Yesterday saw me back on active duty, although it was suggested I do some light work after my recent.. ah.. problems.

I headed back over to Divide. There were some Bane bosses that I'd been asked to take care of a while back, but of course was always pressed for time. I took the time yesterday. I'd say the one that I had the most trouble with was an Ameboid Slime by the name of .. darn I can't remember it. I hate those slime.. seriously bad news. I got a tip as to where I might find him, and spent a while just slaughtering anything that came near. With my recent armor and weapon upgrades I was slicing through the Bane like a hot knife through butter!

Very cathartic spending time reducing the numbers of the enemy. Of course they weren't expecting someone with my experience to be in that area, so they didn't have anything to send that could possibly harm me. It was like shooting fish in a barrel! Pure enjoyment! My life has taken such a strange turn, that my idea of enjoyment is shooting and killing. Once upon a time this would have made my stomach turn. Not anymore.. this war has hardened us all so much.

After I was done and cleared from all my missions in the Divide, I went over to the Palisades. Made short work of what I had left there, and was cleared from all Wilderness mission areas! Quite an achievement.. even though I've been putting it off for months.

The next few hours were spent searching (in vain) for the Red Kraken in the Plains. I figure he'd found himself a pretty good hiding place, as I looked _everywhere_. I asked around and got some tips as to his possible location.. but nothing. Sort of upset that the first time I saw him I wasn't able to beat him. He and I went head to head, and I lost.. but that was a long time ago, and it's time for me to show him what's changed! ;)

It's been a crazy week! Starting the week taking the failed missions over at the Robotics Factory a little too much to heart, and then getting stuck in a damn trench for 3 days.

There were three of us in that trench, and only a few hours ago were we able to plan out the route to the nearest way point or drop ship.
Two of my comrades died waiting out the bombardment. One tried to make a run for it, but ran straight into a mortar. Another was crawling slowly across the ground when he crawled right onto a mine. It was heart wrenching to see them die, so close, but we couldn't help them. My nerves feel raw. We've been both horribly bored, and horribly frightened. It seemed to alternate between the two for three days.

I've been through medical, and been cleared to go back to duty once I've had two more days off. The shrink says we all have PTS, but that's pretty much par for the course now. Everyone shows some sort of symptoms. There is no place to go though. If you crack here, you die. There is nothing else we can do, nowhere else we can go. This is what it is to be alive. This constant struggle. Suicide rates are high, as you can expect. Morale is low.. people are talking about trying to find something called a "Hellgate". I'm hoping it's just crazy talk, because I'd be sad to lose my friends.

From time to time I get the need to be alone. I'm sure everyone does after all we've been through. Two days ago was that for me. All I wanted to do was catch up on some old missions alone, and kick some Bane butt!

Things started out well, as I made my way from Ortho Post in Incline over towards where I had seen the entrance to the Raksha Robotics Factory. I had a mission to get inside, and see what was going on there.

My plan was to head first through to where the security bots were, so I could relieve them of their security cards and shut down the production. Next was level 2. I had pretty much breezed through the start of the factory, methodically taking out each of the bot generators as I went, to make sure nothing could sneak up on me.

Down on level 2 things go hairy. First couple rooms were like the first level, then I saw a whole bunch of robots behind a force field. Thinking that I could take them down (all bunched up together in the entry way) quickly, and move into the room to destroy the generators. Not so! More and more kept coming! wave after wave, while my armor was getting lower and lower. I backed up the ramp towards level 1, and spent some time patching myself up. I wasn't sure why there had been so many behind that force field, but I suspected it was because the force field has stopped them from coming to me on level 1 as I was taking out the robots there. I really thought it would be easier the second time around. I was wrong. Those robots and fierce! They simultaneously strip my armor, while spraying me with some sort of corrosive green mist. In just a matter of moments my armor is almost gone, but I'm feeling weak and tired. I can barely stand as the room swims in front of my eyes and the robots move in for the kill. I knew I was not going to make it, so I stumbled as far as my legs would carry me, so the extraction units wouldn't have to endanger themselves because of me.

I can't believe I'd been foolish enough to think I could take the robots alone. We should never underestimate the Bane. They are strong.. and even though I've managed to get by fairly easily until now, this experience has made my wary again.

