=IT= Trip Log Entries

[Interstellar Transit]

Trip Log submission by: Captain Jeff Simpson, =IT=Independence

Date: Feb 11, 835 AS

Brief summary of trip: My first report for the new group - thanks for having me aboard! It's a pleasure to be riding with Freelancers that respect the lifestyle and pursuit of profit, wherever the path takes us! Nostalgic for earlier years, and seeking a trustworthy vessel for lane trades through house space, I've been using my Retrofit Transport lately as the sturdy support for my trading adventures. It's a bit tough on the corners at times, and often it's handy to have a bit of alloy to weld onto stressed sections when necessary, but it's reliable. Older and mature like myself, but moving forward, bumps, bruises and all! After leaving discussions with Jake on Manhattan, I started some trade on our contracts - choosing to buy some Deuterium from Bristol's Cleveland Station in Pennsylvania. I noted some old contracts of mine had established business in system - I'll have to get in touch with Nebula Technologies on behalf of our organization to get some contracts underway! Leaving with Deuterium in hand, I headed through Kusari to the Sigmas, to find an appropriate buyer for these wares. The office had mentioned that Breuninger, suggested by Bristol originally, wasn't always going to be receptive of this cargo, but that's never stopped me from finding interested parties for goods before! Kusari space was fairly peaceful, save for one startling incident near Kishiro's Shinagawa Station in New Tokyo. Sensors picked up a disturbance near the gas giant Planet Fuji. As I turned a visual to it, I was unfortunate enough to watch first hand as some vessels were pulled into its atmosphere, torn apart, and finally exploded. The emergency lights on Shinagawa had already activated by this point, and crews were on scene to survey the accident for a report - I'm not sure what kind of survivors could come away from that kind of tragedy. In the first Sigma system I happened into, Sigma-13, I visited Iejima Station, thinking the GMG would be happy to accept my shipment to assist with their operations in H-Fuel production. However, the station turned away my goods, and there was no indication that they accepted outside sources for their supply. Undeterred, we set course for another Sigma, this time Sigma-15, having to travel through Rheinland space of the Frankfurt system to get there. We did see a bit of hostile activity as we neared the gate to Sigma-15, but the locals seemed to have it under control and the conflict didn't follow us through the gate. In Sigma-15, our quest resumed, contacted and arriving at base after base to discover that while Deuterium is critical to many Kruger H-Fuel related secondary operations, there were logistics issues that drove external providers away. Breuninger Depot was overstocked to the point where it wouldn't need resupply for some time. Miningfactory Neuss was offering a ridiculously low payment for the lengthy delivery of this product from Pennsylvania. Other bases such as Norderney Refinery and Eupen Handelsplatz had no interest in the product at all. Thankfully, the facility clear across the opposite side of the system near Planet Baltrum, ALG's Wichter Station, glady accepted the cargo with at a rate we could appreciate. Having secured that sale, we bid them good day and proceeded to view our data acquired from nearby station communications to find a departed load of cargo and another trade route. Despite the dismissal of their earlier posted prices for Deuterium, we had to admit that Miningfactory Neuss did have reasonably priced products in the way of Propulsion systems for export. The market showed that demand was still intense for these products, and we gladly procured some stock onboard and headed out towards the gate to Frankfurt. As if to show us on parting how industrialized this system was, we encountered a barge full of Ablative Armor Plating, inbound from Frankfurt. The captain didn't pay us much heed when greeted, but I expect as much with these Barge crews - those ships are trying at the best of times! My assumption would be these parts were destined for use with ship superstructures, or possibly some weapons manufacture. However without confirmation from the captain, we missed an opportunity to find out which base was needing this much supply. It could have been a nice contract! The