Tag: personal log

#Lore 24 – Entry #118 – Sci-Fi Month II #27 – BDSM Cybersystems Model S/M-02 Scouting/Mapping Drones

From the Personal Journal of Chiasa Charity Chiasakaniki, Systems Analyst and Programmer, IT Division, assigned UEF-04, Maharani Morgiana.

I’ve always enjoyed playing with drones, and now that I’ve finally had the chance to mess around with these bleeding edge scouting drones they’ve loaded us up with on this mission, I’m like a kid again.  These things are just awesome!  Is the name of the manufacturer a bit on the shady side?  Absolutely, but there’s no signs of whipped asses or kinky shit here, just the unfortunate naming scheme these people settled on way back when they just did custom tech mods.  Or maybe it was fortunate?  Certainly gets a lot more diverse crowd on your product, that’s for sure.  I looked’em up before, seems like they do good work, and they hit it off big time back when Aphelion Station was barely a year old with their security bots, so I reckon they were brought in to handle some new drones for these exploration gigs too.

Anyway, these drones are preem!  Their bodies are light weight and durable carbon fiber, and they make use of micro-grav field generators so they can fly around without worrying about getting propellers stuck or broken.  They kinda look like little black flying saucers, about a foot in diameter, but once they’ve activated their adaptive camo, you won’t even notice.  You can take control of them directly through a comm app or dedicated controller, and they’re packed with multiple small sensor packs, high-def multi-spectrum cameras, and an all-round laser mapping setup that’ll create super-accurate 3D maps of whatever they’re scanning.  I almost couldn’t believe the amount of hardware they’re packing in these little things; total super-spy stuff right here!  Curiously, I did get the sense there was magic in these things, so I’m thinking that maybe they’ve taken normal equipment that is usually much larger and micro-sized it. 

Talk about one hell of a price tag!  When I asked exactly how much these things cost, all my boss would say was that I’d better not break one, or I’d be paying it off the rest of this trip. 

Luckily for me I didn’t have to be the one who broke one to get a look inside; once we arrived in the Vellion sector and picked up the scout teams, we found out a couple of the drones had been damaged, and I convinced one of the BDSMC techs to let me help out, being the super-talented IT tech and leet hacker I am and all.  So, that’s when I learned these things are using the same kind of advanced AI as the security bots, specialized for evasion and recon operations.  They’ve not really been field tested in extreme conditions, so bugs are bound to show up, and that’s what happened here.  Some of the local wildlife didn’t like these things getting close, even if they are silent and almost invisible, and were able toss some rocks or bash them with sticks.  Pretty lame way for these things to go down, but it’s a harsh world out there, I guess.  Can’t make them invulnerable and this light; those electronics are protected from the elements, but an angry monkey with a rock is just too much.

So, like, I kinda maybe managed to make a copy of the AI code…not that I really intended to, of course, it just kinda happened when I wasn’t paying too much attention to what I might’ve been doing while running a diagnostic with the tech.  I’ve been pouring through it, and like, holy shit, this is advanced stuff!  There’s all kinds of options in here that aren’t even in the official specs, just waiting to be turned on or off or applied to different type bots!  I am going to have so much fun playing around with this code!  I gotta get my hands on some parts now, build my own little buddy bot!

You know…thinking it over, I might actually hint at the BDSMC techs that I could improve the AI on these things, make their evasive routines more responsive, that kind of thing. Or at least help them with the debugging stuff.  I’m pretty good at running code, I’d say.  And it’d like, be a lot less suspicious if I wound up building my own little bot, right?  Seriously, sometimes my hands just do things without my mind even being there!  I blame my tail-brains, lol.  They’re always getting me in trouble, moving on their own without me realizing it.  Kerryns and ferians probably get it.

#Lore 24 – Entry #117 – Sci-Fi Month II #26 – Vellion III – Initial Scouting Report

Scouting Report from Brawnik “Devil Dog” Fangren, dispatched to Vellion III, Southern Continent, Mountain region, Draconic Ruins Site 001.  Decryption algorithm successful. 

Arrived just after dawn on Day 1, landed my scout during a rainstorm.  Sensors registered little in the way of pollutants in the rain or atmosphere, as expected of a primitive world.  Landing  site was amongst the outer ruins, elevation approximately 6500 feet, most vegetation at this level was grasses and vines, air was expectedly thin.  Immediate area, no hostiles, no wildlife.  Setup camp with my scout ship and secured camo netting, dispatched the mapping drones to cover the ruin site.  Specific data from scanners and drones attached.

