report when we're ready to return to Bretonia.
==========END TRANSMISSION==========
++Incoming transmission++
++Source ID: Rechieved++
++Searching for ID Confirmation++
++ID found: Ashley Benning++
To: Bowex info network.
From: A. Benning.
Hello sirs.
Well the last days were eventful.
On my first trip out of Bretonia i was stopped by a molly bomber.
She demanded 250k but i didnt had that much, i invested almost all credits in a ship and a cargo.
Seems even mollys have some compassion, she told me she demanded instead 100k and some cargo.
I complied i couldn't do much against that firepower, and iam not crazy enough to die.
Stripped of all my money i headed on my way hoping nothing would go wrong from now on.
I hauled several loads of goods into Rheinland and ofcourse the ship never returned to Bretonia empty, i didn't had any trouble further with pirates.
It seems the demand in for military equipment is high especially those hoover tanks.
My ship is capable of loading 10 of those incredibale machines the weight each around 10 tons.
I can asure you that the infantery was very happy when we landed and delivered them.
Also i participated in a gold convoy this week.
My god those Shires and Shetlands were big, but i was glad i was in the same convoy.
When we arrived in New Berlin a Hessian tried to rob my ship by shooting the lane down in front of me when the big boys left.
He started bombarding my ship with cruisedisruptors and our counter system was overwhelmed in seconds.
I sended out a mayday, the other captains sayed i should take evasive actions they would come to help me, and i started evasive actions to reach the second gatelane.
Then a shire transport came out of the lane and shielded my ship from enemy fire so i could jump in.
Later they told me the enemy ship was destroyed by the massive arnament the shires carry.
Hell... i own those guys a drink.
Well time to carry on, a ship on the ground is a waste of money.
With regards:
Ashley Benning.
Afternoon all. Some interesting occurrences today, that's for sure. Things started off with the Mountbatten being pulled from survey duty in Edinburgh, to serve as a refugee courier in a new initiative Bowex and the Government have running. As I flew the M' towards the Edinburgh gate, something incredibly strange happened. A Kusari Destroyer jumped through, and screamed 'HALT' at me, exactly like that. Not exactly impressed by his manners, or his pretty dangerous looking guns, I jumped.
As I hit the lanes to Leeds, the Destroyer jumped back through. Unfortunately for me, halfway down the lane the ring was knocked out from under me, and I was greeted by the grinning mug of a MR pilot on the comms screen. After a short while 'bargaining' I was allowed to go, while my ears were further assaulted by the Destroyer captains poorly worded jabberings. The grammar was appalling too...
Anyway, I picked up my passengers on Leeds (a sorry looking lot. The war hadn't treated them kindly) then moved out to the Dublin system to meet up with Captain Riley of the Chamberlain. Once he arrived with a cargo hold full of materials for Port Jackson, we set off for Omega 49 and Planet Sydney.
All was quiet there, until we ran into a massive group of CR miners. Both of us decided discretion was the better part of valour, so we both went our separate ways with little more than raised hackles. When we hit planetary orbit Mr. Riley radioed down to Port Jackson itself, to find that they'd rigged up some more tech down on their landing strip so larger craft could be serviced. Still, I tried radioing, and the delays on the replies were unbelievable. There was heavy latency and lag on the line. It's probably because the communication servers are located on the equator at the spaceport.
Anyway, when I arrived, the place was a dump. Most of the houses are temporary pre-fab boxes, with maybe one or two permanent houses scattered around the place. Mind you there's a fair number of construction sites. There's also a census office to keep track of arrivals, as well as a humanitarian centre run by us at Bowex.
We left and flew back to the spaceport, where a consignment of Deutrarium from the Zoner's mines was waiting for us. Loading it on, we were ready to leave. In orbit there was some TAZ guy who tried to convince us that the planet was called Gran Canaria. What an idiot, eh? He can check Bretonian cartographical records himself if he wants to - Planet Sydney, discovered by the BES Cook in 816 AS is what he'll find.
This is Mr.McLean, reporting that i have fully outfitted my Clydesdale, and have secured a Bowex transmittor and identification from Scarborough. I am now all set to begin assisting the war effort. If anything else is required of me, any special supply deliveries or such like, i shant be out of planetary transmission range for any great length of time. It is good to be back in employment, and back trading amongst the lanes. Good flying to all.
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