22/07/828 - It was some time since we have roamed deeper into the Omicrons. Courier and scouting tasks led us mostly into the House space to ferry important passengers and cargo between allied and even neutral installations.
But current situation changed a little bit. There have been some tensions rising into the Omicrons with the collapse of the old Core structure and re-emergence of the new Core taskforces - which, amusingly enough, even managed to exchange few live salvos with their Liberty benefactors according to some rumors.
I have been tasked with several recon patrols within the Omicrons to find out if there any large movements with which we should be concerned about. While I haven't found anything interesting to report to my superiors so far, I have stumbled upon a strange space installation in more remote Omicrons.
The station itself appears to be some sort of remote observatory used by explorers some time ago. While its life supports hasn't been functioning at all - it was far from being abandoned. I have detected several unmanned vessels of unknown configuration buzzing around the installation. As they appeared far from harmless, I have decided to keep my vessel at longer distance and powered down weapons just to not provoke them further.
I can't help myself but be fascinated by them. While I have robots onboard my vessel to lessen the crew workload - even after the vessel's reconstruction they will be far from this level of sophistication. We will monitor EM frequencies and their patters for anything remotely useful with our - well, my - little project.
Well, another system after Kepler where I cannot help myself but witness wonders of Sirius.
05/08/828, 2000 - We finally rebuilt the cruiser and headed out for our first trial course. I have loaded up my vessel with spare parts and supplies just in case something unexpected happens, although I will do my best to avoid any hostile confrontation if I can. Our automated gunnery systems are connected to the main gunnery console, but some of our guns are misaligned slightly, which means that our accuracy would sub par. Our damage control also isn't in top shape yet, as robotic crewmen get confused when too many orders are issued. My technicians are working on this problem, but it hasn't been solved yet.
During our first trials - we tested vessel's maneuverability. As we removed a lot of mass from its central hangar position and moved to the bow and stern, vessel is eager to respond to helm's instruction, but is prone for overturning with extra inertia. Vessel is also more stern heavy and variable thruster nozzles have more control authority than maneuvering thrusters at the bow. We will need adjust thickness of our armor plating to compensate - armor plating around non-essential areas at the stern will be reduced to save-up mass and move it to reinforced plating at the central and bow areas.
More issues come with primary propulsion. The most notable are vibrations through lower central area of the vessel. While the hull flexing was mostly mitigated - we had to install additional ultrasound detectors into the hangar structure to search for any developing faulty lines for future adjustments.
Vibrations are still the issue - while they are manageable when at impulse speed, afterburners increase them significantly and vibrations are noticeable by human ear. However, the biggest issue shows up when we engage cruise drive. Vibrations are so severe, that they are noticeable by human legs in insulated boots and they are hazard for any snubcraft stored in there. As long as we do not solve these vibrations, hangar space is unusable for anything larger than probes or lifeboats, as their smaller size allows them to be suspended from the ceiling for protection. So far, proposed solution will be insulating engine's vibration from the main hull or installing less rattling engines. We will see, what is more feasible for us.
MNS Amalfi on its shakedrown cruise through Omicron Alpha.
These trials have been conducted in the safety of Omicron Alpha as we were cruising or impulsing around the system and taking our internal measurements for further evaluation.
LOST IN STORM
06/08/828, 0100 - Complications came, when we have decided to test our new Jump Drive from Starfliers. They are so nice that they provided several coordinates free of charge to test our engine and we have decided to input Starflier Base in Kepler coordinates and spool up our drive. To their credit, engine charged up flawlessly and actual jump was smooth as well. However, our Jump Drive was fed up with unsynchronized inertial navigation system and we landed up somewhere in Dark Matter Storm with no idea where we are exactly.
We have received several power blackouts through the vessel and we were struck by storm's lightnings, but nothing serious. If anything, it really spooked my less experienced crew. While our critical systems are intact and functioning, we need to set up our inertial navigation system correctly in order to have precise jump coordinates. With lack of navigational features in Black Matter Storm, however, we are unable to pinpoint are precise location. While we can engage our jump drive again and hope for the best, it is probably not adviseable with unreliable vessel as Amalfi at this moment.
MNS Amalfi lost in Dark Matter Storm. We have cruised for several hours in hopes of finding any navigation feature or signal to pinpoint our location.
While we have supplies for several months, heavy radiation will brick our ship and claim our lives much faster. My chief technician came up with an idea, that we can use our quantum computers to calculate most probable coordinates of our vessel based on our most probable vector and point of origin from Omicron Alpha. I have no idea what he is talking about, but I am willing to give him the time he needs to try his solution before I fire up our jump drive randomly again.
11/10/828, 0550 - We finally managed to calculate our position. Although we were unable to locate any stars or navigable bodies in the dark storm, with the help of my navigating officer we measured several points in empty space far apart with our detail, giving us enough data to determine our position.
Surviving the radiation storm proved to be much more complicated. The crew had to leave the outer parts of the ship and we had to survive in a much smaller area for several long weeks. It was difficult and it cost us a lot of nerves, but in the end we managed. I think all of us still received a good dose of radiation, fortunately our stronger physiology can handle it - at least according to our doctor. Even so, we used up all our medical supplies as we had to nurse the few engineers who had to go out of the living section to the outer sections and repair the radiation damaged systems.
