I ended up taking more time off. With six billion in the bank, one finds it hard to have the motivation to make pennies in comparison. Granted I know that this amount is considered pennies to other, more wealthy Capsuleers, yet I was feeling like a great financial burden was lifted and found myself with a feeling of semi retirement. I had a care free life for several months, living with Amalea in a lavish condo in the Kusomonmon station where Osiph had set up shop, going out drinking nearly every night, coming home to hours of intimacy with Amalea. It was relaxing to say the least, not having to worry about making money or budgeting for ships or Plex or anything of the sort.
Still, the event with Chadrick nagged at me in the back of my mind. I could never truly relax, knowing he was out there somewhere, probably in danger, and I was sitting on my ass enjoying myself on his money. It was unsettling to say the least.
I knew Amalea could tell something was bothering me and kept silent about it all this time, knowing it would upset me and not wanting to disturb the bliss of peace and companionship they now shared. Still it took all this time for her to realize that talking about it had to be done for them to truely have peace.
"Sain?" She asked one night as we lay in bed, the only thing we had on was a white, silk sheet. We were watching local programming on the monitor on the wall as I sipped a Quafe on the bed stand.
"Yeah?" I reply, stifling a small burp as I replaced the can. I loved how she pretended not to notice the little things I did that were less than polite.
"I know you're still upset about Chad. I think we should look for him." she said, looking up at me from her resting place, cuddling into my chest.
"It will be dangerous. I still don't remember what happened in that wormhole." I said with a comfortable sigh, "I'd rather stay right here with you." I heard a sigh from her as well, one of frustration, but I was distracted by my Neocom. I picked it up to see a mail from Rekindle. He was also taking a break and with the recent neutral activity in our home systems in Null Sec, he had decided to close the corporation.
My heart sank and I realized that I would have to part ways with the people I have been flying with for the past while, yet the thought of new prospects restored the twinkle in my eye.
"Your corp is closing?" Amalea asked, reading the message as well, "What are you going to do? Want to go back at it and find another Null Sec corp?"
I had to admit, mostly to myself, that the reason I was shying away from undocking was because I felt restricted in Null Sec to go out and do my own thing because of threats in the area. Granted High Sec still had threats, just less of them because of the presence of CONCORD. I put my head back on the headboard for a moment, closing my eyes and thinking hard. I had once wanted to blow all the money I now have on a Rorqual, yet I cant use it in High Sec and didn't want to risk it in hostile space. I could use the money to do a decent start up in High Sec and start mining again, something I really did miss.
Plus, getting back into space might present opportunities to follow up with Chadrick. It was a step forward. Plus, by the expectant look Amalea was giving me, she wanted to get out there too.
"Let's get out there again, eh? Let me look for a High Sec Mining corp or something to get back into it!"
"Sure!" She chirped, and hugged into me. My Neocom beeped again and I read a new message from CONCORD saying my pilot's license has been paid for another month allowing an Omega Clone to be used. I half expected another to come in for Amalea, but none came.
"Who is paying for this?" I mutter, "And why only me?"
"That's alright, you use your Exhumers, I'll be there to haul or mine in a Venture or something as an Alpha. It will be fine!"
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Reading through several recruitment threads on Concord's corp recruitment forum, I decided to apply for an aptly named "A High-Sec Mining Corp". I started selling my stuff in Null sec and shipping what I wanted back to me in Jita, then fitted another Orca named "The Reclaimer", packed it with a couple of Exhumers and gear, and headed out to the area my new Corporation operated in, dangerously close to the low sec pipe to our old home in Querious. It was somewhat familiar space, yet I have to get used to new rules and new corp mates.
A new Adventure...
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Connections: Recovery
I felt oddly at peace, the thoughts of what had happened were distant. I felt weightless, warm, and comfortable, in an almost prenatal state. It really calmed my nerves which felt like they were buzzing with panic for some reason. I couldn't remember why.
I started to become aware of my surroundings; the heat of the liquid I was floating in, the drone of the machinery close by, and suddenly, the sharp tapping of something sharp on glass. My eyes shot open and I saw a distorted image of Amalea's face behind glass, her nail resting on it's surface.
Once the liquid had drained away and my dignity restored, I sat up in the alcove I had been sitting in and she tossed me a towel.
"What the hell happened? This is your medical clone, you know. I know you didn't just jump from somewhere!" she asked, helping me up. I looked around confused. I was sure my Medical clone was in our outpost in Null Sec. Why was I in Kusomonmon, in High Sec?
"I'm not sure..." I muttered, and paused for a moment, "I can't remember." A nervous, and rather venomous glare from Amalea to the technician at the controls had him jump and furiously type on his controls as he did a scan to see what happened.
"It all looks green, sir. No abnormalities." he said, "You really don't remember how you were podded?"
"No." I replied. I closed my eyes and tried to think. The last thing I remembered was buying a ship and going into a wormhole after Chadrick. I didn't remember coming out the other side.
"I bought a Buzzard and went into a wormhole." I said, uncertainly, "I don't remember coming out the other side."
"Hmm." the technician muttered, leaning back in his chair, "I understand that pods anywhere in New Eden are within range of the fluid router network for transfer of the pilots consciousness back to a waiting clone, even if death should happen in a wormhole. I'm also under the understanding that the process can't be tampered with. Maybe the presence of interference had corrupted the transfer?" He tapped a few buttons, "Everything we received from the fluid router network was integrated into the new clone. No errors on that end. Might be something from where it was sent from. A pod glitch?"
