Personal Log - Taedra Fayhar

[Taedra]

 

(rewritten)

 

September 12, 2559

 

It's been quite some time now since it happened, I don't really even remember her name anymore, what she looked like, or the words she spoke to me. I've grown so much since it all happened, and I have so much to thank her for.

 

It was early in my career aboard the Cyberaid, some two or three weeks in. I was serving as a doctor in the brig for the prisoners and the security staff. It was a nice quiet day, we were well staffed and everyone was working quite well together. Though the peace could not last, it never can. Without much warning a NT inspection team had boarded the station and started touring the facilities. We had allowed them access when we first met and their papers seemed in order, however we had no advance notice. We sent a fax to central command and awaited their reply, what came was simply a garbled mess. Intercepted, destroyed.

 

The AI had locked them in the firing range on the bridge while we spoke between ourselves. They showed their hand quite early. Self recharging lasers, e-swords, shields, and other advanced weaponry. They had the upper hand in a fight, and a fight is what they got. For a while, there was only screaming and the sound of energy weapons be discharged. For what felt like hours my hands were soaked in the blood of the casualties. I saved as many as I could, but we could not save everyone.

 

It was a good lesson in battlefield medicine, prioritize, ruthless calculus. I murdered many with my commands. The hos though, she was there for me, she was there for everyone. The smoke had cleared and we had "won". She told me how she felt like she was a killer, she only sent people to their deaths while I was some sort of angel. I suppose we both saw each other as protectors, for I told her that without her, everyone would be dead. She was the true hero.

 

Not long after the NT representative broke through the interference to CC. Orders came down, news was passed. The captain was a sleeper agent, the inspection team was real tho whole time.

 

So the hos gave chase with her final officer fit for duty. The captain escaped into space but they followed, the captain didn't return alive. I almost expected the hos to be in cuffs after everything that happened but after she was taken to the bridge, she walked out. The expression on her face told me of her sacrifice, she had no cuffs but I knew she took all the responsibility.

 

The shuttle came, and we left. I was with her in the cockpit all the way till we got to CC where the officers there took her into custody. That was the last I saw of her.

 

I cried a lot that day, I still haven't fully gotten over those events. It's rough out here on the frontier, and even if you are one of the best, you are never safe. Today I cherish the friends I have, and the coworkers that press onward in spite of the dangers. While I have forgotten her face, I will never forget her deeds. I will persevere, for her.

 

Edited May 15, 2016 by Guest

[Taedra]

 

(Edited)

 

17 September, 2559

 

I sit in comfort in my cabin, with only the sound of the humming engine and atmospheric controls gently reveberating through the ship. The ship itself is a small frigate flying the colors of a PMC called The Fighting 27th. This PMC grew from a independant mining company with just a little over two-hundred members. This ship itself is named "Eir", which in some ancient Earth language is supposed to mean mercy. We sit in geo-stationary orbit around a habitable planet with a small colony on the surface. Looking out my window I can see shuttle traffic moving to and from the small fleet of colonist ships that we had arrived with.

On my desk lays a small stack of paper bound together, with a black and blue badge resting on top. Today I recieved my blueshield certification from Nano Trasen, with my backer being the 27th. The PMC sent a letter of recommendation forward with my application to which has sent a new badge to me.

No longer am I serving as a contracted employee to NT, from now on I am a hired third party. I have to say there is some relief with this news. I'm no longer bound to many of restrictive and slave like conditions that the usual lower class employee has. Now, I have quite a bit of room to maneuver.

For now I'm preparing to disembark to assist in the colonisation efforts the Eir has been hired for. We will be providing technological and humanitarian aid to the new colony, and so I seal my new badge away in my locker and finish packing my gear.

The monitor that is imbeded in the rooms wall becomes dully lit and the ship's AI fills the room with a blueish light from her avatar.

 

"Good morning, Taedra. Are you nearly prepared to disembark?" She asks in a mocking tone.

 

I let out a light chuckle. "Yeah, just about done. Feels like forever since I've gotten to talk much with you Freya. But I guess we'll have to find another time."

 

Her avatar's face shifts into a sad looking emoji, most likely for humor. I move to the exit of my cabin and offer a smile towards the avatar and a wave.

