Another dig through the archives
Found a follow up letter I sent my parents about one year after I graduated. I can see how much I changed in that year, and how much has changed since.
\\BEGIN TRANSMISSION//
[[Transmission From:]]
-Ysolde Xen of Kith Somtaaw, Director-
-Six Kin Development Warehouse-
-Rens VI-
-Ortner constellation-
-Heimatar region-
[[Transmission To:]]
-Ria Xen-
-543 Bordetga town, Annza state-
-Saila III-
-Santenpaa constellation-
-The Citadel region-
[[Transmission Content: MESSAGE]]
Sorry for the long gap between letters but life has been… interesting. I hope this letter finds you both well and that you are enjoying your retirement in Annza. Time is tight at the moment and I’m not sure when I will next be able to visit you, perhaps you could come over to Heimatar for a holiday? Visit the homelands in Pator? Jump gates aren’t so bad if you take it slowly on a luxury cruise.
Before you ask, no I haven’t settled down with anyone as yet and yes I am aware of what the State-Republic news stories flying around mean for myself as a capsuleer. I am not a fighter but I have been forced to train myself as a competent defender of my corpmates and ever more to the underprivileged. Aid will be provided wherever I can to rescuing slaves rebelling against the Amarr but I am not going to war. I hope. It seems that despite my benefits of the doubt and the odd decent Amarr or Ni Kunni, the Empire has proven itself to be too much of an antagonistic danger to the Matari. More and more I am sent to intercept incursions of their Navy trying to spread Vitoc through our homelands, and more and more my reputation for stopping them single-handedly is being noticed. Even the State has cooled considerably in its relations with myself despite my home ties and my corporation being around 50% Caldari. Somewhat unwittingly, I have found myself becoming something of a favoured agent for the Brutor Tribe whilst my own barely notices my existence. Political games do not interest me and whilst I sincerely hope Foiritan is re-elected Gallente President (I’ll save the Autrech argument with father for when I see you two next) I am not embroiling myself in anything deeper than I have to. The Ammatar can kiss my con trails.
So what have I been doing with my time? Training and studying almost 24/7, is the answer. I went back to my science roots for a while with the intention of researching new starship technologies but after months of fruitless toil I all but gave up. My knowledge has not gone to waste because I know the secrets of constructing the most hyperadvanced ships the giants like Lai Dai and Core Complexion are developing. Instead of further squandering my efforts, I plunged my time into industry and processing becoming one of the top Ore refiners in Kith Somtaaw. Helpfully, my good reputation with the Republic thanks to my work for Brutor Tribe means I get an excellent tax break when I use Republic facilities. There are occasional trade-offs to gaining a reputation amongst the factions. Currently this and my ever-present recruitment drives of hand picked young pilots is how I earn my keep and turn over a profit for my corporation. I was an avid mission runner when I was in intensive combat training but right now there are other things that need to be dealt with that don’t involve stepping into a pod at all. Contrary to what the gossip columns say Capsuleers don’t spend all their time plugged in.
Being a starship captain comes with the job of being a pod pilot. Frigates do not need a flight crew but the larger ship types do and of course one always needs ground crew to maintain everything. It isn’t until one steps into a larger ship that does require at least a handful of skeleton crew in addition to the capsule pilot, that one really begins to discover the Captaincy side to the privilege and rank. You are responsible for your crew’s well being, even their lives, and it wasn’t until I stepped aboard my Thrasher-class Destroyer the day they came onto the market that I really appreciated what this meant. I hired a crew, interviewing each member thoroughly and made sure we would gel as a team. She was a beast – Satan’s own Rottweiler I used to joke with my second in command, a Vherokior named Kel Trungata. With my competent crew and the best technology I could fit, she was the scourge of the rogue drone infestations that had started springing up in Deadspace. The ship looked like an express train to hell met a prehistoric shark and they’d make numerous jokes and bad puns about it as we salvaged the strange alloy remains of the drones. Many capsuleers ignore their crew – some out of aloof pride or too busy to give a damn, others because it’s a rough galaxy out there and they’ve lost good friends over the years so it hurts less this way. I’d never really understood it until my Thrasher and her crew were taken from me. A cloud of rogue drones fell before her howitzers revealing the mercenaries racing up behind, doing all they could to stop me from apprehending the outlaw who’d hired them. I’d seen mercs like these plenty of times in the past and they are a pushover for any Destroyer. Until they unleashed something, some kind of new neural weapon I had never encountered before, and fried not only my ship’s AI but my own neural jacks. I owe my life to the Jovian technology in my pod – it managed to block the worst of the effects, leaving me unconscious but still brain-intact, and automatically warped away to safety as everything disintegrated around me. A few scattered reports from other capsuleer pilots have confirmed that it seems there is some kind of weapon that blasts out one’s nerves and shuts down a ship but it is very rare and nothing further is known about who produces it. No one to go after for the loss of my beautiful ship and my friends on board. Devastated and a little addled, I tried to fill the hole as quickly as I could, ordering a new one built barely an hour later and calling for a new crew. The Hades Express is a fine and glorious successor bristling with the latest in starship technology and a sharp well-trained crew but it’s not the same. I now have a purely working relationship with the crew, with the occasional off-duty get together in a station bar somewhere but it’s hard when life is so cheap and those without clone contracts are also the most exposed. Now I better understand those pilots who choose not to associate with their crew but even so, I could never be that cold. In all likelihood it will mean hurting again in the future as the Empires slowly destabilise. That is a price you pay for also being a starship captain as a pod pilot.
