| Battleship Somerset
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- We do a regular circuit around New London just to make sure the Mollys know we're watching them. We just caught a few of them the other day making a run on the Thames outpost. They really hate BMM. At least a few of them hate our main arament as well now, heh.
- We do regular patrols into the Cumbria Field looking for Mollys. Just the other day we spotted a Corsair assault group. That gave us all the chills because they aren't supposed to be over this far. They must have sniffed out that Dublin Gold and decided that they want some for themselves.
- The Suffolk is the last defence of Planet New London. If she falls, the Armed Forces will be no more. The only time we ever saw true combat was when renegade Rheinland forces invaded in 800 AS. But we gave those Rheinlanders a good whatfor. None of them ever set foot on New London until the end of that war.
- The Mollys once attempted to drop some MOX bombs into the upper atmosphere of New London. Those aristocrats were always a worried bunch. Now they actually have something serious to worry about. They've seen on Cambridge what that kind of thing can do. Still, once a Molly leaves the asteroid field, exposed, it takes our sensors less then a few seconds to pick him up.
- I don't really think the Mollys are as bad as we've all been told by the government. From what I hear, BMM is a pretty nasty place to work, especially Graves Station. I wonder why the government doesn't put a stop to that. Slavery after all -is- illegal by Bretonian law.
- That war with the Corsairs and the Outcasts? Pah, nothing compared to those battleships of Gallia... Have you seen them? Behemoths that burn the skies. Their extremely large size makes them very vulnerable to both bombers and long range weapons though.
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| Battleship Norfolk
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- The Norfolk serves as a keystone in the defense of Bretonia against the scourge of the Corsairs. The Cambridge Line stretches between here and Cambridge to offer additional protection for ships traveling along that Trade Lane. Despite all this, ships still get hit by the Corsairs far too often.
- Captain Edwards says we're going out into the Grasmere tomorrow on a search and destroy mission to look for Corsairs. Guess I better record a message for my family, in case I don't come back.
- The Henry Jones Gold convoy was bound for Rheinland when it was attacked by Corsairs near the Omega-3 Gate. Its escorts were destroyed, and the ship was commandeered. An Armed Forces patrol responding to the initial distress call intercepted the raiding party near the edge of the Grasmere Cloud, and a bloody firefight ensued. The heavily damaged armored transport was the only pirate ship able to escape into the safety of the Grasmere Cloud. Its crew is believed to have perished in there before establishing contact with other Corsairs in the area.
- Omega-3 is a sea of ice asteroids. Corsairs are more of a problem in our end of the system; the Red Hessians take over at the east end. They're more focused on that Daumann installation, Rugen, but they still pose a threat to shippers near the Omega-7 gate. Daumann doesn't like us around their installation. Suits me, they can deal with those pirates themselves then.
- I can take some amount of consolation in the fact that the Essex made it out of Dublin alive. She's a seasoned warship, with a crew to match, and I reckon that if we could find some way to open up Dublin again that the Essex would be the one leading the charge. More likely is that Parliament will fight itself over nothing, so this might as well be wishful thinking on my part.
- Cambridge used to be such a peaceful place, and then the Corsairs showed up. They've built that Cambridge Line to assure all those university types in Cambridge that everything is under control. Fact is the Line's useless. The weapon platforms are too far apart, and the Corsairs just go around the ends of the Line. It is also too far from the Trade Lane itself to help in the defense of it.
- We've extended our patrols into Nottingham per the conditions of the Omega Trade Lane Pact with Rheinland. Rheinland is finally keeping up their end of the bargain in Omega-7, but moving a battleship into the system wasn't exactly what the Crown was hoping for. No doubt Rheinland is making a statement against our colonization of Nottingham. But whatever the reason, it makes our jobs in the Omega borderworlds a little easier.
