Remembering Reschard V

#Recording initiated#

#You seem sad today sir?#

"A bit yeah, do you have records on the Reschard V Incident Pali"

#One moment sir - I'm sorry sir#

"It's alright Pali, but I'll explain for those who don't know."

"Ten years ago today a great calamity took place on the once temperate Intaki colony of Reschard V. I had yet to even begin my training to become a capsuleer when I received the missive from my parents. It was only moments later that I started seeing the Scope and other news outlets relaying the devastation. The entire planet had been wracked by massive explosions, resulting in an extinction level event. A once peaceful and vibrant agricultural colony reduced to a hellishly flooded barren rock. Concord investigation would show an Avatar-Class Titan had been in the vicinity during the incident, and it's 'Judgment' Doomsday weapon the likely cause of the explosions. But no individual culprit has ever been found, or stepped forward to claim responsibility. The Sisters of Eve and others did their best to save who and what they could despite pirate interference, but in the end, only 1 in 50,000 was estimated to have survived. When rescue vessels were finally able to land later that year, due to the abatement of the massive storms covering the planet, less than 2,000 people were rescued from cave systems all over the planet." 

"I lost several distant cousins on Reschard V, though not any I had much contact with. Others we knew on station had lost whole branches of their family. We held a memorial on station the year after the incident, and I'm told every year after I left to train as a capsuleer, they would do the same. With a solemn pride I join the ILF in their own remembrance on the tenth anniversary of this senseless tragedy."

#Ending recording - Archiving#

Week 3 YC118 "Mistakes were made”

#Recording initiated#

“So the first week of the new year was a bit off for me, most of the corp was planetside spending time with family so I had a lot of time to myself. #Never a good thing sir# Shush, my own family has never been terribly religious, a simple chat with my mother to reassure her that I was still technically alive is usually enough. She of course laughed at my current lack of hair, having never liked when I grow anything longer than a few millimeters. The younger of my sisters finds my lack of eyebrows almost as amusing as you do Pali. I'll let you recount the loss of my latest clone, I'll be on the couch brainstorming for some new projects.

#With pleasure sir#

#Playback initiated#

“Um… Pali the wormhole is gone”

#Yes sir, it would seem to have collapsed since we passed through#

“But it was still stable when we came through! The gravitational sensors said it would last most of the day!”

#Current readings would seem to indicate that it was destabilized by the passage of a vessel several orders of magnitude larger than the Ishkur sir#

“... Well that sucks, now how will I get this Frostline loot home... Are you getting anything in the Local EM bands?”

#Local subspace communications are offline, Anoikis sir#

“You think anyone would be listening in system?”

#Unlikely sir, a vessel large enough to destabilize the wormhole we used would not wish to attract undue attention#

“I'm going to try anyway.”

#As you will sir - Several minutes pass with no reply#

#Erun gives a mental sigh# “Alright Pali, prepare to scuttle the ship.”

#Sir?#

“There's only one way to get my consciousness home now, I'll need to self destruct my pod. #Sir!# It's alright Pali, I've had to do it before, though I'm not ashamed to admit that it's a very unpleasant experience. You should be fine, your systems are tied into my Neocom, I'll reestablish contact once the new clone body is flashed with my memory patterns.”

#Very well sir - Capsule ejected - Self-destruct countdown initiated - Two minutes to pod breach#

“Still wish they hadn't made the countdown so long, two whole minutes, really? Anyone contemplating terminating their clone doesn't need that much time to reconsider do they?”

#Sir, is this really the best time for this discussion?#

“Probably not, but it passes the time. So glad I don't bring any crew with me when I go wormhole diving, just for this reason.” #10 seconds sir# “See you in a bit Pali!”

