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howard sanchez
Sanchez Cartage llc
769
   |
Posted - 2013.09.23 16:21:00 -
[1] - Quote
It's funny that they pay me to do this now. When I was taken...scratch
that...when I 'volunteered' for Mordu's Private Trials it wasn't this
way.
I don't recall the details of my early life, the first one. But I
remember vividly all of the lives that followed. Thousands of them. It
blends together of course. Which is to be expected when individual lives
are begun and ended in minutes vice decades.
I am a clone. There are hundreds of me, as far as I know, sleeping in a
hibernative stasis and sustained by chemical and technological means
inside Clone Reanimation Units (CRUs) across this star cluster we call
New Eden.
When Mordu's representatives came to my military unit commander (over a
year ago but time loses meaning with distance) they informed her that my
record identified me as the kind of recruit they wanted for a high
priority program. I say that I volunteered because that is what I was
required to say. And off I went.
-áShuttle flights, star gate jumps and wormhole transitions later my
escorts and I arrived at an orbital laboratory complex with enough
security to give a fleet of strategic cruisers pause.
-áThings still remain blurry after that. By intention no doubt. There is
a lot of pain left in place of the memories. Ok with me. But what I know
now is that I had deep genetic scans, a great many nanotech injections
and one very significant surgical 'enhancement'. They opened my skull
and removed a large portion of the hippocampus that conjoins the
bilateral lobes of the brain. In its place an artificial implant was
embedded. This implant was not a novel invention of the scientists doing
the surgery. In fact, it was a replica of a very similar device that was
recovered from the brain of an alien life form.
-áI don't pretend to understand the technology by which my implant
communicates instantly and unerringly across light years with identical
devices inside the brains of my other sleeping selves. To be honest, the
people who put it there don't understand it either as became quite
apparent during early testing of new subjects. A lot of pain, death and
destruction was the price paid by many to reach the current 'stable'
version in my skull. The bottom line is that everything I experience in
this body is instantly transmitted to my other clones up to and
including the moments of my death. And when that moment arrives, as it
often does, the next clone in line wakes up, readily alert and cognizant
of all that has transpired.
-áAnd by this method do I retain a singular sense of 'self' and an
uninterrupted flow of consciousness from one clone to the next. Some
foolishly call this immortality as though it were an enviable state of
being.
-áWhen you have a soldier in your employ that remembers every lesson
learned, even the fatal ones, you can train an unbelievably effective
fighting force. And that is what Mordu did. We fought and died and lived
and learned a million times over. And when the great factions: Gallente,
Amaar, Caldari and Minmatar became aware of what we represented they
could not resist opening that bottle and letting us out. A military that
could be replenished via cloning technology but didn't need to be
retrained and could be employed across the cosmos with little political
fallout in civilian populations...we were the eternally sharpened sword.
Warfare was never more profitable.
-áThe implant and cloning technology spread amongst the four factions and
each grew forces for their own employ. Megacorporations with more isk
than air purchased the know-how and began growing their own clones as
well. Intense warfare was happening across the star cluster but in a
less public light than would otherwise occur if sons and daughters were
doing the fighting. This only improved our skill at the employment of
violence.
-áHuman history has tried to teach its lessons to humanity over the eons
but humanity rarely learns. Greed and lust for power tilted the scales
and what to some looked like 'an end to warfare as we know it' became a
new age of constant low level but incredibly violent conflict. Military
grade clone forces are becoming such a norm that an industry and market
for their employment has sprung up across thousands of star systems. I
drifted from corporation to corporation, my genetic code and clones
bought and sold along with the growing stockpile of weapons and
equipment assigned to me. Custom nanotechnology ensured that hundreds of
millions of isk worth of battle kit stayed tied closely to my clones.
-áIt was because of the rapid and chaotic spread of this technology and
its use that I found a means of escape from my perpetual warrior
enslavement. We were testing encrypted battlefield uplinks on a barren
planet in the Black Rise region. These deployable equipment modules used
quantum signatures and micro-stabilized wormhole tech to 'move' a clone
from one area of a battlefield to another. Our teams were able to test
such science and generate incredibly rapid improvements because loss of
life was a simple expense to be written off.
-áVery long story short, I reprogrammed an uplink, smuggled a blank clone
onto a shuttle bound for an orbital launch depot and paid a tidy sum to
several underpaid but well positioned security staff and when next I
'tested' my experimental uplink in combat an unfortunate accident woke
me up in a mobile clone bay on fast transit to a star gate.
