Journal of Lothair Dupont

[JorgeRyan]

Date: 3/12/738 AGS
Location: Kabuchiko Depot, New Tokyo, Kusari

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Well, here we are again. I've been flying my courier for some time now, making money and friends along the way. Mostly money, but I did meet an.. interesting pilot. They were some gearhead, totally bonkers for racing and talked so fast I don't think I ever actually got their name.... Anyhow, they showed me this base that they run set up in the middle of a dark matter cloud next to a race track they're making inside the cloud. Like, I can understand enjoying the thrill of a race, but in the middle of a highly radioactive and dangerous nebula? Non Merci.

*sighs*

Now I've gone and distracted myself again. But it turns out these guys love Nox, so they invited me to run some over whenever I had free time. They pay pretty decently so I've made a decent bit of credits from that, along with running Munitions and other supplies back to Gallia. Soon I should have enough to set up a fighter to complement my Courier. Although, I'm not yet sure which fighter to get.... There's not many models available in Gallia. I guess that's what you get for having a monarchy-driven monopoly on the market. Well, I better start heading back home, once I find something to haul from the dealers.

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Date: 4/12/738 AGS
Location: Tau-23 system, Border Worlds

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*yawns*

.. just received a message from that racer I mentioned earlier, something about a.. Jump Race Event? In the Baffin system. I told them I'd never been there, so they gave me some quick directions. *yawns again* Despite the brief notice, I was able to grab a few crates of Nox, to help liven up the party, since I'm not sure I'll be in any shape to race with my freighter...

...Well, I've passed though to Tau-29 and the Baffin Jump hole should be just by the Freeport.... Ah there it is... I better wrap this up and get ready to party

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Date: 4/12/738 AGS
Location: Languedoc, Gallia

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Sacrebleu, that was intense. I showed up to this race expected to see a lot of racing ships, and I saw that. What I wasn't expecting to see was so many capital ships. There was 2 Zoner ships, monstrous beasts they were. Along with 2 civilian carriers, not as large but still very impressive. So I hung out with the racers while they went over the rules, handed out a bit of Nox, so hopefully we'll have few new customers. Soon, they were ready to begin the race. Once the explained the Blind Jump aspect of the race, I was quite worried about ending up on the far side of Sirius, with no knowledge of the way home.

Fortunately, very very fortunately, the first jump to us to Languedoc, which I had just passed through on the way to Baffin. It was such a surprise to see Gallia after my fears of getting lost. So with a bit of the home-field advantage, I raced off into the Tau's. This time, despite not being registered as a racer at this point, I decided to see how well I'd do against these guys. I was second to jump into Tau-23, and I knew there was no way I could beat a Light Fighter in terms of pure speed, but with a bit of luck, I thought I could use the trade lane network in Tau-31 to get an edge on the other racers. And wouldn't you know it, but it did.

I made it to the Baffin Jump-hole in Tau-29 just seconds ahead of the next racer, and went through as fast as I could. I knew that I had to make every second count, as they would have the advantage over me for that last sprint to the finish line. But, but but but. I made it. With *seconds* to spare ahead of Maren. However, since I hadn't registered I was unable to claim the prize pool and we had to race again. This time, one of the Zoner's paid for my entry, and we blind jumped to a new system.

This new system was one I wasn't familiar with, but they other competitors told me it was California, one of the systems in the heart of Liberty- Quite the far cry from my home in Gallia. Nonetheless, there was 250 million credits on the line, so I quickly got my bearings and flew to the Cortez Jump-gate. From there I took the lane to Manchester and found a jumphole to Coronado just by the sun there. That dumped in inside an outcropping of the Barrier Nebula, where my scanners quickly picked up an anomaly leading to Baffin, where the finish line was. I hit the acceleration, but one of the other racers, Vertiga, bet me to it. Once on the other side, I tried disrupting their engines, but they made it too far ahead.

I knew that trying to outrace their Arrow wouldn't work, but I had to give it my all and flew on to Shasta Skyhook. I came in second, barely missing out on that 250 million prize, which was disappointing, but, man, was that a fun race. A wee bit after Vertiga and I made it back the other two racers made it to the finish line. Torrio handed out the prize money, and offered me a consolation prize: Free dibs on anything in their supply stock for the Party. Not one to say no to free booze, I asked for a selection of flavors to try. Just as interesting was a Golden Chrysanthemum that was there for the finish the race, who gave me a second consolation prize, Five million credits, which is still a pretty decent reward given my current financial status.

After that, some of the others mentioned heading to the Black Cherry, so I said I'd head back home and freshen up before meeting them there. Speaking of home, I'm almost at Monaco, so I better finish this recording up.

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