#Recording interrupted - Ending Playback#

#Erun is still on the couch fiddling with a datapad#

“So yeah that was fun. Is it sad that I actually have a folder dedicated to the implants I keep having to replace? #Yes# Meh, I call it being prepared. #If you say so sir# What’s worse is that I lost another Ishkur not even a few hours later. I found a Frostline site on the outskirts of Intaki that looked promising. Unfortunately local pirate Nuke Cave also became aware of the site when he entered system nearby. I’ll admit, my new Ishkur put up a good fight, but against Daredevil flown by an experienced pilot like Nuke, it just wasn’t enough. I was able to get my pod out though, and Nuke and I exchanged GF’s in local. I don’t harbor as much ill will towards Nuke as other pirates really, he’s always been more interested in testing his mettle against other pilots than just creating chaos and terror. Still doesn’t mean I enjoy getting my ships blown up though…”

#Did you have any other blunders to report sir?#

#Erun is glaring at Pali - Please don't throw the datapad at Pali# “I won't. And no, that’s all for now Pali, as always you’ll be the first to know.”

#Recording ended - Archiving#

Week 50 YC117 "Solar Winds, Cold Breezes"

#Recording initiated#

#Erun is waving for Pali to come closer#

"You know I couldn't say anything even if I wanted to Erun, contracts like the one Arkombine took are always covered by some very gnarly non-disclosure agreements. And anything else I told you would just be hearsay."

 #Pouting# "So nothing then Phalad? You can't give me anything?"

"Sorry bud, you'll just need to catch the Scope broadcasts like everyone else."

"Bah, alright then. Good luck out there sir."

"Ha! Don't need luck when I've got my Lai Dai Flux Repair Tool. Later Erun!"

 #Erun closes the comm connection with a sigh#

"Hey Pali, sorry for not recording anything last week, everything has been a little hectic since ORE was reclaimed from the Serpentis by a joint strike force of Mordu's and Arkombine mercenaries. They've since been folded into the new Upwell Consortium led by ORE's former owner Yani Sar Arteu. Now these folks are looking to help design some truly massive structures strictly for capsuleer use, so I assume they wanted some industrial backing for these projects."

#Erun has begun pacing#

"I've reached out to my contacts out in 4C-B7X, and so far they've all been rather pleased with the transition back to Yani's control. I'm pretty sure the Serpentis were far more interested in ORE's proprietary gas mining technology than anything else, and their theft of more ORE tech as they were evicted lends credence to that fact.Mordu's Command has released a statement that they have the locations of many of the Serpentis who made off with their assets, and have released those locations for capsuleers to find and destroy. They are being really cool about it too and letting us keep anything we find on the Serps as a reward. So far I've been able to recover, well, a few bottles of Ultra Quafe."

#And clothes sir#

"Yeah, I think the Suresha plans to gather up all the Serpentis uniforms we've been collecting and having them made into a solar sail. At least that's what she told us after the last batch she found. #Shrugs and grins# I'll be perfectly honest, I've been taking on these, Frostline Targets as they've been labelled, in my Procurers between mining sessions. Even got my first killmark applied on one of them the other night, that little chevron but a big old smile on my face."

#Frowns# "And then some of the fine folks from the maintenance crew decided it would be a good idea to take it out of dock to make sure the mark would stay applied under extreme conditions. You know what these geniuses did? They flew my Procurer into the corona of the Intaki star! Haven't seen them, or my ship, since!"

#About that sir#

"Did it actually re-emerge? I was catching intermittent signals from it before I went to bed that night, never enough to resolve a warpable signature though..."

#It was found sir yes - By a local pirate gang#

#Erun is scowling at Pali#

"You said that just a little too gleefully there bud. Anything you need to clear out of your cache?"

#No sir Pali is operating optimally - Unlike your Procurer#

"Meanie. I have shiny new toys to play with anyway! I managed to get some successful invention done over the last few days, which has let me put into production some of the new ORE ships and modules. The new Endurance Expedition Frigate is simply amazing, even more so when coupled with the newly developed ice mining turrets. I was able to mine more than 40 Thousand cubic meters of ice in about an hour, with very little interruption thanks to the Endurance's ability to move unimpeded while cloaked. Should make gathering the materials for my new project a lot easier..."

#You just like mining in dangerous situations sir - Your projects as you call them are just an excuse#

"Well sure they are! But that doesn't mean I can't build things after stuff has been blown up!"

