[X3LU] Bastion Corporation Activity Log and PR Division

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Morgon
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[X3LU] Bastion Corporation Activity Log and PR Division

Post by Morgon » Sun, 9. Aug 15, 08:13

(I've figured it's time to stretch my creative muscles and actually write something for once. Let's see how this goes)

Section 1. Introduction to the Bastion Corporation

Hello new employee, and welcome to the Bastion Corporation, the leader in private military operations in Commonwealth space!

We here at Bastion have one singular goal: The safeguarding of all Commonwealth sectors against external threats, especially those that cannot be dealt with within the legal and political boundaries of the various Commonwealth governments.

By joining our elite team, you have taken an important step in the protection and preservation of the many wondrous cultures, faiths, and political systems that exist within the known universe. We hope that you will perform to our standards and prove yourself a valuable asset.

Bastion - Keeping Space Safe!


Section 2. Our Mission

Though we deal exclusively in private military ops, we are not a PMC. We operate above and yet within the overall Commonwealth legal system. We offer no preference to the protection of any one government: Instead, we deal with the following types of threats:

Type 1: Pirate raids, incursions, and smuggling activities
Type 2: Xenon invasions and scouting operations
Type 3: Monitoring of possible Omicron Channel threats.
Type 4: Full-scale Warfare

Please note that Type 3 activities are highly classified, and that discussion of that discussion of said activities are strictly prohibited outside authorized company channels. A breach of this secrecy is grounds for immediate termination.


Section 3. Terran Sectors

As a conclusion to your initial orientation, we will answer the questions you no doubt have of our Terran operations.

Bastion maintains a clear and neutral stance against the Terran government, including a non-aggression and Trade treaty. Additionally, the Terran government has recently negotiated a contract for our services, and we hope that this will not only prove mutually beneficial, but will prove to be a stable platform from which to ease tensions between the Commonwealth and Earth.

This concludes Phase One of your orientation. We hope that you will find fulfillment and advancement within our company, and help as reach new heights in the years to come.

Bastion - Keeping Space Safe!
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Morgon
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Post by Morgon » Sun, 9. Aug 15, 10:48

AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED. WELCOME BACK, MR. CRATHWELL

ACCESSING VIRTUMAIL ACCOUNT. YOU HAVE (1) NEW MESSAGE

From: BASAdmin[at]bastion.gal
To: RCrathwell[at]bastion.gal

Subject: Asset Report

Here's the scheduled update on our assets and current logistics.

Sec 1 - Bulletin: The requisition and outfitting of our two new destroyers is complete. BD Glorious and BD Gracious have been deployed to Getsu Fune as part of our ongoing blockade against the Xenon. Strategic Division reports that the deployment of the satellite defense system around the gate will be completed in the next few cycles.


Sec 2: Following is a COMPLETE list of our operating assets. This file is encrypted at the highest level.

(20) Caiman-class free trading vessels
(5) Mercury-class factory logistics vessels, consisting of (2) Freighters and (3) Agents
(12) Perseus-class mining vessels
(3) Mammoth-Class Transports, consisting of (1) mining base and (2) station haulers
(1) Mistral-Class Super Freighter, assigned to hauling mining loads
(3) Kestrel-Class Reconnaissance ships
(7) Heavy Centaur-Class Corvettes, Prototype designation
(2) Cerberus-Class Frigates
(2) Titan-Class Destroyers

(5) Manufacturing Stations, using Saturn-Variant Complex Arrangement.


Sec 3: Following is a list of all Division reports this quarter

Production and Acquisition Division Report: Acquire M3 and M4-class fighters. Our fighter wing count is unacceptably low and our performance is starting to suffer because of it. The purchase of an M1-Class would also be of help. Missile manufacturing should also be brought up to speed. Our new Hammer Torpedo complex is a good start, but we need more.

Logistics and Production Division Report: Logistics and supply lines functioning normally. No shortages reported or expected within the current quarter.

Strategic Division Report: The Terran Government has asked us to install a defense system near their more volatile gates. This could be a magnificent start to our extra-Commonwealth relations, not to mention a financially sound manuever.

Finance and Accounting Division Report: Finances growing at a steady pace. Growth is expected to exceed 10 percent this quarter. Minor conflicts with Stock Market transactions should be resolved within the next week.

Special Operations Division Report: The latest news from the Omicron Channel is in. Though the Commonwealth is keeping a collective and extremely thorough media blackout concerning the situation, the picture is grim. At least 5 sectors have fallen to what is being dubbed the Omicron Channel Virus. We have little to no data concerning this faction, only that their ships are frighteningly powerful. More research and observation will be conducted.

The Phanon corporation has been comparatively quiet, and we do not expect much trouble from them in the near future.