We're about to re-ignite our rift-drive back to Omicron Alpha. I'd like to make sure everything goes smoothly, but we know next to nothing about this drive so its readings could anything. We can't wait much longer anyway.
29/10/828, 1200 - Our calculations proved correct, but there was still a very significant deviation from our planned position. There were several error messages and errors on the control panel of our 'Rift Drive', presumably the synchronization with our navigation computer did not go quite as planned. As soon as we have a chance, we will have the drive adjusted by Starfliers just to be sure and run further tests.
MNS Amalfi on its way from the edge of the Omicron Alpha star system.
I think we have arrived at the right time, some of the crew were beginning to show faint signs of prolonged separation from Malta and the higher doses of Cardamine were no longer helping. If we had stayed in that Dark Matter Storm any longer, it could have cost us several lives - or all of us, had a similar incident repeated itself after the second ignition of the 'Rift Drive'.
Fortunately, we did not land in any fog or storm and managed to find an accurate course to Malta. It took us a few days to get home, but compared to the weeks in Dark Matter Storm, it is nothing. We took advantage of the free time and prepared for a full crew leave once we were safely docked on Valletta again.
The ship is awaiting a full diagnostic and decontamination from radiation and we will all take a month off to recuperate in Malta, those more seriously burned by radiation can take even longer. There is no hurry at the moment.
12/11/828 to 05/01/829 - We finally made it to Planet Malta. I left my ship at Valletta for a complete inspection, repair, rearmament and other partial tasks. As the ship currently remains in only one location and is unmanned, this entry will be somewhat different.
Although I had originally planned only an one month leave, it was the end of the year that finally made me decide to extend it to two months and give the engineers on Valletta more time and give all of us a time to reconnect with our loved ones and relatives. Another undeniable advantage will be that the more exposed crew members will have time to recover in time for our next trip.
Countryside around my residence was charming as always.
I cannot remember the last time I was home with my family for this long - two whole, almost undisturbed months. I have to admit that after such a long time, I really started to miss Malta, even though I have not yet noticed any physiological symptoms of a long stay off-planet.
My residence was right where I left it and still pleasantly cosy thanks to the year-round stay of the staff there even during my absence. And I have to admit, it was worth leaving them there even when I was not here - the exterior walls were newly white plastered and the villa also got larger, much more pleasant large windows with a golden exterior coating to reflect heat radiation away.
The interior has also seen a few changes and has been newly clad in several types of varnished wood for colour variety and cosiness. I arrived just in time to arrange for a few changes to my bedroom, living room and my study. We spent about a week moving printed books and data tapes into my new library, making room in the south studio for more sculptures.
Family matters accomplished several changes. It was pleasant news to me that the ties between my clan and the smaller Rizzo clan were cemented by the marriage of my cousin to their youngest son. The wedding was sure to be spectacular and it did not surprise me in the least, for the last ten years my father had done his best to tie the lesser clans to us to strengthen our position. Everyone in the family knows he wants to become one of the Dons, even though he vehemently denies it. To do so, however, he will need more than just expanding our extended family as the attack on Rochester forced us to give up some of our market share in Cardamine, cutting the last twenty years of steady growth because of the whole affair.
Who knows if I will want to get back on my boat after two months here. I may not have my full place here due to the fact that I usually spend my time among the stars, but I can immerse myself in my hobbies once again - especially my piano playing - without any restrictions for these two months.
23/05/829 - I have made it. I have secured a new business deal for Malta with the Xenos, a business deal which will make our product flow even more and give us more blackmarket channels than we had before and give us some leverage on the Rogues, the Junkers and possibly even the Xenos once the money start flowing.
There have been no complications so far, although I suspect some on the horizon when the Rogues will find out about it as they will eventually as a secret like this can not be hidden for too long in Liberty. We can only hope that it will happen when the alternate route will be fully operational.
I have no regrets concerning this matter as it was a natural choice after all those incidents with the Rogues. I am not even the first Maltese who was thinking about this deal, yet I am the first one who actually sealed the deal. I have received some warning about dealing with the Xenos, most notably from Eliza Valdez who has more experience with the Xenos and their leader than me. I have taken her hints into a wider consideration as I cannot afford to do any major mistakes now. I feel Dons watching my every move.
I have made sure to spent my time with my family well before I left for Liberty as it may be the last time I have seen them as some Dons were rather threatening. As the classic would say - I have crossed my Rubicon and there is no way back now.
The Amalfi and my crew are now stationed near Liberty as we have found suitable hidden spot in Ontario and Texas, where we monitor our traffic through deployed probes along the way and our two scout fighters while concealing our already reduced signature in the nearby wreckage. Everything looks promising so far, yet there have not been any real challenge for this whole operation yet. Size of my vessel is becoming an issue in here as I have only four fighters available for me in total.
MNS Amalfi hiding its signature in a temporary hiding spot near the station's wreckage in Ontario.
The Xenos and their attitude towards us are the issues, but there have not been any open hostility towards my men running the shipments yet. Time will tell if they can become a more useful intermediary for our operations in Liberty or not, right now it is just a business, nothing more.
I am already missing Malta now as Liberty makes little to no sense to me.
