Day 4 of the Gallic campaign, we have managed to patrol and scout through several of these systems, strange as they are. there are little to no resources left in this place based on quick scans of the pockets we run through, its no wonder these swines are trying to break out of here.
Marcus bribed one of the ensigns to do his dirty work I am sure, I will have to personally oversee his next punishment since there is almost guaranteed to be one. always quick to run his mouth latley, though he seemed fine after training. Need to do more sessions to help him blow off steam, I wouldnt mind if he was a hotshot pilot and still ran his mouth, at least then he could back it up.
Speaking of training, Vico and Esteban desperately need more of it, its almost irresponsible of me to send them out into the field. At their current level of flight proficiency they would last an estimated 40 seconds against any foe we are likely to meet out here in Gallic space, Esteban improved a lot in a short space of time however hes still far from competent in combat, and Vico even less so, should I allow them to patrol? Ive had Vico running basic patrol from the mission command center on Torino to help him improve when the rest of the squad are sleeping, I don't think thats enough.
Vico also gave up during practice with Esteban, if he does it again I will have to punish him, if he cant take the heat during training then he may as well go home to Malta and become a plantation farmer, he will only get himself and possibly others killed with such an attitude, otherwise he is respectful and seemingly competent, so I will allow him another chance to prove himself before he is on cleaning detail on Torino.
Day 6 of the Gallic campaign, my squad appear to be a little sluggish for the past two days, not sure if its something in the food (which isnt all that great), or perhaps the cardamine they are using here in the ventilation is going past its expiration date, ive been having frightful headaches ever since coming back from.. that strange place myself and Camilla found though they have been getting weaker and less frequent gradually, I hope they are gone for good soon its effecting my work.
The atmosphere on this station definitely affecting my men also, things are grim here, theres a sense of moderate despair underlying the smiles of the people here, not that im surprised; we have no friends out here and little success to go along with it, heck, the station is under attack almost around the clock and there is not enough man power here to even make up a basic rookie patrol to keep the base safe.
Theres still another week of this to go, well 8-9 days.
I contacted the Gallic Brigands a few days ago, didn't exactly get the response i was hoping for, I should cut the bastards mustache off but that would get me nowhere. Seems like he was threatening us with the 'no cardamine or else' garbage, hope he realises that ive no control over where cardamine goes and doesn't go and if he tries to take my cardamine i'll take the head from his shoulders.
Cant wait to get out of this place, even the toxic wasteland of Liberty was more beneficial for us than this. But Sotha has already paid us so we must see it through to the end.
Day 9 of the Gallic campaign, im close to declaring a state of emergency. What I thought was a dip in morale turned out to be something far more severe.
My squad have contracted something the doctor calls the "Gallic Blues"; its a bacterial infection that is transmitted by a culture that can grow in and around the Gallic region, due to the strange chemicals their ships use as propellant.
somehow it has made its way into the life support systems of over 80% of my squad, due to our dependency on Cardamine it was able to breed much easier according to the medical staff here on Torino.
Squad List: Claes Leslie Camilla Petrucci<- Camilla is working herself overtime due to the loss of so many squadmates, she smiles all the time but i do wonder if everything is really alright. Sophia Linez Marcus Narvaez Zac Verde
Ernesto Esposito Esteban Alvarez Horacio Agulla<-though I suspect illness is due to strange gallic foods, some people never change Salvador Ortega Henrique Ferreira
Rodrigo Borgia Vico Valentini<- im uncertain of Vico's condition at present, he hasnt reported in for a while. Ilario Costa
Carlos Cabello
Alina.Socrates
Marcio.Castro Katarina Moreno
Alina seems to have been the first hit by.. whatever this is, shes been in a cold sweat for days now but she didnt report anything so I did not know what was going on.. Then everyone else seems to be following suit, Esteban and Salvador seem to still be at perfect health. Camilla worries me and despite Marcus being an arrogent git he also concerns me, they are showing early signs of the disease, Marcus more so than Camilla, if Camilla keeps working so hard then whatever this blues bug is will have an easier time affecting her, and Katarina is new so there wont be anything to affect her for a while i should imagine, but god knows.. give it another week and she too may fall victim to.. this.. plague.
