The Canonn
25 Jan 2022Iridium Nova
Since returning, I've been keeping an eye on a developing situation surrounding my friends in the Canonn. These impartial scientist types study all the strange things in the universe, for the sake of science. They take no allegiances, nor loyalties. They are famous for being neutral, even when it comes to the Thargoids. About six years ago I contacted them regarding a job I was on. My client was seeking meta alloys and for some reason I was in the mood to try sourcing it. I don't know why, I hate sourcing. But anyway, there I was. Maybe I took it because I'd never heard of meta alloys before and the data looked interesting. The thing is, I don't hate sourcing because I'm bad at it. Actually I'm pretty good at finding almost anything. I just find it exceptionally tedious. This stuff was intriguing enough to earn my interest. I started searching around, and eventually my investigations led me to rumors of a mysterious lifeform encountered by explorers in distant systems. They called them "large barnacles". Of course today the barnacles are relatively common knowledge and we know they're created by the Thargoids. Back then, they were a mystery, and since this rumor was my only lead as to the source of the meta alloys, I found myself digging into the investigations conducted by my fellow mystery hunters in the Canonn.
The more I discovered, the more interesting it became and soon I found myself collaborating with these ronin scientists. They offered to sign me up and I accepted. It's nice to be part of a group, even if most of the time I prefer to operate solo. My work with the Canonn eventually led me to the Pleiades, where I found adventure in the form of a temperamental unknown artifact (we know them as Thargoid sensors now), which I carried around with me until it sank into the shifting surface of Maia A7. Eventually, I found myself on the third moon of Merope 5.
What followed was a massive mapping project, a collaboration between myself and CMDR Volgrand, as well as a plethora of other participants. Attempting to map the entirety of a planet proved to be a monumental task, given the limited equipment we had back in those days. But we tried anyway. The search came to an end, however, when another commander, by the name of Octo, as I understand it, was the first to discover a barnacle. As far as I know, they weren't even one of our collaborators, and just stumbled on it by chance. Such is the way of things, I suppose. After that, our maps continued to be used to find more barnacles but were eventually made obsolete by the invention of the detailed surface scanner probe.
Since then, I have worked with the Canonn on multiple projects, including the search for the Guardians, the Salome post mortem investigation in Zeta-1 Reticuli, and more. I was even briefly involved with their Raxxla Research wing. Boy, that was a ride. I still occasionally find bits of Onionhead in my old Asp's bulkheads from time to time.
Anyway, to make a long story longer, these guys have influence throughout human space, but most significantly in the Varati system (which is the home system of the Canonn), and a large area of space around it. Recently, I've been monitoring what appears to be an attempt by a Federation group to undermine Canonn operations. I'm not entirely certain who exactly is behind it, but some days ago I tracked a known terrorist who was targeting Cannon assets to a system where the trail went cold. Searching around, I managed to pull data concerning his whereabouts from a server which was apparently being used by a Federation faction as a honeypot. I had to fight them off, incurring a bounty in the process, and when I tracked the guy down he was under Federation protection. What followed was an unfortunate battle which left me with a rather large bounty but one less thorn in the side of my science loving friends.
I have reason to believe that the terrorist was a member of this anti-Canonn group within the Federation, and that this group may even be acting in a rogue capacity without the authorization of the Federation. The group appears to have connections to multiple Federation factions. So far I suspect Sawahinn Solutions and the Values Party of Belis to be working with them. Sawahinn Solutions were harboring the terrorist, while the Belisians have shifted their focus over the last week toward full militarization. The change prompted the Haiden Jet Boys to attack one of their facilities, apparently fearing that the Federation was going to move into Haiden in full force. Haiden is a system which has expressed interest in becoming a Canonn campus, but prominent Belisian leaders in the system have been attempting to politically sabotage these efforts, claiming that the Canonn is dangerous and their presence will bring chaos to the system. These are typical claims circulated by anti-Canonn groups everywhere, and have never been proven true, but it does seem to sway the ignorant.
I have been taking subtle steps to try to derail Belisian efforts to interfere in Canonn's bid for the system. However, if these resisters are backed by larger factors within the Federation, things may escalate. At this point, it's too early to call.