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

I can't sleep right now. I tried, but I ended up rolling around in bed, which annoyed Maren, so I left the bed, put on some clothes and walked around. Cuddled with Mittens, then sat in a lounger at the pool, then walked around at the beach. Decided to go over to the beach bar, had a good laugh with some people there, a small drink, then walked around at the beach again when the girls started to show their interest and now I'm sitting in the Bishamon. I'd prefer to be on the Apahanta right now and do this, far away from any potential infectee that listens to me, but in the end, I don't really care anymore.

I believe it is somewhat after two in the morning now. Turned the lights off, otherwise the cockpit of this damn GMG gunship is way too shiny. Everything white, it's very unpleasing to the eye. The Cortez clusters are shining, it's a nice sight from here. I love this view. It is unique. There is no planet anywhere out there that has this beautiful night sky. A horrible shame this night sky might be filled with debris of warships in near future. Since Gallia is now in Cortez, things have changed on Curacao. Less visitors, less population. People are fleeing to Baden Baden and Liberty, some even up to Kusari and Rheinland. Orbital is keeping things under control here, even with less people around. It's not like there is a panic or a lack of supplies. Yet I wouldn't really like to see Gallia showing up here. A matter of time it is, sadly. I'm not sure if I am still up to defend the planet. They might take it as an invitation to bombard this world.

In fact, I met some gallic people in the last two months. I mean, I met a lot of them already in various situations, some even here on Curacao. I even had gallic women already, which was a funny experience because of the language barrier. Most interesting was however my encounter with the Marine Royale Gauloise. I guess I need to start a little way back to make sense of this.

All of this started with the Titanic, a Bustard-class carrier we found in Omicron Chi during drone recon. With certain efforts we pulled that abandoned ship out of the system, out of the nomads' nest. We brought it to Livadia for repairs and salvaging. There was a lot of interesting stuff on the ship. Plans for new battleship weapons we later produced in the workshop, a jump drive that caused the Titanic to land in Chi and doomsday weapons: NEMP torpedos. Investigating the circumstances and connections, we found out more about the Titanic, the former crew and everything.

The ship was about to deliver those things from a smuggling facility in Poole to a Vault station in the orbit of Planet Baltrum in Sigma-15. We found that smuggling base in Poole following the logs of the Titanic, explored that base. It was attacked days ago, abandoned and in critical condition. So we salvaged what we could, just to find more valuable stuff for the Apahanta. To a certain degree, I'm pretty much in love with how powerful the Apahanta now is. Upgraded cloaking device, jump drives, new weaponry and even weapons of mass destruction. Suddenly we have something that could make people think twice about attacking us.

I made a mistake when we left the smuggling station, though. I deleted the database of the station after having copied it to the Apahanta, but I didn't delete the security recordings of the time when the Apahanta was around the station. That lead to MRG contacting us. The first contact was a failure, since all I was confronted with was one threat after another, by a gallic general. Then later, I stumbled over this Core broadcast about a Vault station. It was pretty much what we expected to be the final destination of all the stuff that was supposed to be delivered to by the Titanic from the station in Poole. Very nice but welcomed coincidence. Knowing my... friends, Eliza Valdez and Enma Loyola, were in influental positions within the Core, I dared contacting them. In the end, we got an agreement. A trade, and a gamble.

Long story short, it turned out that Core, MRG and I had the solution to the puzzle about the Vault.

And so we cracked the Vault open. I had the key to it, the Talisman. A little ship that was in the hangar of the Titanic. It was the only ship able to enter the defensive perimeter of the Vault without getting shot at. Literally the key. So I found myself on the station, whitelisting MRG and Core to be able to dock with the Vault as well. I ended up with Core and MRG troopers left and right from me and we explored the station. It was... interesting. I met the new Supreme Guildkeeper Nathan Archos and some Gallic representants. Kept my mouth shut most of the time to not interfere with Core and Gallia in this very peculiar instance. Guess the Guildkeeper heard about my, let's say, achievements on Yaren during my time within the Core, so he didn't allow me to get closer to the nice female gallic captain. Bloated ego, of course, but very nice curves. Gallic women...

The Vault had some internal defense measures ready to deal with us, but the marines of MRG and Core took care of everything. Our main enemy was time, as the Vault was destabilizing. Some very dumb gallic person had the idea to use Valor combat tactics in miniature format, blasting open doors with explosives, making the entire station shiver. We only got to pilfer the stuff from one of the four giant storage bays, the others were rendered inaccessible when the station started to break apart, destroying the content of the storages in big explosions. Whatever was in there, it was very explosive.