trip back to Liberty through Rheinland was routine with not much to report. We arrived at our destined port of Susquehanna Station with the Propulsions and earned ourselves a nice profit doing so. At this point, another of our team, Captain Thomas Smith of the =IT=Njord, contacted us and we concluded a goods convoy would be in our best interested in terms of coordination of assets and protection. His ship was just finishing up a run to Vespucci - we have been making efforts to ensure all of our clients are kept happy and the Freelancer base of Tijuana Freeport has been receiving a steady supply of Basic Alloys on his watch! I maintained position near Planet Curacao and reviewed the nearby markets to plot our next contract trade. When Captain Smith arrived, I had determined that mining operations did not seem to be selling much product out of Cortez on this day, so we proceeded to the safe bet of heading to Scottsdale Refinery in Coronado. They would have copper - we both filled our holds and directed our course to another DSE asset in need of supply - Red Rock Refinery in Colorado. These convoys are always much more interesting and entertaining for me than just running these routes as a sole ship alone. New blood and all, communications lit up as Freelancers are discussing all their latest stories and accomplishments! It's part of the reason why I stay independent and free of the corporate life! This convoy was no exception - Captain Smith had a lot of trade experience lately with the organization, and he was becoming somewhat of an expert at tying contracts together in exceptional ways for maximum profit! As we continued back through Liberty, we made brief contact with a capital armed forces ship from the 1st group, around the orbit of Planet Manhattan. We were allowed to proceed and made great time to our Colorado destination of Red Rock - Captain Smith's nimble Serenity making it to the base ahead of my own. Red Rock's product of Interiors had a surplus for sale - an opportunity we couldn't pass up given the market in Shikoku was especially hot for many ship components on most days. Still, before purchase, we confirmed this on the live markets, secured their stock to our cargo holds, and we were then headed to Shikoku. Beginning what was probably my shortest trade trip since joining, one trade lane later, we arrived in Galileo and headed towards the Shikoku gate. As we discussed different issues in the markets, I was also analyzing available of stock on bases in the region so we knew where our next direction would be, and product. Arriving in Shikoku, we were given clearance to dock on Ionic Laboratories, where our Interior systems were offloaded very efficiently. They had a limited stock of Avionics at very affordable prices on station. Once again confirming the dockmaster on Susquehanna would receive these goods, we bought out the station's remaining product but still had free cargo remaining. A dockhand mentioned nearby associated base of Ionic Industries had supply, so we headed there - and bought them out too! Still not full but lacking Shikoku suppliers, it was decided to head out with stock on hand. However, this would not be the end of the Avionics story - it turns out a small supply was available on Bristol's Arcetri base in Galileo. Since we passed it on our route anyhow, Captain Smith pulled his Serenity over to collect this affordable addition. Now both ships had respectable quantities to best justify a return to Cortez. Returning through New York, in diligent duty to Liberty, the capital ship from the 1st asked us to hold for while scanning for hostiles and contraband. We passed the test and were about to depart, when a Liberty Rogue in a destroyer-class vessel began to approach the Navy ship - very aggressively! Given our prior inspection was complete, we vacated the area so we didn't become casualties of that interaction. A short time later, with no further incidents, we arrived at Susquehanna Station in Cortez and sold our Avionics at a sizeable profit. We bid Captain Smith's ship and crew farewell as we took some brief time off on Planet Curacao after several long days off trade routes. Note: I will post on the Freelancer Contract Board our routes today so reporting is satisfied and proper payouts to myself and the crew can be issued for time on contract. A small price to pay for the bonuses received for such routine trade!

