Hope is the worst of all evils, for it prolongs the torments of man.

[Narcotic]

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HMS Pandora

Data Sheet

Name: Her Majesty’s Ship Pandora
Ordered: 11 February 818 AS
Builder: Bretonia Armed Forces, Grove Street shipyard, Deptford
Completed: 3 July 819 AS at Deptford Dockyard
Ship Captain: Edward Hope

General Characteristics

Class & Type:: 9-gun Wilde-class Bretonia Royal Cruise Liner
Ship Mass: 900 tons
Cargo Hold: 2500 tons
Hull Strength: 800.000
Travel Speed: 350 m/s
Equipment: Docking Bay, Cruise Disruptor, Countermeasure Dropper
Armament:: 9x Bretonian KB4-G "Banger" Small Transport Turret

Computer Generated Picture

History

Since the war with Gallia has started, the bretonian citizen was on edge, driven by permanent fear of the gallic forces approaching New London in the future. To avoid possible mass panics, the Bretonian Government decided to take preventive measures, as long as the political and economical condition still allowed it. In early February 819, several well-armored Cruise Liners got ordered to be built at Deptford Dockyard. Their purpose was to step into the breach for war times when public transports can't run the blockades anymore. In simple words - a VIP refugee transport for wealthy and indispensable persons such as politicans, naval officers, doctors, graduates and specialists. When the first of the ordered Liners got completed in July 819, it had its maiden flight to New Anglia, under the name "Pandora" and being commanded by Captain Edward Hope, an experienced Royal Naval Officer.

After the HMS Pandora returned to New London, the jumphole connections to Anglia and Cambria mysterious imploded, cutting off the communication with the stranded populations. If it couldn't get worse, the gallic fleet had approached Edinburgh, capturing all the bases behind them. Leeds was their next huge aim. And pretty soon, the HMS Pandora got assigned to rescue the remaining 'VIPs' from Planet Leeds. Together with the help of the Bretonia Merchant Navy, they resettled thousands of refugees to Planet New London and Planet Cambridge. Not infrequently, their convoys got ambushed by Gallic Royal Navy patrols, who tried their best possible to not let the 'valuable human cargo' escape. Quite often they were more lucky than anything else. However, the hostile increase of capital vessel support made the route more dangerous with each day passing. Despite the danger, the crew of the HMS Pandora has shown loyalty to the crown and bravery down to the present day.

Signed,

Edward Hope

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[Narcotic]

Neural Net Log - Captain Edward Hope

Personal Entry:

Sunday, the 27. January 820

Today has been a quite successful day for us. We've rescued 5000 refugees from Planet Leeds, who will most likely have their new home at Planet Cambridge. Though, to our disadvantage, the gallic forces have increased their patrols within Leeds which delays our long term task of evacuating the remaining VIPs.

During our last run, we witnessed an act of war from the gallic side. Luckily we weren't targeted and been able to escape the heavy skirmish. This situation forced us to increase our security aboard and made us think about the use of more escort vessels. Although the Pandora was built to carry as many passengers as possible, we sent an order to Border World Exports for constructing a docking module, so that our fighter and bomber escorts can run for cover and resupply. It appears like the Pandora turns more and more from a Luxury Liner into a Carrier. However, our primary goal is it to ensure the safety for our important passengers.

Besides, I've also refreshed the Pandora's identification papers and signature at the BAF Ship Registration Office. Hopefully, our new identification codes should last at least for the next two years, now that people even put distrust into every ship they encounter, no matter the HMS signature. Mutiny and hostile take-overs are a common sight these days. War has just begun.

[Narcotic]

Neural Net Log - Captain Edward Hope

Personal Entry:

Monday, the 28. January 820

Just some small update on the current progress of the total evacuation of Planet Leeds. Since most VIP's have been successfully rescued, we concentraded more on the worker families who make the larger part of the to-be-rescued inhabitants. In 816 AS, Planet Leeds counted a population of roughly 2,2 billions. First, when the gallic invasion started, the evacuation was thought to be an impossible task. But now, four years later, it turned out to be realistic to secure the inhabitants from the gallic forces, who possibly would abuse them for taking the remaining ressources on Leeds for their war armament. This had to be avoided under any costs. Otherwise, the hopes will die completely.