The results of the operation were mainly positive. I believe I left a positive impression on MRG. And a very positive one on the Core. I have to admit, some of the Guildkeepers are very pragmatic. Nathan Archos seems to be reasonable, Martin McKinsey of APM was also only interested in cooperation and Guildkeeper Jack Daniels seemed slightly impressed by the entire story about the Apahanta. A cool guy. Obviously, not everyone was welcoming me like they did. I recently met Luke Shaw, a Mako Captain of the primary fleet. Apparently Luminary. He seemed to be well informed about the details of the defection, which makes me believe some of the people who fled during the staged attack by Auxesia made it alive to the Core. Which is... I didn't expect it. Either that or someone of my current crew is a mole. Horrible thought, but I have started an investigation on it.

Being reminded of the day of the defection was weird. Suddenly, all the pictures were there again. I believe certain impressions are starting to nag on me, and maybe it is why I have problems to sleep recently. I can't really talk with Maren about it, because I never really told her what happened on the Apahanta during the defection. I only told Elena, and I made her believe I made that story up to scare her.

...

Long story short: I am good with the Core again. We're currently negotiating about the new treaty of cooperation. Having to deal with Cordelia Lyell is always rather exhausting. Petulant burocrat. Sadly also a very influental person with excellent combat skills. War granny. The Apahanta is upgraded and ready to defend itself from any foe. Which would be, right now, only the Lane Hackers, and passively both Order and Corsairs. I think I need to stay out of the war with Gallia, now that they have reached Cortez. Any escalation of that war could result on a bombardement of my homeworld. That is the last thing I want to see happen. Curacao has a good protective atmosphere, sucking up most artillery shots before they could reach populated landmasses, but I really don't want to know whether Gallia has alternative weaponry ready for those cases. Like cruisers with planetary bombardement cannons or some bullcrap like that.

Right now, I try to lay low. I know who I can ask for help if needed. Turns out the Forlorn Hope likes me more than I expected. Apparently I left a good impression with them, so they asked me whether I was interested in taking care of one of their research ships, the Athena. I have no idea what to do with that ship, I surely won't use it as new home ship. If anything, I believe the Apahanta is my new home, looking at how much time I spent on her the last months. Feels like I totally neglected Maren and Nancy, to be honest. I spent a nice night with Nancy in a hotel, simply because I didn't think I could bear Maren during that time. Nancy didn't ask uncomfortable questions. I often thought about her recently. We didn't make much progress with her chips, which is a problem. I really want her to be healthy again, because anything else will result in her not being able to have a happy living. A good start would be the removal of the 404 chip in her head. Right now, she's a walking surveilance camera, and I can't have her around like that. Neither can Leon. It kills their relationship.

I need to find a solution.

Maren and I, we're really in a weird relationship. I thought about her past when I was talking with James el Harady during our game of chess. And I realized she has nothing. Apart from me and Valery, she has nothing. No parents anymore, no job, no dreams she can work towards. Apart from whatever Valery is trying to make her do. I think Maren is even more unstable than I thought, which makes me wonder how this will turn out in the end. I think if I was to break up with her, she would turn her back to mankind and just become a Wild in a more literal sense. She is a ticking bomb, I feel. And me having been more on the Apahanta instead of at her side probably didn't make it any better. So I decided to stick with her for a longer time. The entire time from christmas to New Year's Eve, I was was with her without any interruption. Sherry handled the Apahanta, Paige Hot Gear, Sombra kept a low profile and celebrated with us instead of smuggling and in the end, we had a few very nice days without much trouble, all on Curacao. Maren, me, Leon, Nancy, Sombra, and of course, Mittens.

825 will hopefully make things easier for us. I'm a bit concerned about Elena as well. After her having had a miscarriage, she seemed to be mentally damaged. I had her with me for a night on the Apahanta, without anything sexual, just to talk with her, watching cartoons and have her calm down in a secured environment. Didn't hear much from her since then, apart from a short meeting at Glendalough, when I got the keys for the Athena of the Forlorn Hope. Poor girl.

I'm tired. There has been so much happening lately. Met some new people. Battlegroup Harmony, a group of Libertonian Separatists. I don't think they trust me, really, but I heard they trust Sombra, which struck me by surprise. Looks like she was more active as smuggler than I knew, which is something I should talk about with her soon. I don't want her to get into trouble. That battlegroup however might be interesting. If there is any chance of supporting them without Maren knowing it, I should try it. They sounded promising in terms of fighting infectees.

But those are stories for other days, really. All I want now is a few days of rest. A few days of relaxation with Maren, maybe with Sombra and Nancy as well. I want to spend time with my friends. With Leon, too. The Apahanta won't run away. Sherry is doing a great job. I'll think of something to reward her as well. It's weird how many people are suddenly playing a bigger role in my life, really. Two years ago, all I cared for were Leon and Sombra, and where the next party would be.

I miss those days.

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