We went to Shastal in a bit of a hurry, only to find Mezagorm camped by some Sansha frigates, just hanging there and not moving.
There was one good piece of news today. My Permit for Archeological Investigation (PAI) for the exploration of Mezagorm came in while I was in Seclusion. So, I have contacted the hangar with the request of loading the station scanning equipment back into the Indagatrix.
There is unfortunately also a bit of bad news. Libby came to see me all upset. She found me just when mr. Firth was bringing me the PAI.
Apparently, some blurry picture of her appeared in a gutter-press tabloid.
The cause of this is my excuse for her presence on the Indagatrix, spoken in misplaced jest, saying that she was an apparition. This seems to have been taken up by some clickbait hungry paparazzo. There exists a type of information vulture that likes to loiter in docking bays where capsuleers berth their ships, looking for any morsel or scandal that they can exploit.
It is best to simply come clean, and confess to the port authorities my mistake of bringing Libby out to Seclusion without having submitted the proper paperwork.
However, mr. Firth spoke out against that obvious solution, as he fears it will reflect poorly on him. He had a very strong opinion on the matter, and did not shy away from using profanities. He suggests that we depart as soon as possible for the exploration of Mezagorm, and said - I quote - "Get out of here, shut up, and stay there like a hermit for a couple of weeks, and pray that this sh*tstorm blows over."
Youth nowadays has no respect for clergy any more.
Initially, there was a bit of consternation from the clearance officer at Mehatoor docking. According to their records Libby never left the 24th Imperial Crusade station, so how can she disembark from my ship?
I had forgotten about that.
I tried to handwave it, by saying that miraculous apparitions have been reported pretty much throughout scripture, and are nothing to worry about. The clearance officer was not convinced.
Mr. Firth's argument sounded much more convincing to the clearance officer, and I am sure saved us a lot of unnecessary paperwork and other unpleasantries.
In the age of sail and oar, ships on a long voyage often had to wait at port for favorable winds and an ebbing tide. The retreating tide offers the benefit of riding the retreating waters. The rising tide, on the other hand, pushes the ships back to port. Similarly, the direction of the winds could make a voyage impossible or perilous. So there was often only a short window of time when ships could set sail - and once it had sailed, there was another wait before other vessels could leave.
For those navigating the depths of Anoikis, there are similar laws. One has to wait for a suitable wormhole connection to appear, one that leads not to far away from the intended destination. The connections seem to be random, which has fed the heresy of worshipping an idol of randomness, called "Bob".
Some mariners of Anoikis have taken to the practice of "rolling" the wormhole, collapsing a hole by driving a critical amount of mass through it. This is done in the hope that a new wormhole will respawn with a better connection. However, this generally takes a dedicated fleet with battleships and cruiser using Higgs anchors, complemented with scanners and guards.
The lone traveler has to use what is at hand, or wait. An when a propitious connection appears, there is only short window of time to use it. That is why, in the absence of a rolling fleet for Seclusion, I had to ask Libby to keep her luggage ready so we could leave at a moment's notice.
We did get a good wormhole connection, and little time to use it before it would collapse. With no idea how long before it would roll to Amarr again, I made haste, and with success: We were able to make use of it, and made our way back to Mehatoor without difficulties.
The fleet's departure was a sight to be behold, viewing it from Pilgrim's Rest. It took three hours before all the ships had left for their voyage. Many people watched it, until the moment the ships were out of viewing range.
I did not get to see Publius, and to be honest I think it was better that I did not take up any of his precious time with my trifles.
After the colony fleet left, the activity of the station slowed down again, as if it had to rest after great physical effort. Cleaning up and bringing everything in order seems to have been left for tomorrow, mostly. People went home, or went to a bar to relax. I went to see ms. Yubari's slave, who now calls herself Libby.
To my surprise, I found her in the midst of unpacking, even though she had not been traveling.
She was reluctant to explain, but I pressed her, and she confessed that she had been tempted to join the colonists and go with them to the fabled Epikouria system, with planets where gold can be dug up with bare hands from the ground. She did not want to join for the promise of wealth. She wanted to go because of the lure of false freedom and a so-called "new life". She had been on the verge of leaving, bags packed and ready, when she decided against it.
She told me that the Voidlanders, the main group of colonists, embrace a pluralist culture without slavery. Even though they tolerate the Amarr customs and abide by our laws, they do not condone slavery, and look down on Holders and the institution. In the part of the station that they used to inhabit, emancipation was the rule, and the law was stretched to a point that any slave coming there would be kept safe and not sent back. Slave-owning Holders were given the cold shoulder.