END OF REPORT


YOU HAVE BEEN SIGNED OUT. HAVE A NICE DAY!
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Zaitsev
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Post by Zaitsev » Mon, 10. Aug 15, 00:55

Mmm ... Fresh concept, and a nice deviation from the run-of-the-mill DiD formula we tend to see here.

I like what I see so far. Keep up the good work! :)
I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am :D

DiDs:
Eye of the storm Completed
Eye of the storm - book 2 Inactive
Black Sun - Completed
Endgame - Completed

Song Of Obsidian
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Post by Song Of Obsidian » Mon, 10. Aug 15, 02:17

Love the signature.




Oh, and the introduction to your story looks nice too.

Sorry, couldn't help myself. Look forward to seeing where you take this.

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Post by Morgon » Mon, 10. Aug 15, 02:51

(Thanks, I try!)

TRANSCRIPT OF CONFERENCE ON [05-09-768]

L.Gargan: Okay, let's get this started. Selis, why don't you tell us all the latest reports from Spec Ops?

S. McMillan: Of course. Gentlemen, as you all know by now, we've been getting a lot of very concerning reports coming out from the Channel. Admiral DeWolf's been very hush-hush about what exactly has been going on, but two days ago we managed to deploy a Recon Satellite right before the sector was destroyed. Now-

R.Cathwall: Destroyed?

S.McMillan: Yes, Roger, destroyed. Our satellite was able to record several hours worth of footage before it was lost. We can now confirm that the OCV possesses firepower far in excess of anything the Commonwealth, and Earth for that matter, is able to field. Within two hours of the initial breach, all assets in Magnetar Zeta had been completely wiped out. Total losses amount to at least four M2s, two M1s, and a massive number of frigates, corvettes, and fighters. The footage you are about to see is classified at the highest level. Nothing you learn here leaves this room, remember. Kill the lights.

Video screen boots, Bastion Corporation copyright and classification information is displayed before abruptly switching to a silent, black and white video of a large wall of unknown ships. Sections of the image flare white as energy weaponry ignites across the visible sector. The video zooms and pans to several different points of interest: A destroyer being carved to pieces by multiple weapon strikes, four corvettes being sundered in half by missile hits, an entire wing of fighters being obliterated by what looks like flak. The video fast-forwards as the wave of alien ships advances forward and spreads out, systematically destroying everything they find. The video normalizes just a few seconds before the feed is suddenly lost. The lights flicker back on and the screen powers off.

S.McMillan: We need to do something about this.

L.Gargan: We'll have to work it into our greater schedu-

R.Cathwall: [Extreme stress detected in subject's voice, psychologist notified] Issue a company-wide employee recall. I want the entire command staff gathered and ready for assignment by tomorrow. Cancel all vacations and leaves of absence. I don't care what they are doing or were going to do. Get them here NOW!

TRANSCRIPT TERMINATED
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Post by Morgon » Mon, 10. Aug 15, 22:07

(Today's post includes writing I've never really done before, yay experimentation!)

CAPTAIN'S LOG: NILES BARCIN
[REGISTERED TO FREE TRADER XMN-0626]


Date - 04-16-768

I don't know what the hell Logistics is thinking, sending us through a Xenon sector. The Commoners might send an armed convoy through every once in awhile, but these little shits will pop up again eventually. We lost a Caiman midway through our Jump warmup.

I don't care if the alternative is to route through twelve systems, at least you won't have the risk of one of those damned Picasso nightmares coming out of nowhere.

Coming up on Scale Plate. End log.


Date - 04-23-768

No, I don't want any 'Calming music' you damned thing, just shut up and log this.

I swear I'm going to strangle the next dock manager who tell me that they're 'currently unable to take deliveries'. What the hell is going on? This is the fourth dock that's given me that excuse! I have a full cargo of Rimes here that I need to get rid of, and now!

End Log!


Date - 04-24-768

It took a damn hypercall to HR, but I found out why the hell no-one's accepting deliveries. The Argon Military issued a discreet lockdown yesterday. Apparently some dumbass pirate or whatever is running around with a hold full of RGWs. VOLATILE RGWs. These sons of bitches will explode if you so much as poke them.

So they think he's looking for an opportune target before he blows the whole thing up, hence why I'm currently sitting on my ass in Omicron Lyrae until they start accepting loads again.

Just my damned luck. End Log.


Date - 05-07-768

I don't know what just happened, but it scared the shit out of me. One second I'm listening to the FTL-band radio, some old world music, and the next second I'm hearing something else. I manage to record it, too, and I'm including here just so you know I'm not going insane.