"Sure..." Amalea said sarcastically, with narrowed, suspicious eyes.
"I think you're being a little overprotective. The man is just doing his job." I reassured her. "I'm sure it will come back to me." There was an obvious look of worry in her eyes but she sighed and let me out of the room to get dressed.
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"What a waste of a perfectly good ship." Osiph said with a sigh as she took a sip of her drink. We had opted to check out the night life on board the station and were sampling the atmosphere of a rather high priced club, with several armed escort standing at the exits, all arranged by Osiph who seemed to be ignoring them. It was almost like old times, yet I was clearly not in the mood. It could have been that I just died, but the loss of memory had me just thrown for a loop. It was bugging me greatly that I missed that time. It was like a bad hangover that I couldn't shake.
"Still rattled from that last podding, Sain?" Osiph asked, concerned for my lack of witty comeback for her earlier statement to infer her lack of caring for my well being. I just wasn't mentally present tonight. My mind was wandering.
"What?" I asked, I wasn't paying attention.
"You alright?" Amalea asked this time, concerned. She gave my arm a squeeze to get my attention and I stopped staring blankly into my drink to actually take a sip and give them a reassuring smile.
"Yeah, just worried."
"About what happened?" Osiph asked, "It could have been worse. Could have been Mindlock or something."
"I'm not worried about that." I said, "About Chad. I can't remember what happened in that wormhole."
"It was probably some wormhole corp who caught both of you in their turf and podded you back home, or Chad probably saw you, got mad and shot you himself." Osiph said, waving a hand.
"He was in a pod..." I muttered, again, staring into my drink.
"Well the former then." She retorted, putting her drink down, "I'm sure he will turn up again somewhere. Let him be. He clearly didn't want you poking your nose in his business."
"I suppose." I said with a sigh, then downed my drink, lifting my finger to the waitress for another, "I'm just worried now about this memory loss. It's not very common for issues like this to happen in cloning procedures." The waitress left another drink in my hand, winked and meandered away, dragging Amaleas scornful stare as she left. I took a sip and my Neocom beeped in my pocket, before I swallowed I glanced at it and nearly choked on the alcohol, the liquid dribbled down my chin.
Chadrick Belefonte just transferred over six billion ISK into my account. The most amount of ISK I have seen since becoming a Capsuleer. Granted my total assets might be around that amount, but I've never seen my wallet contain that much. I felt an odd elation that was jaded by concern. I knew exactly where that money came from, and I felt bad to have it. It took me a few moments to realize that both women had jumped up to look over my shoulder at my Neocom, both had shocked expressions and neither said a word.
"Um, drinks are on me?"
I started to become aware of my surroundings; the heat of the liquid I was floating in, the drone of the machinery close by, and suddenly, the sharp tapping of something sharp on glass. My eyes shot open and I saw a distorted image of Amalea's face behind glass, her nail resting on it's surface.
Once the liquid had drained away and my dignity restored, I sat up in the alcove I had been sitting in and she tossed me a towel.
"What the hell happened? This is your medical clone, you know. I know you didn't just jump from somewhere!" she asked, helping me up. I looked around confused. I was sure my Medical clone was in our outpost in Null Sec. Why was I in Kusomonmon, in High Sec?
"I'm not sure..." I muttered, and paused for a moment, "I can't remember." A nervous, and rather venomous glare from Amalea to the technician at the controls had him jump and furiously type on his controls as he did a scan to see what happened.
"It all looks green, sir. No abnormalities." he said, "You really don't remember how you were podded?"
"No." I replied. I closed my eyes and tried to think. The last thing I remembered was buying a ship and going into a wormhole after Chadrick. I didn't remember coming out the other side.
"I bought a Buzzard and went into a wormhole." I said, uncertainly, "I don't remember coming out the other side."
"Hmm." the technician muttered, leaning back in his chair, "I understand that pods anywhere in New Eden are within range of the fluid router network for transfer of the pilots consciousness back to a waiting clone, even if death should happen in a wormhole. I'm also under the understanding that the process can't be tampered with. Maybe the presence of interference had corrupted the transfer?" He tapped a few buttons, "Everything we received from the fluid router network was integrated into the new clone. No errors on that end. Might be something from where it was sent from. A pod glitch?"
"Sure..." Amalea said sarcastically, with narrowed, suspicious eyes.
"I think you're being a little overprotective. The man is just doing his job." I reassured her. "I'm sure it will come back to me." There was an obvious look of worry in her eyes but she sighed and let me out of the room to get dressed.
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"What a waste of a perfectly good ship." Osiph said with a sigh as she took a sip of her drink. We had opted to check out the night life on board the station and were sampling the atmosphere of a rather high priced club, with several armed escort standing at the exits, all arranged by Osiph who seemed to be ignoring them. It was almost like old times, yet I was clearly not in the mood. It could have been that I just died, but the loss of memory had me just thrown for a loop. It was bugging me greatly that I missed that time. It was like a bad hangover that I couldn't shake.
"Still rattled from that last podding, Sain?" Osiph asked, concerned for my lack of witty comeback for her earlier statement to infer her lack of caring for my well being. I just wasn't mentally present tonight. My mind was wandering.
"What?" I asked, I wasn't paying attention.
"You alright?" Amalea asked this time, concerned. She gave my arm a squeeze to get my attention and I stopped staring blankly into my drink to actually take a sip and give them a reassuring smile.
"Yeah, just worried."
