Entry #1 Tuesday, April 29th 5:13PM. I've left behind the colony. They won't miss me anyways. It's not like they will cry or send out people to look for me. I need to get away for some time... I need time to think. I told Sat about my feelings for my biological child-to-be. But really, I can't think straight. My chest aches. I don't think I'll be able to live with my kid without him ever knowing I'm his biological father, I can't stand the thought of staying on the side and not being able to be with him as he grows... But on another topic, to leave those sad memories behind, I'm starting a journey of self discovery and research. Right now I'm scouting different planets on which to build my research facilities and conduct experiments on. I dont' really know much about physics, bio or chem, but I'm sure I'll learn on the way. I feel a little bit relieved about doing this... It feels as if I have nothing to worry about. Well, I'm not one to write much, but I can't deny it feels rather nice to let everything out, even if I can't really esplain it or describe it very well. But enough, I have planets to scout and living stuff to research. Shadowstep out.
Entry #2 Wednesday, April 30th 7:58 PM After another day of scouting and scanning, my work has paid off. I've found a planet with suitable weather conditions to run my projects and experiments. I've already sent a probe with the necessary equipment to explore the area in depth. Check for hostile inhabitants and the like. So far the probe hasn't reported anything too big, just some minor abnormalities with the nitrogen and argon levels in the air, coupled with some magnetic field fluctuations happening in the poles of the planet. That might cause some problem with my electronic equipment, but some lead/carbon alloy sheets for the outpost to be should block off any major electromagnetic pulses. Some other info on the planet: It seems to be in the last stage of the its ice age. Multiple glaciers throughout the landmass are receding, and many forests are sprouting. The average temperature is between -40 to a maximum of 15 degrees celsius. Snowstorms are normal and very common on the planet though, with a minimum number of 3 per day with a radius of 75 km sqr. for each sector in each region. Circumference of the planet is 28907km sqr, and its atmosphere is 1.3 times heavier/stronger than that of Avos. ((About 1.5-1.6 Earth atmospheres?)) Well. This is gonna be hell trying to set an outpost in this place. I wish myself luck.
Entry #3 Thursday, May 1st 10:11 PM After a full in-depth search of the planet, only one relatively civilized race has come up, with different, small nomadic groups scattered thoughout the planet. For the sake of not wanting to ruin their lifestyle and progressive evolution I've decided to leave them be. Contact with level 0 civilizations is a negative. I've gathered a few images and some video feed from their activities though, and they seem to be rather peaceful. They rely on hunting and fishing for their survival. In this harsh environment it is understandable that the development of crops would be somewhat hard. They resemble lizardmen, with dark, gleaming scales protecting their entire body except their chest, abdominal and thigh areas, where they have roughless soft skin. Their teeth are serrated and their irises are slitted, the average height seems to be 1.87 metres tall with the males and 1.76 metres tall for females. Though ferocious in appearance, they are a peaceful race, like I have stated before. They are kind with their children and affectionate with friends and family. The female though, helps the male in all his activites, wether it be hunting or building new houses or other structures. In the same way the men help the female sew together damaged clothing for example, or aid with the cooking. Men and women seem to be equal in this society. Well, enough of that. I'm feeling better each day, more relaxed and more free by the moment. I still hope for someone to do me company though. The quiet buzzing of my ship's engines doesn't really help. I wish I had someone to share my experiences with...
Entry #4 Friday, May 2nd 7:35 PM I awoke this morning with a pleasant feeling and a good night's rest. I made myself some coffee and beamed down onto the planet to take a stroll. Looking at the beautiful scenery and drinking hot coffee while the morning brisk caresses my feathers feels rather fulfilling. Lush green forests, crystal clear rivers and vividly colored flowers made my heart waver for a second. It has been years since I've seen something like that. Untouched, pure, free from the claws of industrializing megacorporations. It made me happy. It contrasts very much with my life. Blades, guns and fists cross and the thrill of the fight never ends. Adrenaline pumps through my veins whenever I cross arms with my enemies. Blood flows without stopping and my pain is but a nuisance in the heat of the battle. I cut and I cut and my warrior self feels no remorse, only happiness at my adversary's fatal wounds. But somehow he still keeps enough sanity to follow our code of honor. It is a curse I dread and fear, my bloodthirst that is.