This morning I got informed, that the refugee camps on New London and even Cambridge do lack space for more refugees. This was just a matter of time. A quick solution has to be found. Keeping the people aboard the liner wouldn't be a wise idea, since civilians tend to be unpredictable when standing under high pressure, the local war causes. This would only work temporary and can't be a solution for the future. Anyhow, this isn't our problem for now, but the Bretonia Government's. In my opinion, Planet Sprague's colonization is our last hope. Besides it's unlikely, that new habitable planets within Bretonia controlled space will be explored in the near future. However, it might be wise to get in contact with someone specialised in planet explorations.

[Narcotic]

Neural Net Log - Captain Edward Hope

Personal Entry:

Tuesday, the 29. January 820

I've just received an urgent message from the Bretonia Government, that the Pandora has to report to Planet New London as soon as possible. Apparently, Queen Carina herself decided to have a spontaneous visit at Planet Leeds, in order to encourage her nation. Rather secret than spontaneous I guess, since normally she only travels with the Royal Liner Britannia. I was honestly suprised, that she risked her own safety in war times, just to reassure the people. Such moments make me truly proud of serving her majesty. She indeed is a strong women. Feared by the enemies and loved by the bretonians.

I received further informations, that whilst a rather small convoy of royal guards will escort us to Planet Leeds - the Britannia, secured by the usual amount of escort vessels will head for Planet Cambridge. Quite a complex diversionary tactic I must admit. Gallic spies won't smell the illusion, since they're aware of the Pandora's task, shipping refugees off Leeds. I'm convinced that this'll work without problems. Soon we'll approach at New London.

[Narcotic]

Neural Net Log - Captain Edward Hope

Personal Entry:

Tuesday, the 29. January 820

Everything worked out as planned. The Queen has boarded the Pandora without anyone knowing it, meanwhile a double of Carina left Planet New London with the Britannia. The escort, existing of two ordinary Templars, flown by high-skilled royal guards, left the mooring fixture with the Pandora at 1745 hours.

The journey went smoother as expected. We experienced no trouble at all. Though, when we passed the lane towards Planet Leeds, I could have sworn, that I saw a weak emergency signal coming from the west. However, it wouldn't have been clever to exit in the middle of the lane, since we had the Queen aboard. I quickly noted the signal origin's coordinates and made a promise to myself, checking it out, right after 'dropping' the majesty at Planet Leeds. It wasn't planned to return with her anyways.

I didn't managed to get the sound of the emergency signal out of my head, till we finally reached Planet Leeds. As soon as we refilled the fuel tanks, we'll head out and find the source of that signal.

[Narcotic]

Neural Net Log - Captain Edward Hope

Personal Entry:

Wednsday, the 30. January 820

"Hope in reality is the worst of all evils, for it prolongs the torments of man." a wise man said that once. A famous rheinland philosopher called Nietzsche, to be correct. Eventhough he died over 1100 years ago - his words still mean something to me. I have to admit, that I often quote him. Someone has to remember their sayings, preserving the old wisdom. Once on a visit in Rheinland, I was honored to get access to the large library, the sleeper ship Rheinland has brought to Sirius. Although it was strictly forbidden to make digital copies of the 'books' - I couldn't resist to write down Nietzsche's words. I felt an urge to collect all his work, gathering everything on my personal loogbook's first pages. For the fun of it, my close crew members call it "Hope's book of wisdom".

Whatsoever, since the emergency signal's source is located at the distant borders of the West Leeds Smog Cloud, and since no trade lanes lead there, we had to cruise the whole way, which takes almost a day or longer. Right after our departure from Planet Leeds, when John Brown - one of my first officers asked me; "Why didn't you informed the Bretonia Police Authority about that emergency signal first?" - I had to admit, that since the personal meeting with the Queen this evening, I somehow had an euphoric feeling of being able to move planets all alone. Together with my proudness, I was keen on rescueing the possible survivors for earning the glory for myself. John was right, about his foreboding of a gallic trap. But he always was a rather paranoid fellow anyways - to our advantage of course. I promised him to use the thin nebulae for getting close to achieve an unnoticeable arrival.

[Narcotic]

Neural Net Log - Captain Edward Hope

Personal Entry:

Thursday, the 31. January 820

"Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule." That quote came into my mind when I gave the order to bring the Pandora closer to the battleground. A suprisingly large number of defeated Templars smashed against our shields while we proceed to the source of the signal. I sweated heavily. What if this is an ambush of the gauls? Sure, the Pandora would survive long enough against small raid groups, to call reeinforcements, but still I had a quite bad feeling about it. The thick smog cloud reducing the view to about 1000 meters made up a scary atmosphere. The nebulae made it appear like we just missed the large fight which must have taken place here.