"About what happened?" Osiph asked, "It could have been worse. Could have been Mindlock or something."
"I'm not worried about that." I said, "About Chad. I can't remember what happened in that wormhole."
"It was probably some wormhole corp who caught both of you in their turf and podded you back home, or Chad probably saw you, got mad and shot you himself." Osiph said, waving a hand.
"He was in a pod..." I muttered, again, staring into my drink.
"Well the former then." She retorted, putting her drink down, "I'm sure he will turn up again somewhere. Let him be. He clearly didn't want you poking your nose in his business."
"I suppose." I said with a sigh, then downed my drink, lifting my finger to the waitress for another, "I'm just worried now about this memory loss. It's not very common for issues like this to happen in cloning procedures." The waitress left another drink in my hand, winked and meandered away, dragging Amaleas scornful stare as she left. I took a sip and my Neocom beeped in my pocket, before I swallowed I glanced at it and nearly choked on the alcohol, the liquid dribbled down my chin.
Chadrick Belefonte just transferred over six billion ISK into my account. The most amount of ISK I have seen since becoming a Capsuleer. Granted my total assets might be around that amount, but I've never seen my wallet contain that much. I felt an odd elation that was jaded by concern. I knew exactly where that money came from, and I felt bad to have it. It took me a few moments to realize that both women had jumped up to look over my shoulder at my Neocom, both had shocked expressions and neither said a word.
"Um, drinks are on me?"
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Connections: Taking the Plunge
I returned to Null sec, the encounter with my friend weighing heavily on my mind. I chose to lounge in the outpost bar and update my log on the latest events, if anything but to sort out my thoughts and get them down. Donta milled around behind the counter and poured drinks, yet his attention was often diverted in my direction, or towards the holoscreen above the end of the bar, showing random corp adverts and the odd bounty here and there. I had finished logging my post in my records and spent a few minutes perusing the local market, looking for an opportunity when I sensed a foreboding presence looming over me from behind. I slowly turned to look over my shoulder, seeing Koswin standing there, holding a terminal with a seemingly demanding pose.
"More." she simply said, pointing to the Terminal.
"Excuse me?"
"Write more! You can't leave your logs off like that! What's with the cliffhanger?"
"Cliff....? What the hell do you mean?" I ask confused.
"This story about your friend from the wormhole. It's really good." she said sitting down, "How does it end?"
"Story?" I asked perplexed, "This isn't fiction! It happened!"
"So you didn't just make it up?" she asked, somewhat disappointed.
"No. And why are you reading my logs so quickly after I write them?" I asked, raising a brow.
"The whole corp reads them, but never mind that. So what do you think is going on?" She asked, "You think he's a spy? Possessed by a spirit? Having a mental breakdown?"
"Seriously?" I ask, a little taken back, "I don't know. I want to find out, but not if I'm going to get shot!"
"Aren't those pistols outlawed on stations?" Koswin asked.
"Yeah, but this was a Capsuleer owned Citadel." I said, "Plus, I'm not going to be the one to rat him out. Maybe I should just respect his wishes and leave him alone, but it didn't seem like it was him at all. He was completely different."
"You should go back and dig around a bit." She said, "And write it all in your logs. Write about everything!"
"Dammit, Woman! I am not your literary slave!" I retorted with a sneer. She laughed at me as she stood up to walk away.
"You're not?" She jokingly replied.
"Look, just put your whip away and I'll write when I have something, alright?" I heard her laugh as she left the bar and my attention drifted over to Donta who was still cleaning glasses with a wide smile on his face. I sighed heavily and stood to head to the medical bay.
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I woke this time in Jita, in an old Jump clone I had there just for checking the market and set to work buying and fitting a Buzzard for some recon and spying. I undocked and headed back to the Citadel that Chadrick was docked in, then after confirming he was still on the guest list, remained just above the undock lane while cloaked and kept an eye out for him if he ever wanted to leave.
I had fallen asleep several times in my pod before something happened. It was much later in the day when my watchlist flashed and I saw Chadrick's pod undock, then quickly warp away. Following the small craft, I kept my distance and tracked it many jumps away, towards a dead end system, then found it odd when he warped off in a random direction, not even close to any celestial or gates.
Curious, I still saw his pod on my D-Scan, yet had no idea where he went. I chose to uncloak for a brief moment, launch scanning probes and cloak again, then set to work trying to find what it was he warped to.
A few moments later, I found a wormhole.
I warped to the hole and saw the tiny pod sitting at the event horizon, there was a moment of hesitation, then it splashed through. The wormhole entrance shimmered for a moment and sensors indicated it was near the end of life. With a rush of adrenaline, I recalled my probes, rushed the wormhole and splashed through.
The ride was rough, I was tossed all around and the ride made me feel sick to my stomach. A moment later I was thrown out the other side and the wormhole vanished behind me, making my heart jump to my throat. I instantly re-cloaked and took a moment to orient myself, scanning the system I was in and trying to get my bearings. I took a while to study the results and it finally hit me. There was something missing in my scans.
This system had no moons.
A Shattered Wormhole? Why the hell would Chadrick come in here knowing he can't get back with just a pod? Was he planning to see something and self destruct to get back to Highsec? Confused, I saw the tiny pod finally drop the temporary cloak the wormhole had left on his vessel and he sped off towards a planet in the system. I was sure he had saw me when I switched to my own cloak and was trying to run away, so I instinctively gave chase.
