Valor
Author: Alawa Patrouette
Original post: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1shl3WSphmtzH-hCrAqxovea33Ao8nfdBUyYy6tLlvCg/edit
Entry for the Amore Tank Your Hearts in the Short Story category.
Captain's Log: November 3, YC117
We’ve started construction of the citadel. I still feel a little bad about leaving the militia in the state that it's in, even if it is only for just a month...
Captain’s Log: November 4, YC117
The citadel has been anchored without a fight. All my previous doubts have left my mind. My corp mates have convinced me and I am now hyped for our retreat. Currently writing this from my nightmare, a new doctrine that I look forward to using!
Captain’s Log: November 13, YC117
The neighboring alliance has gotten annoyed with our constant attacks on their miners and has started searching for our citadel. They vastly outnumber us, I fear winter is coming.
Captain’s Log: November 30, YC117
That alliance I was talking about? They’re no joke. They’ve destroyed our citadels shields and armor. Its hull goes vulnerable tomorrow. We’ve prepared a trap using our new doctrine. They’ll be warping into a hellstorm tomorrow.
Captain’s Log: December 1, YC117
The trap went south very fast. They jumped their entire brawling fleet onto us with a command destroyer and webbed us down, killing everyone but me. Our only fleet strong enough to fight them laid in ruins and the citadel blew up in minutes. I now have no choice but self destruct my capsule to rejoin my corp. Winter is now upon us.
Acting Captain’s Log: January 23, YC118
54 days ago the capsuleer piloting this ship abandoned ship and self destructed the capsule. For 54 days the crew and I have been working non-stop to repair the ship and get it up and running again. No capsuleer piloted ships of this size are supposed to have thousands of people crewing it. We have but 372.
Acting Captain’s Log: January 30, YC118
Through tedious analysis of the star charts aboard the ship and by looking out the window many, many times, we have finally figured out where we are in the galaxy. It does not look good. We are on the outer reaches of the west end of the galaxy, 43 jumps out from the nearest high-security system. With a full crew that voyage would only take a few days but the size of our crew… We are having trouble even keeping the capacitor full at minimum ship activity. We start our journey home tomorrow, all of us very nervous about first warp tomorrow.
Acting Captain’s Log: January 31, YC118
We completed our first jump successfully! There were some issues in getting the warp drive started but the problem was quickly fixed. This first step towards home has done wonders for the crew’s morale, a few crew members broke out the spacesuits and broke a bottle of Brutor champagne on the ship's hull. We have christened the ship ‘G.M.S.S. Valor’. Its previous name: ‘Nightmare’ wasn’t exactly doing wonders for the crews spirit.
Acting Captain’s Log: March 7, YC118
We’ve made it 17 jumps and into the next region! Aside from needing the entire crew on double shifts every day our journey has been without incident. The initial excitement has definitely worn off now and the crew is really starting to look wistful. Even though we have all the maps we need I have been trying to give everyone a little time at the windows on “mapping duty”. We all could use some time to relax.
Acting Captain’s log: March 20, YC118
21 jumps, almost halfway there. I have a surprise planned for the crew once we hit the halfway mark, they deserve it. All of them have worked hard and diligently day in day out for the past 4 months. I could not be more proud in what we have accomplished than I am right now.
Acting Captain’s Log: March 22, YC118
We’ve been attacked… … We jumped through the gate and on the other side there was a capsuleer in a destroyer sitting on the gate, engaged with some Sansha cruisers. The Sansha ships were destroyed in seconds. We immediately went to combat stations and started spooling up the warp drive. Then the armor broke. Shots started ripping into the very bulkheads of the ship and… ...and then a crack tore open the ship and engineering began to depressurize. Over a hundred people in that section alone… Warping out was the priority so I had sent double crew to engineering to get the ship out as fast as possible. I wanted with all my heart to order them out of engineering but our warp drive hadn’t finished spooling. We wouldn’t have made it out if they hadn’t stayed down there. They sacrificed themselves to save the rest of the crew. We are now floating in dead space without power. I do not yet know the extent of the damage nor do I want to but for the sake of the crew I must carry on.
Acting Captain’s Log: March 23, YC118
The reports have come in. Our warp drive has been completely destroyed, most likely ripped apart from the jump while it was exposed to open space. Communication, weapons, armor, long range sensors, all destroyed. The death toll is at 121 with dozens still in critical condition. I now face the difficult task of facing the crew after this disaster, after ordering a hundred people to their deaths. I don’t know how we can go on but we must... we must.
Acting Captain’s Log: March 28, YC118
Our situation is near hopeless. The crew is staying strong but I no it won’t last. With nothing left to do some of the crew have started work on the impossible task: To build a warp drive out of broken parts and with no qualifications to build such an item. I know this will lead to nothing but it gives hope, something in very short shortage right now.
Acting Captain’s Log: December 1, YC118
We have now been stranded for a year. We have been stuck in dead space for the majority of that year. Half of the crew is dead. I have not looked forward to this day but I have now started going over the self destruct protocols. Our time here is coming to an end.
Acting Captain’s Log: December 6, YC118
I don’t know how but they’ve done it! Those glorious bastards have build a working warp drive! There may be hope after all.
Acting Captain’s Log: December 7, YC118
We’ve run the numbers and we don’t have nearly enough energy to power single warp, let alone the twenty some it would take to make it to high security space. The situation remains grim but the new research team tells me they have a new idea they are working on that could theoretically work. ‘Could theoretically’ doesn’t sound like great odds to me but any odds at all are very welcome aboard the ship.
Acting Captain’s Log: December 18, YC118
Once again they’ve done it! From the destroyed hardpoints they’ve built a scanner probe. Hopefully we can skip the trip through jump gates and go directly to highsec a wormhole. Hopefully…
Acting Captain’s Log: December 31, YC118
It has taken a while but we’ve finally scanned down a wormhole a formulated a plan. We divert power from life support to the warp drive, the air inside the ship should last us up to 4 weeks. Of course, the wormhole could lead us further away from high security space or send us to extremely dangerous unknown space. It's all or nothing now.
Acting Captain’s Log: January 24, YC119
We made it through the wormhole, but at a huge cost. The experimental warp drive shook up the already damaged ship, The entire lower section of the ship broke off, along with all the souls working there. Death toll: 64. We jumped into a system one jump away from high security space. As our journey comes to an end 2 things have occurred to me. One, that the ship will be torn apart in the next warp and this may be my last log. Two, even if we do make it to high-security space, we are in a sansha ship with no communication and there is a very large chance we will be shot on site. More now than ever we must have courage.
Captain’s Log: January 31, YC119
Our journey is about to come to an end. 427 days in the abyss. Of the 372 brave men that started this journey, only 43 have survived. I do not know what will happen to this ship when we jump through but I know one thing, this journey is over. If anyone receives these logs I ask but one thing of you. Remember the brave men and women of the Valor. This is the captain of the toughest and bravest ship to ever fly, signing off. Through the gates of hell I go, be it going out or in.