Be careful out there my friends.. and watch out for the damn robots!

I feel a lot better now I've had some time off. I had planned to meet with Krys a couple days ago, but she was unable to make it, so I spent the time cleaning my gear, making repairs, and catching up on some paperwork.

After checking through all my paperwork, I realised I'd neglected to finish some of my assigned missions from awhile back. I traveled back to the Palisades, and spent some time finding logo's I'd missed, and helped defend Base River Krimm. Just being back here has made me realise how far I've come in the last few months. I remember when I first came here, I was very intimidated by pretty much everything that attacked me. Now I can walk around with as many as 20 things trying to take me down, and my armor upgrades have been so extreme that I take almost zero damage. Now I've learned the concussion wave, I can help defend Krimm so much more easily.. taking down 20 or 30 enemies in just one move!

I keep meaning to take pictures to add to my records, but my camera has been on the blink. Hopefully get some up soon, so I can record better where I've been, and who I've seen.

I got word yesterday that some repairs had been made to my HUD. I had experienced some problems while completing missions in the Mires on Arieki. I had been forced to abandon some missions there, as I was endangering not only myself, but my entire unit, responding too slowly to attacks.
Back in the god forsaken Mires I completed some wildlife specimen gathering missions for the folks over in Fort Haroun. I had to draw the line at gathering samples from the Magmonix, as not only can these creatures be extremely difficult to kill, but I really don't feel that they are a threat. They move extremely slowly, and only try and hurt you if you injure them.
Instead I took a revenge mission. Great morals I have right? I've lost so many friends to the Bane, that I thought it high time I just kill some of them out of revenge. As it turns out a soldier over at Fort Condor had lost enough to make her go a little insane. She made a special request of me, and I sought to fulfill it by killing more than 30 Thrax. This seemed to placate her some, but she felt I should do more. On I went killing more and more Bane. I am ashamed to say I enjoyed it. So many of us have lost everything. I felt murder in my heart for the first time since shortly after seeing the Earth destroyed.
I feel weary, and after reporting back to the Plateau, I've been given short leave. I intend to spend the next day or so recovering. Still looking for Krys.. I hope to find her again soon.

Yesterday was a fairly quiet day for me, I managed to get caught up on some reports, and meet a lot of the new people I will work with here at Fort Defiance. I met a fellow soldier on my way out of the base heading down towards New Velon Village. He seemed lost, and wanted me to help him get back to Fort Defiance. I escorted him back, but something happened as we approached the entrance. He went mad! He started yelling, and shooting on me! To save the base, and my fellow soldiers who were standing nearby, I was forced to take him down.
My heart is heavy, as this is the first AFS soldier I've ever killed. Never have I even hit another soldier accidentally in combat (they call that "friendly fire" yeah.. really friendly!).
After a short investigation, it was found that he had been captured by the Bane, and they had implanted a chip in him. He didn't even know what he was doing.. he was just reprogrammed to be lost, and needing to get back, so his programming would take over, and he'd murder us in our own base.
The investigation also found that there were more like him.. planted all over the Plateau.. time bombs waiting to go off. I was tasked with finding all these men, and extracting their implants before they were activated.

Even though we lost one, I managed to save all the rest, and my mission was deemed a success.
I still can't get the guy's face out of my mind.. I wonder if I can find Krys to give me something to help me sleep tonight.

We were permitted a short break, since today has been mostly house cleaning around barracks and laundry, I thought I should finish my recount of yesterday.

Drac' met me on Arieki in the region known as the Torden Mires. I was having some trouble with my HUD.. interference of some kind must be caused by the overload of information. There is so much going on there, it's constant battle, really a very draining experience.
Drac' and I had planned to check out Plateau (Although he's of higher rank than me, and was having to slum it) when he told me about a even nicer place! Waterfalls, green hills, flowers, and a couple nasty thing.. but mostly lovely! I was sold! To the Pools we ventured.
After fending off a few stalkers (well Drac' did the fending.. I did the jogging) we made our way to the drop ship in Pools, where we simply took one back to Fort Defiance. We had heard that our fearless clan leader Fezi was wishing to join us, but had not been out to see the Plateau before. After a few drinks in the Tavern in Fort Defiance (where we heard about a murder! Imagine that! Must investigate that soon) we headed back across the Plateau. I was sorely tempted to try out my flamethrower, but realised that this battlefield was one I am not able to do alone, and really don't want to endanger my clan mates foolishly attacking things.