Exiting warp, I ended up near the planet, its debris field nearly de-cloaking me, yet I saw no pod here. He should have clearly beaten to the planet, but he wasn't here. Initiating another D-Scan, I see his pod had come out of warp much sooner in between the planet and where the wormhole used to be, so I chanced dropping the cloak once more to deploy probes again.
There was indeed a site in that area, no doubt full of sleepers. I warped to it at twenty kilometers under cloak to see what was going on, and when I landed, my mind was nearly overwhelmed with sensor data from both the overview and the camera drone.
Dozens of sleeper drones buzzed around the structure. So many that I lost contact with Chadrick's pod as I frantically tried to filter out the overview list. In my panic, I neglected to notice that one had come a little too close and shorted out my cloak, and I appeared before an angry swarm which quickly took notice and instantly locked onto my small frigate. I had only enough time to finally notice Chadrick's pod sitting dangerously close to the center of the structure, but yet still intact before alarms started going off and I saw a bright light, then nothing...
"More." she simply said, pointing to the Terminal.
"Excuse me?"
"Write more! You can't leave your logs off like that! What's with the cliffhanger?"
"Cliff....? What the hell do you mean?" I ask confused.
"This story about your friend from the wormhole. It's really good." she said sitting down, "How does it end?"
"Story?" I asked perplexed, "This isn't fiction! It happened!"
"So you didn't just make it up?" she asked, somewhat disappointed.
"No. And why are you reading my logs so quickly after I write them?" I asked, raising a brow.
"The whole corp reads them, but never mind that. So what do you think is going on?" She asked, "You think he's a spy? Possessed by a spirit? Having a mental breakdown?"
"Seriously?" I ask, a little taken back, "I don't know. I want to find out, but not if I'm going to get shot!"
"Aren't those pistols outlawed on stations?" Koswin asked.
"Yeah, but this was a Capsuleer owned Citadel." I said, "Plus, I'm not going to be the one to rat him out. Maybe I should just respect his wishes and leave him alone, but it didn't seem like it was him at all. He was completely different."
"You should go back and dig around a bit." She said, "And write it all in your logs. Write about everything!"
"Dammit, Woman! I am not your literary slave!" I retorted with a sneer. She laughed at me as she stood up to walk away.
"You're not?" She jokingly replied.
"Look, just put your whip away and I'll write when I have something, alright?" I heard her laugh as she left the bar and my attention drifted over to Donta who was still cleaning glasses with a wide smile on his face. I sighed heavily and stood to head to the medical bay.
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I woke this time in Jita, in an old Jump clone I had there just for checking the market and set to work buying and fitting a Buzzard for some recon and spying. I undocked and headed back to the Citadel that Chadrick was docked in, then after confirming he was still on the guest list, remained just above the undock lane while cloaked and kept an eye out for him if he ever wanted to leave.
I had fallen asleep several times in my pod before something happened. It was much later in the day when my watchlist flashed and I saw Chadrick's pod undock, then quickly warp away. Following the small craft, I kept my distance and tracked it many jumps away, towards a dead end system, then found it odd when he warped off in a random direction, not even close to any celestial or gates.
Curious, I still saw his pod on my D-Scan, yet had no idea where he went. I chose to uncloak for a brief moment, launch scanning probes and cloak again, then set to work trying to find what it was he warped to.
A few moments later, I found a wormhole.
I warped to the hole and saw the tiny pod sitting at the event horizon, there was a moment of hesitation, then it splashed through. The wormhole entrance shimmered for a moment and sensors indicated it was near the end of life. With a rush of adrenaline, I recalled my probes, rushed the wormhole and splashed through.
The ride was rough, I was tossed all around and the ride made me feel sick to my stomach. A moment later I was thrown out the other side and the wormhole vanished behind me, making my heart jump to my throat. I instantly re-cloaked and took a moment to orient myself, scanning the system I was in and trying to get my bearings. I took a while to study the results and it finally hit me. There was something missing in my scans.
This system had no moons.
A Shattered Wormhole? Why the hell would Chadrick come in here knowing he can't get back with just a pod? Was he planning to see something and self destruct to get back to Highsec? Confused, I saw the tiny pod finally drop the temporary cloak the wormhole had left on his vessel and he sped off towards a planet in the system. I was sure he had saw me when I switched to my own cloak and was trying to run away, so I instinctively gave chase.
Exiting warp, I ended up near the planet, its debris field nearly de-cloaking me, yet I saw no pod here. He should have clearly beaten to the planet, but he wasn't here. Initiating another D-Scan, I see his pod had come out of warp much sooner in between the planet and where the wormhole used to be, so I chanced dropping the cloak once more to deploy probes again.
There was indeed a site in that area, no doubt full of sleepers. I warped to it at twenty kilometers under cloak to see what was going on, and when I landed, my mind was nearly overwhelmed with sensor data from both the overview and the camera drone.
Dozens of sleeper drones buzzed around the structure. So many that I lost contact with Chadrick's pod as I frantically tried to filter out the overview list. In my panic, I neglected to notice that one had come a little too close and shorted out my cloak, and I appeared before an angry swarm which quickly took notice and instantly locked onto my small frigate. I had only enough time to finally notice Chadrick's pod sitting dangerously close to the center of the structure, but yet still intact before alarms started going off and I saw a bright light, then nothing...
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Connections: It's Been A While, Old Friend...
"Hello Sain Darkwing." Chadrick Belefonte said, "It has been a while..."