We stopped infront of a completely undamaged Templar. The cockpit light was turned off, which made it impossible to see the interior. We had to salvage it as fast as possible, since it might contain a survivor. Minutes later the rescue team informed me about a heavily damaged Rheinland Military Wraith, which floated only a few meters away from the intact Templar. The inside was lit up with a weak red light, revealing a young female pilot. Without wasting a thought about what the Rheinland Military's business in Leeds could have been, I gave order to rescue them both.

I guess that she could be an agent of the Marinenachrichtendienst, who was on an unregistered recon mission into Gallia space. We had such before already. Unfortunately it seems like her task got disturbed by a gallic raid force. Must have been a large one, though, since we haven't seen any destroyed gallic vessel yet. Another miracle was, that the Templar, which was the source of the emergency signal, was completely untouched. Pretty weird.

[Narcotic]

Neural Net Log - Captain Edward Hope

Personal Entry:

Wednsday, the 31. January 820

"Women are considered deep - why? Because one can never discover any bottom to them. Women are not even shallow." I mumbled while I stared at the monitor, showing a surveillance camera on the medical deck. The only survivor - on her way to my office. So young that she could have been my daughter. Hopefully she can bring light into this madness. She was unconscious but healthy when we took her out of the scrapped Wraith - other than the bretonian pilot who gave a shocking and disturbing view. His corpse wasn't hurt at all, but his head was a nightmare. Sparkling bloodstreams were bleeding out of his wide open eyes, same from his nose and ears. His heart was still beating rapidly, pushing the remaining blood out of his suffering body. Alive, but lost. A terrible fate. Only a hour ago when the bleeding still was unstoppable, we decided to put his suffering an end, and freezed his corpse for future research purpose.

The sound of the opening door woke me up, leaving a picture of the pilot's face in my head. There she is. Dark-brown hair, a charming young face with honest light blue eyes. She wore a dark-grey short dress, showing her flawless legs in combination with her overall perfect body shape. "They brought me an angel." I thought. She showed me a cute smiling as I offered her a seat. When she sat down, crossing her legs, I began the conversation:

Edward: I'm glad to see you in such a good condition, Frau...

Natalie: Cla... - Braun. Natalie Braun. But you can call me "Nat", mein Herr.

Edward: Nice to meet you, Nat. I'm Edward Hope, Captain of this beauty we call the "Pandora". Now I don't want to be discourteous, but considering the situation I can't show great patient, and I'd really like to know what all this mess is about? At first, who exactly are you?

Natalie: I can surely understand your confusion, but I regret the fact, that I can't remember everything what has happened. However, I'm a Rheinland agent assigned to... nun, this information is actually rather secret, but since we mean our both best, I'll say the truth. I hope we can trust each other, ja?

Edward: Of course, yes. I promise. Please continue.

Natalie: The Rheinland Military recently received a message from the gallic kingdom, where they showed their will for a long-term neutrality between our both houses. Aber, since we respect the 'amity' with Bretonia, we decided to not answer their message, and send out a scout - me, tracking the transmission's source to gain informations about their current actions. Natürlich, we'd have shared those with the bretonia government, no question it since Gallia is our all enemy.

Edward: Mhm, okay, I understand. That sounds logical. So what happened next?

Natalie: An emergency signal, that I've cought inside the west cloud, when I was about to proceed to Edinburgh, made me consider the importance of my mission. I was too curious to not check it out, also because it were Armed Forces signals. So I cruised to the signal's source and I've seen what you saw. A battlefield. Within seconds, a dozen gallic fighters showed up, who probably thought me to be another patrol member of the bretonians, and engaged me on sight.

Edward: Oh, appears like we were lucky enough to not be cought by them. But one thing I don't understand - how did you survive?

Natalie: Entschuldige, but I can't see a reason for letting me alive, too. The only explanation I can think of, could have been that they noticed me to be a Rheinlander, and considering their last message, they weren't eager on getting another enemy at their war frontline.

Edward: Sounds plausible. One last thing, though. What the hell happened to the intact Templar and its pilot, we've found next to you? He died an awful death. I've never seen such before.

Natalie: I've got no idea - I've lost consciousness when they hit my cruise engines. So it could've been possible, that he came after me. I haven't seen his wounds, so I can't judge it. Was it possibly a heart attack?

Edward: We can't say it. It appears like he bleed to death by internal bleeding in his head region. Maybe we'll know more in a few days.

