Sharn-Lugonn Shad'ey, born
on Lave on the 11th of August, 3183. He was raised on Planet Lave in a
feudal family of some standing. His childhood was very "normal", as you
could say in such environment. You know, Lave is a feudal planet and there
are still some customs in aristocratic families... So he received some
general education, then he was sent to the Lave University of Agricultural
Research. Now that was tough for him, and after a year and a half he could
not stand it anymore, he just left, said nothing. He took an interplanetary
shuttle and went to the Lave Station, where he applied as a crew member
for a new trading ship - a Puma Clipper. He was just one of the many crewmembers
who kept an eye on the maintenance bots, loading and unloading of the cargo
etc. Nothing interesting, but at that time, he found it more interesting
than studying at the university. Well, that was his education. Wealthy
families on Lave have also other odd traditions - like learning how to
fight with a rapier and a stiletto. Pretty useless in space combat - but
you never know...
The time on the Puma passed
quite quickly, but after a year he had some experience and wanted to have
a more convenient job - so he applied as a crewmember for a Python doing
passenger transport. That was comfortable for him, just walking around
the ship and ensuring everything goes OK. So he stayed on the Python for
two years. After all this, he had ample experience of space travel, and
he also learned the engineering/navigation when he was on the Python. At
Hource, he put an advert on the BBS, as an astrogator/engineer for a medium
ship. Luckily, after a couple of months, someone bought a new Constrictor
and could not find enough crew, so he was accepted. It was on his first
flight when he participated in space combat, which was quite more impressive
and nerve-wrecking as he had though before. It was just a beginning pirate
in an Eagle, but the the Contrictor was the pilot's first ship he had been
flying alone and Sharn-Lugonn was not experienced in that, neither. The
pilot was not bad, before that, he had been working on the weapons on another
ship, quite like Sharn-Lugonn was doing at this time. They had a few close
encounters with miss Death, but they were just lucky as usual and survived
that. Once it was with a hull breach in the pilot's cabin, wihtout air
and in EVA suits. Not to mention the 12 AUs they had to fly in that state.
But they both got better in space combat, they also got to know each other
better, but it was rather professional. They made a good deal of money
scooping up illegal goods from pirates and then selling them at places
like "Highest prices paid for items interesting or otherwise.". Those were
just small amounts, usually not found by the police - and when the contraband
was discovered, it was no great trouble, because in the frontier systems
the police are very corrupt (yes, they even accept 50C bribes!!), so a
few creds was usually enough to convince them about their innocence.
Sharn-Lugonn got the share
of 1/3 of net profit and after two and a half years he had enough to buy
his own small ship. He decided for an Adder - it was an old design, but
seemed to work good, so he took it. He bought the craft at Leesti, put
some basic equipment in it and started trading between Lave and Leesti.
This was quite profitable so when he made enough money, he bought a 5 MW
pulse laser, a shield generator and went to explore the Imperial space.
The bright type B blue star of Achenar looked very interesting... but after
entering Imperial space, he got that nasty 70000 Cr fine, (you know that
in FE2 it happened) just for nothing. That decreased his wealth from some
80000 to less than 10000; so he had to make more money somehow. There was
a good way how to make decent money in Imperial systems, but he never liked
trading slaves.
The other possibility was
to enlist to Imperial Navy - which he did, and began with courier missions.
Those did not pay too much, but it was definitely better than transporting
slaves. After some time doing these tedious tasks he was assigned on an
Imperial Trader to transport supplies to military bases. That was a good
work, and at that time, the Imperial Trader needed only the pilot to operate
it. (Now, as you know, it "needs" 6 crew members to run, probably because
of new safety regulations) This cargo transport was not that exciting,
but he liked the ship very much and was happy to fly such an impressive
ship. His Adder was parked at Achenar, in the meantime. He worked on the
ship for five years, and earned a rank of Lord. The military did not pay
very well, as usual, so after all that time, he had enough money to buy
a Cobra Mk3 with basic equipment. A 1MW front beam laser, 5MW rear pulse
laser, scanner, radar mapper, two NN500 and two {} missiles, autopilot,
atm. shielding, no shields. After all, he was not a bounty hunter, he was
a trader. He set off to explore Federal space, he wanted to see the oldest
inhabited systems, and the Earth, of course. The fine of 70000 Cr did not
surprise him this time, and he had enough money to pay it. After paying
the fine, he went to Ross 154, Sirocco Station; then Barnard's Star, Sol,
Sirius, Alpha Centauri, Tau Ceti.. and other interesting worlds. He never
visited worlds in the north, though. Successfully arriving at Eden Station
in Alpha Centauri, he was exhausted from the extremely long flight through
the system, and felt the need to visit his home for the first time.
After buying fuel, he set
off to south-western parts of inhabited space and after a couple of months,
he arrived at Lave Station. He wasn't quite sure about how his family would
welcome him, but they were happy to see him alive and making enough money
to keep him alive. He spent there three months, just enjoying the fresh
air, organic food and all the luxuries of planetbound lifestyle. But the
space was calling, so he left for Lave Station in an interplanetary shuttle.
Before jumping out of the system, he decided to have an aerial look at
Planet Lave, so he took his Cobra Mk3 on a sightseeing flight above the
planet's surface.