#Pali is ending the recording now sir#

"You do that Pali, I have more projects #feral grin# to work on."

#Pali would sigh if it were possible - Ending recording and archiving#

Week 47 YC117 "Mining is Expensive"

#Recording initiated#

#Erun is softly grumbling to himself as he putters around his hangar#

#Pali told you that restricting your Procurer use to Wormhole mining and fleet ops would be more fiscally responsible#

#Noncommittal grunting noise#

#You have no one to blame but yourself for these losses sir#

"Gah! I know that but it still stings every time, you know, aside from the horrible burning and exploding bits. I wouldn't even be so mad if I had just been able to take one or two of them down with me. But no! I am attacked by a combat battlecruiser with a suspiciously powerful tank that cost Zilpin Rana her Vexor, and a fleet of no less than seven faction or T3 cruisers flown by our next door neighbors SNUFF."

#Erun throws his hands in the air and begins pacing in a circle#

"I'll probably take your advice and do my lowsec mining in Ventures to keep my overhead costs down. I don't mind losing the Procurers now and then as long as I can destroy pirate ships worth more than their production costs, but that just hasn't been happening the last few weeks."

"In more positive news, I have been practicing some advanced hauling techniques in simulations, so I should be able to start bulk movement of minerals again. I've been using my Viator almost exclusively for my hauling for a while now and I'm starting to get a good bit more material than I'd like built up in the hisec pocket."

#Erun scratches his beard a bit before grinning#

"I have also, been getting messages from new pilots, referrals from some of the locals in the Placid, asking for advice on how to mine safely in lowsec. I'll admit, I'm not the most risk averse miner in the cluster, but I've been recommending they stick to the Venture for it's versatility and relative cost. A well fit Venture can speed and signature tank the Serpentis in the area pretty well, and their drones are often more than enough to deal with the smaller vessels that patrol the belts."

#Erun rubs his eyes with the heels of his palms#

#Will that be all then sir? - You still have several hundred thousand cubic meters of materials to retrieve tonite#

"Yeah... It's nice to be able to move things in volume again though... Oh and can you update my Neocom portrait for me?

#Really sir? You look like a vagrant#

"I know! #Grinning# "I love looking a little scruffy in them, lends to the 'working man' image I try to live up to."

#As you wish sir - Pali is sure the the Suresha loves having her Commerce leader looking like he just walked in from the wilds"

#Erun blanches#

"You think I should be wearing like a suit or something?"

#Or something#

"Lemme go see if I have something nicer stashed in my quarters, I think I still have that jacket..."

#So sorry sir but Pali has already sent of your current portrait and now his photoreceptors seem to be on the fritz#

"On the fri... come here and take my picture again you little booger!"

#Pali evades Erun's flailing arms#

#Recording ended - Archiving#

Week 45 YC117 "Conference and Research Update"

#Recording initiated#

"Look, I'm sorry but it's the only Plasma Planet nearby, and I need that Enriched Uranium for my new project."

#Pali observes an angry voice on the other end of the comm#

"Really Numen? Hardship? I pay you for all the planetary commodities you bring me! You have enough ISK to replace your hauler even without my help! And these new orders will actually pay out more than your old ones did anyway!"

#Pali boosts audio to hear grumbling from Numen's end#

"Yeah, that's what I thought. #Erun glances at Pali# Look we'll sort out the pricing when you bring me the first load of goods, Pali got impatient and started recording without me. And no you can't have him, make your own autonomous Neocom interface. It's not my fault you focused your studies in school on astrogeology and laser physics."

#Unintelligible shouting about artificial intelligence and... the shape of Erun's head?#

"Ha! You're a capsuleer Numen, just go learn it!"

#Are you ready to make your report now Erun?#

"Yeah, sorry, Numen is being a grump because I have him redoing his Planetary Interaction holdings again. I really don't know why he complains so much, I pay him market value for everything..."

