LOG #066 - Commander A. Adair - TITAN Contractors
02 Oct 2021Aurora Adair (Radiumio)
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LOG: #066
RECORDING TYPE: Personal Log LOG PRIVATE
What does Log Publicised mean?
In our squadron lore, these logbooks are not supposed to be publicly viewable by Commanders. However, in some circumstances, a log may be compromised OR publicised, allowing it to be considered publicly viewable - in this case, the information within can be used for story or discussion purposes in-character. Compromised implies the logbook has been leaked, whereas publicised means the logbook has been willingly released for story purposes.
In our squadron lore, these logbooks are not supposed to be publicly viewable by Commanders. However, in some circumstances, a log may be compromised OR publicised, allowing it to be considered publicly viewable - in this case, the information within can be used for story or discussion purposes in-character. Compromised implies the logbook has been leaked, whereas publicised means the logbook has been willingly released for story purposes.
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Okay... So we just had the meeting... and it didn't go spectacularly... but uhm... I am... well, I have no idea... I think we [#$@!]ed it up... Uhm... Okay, I'll just... start at the meeting itself.
So, Alexis and I hung out for a while, just chatting... and maybe a few really bad jokes here and there. Just something to pass the time. But... uhm, eventually... at around... I guess early this morning - I've lost track of time - the door unlocked and someone stepped in. Now, this guy looked... looked like someone important, y'know? He had this... pretty heavy set of armor on, looked like a modified Dominator suit.
Visor blacked out... but these red stripes ran across his armor, one at the center of his helmet and two on each arm. Anyway, he walked in, two of the mercs behind him, and he sat down at the table in our room, gesturing to the chairs... and then he said... uh... "It's great to meet you, Commanders"... or something like that. Couldn't really discern his voice, it was quite muffled and... probably modulated. So... we walked over and sat down.
He uhm... he did identify himself as AC, but at the time, I wasn't convinced it was actually him. Seems... odd, doesn't it? Even his guard detail left the room, leaving him with the both of us. Then he just... jumped right into the discussion, apologising that his mercs overstepped their boundaries and hit me... and stuff like "how is the room?" and... It just felt totally off.
Was that the point, though? To catch us off-guard...? Make us complaisant? If that's the case, that really didn't go according to plan... but that's not a good thing for us. Long story short... eventually we got to the actual negotiation, and even he seemed hesitant to get to it. He knew we weren't going to agree... Ugh. [#$@!]. Okay. He wanted us to... join him...
Yeah... I'm not [#$@!]ing joking. He literally asked us to join Hivemind, and help them "convert the galaxy under the watchful eye of the Far God". [#$@!]ing ridiculous. So, I countered that "how could we just join a group that has killed hundreds of my people?"... and he laughed at me. He [#$@!]ing laughed at the hundreds of people that virus killed... the people that died in the bombings and the attacks... at Quinton.
He just laughed at it all, like the sick bastard he is... I can't believe we went through all this, just for him to offer a decision we are obviously not going to take. He tried to come back from it, saying that "we could use the Solaris temporarily to help the cause", but by then, I'd had enough, and I told him that.
He... he didn't take that very well. Slammed his fist on the desk... stood up, and drew a Tormentor pistol from his holster, pointing it right at me. Asked if I thought the squadron would really survive another attack... Asked what would happen if he shot me right now. But I just... sat there and stared at him. I didn't know what to say... even Alexis kinda froze in her chair. Felt like minutes passed... but it was only seconds, and then he lowered the pistol, with this real [#$@!]ed up laugh...
Guess what the real kicker was? He wasn't AC. I was right... It was just one of their squad leaders. It was a [#$@!]ing test. There was never going to be any meeting. He said that they didn't want to kill us, but they couldn't have us interfering in their coming plans... So, they [#$@!]ing drew us out and would be keeping us in these quarters for... god knows how long. And... uhm...
Alexis totally lost it, and... [#$@!]... I couldn't stop her before she broke that guy's [#$@!]ing arm. I've never seen someone dive over a table so fast... and I tried to stop her quickly, but his guard detail were right outside, so they rushed in immediately when they heard the commotion... and they... uh... charged right for Alexis... one of them kicked her right in the side to get her off him...
I tried to quickly step in to... y'know... stop them hurting her more... They were constantly threatening to shoot the both of us... demanding I get out the way... but eventually I convinced them to leave us alone, which was [#$@!]ing difficult, but thankfully, they all left the room, with their squad leader. That... was really not easy. I was shaking for minutes after that... and they even came back eventually and removed some cartridges from our food dispenser, plus they locked the access to both our beds as a punishment...
It took a while for Alexis to get her breath back... that guy didn't hold back with that kick... but uhm... and... well... h-here comes the awkward part, I guess? So... after calming down myself from the whole fight... I went to ask if Alexis was okay... comfort her, give a hug, the usual things a... 'friend' does... But... uh... just as she stood up, and I went for the hug, we... uhm... s-... she turned, at the wrong time, and we... [#$@!]... we... uh... kissed? It... was an accident, I guess... We just... lined up... uhm... Ugh, that doesn't make sense, does it?