Apart from the headaches, ive not felt any different, and the regular crew of the Fantasmi also seem unaffected. Its totally bizarre.
I need to speak to the 81 Syndicate immediately...
With the Gallic campaign finally over for the 75th, the Squad has been enjoying some much deserved home rest. I feel its only fair after that aweful place seemed to mark everyone in a different way, I bet even Camilla was glad to be home, even though she doesnt show it of course.
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With the squad slowly coming back to full form, or more or less full form I having them move to smuggler escort detail, there are far less smugglers than there once was, I feel its our obligation as the ones who want the Orange Gold transported, that we should lend our support and see that they get to the destination unhindered.
After I had sent a message to the Liberty Rogues i had hoped that the smuggling density would pick up, helping my squad to take their minds of Gallia, but.. so far I haven't seen any additional smuggling ships... I wonder whats keeping them..
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With the return to Malta I was a little naive, I figured everything would be all green skies and clear sailing but it turns out that some of my squad have not recovered from the illness Gallic Blues as easily as I had thought.
Sophia, Alina and Marcus are all in a critical condition, the disease seemed to have suck with them and wont let go... after talking with Kat (a new pilot) Henrique and Camilla ive decided im going to call for outside assistance on this, they recommended the name of a doctor called Holiday, supposed to be a Zoner, the best there is.. if anyone can help them I feel its him.
Squad List: Claes Leslie Camilla Petrucci Sophia Linez Marcus Narvaez Zac Verde Ernesto Esposito- Feverish, still recovering Esteban Alvarez Horacio Agulla- Feverish, still recovering Salvador Ortega Henrique Ferreira Rodrigo Borgia- Feverish, still recovering Vico Valentini- Feverish, still recovering Ilario Costa
Marcio Castro
Carlos Cabello Alina Socrates Katarina Moreno Adamo Conte
The recent fighting in the sigmas and taus seems to have lifted the spirits of our squad a fair bit, greatly helps with recovery when the sick take part in a large battle, the thrill and sweat pushes out the illnesses it seems. however Alina, Sophia and Marcus are barely conscious, so that approach will not work, I can not lie.. I am concerned for their lives.
Well the party for Camilla's birthday seemed to have gone off without a hitch, well only one hitch that she walked in whilest we were still preparing. still, those that came brought some nice gifts and the Fantasmi bridge actually looked pleasant for once.
I vaguely remember being naked at some point during the nights activities, however I do remember I woke up naked, and i have the strangest image of Henriques face and the colour red. I couldnt find any evidence that.. well something had happenedthat evening.. I will need to ask Camilla or Esteban for more information, was pretty foolish of me to drink in front of my squad when I know im such a lightweight.
on the subject of drinking, i was met with the putrid stench of vomit when i awoke, i checked myself over and thank dios it was not me, the clothes I was wearing though... They are dripping with it, Kat seemed to have been sick all over the goddamn ship and she has been cleaning it up for the past 36 hours, and I can still smell it.
there are very few cakes left on the table, Horacio really went to town, I hope Camilla even got to eat some of her cakes. something else that was bothering me, there was a camera on my table also... I just watched the video on it and I almost died inside.. I checked over the camera logs and the video was sent to Salvadors ship, apparently as a backup. Ive had the Fantasmi crew take his ship to Valetta, where it was scrapped and a new one put in its place, I think i may need to put him in a ring with Horacio for a few rounds until he is unfamiliar with any form of blackmail.
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Alina-
Alina came up from sick bay all on her own, its a miracle! She had been deathly sick the past few weeks and hadnt shown any signs of recovery, but I clearly remember seeing her.. What does this mean?
Will Sophia wake up soon too? what about Marcus.. what made Alina able to wake up, I dont know but I am glad. hopefully the others will recover soon.
I think I've finally cleared up that.. whatever it was with Henrique. Camilla says that nothing happened but why was I on the bridge with only a towel? The only saving grace is that according to Camilla I was never exposed completely, I was apparently talking to Henrique before she pulled me away to dance with her, I wish I could remember what I was talking about...