- We patrol the Trade Lane into the Keswick Cloud, a favorite crossing point for Corsairs, and the Lane to Cardiff. The Omega-3 Gate area is particularly contentious right now as the Mollys too have found their way there. We've allocated an entire squadron to patrol just that vicinity.
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| Portsmouth Drydock
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- Leeds, lost again. At the very least Gallia will have to deal with all the defenses planetside - the ones we had prepared initially to resist a Kusari invasion. Most have been tailored to resist any orbital bombardment, so Gallia will have to go in by ground to clear them out. I don't think they've got any idea what's waiting for them. The planet itself will thin their ranks well before they even reach those fortifications.
- Welcome to the York tavern. We apologise for the unavailability of a human host until a suitable replacement can be found. Until such time I will serve as a replacement. What can I get you?
- Gallia doesn't fight like Kusari did. Kusari forces used cunning and precision. Gallia relies more on sheer overwhelming force. It's ironic, but we've begun using the same kind of tactics that Kusari used against us with such efficiency against Gallia, and with equal effectiveness. Trouble is, they seem to have endless reserves to call upon.
- So far, I'm not all that impressed with Gallia. They talk a lot about honor and justice, but when they attack they head straight for the weakest target, just like any bully. But what do I know, maybe they thought the Shetland was a state of the art battleship dressed up like a luxury liner, protecting a major military installation posing as an unspoiled planet. Or...maybe they're just bullies. I heared the ship had to flee across the interstellar space without her cruise engines. Quite an extraordinary feat of flying in this day and age.
- I can almost remember the time when it were just Mollys, Gaians and Outcasts we had to worry about. Petty smugglers, silly pirates and annoying ecoterrorists... two subsequent invasions sure put things in perspective.
- This vessel had to withdraw from the Leeds system after Gallia threatened to overwhelm the York battlegroup. We are now assisting the defense of New London. This far, and no further.
- I don't like falling back, not one bit. York is still in one piece, but Leeds is lost. That is not how it should have been. Still, I must admit that the loss of the Derby is a heavy blow to us, even when it cost Gallia even more.
- We encounter a good deal of Bounty Hunters hired by BMM to kill the criminals we can't lay a beam to, but they are as shady as the criminals at times, plus I think they enjoy their job too much. I kill because I have to; these sadists kill because they profit from it. Makes them little better than pirates in my book.
- Once the damage incurred by Gallia is repaired, we will reclaim the terrain that is lost. We shall return to Leeds and drive Gallia back. Long live the Queen.
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| Durham Outpost
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- There's all sorts in Leeds these days, and very few of them friendly. Outcasts, Corsairs, Gaians, Mollys, all sorts of rogues and pirates willing to ply their trade on these shattered lanes. As long as you stick to the lanes and keep your emergency beacon handy, you should be okay.
- Command gave everyone who'd served over Leeds an exemption from having to serve here again, but very few took them up on the offer. I guess most of us aren't so shaken by it anymore, and those that are likely took the honorable discharge and moved on with their lives. It's a little disquieting to think that we'll soon have a generation of pilots that don't remember Leeds before the war.
- Ark Royal's CAG detached my squadron to Durham as a temporary measure to help secure trade traffic, until enough constables were freed up to take over. That was eighteen months ago. I stopped requesting information on our transition plan last year. Seems like Leeds is going to remain our mess to clean up for a while yet.
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| Planet Carlisle
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- Lots of the BAF instructors here have slightly-illicit side-gigs as guides for game hunters. You’re not supposed to leave the Clean Zone, but the biggest, meanest and most valuable carnivores don’t much like straying inside it these days. Of course, outside the Clean Zone, if your hazard suit rips, you’re going to be Man Soup in little more than an hour. Not for me, I’ll tell you. I’ll stick to drinking awful liquor to pass my weekends.
- Carlisle is a hellish mix of heat, humidity, and deadly wildlife. The perfect place to stick the primary training camp of the Bretonian Army, naturally... This is without a doubt the worst posting I have ever had, and I fought on Planet Leeds when the Gauls first touched down. God help any poor Toms that can’t figure out their hazard suits while on maneuvers. If the bacteria doesn’t get them, their sergeant major will.
