~~~~~~~Commander Lincoln Phoenix Personal Log~~~~~~~
This will be my first log for this mission. As i stare out at the shipyard constructing the Athena I cant help but feel apprehension about what we may face. Mr.Universe has given me a crew compliment of only 250, not including the senior staff. Those would be myself leading the mission, my 2nd in command Yulandi Diangelo, our chief medical officer Sarah Paytin, our science officer John Kane, the tactical officer Jane Hewitt, the chief engineer Scott Burt, and finally our communications officer Reginald Baylock.
I was originally given the deadline of making sure we depart for our destination within the next 30 days. I feel it may take twice that time ensure we are properly prepared. Although, I was assured by Mr.Universe in private that should we need additional time we would be given it for the safety of the crew. I've been asked by Mr.Universe to take charge and contact a few groups that will help provide equipment for the ships experimental systems.
Among all the prep work we have been doing i'm impressed every day with how hard everyone involved has been despite the fact that no one has been given the details of the mission except for me. The only information anyone has been authorized to know that whatever we are doing it is to the survival of the zoner way of life that we accomplish our task. Whatever may happen I hope my crew knows that I couldn't be more proud and I am confident we will succeed, Even if some of us have to get out and push the damn ship along the way.
Name: Lincoln Phoenix
Age: 30
DOB: 12-01-795 A.S.
Place of Origin: Born aboard Persephone Leviathan Warship in the most remote edge world systems of Sirius
Past Affiliation(s): Zoner
Born on the Persephone Leviathan Warship his parents left to settle on Freeport 9 where they had a little less fear for their safety. Unfortunately this was short lived. During one of there trips at the age of 5, while looking for work at Corinth Research Station, their vessel was attacked by pirates and both parents lost their lives. The remaining survivors took him in for a time being and made sure he was watched after. With unrestrained hate towards all pirates he grew up a troubled child stealing and getting into trouble wherever he could in an attempt to release these pent up feelings.
At the age of 13 after being caught by security on Freeport 9 Mr.Universe took an interest in the passion the boy exhibited and took pity on him. Taking him under his wing Mr. Universe helped give him purpose by finding him a group of Bounty Hunters Guild members he trusted to help him refine his skills and teach him how to be a man. At the age of 18 after being trained by hardened experience with the BHG he applied and trained with the Core for a few years where he learned much needed skills such as Leadership, honor, and most of all loyalty. Still being unsatisfied with the rate at which he was stifling the criminal underground after 3 years with the Core he moved into an undercover operation to gain more insight into the criminal mind by joining the Corsairs and seeing things from their perspective.
After a few months of attempting to fit in to the Corsair way of life on Crete he realized it was difficult to retain his former principles while fitting in among the Corsairs. Despite all his beliefs that he had formed up till now he concluded to achieve his life's mission of fighting piracy he would have to let go of all his ethics and morality and become fully immersed in the Corsair culture. The first time he killed a man in cold blood he realized how easy it was to shut off his emotions and have no remorse. Even after all of this in the end it was again his principles that helped him achieve his first infiltration. During a trip through the streets 3 months into his stay on Crete he happened upon a mugging. Without thinking he leapt into the fray of 3 men assaulting a man and fended them off until they realized there was no winning and fled the scene. After helping the man home he discovered it was a member of one of the wealthy families. As a token of appreciation he was given permission to train in a local military academy and after 3 months training was given a command of his own.
During this time he was promoted many times in his repeated successful incursions into Rheinland space against the Rheinland military. Despite his great success in the Corsair ranks due to the major defeats for the Corsair forces he was recalled to Crete in 816 A.S. He continued to great success within the ranks of the Corsair military for a few more years but had finally grown tired of living a lie. Having followed the career of this now accomplished young man, it was in 819 A.S. that Lincoln received a message from Mr.Universe that it was time to return home to his people.
It was on his 24th birthday at Livadia Shipyard where he met with Mr.Universe after many years and offered him a position within his ranks. After having matured and gained much wisdom through all his experiences and upon realizing the impact he could have within the zoner community he graciously accepted. It was not as easy as he originally thought. From the tedious paperwork to the rigorous training aboard the flagship. He began to develop an even greater appreciation for the vision that he had once held but lost among his exploits with the corsairs. He has been in the service of Mr.Universe ever since. Most of his work has been coordinating with his intelligence officers as well as working with hired guns through his past experiences. On his 30th birthday he received a promotion to Commander and given a special assignment to help complete Project Lacchus. Should it be successful he would be granted a new commission of Captain effective upon immediate return.....