Even at first glance, I recognized the distinct draconic nature of the ruins; they are practically identical to those found on Feria and other locations beyond the Barrier.  I’ll let the brains figure out the exact details, but these might not be quite as old as the ones we’ve found outside the Barrier; weathering doesn’t seem as bad, damage from vegetation growth doesn’t seem to be as extensive further down.  I’ve recognized a few symbols in the draconic tongue, matching others, so likely the language is the same.

Further down, in the deeper growth areas below the cloud line, humidity is much higher, and wildlife is abundant.  Typical jungle species, with variations of local differences.  Refer to the images attached regarding the snakes here; anyone exploring these ruins will have to be EXTREMELY cautious; think these are another Demon Sector special; they’re the size of a large constrictor but behave more like pissed off vipers, and their heads look more like what I’d call more ‘draconic’ than snake-like.  They’re spitters, too, and they can expel a lot of venom that can blind and begin to decay flesh almost immediately; they feed on the local ape species mostly from what I’ve observed, but had no fear of coming near me.  Their venom is comparable to other extremely lethal snake species according to the scanners, and they’re prevalent throughout the area of the ruins.  Maybe ancient guardians?  Had to kill a few of them; don’t recommend getting close.  Edible, though, once the venom sacs are dealt with.  Not bad.

Haven’t found signs that any locals have been here for a long time; there are old stairways and paths through the more damaged regions at the lower elevations, but these are long overgrown.  Nearest local settlement are kobolds, tribals, roughly ten miles out, to the east by the river.  Did find signs that someone has been here recently, though.  Upper levels, far side of my camp, one of the stone platforms shows signs of recent engine burn from takeoff and landing, probably a few months old.  Found footprints inside the ruins that hadn’t been washed away, just as old.  Looks like a couple light-steppers, kerryn or elves, one rattenvolk with a walking stick, and another with one of those spider-legged backpacks their techs use, and one equinarian, packing heavy gear.  Scents were all gone by the time I got there, and they cleaned up after themselves.  They set up camp inside the ruins for a while, explored internally, but I didn’t venture further in; not my area, leave that for the tomb raiders aboard the ship.  Trailblazer team?  Captain had his idea to search the system from somewhere, didn’t he?  Looked around for any notes and scanned for a beacon, but didn’t find anything of the sort, so no idea where they might’ve gone after that.  Doesn’t look like they descended below the clouds, at least on the outside; no signs of footsteps or spent cartridges down that way.

Weather is a bit temperamental here this time of year, frequent storms, heavy rain and lighting throughout my time here.  Doesn’t seem to be anything unnatural, just the geography.  Gets cold at night high up, stays uncomfortably humid further down.  Kept feeling eyes on me when it rained and I was below the clouds, though.  That kind of feeling that says intelligent, not predatory animal.  Didn’t seem hostile, just kept to themselves, whatever they were; never could find signs of them.  Ghosts or other spirits, maybe.  Worth taking caution; might get hostile if the teams start poking around for treasures.  Have some priests venture down there and have a look about.  Much more pleasant up top, good place to think up here, no distractions, nobody watching.

 

#Lore 24 – Entry #116 – Sci-Fi Month II #25 – Astral Divination and Navigation

From the Personal Journal of Primula Tallfoot, Arcane Support Division Head, assigned UEF-04 Maharani Morgiana. 

Sometimes I can’t help but ponder how I’ve wound up all the way out here…where my life has gone so very wrong that we’re relying on someone like Mizutani to navigate this entire fleet.  He still gets lost aboard the Morgiana on the regular, is still routinely late to work, and yet he’s the most talented diviner aboard?  Somehow.  Some way.  Mizutani, who can’t seem to see past his next date night, is being called upon to navigate the fleet?!  Is one of the gods of magic just fucking with us on this one?  I’d believe it.  Seriously…Mizutani is our go to on this leg of the trip?  I’d better make sure that cage of his is extra tight and prickly so that he stays focused, or we’ll all wind up diving into a quasar or taking the wrong kind of ride through an aetheric current.

Captain Silvercask is the one to blame for this mess we’re about to find ourselves in.  We’ve been following the course that was approved by the ASC before we left, and out of the blue, the captain showed up this morning to inquire about long range divination for a system outside the planned flight path.  He never told me where he got the idea to view the system from afar, and was actually pretty tight-lipped about it, simply asking for an indulgence.  Fine, whatever.  Everyone has secrets.   I get it.  Maybe he’s got word from one of those trailblazer teams?  Regardless, since we’ve still not overcome that long range interference that plagues the fleet’s sensors out here, we’ll have to rely on our diviners.

