Jacob Orine and the Cartographers

[Thexare]

(//If you read this, please provide feedback. While I'm not new to RPing, I'm relatively new to it here. This'll also tie into a future faction proposal.)

Personal Log of Jacob Orine
Entry 1: "A Little Background Info"
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If something should happen to me, give this log to Alyssa Menaris. I trust her to know how to properly handle it; future entries may be considerably more sensitive information.

This is to explain my background, before the Cartographers and their ties to the Order.

When I was young, my parents moved rather frequently. From Manhattan to New London, to Leeds and then Denver. I hated it, I kept losing all my friends, had to learn my way around a new place, and never even knew why we had to move so much. I still don't know. And yet, when I finally started living on my own... I couldn't stay still. I had no friends to keep me around, and like any rebellious teen wasn't getting along with my parents, so why not explore, see the universe, maybe find a cute Kusari girl. Well, even now I'm not sure exactly how one goes about becoming a Zoner. I don't recall filling out any paperwork, and I certainly don't wear a uniform, so I can't pinpoint exactly when I "became" a Zoner.

I was never much interested in combat. I spent much of my piloting days in a Starblazer, which I definitely didn't pick for its weapon systems. However, every once in a while a misguided Rheinland pirate - or that's what I thought they were - would take a few too many shots at me and I'd have to fight back. I saw some old Vipers for sale in Rheinland, as a small mercenary squad was replacing theirs with the more powerful Viper MkII, and purchased it in the interest of self-defense. I even got the old equipment; apparently, these mercenaries had worked with Zoners in the past. Now, the Zoners are a very individualistic faction, there's no command structure or anything like that, so working with one doesn't mean you worked with all of us, but I wasn't about to argue with free gear.

I never knew how grateful I would be for that Sunslayer.

Like I said, there's no real command structure ruling over the Zoners, but every once in a while a few band together. A few fellow Zoners and I started such a group, we called ourselves the Cartographers. I was picked as the leader. We were explorers, seeking to map the entire Sirius sector. A good enough cause, I felt, and certainly one that shouldn't upset anyone.

Well, things went pretty nicely in the beginning. Alyssa Menaris located a prototype Kusari weapon somewhere in the Taus, Lloyd Black and I recovered a lost shipment of medical supplies near Liberty, and we all rather thoroughly mapped Liberty, Kusari, Rheinland, and Bretonia, as well as a decent portion of the Taus and Omegas.

Then we went into the Omicron systems. I had heard the rumors of bizarre blue spacecraft, of hostile alien life, but like most people, I dismissed it as fear and superstition. Alyssa hadn't, that's why she was flying a bomber. The five of us - me, Alyssa, Gordon Roemer, Lloyd, and Mark Harris - entered Omicron Minor... Now I know where the fear comes from; the first thing we saw was a massive blue battleship. The second thing we saw was a slightly less massive blue gunship. The third thing... well, you get the idea. And all of them were indeed quite hostile. We attempted to evade them, but we were unable to escape. Then, some more ships appeared on my scanners. Bombers from the Order, along with a squad of fighters. The aliens - Nomad is the common name for them - quickly shifted their focus to the Order, and then I had to make a choice. I could lead the Cartographers away from this fight, possibly leaving those Order pilots to die... or I could lead them into the fight, and risk our deaths.

I still remember the decision, those words ring out clearly in my mind to this day.

"Cartographers, ATTACK!"

The Order's angle of approach left the Nomad ships completely surrounded. No escape for them. And with the bombers, myself, and Alyssa destroying the battleship, they lost their only advantage. We destroyed them all. The Order pilots thanked us for the help, and led us back to Toledo for repairs. In thanks for our help, the Order told us about the Nomads in greater detail, and gave Alyssa one of their antimatter guns.

But what we had learned of the Nomads worried us greatly. Clever, sneaky creatures whose actions seemed to indicate some sort of grudge specifically against humans. Some among the Order believed that the Nomads considered us trespassers, and wanted us not just removed from Sirius, but exterminated entirely. They are uninterested in negotiation - or perhaps simply incapable of it. Worse, they're capable of somehow controlling people, such as the Rheinlanders known as The Wild (the ones who kept attacking me). We were warned not to reveal too much of that information, for fear of the panic it might cause and the risks of associating too closely with the Order.

Well, I wasn't about to join the Order, but I wanted to do something to protect people, and maybe guide Liberty and the Bounty Hunters Guild away from using Nomad technology and potentially becoming more of the Wild. And we had the perfect way to do it, too; we were an established exploration team with strong ties to the Zoners, so few would interfere with our continued journeys. We could look for undiscovered systems that the Nomads might be hiding in, so the Order can focus on known Nomad bases and protecting Toledo. And for that reason, we went to great lengths to strengthen our group's alliance with the Order, to the point where we could almost be considered part of the Order. I must emphasize "almost"; we're still Zoners, we just do a lot to help the Order with recon.

Lloyd wasn't exactly thrilled about the prospect of fighting more of those aliens. I couldn't blame him; they're powerful, dangerous enemies, and I hold no grudge against him for backing down from this fight. The rest, however, agreed to stay. And I believe that's all that really has to be said, everything else is known to the entire organization.