Lazarus's Holotapes (NA tests, transactions, etc.)

*Holotape starts, Lazarus appears in her typical red coat and hat and is recording from the captain's desk of the NA Yatagarasu at Liberty Mills*

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Hey, I'm Lazarus.
Most people know me by Laz, or Praetor Qi, but I really don't care. What I really care about is making everything run relatively well. Relatively. The truth is, I'm not really sure if we'll do well. After all, this chapter of the Nuclear Amalgamation is rather weak. Don't tell anyone else I said that, it's confidential. Consul Ray would skin me alive. Literally. He's known to do that.
Anyhoo, I'm a praetor now! Unfortunately, Ray stated that he "didn't have the time for such frivolities such as a ceremony", but I'm a praetor nevertheless. I can't wait until the NA allows their first cargo ships to arrive and orbit one of Liberty Mills' moons... Yeah, some kinda Avian fleet is surrounding the main planet, so we had to drop a small outpost on one of the moons. No problem. They demanded that the Yatagarasu be rendered weaponless, so we uninstalled the plasma anti-ship cannons on board, transferring them onto the supply cruiser NA Fires of Hokkai and a few other classified weapons to the glassing battlecruiser NA Gensokyo, which has been relocated to the far side of said moon to prevent outbursts from the planet. Ah, security formalities. Lovely.
What gets me worried is that this chapter has met slight amounts of resistance from local authorities. Apparently, before I was made Praetor of the Amalgamation and was just another Legatus, then-Praetor Raymond Okazaki (Yes, the same sadistic bastard that I call boss) was in charge of this division. The soldiers here still remember his rule here, and... er... I don't know if I should be recording this, but I should let it out anyway, this is a classified tape... I hope. Hopefully some idiot won't publish this on Starnet and get me killed by him. *Laz clearly shudders at the thought* Anyway, back then, Praetor Ray was a very... firm leader. He sometimes ordered the ritual of decimation, which was not pleasant, although in his defense it did bring about a certain fear within the soldiers. He also constantly declared people "in damnatio memoriae" and had them exiled or executed. Personally, I feel it's good that he was ousted for a bit and sent back. Of course, it won't be permanent, being Consul would just make him have more of a desk job than something I would do.
My real difference from Ray's rule is that, well, I try to be gracious and professional to everyone, including my legionnaires, and show that we really are there to bring them freedom, economic benefits, and prosperity. Whether I am truly better than Ray was, I can't say yet, I have yet to actually do much on this chapter. This'll go well, I know it. In any case, I'll reforge the legion's sword through peace and prosperity, and not use it to carve a red path of blood like how the last Praetor had.

As for the Tests:
Anyway, we've begun tests of various mech-suits on Mills' moon. This new suit, called the "Mechanized Assault Exoskeleton" or MAX for short is a new innovative technology we've tested. Of course, it is designed with various weapon attachments including anti-vehicle, anti-personnel, and anti-aircraft weaponry, and has a small overshield. Problem is, the overshield's generator, located on the back of the armor, is exposed. A good shot to the rear exhaust fan would take it out, as old tests with fully armored models resulted in the interior of the suit being dangerously hot, to the extent that the operator would literally melt in their armor. That's something I cannot tolerate happening to my legionnaires, much less my decanii, who would be more certified to operate them. We've built 5 prototypes, and are planning to mass-produce the most successful- and most exposed, unfortunately- variant.

Another project is a small, 1-man tank we call the Secutor. Meaning "Pursuer", or "follower", it is designed to be fast and maneuverable, while being invulnerable to small arms fire. It's fully armored, as this time the vents and stuff like that are in the bottom of the tank. Unless someone has a tank mine, or C-4 slid under the tank, it isn't going to simply overheat and blow up. That is, unless someone doesn't have anti-vehicle equipment. Explosive bullets, we can deal with. Shrapnel grenades, same thing. But a rocket launcher or plasma cannon? Best to back away while laying down suppressive fire from the chaingun without firing the main cannon. We've built a single prototype, it is still undergoing trials at the Mills moon and aboard the NA Gensokyo.

As for weapons, most of the stuff we sell comes over in shipments from the NA Fires of Hokkai. It arrives every few months with a few escorts, but nothing as big as a cruiser. Hopefully the fleet orbiting the main planet is friendly, or else we may just have to start building defenses. That's something I really would loathe to do, I am here for business, not war. I am not the former Praetor of Blood, I am Lazarus Qi, Praetor of Prosperity. A'ight, I think I'm done here. I've got stuff to do.

*Lazarus reaches for the holotape recorder, flipping it off.*

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((OOC: I used rinmarugames.com to make these avatars. It's just for IC lols.))
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*Lazarus appears on the bridge of the NA Yatagarasu, apparently holding two small photographs in her hands, they seem to be unrecognizable from this distance*

So... here we are again.

Well, first off, I turned this thing on again because of the fact that I simply NEED to describe the NA Yatagarasu. It may not have firepower any more, but anyhoo, it's still a ship. Which I happen to live on.

When we were told that it was a "Komeiji-class atmospheric cruiser", I thought that meant heavy firepower. And I was correct, for a bit. Had to remove weaponry due to the demand of the locals. They're rather... protective, paranoid, and what's that word... Yeah, "rough". I know that it's been a long time since the Amalgamation has entered here, but I do think that their attitude of being drunk, and drawing weapons on people is rather rash. Heck, I agree that Praetor Okazaki was a bastard, but really? I can somewhat understand his actions if these ruffians keep drawing guns and blowing each other apart. At the very least, buy the gun from us before you use it to kill yourself and five others. Jeez. The Avians too, they're self-righteous and all that, but at least they keep the peace. I shudder to imagine what kind of anarchic hellhole this planet would be if there was no law. Which is probably what made Okazaki's operations go FUBAR. That bloody sadistic sonuvagun.

Well, I'm done ranting. About the Yatagarasu, yes. It's like a floating base of operations, if one would put it that way. I guess there's more room for merchandise now that there's no more cannon. *sigh* Although, our mission here is peaceful, and I would never go beyond that.

Now for test procedures. Yippee.
First of all, we finished test runs on the MAX suit. Yippee. It'll go into full manufacturing soon. The manufacturing location is [REDACTED]
ERROR: Sorry, the location is classified. All unauthorized personnel will be executed on sight.
We are now in the process of making more Secutor tanks. Yippee.
Progress on the EX-1 plasma cannon is on hiatus due to... Resource shortages. Totally not my fault. Really! I just really needed those power cells for my secret video cam- *static* ERROR: Sorry for the inconvenience, but the usage is classified. By orders of the Praetor.

Finally, our pictures arrived. Like, they show me within the Yatagarasu's reactor control room (Why the heck did I take that? I must've been drunk...) and I look super-cool in my Praetor uniform. Which may or may not have sake stains on it. It wasn't my fault, I promise! As for the other, it's an old one. Seems like it's Okazaki in the navigation room of the NA Gensokyo. Now that is an impressive ship, but why is he all beat up? Must've been the local idiots. I honestly have no idea, but he looks rather pissed. He's holding coordinate markers in his hand, the kind you place on a planet you want to go to and let the computer do the work. Wonder why he looks like he wants to stab the cameraman? Poor guy, I hope he lived. Hehehe... I named them in my opinion, of course.

Oh, well. I have to go.

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As I've said before, the guy on the left is the former praetor and now consul, Ray Okazaki. The gal on the left is me, the new praetor, Lazarus Qi. I think I'm a better person, no? Personally, Consul Okazaki looks like he's going to go full sadist on whoever's there. Never go full sadist. Ever.

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