Audio switches to an extremely distorted noise, somewhere between a low rumble and an extremely high-pitched drill. Several seconds later a voice speaks, similarly distorted, though much more disturbing is the vague human-like noise in the background. "Tu...UU..uuuur...nnn to...o.. US...USSSS... BEC...ooome... ONE." the voice cuts out and the background noise becomes crystal clear: screaming. The audio is overwhelmed by static and cuts out

Is this some sick joke? Because it's not f[REDACTED]ing funny.


Date - 05-08-768

Got a headache. Had one since that damn incident yesterday. Temples keep pounding no matter what I do. Standard Pain Meds do nothing. Hearing a noise in my head too. Won't go away.

End L-


Date - 05-09-768

AUTOMATED MESSAGE: ERROR, UNABLE TO PARSE YOUR SPEECH. PLEASE SPEAK CLEARLY INTO YOUR HEADSET OR COMM PANEL MICROPHONE.


Date&6^%()%

HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TIDE HALT THE TI- AUTOMATED MESSAGE: ERROR, UNABLE TO PAAAAAARSSS*$%#

END OF LOG
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Zaitsev
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Post by Zaitsev » Tue, 11. Aug 15, 02:31

Audio switches to an extremely distorted noise, somewhere between a low rumble and an extremely high-pitched drill. Several seconds later a voice speaks, similarly distorted, though much more disturbing is the vague human-like noise in the background. "Tu...UU..uuuur...nnn to...o.. US...USSSS... BEC...ooome... ONE." the voice cuts out and the background noise becomes crystal clear: screaming. The audio is overwhelmed by static and cuts out
I'm not ashamed to admit that I found that part spooky as f**k, with a little help from my hyperactive imagination. Excellent writing.

*hides under bed and wait for moar*
I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am :D

DiDs:
Eye of the storm Completed
Eye of the storm - book 2 Inactive
Black Sun - Completed
Endgame - Completed

Morgon
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Post by Morgon » Thu, 13. Aug 15, 02:37

(Gonna try delving into some actual story today!)


To Make For Us A Bastion, to Weather Any Storm

"...and that conclude our end-of-week economy report. Keep those eyes on the stock ticker and be wary of fluctuating energy prices as our recent industry boom continues. Over to Mar Sala for the daily State of the Commonwealth update. Mar?

"Thanks, Joel, today we'll be looking at the Paranid..."

Aidan Morris rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, or tried to. An hour of looking at the holographic displays did nothing to help the sharp stinging. The view screen showed the same field of blue gas stretching off into who knows how many lightyears. At least it was pretty.

He thought most of Omicron Lyrae was pretty, actually. Busy, lots of hustle and bustle, always something to do or see. The spacer equivalent of a city boy, he guessed.

He moved around a lot. System to system and ship to ship, he never spent more than a week or so in one particular place, owing to his position in the Bastion Corporation.

Officially, he was called an Adjutant.

Employees knew him better as "Mister Checklist".

Tick one. Tick two. Tick three. Hull integrity acceptable? Yep. Engines working fine? Oh yeah. Jump Drive in good condition? Good enough for corporate work. So on and so on.

It was enormously monotonous, and he'd so much rather be-

"TURN."

"What?" he said, jerking to attention and staring around the empty cabin.

"Turning now to our next topic..."

He shook his head, figuring he must have been a lot drowsier than he thought, and got up out of his 'captain's' chair. He waves his hand, setting the view into a more panoramic mode. Maybe that'd wake him up...

*BZZZZT*

...or that would. That /definitely/ would. He tapped a device in his ear, tilting his head back.

"Aidan, this is Logistics. We need you to oversee operations at Unknown Sector Beta. Our new complexes are nearing completion, and we're also finalizing negotiations with the Boron government to assume official political control of the sector. Logistics out."

Yep, that was corporate alright. Laconic and to the point as always. He sighed and sat right back down, setting his course with a few button presses. He wouldn't even need to touch the controls... Yep, another damnably fine day.
Last edited by Morgon on Fri, 14. Aug 15, 09:07, edited 1 time in total.
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Sabrina Bergin
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Post by Sabrina Bergin » Thu, 13. Aug 15, 15:59

Morgon:

Trying not to be picky, on the very last line there is a close underline [/u] at the end of the text I assume you missed the open underline symbol at some point.

Enjoying the read immensely, keep up the good work.

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Post by Morgon » Fri, 14. Aug 15, 09:08

Thanks for the comments, glad you guys are enjoying this. Dunno why I left the open underline thing in there. Must have escaped my notice the first time!
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Post by Sabrina Bergin » Fri, 14. Aug 15, 12:59

Morgon wrote:Thanks for the comments, glad you guys are enjoying this. Dunno why I left the open underline thing in there. Must have escaped my notice the first time!
I wouldn't worry overmuch about that Morgon, even after editing my text in word multiple times. I still have to go over it three or four times after I have posted till I catch the blinding mistakes that were right in front of my eyes all along. Trust me that one was a minor typo compared to some of the howlers I've perpetrated.