I still can’t understand how Mizutani specialized in divination, with a special focus on astral divination, and somehow excelled at it at the academy.  Yeah, I had to pull his records again just to make sure I hadn’t imagined it when I’d read it the first time.  Did someone give me falsified records as a joke?  The captain and I have arranged for tomorrow morning, first thing, to find out.  The ship’s due to drop out of hyperspace at 0900 and the ASD is due to begin divination immediately once we revert to realspace.  I’ll be overseeing the operation, of course, but Mizutani’s the lead on this one.  The twit looked like he was about to panic when I told him about him finally taking on some serious responsibility.  I had to get pretty stern with him to make him understand that being late in the morning was not an option if he ever wanted his dick free again and might have implied some additional restrictions if he screws up.  Think I got my point across.  I’m sure he’ll be plenty motivated to perform tomorrow.  If it’s one thing arcanists are good at, it’s working under pressure.  At least, I hope that’s still how they teach them at that fancy school…

Entry Update:

I guess anything’s possible, even Mizutani getting to work on time and performing his duties as expected.  I wouldn’t have believed it until I saw it today, but he actually knows what he’s doing.  Apparently when properly motivated, he can perform admirably.  Will it continue beyond today?  I have my doubts, but we’ll see. 

The astral divination went splendidly, with Mizutani leading another half dozen of our diviners in a circle, their gazes focused on the system in question.  It looks like another fairly standard star system, a dozen planetary bodies, though only one appears to be in the habitable zone, the third one in line.  Several of the larger outer planets will likely serve well for construction materials and other resources, and there were no immediate dangers found in the system itself, no signs of modern tech, but there are definitely more primitive civilizations on the planet, pre-industrial, equivalent to most of our own societies during the Age of Legends.  Thus far, the diviners have seen humans, orcs, kobolds, and a few elvish enclaves; there are likely others in the mix as well.  So far, my prediction of encountering no truly alien species is correct.

Mizutani was drawn to a particular region as he focused on the planet’s surface, in the mountains on one of the southern continents.  He sensed lingering arcane ripples coming from the area; his scrying mirror revealed ruins there…draconic ruins in fact.  Though mostly hidden amongst the jungle overgrowth, the higher elevations revealed undeniably draconic architecture and statues.  It seems that we’ve finally got a proper ruin to explore!  Captain Silvercask is changing course as I write this and has already dispatched a scouting team to secure the area for us and other teams to study.  We should be arriving within the week, and I for one am anxious to finally set foot outside the ship and get to some serious work!

#Lore 24 – Entry #115 – Sci-Fi Month II #24 – A Date with the Over-Warden?!

From the Personal Journal of Kiara Mizutani, Arcane Support Division, assigned UEF-04 Maharani Morgiana.

Oh no!  I think I’m in more trouble!  For some reason, that prison warden, Vyrmeth Rashryth, has taken an interest in me! 

Okay, okay, back up a little bit…this started after Miss Tallfoot had that meeting with her the other day.  I was just there to take notes and observe things, mostly…well, that’s kind of why I was there, but Miss Tallfoot really just wanted me along…I think maybe I’m kind of like a purse puppy or something to her.  At least, that’s kind of it, maybe?  She sure doesn’t treat me that nice… But I was really distracted during the meeting because of all those prisoners.  They kept staring at me, and I kinda was staring back at them just as much, you know?  All that shiny skin tight latex, and the way it made the guys look so big and the girls just so curvy, you know?  Wow…I just can’t understand why these SexyTech clothes aren’t more popular with results like that!  Just wish I didn’t have to keep wearing this cage; it’s always so tight and pinchy!

But anyway, when we went into the warden’s office, Miss Tallfoot got that smug look on her face and started talking about everything she’d learned about the Seal-Tech, and mentioned “rampancy”.  Neither of them went into detail, but I could tell that the warden was surprised about it, whatever it is, and I could feel the chill in the room after that.  Why does Miss Tallfoot have to be like that with everyone? 

Well, it took a couple days, but I got back to my cabin after work and found a message from Vyrmeth!  She wants to meet up with me some evening!  Like, a date kind of meeting!  What am I going to do?  Should I tell Miss Tallfoot about it?  It’s gotta be related to that meeting, right?  Does the warden want to…interrogate me about what Miss Tallfoot said?  I saw her looking at me when we left, but I thought she was just curious…not this kind of curious, but you know, like, in a general kind of way?  I mean, I’m not going to deny that I’m pretty hot and a bit of a tease at times, but I totally wasn’t putting on the charms then!  I was just trying to keep my mind on the conversation, not the shiny prison suits!