Sometimes I find I am worried that some agent job I’ve taken will be too much for my ships – what if I encounter that weapon again? Instead, I find myself preferring to stick to Frigates more and more and the solitude they represent. My collection has grown and encompasses examples from all four empires: most of them are toys but properly kitted to fill the role they were designed for and I have ensured I have enough training to use them effectively. Picking the right tool for the job can make a simple Frigate more valuable in a situation than a poorly configured high-end Cruiser. But of all my ships, the one I use the most is my most prized possession: Adamant my Jaguar-class Assault Frigate. If I do get a day or two to come and visit then I will come over in my Stiletto-class Interceptor because of its speed so it is unlikely that you will get to see her as you did Argent. She is just as gorgeous as The Hades Express and nigh on fearless unless horrifically outnumbered. The biggest cruisers the Amarr Navy can throw at me have fallen swiftly to her and no battleship has ever managed to hit her. I am very proud of our achievements together; my dedicated training and installation of a complete Tech 2 system and her in-built toughness and advanced AI. In case you have wondered over the months whether I am still your flesh and blood or have become a clone, I can safely say that it is thanks to Adamant that I am. Some Matari I know thank the Gods and pray; I thank my judgement and ship. Death is not an experience I want to have and I am a rarity for evading it so far.
But enough of these things. Kith Somtaaw continues to grow although now the waning and waxing cycles have begun, as with all corporations. Members have all but given up being pod pilots and others have joined, fresh and eager. Operations have expanded in the mining for ores direction with some production as well and I am encouraging the new pilots more and more to go and explore to find what it is they want to do. I suppose it would be fair to say that a lot of the early idealism and naiveté I had is wearing thin. I am no longer a newbie pilot and I have seen the spectrum of the galaxy’s inhabitants. Realism and choice are the ways forward and independence should be balanced with meshing together in a corporation to capitalise on strengths and cover weaknesses. We do not involve ourselves officially as a corp in any conflicts but from time to time some of our members, myself included, have gone to assist in slave rescue operations or attended anti-slavery rallies. A few have even left the corp to join the fight directly for a time and there are plans for another small exodus soon when other plans involving the formation of a new Alliance come to fruition. I will be remaining with the Kith for the foreseeable future however.
Would you believe I still have not made planetfall since leaving for Pator Tech School all that time ago? What an odd thing it is to forget about planets entirely as being nearly irrelevant to the space-based community. Operating from station to station running errands and jumping from system to system as one might maglev from city to city. The sight of gigantic lightning storms, or the spiderwebs of lights across planetary surfaces is a glorious sight to behold but my curiosity never extends past wondering why this particular gas giant has only a few anorexic rings or why that planet is an ice block when it is closer to it’s star than the desert planet just a few million miles away. Apart from one terrifying incident when Angels turned up en masse to Pator as we were demonstrating against slavery and sent some kind of probe to the planet’s surface which a few of us chased after but to no avail, I have not thought about planetside life. Acclimatising to space is one thing but this… is something else. ‘The Stars, My Destination’ – as a writer of long ago once said. I’ve never looked back now I’m up here and whilst I really should come and visit you properly on Saila III I have no desire to return to being planetbound. Fitting for a pod pilot and starship captain don’t you think?
Well I have rambled enough and there’s another chapter in my tracking computer’s manual to get through before dinner so I’ll sign off here. I’ve really taken a shine to Gallente foods and music – it’s a shame they’re so hard to get hold of in the State. Still, at least you have access to the best rum in the galaxy.
Until my next letter, adios!
