The Stormclaw Journal

[thisDerius]

8.-10.8.823.A.S.

---

So... where do I even begin? Ah, yes—the assassins in my own home.

Waking up to several bloodthirsty murderers trying to carve me up wasn't exactly a great start to the day. I managed to deal with them, but that only led to an even bigger problem: the entire station was suddenly after me for "disturbing the peace." Right. Like I was supposed to sit there and let them gut me. With no time to argue my case, I grabbed my gear, jumped into my old Stargazer, and hightailed it to Heisenberg. I needed to rearm and reequip, and, thankfully, no one seemed to be tailing me. My research, my investigation—months of work—had just gone up in flames. But at least I managed to salvage the most important data onto my hard drive. That was something, at least.

The good news? I had enough information to track her down. Finding her wouldn't be the hard part. Getting her to talk? That was another story.

---

After fully outfitting my beautiful Falchion with better equipment, I made my way to Liberty. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea, but I told myself, “What the hell? Let’s do this.” My first stop was Barrier Gate. No luck. Dead ends, vague rumors, and people who either didn't know or didn't care.

Then I remembered: she had some kind of connection with Hellfire. And if Hellfire was involved, Kansas was the place to check. So I headed there. It didn’t take long before I was intercepted by one of the Hellfire pilots. After introducing myself and asking about her whereabouts, I got nothing but stone-cold silence. Loyal little bastard. But no matter—there are always other ways.

---

Frustrated, I returned to Freeport 4, hoping she might reach out first. That hope didn’t last long. I knew she wasn’t going to contact me on her own. So I took the direct approach and went looking for the pilot who told me to wait.

Luck finally turned in my favor. I ran into a few high-ranking Auxesian officers. Unlike the Hellfire lackey, they actually gave me something useful: a way to contact her. Not wanting to take any chances with more assassins on my trail, I needed a place to lie low. California Minor. No one goes there willingly, which made it the perfect hiding spot—for a day or two, at least.

With my comm channel secure, I set up a new encryption—F.A.N.G. I like the name. Has a nice ring to it.

Then, the moment of truth. I opened the channel: "Greetings, Raven..."

---

Her response was almost immediate, and of course, she was laughing her ass off. But at least she was listening. That was progress. I laid out my proposal, gave her my terms. Now, all I can do is wait for her answer.

While waiting, I decided to keep myself occupied. Ended up assisting some of her allies—Freelancers and a few others—against bounty hunters and some Navy boys. A full-on skirmish, complete with a damn Dreadnought. It went south fast. We were all shot down.

But once again, luck was on my side. I masked my pod, drifted my way to Los Angeles, and managed to get a new ship from an old dealer I knew.

So, here I am. Still alive. Still waiting.

Let’s see where this leads.