- Bretonia acquired a lot of materiel during the Gallic War. Thousands of times more than we need in peacetime. Carlisle was picked as the spot it’d all be dumped; outside the Clean Zone there are vast fields of Military Surplus protected by their own little Clean Bubbles. Parliament reckons having it stored here in the north is a deterrent to Gallia, while the bacteria acts as a free security fence for the stockpiles. Utter madness if you ask me. Carlisle is a hot, damp nightmare. That metal is going to corrode until it’s worthless.
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| Luxury Liner Shetland
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- The Armed Forces used the Shetland as a hospital ship during the Gallic war. During the Newcastle front battles none of the stations in the system could have handled that task as well as a Liner can - a hospital requires extensive life support systems able to handle the needs of a lot of people.
- I got to admit, I was annoyed about all these damned tourists coming to "see war up close". Gawking at a few scorched hull panels doesn't quite compare to the experience of being under fire. I'm happy the war is over, and we went back to Curacao no less. A perfect spot to enjoy as long as possible, without major wars.
- I was with the Shetland when it was forced to flee Edinburgh. Me and twelve other fighters had to face off against seven Gallic squadrons. I was one of three ships that managed to survive. I don't know what became of the others, my own wing kept close to the Shetland as it withdrew into deep space. Eventually, we were forced to dock on her and became passengers ourselves. I'm one of the border control officers aboard the Shetland now, while it is within Bretonia's reach. After that, I'm probably off to the Dublin frontier.
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| Battleship Essex
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- Dublin is a hive of criminals these days. The Mollys were once Bretonian miners, and say they own the system. The Coalition, Zoner Militants and common pirates all seem to have thrown in their lot with that cause. Then there's the Corsairs who'll fight them all. They're common thieves -- but dangerous ones. In any case, the Sommerset has been sent in to put them all to the sword, one alike another.
- BMM are running mining missions through the Jump Bridge now. It seems mad, but it is an excellent way to bait Mollys into showing their faces. We have two wings flying the escort missions: one to defend against attack and one to pursue the attackers after they are repulsed.
- Since the fall of Dublin, Bretonia has massively increased the bounties on Mollys. There are more Bounty Hunters in our space than ever. It puts my hackles up that we have to rely on such common rabble, but they have ways and means not accessible to Her Majesty's forces.
- The Mollys are only part of the problem in Dublin; the Corsairs are out in force, and there have even been sightings of the Coalition and Zoner Militants. I'd love to get in there for some payback over Graves and the Stirling, but instead I'm stuck on Cumbria duty. The Sommerset will have to give them hell for us instead.
- The Mollys were always smart about their attacks. They attack in several different parts of the system simultaneously so we have to split our forces. The trouble comes from not knowing which attack is the main force. The mutiny on Graves was the biggest example of that in their history -- we now know it was a lure to get us away from the Jump Gate, which was their real target.
- Essex went into drydock recently, and had most of its reactor torn out and overhauled. Of all people to oversee the work, Kishiro specialists were involved. I suppose now we know what they were up to -- a portable jump hole generator. I've never seen anything like it. Liberty must be spitting feathers.
- It don't sit right, what happened to Captain Byng. He saw us through the Gallic Invasion, and was a fine officer with good instincts. He simply had the misfortune to be in command when Graves fell and the Jump Gate blew. New London needed a scapegoat, and he fit the bill.
- While we held Dublin, it was hard to go on the offensive against the Mollys. They favor rapid, fast strikes from multiple directions, dispersing within minutes. Wolfpacks, really... Of course, they temporarily took Dublin and now they're fighting on our terms. They pinned all their hopes on the Achill Minefield keeping us bogged down. Now we've got around it, and they'll have to fight us in open space.