 

"Be safe, dear sister. Come home soon." With those final words she dissapates her avatar and the screen that was projecting it falls dark again. I proceed out of my cabin and take a deep breath, bracing for the work ahead.

 

Edited May 22, 2016 by Guest

[Aestras]

 

Don't forget about us, Taedra!

 

<3, Dante and Lucille.

 

[Taedra]

hah, of course. two of the close friends I have!

[Taedra]

 

(edited)

 

20 September, 2559

Today is my girlfriend's birthday, it's a shame however the place we are celebrating it. I lay in a relativly comfortable bed in a hospital aboard a spacestation. To my right sits a gruff looking Unathi woman, whose name is Rune Shepard. Not exactly a traditional name for her kind but thats what you get from being raised by humans. Her hand rests on mine, I can feel it gently taking what warmth it can from my body. We exchange a few wordless conversations and she stroaks my hair gently.

 

I can remember most of the events that led to me laying in this bed. It was a shift aboard a frontieer station that I will grow from.

 

I had arived aboard the shuttle with the rest of the crew at the start of the shift, proudly wearing my blue and black badge on my chest. I was not expecting to much trouble that day, some minor heckling from pirates at the most but nothing more. To which there was a small vessel without it's IFF tag running, a pretty standard thing. The ship will simply watch and judge if it has a change to steal something quickly when it has the change. The ship however, would not be the threat. The captain however seemed to know what she was doing, and we spent a lot of that shift becoming friends.

 

Part way through the shift some of the crew had been found dead, their corspes robbed of most of their genetic material. The signs pointed to a changeling, and so code red was declared.

 

To our suprise, once we found the culprit, it surrendered without a fight. At least, not a physical one. While we had it up in the brig it began to play the manipulation game.

It began to tell us of all it had learned, and that it was not alone. It said that if we were to let it go, it would go reveal and kill the other lings on board. It was barganing for its life, and it worked. While nobody else agreed to anything less than permanant custody until we evac, the captain however had a different plan. As we were making arrangements for a cell that could contain the ling, the captain made an attempt to break the ling out.

 

The captain however, failed to do so. Being the only one able at the moment, I was forced to detain her after she fled from the brig. It wasn't easy to hold a new friend in cuffs, but I knew that I was doing what I had to for the safety of the crew. Whe had the captain stripped of her rank and she was to serve the rest of the shift in her cabin. So she did, under close watch.

 

To the changeling's credit however, it was not lying. Bodies began to pile up and we were soon forced to request emergency evac from the station. Security became busy with evacuating the station and I took my rounds shadowing the chief engineer at the time and the head doctor. As the shuttle fell out of FTL near the station and began its slow boating, the station started to shake.

I could not tell if we were being fired upon or there were bombs aboard the station, and I would not have the luxury of finding out which. While directing the heads of staff I felt my body get hit by the force of an explosion. When I hit the ground after what felt like dozens of seconds in the air I could not will myself to move. As my vision faded from me I caught a glimps of the one who was dragging me to the shuttle, the captain.

 

Edited May 22, 2016 by Guest

[Dumbdumn5]

I was starting to miss some audio logs from Jonah, it's not exactly the same, and I'm not sure if you like people butting in in character on things or breaking the semi-fourth wall, but I like seeing people write these. Gives a real sense of the inside thoughts of the character.

[Taedra]

yeah I could no way write the witty and fantastic logs that jonah gets but I do enjoy anybody commenting about these and reading these all the same! it's a lot of fun keeping a log of the more memorable things and it kind of helps me move Taedra's story along and try to set a character for her to be.

[Taedra]

and yes, if Slade has anything to say about this you can basically consider this like a file NT personnel have on her, or if you like just putting a characters two cents in on something. Its much more than welcome!

[Taedra]

 

gonna have to update this again soon, got back to playing again. Just couldn't stay away from you, Paradise Station. Nice face lift by the way.

 

-insert teary speech that I always have about how awesome this community is.-

 

[Taedra]

(Redacted)

Edited May 21, 2016 by Guest

[Taedra]

 

(Edited)

 

9 May, 2060

Things never stay dull for to long out on the frontier. I was observing the overview of the station from the consoles on the bridge. A familiar ship without its IFF on sat just on the edge of sensor range.

