#marsh's log

Hey! Sorry for the sudden radio silence for a few days. Someone was in need of some protective services (apparently there are some dangerous places around here, who knew?) and I had to get Unpromised Hope's last fixes up and running and head out.

Just a simple escort mission, some people going out and doing some surveying of local wildlife and stuff. I didn't get the full details other than they had a bunch of fancy science equipment and were worried about how some less than scrupulous people tend to live far away from the city and would jump at the chance to snag the aforementioned fancy science equipment.

Testament didn't co-pilot with me, though they didn't sound like the idea was off the table, but it was so sudden I don't think they were ready to make that decision. They were however kind enough to run comms remotely for me and keep an eye on any weird chatter or signals and things.

I was pretty sure it was gonna just be walking around with some scientists for a few days with a couple other pilots they hired for protection, but I'll be damned if Testament didn't pick up some radio chatter from an approaching group. They had a few Mechs of their own and some in just power armor, not sure if they were raiders or mercs or whatever, but they weren't exactly feeling chatty before or after.

We took care of them, and aside from some bruises, a broken leg, and one person who got shot in the shoulder, no casualties on our side. Well, they did break a few fancy cameras but there were spares.

I know you're always supposed to hope for an easy job but fuck me if I don't feel void's damned alive in the middle of a firefight. I really fucking missed this. Hell of a confidence boost to have my first job as an independant go so well.

Resting up now and seeing what I missed while I was away.

Fuck me I'm tired. But! Good day!

My shy NHP and I had a proper conversation finally! And I got their name, so they're no longer just "my shy NHP friend". They go by Testament. Details are still a little sparse but I think the long and short of it is it sounds like they were starting to go into cascade (am I using that term right?) and they put themselves into that weird cycling loop to bring themselves back? I think all that weird code that was in the Frame's computer might have been from them also. I still don't know a ton about NHPs beyond the fact they can do some weird stuff when they get damaged or hurt, so having more data in a computer than should be possible certainly seems plausible enough.

Anyway, Testament seems to be doing well all things considered. I'm not 100% sure if they were an AGNI-class NHP or not, I know those usually get licensed out with Genghis frames, but I think whatever happened to Testament changed them on a pretty big level since they don't seem to have a ton of clear memories so they're relearning a lot of stuff.

They also helped me finally name the Chassis itself. "Unpromised Hope." Testament suggested it and I think it's got a nice ring to it. Anyway, the Frame's polished up and pretty at this point, though it's still got an empty mount, still deciding what to slap in there, I already got the Plasma Thrower, so probably will throw something more precise on there. Testament's already given some thoughts, I think they get a kick out of optimizing things.

oh yeah, and all those weird files I moved out of the Hope's computer are still running and doing something. Testament seems to think it's probably not dangerous but we're keeping an eye on it.

I think that's about all. Oh, and Testament expressed an interest, so they've got a keyboard and access to this account now, feel free to say hi.

Took the Chassis out for its first field test yesterday. Mechanically, pretty much fine across the board. Left shoulder joint feels like it's sticking a bit on quick turns, but that should be easy enough to fix up.

The subjectivity sync still feels odd, I don't think it's just getting used to the larger frame. It's like, I dunno, like something feels off? Like walking into a room and knowing someone's moved something but you're not sure what, or like that feeling of being watched. Might be related to the computer systems.

Speaking of, those computer glitches still persisted, they're still throwing up error codes that don't match anything on file, but I did see them actually start messing with the performance now that I brought it out to test. All my inputs felt delayed. Less than a second but definitely enough to screw me over in a firefight. Ordered some proper software diagnostic equipment since clearly going through the onboard access computer wasn't cutting it.

Equipment came today and Christ the Buddha's tits something's janky. Somehow it's reading as having internal memory at about X5000 the frame's max storage?! All compressed files too. I tried to do a full factory reset but got an error saying I wasn't authorized. tried to open the files, not authorized. Tried to copy and paste some, not authorized. It's my damn Mech, how am I not authorized?!