- For decades, the most embarrassing epoch in Bretonian military history was right after the Founders Day Revolt. Our destroyers made the first mistake by following the Mollys into the asteroids and hit a minefield. Even worse was when the Hood made the same mistake and was too badly crippled to make it back home to New London. It was decommissioned and stripped of all useful equipment, but the hull was left mostly intact. The IMG later salvaged her and turned her into a Freeport -- until the Corsairs put an end to them, anyway.
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| Battleship Ark Royal
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- Hopefully our training flight will be able to deploy on our own soon. The vets here are mostly tied up teaching us, so there aren't many pilots left to enforce the embargoes in the Border Worlds, or deal with all the increased crime and piracy.
- My whole family's served in the military, so I didn't think twice about signing up as soon as I could. I just wish I could've joined sooner... but I'm sure Pa is smiling down on me, givin' God a big bear hug and yellin' "There's my son!".
- It's been a long time since most of us have known peace, and now that it's here... I don't know, I just expected to feel... something. Instead it just feels like more of the same, the same day repeating over and over in an endless parody of itself.
- The Ark Royal maintains two of the Armed Forces' training squadrons, so a lot of green pilots end up transferring through here. In some ways I guess it helps to remind them of what's at stake, having to constantly patrol through Leeds - but I would wager a lot of it is down to veterans not wanting to ever see this graveyard of a system again.
- The news might say we're in 'peacetime', but it sure doesn't feel like it. We've weathered more Molly probing attacks on the LD-14 perimeter in the last week than in the previous month. Every time we stomp out a Gaian hidey-hole, two more seem to pop up. And there's the occasional Royalist visit to remind us of their dreadful presence, of course.
- It sure does feel like this damned house is cursed. Bretonia draws the short end of the stick in Sirius, then every house takes their turn to kick us while we're down for our lunch money.
- I just finished my first training evaluation today. When I arrived at the academy, my training flight numbered thirty-four; when we shipped off to the Ark Royal, we were twenty-eight. This morning there were twenty-two of us, and three of us didn't make it back home. I think I heard a couple more are quitting, or maybe they're getting failed out...
- Our washout numbers are actually going up. Between you and me, I think part of it is just running out of people - everybody capable is either already serving, a veteran, or buried. Now, some of the washouts have been plenty capable folks, but they're just... off. Just the other day we discharged a bloke that lit up a Gallic shuttle in Tau-31 while on a training op. No warning, no provocation - just launched a cruise disruptor and then started trying to shoot the guy down.
- I oversee the Ark Royal's fighter squadrons, plotting missions and patrol routes and assigning what pilots we have to put out whichever fire is the biggest at the moment. Despite some people's sentiments, recruitment numbers are still low -- we probably have a dozen mission-ready birds sitting idle at any given moment.
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| Sunderland Research Aerostat
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- BIS recruited me directly from a postgraduate program on Cambridge, after I published a paper on Daam-K’vosh Patron Theory. They had me sign the Official Secrets Act, then asked if I got seasick. That didn't make sense until I arrived here. Sunderland is anchored to Site Jarrow by enormous struts, and giant thrusters are used for altitude keeping, but it still bobs, rocks and sways from the storms. You get used to it. Eventually...
- The Bretonian public are traumatized by war. From the bombardment of New London, and the destruction of Leeds. The government feels that same anxiety, and wants a weapon that will give Bretonia the ultimate tool of deterrence. Maybe that's something that's potentially attinable by studying Site Jarrow's lower pylon. I'm not sure if it's wise to be tinkering with technology we don't fully understand though. I hear that's what caused the mess in Rheinland before the Colony Wars.
- Don't get on the wrong side of Sunderland's commander. She's one tough bitch. Her name is Brigadier Jennifer Connelly, and she was assigned to this base by the Bretonia Intelligence Service to keep an eye on everything here. Fair play though, she runs a tight operation and conditions have improved under her command, but she's also unforgiving of fools. Mess about and you'll be sent back to Cambridge quicker than you can say "hey Jen, nice ass".