(Shadowstep's log would be found in the terminal in his room, by entering the password: Lightbringer_VI you would be able to access them. Or by hacking it, since it doesn't have any countermeasures.) Entry #5 Saturday, June 14th 11:14 AM Been a long time since the last entry... Guess I forgot to write anything with all the research and training going on. I'll update my research logs later I guess. I got back to civilization just a week ago, can't believe how much has changed. In those two-to-three months... I've met new people and made friends with them. Solour and Pelaris. They're all nice people, a little odd, but no more than I am in public. Shame I can never bring myself to be serious in front of people Lot'a things going on. Yesterday I hung out with Ibis, whom I just met. She's one cute little avian girl. We might've had one too many drinks, but I think I didn't mess up too badly because I woke up alone with my underwear on. On another status report, I haven't seen Pel or Sol lately. Last time I saw Pelaris he looked pretty bad. Huge wounds on his abdomen and forearms. I offered to eliminate the one who caused such injuries but he didn't want me to. He's too soft for his own good. I'm hoping it doesn't get him killed. It was a floran is all I can remember. She's the one who lured me when I was heavily impaired because of all those tranquilizer shots and the rum and the gasified LSD something. It caused me two painful and hard to recover wounds. Two barbed crossbow bolts, one in my right thigh and another on my left shoulder, as well as several scratches and cuts on my face that had to be stitched up. Good thing I spent most of these last 5 days in regen tanks. Well, that's all I can remember so far. Again, I just hope my friends stay safe. End of entry #5.
Entry #6 Sunday, June 15th 12:05 PM All wounds have healed properly, they left scars though, as if I didn't have enough. Well it's a good thing I have feathers otherwise they would look fugly. Or maybe cool. Yesterday I was at Liberty Mills, like usual, street performing. It's nice to have an audience; it's better than playing alone in your ship. I met up with Rook again at the Mills. We talked, then our talk turned into ass-slapping and the attempted murder of the children in my balls. According to her I don't need my balls. I told her I did. She tackled me, I cried 'RAPE' and she slapped the pluck out of me. It wasn't fun. A Fleet officer had to get her away from me. I could've done a thousand things to Rook, like snap her wrist the wrong way, or break her neck, or dislocate her shoulder. But I'm a gentleman and that means I don't hit women, even if they kick my balls and then try to rape me. Although I don't really mind the last part, I do when when it's in broad daylight in the middle of the street. Which it was. Later on I apologized to Rook for slapping her in the ass when she kicked my balls. Even though it really wasn't my fault, I just did it because she kept on annoying me. Also Celeste invited me and a bunch of other florans to her home to grab dinner. I met this meek guy, his name's Shaderaze, and a fellow musician, whose name is Crimson something. They're both cool florans, specially 'cause they don't wanna eat me. Celeste's home was awesome, she had a bunch of game trophies hanging on the walls. She also turned out to be a great cook as well! She made spicy chili with mashed potatoes. It was nice. I also got the gig as private security guard with another hyperactive friend, Joe, for a bunch of pansy rich people at the Vernet Chateau. Vernet expects trouble, so I'll make sure to bring extra equipment for the job. Yesterday was an interesting day. I hope to see Pel, Shelly and the others soon. End of Entry #6.
Entry #7 Monday, June 16th 6:16 AM Nothing too interesting happened yesterday. It was a boring day aside from catching up with the folks at Opportunity. I met with Shelly, Lunetta and Teddy. We talked for a while, and apparently Shelly's doing some remodelation in his clinic. I saw Teddy come in with a bunch of boxes and leave with a bunch of stuff. Not much to write today. The day looks beautiful, I'm gonna go get a coffee and cook myself some breakfast. Bacon, poached/scrambled eggs, pan-fried sausages and potates. Yum. End of Entry #7.
((And I probably won't be on today either, loads of work and martial arts classes today. If I can make time I'll make sure to tell you. It's 4:52 PM here.))
Entry #8 Monday, April 16th 10:36 PM Note to self: Never give Pelaris ice cream or frozen yogurt. Cannot unsee. Will have nightmares tonight. End of Entry #8
Entry #9 Tuesday, April 17th 9:30 AM Yesterday was a nice day, except for the whole Ice-cream/Pelaris incident in my ship. Which I now have to clean up. Dammit that glass was exported... On another note, Lunetta was a bit shaken up about something. I couldn't really tell over her raging words directed at me. She was bleeding, she couldn't heal herself, and she was incredibly upset. I tried being nice. It didn't work out. She threatened to beat the crap out of me, or something akin to that, and I had to use my authority as Peaceshaper to stop her from threatening me, harming herself, and from having to knock her out. I applied first aids and bandaged her hands but she was still shaken up about that something. Any ways that about sums all of yesterday's occurrences. I'll skip the part about the Pelaris Incident because I do not want to remember that or have it in my logs. End of Entry #9.
