Personal Log

[Alistair Thorne]

RESOLUTION HEAVY WORKS
INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING HUB | NEW LONDON

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SENDER ID:		Alistair Thorne [CEO]
LOCATION:		Resolution Heavy Works, New London
ENCRYPTION:		TIG-SECURE-GOLD
SUBJECT:		Personal Log #02: "The Archon Initiative"

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Alistair Thorne sat in his office aboard the 'Resolution Heavy Works' station. The latest production reports were satisfactory; several shipments of reactor systems had recently been dispatched, and production was already beginning to replenish the warehouses. However, the reports from Dublin continued to weigh heavily on his mind. Molly and Corsair activity had spiked over the past few days, forcing his personnel to navigate those cumbersome Asteroid Miners through the hazardous extraction zone. These factors threatened the productivity of the gold smelting plant and, by extension, the production lines for our Focusing Chambers and Superstructures.

Alistair did not claim to be an expert in the nuances of mineral extraction, but he understood structures and effectiveness. He took a draw from his cigar, the smoke spreading like a gentle mist through the room.

“If we do not get this problem under control… we jeopardise nearly the entire production of the station,” he muttered at the reports in front of him. There was no other way - he had to act. With a firm voice, he called for his personal assistant.

“Charles? When does the next ship depart for Dublin?” Charles hesitated for a moment before answering; he already suspected what Alistair was planning. “Sir… the next vessel for the Dublin system is scheduled to depart in just under three hours. You aren’t planning to…”

Alistair interrupted him abruptly, voice steady. “Very good. Inform the crew that I shall be joining them. I intend to assess the situation firsthand.” Charles hesitated briefly but executed the order - he knew that once Alistair Thorne had set his mind on something, he would see it through.

[Three hours later.]

The vessel had departed and was threading its way through an asteroid field towards the Dublin Jump Hole - a necessary detour the crew was forced to endure every time, as the Dublin Jump Gate remained offline and the military had yet to clear the Jump Bridge for the commercial sector. “Inefficient,” Alistair remarked with a slight shake of his head.

"All hands, strap in!" the Captain commanded over the intercom. "We will be passing through the jump hole shortly - if we’re lucky, no surprises will be waiting for us on the other side. Gun crews, stand by!"

The jump into Dublin was short and jarring. Moments later, an ominous ping echoed from the bridge consoles. “Sir! We have a Molly patrol on sensors - roughly 17 klicks out. They... don’t seem to have noticed us. No course change.” A collective sigh of relief swept through the crew - a stark reminder of how perilous the work had become.

The remainder of the journey was quiet, yet agonisingly sluggish. The massive miner flew at less than half the cruise speed Thorne was accustomed to - a steep price paid for its cavernous cargo hold. When they finally reached the gold deposits, the true problem became apparent: the sheer, unmanageable mass of the ship.

The gaps between the asteroids offered barely enough clearance for the vessel. Positioning for an optimal mining angle was an exhausting ordeal. Despite being equipped with four powerful “CT-P Capital Ship Thrusters,” reaching deposits on the far side of a single rock was, at best, a time-consuming logistical nightmare.

There was no sugarcoating it. Even with his personnel performing at their peak, a floating brick remained a brick. He had seen enough.

Once the ship had docked safely back at the station, Thorne went straight to work. He needed an alternative that met three strict criteria:

• Agility to navigate the belt with ease.
  
• Sufficient cargo to keep the Dublin runs profitable.
  
• Substantial armament to protect his personnel and assets against the threats posed by Mollys, Corsairs, and other criminal organisations in the system.
  

Hours passed. His whisky glass was long empty and his cigars reduced to ash when he stumbled upon a promising design. “T-2419-U series... Archon,” he murmured into the haze of smoke filling his office. As he studied the specifications, a faint smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Half the hold... but double the speed. Agile, and the armament... adequate.”

He struck the desk with the flat of his hand. He had found his answer.

“Charles? Issue an immediate procurement order for the T-2419-U 'Archon'. If this model proves as economical as I suspect, we shall refit the entire fleet accordingly.”

Satisfied, he poured another measure of whisky into his empty glass. Now, he only had to find a shipyard capable of producing these vessels for Resolution Heavy Works...

ALISTAIR THORNE
CEO | Thorne Industrial Group
Proprietor of Resolution Heavy Works

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[RHW] SYSTEM TIME: 12.02.836