After this visit back home,
he returned to Imperial space and transported Imperial officials and commissioned
officers who needed fast transport in his ship, filling the cargo space
with luxury goods in rich systems and selling at his destinations, thus
boosting the revenue. This system was quite profitable, so he earned enough
money to buy a Transporter. With this ship, he was assigned to transport
supplies to Imperial research stations. In the year 3221, he decided to
participate in an experiment carried out by the Imperial scientists: an
attempt to stop human ageing. He did not quite realise how dangerous that
was; it included reconstructing DNA in every cell of the body (removing
the ageing parts of genetical information and replacing them with neutral
parts), which meant terrible consequencies if anything went wrong. From
alien tissue rejection - at least; to uncontrolled mutation and even partial
molecular disintegration at worst. The Empire has excellent bio-genetical
engineering, but it is for a price. His co-pilot, a 45 year-old Knight
wanted to try it, too. The experiment was a success, but only partially:
Sharn-Lugonn's DNA was reconstructed and worked normally (so don't be surprised
by the fact that he is over 110 years old and looks like he was 38), but
his co-pilot was not that lucky. According to the scientist, his DNA was
not compatible with the formula they were using, causing more parts to
be replaced with the neutral information, thus causing malfunction in various
tissues, leading to death. After Sharn-Lugonn discovered these Imperial
"methods of research", he was shocked and disappointed, he sold the Transporter
and bought a Lion Transport, recruited two new crew members and set off
for Wolf 630, to the beautiful planet of Landfall.
He needed a holiday.. so he
took a month off. When he got over it, he started transporting goods between
Wolf 630 and 39 Ophiuchi. A profitable route, and soon he was able to buy
the Anaconda and it wasn't long until he bought the Panther Clipper. He
decided he had enough money and he should rather install more weaponry
into the Clipper, having less cargo space. He installed the LPA in the
Clipper, 20MW beam lasers in the turrets and a 30 MW mining laser in the
rear mounting. That was a considerable battleship, but he continued his
trading business, only now in more dangerous systems - it was the first
time he visited Riedquat. It was quite difficult for him to have command
of a ship with 11 more crew members.. but after those years in the Lion
and Anaconda, he got used to it. In the year 3229, there was a large movement
in the northern systems, mainly Alioth, against the never-ending conflinct
between the Empire and Federation in that system. He was fed up with those
"people-loving" superpowers, so he decided to step in, and headed toward
Alioth.
He joined the main initiators
and leaders of rebels, and helped them in the following small scuffle with
his weapon-loaded Panther Clipper. The ship got badly damaged during the
fight. Repairs would cost more than a new ship, so Sharn-Lugonn decided
to put it in orbit around {} as a memorial to the struggle of the people
of Alioth for their struggle for their rights and peace. That were exhausting
times, so he decided to take a long break, bought a new Merlin Attack Fighter
and wandered around the galaxy. Each few years, he bought a new ship, therefore
having flown every ship from Merlin to Harris thoroughly. When the AJN
came into existence, he was awarded the high rank of Vice Admiral for his
support and help during the first years of the Alliance of Independent
Systems.
And now the topping on a cake:
He had no entry in his criminal record up to the year 3252! That's 47 years
of flying in his own ship, without having to pay the fines and visit the
prison cells! (except the odd 70000 Cr fines..)
Now, he is doing exploration
missions for the Alliance from time to time in a Quest-class ship, or in
the Thargoid Warship. He is also one of the few representatives with Thargoids.
After discussing the matter with several Alliance researchers, scientists
and politicians, it seems like a good idea to establish a system inhabited
both by humans and the Thargoids. The matter is very sensitive, so extreme
caution is necessary. Each applicant for colonisation will undergo a psycho-test,
which should reveal any signs of xenofobia or unjustified aggresiveness.
Some people already know the exact location of this future base, but the
official announcement has yet to be made. The project is supported by Alliance
government and Sharn-Lugonn himself has devoted considerable amount of
money to the project, as well as his Thargoid ship which will be needed
for transport of colonists to the destination.
This ship will be protected
by two Quest-class ships, each of them carrying an AJN Hawk airfighter
on the bottom of main fuselage in case of attack by multiple fast ships.
The Thargoids have agreed to supply Sharn-Lugonn's Warship with three Thargons
(UN-11), each of them standardly equipped with Thargoid laser and 5 shield
generators, along with a new Thargoid ECM design, capable of destroying
even NN500 missiles. Pilots are needed to stay at a minimal distance of
25 km from the colonisation ships, failure to comply after a warning will
lead to destruction of the unfortunate vessel. Reporters are granted no
exception; journals should note that they will get reports and other materials,
so please do not attempt to interfere with the mission. The colonisation
ships will travel through Alliance space exclusively, before entering uninhabited
space. A brief stop will be made at Polaris, where the Thargons will be
unloaded, ships refuelled and crew allowed some time to rest. The Quest
ships will be sent back to Alioth, and replaced by a small fleet of Thargoid
colonisation ships consisting of two UN-32, two UN-31, four UN-3F and three
UN-33 - each of the UN-33s carrying two Thargons. This fleet will continue
to the destination, after reaching inner planets of the target system they
will split into two parts - humans and thargoids, each part continuing
to its planet, where the first settlement on each of the two planets will
be founded.
That is as much as I can say about the project at this time; the destination system will be announced shortly, along with a plan of colonisation and a system map which will show all planned facilities. I hope this project will be a success; there are still some possible problem areas, but the majority of them should be solved by the cautious selection of colonists. You can send constructive comments and suggestions to me, you can also make a donation at your local AJN office or through AliothNet Alliance network. Thank you for your support. Please do not be pesimistic, not everyone distrusts Thargoids, especially young people are adventurous and wanting to explore new ways of life..