I stared at the stoic expression of my old friend on the view screen before me and a sneer came across my face. Chadrick Belefonte had been in a wormhole system for the past year or so and I hadn't heard from him since, basically a missing person for all intents and purposes. But for him to just call out of the blue, was odd in itself.
But the fact that Chad didn't make fun of me for only wearing a towel or at least refer to it in some manner made me a little suspicious for some reason. It was nice to see him alive and well, yet something was off.
"It has." I replied, "Finally crawled out of your hole, I see."
"Indeed." Chad said, a brow raising as I pulled on a shirt, "How have you been, my old friend?" My eyes narrowed. Such refined speech patterns were very out of character for him. He usually slurred his words or used a lot of slang. For as long as I've known him, even I at times, had a hard time understanding what he was saying.
"I'm fine." I said, "Are you alright? You sound odd."
"I sound o-odd?" He replied, his brows furrowed in concern and glanced off camera for a moment before forcing a smile as if posing for a picture, "I am quite fine, old friend."
Now I was really suspicious. Something was wrong.
"Where are you now? How was life in the wormhole?" I asked, trying to get more out of him. He was being oddly quiet.
"I am currently in a Citadel near Jita. Life in the wormhole was well. I had a fun time." he replied. The whole time he showed no expression and sounded very scripted. After a long, awkward pause I replied.
"So, what do you want?" I asked. He seemed surprised by my sudden question and adjusted his position to lean forward slightly.
"Ah yes. I believe Cha...I mean I owe you a sum of money?" he said, "I am currently using some of those new skill extractors to remove skill points to sell. I will pay back the money I borrowed in full plus interest."
"Holy shit..." I muttered. I stood speechless as I stood to put on pants but froze in front of the screen with my pants in one hand, the other on the arm of the couch to support me. I stared hard at the emotionless face before me speechless and tried to comprehend what was happening. Chadrick was giving up his capsuleer skills just to pay me back a few million ISK I loaned him years ago. I didn't even care about the money anymore.
"What the hell are you doing, Chad?!" I yelled at him, "Why are you giving up your hard earned skills just to pay me back?! You don't even have to! I don't care about the money!"
"But you are my friend, are you not?" he asked.
"I suppose, well, yeah, but your skills? Besides, the money for a skill injector would be many times the amount I loaned you before!"
"Ah, but the interest!" Chadrick retorted, lazily raising a pointed finger to drive his point. The lack of enthusiasm was almost comical. Honestly, he looked like he was sleepwalking or something.
"Still, it's way too much!"
"I insist."
"What's going on, Chad? Why are you acting weird?" I demanded. His brow raised and he smiled.
"Expect the funds to be transferred within the day." he said, then the screen went black.
........................................................................................................................................
I woke with a start and fell forward out of the clone bay as the liquid drained onto the grated floor. My naked body landed on something soft and warm as my vision quickly started to sharpen and my senses returned to me. It was a rough jump clone transition and took a little longer than usual for my consciousness to assert itself, but after a moment, Amalea's scent drifted into my nostrils as I realized it was her who had caught me.
"Welcome back, Sain." She said with a smile, "You weren't gone long."
I had arrived back in Kusomonmon and had filled Amalea in on what had happened with Chadrick. She thought his sudden change of heart was a good thing, yet it was completely out of character. I had to see him face to face to see what the hell is going on. Osiph was kind enough to hop in a pod and ferry the both of us to the Citadel where I had traced the call to and after a couple of jumps in a shuttle, we were docked and standing in front of the captain's quarters belonging to my old friend. Station records said he only had his pod docked here.
The door slid open and we were met with silence on the other side. The lights were off and the only illumination in the room was the hologram of Chad's pod floating above the coffee table. Chad was sitting on the couch, hands folded under his chin and elbows on his knees. The silence of the room was eerie and Amalea clung to my sleeve.
"Chad, are you alright?" I quietly asked, slowly circling the couch. he didn't move, yet his eyes snapped upward to look at me. I felt a shiver run down my spine. His eyes were piercing. I've never seen him like this before. So serious.
Beside the hologram emitter on the table were a couple of empty skill extractors and one full injector, it's white glow shining eerily in the dark.
"Sain Darkwing...." He slowly stated, "You needn't have come. My well being should not be of your concern."
"We are friends, right?" I asked. I inched forward and Amalea followed still clung to my arm.
"True, however, once our little transaction is complete, I wish to cut ties with you and your group. I wish for you to never concern yourself with me again."
"Chad, what's going on? This isn't like you! You're acting strange!" I exclaimed. I took a significant step forward and in a flash, Chadrick had pulled a parapistol from a holster on his leg, or what I thought was a parapistol in the dim light. The holographic pod rotated and light glistened off the metal of the gun. It was an Amarr CAR-9 Scrambler Pistol. The ones mercenaries use. This one wouldn't just stun you. This one would outright kill.
"Can you kindly leave, friend?" Chadrick flatly said, leveling the gun at my head. Amalea cowered behind me. I wasn't sure if her current clone had the right neural implants to save her should she die here so I began to panic. I took a step back and raised my hands but the gun was held steady.
"Chad, what the hell, man? I'm just concerned. I won't hurt you!" I pleaded, "Please, put down the gun!"
"Leave." he flatly repeated. His thumb hit the safety and I heard the power cell begin to charge for a shot. I took another step backward and Amalea began pulling on my arm.
"Sain, lets just go!" she pleaded. I sighed and nodded, letting her pull me outside and into the hall, looking back over my shoulder at Chadrick's menacing face in the light of the hologram.