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Post by Morgon » Mon, 17. Aug 15, 02:42

(You know what time it is, kids, it's Corporate Funtime!(tm) Getting a little more used to this style of writing)

Well, here he was. Peacekeeper, formerly Unknown Sector Gamma. Bastion had been operating here for a long time, setting up all of its most important facilities in the once-empty sector... consequently, it was also the best defended area in Bastion's corporate empire. There was a hell of a lot of activity here, with freighters running around the clock to keep the primary factories fed and active, and far off in the distance were the vast docking arrays for the entire Bastion fleet, and yet more freighter ships kept these docks well-supplied with whatever those ships needed.

Headquarters loomed up just ahead, the biggest structure of them all. You could dock hundreds of fighters in here and still have ample space for dozens more, larger ships. The bigger Capitals could link up to one of the nine or so prongs that jutted out from the upper disc. The spire that descended down from that looked like some sort of metal bee hive, what with how many ships were coming and going.

It was there he needed to stop off before he made the jump out to Unknown Sector Beta, or what most employee's just called 'USB'.

The autopilot guided him on in, the tractor system locking him down to a straight, stable line into one of the free hangar bays. The hull shuddered as the magnetic clamps caught him, and everything powered down with an admittedly satisfying "ZOOooooo" He made his way over to the airlock and was soon striding across the catwalk to the Inter-Station Tram System. It was a solid three miles to where he needed to go, a distance the box-like Tram could cover in about a minute.

Thank god for inertial normalizers.

He yawned again as he pushed open the polished metal doors to the Administration offices, waving absently to the couple rows of station agents and managers, most of whom merely nodded before going back to work on whatever it was they did all day. The door he wanted was painted an exceptionally tacky shade of lime green, which clashed horribly with the white-blue metal the rest of the office was decked in. With a lot of trepidation he knocked on the door, and was met with a flowery, mid-pitched voice.

"Come in."

And so he did. The office itself was, well... what would you expect when you saw how the door was painted? You'd think you'd stepped into a key lime pie, and of course the place smelled like one, too. Every single thing was that same damn shade of lime green, and it made his eyes water. No place in space should offend the eyes this much.

"Ah, Mister Morris! Glad you could come on such short notice. I know Corporate has you taking stock over in 'Beta, but I really needed to talk to you for a moment." continued the voice, which belonged to one Carlson Vekkers, Logistics Manager, and the third most important man at HQ. The second and first he'd be meeting later.

"Yeah yeah." he replied, waving a hand as he took a seat in a too-soft leather chair. "Though be quick, you know how they get when they're getting ready to cut the ribbon on a shiny new asset."

"Yes yes yes, I know, but this is important too!" said Carlson. He rose from his chair and walked over to the front of the desk. The man had a good bit of weight to him, but he wasn't unfit. "You see, we've been having a lot of problems on our Northeastern trade routes. Transactions have been diminishing at an alarming rate, and now I hear that our pilots are refusing to head up there! They keep saying something about voices and visions and other such bull. Except..."

His face went suddenly dark, and his voice lost a lot of its flowery inflection, which took Aidan by surprise.

"I'm starting to think there might really be something to these rumors. You know we lost contact with one of our Shipping associates, right? Two days back?" he said, clasping his hands together in front of his chest, and waited for Aidan to nod. "Well, apparently he was found sixteen systems from his last reported location, screaming nonstop. The Enforcement Patrol had to tranq him because the moment they entered the cockpit he charged at them and tried to claw one poor bastard's eyes out, yelling something about the 'tide'. And what's worse? The entire damn cockpit was covered in scratch marks and blood. They later found that the pilot had ripped his own ears off. What the hell makes a man do that?"

Aidan could only shrug, but he shifted in his chair. Hadn't he heard something yesterday...?

"Well, I sure as hell don't, and I don't want it happening to any more of our pilots. That's why I called you here, cause this information isn't being told to anyone else. I want you to take a run up to, say, Cerberus Alpha and ask around, find out if this has been happening to anyone else at all. Make us all feel a bit better, yeah?"

Aidan just shrugged again. "I'll see what I can do. Dunno how long they're gonna keep me up in Beta, but I'll look into it if I've got the time."

That seemed to be enough for the manager, who sat back down behind his desk and began to type on his keyboard. "Excellent... well then, guess I'll see you around!" he said, regaining some of his flowery character as Aidan turned to leave. It wasn't until he was back on the tram that something hit him.

Tide. Turn.

"Turn the tide."
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