Well, we now have exactly one battleship secondary turret online. Sort of. The targeting systems are totally shot -- pardon the pun -- so it's basically manually driven. The hydraulic compression going to the turret mount isn't working at full power, but the gun itself is working.
Log active. Entry: #00021 Submitter: Taskmaster Harold Kane Date: 12/08/820
We spent more resources on this Zoner Alliance thing. I can't squeeze any funding out of the Order, which kind of sucks, but it's gaining us friends. I'm talking to the TAZ about maybe getting a shipyard of some kind.
Florence says a couple more of the guns are stable, which means we can defend the Metropolis against any would-be scrap thieves or cargo thieves. Because you just know someone will try and pull that off. This system is unregulated, except by the occasional Vagrant Raiders patrol. We need to do more of those.
Hopefully within the next few weeks we can push the Metropolis through a jump hole.
Log active. Entry: #00022 Submitter: Taskmaster Harold Kane Date: 16/08/820
It's almost like there is a higher power, and he's come to me in the form of Aquila Defense Systems.
So these folks showed up with money, ships, a factory, and engineers, looking for a place to work and build in the Natio. I figure, why the hell not. We've got plenty of space for them, and they can provide materials to help rebuild the Metropolis with. Everybody wins.
Though I'm not sure about their CEO. He seems to be a bit anxious. Like he's being followed.
Log active. Entry: #00023 Submitter: Taskmaster Harold Kane Date: 19/08/820
Florence said we could fire up the cruise engines now, so we did a quick burn test by circling Planet Wichita. No structural failure or anything, which means our engineers who came up with the armoured-superstructure idea aren't idiots.
However, apparently we really shouldn't be doing that without fully working armour and shields. Something about high concentrations of dust in the system? I don't really understand it that well. Space is empty, dammit!
I'm on my way to Humboldt to meet with some folks about exporting silver ore from the Natio. Hopefully they'll be able to rake us in some money to help finance Metropolis. We're currently about four hundred million short of what we need, and stealing money from Rheinlanders just won't cut it on its own. We need a more stable, high-volume source of income.
Log active. Entry: #00024 Submitter: Taskmaster Harold Kane Date: 25/08/820
Those Cerberus guys are on Planet Wich-- er, New Westminster apparently, and they're armed. It's too bad the Metropolis' heavy weapons systems are still not functional or we'd bomb the sh*t out of them. Sniveling rats need to get out of my house.
I thought they had disbanded anyways. Goddammit.
I've been talking to some of the folks in Baffin about maybe getting somewhere safer to finish construction of the Metropolis. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get an answer. Even more hopefully, it'll be a yes...
Log active. Entry: #00025 Submitter: Taskmaster Harold Kane Date: 26/08/820
We're moving the Metropolis convoy to Shasta Orbital Skyhook's rear mooring point today to safely continue construction, effectively removing the Metropolis from a warzone. Temporary shields have been installed and set up at the front of the ship to deflect incoming particles the ship would hit under high cruise. They can't withstand a jump stream though so before and after jumping the ship will be momentarily defenceless.
It's going to be a long and dangerous trek, but it will be worth it. The TAZ isn't requesting any financial compensation in exchange for the usage of one of their mooring points, but I think we'll supply medical supplies to their facilities as a token of thanks.
It's the least we can do.
We're now only 300 million credits short of what we need. I think it's time to take out a loan... but what kind of banking facility issues capital-class loans to pirates?
Kane's trying to squeeze money out of a billionaire.
With his luck, we might actually get something.
I'm glad we have the Metropolis in a safe place for construction but I don't know if we're financially equipped to work here. Not in the sense of paying for the location we have; the TAZ don't want anything out of us for this. Rather, we can work faster than we could in between a planet and an asteroid field. Faster than we can afford.
Log active. Entry: #00027 Submitter: Taskmaster Harold Kane Date: 31/08/820
Billionaire's tapped out.
Sh*t.
I've scraped the linings of my own pockets for every drop of cash I can put into this project without starving to death. We now only need another two hundred and seventy five million credits for the construction of the Metropolis. I've never funded a project this expensive before. I will never fund a project this expensive again.
Kane's on Planet Curacao dealing with the Liberty treaty, so with Taskmaster Escher being tied up with his own crap, I'm in charge of the Metropolis project.
Cerberus nuked itself, it looks like, but the Order wants to go in and clean it up. I say let 'em. Saves us money we apparently are already using even though we don't have it.
The first layer of internal armour has been completed, as has the outer hull. We're officially out of money to pay for incoming resource shipments. I hope Circular Logic doesn't mind taking rainchecks... Otherwise this project is going to stall and we might have to start paying the TAZ rent in addition to restocking their fridges.
I wish Kane would talk to me about how much money we don't have before starting this kind of crap.
Debt continues at the same pace as the Metropolis project. Circular Logic brought in a full set of heavy armour plates for us to put on the outside. That's another 80 million credits we don't have. Apparently they're using DSE as a means to export valuable silver ore out of the Natio and into Liberty to help fund us. I certainly hope they don't think we're going to be giving them the keys to this monstrosity.
Of course, using an experimental battleship to protect traders would be entertaining to say the least.
And we are an entertaining bunch. We make the BDM laugh on a regular basis!