Maybe I should ask DD about it?  It’s not like we’re an official couple or anything, we just fool around a lot.  Okay, it’s mostly him playing with me and getting me worked up and making me hate this cage even more, but I can’t help it.  I’m such a slut sometimes!  But maybe he knows dark elves better than I do and might have some tips on how to act around her?  I’m not going to say ‘no’ to a date…I mean, she is pretty hot herself, and really strong-willed.  Like, I guess her being so dominant was what caused the tension in the room with Miss Tallfoot?  Two alpha personalities like that probably just can’t get along well, I guess.  But still…what if she wants to pump me for information?  What could I tell her?  I really don’t know anything about the SealTech thing that got brought up.  Maybe she won’t accept that?  What if she locks me up in that prison?  What if she’s got a private prison for interrogations?  Owwwww, why am I getting so hard thinking about it?!

Great, now I can’t think about anything else!  I need to take a cold shower, go for a jog or something, maybe ask V.V. about it?  This trip is really turning out to be nothing at all like I imagined it would be!

#Lore 24 – Entry #114 – Sci-Fi Month II #23 – RestrainTech Trustee Work Release, Onboard Disciplinary Measures, ASD Concerns

From the Personal Logs of Vyrmeth Rashryth, RestrainTech, Expeditionary Over-Warden, UEF-04, Maharani Morgiana.  Decryption algorithm successful; translated from original dark elf script.

Perhaps this voyage will result in great things.  Today was witness to a dark elf and an aerian coming to agreeable terms, so the very heart of the Demon Sector is surely within reach! 

I had wondered exactly how long it was going to take the security chief to finally approach me about the trustee work detail and other security concerns; I will give him credit, it was nearly a month since we first set out, a true testament to his kind’s stubbornness.  I suppose he was rather civil for an aerian, though I could tell he was not pleased to actually have to speak to an elf, regardless of their nature.  Understandably, his concerns were the integration of our SealTech monitoring and control systems into the ship’s security network, and the interactions between the prisoners and regular crewmembers during the construction of the hyperspace relay in the Charvis system.  I don’t think he appreciated my offer to test the SealTech for himself to test its security, but I found his reaction amusing nonetheless.

I believe he may have been somewhat surprised to find out that I was not the type to be easily pushed around; likely that he had assumed I was like the typical dark elf girl, demure and submissive.  I wouldn’t have earned my position were that the case, nor would my boss have even considered me for the assignment had I been so weak willed.  I know my place in the hierarchy, certainly, and will defer to the men when required, but outside of my own people, I need not behave in such a away. 

Regardless, I allowed Security Chief Scharaiden to tour the Morgiana’s prison facility at his leisure, and though he was somewhat taken aback at the fact we were letting our trustees lounge about and enjoy some level of freedom during their leisure time, without further restraints, a demonstration of the effectiveness of the SealTech in stopping them in their tracks seems to have satisfied him for the moment.  I’ve known the prisoners for years; they wouldn’t be here if we couldn’t trust them in some capacity; some were even handpicked by the CEO himself to be here, and with good reason.

Curiously, after Scharaiden had finished his tour, he inquired about the renewability of our SealTech and future requirements in the case of bad behavior during the journey.  It seems he’s already had several disturbances of the peace aboard, and has the idea that implementing some public humiliation measures may assist with improving behavior.  Perhaps he has more in common with me than he is willing to openly admit?  He certainly seemed interested in the discipline cubes as a means of publicly displaying troublemakers, and likewise inquired about temporary SealTech suit assignments for repeat offenders.  I’m working out the details; we certainly aren’t lacking in our ability to generate more SealTech, though I’m curious just how far he’s willing to go with enforcing his idea of proper discipline, and whether the Captain will approve.

Following my meeting with the CSO, I met with the Arcane Support Division’s director, Primula Tallfoot and her assistant, Kiara Mizutani.  She’s rather well informed, I must say, and has excellent taste in whom she chose as a personal plaything; Mizutani is quite attractive, both physically and in his submissive nature.  He certainly seemed to have no qualms being bossed around by a woman, and my well-trained eye says he was enjoying every minute of it.  I may have to look into getting to know him in a more personal manner during my leisure time…

I personally found Tallfoot’s personality to be on the abrasive side, and I am concerned with exactly how she was aware of some of the lesser known details of SealTech, specifically its “Rampancy” mode; I am only aware of that having been used on a handful of occasions, and against DSM targets at that.  Ah, F3…one of my favorite playthings during my tenure as a regular prison guard…who would have thought she would have risen so far as to be trusted with developing that particular function?  I certainly wouldn’t have; I figured she would have remained in the production facility for some years, honestly. 