For someone in Libby's position, facing the dangers of Nauplius, the temptation to run away is understandable, especially with such an easy route. However, it speaks of her strength of character that she did not give in, and after careful deliberation decided to stay. God guided her decision, and gave her strength to withstand the Molok's whispers.
I told her about ms. Yubari, and her need to have someone to look after her at this stage of her recovery. I also explained that she would not leave Gottin's Lamp, and be safe from Nauplius. To be honest, I am not completely sure about that, since the arch-heretic has been allowed to visit ms. Yubari on occasion, but there is no need to sow doubt now.
Libby seems to care about ms. Yubari, even if she does not know her all that well. She told me that she owes ms. Yubari a debt of gratitude, and she agrees to return to the Lamp. She worried a bit about her work at St. Vasrayi's chapel, but I could reassure her: now that the colony fleet has left, it will no doubt be less busy and require less personnel.
Apparently I arrived in Seclusion on one of the busiest days: the main colony fleet is about to leave!
The hangars today are hubs of frenzied activity. Cargo droids and passenger shuttles move past under a rain of sparks from welders up in scaffolds making last minute hull adjustments and installing cargohold optimization rigs. Berthing hauler ships collide with those tiny BOB drones that buzz around docked ships nowadays in stations. On the ground, hurried people push each other and bump into each other. There are so many people running along in the hangar, that it is almost impossible to get through.
Out in space, the activity is no less, as various industrial structures are being unanchored, dismantled and packaged for the journey to the new colony. I had to wait ten minutes before the Indagatrix was allowed to dock!
Under these conditions there is little chance I will be able to meet Publius. I have delivered his books to his personal hangars in Seclusion, and hope he will find them when he has the time to think about other things than ship manifests and coordinating his wormhole colony's corporation, the Comitia Centuriata.
It is only going to get even more hectic out there in a few hours. LUMEN has called for an armed escort fleet to guard the deep space transports until they make it out to well beyond our port's scan range. Out in Anoikis, there are always security concerns since danger can uncloak at any time. It makes the denizens of the wormhole inclined towards paranoia [1].
Meanwhile I went to St. Vasrayi's chapel and to Pilgrim's Rest, a large park in Seclusion's fortizar. It has a dome made out of transparent alloy, allowing for a spectacular view of the fleet that is assembling. I am not the only one here: a small crowd of people, mostly family members either of colonists or hangar workers, is in the park gazing at the spectacle unfolding.
[1] I have been asked by one of the station's officers here to delay any communication of the move until its main part is finished, for operational security, so I will upload this log only late today after the fleet left.
To reach Seclusion, or indeed any destination in Anoikis, one has to consult incomplete and ever-changing starmaps, charting the ephemeral passages between wormhole systems.
Going there is always a somewhat dangerous adventure, so I had the station scanning equipment that was loaded into the Indagatrix's cargo bay for my expedition to Mezagorm unloaded again.
While I was consulting maps to find today's route to Seclusion, I was contacted by our Medbay. One of the head nurses spoke to me, saying that Ms. Yubari's memory is starting to come back to her and that she would like to see her slave again. She had entrusted the care of that slave to me, and I have brought her to Seclusion for safety after Nauplius made attempts to find the slave.
It is indeed a safe hiding place (be it that travel to and forth are not that safe). Without secure contacts in LUMEN that grant access to the starmaps showing the way to Seclusion, it is impossible for Nauplius to find her. Now, Ms. Yubari's request to see her slave Libby again comes exactly at the right time, as I am planning to head over there anyway. I do not know how Libby will react to this, but we will see.
I have received interesting news from St. Vasrayi's chapel in Seclusion, LUMEN's foothold in Anoikis.
The system has seen a strong surge in activity over the last year, under the industrious guidance of Publius Cornelius Felix. This must have been an action that, without knowing, picked up the spirit of the times! Indeed, over the past year also our beloved Empress has expanded the Empire into Anoikis, after the recent merciless Drifter attacks.
Seeing his own efforts mirrored by the Empire has fired up Publius even more, and he forged ahead with his own plans to explore and expand into new wormhole systems. I am afraid his enthusiasm is too big to be contained in Seclusion.