Ysolde signing off
\\END TRANSMISSION//
\\BEGIN TRANSMISSION//
[[Transmission From:]]
-Ysolde Xen of Kith Somtaaw, Director-
-Six Kin Development Warehouse-
-Rens VI-
-Ortner constellation-
-Heimatar region-
[[Transmission To:]]
-Ria Xen-
-543 Bordetga town, Annza state-
-Saila III-
-Santenpaa constellation-
-The Citadel region-
[[Transmission Content: MESSAGE]]
Sorry for the long gap between letters but life has been… interesting. I hope this letter finds you both well and that you are enjoying your retirement in Annza. Time is tight at the moment and I’m not sure when I will next be able to visit you, perhaps you could come over to Heimatar for a holiday? Visit the homelands in Pator? Jump gates aren’t so bad if you take it slowly on a luxury cruise.
Before you ask, no I haven’t settled down with anyone as yet and yes I am aware of what the State-Republic news stories flying around mean for myself as a capsuleer. I am not a fighter but I have been forced to train myself as a competent defender of my corpmates and ever more to the underprivileged. Aid will be provided wherever I can to rescuing slaves rebelling against the Amarr but I am not going to war. I hope. It seems that despite my benefits of the doubt and the odd decent Amarr or Ni Kunni, the Empire has proven itself to be too much of an antagonistic danger to the Matari. More and more I am sent to intercept incursions of their Navy trying to spread Vitoc through our homelands, and more and more my reputation for stopping them single-handedly is being noticed. Even the State has cooled considerably in its relations with myself despite my home ties and my corporation being around 50% Caldari. Somewhat unwittingly, I have found myself becoming something of a favoured agent for the Brutor Tribe whilst my own barely notices my existence. Political games do not interest me and whilst I sincerely hope Foiritan is re-elected Gallente President (I’ll save the Autrech argument with father for when I see you two next) I am not embroiling myself in anything deeper than I have to. The Ammatar can kiss my con trails.
So what have I been doing with my time? Training and studying almost 24/7, is the answer. I went back to my science roots for a while with the intention of researching new starship technologies but after months of fruitless toil I all but gave up. My knowledge has not gone to waste because I know the secrets of constructing the most hyperadvanced ships the giants like Lai Dai and Core Complexion are developing. Instead of further squandering my efforts, I plunged my time into industry and processing becoming one of the top Ore refiners in Kith Somtaaw. Helpfully, my good reputation with the Republic thanks to my work for Brutor Tribe means I get an excellent tax break when I use Republic facilities. There are occasional trade-offs to gaining a reputation amongst the factions. Currently this and my ever-present recruitment drives of hand picked young pilots is how I earn my keep and turn over a profit for my corporation. I was an avid mission runner when I was in intensive combat training but right now there are other things that need to be dealt with that don’t involve stepping into a pod at all. Contrary to what the gossip columns say Capsuleers don’t spend all their time plugged in.
Being a starship captain comes with the job of being a pod pilot. Frigates do not need a flight crew but the larger ship types do and of course one always needs ground crew to maintain everything. It isn’t until one steps into a larger ship that does require at least a handful of skeleton crew in addition to the capsule pilot, that one really begins to discover the Captaincy side to the privilege and rank. You are responsible for your crew’s well being, even their lives, and it wasn’t until I stepped aboard my Thrasher-class Destroyer the day they came onto the market that I really appreciated what this meant. I hired a crew, interviewing each member thoroughly and made sure we would gel as a team. She was a beast – Satan’s own Rottweiler I used to joke with my second in command, a Vherokior named Kel Trungata. With my competent crew and the best technology I could fit, she was the scourge of the rogue drone infestations that had started springing up in Deadspace. The ship looked like an express train to hell met a prehistoric shark and they’d make numerous jokes and bad puns about it as we salvaged the strange alloy remains of the drones. Many capsuleers ignore their crew – some out of aloof pride or too busy to give a damn, others because it’s a rough galaxy out there and they’ve lost good friends over the years so it hurts less this way. I’d never really understood it until my Thrasher and her crew were taken from me. A cloud of rogue drones fell before her howitzers revealing the mercenaries racing up behind, doing all they could to stop me from apprehending the outlaw who’d hired them. I’d seen mercs like these plenty of times in the past and they are a pushover for any Destroyer. Until they unleashed something, some kind of new neural weapon I had never encountered before, and fried not only my ship’s AI but my own neural jacks. I owe my life to the Jovian technology in my pod – it managed to block the worst of the effects, leaving me unconscious but still brain-intact, and automatically warped away to safety as everything disintegrated around me. A few scattered reports from other capsuleer pilots have confirmed that it seems there is some kind of weapon that blasts out one’s nerves and shuts down a ship but it is very rare and nothing further is known about who produces it. No one to go after for the loss of my beautiful ship and my friends on board. Devastated and a little addled, I tried to fill the hole as quickly as I could, ordering a new one built barely an hour later and calling for a new crew. The Hades Express is a fine and glorious successor bristling with the latest in starship technology and a sharp well-trained crew but it’s not the same. I now have a purely working relationship with the crew, with the occasional off-duty get together in a station bar somewhere but it’s hard when life is so cheap and those without clone contracts are also the most exposed. Now I better understand those pilots who choose not to associate with their crew but even so, I could never be that cold. In all likelihood it will mean hurting again in the future as the Empires slowly destabilise. That is a price you pay for also being a starship captain as a pod pilot.