#The conference, sir?#

"Right, well the conference was a blast, I got to see a lot of people and a lot of interesting projects being developed. I got to meet a few of the people making headlines in New Eden, like Max Singularity of the new Imperium. I also got to meet one of the nicest reformed pirates ever, Mynxee of the Signal Cartel. One of the people I rally enjoyed talking to was Mark726, who can be counted among the premier explorers and historians in the cluster."

"I was also able to take part in many panels where we were shown new technological improvements that will be changing how capital ships are used in New Eden. We'll be seeing an expansion of the modules that we can use on them, as well as new weapon systems that will be able to focus fire on smaller, sub capital size, targets. It will be nice to have a use for my dreadnought besides popping derelict POS's... #Or undocking just to mess with people# Or doing that yeah, as fun as it is. There have also been rumblings of even bigger things in development further down the line, but I've yet to hear anything really concrete."

#And your research into the Drifters this past week sir?#

"Oh yes! There is some really weird stuff buried deep in their wormholes! My research this week saw me join a group of many of the people I met at the conference. We explored a new artifact that was recently discovered by Makoto Priano of Itsukame-Zainou Hyperspatial Inquiries, who along with her corporation are some of the cluster's leading researchers of the Drifter's and their technology. The artifact she found was located deep within the Barbican Anoikis system, a system only reached by rare, well protected, wormholes. The word Barbican, from ancient Gallentean sources, is loosely translated to be the outer fortification of a city or castle. And the complex surrounding this site was certainly very well defended."

"I'll have Pali bring up a map of the Barbican complex while I explain how we proceeded to the artifact. #Pali projects the map on a nearby wall# Full documentation on the process of penetrating the complex was graciously provided by I-KAME. New corpmate Daaaain and I joined the fleet of primarily of Caracal Cruisers and Basilisk Logistics, each of us being assigned to one of the two wings needed to reach the focal point of the complex, the Hive. Daaain's group was tasked with the Alpha path and mine the Beta, good comms and excellent logistics work meant that we only ever lost a ship when we ran into a Drifter patrol. Each of our groups ran into a patrol on their way to the Hive, losing two damage dealing ships each, but luckily not our hackers. Many of us were carrying Mobile Depots and fittings just in case we had to pull double duty. Once both of our groups were in position our hackers attacked the gates leading further into the complex. This coordination was necessary as hacking our own gate unlocked the opposite wing's gate and vice versa. After engaging a small fleet of Sleeper battleships  our still considerable fleet emerged into the Hive facing another, larger force of Sleeper Battleships, and a powerful Drifter named Hikanta Tyrannos. His doomsday and subsequent reshipping efforts took three more of our ships, including Daaain's unfortunate Vexor, off the field before we finally cleared the area of hostiles."

"At this point our fleet began to disperse, as the next leg of our journey required ships capable of traveling 10,000 kilometers at sub-light speeds within a reasonable time frame. Those of us continuing with the research mission bookmarked the Hive structure before heading out of Anoikis to grab faster ships. My first effort to bring an Anathema back in met with failure, as I was caught by a Sleeper patrol on my way back to the Hive. My second attempt I was able to get my cloak back online fast enough to evade them, and started making my way with the rest of the group towards our objective, halfway between the room where our combat groups first split, and the Hive around 20k kilometers away. Most of the ships the others had chosen were faster than my own, a paltry 2300 m/s compared to the fastest of our group, a Svipul clocking in at a blistering 11k m/s. Along the way we began to hear exclamations of shock and awe over fleet comms as the fastest among us began reaching the site. It wasn't until I arrived myself that I truly understood their emotional outbursts."

"The structure before me was massive, easily 200km from one end to the other. That was nothing however compared to the spacial phenomenon occurring around it."

