I think the better approach for me will be to break up the journals. It's taking me about an hour to get each one written up, so that's just too slow to make it in one session. I do work early, so I have to sleep early too. I would have had something yesterday, but I saw YouTube would be going down for maintenance and was not sure if I'd have access to the videos or not. So I spent some time playing the Action Role Playing Game Silverfall by Monte Cristo. With that tedious explanation out of the way, let's go on to the journals.
Pasqual 1
All of the pilots are in the hangar bay to give Vagabond respectful burial in space. I’m giving the eulogy, and express how lucky I was to have known him and been his friend. I hope Catscratch is not affected too badly since this will be a sight he will encounter again during his long career as a combat pilot. I offer my final wishes for Vagabond’s spirit to roam the stars, and Maniac and Eisen act to push his coffin into space. We all give a salute as Vagabond’s remains drift away, and I am given the hope that he is resting in peace when I see a star glimpse off the coffin before it passes out of view.
In Confed space, the new super carrier Vesuvius is christened for action. Paladin is there with Admiral Tolwyn, and the Admiral is sweet-talking Paladin by saying his presence will be an inspiration to the crew. Paladin admires the Vesuvius for a few moments, and then asks Tolwyn for any more news about the Border Worlds. The Admiral says that news of the worst kind has arrived about my defection to the Border Worlds. Paladin is shocked by this news, and wonders what happened for me to make my decision. Tolwyn says that he can’t rely on the intelligence he has to be accurate, and goes into a quotation from Yeats. Paladin presses Tolwyn if he has any details on who is behind the escalation of tensions. Tolwyn does not, but feels that the increase in aggression by the Border Worlds is a mistake that can’t be ignored. Paladin feels that my action was not rash, but Tolwyn says that my defection is a mystery. Paladin emphasizes that time is growing short before the Declaration of War is brought to a vote. There is only one week left before the vote, and Admiral Tolwyn’s report will help to influence the outcome. Tolwyn expresses his wishes that war is not the only option.
On the Intrepid, I see Sosa and Eisen working on the data that Vagabond died for. More pieces have fallen into place, but there is no ‘smoking gun’ yet to pinpoint the rogue element of Confed. There is data that Sosa is still working to decrypt, but it’s going to take time. Eisen places his hopes that the data will be enough to convince the Earth assembly to not vote for war, or more pilots like Vagabond will die. I find Maniac sitting morosely at a table in the galley, while I’m getting a fresh cup of coffee. He’s wondering how he got such a turn of luck while playing Vagabond. I point out that he’s an idiot if he thinks Vagabond lost the will to live over a simple card match. Maniac does point out that he never beat Vagabond before, and I walk away in exasperation. Maniac picks up the cup of coffee I left at his table, and I check in with Captain Eisen. We’re getting an SOS from a convoy broadcasting to any Border Worlds ship in the area. The convoy is moving around aggressively to avoid its attackers, and Eisen wants me to bring it back in one piece.
Apparently, the coffee ‘helped’ since Maniac is coming along on this mission. When we reach the convoy, we get a surprise on seeing a Kilrathi contingent. There is a shuttle and some fighter escorts, and I receive a communication from Melek on the shuttle. He begs us to not fire on them, and I’m more concerned about the pirate forces attacking the cats. Since the pirates are using Arrows, I let Maniac and my missiles do most of the talking. The first Arrow falls to a missile shot, and I let loose with a second against a Razor. That missile takes out the fighter, and I see a third go off the scope. The pirates bring in heavier ships with Thunderbolts, and I get behind one and let my scatter gun do its work. I get a few hits, and then nudge into the Thunderbolt causing its destruction. I let another pirate Arrow meet a missile, and get on the tail of an Arrow. A friendly missile makes short work of the pirate I was pursuing, I see a Thunderbolt in my sights. I let him have it with the scatter gun, and it chews him to chunks. I see an interesting sight when the last two pirate Arrows come in with cloaking capabilities. It’s not enough of an advantage to save one Arrow from getting gunned down while cloaking. Another Arrow shakes my missile by cloaking, and I have a VERY close encounter with one of the Kilrathi ships. The other Arrow comes out of cloaking, and I let a missile finish it off. Maniac and I are sitting undamaged, and we escort the Kilrathi back to the Intrepid.