Entry #10 Wednesday, June 18th 4:49 PM Shellton's having a hard time with Izzy going back to her Homeworld for a visit. He thinks she might leave him for her ex, some glitch. I gave him a long peptalk but he wouldn't budge from his fetal position. I hope Izzy doesn't leave him, because he's either gonna kill himself or do something very stupid. Or simply mope around for days. End of Entry #10. ::>/cloak_file ::>/optmatrix.exe initialized. ::>File hidden. ::>/encrypt_file ::>/intelsec_level.exe initialized. ::>Encrypting... ::>File encryption level: 10 ::>File encryption complete. On another note, Outpost Hyperion is at 20% completion. Purposes of this orbital station is to carry out weapons' testing as well as mining operations. My list of contacts is getting short and my capital is running low. I might have to increase risk levels and get high-paying but dangerous missions. I do not consider many things as 'dangerous'. Outpost Nieve is fully operational and automated tests on class E toxins are being done. All files are synced to the terminals in the communications room in the Lightbringer II. Should Outpost Nieve fall into the wrong hands, it will self-destruct within 30 seconds after tampering with the terminals or research laboratories. 2 units of military-grade plasma charges have been implanted through the infrastructure of Outpost Nieve. If the plasma charges have been defused/deactivated a virus failsafe will be deployed in order to wipe out all compromised data. End of Entry #10-R
::>/cloak_file;r_logs.txt ::>/optmatrix.exe initialized. ::>File hidden. ::>/encrypt_file;r_logs.txt ::>/intelsec_level.exe initialized. ::>Encrypting... ::>File encryption level: 10 ::>File encryption complete. Entry #11-R Friday, July 4th 9:12 PM I haven't gotten much time to list things down since my last shore leave. Too many undesirable run-ins with pirates and nosy "my-justice-is-better" adventurers on my errands. Hyperion is at 50% completion, comm links are up, auxiliary solar energy systems are being used for the time being and Plasma Matrix Shielding Systems are ready for use as well. I've got to remind myself to keep them on stand-by though. They drain way too much power for the base to currently sustain them indefinitely. On another note, those undesirable run-ins with pirates had something good come out of them. When I was running and in-depth scan of one of the shipwrecks I was able to find a surviving Solid State Drive -or SSD- that contained a shitload of information and coordinates of different planets with exploitable resources, working facilities and some treasure hidden here and there. Apparently the bastards were planning to go legit after a life of plundering, raping, murdering, vandalism, kidnapping, etc; and I was going to be one of their last victims. Too bad for them. So yeah, I'm planning on checking those planets out and see what I can do with the ones that are abandoned. This is a big hit for me, it'll boost up the speed of the building of Outpost Hyperion. I'll also probably need another supply of ketamine. Got shot again. Would've lost my right arm if my muscles weren't weaved with impervium fibres... Surgical bots might be expensive, but they're damn well worth it. Had to spend some time on the ship recovering though. I should probably check on Opportunity again. Take a vacation. I'll leave the drones to work with the station and the automated emergency signal in case there's a bunch of no-good pirates trying to plunder my plunder. They've got balls if they think they can. Shadowstep out. End of Entry #11-R
Entry #11 Friday, July 11th 11:52 PM Quite a while since I last wrote any public entries. Better get back into it I guess. Today was an interesting day. I sparred with Ciphias, or at least that's what it was supposed to be, and won. I really would have preferred for it to have not involved fatal/serious wounds. I almost killed him when I thrusted my Salamandra into him. Didn't think it would pierce right through his armor and cause so much damage that he had to get a new power core and torso. I really should control myself more. I also sparred with Firehawk, an old acquaintance. She beat me but this time it was actual non-mortal training. She goy a bit cocky when she won but I didn't say anything. After all it's just training. I think I would've beaten her if it was an all-out melee fight though. Maybe. I spoke with a few new friends, Fell and Connor. Connor's a nice kid with lots of spirit to fight injustice but lacks the discipline and physical strength to back it up. I'm amazed he isn't moping around in public after his parents' murder though, he shows promise and lots of willpower. Must be tough on him. It was on me. I also met an avian girl named Ixchel. She's got a nice figure and good looks in general. She's very sociable and friendly. I invited