Pressure from home is starting to get on my nerves lately, being the only fertile woman in the family sure can be a load on. I spoke to Camilla on patrol today, she said due to her inability to have children she is treated like a boy in their family.. merda. That dug up some memories i'd rather have forgotten, that time I beat the hell out of Gloria Juanez for looking down on Henrietta for being infertile when I was 15.. she used to be her best friend, then one day just like that, she suddenly put herself on a pedestal above Henrieta and talked down to her, I nearly killed the ***** and I'd do it again, even though Henrietta hated me more than ever for it, still trying to cling to that friendship they had before with the two faced whore.
The funny thing is Im 32, and only since they realised that I am fertile did they care about me at all since adopting me, if you could even call it an adoption, giving me a boys name to set me apart from their family and only after 3 years letting me use their surname Leslie.
Then in a message he had the cheek to call me Angelica again does he want to keep me shamed forever? He must surely be able to see the end of his family approaching faster than he wants to believe what with all the Leslie females apart from madre infertile and unable to bear any children, they said time is running out for me.. I don't care how many eggs I have left they aren't having any of them.. I don't want to be stuck on malta chain birthing kids for somebody else's well being.
I cant believe that prisoner escaped, they sure had a lot of things ready to make that journey possible, gunboats transports and an entire wing of fighters, I lost Ernesto and Esteban in the cross fire between the transports and ended up covered in my own blood inside my own damn ship.
My first injury in a while, one of the power conduits running through the right side of the cockpit must have burst, they just pulled a three inch peice of shrapnel from my stomach.
Thankfully.. I think its been kept under the covers pretty well, it was hard to fly straight on the way back with that blood everywhere but there was no way I could tell them about it, we already lost Esteban and Ernesto, there was mo way I was going to demoralise my squad even further by complaining about my own injuries.
I decided to go home and have the family doctor patch me up so that Ernesto and Esteban wouldnt see me covered in blood when they awoke, hes used to fixing all kinds of wounds so give me a little while, ill be back to full strength and nobody will even know.
Jose was very worried to hear that i had been injured... I know he cant help it, since he has practically fathered me more than the person who is supposed to be my father but.. he was also worried because of that reason once again. My fertility, everyone needs to stop suddenly trying to wrap me in cotton and bubble wrap. I too old for this crap aren't I ?!
I had heard many many whispers of disrespectful and otherwise disruptive Maltese forces in Liberty, pilots whom come down to make quick dineros without even realising or caring who is giving them the comfort of someplace to sleep afterwards, somewhere to hide when the heat gets tough, someplace to go to eat and drink and basically live during their stay.
Two Falcata pilots causing trouble for the rogues, if only they knew just how close the Rogue pilots were to slitting their throats and giving them a second smile. I had no real intention of seeing my comrades be hurt but these people seemed almost unreachable. Still to avoid an incident I paid for their release from the rogues and spoke to them, they at least seemed grateful that I did what I did despite their insults towards me so maybe there is hope for them after all.
After that the main festivities started, lots of shooting and other colourful things. some hotshot hunter came along thinking he was a badass, I admit he was quite skilled for being a hunter, still he would often turn his back on me and would pay the price, to make the fight a bit quicker I got the rogues in on it and he ate a quad nuke sand which before long sadly the maker of the sandwhich was forced to eat it too in order to bring him down fast.
Moving on from there we caught up with the main body of the pirate forces, I have to say it was a little disappointing that the fight was over in about 20 minutes, oh and did i mention that about 7 liberty Dreadnoughts gunboats and Battle-cruisers chain undocked from Norfolk one after the other, quite the sight. I gave a Assualt some stick and then gave some pathetic freelancer bombers a hard time they both ran screaming back to Norfolk in the cover of the battleship, oh by that time everyone was dead.
Heading back to California seemed like the Hellfires and the navy were still fighting, hellfire bombers versus navy fighters, odd choice of dogfighting ship on he Hellfires part so I sat and watched the fireworks, when one of the navy whores were taken down much to my surprise the other navy looked done for, then again in came assault 1 to save the day, at which point two more Hellfires also returned.
after several long minutes a Xeno appeared, which was my queue to take him out. during the fighting, a hellfire gunboat appeared 2 more xenos a bounty hunter and a another navy gunboat. the Xeno was begging for help because the fighters kept breaking off assault one and chased me, like it would be better that way, Ha. The bomber was still dying but there was a really annoying civilian shuttle on my ass the whole time, not doing an awful lot apart from being annoying, so i led him away from the fight and after a minute or two I killed him and returned to the shooting, then the other Xeno light fighter was on me, eventually all the navy folks died the Hellfires were supplied by a repair ship and left, the hunter also left.
