Here are the next lore entries for my character!
Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #76
Data:
The sun was coming up and I was set to depart from Tanzanite View, the uncharted Haruspex settlement I stumbled upon yesterday. There was not much for me to do in general for surveying the land and documenting as Norma already did most of it while scouting, however, I did take some time to look at their strange stone structures which still fascinate me. Were they a power source? A beacon of some kind? Too many questions, not enough answers. However, I detected an immense amount of energy coming from the towers and channeling from the tree roots and branches to the bright orbs on the structures.
A single tower seemed to be equivalent to almost half the power generators powering the Biological Research Area. Interesting, I will take note of this and perhaps in the future we could adapt this magic into our settlement power grids.
The Haruspex Elder did not want to answer these questions, I think it senses my plans and what I’ll be doing with Haruspex magic. No matter, all my answers should be answered when I study at the Haruspex settlement in the northwest, the strongest source of strange energy readings.
I ended up staying for lunch as well before leaving and got to sit by a cliff looking down towards the grass plains below. The Haruspex are simple beings and don’t use any kind of mindforce implants and chips to do magic, they do, however, use some sauce to make salad taste really good. At about mid-day, I finally left and headed to my destination.
Nothing out of the ordinary was observed while hiking close to NEO territory, however, I think I made another grave mistake, as when I reached the shore of the NEO outpost designated “Flash Point” on my Nav, all I could hear was heavy artillery fire and drakes roaring as they flew by. Explosions and fire lit the sky and it was practically a war zone. This area of the planet is known for being the home of several kinds of drakes and the New Elysian Order was right under them… literally.
Every few seconds, you could hear either a drake blasting fire or a NEO turret firing. It surprised me that the NEO survived so long in such unfriendly lands but I expected nothing less for a group that took all our leading scientists and engineers as their own. I won’t be just sitting around waiting to get shelled or become drake food, so I will continue logging after I leave NEO territory.
Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #77
Data:
It has been a few days since my last entry and I am still not out of NEO territory yet. There have been drakes and NEO patrols roaming around and the geography of the area lacks any kind of proper spots to hide. I was not anticipating such a terribly planned out detour but seems now I have to continue through.
I finally found a very remote area on top of a mountain with no drakes in sight and far off from any NEO outposts. I’m going to try to use this time to get some proper rest, study the area, and get an entry in the journal to keep a record of my journey through these not-so-friendly lands.
After crawling through Flashpoint outpost and trying not to be drake food, I ended up continuing north where I walked through an ashy and volcanic area. I had some trouble breathing in this area and when I looked over some kind of ravine, I saw vulcan drakes roaming about. At this point, I just turned around and decided to leave, but before I could, a drake popped up behind me and tried roasting me alive. Just before it blew fire at me, I jumped out of the way and hid behind my strider, but fire is not as rigid as a bullet, and for the whole 30 seconds I was taking cover, I could feel a painful burning sensation on my right side. Atlas armor is not very good at insulation and protecting against sentient flamethrowers, but I still tried holding myself together and after the drake stopped breathing fire, I got up and shot it down with my hunting rifle.
After killing off the vulcan drake, I sat down and checked my injuries. Harsh burns on the right side of my face and arm, but nothing a fast aid pack can’t fix. The heat ended up melting my Atlas arm guards and part of my helmet to the point where I had to cut the armor pieces open to get it off. Luckily none of the parts melted onto my body, or else I’d have to get creative on how to remove them.
With myself patched up and orientated with the surroundings again, I continue north with the hopes of reaching a checkpoint where both northern continents have the smallest water gap dividing them.
In the distance I see a NEO base looking over the vulcan drake ravine and at this point, I am tempted to ask for help but no, I am going to continue this journey myself, I do not need their fancy technology being shoved in my face while morale is at an all-time low.
Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #78
Data:
The mountain passes through the most hostile territory I have ever been in were wide, calm, and quiet. This was both a great feeling but also a sense of fear grew in me as I felt another ambush could come at any moment or a drake could swoop down and carry me away.
My finder is not working properly and I need to stop to fix it or else I can’t survey for resources. Something keeps the NEO weapons powerful and I feel the durability comes from a certain resource in the ground, not just technological advancement. Without cover, the sun practically cooked me in the daytime so I did most of my activities at night. Even on the skyripper, which sped up my traveling quite a bit, it lacks the roof to protect me from the evil that is the sun.
If the NEO could figure out how to make gear that could cool people down, I wouldn’t mind trading some research data with them for it. Between drakes and the sun, the heat seems to be a main cause of death here, while the strange papoo factions are the main danger we need to watch out for in Loyalist territory.
My datapad is getting filled up with not just data entries but also photos and more photos of the amazing views that the mountains give. I move around the most at night when the air is cool and hide in the day to rest and cool down from the heat. My strider, after some diagnosis, I realized is not in good shape so I have been spending my off-time in the day to rest, eat, and slowly repair it. I’m not as good at these mechanical repairs as the technicians at Crystal Peak, but my main goal is just to get it back to running smoothly again.
I still need parts for my strider and I don’t want to rip apart my skyripper, or else I’ll have to continue the entire journey on foot. The strider will have to be low in priority, as I don’t see how I can raid a NEO outpost for parts without getting myself killed. I could, however, attempt to raid a Resa camp to scavenge parts from their scavenged vehicles. I am not sure what I will do but I will think of a solution eventually.
Name: Captain Hector Draken, EEF
Entry: #79
Data:
This morning, while looking at the sunrise, I finally saw the river checkpoint! I was finally able to get out of NEO territory and get away from these flying lizards. At least the NEO haven’t started building aircraft to harass me from the air like the Stel, it would be a nightmare if they did.
This path I took was great for avoiding sharks but what it doesn’t avoid is these savage chimera that roam the area. Not sure if it’s the ration packs or the minor inconvenience that I do not want that they smell. However, my arm still aches from the burn injuries and I can’t exactly shoot properly with one arm.
My pistol was indeed enough and was a great opportunity to loot some crystals in case I needed to trade with the locals of the area. The inhabitants of the land do not exactly see PEDs as important as resources, so it’s easier to buy and sell items with physical wares than with a universal currency.
Despite my strider being burned and melted by the drake, I still had a skyripper and it was much easier to use that than the strider to get across the bog area infested with daudaormurs. I am not certain of the origins of these on planetside but I have a theory that the Haruspex brought them into existence while creating Ancient Greece. There exist such creatures in Ancient Greece as well, under the control of The Gorgon herself, but these planetside ones seem to roam freely and without a leader.
One thing I learned today was that the bog was in Resa territory, something which perplexes me as I did not expect the Resa to be up this north. The Haruspex indeed are not very aggressive and take a more passive position on territory as long as they can exist and roam around freely. A new teleport was discovered when I arrived at the empty Resa camp. I also realized at that moment that the teleports had the faction’s emblems engraved on them and I have thought the Stel and Resa to be completely the same and their names interchangeable this whole time. I can see why I am not on the diplomacy team of the Loyalist faction, as my handling of the interactions at Morion Outpost and continuously referring to those Resa as Stel could have been very offensive. Do not assume just because I realized my mistake that I am warming up to the rival factions, I am not and will not fully trust them.
Most of the Resa camps I go to are empty, especially the more remote ones on mountains and such. Seems scavenging is more important for them than to secure their homes. To be honest, I can see why, out in the middle of nowhere, the risk of getting looted by raiders is so small since no one is near you, so it is mostly safe to leave your camp unguarded.