 

Fairly early in the shift I noted a small glow of light in front of the ship on the cameras, to which I would soon learn it was a boarding party. Very shortly after observing the phenomena I was greeted with watching a spectacle of multiple small pirate ships dropping out of FTL near the station. The captain and I exchanged glances for but a moment as we rhythmically swiped our cards for red alert and sent a distress call.

 

Just as we got the message out and the crew began arming, a pod rammed itself through part of the plating on the bridge. Sparks began to thrust from the section hit as we could hear them cutting through. The captain and I barely managed to escape the bridge before the boarding party cut through and set foot on the station. The AI however reacted quickly and closed the blast doors behind us, buying the crew some time from the initial party.

 

the following hour was chaos, the station shook as each beam of energy from the hostile fleet slammed into its shielding, wearing it down. Several boarding parties had managed to board and there were firefights in the open hallways and corridors of the station.

 

Many people lost their lives to the fighting, and I can personally remember a few that released the last of their lifeblood while I tried to save them with improvised tools and meager amounts of medical supplies remaining.

 

Finally however a NT owned battleship dropped out of FTL in front of the station. It's massive hull blocked out the distant silhouettes of the pirate fleet. We had survived, the station remained ours.

 

The pirate fleet fell apart, their ragged hulls couldn't withstand proper military power and a few ships had fallen in the minutes it took for them to flee. The remaining boarders were wiped out from ERT forces that had landed on the station shortly after the battleship arrived.

 

We won, and when I was aboard a shuttle leaving the station, I slept like a rock through the whole ride.

 

Edited May 21, 2016 by Guest

[Taedra]

 

I got a message from a friend today with a list of names.

 

It happend again, but this time the inspection were really syndicate agents... all dead now. Curious, the syndicate seems to be growing bolder and stronger. It's crazy the lengths people will go to for money, or perhaps there is something else at stake here....

 

Lizbeth Northey

Rocco Shaffer

Eric Woodward.

 

with regards -

The Fighting 27th.

 

huh, cheeky bastards.

 

[Taedra]

 

(Edited.)

 

?? ??? ????

Someone lay on the table in front of me, my hands already at work. His flesh was maimed and his bones broken, I acted, as I would always have to. In the dark the only light I had came from above me, it was unclear how distant, I could not ponder it however, I must sew.

 

"...Red to red, wight to wight, and everything will be alright."

 

A raven came from the blackness, it's eyes cutting through the black fog, its body, shifting like smoke. It called out. Blood began to flow more quickly from the flesh. I scrambled inside the wounds.

 

"...Red to red, Wight to wight, and everything will be... alright."

 

The raven croaked again, more blood.

 

"Mend red to red..."

 

The raven opened its maw and I swatted at it, he evaded me and cried out. Around me I could hear the suffering of more people.

 

"Wight to wight...." My voice shook with each word.

 

The raven called again, I can't stop the blood.

 

"And everything will be..." the bleeding stopped. There was no more blood left to bleed, it had all fallen onto me.

 

The raven stood silent, its gaze never breaking as it observed me. Its maw opened.

"..."

 

 

.

..

...

20 May, 2060

I rose from my bed and searched the room with my eyes. I realized I had been holding my breath and finally let the tension in my lungs release in exhale. I rise from my bed and walk barefoot to the window. Peering out I could see a planet, and slowly sound returned to me and I could hear the familiarity of the ship I called my home. I examined my hands, dry and clean.

 

After I had finished my morning routines I had moved to the commons aboard the ship. There the crew was assembled and the captain had begun his briefing. I found a place next to my close friend, Sathli. We exchanged silent looks for a moment then returned our attention to the briefing.

 

We had been dispatched with a larger force of The Fighting 27th by contract to the planet below. We were to undertake an operation we had done a scarce few times, hunt down the infestation by creatures code-named: Umbra.

 

There was a sizable infestation on the colony and we all knew the fight we were going into. There will be casualties, not everyone will wake up from their deaths as soon as they may hope. With limited biomass from our support ships, we had to be precise, fast, and strong. This operation would test us, not the worst we had for sure, but still nothing we could drop our guard on.