- Some of the scientists that arrive here are so scared at the sight of the alien ruins that they break and leave immediately. Others get nosy, sometimes too much for their own good. One newbie who was assigned to Camp Bede tried to get into the Ceolfrith sample warehouse without authorization. Turns out he was a Kusari spy. How the hell he got a job I don't know. He didn't look Kusari, that's for sure. Anyway, the Intelligence Service took him off our hands. We won't be seeing that bloke again.
- We're repeatedly drilled on recognizing and reporting suspicious behavior. Once there was an Artifact tech who was a bit of a lazy sod -- loved treats, was always slacking off. After returning from a holiday, he abruptly stopped snacking. All about the efficient intake of calories to maximize work hours. His supervisor reported the change as suspicious, so security spirited him away for quarantine. Turns out he'd been turned as a Thrall by the Nomads. Scary stuff.
- The pressure here for actual results is immense. With the loss of Leeds, Bretonia needs a miracle, and the government wants us to provide it. I don't blame them -- the Super Alloy breakthrough back in the 90s jumped our industry forward by decades. We can't manufacture that kind of breakthrough on demand though, and the risk-taking it's causing is unsustainable.
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| Scarborough Shipyard
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- I shipped out with the MacDuff fleet in 813 AS, right as things were heating up with Kusari. Held Harris. Nearly starved during the blockade. Covered the retreat from Tau-31 during the Gallic invasion. Fought them to a standstill here in Newcastle. I'm on the Harlow now, but I can't say I recognize a single face. Everyone I signed up with is dead. I love the raid sirens on Scarborough -- they remind me I'm alive.
- I stuck with the Armed Forces after the wars ended. Didn't know anything else. The BAF of today is a whole different beast to the war machine it once was. All metal, no meat. We've got racks and racks of leftover Crusaders rotting in the Harlow's hangars, but no pilots to fill them. Not after the conscripts were released and the professional core downsized. Then Dublin happened, and all the other fleets had to give up veterans to the Essex and Somerset. Lots of empty corridors on the Harlow.
- Bowex always welcomes us with free drinks here. Too bad the rest of Bretonia doesn't appreciate the Armed Forces this much. Funny thing, though: I don't run into many Bowex security pilots on the station. They must run more rigorous patrols than we do to keep their pilots so busy. Either that or their own security rather leaves something to be desired.
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| Battlecruiser Livingston
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- We need constant supplies to keep this vessel and our operations running. Even the basics can be an issue - Water can be taken from the ice asteroids all around us, and Oxygen isn't much of a problem either as a result, but Food has to come all the way from Cambridge. Most of the new crew members get transferred straight from other battleships. I guess this ship serves as something of a bit of a gathering point for the best fighters we have.
- This battlecruiser was commissioned in 828 AS, and I joined its crew not long after. We spent a number of years patrolling Edinburgh and Leeds, but eventually the admiralty decided that Harris needed additional protection what with the mothballing of Macduff, and our name got drawn out of the hat. It is not boring here, let me tell you.
- The Livingston is one of the most modern Bretonian battlecruisers ever created. It is appropriate to put such a powerful ship where it can perform to the utmost.
- There have been a few more attacks on Harris recently. They have been more precise, more organised. Some of them have even attempted to strafe the Livingston! We suspect foreign interference, but we have nothing concrete.
- The Outcasts just don't give up. There are dozens of their fighter wrecks dotted around this area, and a looter would have a field day here. Still, they've hurt our lads from time to time, too. One time we even lost a prototype weapon in the test phase somewhere out in the system. Unfortunately we never found the craft that was carrying it - presumably floating deep in the field somewhere.
- The postings here aren't too bad compared to anything during the war. Aside from the occasional Outcast, Tau-31 is not too mcuh bother. The biggest problem for our patrols is in Tau-23, anything that happens there does not get reported to the public.