Sometimes I find I am worried that some agent job I’ve taken will be too much for my ships – what if I encounter that weapon again? Instead, I find myself preferring to stick to Frigates more and more and the solitude they represent. My collection has grown and encompasses examples from all four empires: most of them are toys but properly kitted to fill the role they were designed for and I have ensured I have enough training to use them effectively. Picking the right tool for the job can make a simple Frigate more valuable in a situation than a poorly configured high-end Cruiser. But of all my ships, the one I use the most is my most prized possession: Adamant my Jaguar-class Assault Frigate. If I do get a day or two to come and visit then I will come over in my Stiletto-class Interceptor because of its speed so it is unlikely that you will get to see her as you did Argent. She is just as gorgeous as The Hades Express and nigh on fearless unless horrifically outnumbered. The biggest cruisers the Amarr Navy can throw at me have fallen swiftly to her and no battleship has ever managed to hit her. I am very proud of our achievements together; my dedicated training and installation of a complete Tech 2 system and her in-built toughness and advanced AI. In case you have wondered over the months whether I am still your flesh and blood or have become a clone, I can safely say that it is thanks to Adamant that I am. Some Matari I know thank the Gods and pray; I thank my judgement and ship. Death is not an experience I want to have and I am a rarity for evading it so far.
But enough of these things. Kith Somtaaw continues to grow although now the waning and waxing cycles have begun, as with all corporations. Members have all but given up being pod pilots and others have joined, fresh and eager. Operations have expanded in the mining for ores direction with some production as well and I am encouraging the new pilots more and more to go and explore to find what it is they want to do. I suppose it would be fair to say that a lot of the early idealism and naiveté I had is wearing thin. I am no longer a newbie pilot and I have seen the spectrum of the galaxy’s inhabitants. Realism and choice are the ways forward and independence should be balanced with meshing together in a corporation to capitalise on strengths and cover weaknesses. We do not involve ourselves officially as a corp in any conflicts but from time to time some of our members, myself included, have gone to assist in slave rescue operations or attended anti-slavery rallies. A few have even left the corp to join the fight directly for a time and there are plans for another small exodus soon when other plans involving the formation of a new Alliance come to fruition. I will be remaining with the Kith for the foreseeable future however.
Would you believe I still have not made planetfall since leaving for Pator Tech School all that time ago? What an odd thing it is to forget about planets entirely as being nearly irrelevant to the space-based community. Operating from station to station running errands and jumping from system to system as one might maglev from city to city. The sight of gigantic lightning storms, or the spiderwebs of lights across planetary surfaces is a glorious sight to behold but my curiosity never extends past wondering why this particular gas giant has only a few anorexic rings or why that planet is an ice block when it is closer to it’s star than the desert planet just a few million miles away. Apart from one terrifying incident when Angels turned up en masse to Pator as we were demonstrating against slavery and sent some kind of probe to the planet’s surface which a few of us chased after but to no avail, I have not thought about planetside life. Acclimatising to space is one thing but this… is something else. ‘The Stars, My Destination’ – as a writer of long ago once said. I’ve never looked back now I’m up here and whilst I really should come and visit you properly on Saila III I have no desire to return to being planetbound. Fitting for a pod pilot and starship captain don’t you think?
Well I have rambled enough and there’s another chapter in my tracking computer’s manual to get through before dinner so I’ll sign off here. I’ve really taken a shine to Gallente foods and music – it’s a shame they’re so hard to get hold of in the State. Still, at least you have access to the best rum in the galaxy.
Until my next letter, adios!
Ysolde signing off
\\END TRANSMISSION//
posted by Ysolde Xen at 10:52
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