Still, how did Tallfoot know about the rampancy programming?  She didn’t say, and seemed to enjoy lording the fact that she knew over me.  I’ve assured her that that particular function is only meant for particular types of security breaches, specifically attacks against the encrypted systems controlling the SealTech application systems, but she didn’t seem convinced.  I will have to alert the boss during my next report regarding this, see if there’s a hole in his security that needs to be addressed and to see if I can get more details about Tallfoot; this kind of thing never happens with him…usually nothing escapes his notice.  Quite curious indeed; perhaps getting to know the kerryn boy will be more valuable than simply indulging my own fancies…

#Lore 24 – Entry #113 – Sci-Fi Month II #22 – Chroniclers of the Codex Infinitum

From the Personal Journal of Seraphino Basara, Chronicler of the Lady Goldeneyes, assigned UEF-04 Maharani Morgiana

My first strange new world!  I probably shouldn’t be getting so excited over the short visit we had in the Charvis system, but I simply can’t help myself.  Seraphina thought I was being a bit too excitable too, but she was just disappointed there weren’t any ruins to explore.  Did the planet or the solar system look particularly different from any of the others we’ve been to?  No, not really.  But it was just knowing that it’s all the way out here, on the frontier, and home to a true frontier colony that made it such a unique experience!  Getting to speak with the colonists, hoping for a successful new life far away from the rest of the world, tempting fate and putting their lives on the line just to see their dreams of free living come true.  It’s such a classic tale!

I recorded as much information as I could into the official records, of course, but still feel the need to say more in my personal journal.  It is one of the tenets of the Goldeneyed Librarian to record one’s own interpretation of experiences along with the facts of the event, after all.  How else can the Codex Infinitum be updated properly?  Oh, there is just so much we don’t know, so much we could know, if we could but glimpse its pages!  I digress, though; sometimes I do tend to ramble…

The colony itself, a pleasant enough little village by the name of Swiftwater Creek, will likely grow into a proper town and likely even larger soon enough.  Our planetary scans indicated that the world is stable, the system itself shouldn’t experience any particularly devastating solar events for the foreseeable future, and raw materials and food were plentiful.  The colonist’s rangers described some of the predators in the area they chose to settle within as comparable to most worlds, not the highly aggressive ‘Demon Sector” variants encountered on some worlds.  It’s entirely likely they are upon this world too, and simply haven’t been encountered yet, but the colony is well defended, and keeps their ships in working order should they need to evacuate in an emergency, or at least, as well as can be expected.  I would assume they’ll have more assistance coming soon, given that A3 have staked claims on several of the asteroids in the belt, and on the moon.  Some of the colonists I spoke to were understandably apprehensive about the coming corporate entities to the system, but others, as much as they wanted to get away from such things, find the idea of aid close by reassuring. 

Perhaps in a few years, once we’ve reached Marchosias, I can return to Charvis and see how things have progressed?  It would certainly make an interesting follow up to this entry, I think!  I’m not the only one, either.  My brother and sister Chroniclers, well, most of them, were just as eager to explore this world as I was, in their own ways.  I’m just now starting to look over all the scans that were done, and while nothing leaps out as amazing, I’m still going to perform my due diligence so that we can properly discuss the colony during our next long jump; I believe it will be another few weeks before we’re due to drop out of hyperspace again.  Some may dislike the slow speeds we’re limited to by the bulk of the Morgiana and her docked support vessels, but I find that it’s absolutely perfect for getting caught up on our collected notes and data; we should easily have it properly processed and catalogued by the time the next courier missile is launched.  I must say, since the Chroniclers adopted these Thought-to-Text and data processing implants, it’s made our jobs much simpler and more efficient.  Having the group discussions in a virtual space took a little getting used to, but I’ve come to enjoy our times in the VR version of the ancient Great Library on Andyllion.  My only real fear is running out of space in our storage matrices, but we should be able to create new ones should we find ourselves with the need for them.

I am curious, though; given that there are only a hundred of the Chroniclers aboard, will we be enough to properly record all that should be saved?  It seems like such a small number, but it is more than the first three expeditions had, and they seem to be getting along fine.  Perhaps I’m just worrying over nothing here, idle thoughts, I suppose.  Anyway, I think I will venture out into the Morgiana now that we’ve returned to hyperspace and get the impressions of some of the other explorers who were along with us.  I am rather curious what the reporter, Seiko Kajira, thought of her interviews with the colonists, and some of the scouts who got to explore some of the different regions of the surface of Charvis VII. 

So much work to do!  So much information to record!  Truly, exciting times!