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| Battleship Harlow
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- I hear the Delta training flight had itself a little accident. Seems one of the recruits got the roll and strafe controls confused and rolled himself straight into an asteroid. Naturally, the training craft are built to withstand these mishaps, but the thing had to be towed back... minus one engine. That'll be a good one for the engineering deck.
- I rotated in just yesterday for fighter training. Unfortunately, one of the other rookies smashed their Paladin into an asteroid and blamed it on a bug. We're all temporarily grounded while engineering look over the others for faults. Apparently those ships had been sat on those racks undisturbed since the Gallic War ended.
- I despise this assignment, but it is an important one. I'll do my damnedest to see these recruits right. I'll beast them within an inch of their lives if that's what it takes, and they'll hate me for it. I don't care. They need to be resilient, capable, and cohesive if they're going to survive what comes next. If that means uniting them against their bastard training officer, so be it.
- Some recruits are just not cut out for this. We've got a gaggle of freighter pilots who are used to flying in a straight line and think that qualifies as fighter experience. One run along the edge of the Northumberland or Tyne fields is usually enough to separate the men from the boys. Even if it tends to bang up the training craft, and create impromptu "equipment recovery" exercises.
- It is a busy schedule here on the Harlow -- most of the crew are little better than recruits and struggling to get to grips with things. They're slowly rising to the challenge, but it's a bit of a job to make sure that everyone has the necessary skills. The Crusader is good kit, but without training your average Tom is going to struggle against anything more capable than the odd scout.
- They say the Harlow Great Fleet was reactivated to fight local pirates, but none of us really believe that. They say the training fleet sims are to prepare us for dealing with Mollys, but Mollys don't have battleships. "Northern Shield", eh? I read in the news that Gallia is saber-rattling in the Taus again.
- I was on a BMM escort apprenticeship before this, on Sprague. I was born on Leeds, see? Evacuated as a kid just before Gallia invaded. When I heard the Harlow had been reactivated and the Armed Forces were recruiting again, I knew where I needed to be. This ship is where my Da served during the war.
- Our hangar racks are full of Crusaders, it's the crew cabins that are understocked. The Harlow is technically the newest Great Fleet after being reactivated, but all of the BAF's veteran officers with actual fighting experience are off in Dublin. We're more of a training academy than a proper fleet until we can get our green ensigns in shape.
- Training greens. Of all the jobs, I get assigned this one. Serves me right for outperforming one's commanding officer, I suppose. He's having a jolly lark in Dublin, and I'm stuck here trying to stop Sprague's best and brightest from drowning in their own drool. I can only pray to God that we are indeed only expected to fight pirates, and nothing further north...
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| Scalpay Outpost
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- The garrison on Scalpay answers to the captain of the J Fendall. There aren’t enough of us here to resist a serious push if it came to that -- but it won’t come to that. The Admiralty euphemistically calls us a “tripwire force”. The Union knows that if they declared on us, the Tadasu Agreement would bring Kusari into the war, and probably Crayter too.
- London is determined to hold this gate as a bargaining chip. The Gallic Union have never accepted any responsibility for what was done to us, for the crimes against humanity perpetrated by officers who are members of their government. We’ll disassemble this gate and send the parts back to Ile-de-France when they give us those criminals and agree to reparations.
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| Planet Curacao
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- I won a sweepstakes, that's why I'm here -- it's not something I could afford on a navy pilot's salary. I'm originally from Leeds, so oxygen-rich air like they have on Curacao is a definite pleasure. My mood is improving already.
- The drinks are really cheap here, not like back home where they're highly taxed. I'm not particularly fond of Liberty ale, though. I think I'll try jet sailing tomorrow; it's supposed to be a great way to see the planet.
- Well, I must admit, the weather here is far superior to that of London -- not that I travel much. I've been on the Essex chasing down Mollys in Dublin for the past two years. It's about time they gave me a rest.
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