-áAnd that is how Howard Sanchez escaped eternal servitude and started my
new lives as CEO of Sanchez Cartage Inc.
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howard sanchez
Sanchez Cartage llc
769
|
Posted - 2013.09.23 18:56:00 -
[2] - Quote
Sanchez Cartage - Putting Clones on Target
Clones have to eat. A surprise to some but a reality nonetheless.
And, in order to maintain a healthy diet, your average clone needs a
healthy income.
When I escaped the testing and training hamster wheel that was Mordu's
Legion, I was quickly introduced to the isk-centric facts of life in the
Black Rise region. If you want to purchase and maintain a battalion of
combat ready clones you need to have a business plan.
What follows is my excuse for a business plan. But it also represents my
initial entries of a personal journal. I have discovered that beginning
a new life every several minutes on the battlefield can lead to what the
doctors' call 'Flight of Ideas' and what business executives refer to as
'wasting isk without a clear plan'. Or something of that nature.
I started a corporation. I am the sole employee. Paint me
entrepreneurial. My intent is to specialize in getting mercenaries where
they need to be. And assisting them in doing what needs done once we get
there.
Lucky for me there are a lot of corporations out there paying good isk
for clones willing to stand between a goal and a hail of bullets. The
goal of Sanchez Cartage llc is to do this in a cost effective and
profitable manner.
That's why I've set the corporation's tax rate to 100%. My start up
funds are those I've acquired over time, learning the mercenary ropes
while keeping my clones alive and independent. I've worked for several
outfits while building this nest egg: Zion, DustUni, CI, the list goes
on. But now I want to try my hand at managing the bankroll on my own.
-áWill Sanchez Cartage someday take additional staff on board?
Maybe..maybe not. The nice thing about running a merc corp is you can do
it with a team wearing the same colors or you can do it as a one man
show as long as you keep communications moving with people who need your
skills. And I want to show a profit and have a plan before I expand
operations too much.
-áKeeping the books separate (expenses and income) is helpful right now.
I played a lot of poker in a previous life; showing a profit is what its
all about. And that starts with honest book keeping.
-áMy personal wallet is my expense account. My corporate wallet is my
income balance sheet. I started with about 157 million on the personal
side and I'm sitting at 140 million, plus or minus now. My corporate
account has grown in that time from zero to 22million plus isk.
-áFinding a balance in gear is the key. What suits can you run profitably
given your skills and how you employ them? DUST514's data tracking and
history leaves a lot to be desired. And its hard running internet
spreadsheets on a PS3.
-áThere are a lot of poker players who will tell you how profitable their
game is. There are not a lot of truly profitable poker players.
Convincing yourself of how great you are while the numbers tell a
different story is pretty common.
-áSo, keeping the books separate and making it my professional goal to be
a truly profitable mercenary is the point. I read somewhere in General
Discussions recently that some folks want to know what the point of DUST
is (not enough EVE/DUST interplay, buggy mechanics, no PVE, etc). Some
agree that there isn't enough 'sign posting' on CCP's part to guide
players in a given direction.
-áWhen directions are lacking it's those of us that forge out into the
sandbox and declare our own way, means and goals...these are what
separate the lost and lonely from the focused and driven.
-áAnd writing walls of text helps everyone survive in a sandbox filled
with lots of sand and a lack of shovels. |
howard sanchez
Sanchez Cartage llc
770
|
Posted - 2013.09.25 04:19:00 -
[3] - Quote
What is the significance and pertinence of WPDr (War Point:Death ratio)?
In a game like Dust where the measure of team contribution is War Points and the Cost of operating may be measured in Isk per Death...is WPDr a valuable stat to track?
Lifetime WP earned along with total Deaths are both listed on the Character Sheet. Mine is 142.
I wishes we had a way to track lifetime matches played. |
howard sanchez
Sanchez Cartage llc
770
|
Posted - 2013.09.25 20:08:00 -
[4] - Quote
My body is cloned. That is, my genetic code was embedded in a matrix of
undifferentiated cells and, through means both technologically complex
and economically prohibitive, my body was grown. No mother, no father,
no 'birth'. And thanks to the implant surgically placed between the
hemispheres of my brain, no 'death' either.