#Lore 24 – Entry #112 – Sci-Fi Month II #21 – The Most Depressing Place in the Demon Sector (So Far)

From the Personal Journal of Seiko Kajira, Galactic News Gazette reporter, assigned UEF-04 Maharani Morgiana

No, it’s not my cabin on the Morgiana, surprisingly enough.  After two weeks in hyperspace, I was more than ready to do something besides talk to other unfortunates aboard the ship and come up with ideas on exactly which rumors to spread to who, so of course I hopped aboard a transport to the first of the “colony” worlds we’ve encountered to see what life on the frontier was like.  You know, my actual job out here.  Planet looked nice enough from orbit, Charvis VII they called it, outside a big asteroid belt, far away from a very hot sun.  Or at least I think that’s what the nerd I spoke to meant.  I don’t know astrophysics, so whatever, I’ll take the scientist’s word on this or that; it’s in the official report I filed, part of the official interview.

It’s a gods-forsaken shithole is what it is.  They called it a colony, but it’s like a collection of mud huts on some primitive backwater.  Okay, maybe it’s not that bad, just a lot of haphazardly thrown together prefab shelters that are starting to show their age.  Must’ve been maybe two-hundred people there, if that, mostly humans.  I mean, who else would be that stupid, amiright?  No diseases running rampant, thankfully.  They were friendly enough, though, seemed happy working their farms and being away from the rest of the civilized galaxy.  Got a few people to tell me all about it while we were there; it’s in the report.  Reckon the techies from the Morgiana installed some kind of communications equipment on the surface and on one of the moons, some kind of hyperspace relays I think, to help boost transmission quality and relay time back to Aphelion Station.  For the really important communications, the Morgiana uses some kind of “courier missiles” as they called them.  Basically, just hyperspace-capable pods that get shot back to Aphelion ever so often, packed with sensor data and reports and the like.  Much more reliable, apparently.

Anyway, first stop in the depths of the Demon Sector was terrible.  Was I really expecting anything more, though?  I don’t know, I just figured it would be more exciting, I guess.  Like gunfights on the street like in Paradise City on Valefar V or rampaging monsters against the plucky colonists, that kind of thing.  Spent a few days there while some teams from the Morgiana did some proper scans of the system and set up for some resource collection operations in the near future.  Really boring stuff, unless you’re that druid who was really excited about the local wildlife; never seen someone get so excited over what looked like a mutated cow.  Didn’t even seem to be anything too exciting happening within the colony, just “living the good life”, away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities and the megacorps.  Good for them, I guess?  Not the kind of life for me.

FUCK!  I hate this fucking place!  I honestly thought about jumping ship, staying at the colony until the next corpo team comes along and hitching a ride back to Aphelion.  That lasted about two seconds, though.  Who knows how long that’d take?  Just have to stay focused on what I can do here, I guess.  Maybe it’s just going to take me a while to find my grove here.  I mean, I’ve got my burgeoning career as a fiction writer, after all.  Already starting to see a little excitement starting up though; saw a fight break out at VV’s place the other night after one of the rumors I’d started got some tempers fired up.  Maybe I should pace myself a bit, not get things too hot too soon?  It’s a long damn trip after all.

Think I’ve sniffed out a few prospective interesting subjects aboard to focus on next.  Mizutani’s still fun to mess with; he really does get off on being spoken down to.  Makes him squirmy; I can tell he’s getting a hard-on and trying to hide it.  That feradogian he’s taken up with seems a bit intimidating, though; he’s friendly enough, but always has this hungry look on his face when he looks at me.  Positively predatory.  Might try to get to know that female ferakatian scout who was part of the crew who visited the colony, just to see if I can get something stirred up.  Heard fights between ferians are intense; might be fun to watch.  Don’t think security would take too well to it; that security chief doesn’t like me already.  Not that I care, though; can’t stop the free press!

#Lore 24 – Entry #111 – Sci-Fi Month II #20 – Repeated Security Issues at VV’s Pink Pussy Lounge

From Personal Logs of Gravius Scharaiden, Chief Security Officer, assigned UEF-04 Maharani Morgiana, decryption algorithm successful, translated from original Aerian script.

Allowing this place aboard the ship was a damn mistake.  Security threat from Hell, and a public nuisance. Barely even two weeks into this trip and I’ve had to send security three times.  Going to talk to the captain about this; should be closed down immediately.  Operator was already on my watch list, didn’t take her long to prove us right.  If I have my way, we’ll drop her off at the first mud-hut colony we come across and be done with it.

UPDATE:

Captain Silvercask didn’t share my appraisal of the situation.  Civilians should be held to higher standards onboard this ship, should be made to follow the same regulations and face the discipline as the military crew.  Would make things a lot more tolerable.

This is why you shouldn’t mix the two.  All military or none I say.  This is going to end badly.

Captain’s letting the lounge stay open for now.  Called it an “adjustment period”, as everyone gets used to everyone else, as territory is established, things will calm down, supposedly.  I don’t think so.  This place will be a problem unless the issue is dealt with directly.  All alcohol should be banned anyway, on the entire ship. 