Natalie: Gut. I know this might sound stupid - but may I ask if I'm your prisoner or guest?

Edward: Oh dear, no. I don't see a reason why we should have you in prison. If you spoke the truth, you even showed yourself helpful to the bretonians. Although your presence within Bretonia wasn't registered, I understand your actions. You shall be our guest. One of my first officers, Thomas Hayward, will lead you to your own sleeping place. I assume that you'd like to rest now. It's late already and I bet you haven't slept in a real bed since days. If you've got any need, you can contact John Brown. He'll gladly help you. Oh and once more - you can move freely aboard the Pandora. We're no prison liner but a luxury-one!

Natalie: Thank you so much Herr Hope. Words can't explain how thankful I am...

She brushed a blonde strand of hair out of her face, revealing her natural hair color, while she blinked at me, showing a seductive face. My heart almost stopped beating for a second, making me remind what a pretty women she actually is. It wasn't easy to stay serious, and I felt my hands starting to sweat. I wasn't entirely sure if her behaviour was rather naive or not. Anyhow, when Thomas entered my office with large eyes, gazing at Natalie, I was relieved. "A women's weaponry..." Appears like she enjoyed her role - and she played it damn well. Hopefully she won't cause any problems.

[Narcotic]

Neural Net Log - Captain Edward Hope

Personal Entry:

Friday, the 1. February 820

"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering." That pretty much applies to our new guest aboard the Pandora. Natalie. An unpredictable 'thing' in my eyes. It's obvious that she's fighting with something deep inside her. A psychosis - maybe schizophrenia? Of course she must have had an awful time the last days - no question.

In spite of everything, I enjoyed the presence of her loveliness. I've got the feeling that her intellectual age is far above her natural maturity. When I've last talked with her about wisdom, she said: "Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught." With these words she quit the conversation...

When we we're close to approach Planet Leeds, she explained me, that her mission failure and sharing classified informations with me, will cause heavy problems once she'll return. In this regard I believed her, since I've been in duty for the Armed Forces since half my life, where I've experienced such trouble, too. Somehow I felt responsible for her - and her young age... I couldn't let it happen.

Once we landed at Planet Leeds, I gave order to secretly scrap the destroyed Wraith and to fully remove the tracks. Afterwards I've scanned the official rheinland military pilot database, I had restricted access to. She spoke the truth. The last entry said her to be 'MIA'. Sure - they didn't wanted to be blamed for when the unregistered recon task failed. Clever. Now that she's thought to be dead - nobody would care if her 'vacations' on the Pandora get lengthen, until she completely recovered from her trauma.

Natalie was on cloud nine when I told her about it. As always, her childlike smile warmed my heart to a new. I put all the doubts aside and explained her that the Pandora will leave towards Liberty space with a full load of refugees from Leeds. At that point I haven't thought about the fact, her being a Rheinland Military soldier, that I'm helping to get access into New York.

[Narcotic]

Neural Net Log - Captain Edward Hope

Personal Entry:

Saturday, the 2. February 820

Our journey to New York went smooth and without disruption. On our refuelling stops, I gave command to keep both eyes on Natalie, since we couldn't risk her being recognised by libertonian forces. Though this was rather unlikely, since she didn't wear the usual uniform or rheinland clothing. Nevertheless, she had a rheinland appearance, but at least she had her hairs colored in black.

We quickly shipped the refugees to Planet Denver and prepared ourselves for the returning trip. Again, the local lawful forces offered us their help, but this time I thankfully denied it. On our journey back to New London, Natalie mysteriously disappeared in her room for the whole time being. Even when we reached Planet New London, she didn't showed herself. I've been worrying that she was suffering under depressions or alike. However I didn't dared to disturb her lonesomeness. "Shared joys make a friend, not shared sufferings." That's what I think. Hopefully she'll feel better soon.

When we approached at New London, we landed the passengers from Liberty, we've had aboard and I checked my local mails. One came this morning from King's Cross, telling me that the ordered docking module is finished, and that I could pick it up anytime. And so we did. The Pandora proceed to the Cambridge gate, where the trading outpost is located, and informed Bowex of our arrival. Thereupon, a Bowex employee helped us with the module's transfer and installation. It so happened, that a second module already got finished, which I've purchased aswell, on the spot. Wonderful. Now it's time to contact the Bretonia Armed Forces, asking for two full time escort fighters, which will serve as enhanced defense support for the Pandora.