Retread Caves was crazy! I must have killed thousands (okay.. hundreds) of those Miasmas. For some reason I feel drawn to them, they seem almost benign.. well until they hit you with that shock. Ouch!! The three of us were able to spend some time there training. I honed my skills with the laser shotgun, and tried out the new Concussion Wave I'd learned about from my trainer.

Good Times! I love being back on Foreas, for me it's much nicer than Arieki, but I must go where I am needed.

Krys has been MIA for two days now, and I'm worried about her. She usually doesn't disappear like this. I have to assume her unit is doing a covert operation, I heard whispers about a special mission codenamed "Mass Effect". I just hope she makes it back in one piece, as I really want her to check out my new flamethrower! Of course my new posting as well, back to Foreas!

Yesterday was one of the most exciting days in recent memory. After much work, learning and perseverance I got a promotion! As with all promotions in the AFS, I also got a cloning credit, just in case I don't completely love my new job.

My new clone is named Evanie. I am hoping that she will enjoy pursuing the Guardian job. For myself, I chose Grenadier. At Fort Defiance I bought myself a new flamethrower, yes you heard right! My eagerness to try out my new weapon was tempered by the advice of my Clan to take it easy, as the ammo costs for my new weapon are rather high!

Speaking of my Clan, I really should talk about them some, they are the only family I have now. When I was posted in the Divide on Foreas, I heard about a guy recruiting for his Clan. As so many of us are orphaned and completely alone, the AFS encourages us to make new families, by joining private Clans. This is how I met Fezi, he's smart, handsome, and definitely has a way with the ladies. He assured me his clan wasn't planning to war other clans in the near future, which was a relief to me, I just can't understand why we'd kill each other! That's what the Bane want us to do! Divide and Conquer?!

The clan name really resonated with me as well, we're the "Renegades of Terra". It's great to have people that you can work with, drink with, chat with, and definitely rely on when you need someone to watch your 6.

Now I've gone and babbled, and didn't record any of my exciting foray into Retread Caves.. anyhow, more on that later! In the meantime, I took some pictures when I was out at Fort Defiance yesterday. (My old armor was pink.. well Fuscia.)

Any of you out there that have lost everything in the Bane, and feel you want to make a difference? Join up! We need as many able to fight as we can get!

With the amount of action I've been seeing in the last few weeks, I've started a journal, so I can document the daily trials we all go through in order to take down the Bane. If anyone finds these records, please understand that they are from my point of view, I'm no writer, just a soldier fighting with the AFS.

The last three days were perhaps the most action packed I've seen in this struggle so far. I was paired with a close friend, another receptive by the name of Krys.

Krys and I spent a great deal of time in the Kardash Atta Colony. Those Atta are some of the most frightening creatures I've seen since joining the AFS. A chill runs down my spin every time I think of those bugs. They look like a cross between an earth spider, and an earth ant. With one notable exception, they are massive. At least one and a half times my height. Even under sustained machine gun fire, or using our cryogenic shotguns (Atta have been found to have a weakness for the cold) they take a very long time to kill.

We worked hard and managed to complete all but one objective at the Atta Colony, and the thought of going back was giving me some awful nightmares. I had to get Krys to give me something to help me sleep (Krys has Specialist training, and can use the tools we have to repair our armor and heal us).

The first time we went to the Colony we couldn't find one of the Lightbender infiltrators. I felt we had failed, but Krys assured me that these Bane are hard to find, they use subterfuge to their advantage, and we had been horribly spooked by having to kill so many Atta.

I shudder just thinking about those bugs. I never want to go back, but I know that we must go into a Hive in the near future, over in Torden Incline. This planet seems cursed! I miss the gentle rolling green hills, flowers, and singing birds (or some sort of winged creature) that we saw back on Foreas. I look forward to shipping out to a new planet, I know I won't miss Arieki.

--Serendipity