her to talk over some drinks. I had a bit of trouble when I self-serviced myself some of the wine of Taranis's bar. The 'Prince' or whatever taxed me hard because of it. He's a dick, but a dick with rules and a faction behind him. I can respect that. Anyhow, me and Ixchel went to Maple Hills where we relaxed over a cup of coffee. We talked about the place and the scenery, discussed her hobbies and stuff. She's nice, but I don't have time to swoon over girls. Not now at least. I left after a while because of a bunch of ballsy pirates trying to plunder my plundered plunder from other pirates' plunder. They couldn't know the systems of my outpost would send a virus to their systems the second they tried to hack its security. By the time I arrived their shields were down, engines were shut off and their comm links completely blocked. Ha. They couldn't even see what killed them. Note: I think I forgot to celebrate my birthday again... It was three days ago, 9th of July I think. It doesn't matter, it's not like I have anyone to celebrate it with. I wonder what Dad would've said if he was still alive... End of Entry #11
Entry #12 Sunday, July 13th 1:33 AM Better type down everything before I forget. Went to Maple Hill again and met with a trio of avian strangers, they were Hawke, a cool-looking swell guy, Lyra, a girl who seems to be a bit strict and serious and Chaac, a shy and quiet acolyte. I invited them for a cup of coffee while they waited for the owner of one of the shop around the place to show up. He never really did. I also had a training spar with Connor. He really does show promise. Even though he needs a lot more training though. He does learn fast as well. I took a nap and an afternoon bath then another nap before beaming back down to Taranis, where I then found that Firehawk had almost gotten herself killed. I assume that was her own fault for not being prepared. Me and Lily took care of her wounds while Sol calmed down the frightened pink chick that called for help. There was also this other girl that may or may not have one or two loose screws up in her head that threatened me. She asked me if I didn't know who I was dealing with. I told her I was dealing with an incompetent guard and an untrained assassin. Or so I wanted to. But she seemed to be about to spit foam out of her mouth and so I held back my tongue. All in all the assassin was clearly an idiot. He managed to botch up his revenge twice and Firehawk's wounds were far from fatal. Im even more surprised that Firehawk didn't kill him. She told me she was about to, a few weeks ago or something, but then gave up with the hope that he would leave her alone. You never -ever- leave loose ends, because sooner or later it will bite you in the ass. That's Mercenary/Assassination Business 101. It's the golden rule. Finish the job. In any case she's stable now and recovering. I just hope that whoever did this pulls back before it's too late and makes me step in. Because he will regret it if he does. End of Entry #12
Log_001 ::>Date-Unknown ::>DATA_LOCATION-Unknown ::>ONLINE_CONNECTIVITY-Negative This is Private Shadowstep of the USAF, fireteam 1-1-A. Rifleman. We've crashlanded on an uncharted planet after a distress call mission went wrong. The distress signal came from an empty orbital station that was allegedly stormed by the Miniknog. After we boarded the station, something in it caused it to power off its gravitation wells and thrusters, leading it straight for the planet below. Before that happened though, we quickly boarded the escape pods and left the station. However we still crashlanded into the uncharted planet. We lost contact with fireteam 1-1-B then. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Log_002 ::>SOLAR_DATE-Unknown ::>DATA_LOCATION-Unknown ::>ONLINE_CONNECTIVITY-Negative Day two from the crashlanding. Felith lost an arm when he used an AT Grenade at almost point blank when fighting one of the mutants. Yes. There's fucking mutants in this planet. Whole reason as to why there was a research station above the planet. Sharptooth lost a leg and I had to perform emergency surgery on Matt. This mission was getting better and better. We built up a defensive perimeter and scavenged what we could from the escape pod. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Log_003 ::>SOLAR_DATE-Unknown ::>DATA_LOCATION-Unknown ::>ONLINE_CONNECTIVITY-Negative ::>VOICE_RECORDING -Pained grunt- S-several lacerations to torso area... -cough- dislocated left arm... -static, more coughing, static- Deep cuts in shoulders... -silence- .... -static- Internal... bleeding... -Hack, cough- Sta-status... I-in deep shit.. -chuckles- ..... At least I don't have a....-static- face like that mutant bastard.... ::>END /EDIT #NOTE: I'm not scared of dying but... I don't wanna die a virgin. That would be my deepest regret.