I think i need a vacation before we start the Lacchus mission. From having to work with 7 different organizations to being on patrol in Omega-49 i'm all tuckered out. I'm sure i'll get some time to relax once its all done or i'll petition to have the launch pushed back an extra 2 weeks just for some R&R. I'm not sure I'll get some during the year voyage otherwise. On to the official stuff. Other than how slowly going through the proper channels to get this started is taking everything seems to be going great. I'm optimistic that all the people we've contacted will be able to provide us what we need.
Mr.Universe requested that I stay put in Omega-49 during the crisis the last few weeks. It seems to be heating up every day. Surprisingly we even had a Gallic ship in the system who had no problem with remaining civil with us.
I seemed to have the firepower advantage over them but it wasn't necessary. There were coalition and at another point corsairs around Gran Canaria though. I was itching to have a go at them but I knew that Mr.Universe wouldn't be too happy with me so i let my eagerness abate. I rather like this spatial craft that we purchased off of Freeport 9 that was repossessed from someone with outstanding fee's . It's not the most nimble craft but she definitely doesn't lack in firepower. And with the upgraded armor she came with, it can withstand a heavy pounding. If only this ship had a cloaking device...
Had an amazing opportunity tonight. Had a meeting with Mr.Cosmos on current state of affairs within O-49 as well as the update on the Project Lacchus. Had to tell him the project hadnt started yet but we were making progress with the contracts. Specifically IRG who had already agreed and started working on the Power Cells we requested. He seems pleased even with the lack of progress we have made. I guess he just isn't as impatient as I am.
I did have the chance to take a ride in the flagship when he was further testing the jump drive though. We were able to travel to quite a few locations. It looks like the IRG database that he purchased was worth its weight in gold ore.
We began and ended the test at Lanzarote Station. Using standard procedure we kept a distance of at least 1000m from all objects. After we entered in the coordinates I realized that the energy around the ship was gathering and swirls around us. Then when the drive was fully charge and we jumped I could feel my body yank as though I was being sucked through a strong vacuum. Just as the feeling started it ended with a feeling of being blown backwards. If I hadn't been holding onto the console in front of me i'm sure I would have been knocked to the floor. Oh how embarrassing that would have been.
We continued to jump to a new destination a few more times, from Baffin to Sigma-15 to Omicron Kappa and finally back to Omega-49 where we finally headed back to the station. At Baffin and Sigma-15 we had to resupply with the additional resources to make an additional jump but only in case of emergency.
I plan on patrolling in Omega-49 the next 2 days but I do not believe there will be any issues. Then it will be back to the shipyard to hopefully begin construction and preparing for the arrival of the equipment from all the parties I have thus far made arrangements.
~~~~~~~Commander Lincoln Phoenix Personal Log~~~~~~~
Progress is extremely slow with the construction. The framework is in place but I have purposely made sure they crews take as much time as possible to ensure that there are no cut corners. Since much of the outsourced construction pieces for this project have yet to be completed or respond with final arrangements I don't see a rush just yet with the construction. I had to venture back to Omega-49 after hitching a ride with Mr.Cosmo's flagship. There was another skirmish with the Bretonian Armed Forces. Unfortunately we were outgunned and outmatched so it wasn't much of a resistance. They outnumbered our capital ships 3 to 1.
We received a message from Ageira Innovations this week. Hopefully they will be the last in the pieces of this jigsaw project. I'm looking forward to getting away from all the wars and drama Sirius has at this time. Hopefully this whatever you want to call it mission is not some wild goose chase that Mr.Cosmos has cooked up via the deep radar telemetry. Will finish another complete report this week.
~~~~~~~Commander Lincoln Phoenix Personal Log~~~~~~~
Progress is coming along rather fast now. Here are images of the vessel that have been passed onto me by our technicians. They seem to be proud of their work:
Each Delivery here is the final delivery to the station for order's larger than 4k...