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The shuttle ride back was quiet, yet we explained to Osiph through the shuttles comm system. There was no response at first, yet I clearly felt the ship jolt to a stop as her attention was taken off flying the ship.
"That asshole!" She yelled over the ships speakers. We were pressed back into our seats as she blasted forward and jumped to the next system, "Screw him! Let him give you the money and wash your hands of him!"
"Perhaps you're right." I muttered, looking out the porthole at the station snap into view. Osiph began docking procedures and I stared out the window, my mind racing...
I stared at the stoic expression of my old friend on the view screen before me and a sneer came across my face. Chadrick Belefonte had been in a wormhole system for the past year or so and I hadn't heard from him since, basically a missing person for all intents and purposes. But for him to just call out of the blue, was odd in itself.
But the fact that Chad didn't make fun of me for only wearing a towel or at least refer to it in some manner made me a little suspicious for some reason. It was nice to see him alive and well, yet something was off.
"It has." I replied, "Finally crawled out of your hole, I see."
"Indeed." Chad said, a brow raising as I pulled on a shirt, "How have you been, my old friend?" My eyes narrowed. Such refined speech patterns were very out of character for him. He usually slurred his words or used a lot of slang. For as long as I've known him, even I at times, had a hard time understanding what he was saying.
"I'm fine." I said, "Are you alright? You sound odd."
"I sound o-odd?" He replied, his brows furrowed in concern and glanced off camera for a moment before forcing a smile as if posing for a picture, "I am quite fine, old friend."
Now I was really suspicious. Something was wrong.
"Where are you now? How was life in the wormhole?" I asked, trying to get more out of him. He was being oddly quiet.
"I am currently in a Citadel near Jita. Life in the wormhole was well. I had a fun time." he replied. The whole time he showed no expression and sounded very scripted. After a long, awkward pause I replied.
"So, what do you want?" I asked. He seemed surprised by my sudden question and adjusted his position to lean forward slightly.
"Ah yes. I believe Cha...I mean I owe you a sum of money?" he said, "I am currently using some of those new skill extractors to remove skill points to sell. I will pay back the money I borrowed in full plus interest."
"Holy shit..." I muttered. I stood speechless as I stood to put on pants but froze in front of the screen with my pants in one hand, the other on the arm of the couch to support me. I stared hard at the emotionless face before me speechless and tried to comprehend what was happening. Chadrick was giving up his capsuleer skills just to pay me back a few million ISK I loaned him years ago. I didn't even care about the money anymore.
"What the hell are you doing, Chad?!" I yelled at him, "Why are you giving up your hard earned skills just to pay me back?! You don't even have to! I don't care about the money!"
"But you are my friend, are you not?" he asked.
"I suppose, well, yeah, but your skills? Besides, the money for a skill injector would be many times the amount I loaned you before!"
"Ah, but the interest!" Chadrick retorted, lazily raising a pointed finger to drive his point. The lack of enthusiasm was almost comical. Honestly, he looked like he was sleepwalking or something.
"Still, it's way too much!"
"I insist."
"What's going on, Chad? Why are you acting weird?" I demanded. His brow raised and he smiled.
"Expect the funds to be transferred within the day." he said, then the screen went black.
........................................................................................................................................
I woke with a start and fell forward out of the clone bay as the liquid drained onto the grated floor. My naked body landed on something soft and warm as my vision quickly started to sharpen and my senses returned to me. It was a rough jump clone transition and took a little longer than usual for my consciousness to assert itself, but after a moment, Amalea's scent drifted into my nostrils as I realized it was her who had caught me.
"Welcome back, Sain." She said with a smile, "You weren't gone long."
I had arrived back in Kusomonmon and had filled Amalea in on what had happened with Chadrick. She thought his sudden change of heart was a good thing, yet it was completely out of character. I had to see him face to face to see what the hell is going on. Osiph was kind enough to hop in a pod and ferry the both of us to the Citadel where I had traced the call to and after a couple of jumps in a shuttle, we were docked and standing in front of the captain's quarters belonging to my old friend. Station records said he only had his pod docked here.
The door slid open and we were met with silence on the other side. The lights were off and the only illumination in the room was the hologram of Chad's pod floating above the coffee table. Chad was sitting on the couch, hands folded under his chin and elbows on his knees. The silence of the room was eerie and Amalea clung to my sleeve.
"Chad, are you alright?" I quietly asked, slowly circling the couch. he didn't move, yet his eyes snapped upward to look at me. I felt a shiver run down my spine. His eyes were piercing. I've never seen him like this before. So serious.
Beside the hologram emitter on the table were a couple of empty skill extractors and one full injector, it's white glow shining eerily in the dark.
"Sain Darkwing...." He slowly stated, "You needn't have come. My well being should not be of your concern."
"We are friends, right?" I asked. I inched forward and Amalea followed still clung to my arm.
"True, however, once our little transaction is complete, I wish to cut ties with you and your group. I wish for you to never concern yourself with me again."
"Chad, what's going on? This isn't like you! You're acting strange!" I exclaimed. I took a significant step forward and in a flash, Chadrick had pulled a parapistol from a holster on his leg, or what I thought was a parapistol in the dim light. The holographic pod rotated and light glistened off the metal of the gun. It was an Amarr CAR-9 Scrambler Pistol. The ones mercenaries use. This one wouldn't just stun you. This one would outright kill.
"Can you kindly leave, friend?" Chadrick flatly said, leveling the gun at my head. Amalea cowered behind me. I wasn't sure if her current clone had the right neural implants to save her should she die here so I began to panic. I took a step back and raised my hands but the gun was held steady.
