Samuel Knight: The Escape

[Nightstar221]

Neural Net Log of Samuel J. Knight, ensign of the Liberty Navy

Name: Samuel Jared Knight

Age: 31, Born 788 AS

Birthplace: Freeport 4, Magellan System

Gender: Male

Height: 5 Feet, 7 Inches

Weight: 185 Pounds

Relatives: None alive or On Record, rumors of sibilings never confirmed

Previous Fields of Work: The Order, Freelancer, Navy Pilot

Experience: Fighter Pilot, Rifleman, Sharpshooter, Gunslinger




Date-Some time in 819 A.S.:

Entry 1:

I did it. After all I've been through I've become one of the Liberty Navy! I hope I can live up to the requirements set before me, but if the test wasn't hard, I should be good out here. My piloting experiences should help me, though I have been out of practice lately. I hope dear ol' dad is proud of me. But I digress, the navy's tech is impressive! I won't go into details, for the random chance someone might hack into this log like they did with my navy application, call me paranoid. It amazes me how Liberty has not won the war with Rhienland yet.

Entry 2:

I took down my first known bogey! This one was a toughy, he was pirating a freighter in New York no less. I managed to give him a chase and take him down. I hope its this easy from here on out, I almost lost to him.

Entry 3:

Impressive! I was taken down by a pirate! They were close to killing me, luckily my escape pods worked and I got back to a navy capital ship in time for medical and a new ship. A pilot is worth more than the ship he flies, especially if he makes it out alive.

Entry 4:

I can't believe it. I lost another ship to a pirate. I can't keep going down like this! Not only is it costing command money to get me a new ship, but it also increases the chances my escape pod will not work! I need to find some way to train.

Entry 5:

I signed up for weekly training, but I haven't received word yet on when or where its going to be. I hope the next domestic disturbance can pop up after I get this training.

Entry 6:

I think I'll do a ground patrol on Manhattan, see if I can pick up scum there. My piloting may be out of date, but I can still shoot, and with deadly accuracy. Shooting is one thing I did not give up on between my time as a freelancer and my navy life. You know what? I think I'll take a copy of this log, just in case something goes wrong.



The following entries take place several months after Entry 6.



Entry 7:

Wow... It's been a long time... too long... I need to jot this down to add to my life's story. Reading these past logs has made me nostalgic, but I can update them with this entry. That ground patrol I did led me into a building deep within the industry section of Manhattan, after asking around about a local ring of drug lords, rogues, outcasts, you name it. Nothing I couldn't handle. Of course, I've never handled a surprise attack of neural gas either. They captured me, they found my ship, confiscated personal equipment, and interrogated me. Tortured info out of me about the navy. I gave them non of it, and my neural net logs didn't give them anything either, a good call by me.

They were going to execute me when they felt they no longer needed me, and as I was staring down the barrel, a rival gang of pirates and druggies came in and started wrecking the place. I managed to get free of my binds and used my hand-to-hand training (that I neglected to mention that my father had taught me along with shooting) to break free. These were just basic thugs, a gang of punks that think they are almighty when they get a hold of a controlled substance to capture a navy officer. I fought around until I found my stuff they confiscated, including my neural net log copy. Unfortunately I They were almost cowering as I fought my way out of the building, and thats all there was to it. I fought, with fists to guns, and survived in a 100% hostile environment. This is the second time I've had to do such a thing since the raid that killed my parents all those years ago.

I found a transport back to the good part of Manhattan, and from there I used only looted pirate money to hitch a ride to Planet Erie, and got a small job, enough money to get a new ship, and plugged my neural net copy in to make this entry.

Entry 8:

I dug up some old navy communications from a few weeks after I was captured. I still know the code to some of the older stuff at least. Apparently I was on the list of several navy pilots who were in danger of being put on reserve, or worse, due to lack of duty time. Heh. Given that it was only a few weeks, I wonder how they would respond to a month of being missing? Would they court-martial me for desertion? Did they list me MIA? Would they believe me if I told them that some lucky pirates captured me and interrogated me for months? What proof would I have? My navy issued ship is gone, and all they would have to go on is this neural net log, which can always be seen as fabricated by a spy for the Rhienland government.

Who the hell knows? I think I'm just going to lay low for awhile. Maybe they'll notice me one day and recognize me from months ago, offering me a place back in. That would be great. I wish it were simple like that, after all I've been through. After all I've been through...that's what it says in my first entry, doesn't it? It has only been months, but it feels like a lifetime. Why now? I was going to have a great time fighting the most powerful house in Sirius, and this one thing keeps me from it all. I must not give up hope, I'm not one to give up. Never had been. I've made it this far, I can go further. Much further.