A HECTIC WORLD
09 Dec 2015Brenner Soriah
Stardate 0912-3301, 1348This is Commander Brenner Soriah speaking. I'd like to try to get everything here down before I go and slump into my bunk. Presently, I am drifting through Empire Space, keeping a low profile. For my protection, I will not be revealing the location. My signal emissions have been dimmed, so I shouldn't be picked up by anyone's scanners. I'll start from where I last left off, joining with the new Paladin Consortium wing.
I took my first flights with a few of the uppers of the wing, scouting asteroid belts for pirates in the LFT 37 cluster. What sounded to be nights of monetary profits turned more towards gains of comradery instead. It felt good to be as a brother in arms rather than a guiding angel to fledglings. It certainly bodes well for a future as a Paladin. Though there are several members I do not trust and have gone unproven to be worth my faith. I've already begun machinations to emplace myself into a position of import. There are a lot of rookies, and I'd like to make the wing I'm apart of to be the best in Humanity.
I already took my first step towards that goal with an early wake up call to arms. I got word at last minute of the business occurring in Mapor. It wasn't hard to figure out just where a shipment of "The Galaxies greatest glue" would come from, and I immediately got myself inserted into Zeessze. I met with the commanders leading the Hutton Truckers there, and made contact with my wing. The son of a ultra-mega billionaire, The Galactic Intern was scheduled for training with the cargo haulers in the morning. I took hold of opportunity's window and swung it right open, getting an escort squad of Paladin's finest organized and ready to support Operation ForTheMug. Being so last minute, we were only able to muster six to eight ships. It helped, but wasn't enough for what was to come.
Bedding down for only four hours of sleep in Nicholas Hangar, my alarm roused me to the humming thrall of ships about the station. It was packed. Dozens upon dozens of ships prepared to transport glue and other goods to Mapor. Undoubtedly, it was a multi-faceted operation. The souls in Mapor likely needed the glue, and whatever other goods filled those holds, but even more so, this was an exercise in power and a training for members of their organization and likely whatever other alliances filled in. I attended the commanders briefing and being the only representative of Paladin in on the meeting, I stepped up to take leadership of our participation. Syncing up my comms with the Galactic Intern, I placed myself outside of mass-lock and relayed instructions to my fellows. The moments following with that countdown were eerily still and quiet. No other sounds registered in my mind as that voice counted steadily down. Five... four... thee... I stretched my hand on the controls and re-gripped my throttle... two... one... Chatter in the room erupted in a chorus of "Activate your jump drives" as dozens of wing leaders relayed orders to their commanders. The moment when we all broke Hyperspace was a feeling I'd never felt before. All those dozens of commanders speeding in to a stop around the system's sun. The whole convoy was so seamless. And then they came.
On our fourth or fifth jump, the pirates hit, and they hit hard. We'd been expecting them of course, but there was only so much Paladin wing could do. Their target was quite clearly The Galactic Intern, Taking him hostage would likely be a grand chance for a ransom fit to buy your own station. And as much of a lover of opportunity as I am, I go by a code. And it's to not risk innocent lives, and to protect the same. We set to work, scanning every ship that came near and responding to every call of interdiction. Our methods weren't working, as the Intern's wing got separated from the convoy. We played right into CODE's hand. Yes, CODE. None other than the pirate lords themselves laid claim to pulling him out. I had a lock on their low FSD drops... I don't know what made my system go haywire, but it didn't slow my ship as I approached. By the time I could manually guess my way into dead space, we were too late. I felt ashamed...
But all was not lost. The convoy went back to the management of the leaders of the Hutton Truckers, and kept going strong. We regretfully had to push on to defend them from continued attacks, rather than try to glory hunt. By some miracle, the Intern and his wing caught back up and retook charge. I'll thank my lucky stars that I wouldn't have a corporate billionaire after my head. I jumped ahead and stopped in a station for a fast refit of goods. I wasn't going to let the mistakes continue, and we appropriated ourselves into a more aggressive tactic. Instead of working reactively, the Paladin wing began to move proactively, moving ahead into the advance systems as shock troopers and interdicting pirates before they could hit the convoy. The biggest whirlwind of excitement came when a fully prepared wing of four pirates jumped the gun on us when we jumped in, and both sides dropped into the same deadspace. A full 4 on 4... I never felt more alive than those moments. I was their primary target, and even with chaff shrouding my ship on both sides, my shields did not last long. Fortunately, I had bought my comrades time to focus down on a python. They came to my aid with my hull starting to take hits, and the pirates broke off from me to evade. I swung past them and flipped around, falling into formation to go on the offensive. Beam lasers and cannons both cried out into green shields; strong as they were, they could not hold. The python jumped before we could lay into his vulnerable ship, as did the rest of their wing, save for an unlucky clipper. We all turned quickly onto him and brought down that bubble of protection. He went into a silent running, his ship closing off its heat emissions. The idiot flew straight, hoping to charge for a jump. I could still drop lock and eye my weapons into his rear. So that is what I did... His signal returned as his ship reached critical damage, and I flew over him so he could see my deathly shine in his final moment and know just who consigned him to the void.
Watch me lead Paladin Consortium to victory.
After that, everything went quiet. We rejoined with the convoy as escorts and had no more reports of hostile elements. It made us no less wary, and even as the reports of wings making it safely to dock started to pour in, we maintained a patrol of Mapor in Supercruise for a while longer. The celebration to follow gave real credit to our security detail and secured my place in the Paladin Consortium. The paycheck wasn't much, covering repairs and armament and a few drinks, but the reputation was much more worth it. My name is known now. More doors are open. And I will cross through each of them and bring fate to heel.
As exciting as it all was, I needed time off. I took the time after to investigate a few of my own ends, Rumors of an uprising in President Hudson's space, a station at the outmost reaches of inhabited space with need of haulers and rich rewards, and a rare astral event closer to home. The third I didn't get to, and the first, I've already made my support. I think a couple dozen fewer insurrectionist ships will still be noteworthy enough for Command. The second however... the rewards were just as great as I was told. Millions being offered, just to haul a few tons of tea and silver and such. What I wasn't told was where the hauling would take me. I've already been interdicted by the Imperial Navy on multiple occasions, and they are not happy with my presence. So here I am, making my log in Empire space with a cargo of mining explosives. The hundreds of light years have taxed me, and I really would love that nap. I'll collect the four million when I wake up...
Until my next log, may my swords stay sharp and may I soar on dragon's wings.
Commander Brenner Soriah, signing off.