Pasqual 2
I meet up with Melek in the CIC of the Intrepid. He never expected to meet me again, and I admit that it’s a small universe. Melek explains that he regrets the circumstances of our meeting. He and a group of Kilrathi have done their best to exist peacefully with humans. Melek and his group were heading back to their new homeworld of Pasqual 10 before getting under attack for the last 48 hours. A copy of Melek’s log has been given to Sosa, and we see the new prototype weapon in action. A disc comes from an attacking heavy fighter, and it attaches itself to a Kilrathi ship. The weapon incinerates from the ship within, and then I see something that is too familiar with the pilot’s exit maneuver. He drops a mine, and afterburns out of its blast radius. Hawk says that he also has seen that move from a pilot by the callsign of ‘Seether’. ‘Seether’ was a rookie pilot on the ship that Hawk was once on, but Hawk did not get much time to get details before the transfer of ‘Seether’ to Confed Intelligence Ops. Sosa offers to do a lookup in the Confed pilot registry, but Eisen points out that the data about ‘Seether’ no doubt got blanked after his transfer. Hawk says he heard about a ‘GE’ program before the transfer of ‘Seether’ but could not find anything about the program. I admit my desires to put myself to the test against ‘Seether’, but Hawk thinks it would end up with my demise. Eisen wants Melek to let him keep the recording, and thinks it will add more weight to the data that he hopes will prevent the brewing war between Confed and the Border Worlds. There is less than a week before the Declaration of War is put to a vote, and Eisen feels that it’s time to make a move. I see Catscratch and Panther in the galley discussing the current plight of the Kilrathi. Panther points out that she dedicated her career to knocking cats out of space, and I point out that we’re now on a mission to help them get home. Catscratch wonders if Eisen is making the right decision, and I point out that what separates warriors like us from killers like the pirates and the rogue Confed contingent is that we only fight when provoked. Our humanity is defined by helping those like Melek when they are in need. I find Hawk in the hold attempting to get some sleep. Hawk’s feeling that he does not need to provide much help with the Kilrathi, and feels that they should have all been killed after the conclusion of the war. I point out that they have the same enemies we do, and that a victory for Kilrathi will be one less fight for the Border Worlds to win. Hawk says that he will follow my orders in combat, and I let him relax and make a mental note to give him some time off before letting him come on the next few combat missions. I know that eventually I’ll need his capabilities in combat, but I’d rather have him when he’s well rested and more motivated. I find Melek contemplating things outside the hold, and I point out that we’ll be jumping to a point close to his new home world. Melek explains that the terms of surrender with Confed meant the dismantling of all warships, leaving little defense against aggression. Melek wonders what he has done to merit a new war against the cats, and I explain that most of us have been willing to let the Kilrathi find their new way in the universe. Melek asks for my forgiveness when he realizes that I’m not the enemy any more. He wonders how he can properly thank me for my assistance. I tell Melek to consider it payback, and he’s confused over the definition of the word. I explain that a few years ago, he had ample opportunity to kill me after the destruction of Kilrah but did not. Melek feels that it’s a decision he does not regret, and I mumble a ‘Me neither’ that I hope he did not manage to hear. I point out that the final two fighters that were attacking Melek came in under cloak, and I give the chance for Melek to give us a high tech payback by assisting Pliers with any cloaking expertise. It could come in handy later on. Maniac is acting like his usual obnoxious self around Sosa, and she tells him to knock it off since Captain Eisen is there too. Eisen puts Maniac in his place, and Sosa hands the Kilrathi data to the Captain. Eisen tells me that he’ll be leaving to make a personal delivery of all the data that he has. Eisen will use his network of friendly contacts in Confed to do his best to beat back the winds of war. Eisen feels that the data should be enough to convince others to follow his lead, and Maniac has his doubts. Eisen says that there is no choice except to trust that the cooler heads of Confed will prevail. Without the influence of other personnel within Confed, the Declaration of War will go thru with no opposition. Sosa receives a communication from Vice Admiral Wilford. Eisen points out that I’ll be the acting Captain after Eisen leaves. I’m a bit shocked at this news, and Wilford’s admiration at seeing me brings me back from my momentary surprise. I find out that the Vice Admiral was also with Confed for a long time before being convinced to come back and work with the Border Worlds. The Vice Admiral will be briefing me on mission assignments, and Captain Eisen points out that Wilford is constantly on the move. I find out from the interaction between Wilford and Eisen that a group of Marines are coming our way too. Maniac makes some little moves to impress the navigator of the Intrepid, and then causes some ship swaying with his boyish behavior. All of the pilots are in the hangar bay, and we salute Captain Eisen. I wish him luck as he embarks on his mission under escort from two Banshees, and he wishes the same luck to us all. Two small Border Worlds capital ships accompany us on the jump, and I give my first briefing. I explain that I’ll do my best to run things in the absence of the Captain, and ask that I get addressed if there are things to talk about. I make it clear that I’ll be the one responsible for the final decisions. Due to good communications between Melek and the Kilrathi on Pasqual 10, we’ve found out that ships are attacking the planet. Since the enemies are flying the same ships that we have, I point out for everyone to stay alert to avoid friendly fire casualties.