I... I don't know. We were both flustered... I don't even remember saying anything, I just... stared at her and blushed... What was I supposed to do or say...? She kind of... muttered 'nice'... but my brain just... froze up. Couldn't even get out a timid laugh. First Tori... and now Alexis... though... I just... I... uhm... I've never... been in a relationship before, I guess? [#$@!], why don't I... understand how I feel? I like her, but... ugh. Not like that. I don't know... Maybe it's just the stress and... all these emotions playing up. Yeah... Okay...
The next few hours were... kind of awkward... we spoke a little, and... she kept saying how stupid she was to believe for a second that AC would show up for a meeting and... why do they want us out of the picture... stuff like that, and eventually she mentioned our... uhm... "accident"? How it was... uh... "really nice"... but she wasn't sure if we should ever... like, mention this publicly, y'know? And yeah... I don't know either... but... I... uh... there were so many... thoughts in my head, about everything. I... didn't know what to say. It's all just so... complicated.
... But I'll tackle this some other time. Some time later, we had... a bit of a scare, or at least I did... I don't know what they were really planning to do, but suddenly our door opened and four guards stormed in, including the squad leader from before... with a splint on his right arm. Two of the guards grabbed us and suddenly shoved us against a wall, pinning our hands behind our backs. [#$@!]ing felt so vulnerable... and the guy [#$@!]ing pulled my hair to get me to stop fighting.
The other merc was being... really rough with Alexis... probably because she attacked that squad leader. He was... pinning her against the wall... and... though I couldn't see what was happening... she was telling him to "get his [#$@!]ing hands off her, [#$@!]ing perv"... and... stuff like that. Then, that damn squad leader... started to ask me questions...
I can't really remember all of them because I hardly answered any of them... but it was stuff related to the squadron... like CSF patrols... so forth. I guess they were planning an attack, and he wasn't really pleased when I wouldn't give him any information... So he... uh... grabbed me and... said... uhh... "fine, let's go have some fun then"...
I could take several wild guesses as to what he meant... but I never had to find out thankfully, because just as the guard turned us to the door, there was a loud shot and the squad leader's visor suddenly... split apart... and... [#$@!]... then there was blood everywhere... I quickly ducked, as did Alexis, and the two guards escorting us reached for their weapons... but they barely had a chance to get their shields on before they suffered the same fate.
And... guess what? I realised... it was that [#$@!]ing merc I met at Quince, standing in the doorway... rifle at the ready. That guy, 'Drake'... with that long cape... the heavy body armor... blacked-out visor? Alexis was about to go for him after grabbing one of the guard's weapons, but I... quickly recognized him and grabbed her gun before she could do anything.
He didn't seem too enthused that Alexis was about to shoot him... but I doubt he had time to really care about it... When I asked how he found us, it turns out he followed us. Or... rather, has been following me specifically since we met at that starport. Kind of creepy but... I guess I should be glad. Since... without his help, I doubt we would've even made it out that hallway.
He retrieved our backpacks for us... let us grab some of the weapons from the guards... and just like that, we were already on our way out. Though, his little commotion brought down a bunch of other guards down on us... and we had to basically fight our way out. It was... uhh... intense... but abrupt. Like, we spent barely two days in Hivemind custody and then we're just... escaping?
I'm just glad we're... out of that mess... but... I, uh... got shot in the fight... Twice. I'm okay now, though... Rounds passed through, and I got patched up immediately after... plus it was a few hours ago. We had to fight through the main airlock in order to get to Drake's ship, which was already under fire as he called it down to the settlement. It was an Asp Explorer, so I was actually right the first time I saw it in that hangar...
Thankfully, we got out... I think Alexis took a round too, but maybe her armor stopped it... she didn't seem to be bleeding. So... right now, I'm... sitting alone in the medbay, trying to relax... I asked him to take us back to the Solaris... but he says he needs to shake off any Hivemind tail first... Hopefully we'll be out their jamming radius by then, and I can get a message back to the squadron.
[#$@!]... Sorry about all this... I don't know if we just messed it up or... if it was rigged from the start... and I need to make sense of my feelings... for... uhm... her... Ugh. This is too much... Damnit... who am I anymore? I haven't really had time to come to terms with any of this... and there's so much I want to say... Whatever... need to focus on keeping the squadron safe... stopping whatever Hivemind does...
And then, I can worry about my personal life...
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Credit:
This story is only possible thanks to our squadron and community. Join TITAN Contractors, a diverse and talented squadron, and experience our custom lore and events. This logbook as well as associated images and story is property of TITAN Contractors, CMDR Radiumio. A special thank you to CMDR Alexis Bright for allowing me to use their character in the story!
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