"Massive streams of luminous gas swirled into vortices both above and below the structure, with arcs of energy crackling throughout. I approached the structure warily before seeing several others of our research party had already penetrated deep into the starburst pattern of spires. Comms chatter began to pick up as numerous scientific instruments were brought to bear on the structure that had been gven the moniker, 'Barbican' according to the beacon on grid. The Barbican proved unresponsive to all forms of electronic intrusion we had available, up to and including the latest models of Entosis Links. Theories flew back and forth as we tried to ascertain what could have happened here and the original form of the Barbican itself. My own personal theory is that this starburst pattern is the result of the Barbican's former structure collapsing upon itself towards the single point we were currently observing. Others believed that the Barbican was built to look like this but that certain elements were missing, given some credence by the numerous broken and shattered spires we observed. Most of us stayed on site for several hours before we began to leave the system, with our research findings pouring through our data-banks and our minds."

"I've had a week to ponder my own findings and I stick by my idea that the Barbican we see today is the collapsed superstructure of of something larger. Further explorations by other research teams has found a similar structure within each of the other Drifter controlled Anoikis systems, though their purpose continues to elude us..."

#Erun is scratching his head with a huge grin on his face - Curious#

"I can't help it! These are some of the deep mysteries of our times unraveling around us. I haven't been this excited about ancient artifacts and cultures since my early research into the Yan Jung archaeological sites out in Sinq Laison."

#Millions are dying as the Drifters are surging back into the Amarr Empire and you are more excited about research opportunities?"

"..."

#You are a horrible person sir!#

"What?! The more we know about the Drifters the more we can understand their motivation for attacking us, and the Amarr in particular. Seriously, the specifically targeted the Empress, taking her out in her Titan no less! Why would they do something like that? Besides there are pilots like my corpmate Daaaain out fighting the Drifters. He actually said they're going to crash the market for Antikythera Elements with the amount of Drifters they have been repelling. May actually be able to turn a profit on my Entosis Links now... Nah, probably not, besides I'd rather study the things myself..."

#Please tell me you are done sir#

"I find your flawed analysis of my psyche a constant source of amusement, but yes that's probably more than enough for today. Thanks Pali!"

#Ending recording - Archiving footage - Preparing offsite storage for psychological evaluation#

Week 43 YC117 "Ramping Up"

#Recording initiated#

"That cannot be sanitary..."

#What?#

"Sorry, I was watching Omir's rather melodramatic broadcast. That blood spray can't have been good for him could it? I'm curious now, would blood plasma make a good moisturizer? And since most of the Sani Sabik sects prize capsuleer blood above all, one likely wouldn't need to worry about communicable diseases. Aerosolization would be rather simple..."

#No#

"Well I can't imagine a cream doing well, though I believe topical application of some kind would be preferred by most. Though using genuine blood would probably become prohibitively expensive for most, perhaps a synthetic substitute that shares the same organic chemistry?"

#Please stop#

"You're right, someone else has probably thought of this, the market is likely saturated... My own production has picked up quite a bit the last week, with my drones and their peripheral modules filling what looks a pretty good niche in the region. Manufacturing of various hull reinforcement modules also continues apace, filling another hole in the local market. And a large order from Richard should see my assembly lines rolling for the foreseeable future. It's nice to see all of my industry slots active again! Not that I've been slacking in my combat mining. #Looks at Pali# New term I came up with, how do you like it?

#It is almost as bad as you sir- Erun blows a raspberry at Pali - Very mature sir#

"Whatever you little booger, I like it! I did some more combat mining this week, further building up my mineral supplies for my construction projects, and several pirates and interlopers were denied the continued use of their ships in the process. I did suffer a few Procurer losses this week, but the most recent I'm not so upset about as I managed to take a Confessor down with me."

#At least you remembered to insure this one sir#

"Shush! #Coughs# In other news I may a bit less active in space the next few days as I will be attending a planetside conference. Discussions will be mostly centered on emerging technologies, some small scale, with a big focus on developments in capital ship systems, something I've found interesting of late. If anyone who reads my blog is attending and wants to meet up, I'll be wearing the ILF shirt the Suresha and I designed together on first day. I'm hoping I can get some more to wear at the conference itself, I'm told there's going to be some interesting vendors on site!"

#Will that be all sir?#

"Oh! A hearty welcome to new Liberator Daaaain, who has already shown considerable willingness to engage the less desirable elements in and around Intaki! Keep up the good work sir! Thanks Pali!"