"Chad, what the hell, man? I'm just concerned. I won't hurt you!" I pleaded, "Please, put down the gun!"
"Leave." he flatly repeated. His thumb hit the safety and I heard the power cell begin to charge for a shot. I took another step backward and Amalea began pulling on my arm.
"Sain, lets just go!" she pleaded. I sighed and nodded, letting her pull me outside and into the hall, looking back over my shoulder at Chadrick's menacing face in the light of the hologram.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The shuttle ride back was quiet, yet we explained to Osiph through the shuttles comm system. There was no response at first, yet I clearly felt the ship jolt to a stop as her attention was taken off flying the ship.
"That asshole!" She yelled over the ships speakers. We were pressed back into our seats as she blasted forward and jumped to the next system, "Screw him! Let him give you the money and wash your hands of him!"
"Perhaps you're right." I muttered, looking out the porthole at the station snap into view. Osiph began docking procedures and I stared out the window, my mind racing...
Monday, January 30, 2017
The Immensea Liberation: Second Wind
I had another bout of boredom and the grind had taken a toll on me.
With no motivation to undock for a long time, I decided to take a
vacation from it all, jump cloned back to Highsec and bought a nice home
on a planet in the Kusomonmon system, where Osiph and Amalea worked in
the station in orbit as lab assistants and ran their production lines.
The ISK to local credit exchange rate was highly in my favor and I was
able to buy a luxurious home in the countryside beside a large lake for
mere peanuts compared to the purchase of a ship.
I took several months to simply relax, do some fishing, watch some holo reels and spend some quality time with Amalea, becoming ever so closer as time went on. However, doing nothing all day and listening to Amalea's stories of her days on the station has my piloting itch returning, and I found myself following her to work many days to subconsciously get closer to the life I was taking a break from.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Sain, put that down, please." Osiph said with an exasperated sigh. I had been playing with a BPO cartridge with my boots up on her table, nearly laying down in the soft leather chair behind her desk. I sighed and tossed the several million ISK worth blueprint on her desk, cringing a little when I heard it rattle across the glass. I must have tossed it a little too high.
"Sorry." I meekly said. Her brow furrowed and I swear I saw a vein bulge on her temple.
"Look, I know you're bored, but you were the one who wanted to take a break from Null sec!" She exclaimed, slamming her hands on the desk to lean over it and stare into my face in a demanding pose. I took the hint to sit up straight and put my feet on the floor, "If you're bored, go back out there and make some money!"
"Maybe." I said, swiveling around. Behind her desk was a massive glass window that showed the docking bay below. Several Industrial ships were heading out. During my vacation, I opted to move into an Alpha clone as I wasn't going to be using any ships, but lately I was feeling rather lethargic about most things in general, not having the motivation to do much. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't have access to all my skills that was making me feel useless and unmotivated. Perhaps switching back to my Omega clone would perk me up.
"Am I annoying you?" I asked my sister with a sneer, "I can go bug Amalea if you like."
"You do remember you were kicked out of the lab, right?" She asked, straightening up and crossing her arms, "That means forever, not just the day in question."
"I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I behave myself." I said.
"If you two could keep your hands off each other for a few minutes when you are together then maybe you wouldn't have accidentally sat on a terminal and caused a whole batch of T2 inventions to fail!" She exclaimed. I felt my face grow hot.
"I reimbursed that Capsuleer the cost of the data cores!" I retorted, "And apologized!" Ospih sighed heavily.
"Sain, why are you here?" she asked, "Why leave Null? Is everything alright?" Her tone had completely changed to that of a caring friend. It was very unnerving to me.
I turned back to the window to gaze at the ships, "Not sure. I just didn't feel like undocking. There was nothing I was inclined to do."
A terminal slid across the desk from her and I turned to pick it up.
"Take a look." She said with a smile. They were schematics for the Rorqual; the biggest mining support vessel there is. Never really cared about it because they normally sat behind POS shields and provided bonuses to miners in the system. I read on and my eyes widened as I continued.
Changes were made.
Support ships were now only able to fit command burst modules, that needed to be close to ships for the bonuses to take effect, making the Rorqual need to be in the belt with the miners to buff them. They also got a new kind of drone: the Excavator Mining Drone. As I read on, a spark lit once more in my mind and I felt the need to own one of these Goliath machines. Each Excavator drone was like having an exhumer with you. A fleet of drones meant massive amount of ore coming in. I felt excitement at the possible income that could mean and glanced up from the terminal to see Osiph's smiling face.
"Well?" she asked.
"Thank you. I needed this." I replied.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in my Omega clone and with motivation I returned to Null sec. With the goal of owning a Rorqual somewhat in the far distance, the immediate tasks I wanted to complete were not that apparent to me. Not knowing what I wanted to do, I ended up undocking my Buzzard to see if I can find some Relic sites and look around our space a bit to get used to being in a pod once more.
It has been a while.
My solo roam ended me up in B-R5RB where the historic massive bloodbath took place back in January 27th, two years ago. I've never been here, nor had the chance to see a Titan up close, but the wreckage still remains. Several broken and charred Titan hulls littered space. Battleships, and a myriad of other vessels peppered the starscape as I maneuvered around the wreckage. I took a moment to stare in awe at the sheer size and presence these massive ships imposed on my tiny frigate, taking several minutes to simply fly around these massive ships. The significance of the memorials and the site in general was a reminder to me of what life is here in new Eden.
