Craig's Carefree Chronicles

[kenshin156]

Well, here we are again. Haven't touched this bad boy since what... 12 years?
He says, before blowing the remaining dust off the old book and opening the first blank page he finds to start writing.

So, after what feels like a millenium I finally managed to save up enough money to finally escape my boring office and buy myself a starship. It's been so long since my grandpa Charlie left my sister and me with the words "Please, don't make the same mistakes I did".
I still don't really know, what he meant by that, but I can only assume it was his regret, that he never left the Planet's surface. So that's what I'm sticking with.
Anyway, soon after my purchase of the "Stargazer" I went straight to the bar, got a little celebratory drink and actually grabbed my first job at the same time!
That guy wouldn't leave Erie's orbit without any sort of escort, and he didn't even mind me being a rookie when it comes to space.
So, I follow him out of Erie's Orbit and my god, Space is beautiful. So many stars, the big sun, all the ships flying around in a rush. And not to forget: The gigantic Dreadnought "Overlord" vessel stationed right outside Erie's docking rings. Holy moly, it's majestic. I really still wonder if I can someday get a ship this big on my own.
Anyhow, I escorted the guy a bit from Pennsylvania over to Colorado and then back again to Texas. It was no big deal, really. We got lucky as there were no criminals along the way.
After we were done, he pays me - and I am not kidding - three times more than I earned in a year on Erie!
Needless to say I am suffering the worst of hangovers right now, as I'm writing this, but hell, it was worth it.
I'd better get some water and a big bunch of sleep. But I'll be back, Diary. You be sure of that.

He signs with his initials, lets out a nostalgic sigh and closes the book

[kenshin156]

Sitting in his cockpit, he takes out the diary from under his seat and grabs a pen.

Day 2, back again with my old man's favorite ink pen. I feel years older by the second.
Anyhow, time to write down what's happened after I slept over my hangover.
I only had job offerings in the numerous bars with drunk guys wanting me to kill somebody. But hell, I am not ready for that. Not equipment-wise nor mentally.
So I basically moved around in a circle in New York, going from Tradelane to Tradelane, trying to meet some traders to ask if they wanted an escort for hire.
That's when I noticed someone on my scanners who was registered as hostile to me. But it was no mere criminal. The Liberty Database updated them all for me. Outcasts, Rogues, Lane Hackers, Xenos or gone-rogue Freelancers. But these guys were flying under some flag I've never seen before. The "Order".
And I am incredibly nosy, people around me know that. So what do I do? I follow the readings. Into the badlands. In retrospect that was basically me signing my death sentence. But me still writing here is kind of a spoiler, so I managed, obviously.
So, they were not hostile. They were actually rather friendly. I mean they weren't shining my shoes, but we were on the same level of respect, you could say.
So obviously I wanted to know what these "Order" guys are. But some Hunter Punk - god I hate them - interrupted and called the Navy on them. Apparently they call them "terrorists".
Needless to say, they had to flee, but we organized another meeting near Planet Pittsburgh. Actually I am currently waiting for them as I write this.
They contacted me, saying they're on their way, but it'll take a while because they need to avoid using the tradelanes. Understandable.
So to pass the time I wrote up what happened thus far. I'll use the next page after I've talked with them.
If I don't, they are indeed terrorists and I'm dead or kidnapped. But oh well, my curiosity is too strong for me to not take this opportunity.

He signs with his initials and looks at the scanners, showing 2 red contacts, before he puts his diary back under his seat.

[kenshin156]

His ship set on Auto-pilot to the nearest station, he shakingly grabs his diary and pen.