Since I have two wingmen to take along on this mission, I go with Excell and Tex to tag along. The first nav point has two Banshees and two Avengers, but Excell quickly evens the odds with a missile. I get rid of a Banshee as well with a missile, and go to assist Tex. He’s shooting widely, but manages to make a kill and almost sounds surprised. Excell is trying to rally both Tex and me with her prowess by making another missile kill. While I’m busy going after an Avenger and getting him with my guns, Tex his scored another kill. I finish off the Avenger, but need to watch my damage level. More Banshees and Avengers are at the second nav point, and I take a Banshee down with a missile. Tex gets another kill, and I notice a badly damaged Banshee. I gun it down easily with my Avenger, and pursue the closest enemy Avenger in range. I see a missile make a hit on it, and I finish that ship off with my guns. Excell has taken down another enemy, and the way is clear to move on. The same old story of Banshees and Avengers are at the next nav point, and Excell gets the first kill. She has to retreat due to damage, and I take out a Banshee with a missile. Seeing how dangerously close I am to 100% damage, I use another missile to quickly eliminate a Banshee. The final two Avengers are going full throttle towards Pasqual 10 in an attempt to do as much damage as possible. I get one with a missile, and follow up on the other with a furious gun barrage. Tex admires the quick kill, and it’s time to bring in my battered Avenger for repairs. Sosa congratulates me on my approach, and says that some of the Kilrathi are considering me a hero. I’m sure that there will be paybacks both ways for future interactions.
Pasqual 3
In the galley, Catscratch is giving Sosa a dish of vegetables. She thanks him for his kindness, and Catscratch offers me a seat when he sees me walk up to the table. Catscratch has told me that he has thought about what I said earlier about helping those in need, and agrees that helping the Kilrathi was the right thing to do. Sosa points out that she helped nudge Catscratch towards his new thoughts, and asks if I’ve checked out the new guests in the hold. Sounds like the Marines have arrived, and I tell them both to carry on while I check them out. I see a bunch of beaten-up personnel in the hold catching some sleep before a new assignment. I wake one of them, and he tells me that he is Colonel Decker. Once I introduce myself, he recognizes my name. I point out that they are late in arriving, and Decker says that things got hairy in Lennox. He then says that he heard that I’m helping out the Kilrathi. I ask if there are problems with that and he points out that he’s a war veteran with action in Repleetah and time in a Kilrathi POW camp. I hope I don’t have another Cobra on my hands, and am quickly relieved when he replies that the war with the cats is over and he considers the matter a part of the past. Decker points out his crew as experts at hand to hand combat, and I tell him to get them prepped for our next mission. I enter CIC and explain the mission briefing. We’ll be taking Melek to a starbase where he was stationed. We’ll be using the Marines to take control of the starbase, and then let Melek take over. We’ll do a sweep of the area and provide cover for the Marine landing craft. Sounds like escort duty, so I pick the Vindicator and choose Catscratch and Panther to come along. Time for both of them to actively assist the Kilrathi. Melek says that he’ll share this new insight about me to his hrai. Sounds like the ‘Heart of the Tiger’ has found his way to beat a new way in the hearts of the Kilrathi.
More pirates in those flimsy Razor fighters are looking to attack an entire contingent of three Vindicators and several Kilrathi. The lead Razor takes a few barrages from my guns and tries running away. I let a missile take him out, and quickly follow with another missile against the second. No more pirates decide to become bait here, and we move towards the station. There are no fighters I can see in the area and Catscratch asks if I should call in the Marines. I agree to do so, and as soon as I do pirate Arrow fighters attack. Catscratch quickly makes his mark against a pirate fighter, and I see three more go off the scope before I get in range. Seems like the cats wanted some blood in retribution, so they definitely have lost little of their abilities to swarm and attack in groups. Panther catches an Arrow after it uncloaks, and she scores one for our side. It takes about a minute for Decker to assist Melek in taking the starbase. We all head back to the Intrepid, and Sosa thanks us for our great work.
P.S. - I'm including one picture from Silverfall and Sacred(my current games in session that I've mentioned), as well as a Scatter Gun shot from the Banshee.