I’ve placed a security team in the corridor outside the lounge indefinitely during business hours.  May extend that to full-day surveillance if I don’t change my mind.  Spoke to Verlucia myself after the last incident; she’s all charm and innocence, said passions just got stirred up when she sang, that people were just not used to long hyperspace trips like this.  She’s persuasive, likely could make most people do about anything for a chance to please her.  Didn’t work on me, though.  Saw right through it.  Told her to straighten up or I’d see her arrested and booted off the ship.  She didn’t seem too pleased, but that’s not my concern. 

Will look into monitoring activities in the vicinity of the lounge as well.  Sure it’s more than drinks and entertainment that goes on there.  Could smell the sex in the air from outside the place.  Probably some drugs being pushed through there too.  Going to cause issues all over the damn ship.  May make a point to show up there myself as soon as possible, see what’s going down for myself.  Let Verlucia know that I’m not going to let her escape my attention for long.  She’ll correct herself or I’ll correct her, with security pressure or by kicking her off the ship.  Simple as that.

UPDATE 2:

That kerryn reporter, Kajira, is starting to nose around VV’s more often now.  Can’t trust her, didn’t agree with her getting added to the crew last minute.  Seems the type to cause trouble, probably already has.  Wouldn’t be surprised if she’s responsible for that last fight; my team said they saw her talking to both parties previously.  Going to have to watch her more closely.  May be another one we’ll have to offload somewhere.  Will have to monitor her communications, see what she’s telling and to who.  Will get Burnout to set it up in the morning.

#Lore 24 – Entry #110 – Sci-Fi Month II #19 – Fashion Victims of the Azalina Fang Academy

From the Personal Journal of Seiko Kajira, Galactic News Gazette reporter, assigned UEF-04 Maharani Morgiana

I’ve always wondered what that all-girls’ arcane academy on Andyllion was like, and I just found my ticket to some inside information from a someone who graduated from there.  This Kirara Mizutani had an especially non-standard experience while he was there, and once I’d gotten a few drinks into him, he wasn’t shy about telling me all the juicy bits.  And how juicy they are!  I’d expect this kind of thing from a school ran by followers of the Lovely sisters, but not from a school for wizardly types.

So, this place is already famous for being an all women school…mostly.  Hell, I didn’t know men could go there and NOT get turned into animals; I was always under the impression that part was just a quirk of the nature of the island the school is on, but apparently that’s not the case.  Men can go there, if they’re willing to either use magic to change their gender or, if they don’t go that far, they can go most of the way by hyper-feminizing themselves through similar magics.  However, that comes with a kinky little caveat:  they must wear chastity cages on their cocks for the duration of their education there, whether they’re on the island or not, and even during breaks.  So, either no dicky or caged dicky; either way, they weren’t going to use it, so the cherries were safe (or not; apparently there’s no shortage of sex off the island, and even on it…). 

But that’s not all; apparently the men, even those that go full sex change, have to undergo a full year of remedial studies on top of the normal term, which has little to do with magic, rather, they have to become part of one of the sorority houses and learn how to be proper ladies, always wearing dresses and heels and makeup, most of it bright pink, learning how to fix their hair, that sort of stuff.  And that year also apparently involves being a maid for the whole house, and that comes with all kinds of kinky sexcapades apparently…not that the guys were really getting off that much, or at all, but apparently the female students had no such restrictions.  I have a feeling I could pump Mizutani for more details about the lusty hijinks and have enough material to write erotica for centuries.  Not that I’d really need a lot of help; I could just make up all kinds of shit involving magical schoolgirls and forced-feminization and make an okay bonus check every now and then.

So, Mizutani went into some detail about the sorority houses at the Academy.  It’s always been a bit of a mystery, something the students tend to lord over the outsiders as some big secret, those colorful socks and leggings of theirs. Turns out it’s not really that big of a secret.  I’m actually kind of pissed at myself for even asking about them after I found out the truth.  So, those multi-color leggings aren’t just tied to what course of study they are pursuing but also represent their House.  There are twelve major Houses on the Isle, and each one has their own colors; that’s represented by the inner-most layer of their legwear, usually by stockings or tights.  The next layer is an inner sock that represents what year of study they are on, and the outer layer represents the particular type of magic they’re studying; it’s possible to have multiple fields of study, so it’s not uncommon for students to have four or five layers on their legs, in various states of garishness depending on the particular combination.

Fuck me, that took way too long to explain…

The sororities themselves are just as I’ve heard, though.  The largest houses are dominated by one particular megacorp or another, the big names, anyway, like DSM or VTC, and are usually filled with students who come from families tied to whatever corp is in control.  There are a few smaller houses that barely qualify to be called such in comparison to those linked to the megacorps, and these are usually there for anyone who may not want to get entangled with the big guys or just the outcasts.