Kept trying random shit and lucked out. I owe a few favors now but someone had some old data storage drives on hand, the big ones. Couldn't copy the mysterious files, but for some reason I could transfer them. They've been moving all day from the frame to the data banks, should be finished up soon.

Oh, right, and my shy NHP friend left me a message yesterday and this morning. Still hasn't communicated with me directly, but they had a review of all the movies I'd left them to watch overnight. Some were pretty detailed, some were just one or two words, was pretty funny actually. Been trying to pick movies for them that they seemed to like but I think they like critiquing the bad ones just as much as watching the good ones haha.

Whew! long time no log! Lets see it's been... about a month since log 4, what's been happening...

lets see, all that crazy code that was in the chassis when I first got it and moved to a separate storage finally finished decoding. I still don't understand most of it but TESTAMENT worked on figuring some of it out. A lot of it seems to be paracausal tech and code we think, TESTAMENT doesn't have much an idea what it will do so I'm archiving it just to be safe. some of it was usable though as some equipment. From what we can tell it's basically BALOR pattern systems, we tested it out by kitting the Unpromised Hope's plasma thrower out with nanites instead of the standard fuel, works like a charm and TESTAMENT loves it cause they can control it way more precisely than regular fire. It puts a hell of a strain on the Hope's systems, but TESTAMENT finally seems comfortable co-piloting now that they have a low risk of accidentally starting a fire we can't control.

I'm also officially off planet, hoped on a one of those big big IPS-N supply ships, not sure its actual classification but it's big as fuck, called the Shield Runner. They were more than happy to have another mech onboard in case of pirates so I'm getting a pretty sweet ride. Full access to a proper printer to work on a big Chassis like the Hope, good food stores, regular omninet access, rec centers. Got TESTAMENT a subaltern to use also.

now just gotta figure out when I wanna disembark haha.

Void above, I've never been on a ship unless I was in stasis... the stars are something else... gonna get the Hope outfitted for void flight and take her and TESTAMENT out for a flight out there.

Alright, might as well start one of these yeah?

Been a few days since coming out of stasis. I'm somewhere pretty far out on the edge of the settled systems. I looked up the name of the planet but honestly it hardly matters right now. Should have been more specific in my discharge papers, they stuck me with an old wreck of a Mech and shipped me out to the edge, but it's worth the freedom. got myself a workshop and a place to crash as long as I help out with some basic engineering tasks around the city, and with some labor with the Mech once I get it up and running.

The NHP stopped self cycling. I've got them hooked up to a bunch of communication equipment so they can see and hear around the workshop. They're definitely receiving information, but still haven't communicated back. I'm still hopeful though. I hit download on just about every movie I could find so they could watch something while I sleep. NHPs don't sleep right? Figured I shouldn't let them be board while I'm sawing logs.

Repairing the Mech's going well. All the tampering contingencies should be out now, so now I'm just giving it a thorough once over to make sure nothing's degraded. I know the MK 1 has a... checkered past, though growing up in HA space I'm sure I got the sanitized version. regardless, it's a solid frame, lots of standardized parts so plenty of room to customize. and that reactor, Void above the things I could run off that...

there's still something wrong with the onboard computer system, which is shocking considering how simple it is. The problem is I can't tell what the issue is. error codes pop up that I can't find anywhere in any Genghis manual, but they don't seem to be impacting the performance? I went ahead and fired the thing up. It was weird, I've piloted Sherman's pretty much exclusively, I didn't expect it to feel so different through the subjectivity implants. Wasn't bad just, weird. I'm sure it's just getting used to a bigger frame...

I really need to get my hands on some SSC stuff. A top shelf flight system and some improved sync equipment would do wonders. Maybe a Vulture DMR. But that's long term. Tomorrow we'll take it out for a stress test and make sure that plasma thrower isn't gonna break on me.

Still need a name for the Mech itself, but we'll keep brainstorming on it till it's proper ready to go.