Transcript

[11.02.2025 14:41:29] [DSE]-Warren: Hi there
[11.02.2025 14:41:34] =IT=Independence: Hey there DSE vessel! How's trading today?
[11.02.2025 14:41:53] 2025-02-11 14:41:51 SMT Traffic control alert: [DSE]-Warren has docked

[11.02.2025 14:43:12] =IT=Independence: Hey there, Sandriski_Transport!

[11.02.2025 15:00:23] =IT=Independence: Hey there, Santieus_Ballard!
[11.02.2025 15:01:06] =IT=Independence: Is that surplus in demand at the moment? I'm always looking for great routes!
[11.02.2025 15:02:09] 2025-02-11 15:02:07 SMT Traffic control alert: Santieus_Ballard has docked

[11.02.2025 15:35:43] =IT=Independence: Hey there, ZV-Fuerteventura!

[11.02.2025 15:55:50] =IT=Independence: I'm headed to Cortez with some cargo - you loaded with anything?
[11.02.2025 15:56:25] =IT=Njord: Hey! Im loaded with Basic Alloys. Delivering to Vespucci.
[11.02.2025 15:56:56] =IT=Independence: Perfect - did you want to meet in Cortez afterwards and convoy some routes together?
[11.02.2025 15:57:05] =IT=Njord: Sure

[11.02.2025 16:16:52] =IT=Independence: Thanks! We could grab some copper to start in Coronado
[11.02.2025 16:17:03] =IT=Njord: ok
[11.02.2025 16:25:16] =IT=Independence: DSE's Red Rock in Colorado is empty and buys copper for 200
[11.02.2025 16:25:26] =IT=Njord: Nice
[11.02.2025 16:25:46] =IT=Independence: It's a shorter trip and lots of ship parts to trade available in area
[11.02.2025 16:26:05] =IT=Njord: Wich contract is this?
[11.02.2025 16:26:21] =IT=Independence: DSE import/export Red Rock is a faction base
[11.02.2025 16:26:24] =IT=Independence: ah

[11.02.2025 16:29:09] =IT=Independence: Hey there, 1st|LNS-Colorado!
[11.02.2025 16:29:21] =IT=Njord: Greetings Navy!
[11.02.2025 16:30:04] =IT=Independence: We're off to Colorado - hopefully all lanes are clear today!
[11.02.2025 16:30:33] =IT=Independence: Safe skies to you!

[11.02.2025 16:31:08] =IT=Independence: Hey there, Alaehnae!
[11.02.2025 16:31:12] Alaehnae: Wolf: Guten Tag.
[11.02.2025 16:31:17] =IT=Njord: Greetings!
[11.02.2025 16:31:27] =IT=Independence: Heading our way?
[11.02.2025 16:31:37] Alaehnae: Probably.
[11.02.2025 16:32:08] =IT=Independence: Ah the open space of Colorado
[11.02.2025 16:33:07] =IT=Independence: Safe skies on your trip!

[11.02.2025 16:34:03] =IT=Independence: Hey there, B|-BCV-Ontario!

[11.02.2025 16:40:46] =IT=Independence: we could pick up Interiors for Shikoku bases
[11.02.2025 16:41:02] =IT=Njord: ok

[11.02.2025 16:42:29] =IT=Independence: Hey there, FLT_Athena!
[11.02.2025 17:08:16] :Alaehnae: Wolf: Guten Tag.
[11.02.2025 17:08:17] =IT=Independence: Hello again Imperial Shipping!
[11.02.2025 17:08:27] =IT=Njord: Greetings Imperial!

[11.02.2025 17:10:51] =IT=Njord: Hello Officer.
[11.02.2025 17:10:51] 1st|LNS-Colorado: Hold
[11.02.2025 17:10:54] =IT=Independence: I've been putting off making one because it's alot of work
[11.02.2025 17:10:56] 1st|LNS-Colorado: This is battleship Colorado - this is a routine smuggling check wait while we scan your cargo hold
[11.02.2025 17:11:09] =IT=Independence: Understood. Answering all stop.
[11.02.2025 17:11:11] =IT=Njord: No problem Office.
[11.02.2025 17:12:06] 1st|LNS-Colorado: You clear. Have a nice stay in Liberty
[11.02.2025 17:12:07] =IT=Njord: So, lots of smugling happening aroung here ?
[11.02.2025 17:12:38] =IT=Independence: Thank you officers. We are glad to have your watchful eyes on these parts.

[11.02.2025 17:13:22] =IT=Njord: Pirate detected on scanner.
[11.02.2025 17:13:34] Belmont's.Blight: Well what do we have here?
[11.02.2025 17:13:59] 1st|LNS-Colorado: Enemy spoted
[11.02.2025 17:14:05] Belmont's.Blight: Looks like a massive brick of a target for me! Haha!
[11.02.2025 17:14:19] =IT=Independence: Leaving area...

[11.02.2025 17:20:20] 2025-02-11 17:20:18 SMT Traffic control alert: =IT=Independence has docked

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