Which left me and two Xeno's fighting it out, they didnt have a chance.. i actually felt bad for them, and then some police ship came to destroy the xeno's. Eventually we took out the bomber and the light fighter began to run for its life... The police amigo had the aim of a dead walrus, so I didn't rely on him at all. Eventually I managed to kill the Xeno, at which point the police ship decided he didn't want anything to do with me and left.. which was fine.
I refueled my ship on Alcatraz and returned to malta at which point Salvador had the cheek to complain about me landing for a break, he better watchout when Horacio returns.
Entry #1039
Date: 05/12/819
Subject: Lots of stuff-
Well where to begin... lots of things happening in such a short space of time, unfortunatley still shadowing it all is Sophia's comatose state, the doctors aren't sure when she will wake. sometimes I wish we never went to that place, everyone is still bent out of shape from it in some form or another.
We have a new ship, La Falange D'oro, the wreckage of a destroyer given to us by Martino Perez of the 101st, it looks like hell if im honest but I cant help but feel the same as it in some ways, an outcast amongst outcasts. that ship will be restored, mark my words.. and it will shine brighter than any of the Maltese navy vessels out there.
Which brings me to my next point, where the hell are all the junkers. I've got Esteban looking for them, Im looking for them, Camilla is too, Henrique should be too. He better not be skiving, I put him as acting tenante in good faith that he wouldnt let me down.
As for the others, they are all doing their best not to eat all the nuclear mines on the battlefield still, If they would show up to training they may actually learn something, rather than thinking they know it all and opting out of it.... More like they are opting out of their skin the way some of them fly.
Ive had more messages from the head of the family, saying how proud he is that ive become so well known around Maltese space. Of course it was followed by the same usual crap about you know what, this time he is trying to pursuade me to have something called a Oocyte cryopreservation operation performed... Him and the other family members are really desperate and its actually sickening to see them sucking up to me just because I got a little renown under my belt.
We finally managed to get the Junkers to help us tow La Falange D'oro from Omicron 85, across the sector to Omicron 81 safely. I think i like about a kilogram in sweat whilst i was on board that cruiser wreck all alone as the junkers towed it. Not only was just being on the ship all by myself pretty haunting with all the blood and carbon scoring around the ship, it was also horrifying to hear the vessels groans as she was towed by the Junkers.
There were times i thought the ship might just break apart, we have so much invested in this ship that it would have been the end of the squadron as I know it if something went wrong in transit. Fortunately everything went well and it is now sitting in the eastern section of drydock B on Cartagena.
That bastardo business suit said that I should just scrap the ship completely, I told him where to go pretty quickly for making such a stupid suggestion, he clearly doesn't know whats at stake in the destroyer out there. He denied the use of any repair materials on the craft also due to it being "A waste of resources..". I nearly shot him in the face but somehow thanks to Camilla i managed to keep myself calm.
I have had to request help from the junkers again to bring materials required for the extensive and lengthy repairs ahead, Camilla made the list after doing a thourough check of the damage with a survey team last week so we finally have the estimates for the materials. as long as nobody joins the faction between now and the end of the repair job, we should have just enough money to cover the costs but we will be scraping the line by the end.
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As for a more personal log, I had agreed to have an Oocyte operation performed a few days ago after I received a letter from mama regarding this and how worried she was. Its not often I hear from her so I cant honestly say for certain whether it was just the old man using her as a bargaining chip or if it was genuine. Well anyway with all thats happened with La Falange D'oro ive had to give the operation a miss, which will cause great stirs back home on Malta but they can damn well wait, I have more important things to do right now.
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As for the squadron itself, there seems to be growing enthusiasm for the training game Circular that I made to help them become more proficient at aiming and moving, and understanding the importance of decent suppression fire. also did a long one to one training session with Marcus this weekend gone, despite his attitude at the start he actually seemed to be capable of taking on board what I was saying to him. his aim improved drastically in just two hours. for which im glad, because before he couldn't hit the broad side of a Hegemon in open space.