In a universe where the strong survive, those who are together are strong.
I understand the fight happened because a sovereignty bill went unpaid, but the response of the attackers to try and take it; to gain a foothold in new space was to expand their territory, and the defense mustering to protect what was theirs. An opportunity rose that had not been missed and caused one of the biggest and longest Capsuleer conflicts New Eden had ever seen.
Just past the second anniversary of the battle and still I sit among the carcasses of gods that still don their golden chariots, an echo of the conflict of what once was and a testament to the struggle for dominance.
Filled with renewed perseverance, I returned to my home system and docked up. As I left the shower in my Captain's quarters, a familiar face appeared on my main view screen before my coffee table.
"Hello Sain Darkwing." Chadrick Belefonte said, "It has been a while..."
I took several months to simply relax, do some fishing, watch some holo reels and spend some quality time with Amalea, becoming ever so closer as time went on. However, doing nothing all day and listening to Amalea's stories of her days on the station has my piloting itch returning, and I found myself following her to work many days to subconsciously get closer to the life I was taking a break from.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Sain, put that down, please." Osiph said with an exasperated sigh. I had been playing with a BPO cartridge with my boots up on her table, nearly laying down in the soft leather chair behind her desk. I sighed and tossed the several million ISK worth blueprint on her desk, cringing a little when I heard it rattle across the glass. I must have tossed it a little too high.
"Sorry." I meekly said. Her brow furrowed and I swear I saw a vein bulge on her temple.
"Look, I know you're bored, but you were the one who wanted to take a break from Null sec!" She exclaimed, slamming her hands on the desk to lean over it and stare into my face in a demanding pose. I took the hint to sit up straight and put my feet on the floor, "If you're bored, go back out there and make some money!"
"Maybe." I said, swiveling around. Behind her desk was a massive glass window that showed the docking bay below. Several Industrial ships were heading out. During my vacation, I opted to move into an Alpha clone as I wasn't going to be using any ships, but lately I was feeling rather lethargic about most things in general, not having the motivation to do much. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't have access to all my skills that was making me feel useless and unmotivated. Perhaps switching back to my Omega clone would perk me up.
"Am I annoying you?" I asked my sister with a sneer, "I can go bug Amalea if you like."
"You do remember you were kicked out of the lab, right?" She asked, straightening up and crossing her arms, "That means forever, not just the day in question."
"I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I behave myself." I said.
"If you two could keep your hands off each other for a few minutes when you are together then maybe you wouldn't have accidentally sat on a terminal and caused a whole batch of T2 inventions to fail!" She exclaimed. I felt my face grow hot.
"I reimbursed that Capsuleer the cost of the data cores!" I retorted, "And apologized!" Ospih sighed heavily.
"Sain, why are you here?" she asked, "Why leave Null? Is everything alright?" Her tone had completely changed to that of a caring friend. It was very unnerving to me.
I turned back to the window to gaze at the ships, "Not sure. I just didn't feel like undocking. There was nothing I was inclined to do."
A terminal slid across the desk from her and I turned to pick it up.
"Take a look." She said with a smile. They were schematics for the Rorqual; the biggest mining support vessel there is. Never really cared about it because they normally sat behind POS shields and provided bonuses to miners in the system. I read on and my eyes widened as I continued.
Changes were made.
Support ships were now only able to fit command burst modules, that needed to be close to ships for the bonuses to take effect, making the Rorqual need to be in the belt with the miners to buff them. They also got a new kind of drone: the Excavator Mining Drone. As I read on, a spark lit once more in my mind and I felt the need to own one of these Goliath machines. Each Excavator drone was like having an exhumer with you. A fleet of drones meant massive amount of ore coming in. I felt excitement at the possible income that could mean and glanced up from the terminal to see Osiph's smiling face.
"Well?" she asked.
"Thank you. I needed this." I replied.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in my Omega clone and with motivation I returned to Null sec. With the goal of owning a Rorqual somewhat in the far distance, the immediate tasks I wanted to complete were not that apparent to me. Not knowing what I wanted to do, I ended up undocking my Buzzard to see if I can find some Relic sites and look around our space a bit to get used to being in a pod once more.
It has been a while.
My solo roam ended me up in B-R5RB where the historic massive bloodbath took place back in January 27th, two years ago. I've never been here, nor had the chance to see a Titan up close, but the wreckage still remains. Several broken and charred Titan hulls littered space. Battleships, and a myriad of other vessels peppered the starscape as I maneuvered around the wreckage. I took a moment to stare in awe at the sheer size and presence these massive ships imposed on my tiny frigate, taking several minutes to simply fly around these massive ships. The significance of the memorials and the site in general was a reminder to me of what life is here in new Eden.
In a universe where the strong survive, those who are together are strong.
I understand the fight happened because a sovereignty bill went unpaid, but the response of the attackers to try and take it; to gain a foothold in new space was to expand their territory, and the defense mustering to protect what was theirs. An opportunity rose that had not been missed and caused one of the biggest and longest Capsuleer conflicts New Eden had ever seen.
Just past the second anniversary of the battle and still I sit among the carcasses of gods that still don their golden chariots, an echo of the conflict of what once was and a testament to the struggle for dominance.
Filled with renewed perseverance, I returned to my home system and docked up. As I left the shower in my Captain's quarters, a familiar face appeared on my main view screen before my coffee table.
"Hello Sain Darkwing." Chadrick Belefonte said, "It has been a while..."
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