Defending the Delta

[Sombs]

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These log entries are created in secret and aren't available to any other entity.

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Log - Ezrael Vertiga

My shoulder is way better now. Before he left, Oke Westphalen treated it with a dermal regenerator and synthetic skin transplants. It looks a bit weird for now, since the fake skin doesn't match exactly my skin colour, but that will change in a while. Although, it still hurts. Maren has a talent for touching that shoulder accidentally very often. I hope that didn't affect my mood too much.

The repairs are about to be finished, and the Apahanta already left the Livadia shipyards. We followed McCool's invitation to Omega-49, to hide there, away from the Core. For now, it worked so far. Only "a few" ships saw us on the radar. Like the Kongou...

I still have trouble understanding it. There's a nomad onboard on it, called Reena. It contacted me using a more vision-like way of telepathy while we were on the opposite side of the Omega-47 system. Isn't that a scaring thought? It's only one nomad, very different from most of the others, and still it was able to detect me over a distance of more than 55 kilometers. It called me, asked me to join the fun. Literally. It asked me about my intentions and what I think about the nomads. Again, those dialogues feel... one-sided. They ask, I answer. Like the mind melding with the nomad called Sovereign. Whenever I do the questions, their answers, in all of a sudden, are way more metaphorical than the questions they ask. A typical nomad behavior. I don't like it.

I had to interrupt the meeting when a PRIME unit, Progenitor, arrived in 47. The less information it could collect about us, the better it is.

And then there was the Red Witch.

I don't know what to think about her. The first time she saw the Apahanta, she threatened us in Omicron Delta. The second time, she watched the Apahanta and some other Core ships defending Yaren right before a corsair fleet attacked us. The third time was during the mind melding with Sovereign, when she mostly talked to Ivan Brannigan, when he was Apahanta's Second in Command. I hope he will return to a normal life in Liberty, now that he left the Apahanta with the others.
And now, Red Witch appeared in Omega-49, right as Nancy launched from Gran Canaria. The Apahanta left the nebula it was hiding itself in to make the docking easier for her, as Maren wasn't there that time. As I saw the Witch on the radar, a horrible chill went down my spine. As far as I knew, that girl was a bloodthirsty maniac, and she was working for the Sirius Coalition Revolutionary Army. Bad combination. So I was about to activate the cruise engines, heading for Nancy's Serval, as Red's ship disappeared, engaging cloak. The Apahanta stopped, Nancy came closer as I warned her about her. Red reappeared right above the Apahanta, just commenting it with a quiet "Boo." and flying around to not get targeted by our turrets. She didn't open fire, but intercepted Nancy as she came closer to us, then Red warned her about me. Funny.

The situation calmed down a bit, and I found out that Nancy and Red - or Silver Reaver, or Kall, as Nancy told me - knew each other from the past. Red knew about that Steve-guy, that caused the damage Nancy is suffering from. After threatening the Apahanta a few more times, Nancy seemed to manage to convince the Witch I'm not her enemy, telling her about the defection and our current motives. At least, about what she knew and her opinion on it. In the end, Red seemed to actually have a heart, somewhere beyond her thick rough killer shell. She told us that we can call her if we need some guns on our side. While I don't think I want to meet her in person yet, I think she was serious about it, obviously caring about Nancy in her rudimentary way. When Nancy told me more about her, I was surprised to hear that Red already a mother. I mean... the rare moments when she didn't smoke a cigar, threatening me with an angry expression, she actually looked somewhat... I don't know, cute? Although she has a funny way of talking, calling me and my ship Coffin, Cupcake and Nancy kiddo. I hope Maren doesn't start to call me Cupcake as well.

Now that Nancy and Maren are, well, more or less something I'd call a family, I should be a bit more respectful to both of them. Both girls aren't what I'd call mental stable, and it worries me. I'm afraid I can't make them happy without reaching my own goals. I mean, we grow closer to each other day by day, and I'm happy with Nancy and Maren feeling comfortable on the Hoffnungsschimmer. They enjoy the expensive foods, the clean water and all, and now that I have those Kishiro Service Robots - something I really should have bought way earlier! - living on the Corvo is surprisingly comfortable. I'd never thought I wouldn't miss Curacao that much. But I guess that's just because things keep me occupied. The repair and cleaning of the Apahanta, programming the robotic crew, trying to stay informed about the things happening in Sirius, decyphering intercepted messages... and of course, enjoying my time with Maren. I didn't know how much I really missed her during the week on Livadia. I mean, she sent me some pictures of her, including some dirty messages. She said it was Nancy's idea, but I don't know if I should believe it. She acts like she is prude, but she actually knows how to do things better than I expected.

And she's so funny. I'm really glad to have her. Although, it's about to be a bit... weird. I had a conversation with Nancy yesterday, first about that Red Witch, then about her feeling uncomfortable sleeping alone, and of course, in a joking manner, I offered her once again a threesome. But her reaction was a bit more serious, as she told me she doesn't want to hurt Maren. In the end, it was very obvious that both of us are, well, quite attracted to each other. I guess I have to take even more cold showers in the future. What I have with Maren is serious. Not like what I had with all the girls on Curacao or the bars of the Core bases before. I don't want to ruin it. I won't. It's not like I can't handle this, however, it's very tempting. I wonder if women do have it easier when it comes to such things...

Probably not.

Maren was a bit, well, mad at me when I was with her last time. Yesterday in the morning. Right after I talked to Nancy about cardamine. Maren accidentally told her about all the advantages it brings, but she regreted it instantly, so she asked me to talk to Nancy about that again. I mean, she's an adult girl. She can do whatever she wants. But I was able to convince her to not do cardamine, at least for now. Told her about that true happiness comes from within, and that she try to enforce her exile by taking it. I remember how depressed Maren was in the first days I met her, even though she took cardamine on a regular basis. That wasn't enough. What made her happy was... well, being with me, and winning Nancy as a friend.

Anyway. Maren was mad at me in her typical passive-agressive manner for me being stubborn about the Apahanta. She asked me to sell it, gaining back all the money I invested into the Apahanta and the Core... she doesn't want me to be a captain of a warship, not believing I'd be able to avoid battles. Maybe she's right. Sirius is a small place, sometimes. And a battleship will probably easier to find than a group of smaller ships and the Hoffnungsschimmer. But, it's not that easy. I've gone too far. There is no point of return, at least for me. The Core will hunt me, and I prefer to sit in a battleship when that happens, and not being half-naked riding a surf board on Curacao. It's too late for that, although I think we will still be able to visit some places without being paranoid.

I accidentally intercepted a message from Thallia Thorn. That poor girl. I bet she has quite a history. I don't know who was supposed to get that message, but I was actually able to decypher it to a certain point. Something about a K'vosh artefact and that she's trapped. However, when I asked her to come to Omega-49, since she wanted to talk with me, she agreed on it. So, now we're waiting for her to arrive, while I programm the KSRs. Time consuming, but fairly easy, once you got into it.

Whatever...

I hope Maren is in better mood today. We're having a pyjama party with Nancy later, since she doesn't want to sleep alone. So she will sleep in our room. The bed is big enough, since it reaches from one edge of the room to the other. Well, when I bought it, I was about to have a fun night with some girls...

Damn, I can't say I'm not proud of those times. They were different. Can't say if they were better, though.

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