The acolytes at the chapel tell me that he will set sail to new wormhole horizons with a bunch of colonists. The ship loaders and hangar crews speak of a massive colony fleet of deep space transports and Armageddon battleships preparing for departure. Local youth are whispering of a promised system full of planets resplendent with gold and other precious metals.
I shall miss Publius, the young explorer with his boundless enthusiasm and his inclination to challenge and change the old ways. I will try to meet him before he leaves: I feel I must warn him against the dangers of Bobism, out there in the Anoikis wildlands. Also, he needs to take some decent books, guides and scripture excerpts with him to stay on the right path.
Good tidings from the warzone! Bishop Merdaneth announced the reconquest of Auga by the Empire, after a long siege and strategic operations spanning three years.
The system holds symbolic importance, both for Amarr and for the rebel Minmatar, as it plays an important part in the history of the terrorist group 'the defiants'. They have aided the Elder invasion, an act of aggression that broke all international laws, and have performed numerous terror raids.
The official government of the Republic claimed they had nothing to do with these terrorists, and they disavowed the leader of the defiants, Karishal Muritor. Most probably lies, in order to save face on the international arena. But, back then, the Republic had more reasonable leadership in the person of Karin Midular. She tried to rein in the hatred-filled terrorists and had Muritor stopped by force in Auga. Ever since, for the followers of the evil defiants, Auga has been a place of pilgrimage to commemorate their martyred leader.
It did not take long for the brief light of reason to be extinguished from the Republic: after an internal power struggle, those that adhere to the defiants' creed of hate deposed Midular and took power. The current leader, Maleatu Shakor, scandalously rehabilitated the terrorists - he probably was one of them. I am shocked that there was not more outcry everywhere in the cluster over this.
Now that our valliant pilots with the 24th imperial crusade managed to recapture Auga, the worship of the terrorist leader Muritor in that system can finally be put to an end.
Past week we celebrated Foundation Day!
Also this year, LUMEN organized their own celebrations, with a parade and fireworks display in Amarr, at the Empress' Honor Guard above our home world. The fireworks were so plentiful, and of such a brightness that they must have been visible from the nighttime planetside. Unlike some previous years, the parade was not disrupted by Ushra Khan terrorists. Personally I credit this to our warzone pilots keeping the pressure on them in the warzone.
This was followed by speeches from Dame Daphiti and from our Directrix, emphasizing how faith brings us together under the guidance of the Empress. After that, a formal celebratory ball took place.
I'm afraid I missed most of the capsuleer celebrations - I was too caught up preparing the celebrations for our baseliner staff at the Chapel, and doing the heap of paperwork for the MIO permission. That latter task has now finally been completed, and with the paperwork submitted I hope to get a positive answer soon.
Mr. Firth has made good progress in getting us an MIO permit to explore in Mezagorm, bypassing the Directorate General of Cultural-Historic Patrimonium.
However, we have hit a bump in the road, as I need to fill in a background-check form. One question in particular appears difficult to answer:
Have you traveled outside the Empire in the past ten years? If so, give a precise list with for each occasion: when, where and why?
This covers all of my capsuleer life! I must have been outside of the Empire hundreds of times, and do not quite recall every separate occasion, let alone when and why... Now, if I make a mistake and that is detected by the MIO, we can forget about the permit.
Now, for the last 18 months, Mr. Firth has been the political officer on the Indagatrix, and for that period he had no problems producing this list for me. I think he simply had it in a drawer in his cabin.
For the period before that, I will have to rely on my logs to set up the paperwork...
Good news! Mr. Ivan Firth, the political officer on the Indagatrix, has taken an interest in my quest for the Ink of Truth.
Indeed, he had been complaining a bit about how we did not contribute as much as we used to do, bringing back interesting items or information for the Ministry. It has gone a bit quiet since the Empire's most glorious victory over the Drifters.
With his current status -he seems to have much more clout now that he has been promoted to Itenerant Frumentaris Second Class- he might just be able to get me a temporary permit for an exploration expedition in Mezagorm. If he succeeds, we will even have the backing of an Imperial Navy punisher-class frigate to clear the site of hostile blood raiders.
Expecting a positive outcome to Mr. Firth's petition, I am preparing the expedition, and putting the station scanning equipment in the cargo hold. Given the recent splash in ISK, I have been able to purchase fancier versions of the radio-isotope fingerprint detectors. They will allow me to pinpoint regions in the stations that have been inhabited for a while after the Mad Emperor's "temple of pride" was formally abandoned.