So my world is kind of all over the place right now. I met up with the Order ships - yeah there was another one - and we had a little conversation about many things. First they asked me about what had happened between the Navy and the Liberty Security Force. Couldn't really tell them much about it, so that was all they asked, really.
However, then came my questions. For starters, the Order are apparently Ex-LSF Agents that left for the far far far far faaaar Omicrons. I didn't really believe the drunks in the bar about being there. I thought they were just some imaginary place to boast about to feel better. Anyway.
These Ex-LSF guys went there because of some things called the "Nomads" who are - apparently - purple, glowing aliens that basically ARE ships. Like ship-sized chunks of purple flesh. These are apparently incredibly agressive and try to kill every human in sight and that's why the Order was founded. They stayed in the Omicrons to keep fighting them.
But apparently they're not the only ones there doing that. There's some with much less humanity in them, but so much more greed and power hunger. And who would've guessed it, these guys called the "Core" are ex-Bounty Hunters. Sound familiar? Greed? Power Hunger? Bounty hunters? Yeah, total punks as always.
Anyways. the bigger threat is these nomads. They seem incredibly powerful and scary, and they do not seem to lower in numbers. Logically the Navy never told the civilians about these things. I mean, I can kind of keep a hold of myself, but I'm kind of scared knowing now. So the mass of civilians could cause a troublesome panic.
But the biggest question I asked was why the Order are being treated like terrorists, when they are basically fighting the fight of humanity. The "simple" answer - which was again mindblowing for me - was, the Assassination of Schultzky. They did that. And they don't make a big fuss about it.
Apparently he was being "controlled" by one of these nomads. But a less than human sized version of one. They can enter a human's body and control them from the inside.
So basically the Order got thrown under the train by the Navy as a scapegoat. What a scummy thing to do.
This is probably the reason I am on my way to the nearest shipdealer right now, to see how much a ship would costs, that can actually survive the Omicrons.
Because, Hell I want to go there! I want to see these nomads myself, the deep and dark Omicrons, the Order and Core. Everything you don't get to know in House space.
You could say, I'm doing my grandpa proud. I'm not only leaving Erie, but also going all the way into space.
If anything interesting happens, the next page will tell. But for now I'll be earning some money.

He signs with his initials, exhales slowly and closes the book

[kenshin156]

Lying in a bed in his rented room on Barrier Gate, he takes his diary and pen

So, it's been about a week, since I wrote in here. Work had me quite busy.
It's incredible, really, how fast things change and I already refer to Freelancing and taking on jobs in various bars as "Work".
Either way, I managed to survive quite well, although it's been a bit close at some points, and earn enough money to purchase a "Saishi" fighter vessel, as well as an Armor Reinforcement Upgrade Mark 2, so things do indeed go a lot smoother than with the "Stargazer". In general, things went quite well. My jobs got me around Liberty and it's surrounding systems a bit, so I am currently staying on Barrier Gate in Coronado. I even managed to rent a fairly comfortable room on the station.

Also the bar has well-paying clients, so I'll probably stick around here for a while longer.
Another nice addition is, that the people in the area are so much nicer and more free in their ways. I met some pilots that helped me settle a "job" involving a Squadron of Lane Hackers.
Apparently they had a personal feud with them as well, so they were happy to give them hell in space. These guys all flew under the same flag.
I came to talk with them a bit more and they are part of a Battlegroup called "Auxesia". They say, they want to save humanity from the nomad threat as well, like the Order. Anyway, once you hear of the Nomads, you can't get rid of them, can you? But apparently the Order doesn't do a very good job at it, hence the founding of their own group.
However, I have to admit, that they do feel much more comfortable to be around, unlike the Order guys I met in New York.
Another thing I noticed about these Auxesia guys is, that they have an immense pallet of ships. Liberty ships, Rheinland ones, Borderworlds and what-not.
They even have a bloody Liberty Dreadnought! I didn't think they'd let one out of their own hands. But as it turns out, they actually didn't.
I didn't ask much, because that ship is hella huge and could wipe me out in an instant, so I kept myself from prying.
But it seems as though the Navy has asked, demanded and fought to get it back. Which they failed, obviously.
Anyway, because the Auxesians had some important business, or at least it seemed so, I didn't bother them for more help on jobs.
I only took one other job in which I got lightly injured. Not much, just a pinched leg. After the last guy blew up in the vacuum of space and I took a breather, a lone mine that hadn't yet found its target hit me from the side and threw me off my seat, with my right leg in a rather unfortunate location. So, I just flew slowly back to Barrier Gate, ordered my room and now I'm here. Logically after I hit the med-bay. I'm confident though, that this journey is just at the start and it's gonna get so much better.

He signs with his initials, puts the book on his nightstand and rolls over to sleep