Much of the internal installations and specialized bays are taking a bit longer because of external hold ups, but we still have some time before we finish with the rest of the construction. I'm crossing my fingers I get a response from the rest of the outside groups we are working with and get it all situated. I plan on sending out another wave of communications within the next few days to hopefully speed up the process. The following bays and rooms that still need to be finished:
*Bridge *Med bay *Hydroponics *Cargo bay *Science lab *Communication *Engineering *AI core *Galley *Officer's Mess *Briefing Room
This may seem like much work, but compared to the outer hull the rest of this work will be simple. The only item my construction crews tell me will take a bit of time will be the engines. Of course the shields, weapons, and comm devices also need to be installed but any issues with that we will deal with when the time comes. Hopefully I don't get any backlash from Mr.Cosmos when I report to him tomorrow.
~~~~~~~Commander Lincoln Phoenix Personal Log~~~~~~~
We finished the medical wing today with the help of Doc's crew. We couldn't have finished and trained our medical staff in such a timely manner without them. Here is the finished touches of the work:
With all of the equipment delivered for the medical wing we can now move on to the rest of the ships construction. As of now much of the work still awaits completion because of the many outside parties yet to met or respond to my communique's. I may need to send out some incentive's to entice them to respond faster, I just need Mr.Cosmos to approve of them.
~~~~~~~Commander Lincoln Phoenix Personal Log~~~~~~~
A number of weeks ago Mr.Cosmos ordered a comm blackout for all operations. He did not explain so all we and the crew of the Athena have been able to do is speculate. For now our crew had to make do with what we had. After the blackout was lifted we received a communique from Ageira Innovations about being unable to assist us with the required equipment we requested. Although the disrespectful wait for such a response that could have been passed on to me much sooner would normally have been an issue, our technicians and engineers prepared for this possible outcome. While we waited for a response thinking it may never come our engineers used equipment we had already prepared and brought ahead of time. We built it using similar schematics on the neural net available to the public as well as previous employee's of a few of the major corporation's in Sirius to help assist in the making of a custom designed system just for this voyage. Although it may not have the expertise of "accredited" technicians this project hasn't attracted and paid the best and the brightest for nothing. I am confident they will fulfill our needs for as long as is necessary. I am told the design for this unique system is simple. Similar to a jump drive or trade lanes propelling the object at great speeds, this new communication system will be sling shot through a hole in subspace and upon reach its destination will slow down enough to exit into normal space. In order for this to work both the sending and receiving ends need to both be configured to be able to communicate. Luckily this equipment has been in the testing phase for 2 months since this project was unveiled and the results are astounding. We have at least a few more weeks before launch so hopefully we can finish all testing before the maiden voyage.
The crew is rather eager to start their voyage. Despite how dangerous it will be they are more determined that ever. Also on a side note, I've recommended we keep on retainer some of the engineers and technicians that helped on the project recently. Having expert's that are ex-employee's can come in handy when trying to use and produce their former employer's technologies. The following is a list of materials that are still required to complete the project:
Optronics x4,000
RoboCultivars x50
Fluorine x1,000
Quantum Multiplexors x500
Whiskey x500
Wine x500
Bio-Neural Processors x300
HydroGro x200
Last but not least we are still waiting for a response from Ingenuus on the Power Cells we ordered.
I'll make another entry log soon. Hopefully we will have finished deliveries by then.
The remaining equipment that is needed is the 4 Ingenuus Power Cell's to ensure the ship is powered efficiently and for the duration of the journey. Although construction and the delivery of all the cargo took longer than expected it did give the engineer's and construction crews adequate time to test and fine tune everything necessary. I've enclosed the images that the bridge crew has proudly taken of the interior of the ship.
Here is a visual of the bridge at the moment. The engineers seem proud of the work and the bridge crew all agree they are happy with the results and using what they have for the long duration.
This is an image one of our botanists took of our hydroponics bay. Should do nicely for the extended trip.
I have a feeling within a week we should have a response from the IRG about our cells. Hopefully it will be to notify us of their completion and that they are ready for pickup or delivery. Although I feel the uneasiness as one portion of this project finishes the next part will be even tougher, I can do nothing but wait for the dawn and hope that at the end of the day the equipment and training all hold up.