In Mizutani’s case, it was only his first year that wasn’t standard.  And it was an interesting time on the Isle of Fang, apparently.  There were an unprecedented number of men who signed on that year, a dozen, which meant that each of the Great Sororities got their own special maid for at least a year.  The administration even felt like having a little fun and randomized the house the students were sent to, just to make sure there wasn’t any favoritism going on.  Mizutani didn’t say which house he joined, but from what I gather they didn’t take it easy on him, always teasing, tempting, and tormenting, as he put it.  I would say I feel sorry for him, but the way he looked after he started telling me some of the kinkier details, I think he enjoyed himself quite a bit.  Which would explain why he kept the feminization thing going, and still wears his school colors most days.  I suppose it is something to be proud of, making it through a school like that and graduating with honors.

I’m going to be meeting him a few more times, I think.  Maybe dig for some juicier details on some of the corpo kids he was there with, something I could use later on, maybe.  Or hell, maybe I’m just curious to hear more about his sex life.  He’s cute enough; maybe I can try that bullying angle, see if he responds to that in some way.  Or maybe play a little footsie under the table, see how big he is now that he’s out of that school-enforced cock cage and looking like he does.

I’ve got multiple years to stay busy here, okay?  I might as well find something to entertain myself while waiting for news to happen.  We won’t even drop out of hyperspace for another week and a half, and I’m BORED.  Fuck me, I need to go for a walk or something, I’m starting to get angry again just thinking about being ANYWHERE else.

#Lore 24 – Entry #109 – Sci-Fi Month II #18 – The Obstinate Phoenix

From the Personal Logs of Captain Durgen Silvercask, decryption algorithm successful, translated from original Dwarven Script:

She is certainly a decorated vessel, that I cannot deny, but were I to say that I had no reservations about her being attached to this expedition, I would be lying to myself.  She has nearly reached three consecutive centuries of service, so I suppose the brass wanted to give her an easy assignment before they may finally decommission her.  I’m honestly surprised she hasn’t met that fate sooner, given her rather…unique record.

Let’s see…in the dozen battles she’s been part of during that time, she has been severely damaged in all of them, even crash-landed on a planet’s surface twice.  And yet, somehow, each time, she’s been able to recover herself enough to get back home, even turning the tide of two battles that she returned to after getting knocked out of the fight, one of those having been after she crashed. 

I’m not sure if the gods of fortune are blessing her or cursing her, but her name is certainly appropriate regardless. 

She’s a rather unique vessel even without that remarkable record; I’ve spoken to her current captain, Raryliss Steelforger (with a family name like that, I’d almost have thought she was a dwarf, given her build, but she’s undeniably a kobold, of the silver-scaled variety), at some length about her history.  Somewhat experimental when she was constructed, the Phoenix is a rare joint construction effort between the dwarves and kobolds.  Though we’re certainly not as hostile to one another as we used to be, we still don’t mingle too often.  Still, that’s a dwarf-designed skeleton inside the Phoenix, the bulk of construction made using that unique kobold dragon’s breath forging process combined with tried-and-true dwarven construction methods.  Was and still is the largest such construction made with the kobolds’ breath, and what an endeavor that must have been.

She’s been refitted multiple times, but the Phoenix remains a battlecruiser at her heart.  She’s something of a hybrid with her current configuration, what her captain has dubbed an “assault carrier”.  She’s packing the biggest guns of any of the battlecruisers in the fleet and has a pair of (admittedly small) hangar bays for launching escort fighters; she’s got her own fighter group stationed aboard, the Summer-Flame Dragons, I believe is the correct translation, all kobolds.  Most of her crew are kobolds, with the bulk of the others consisting of rattenvolk and gnomes, and after her first refit, that’s historically been the case.  Suppose that would make sense as to why she’s been able to overcome such terrible damage time and again; credit where it’s due, those folk can certain repair anything if it’s at all possible.

Whatever the makeup of her crew, the Phoenix is a fine vessel, and though I’m still not sure what to make the exact nature of her record, I’m certain she will prove to be a valuable addition to the expedition.  I was a bit concerned when I was made aware of a certain technician who has a reputation as something of a jinx being aboard her, but Captain Steelforger assures me that, now that Engineer Longtail is aboard a kobold ship, they’ll have nothing to worry about.  Doesn’t exactly deny what the security department had uncovered about the tech, really makes her record seem a bit more like intentional sabotage, but perhaps there’s more to it than that.  I’m hardly an expert on kobold culture, after all, so I’m not aware of what other connotations the captain’s statement may have.