That is because, this body - the one with which I type these words - is
one of many cloned copies, all containing the implant...sustained by
nutrient fluid and bioelectrical stimulation while comfortably sleeping
without conscious thought inside Clone Vats, Reanimation Units, and
other storage facilities through the star cluster we call New Eden.
-áBut, as fascinating as clone engineering is and as remarkable the
sub-space quantum communication stream provided by the implant seems,
there is another miracle at work inside me that needs explaining. My
nanite swarm.
-áAll of my cloned bodies have millions upon millions of nanorobotic
denizens injected, manufactured and operating constantly within my
bloodstream and tissues. These microscopic machines perform a myriad of
tasks that augment my body's ability to survive the kind of 'life' I
lead.
-áAnd survival is a very difficult thing for me. My average lifespan, on
a per clone basis, is about 4 to 5 hours (and much less during the
frequent combat missions I perform in exchange for payment on planets
across great regions of space).
-áI refer to my nanites as a swarm because they have begun to exhibit
behavior reminiscent of life forms that cohabitate and thrive in a
hive-like manner. While each and every single nanite has its own mission
and reason for being, they achieve remarkable cohesion and efficiency
when working as a more unified force. Monitoring vital statistics,
repairing broken or traumatized tissue, accelerating adrenal and
muscular response on demand...and improving otherwise biologically
limited capabilities like visual or aural acuity. When acting together
as a swarm, my nanites make my clone a great deal tougher, faster and
resilient than this body would otherwise be.
-áThe more research and testing my team does here in the Hallanen system,
Black Rise region, the more we realize that the Implant is central to
the rapid evolution we are witnessing with Clone Nanite Swarms. The
earliest sets of nanotechnology used in cloned mercenaries looks nothing
like what we're seeing today. Initial injections were isolated in
purpose and function. A clone would get an infusion of nanites that
monitored vital signs for shock, stress, or trauma and transmit that
data to pickups in the merc's dropsuit for example. Or they might
receive an immediate injection of nanites to repair tissue after the
first set communicated the need to the dropsuit.
-áCurrent clones (the ones we are researching in any case) get a single
infusion of what we are calling 'Nanomatrix' material during early clone
growth. This base material seems to be taking direction and signals from
the embedded Implant and growing nanites of every ilk within the body.
Bone marrow has hemopoetic nanites, sensory organs contain light and
sound augmenting machines, muscle tissue is impregnated with
nanorobitics that enhance bloodflow, muscular force and response and
tissue recovery.
-áNone of these functions were designed by human scientists or engineers.
Modern clones are more of a technologically symbiotic ecosystem now than
a single organism. We continue to monitor how the Implant seems to be
influencing these changes.
-áExperiments with fully artificial life forms have continued to fail. It
seems that the combination of the Implant, the nanoswarm and the living
tissue of the clone create some kind of balancing and sustaining
environment needed for the three to interact. Even our most advanced
drone technology cannot replicate the complexity and flexibility that a
Cloned Implanted Nanited mercenary brings to bear.
Its Symbiosis. Its Evolution. It is #LifeofClone |
howard sanchez
Sanchez Cartage llc
773
|
Posted - 2013.09.26 06:18:00 -
[5] - Quote
Sanchez Cartage End of Day Operating Stats
Expense Acct ( personal wallet): end of day: 139.8Misk start of day: 139.9Misk 2days ago:141.5Misk
Income Acct (corp wallet): end of day:25.8Misk start of day:25.0Misk 2days ago:22.9Misk
SP total:21.5M KDr:.59 WPDr: 142.2
|
howard sanchez
Sanchez Cartage llc
774
|
Posted - 2013.09.27 12:53:00 -
[6] - Quote
Sanchez Cartage Operating Report
Expense Acct: 139.4Misk
Income Acct: 27.2Misk
SP:21.6M
KDr:.58
Deaths:6913
WPDr: 141.99
|
howard sanchez
Sanchez Cartage llc
774
|
Posted - 2013.09.28 15:50:00 -
[7] - Quote
Sanchez Cartage Operations Report
Expense Acct: 138.6Misk
Income Acct: 27.4Misk
SP: 21.7M
KDr:.58
WPDr:142.0
Deaths: 6947
|
howard sanchez
Sanchez Cartage llc
774
|
Posted - 2013.09.30 04:55:00 -
[8] - Quote
Sanchez Catage Operations Report
Expense Acct: 136.9Misk
Income Acct: 32.4Misk
SP:21.5M
Deaths: 7059
KDr:.58
WPDr:142.0 |
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