 

So we disembarked from the ships to the planet surface, in silence we sat on our shuttles as they rattled through atmospheric entry. When we had landed and stepped from our shuttles into the light I could make out something in to distance, at the edge of my vision. A raven.

 

Edited May 21, 2016 by Guest

[Taedra]

 

The rewrite is done up to this point, I'm quite happy with the improvements (How small they may be). I would really like to thank the community for its helpful feedback and for reading so far. A HUGE shout out to the discord user: Dragon. Last night they had really helped me out a lot, and as a result I spent a lot of the night and most of today re-writing all of the post so far.

 

I hope the improvements helped make it a better read and I thank all of you who have read before and after the rewrite so far. This community has been pretty awesome to me and treated me very well. I look forward to more adventure with you in game to inspire more of these senseless writings!.

 

[Taedra]

 

Jun 4, 2560

I stood braced against the window, gazing down at the little blue ball below. The lights in my room were dim, and I was alone. Sometimes when the engines became silent, I could still hear voices echoing in my head. Pulling like hooks, trying to gain purchase. I however, still remained myself.

 

The operation had been a success. We had eliminated all traces of the infestation and all crew were accounted for upon evac (dead or alive). Overall our casualties were within projected limits and we were already beginning to pack up.

 

I tried to think back to what happened days before. I remember being dragged underground in the tunnels of the city. I remember its red eyes piercing into my skull. I remember forgetting names, faces. Her name, her face. Good thing I have many friends to come pull my sorry ass out of the fire.

 

Before I turned I remember Sathli's squad were the first to reach me. They had tracked us down in the mud soaked tunnels that were in disuse. One of the last remaining shadowlings had hit my unit hard in the middle of a patrol. We were all captured and dragged off into the tunnels. Missing our check in time, other squads came looking. They had made it just in time.

 

The firefight was brief, bright UV lights and chemically treated ballistic weapons made quick work of hostile threats. The shadowlings were weak by then and couldn't stand to fight a straight up battle. I remember Sathli herself carrying me out of the tunnels before I blacked out.

 

The door to my room slowly slid open and the light from the hallway bled into the room. Its brightness made my head start to pound and my ears rung for a moment. I heart a familiar sound of talons clicking against the floor before the silhouette came into focus. Sathli stood before me.

"Hey, Tae. You hanging in there alright?" Her voice spoke softly. It filled me with comfort.

I nodded and she came closer and let me brace against her. She just silently held me up against her, waiting for my reply patiently.

 

"Yeah. I'm starting to get there. Just still a little fuzzy. How is everyone else?" I leaned against her more. Her cool scales felt good against my body.

 

"Recovering, as usual. Some of the cloned shells still haven't woken up. But its still to early to call for now. Come now Tae, this isn't the first time you've gotten into trouble yeah? I'm gonna have to start charging you per pound each time I carry you somewhere." She smiled at me.

 

I smiled back and let out a small laugh. "Fair enough" I though. I did always seem to know just how to get into trouble.

"Hate to say it, but I think that NT may be our best bet to end all this." I looked to the floor remembering my friends from the Cyberiad. Perhaps its time I went back.

 

"Well, lets hope it doesn't come to that Tae. I'm sure someone will figure out how to stop all this soon." She patted me on the back with her words.

For a moment I remembered a face from my encounter, but the image was to Bright in my mind. I tried to steady myself, pushing off my friend slightly.

 

"Say Tae, where is Rune?" She asked.

 

"I think she is in the rec room working out." I looked to the door wearily.

 

"Lets go join her, might do you some good to stretch out." I grumbled at her suggestion but nodded slowly.

I pushed Sathli in the direction of my desk and she helped me walk over. I reached to one of the drawers and pulled out a pair of steel aviators. I weakly put them over my eyes and bit my lower lip. I leaned into Sathli's ear and whispered.

 

"Danger zone."

 

We both laughed as she helped me into the hallway. The light engulfed me and a smile spread across my face. Surely, without my friends I would go mad. With my friends however, perhaps I can still do some good for this world.

 

[Taedra]

shitposting intensifies, also feel free to post any comments and such. o7