Today I did my final escort mission, and what a mission. It seemed that the convoy I was helping to escort was getting jumped at every jump. At first it was just a few liberty rogues, but as we moved into the Magellan system we were hit immediately by Lanehacker ships. My little starflier took quite the pounding, but we managed to make it to the freeport. Unfortunately we lost one of the 5 freighters in the process. When we eventually got back to Trenton, our CO was furious. It would seem that the company has been loosing alot of freighters recently due to increased pirate activity. This, is where my career as a freighter captain began. I was immediately upgraded to freighter captain and given command of a small freighter. Hopefully pirates wont be interested in such a small ship, since we also seem to have a shortage of escort pilots at this time.
Feb 5, 816 AS
I finally got to take my new freighter for a test run. Well, she's not new... a well used Rhino but she seems sturdy. For now my first trade runs will keep me in liberty space, hauling various engine components, and ship parts to ship yards and repair facilities.
June 15, 816 AS
After quite some time putting in extra shifts and making sure my cargo reached its destination every time, it would seem that someone in the higher ups has noticed me. (It also can't hurt that I've become an expert at avoiding Liberty rogues and Xenos ships and have yet to be pirated) I've just been told to get rid of my Rhino, and that I've been promoted and assigned to captain a Universal transport. My first impression of the ship was that I had never seen such an ugly ship before. I don't think there was a single clean surface on the ship. She'd definitely been used for a long time, and is one of the oldest ships in the Universal fleet. Least I can assume (or hope) she's trust worthy. I've been told to put together a list of potential crew, first on the list is the best engineer I can find. Theres no way I want to get stranded in the middle of nowhere and having to wait for a tow ship to come and get us.
June 23, 816 AS
We finally left Trenton on our first cross Sirus trade route. We left loaded completely with Gate/Tradelane parts, heading for the far Tau 31 gate construction project. This is the primary component of the trade route, bringing the valuable parts to the construction site for DSE, so they can get it completed. After that we get to cut through Kusari space and head to New Berlin to pick up another load of valuable cargo, which is to be shipped to planet Cambridge. While we are away from home long, at least we get too see allot of other systems.
August 18, 816 AS
Our transport was attacked by pirates today... They demanded that we give them 2 million credits, which is something no one on board could possibly have, so we ran. We managed to make it to the GMG base in Sigma 13, where Bounty Hunter and GMG ships were able to destroy the pirates. Our primary reactor took heavy damage and almost breached, but thankfully our engineer managed to fix the damage. I and the rest of the crew are all really happy I took the time to carefully choose an engineer. Once in the New Berlin system we were stopped by the military and scanned for contraband. Obviously we had none, as our shipment consisted of Niobium for the Ring, but the Military pilot did seem on edge slightly. I over heard a few officers in the bar on New Berlin mention that the LSF and Liberty Police have infiltrated Reinland space on several occasions. Maybe this is where the tension is coming from? If they were right, I sure hope the LSF and Police do not start a conflict and that everything was simply a mis-understanding.
Dec 21, 816 AS
I received word today that I had just done my last trade run in a transport. It would appear I'm being promoted to the Captain of a train. The train in question is a brand new one, being constructed to replace one lost to a pirate attack several months ago. My crew and I are excited to be given a brand new state of the art ship. Especially after living and working in this old bucket of bolts for so long. At this time, she's only being equipped with 3 cargo pods, compared to the 5 most heavy trains get, but eventually she will be upgraded to a heavy train. For now, the higher ups just want her out there doing what she was designed for. Hauling Cargo. Our train's official designation is "Universal Train MB52" but I think I'll have to think up a better name for her. Someone mentioned I should call her the "Enterprise" but it doesn't seem very fitting. For now we are training and preparing for the long trade runs ahead. Hopefully our luck with the pirates will stay.
Iâll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because itâs flag that I love
And a flag that I trust