The image flickers, static.
There's nothing less but a man on his mid 30's, facing oposite from the camera.
He does not seem to be moving.
Sound only, the message starts to play.
So. Another wing falls silent.
It's been too long since I've bothered to see if any "organization" stands up to the challenge to shoot for Gaia.
I'm trying again.
This message is being sent from my Claymore - an old bud from an old time - I hope it still flies.
And as far as hope can go, I was hoping to see some Gaians on the space.
I was part of NLH for a while, on my youth, but the band was breaking down.
I flew solo for a while until I was called to battle on the politcs front.
I can say it was "fun".
So, to my previous statement:
If the group's not as vacant as this comm link is, I wouldn't mind slapping the [U] logo on my comm links, since it seems to fight for the old, wise Gaia.
Here's to hoping for a response.
There's the sound of glasses touching and the comm falls silent.
Nothing else pours through.
Papers strewn about her desk, Annora looks into the camera.
[color=#00cc00]The Underloch will never be quiet so long as I have a say in it.
Under most other circumstances, I would hesitate to simply allow you to join us. We have fallen upon hard times, however, and we need all the help we can get. For now, I see no complications arising from allowing you into our ranks; however, rest assured that I will check previous documentation regarding Nature's Last Hope, and you will still need to prove yourself.
NLH was much more a dying leeding-rat than a faction long before I joined.
I was nothing much more of zealot that time, trying to figure out what NLH position was, and it was pretty silent.
That's why I left.
I spent the last years seeing politics go up and down... I'm quite tired of diplomacy, really.
I wouldn't mind to sit and talk about the past, if you want.
Or I could ramp a big old transport filled with biological waste into Curacao.
Here's a treat.
Datalink stablished.
Long range comm link received.
I would like the chance to join your faction. Im lvl 56 junker i got a freighter that holds 2000 in hull. I would like to help your cause in anyway i can.
[color=#00cc00]With all due respect, if you're a junker, perhaps you should think about joining the cause of the Junkers. We're fighters, not traders or smugglers.
Perhaps you should contact the Junker Congress. They can probably do more for you than I could.
'Lo there, friends. Name's Patrick Halquist, and I'm a Gaian born and raised, through and through. Was wondering if you wanted me along in this band of Brothers and Sisters.
Few snippets of a little raid I conducted, t'show you that I mean business enough.
I've heard good things about you from Jacob Fade. If you can live up to what he's told me, then you can consider yourself a full Underlocher in no time. I have high expectations; don't let me down.
I was a professor of planetary ecology for years on Cambridge.
When I added curriculum regarding the dangers of over-farming and industrial agriculture, I was dismissed.
I tried to organize environmental awareness groups on Leeds, as an attempt to bring that planet back from the brink.
Few listened. No one seemed to care - save the Bretonia Police.
I was arrested and held for days. Never charged, of course.
Bretonia doesn't like people pointing out their mistakes.
They're all locusts, I've come to realize.
A swarm of them, consuming entire planets of life and resources. Mindless or malicious, maybe both.
I've tried to teach them, and I've tried to talk with them. Tried to instill a sense of balance and respect for the universe we live in.
I'm afraid simple methods don't work to change minds and communicate ideas anymore.
I'm working to get peoples' attention in a different way.
We'll see how much they listen when their expansionist water, oxygen, and food supply chains are cut.
We'll see how much they notice when terraforming materials run dry.
We'll see how much they care when every last corporate transport is melted into slag.
The way I see things, we're both working towards similar goals using similar means.
I'll ask you one time, if you think it benefits us both to coordinate efforts or not. I expect a direct, uncomplicated response.
The first broadcast is weak and the signal fades before being able to sync'd.
The second time it comes as a wave, slow at first but as a strong pulse afterwards.
The screen's colors are even brighter then they should. Jacob's to be seen on a small cockpit.
Ah, Professors. It always come back to that role, ain't it?
I think we all could call ourselves that, yes, but it's those whom work planetside, trying desperately
to insert knowledge on empty heads that know how heavy the drill is, so you got my compliments.
A few bright lights seem to reflect on the Helmet. Laser fire. Then an explosion.
Well, to be quite honest we're in need of everyone who can get the job done.
But these are times we need to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Data exchange protocol received. Downloading package.
You will receive a data package soon. Give me a honest answer on those.
Maybe then I'll start seeing that we're really working towards a similar goal using similar means.
Package received, completed, and returned.
This constitutes the limit of my patience for forms, protocol, and/or standard operating procedures.
I trust that I won't need to endure an orientation meeting or training program as well - don't slide too far down the corporate path.
There's no coming back from it.