#Recording ended - Archiving#

Week 42 YC117 "The Promotion"

#Recording initiated#

#Erun is silent - Did you still want to record sir?#

"Yeah, sorry Pali. Just gathering my thoughts, a lot happened this week."

#Yes - I am aware sir - Congratulations by the way#

"Thanks bud. It was a big surprise when the Suresha called me into her office to give me the news. The rank of Isha-Dravya, or Leader of Commerce, comes with a lot of responsibility. I'm now in charge of both the resource collectors in the corp, the ore and ice miners as well as those who collect gas for safe disposal. I'll also be responsible for those of us that produce goods and put them up for sale within Placid. Most importantly in my opinion, is that I'm responsible for the continued well being of the pilots under my command and for looking for new recruits that can be brought under my purview."

#That last one would probably be easier if you left lowsec more than every couple of months#

"True enough, though I feel some of the best candidates for inclusion in the ILF industry wing are people that can handle themselves in lowsec. Although truth be told, I wouldn't mind if we could get some new pilots that I could mold into combat capable miners..."

#Pali is reasonably certain that if anyone else saw that smile they would have you committed sir#

"Hehe, probably, but then they wouldn't get to enjoy me killing pirates with mining vessels. Would be nice and quiet though, and they wouldn't mind me talking to myself as much as I do..."

#Best to stop that line of thinking sir - You made Pali for a reason#

"True, true. But the walls are padded, and I'm sure they have some nice young ladies in clean white lab coats and-"

#No sir - You got in trouble the last time you volunteered yourself for psychiatric evaluation#

"Oh come on, that was fun!"

#They had to commit several of the staff and most of the orderlies were given incentives to retire#

"Spoilsport... Staying out will give me more time to work on reinvigorating my industry lines though... I'm planning on actually living up to my title of Leader of Commerce and actually doing some, you know, commerce."

#So instead of stockpiling all of those modules and ships and never actually using them you're going to start selling them?#

"Exactly! #Erun is scowling now# I do so use those things!"

#According to my logs of your inventory you've actually replaced more of your losses with salvage than you've actually used#

"Really? #Yes sir# Huh..."

#Some of your invention runs have just completed sir#

"Ah! Excellent! How did this batch go?"

#You averaged a 46% average success rate sir#

"Hmm... I should probably finish my studies on Graviton Physics, that should help bring that a bit higher..."

#Working on your Encryption Methods would serve the same purpose sir#

"It would, but it would also ruffle the Navies a bit, though that honestly doesn't bother me as much as it should..."

#As you wish sir - You had something else you wanted to share?#

#Erun's face has flushed a bright red#

#Lowly# "Boss lady knew this was going to happen"

#Coughs# "Yes, I uh, wanted to thank the Suresha for this opportunity to help improve both myself and the corp. After spending the last few years flying with the ILF, I can honestly say I view the people I fly with as an extended family. We may not all come from the same bloodlines or even races, but we've all gathered here in Intaki to help further a cause that we all believe in. I spent a long time searching for a purpose in New Eden and the closest I've come to my time with the ILF is the many months I spent doing humanitarian work for the Sisters. I want to make sure the ILF continues to grow, not just in terms of members and materials, but also in the amount of influence we can project within the Placid region both economically and politically."

"And of course I'll do my best to provide sound advice and helpful guidance to those will have to put up with my leadership. I'd love to see some more organized mining operations in and around Intaki, maybe if we can set them up well enough we could attract some new industrialists to the area and improve the Placid market!"

#Does that mean you'll get some more work done on your#

"Yes! I'll definitely be working some more on the my Lowsec Industry Advice! It keeps getting bigger and it totally isn't entirely my fault this time! My new method of obtaining High End minerals means I need to rewrite certain sections and rearrange a few more! And my promotion has given me ideas to expand the areas of industry covered. I'm having to redo my structured outline for the whole thing again and I'm thinking of putting some more tips for using basic navigational tools to-"

#Pali is going to end the session here before Erun's ranting is no longer intelligible - Less so in any case#

#Ending Recording - Archiving#