The Spectre of the Void
15 Nov 2019ParkTyGreen
Tiberius Captain’s Log - 15th of November 3305Mars High, Sol
I’m seeming to be making some sort of a name for myself. After saving the man in the blue Clipper (turns out, he’s a rich Baron from Cubeo) word has been spreading of me and the Tiberius, which I’ve noticed has garnered the nickname of “Spectre of the Void” from many locals in Starports in Federal-Imperial border space. I even had an artist offer to make an advertisement for my services, using this new reputation to my advantage. Of course, outside of these areas I’m still unknown. Although, the place I’m probably most widely known is Pand, where I first stopped in the bubble after my long voyage into the black in the Kaitakusha. Still, it does help in getting new contracts. The money has really been rolling in.
Sloane has been getting along well with our newest addition to the crew, Myra. Don’t know too much about her, practically just picked her up at the last starport, but she’s got decent piloting skills, and most importantly knows a thing or two about engineering and how to run a ship. She’s no Buck, but we’ll have to make do. Sloane’s still shaken and a bit resentful at me for what happened in Upaniklis, but he can’t hold it against me forever.
The nightmares I’ve been being plagued with refuse to go away. I keep dreaming about what happened at the Hazres, over and over. Watching the ship torn to shreds, Kaylyn’s fighter going out in an orange-blue blaze. I’ve barely gotten any sleep. I can barely pilot the ship, nearly crashed into oncoming traffic in the mail slot on many occasions this week. Myra has offered many times to take over, but I’ve refused.
In other news, the Tiberius has been acting as a bit of a passenger service for the past day or so. I’ve needed some modular terminals for gaining access to the Engineer Marco Qwent, so I’ve had to suffer through the ridiculous demands of rich bastards. Lost half of the modular terminals from a previous mission since I had to fuel scoop so many stars. The ship is running better than ever, though. With all these new modifications, she’s running faster, more agile, and smoother than ever. If she was a dream to fly when I first bought the ship, now she’s a wonder. My repairs from a week ago are still holding together, and the ship’s new power distributor, shields, hull plating and power plant are making her even more formidable. The new engine upgrades from numerous engineers, for whatever technical reason, have had the side effect of making the engine colour blue. I gotta say, though, I do like it. Anyways, transporting a bunch of smug rich folk isn’t really very humbling work for the newly upgraded ship, and listening to Mars High well-doers big me to get them every possible amenity is really wearing on me. And, one man, Karl Knox, ended up totally trashing the Business passenger cabin when he got drunk on Lavian Brandy (which he made me pick up, of course.) And to think I set aside a good quarter of the ship for these rooms. In addition, people have complained at the lack of windows. The ship has external cameras, whose feeds lead directly into wall-sized screens in the cabins. Rich assholes can never be satisfied, can they?
All this time in the opulence and corporate control of Sol and the harsh blue light do Sirius have been making me remember fondly my time in the Empire. The longer I think about it, for so long I’ve hated all the superpowers of the galaxy, the Federation for their corporate greed and corruption, the Empire for their seemingly oppressive ways and arrogance, and the Alliance for the ineptitude and inefficiency. But the longer I’ve spent in Empire space (spent a day or two in Achenar a few weeks ago) and seen their culture, I’ve grown to respect their values of honour and dignity. Not too far off from what I try to achieve. And while the Federation and Alliance tout false promises and preachings of things they are not, at least with the Empire, they tell it as it is. It doesn’t mean I’m choosing sides, I still hate them for their oppressive ways, but I’ve warmed up to them.
Hell, no matter how much I want to stay away from choosing sides, if I want to track this ExaltedHierarch guy down, I’ll need some powerful friends. And I can’t stomach working with the Federation, nor can I abide by disunited ineptitude that would slow me down with the Alliance.
I guess I’m going to have to chose a side if I want some government’s justice system to help me.