[Scratch Build] Caseless COMPLETED!!

[Sgt.Reynolds]

++++INCOMING TRANSMISSION++++

...ere? Repeat, is th..............llo?...................This is Sgt. Reynolds! Please resp........

++++TRANSMISSION ENDS++++

[Sgt.Reynolds]

Had to scavenge today.

Found an old colonial settlement and raided it once the suns set. Always tricky moving around after dark, thanks to the Night-eyes.

Tricky after dark, hot and dangerous during the day - got to love this place really. Little spot of paradise, way out in the Clusters. Not the best holiday destination. The plasma lakes are crap, for starters. Could get a nice tan if you stay out too long without your gear on, though.

Anyway, found an old desktop PC in an office fab. Monitor was shot and the case was a bust so I stripped the internals. Laid 'em out on the rubble so I could see what was what:

[Sgt.Reynolds]

Carried on rooting around this evening. Decided with the heat on this place, going to need some of those Cooler Master fans if I'm going to be able to knock up a comms unit and keep it running chilled. Head on a swivel.

Found a place that didn't look too badly wrecked. Found a lot of bodies as well. Didn't like what I saw. Looked like the evac order had been given but a few sad-hats had decided to take their chances. Kind of like playing cards with Heller - wing and a prayer would be wishful thinking, but in this place, it seems your arms are broken and God is busy. Odds very much in the house's favour. Not a feather in sight.

Managed to get the mem-sticks and the display module hooked up - all looks right and fits well. Cleared the dust off the bits as best I can and put a sheet down. Let's hope once I get some power into this thing it doesn't go to bed during the first dance. Think that warranty sticker might be invalid though...

[Sgt.Reynolds]

Came up trumps today. Managed to find a hab unit that hadn't been raided. End corridor, so maybe they bailed before the fighting got fierce and everyone forgot about it, didn't bother to kick the door in and see what kitchen appliances they could trash out of anger. Been to four 'zones and that's the thing that gets me every time - with the shells falling and the cartridges making perforations LR&C, people invariably try their hardest to steal from each other. Things they can't even carry.

This time it worked in my favour though - managed to take the pump unit from the fridge and rig it up to cool the CPU I grabbed the other day (yesterday? Time escapes me) and I used the desk in the study to hook the parts up for testing. Couldn't scrag the screen though - studded to the wall.

Looks like the dude was ex-COG. Weird coincidence.

[Sgt.Reynolds]

<<<>>>

++To: ALL Forces of PROJECT Blackwing++

The Falcon flies high, but sees nothing.

If the wheat-mouse scurries, she will be seen.

>>>>MESSAGE ENDS<<<<

[Sgt.Reynolds]

GOD ON A BIKE. They came, or at least I thought they had.

Was trying to piece the parts together and heard footsteps. If I'd been more switched on, I would have realised they weren't as heavy as they should have been. Lesson learnt - pay attention, stay awake, be what they pay you to be.

Ha! Pay. What do you spend it on? Hope they got bars where I'm headed - and I don't mean the toilet. How can my tract be this bad when I haven't eaten for over a day? The point is, the shock made me drop the tools I was using right into the socket for the CPU before I had it seated. Bent one of the pins. Whoops indeed. Have just spent the last two hours trying to straighten the damn thing out. Going to send these screenies up in case anyone is on this channel. Handheld comms is going to die soon, so need to get this box up and running. Not to mention the range limitations.

If anyone is receiving these reports, please advise.

[Sgt.Reynolds]

I can see lights in the far distance.

Going to have to move.

[Sgt.Reynolds]

Gathered up the parts this morning, wrapped them in plastic sheet and bolted.

It's so cold here - one of those 3-day storms they warned us to think early about...

[Sgt.Reynolds]

Am I the only one left? Need to get this comms unit online and find out. And keep moving.

I think North was towards the clearing I could see from the outcrop yesterday, but back down on the floor underneath the canopy of the trees, with the droplets spattering down and the dragonflies buzzing around, the shafts of suns-light coming hard through the breaks in the green shield, THEN it's hard to know where North is.

It's hard to know where anything is, with this noise. Seems like all the indigenous life has camped out in this acre of jungle. Did a quick stocktake when I paused and tried to fill my bottles with the water running off the leaves.

[Sgt.Reynolds]

Left the cover of the jungle this morning whilst it was still dark. Took a chance, but it paid off. Reached an old industrial complex - mostly untouched, probably due to its distance from the front. Evacuated nonetheless.

Managed to get to a workshop and started hooking the kit up once the suns began to lift above the treeline and spread some light around. Found some tools as well, so decided to make the most of this opportunity. It might be more dangerous to camp out here for a bit as they advance through this sector, but I doubt I'll get another chance like this. Once this gear is set, I'm going to establish some form of basic perimeter.

Got the cooler from the fridge hooked up to cool the CPU, but not sure how long this power pack is going to last.