The somber love-song on violence and war
27 Dec 2018Rooster-14
I started my journey years ago, wishing to be a combat pilot. My first few times in combat were a disaster, so I shrunk away and explored the galaxy, to reflect and to escape a perceived shame that I believed others would thrust upon me.I returned, a year later, and I was granted my first Elite rank, though it wasn't the rank I wanted. I wanted to be Elite in combat. This is the time I heard of Raxxla, and the stories of only the Elite could find it, and from the lore, the first Elite rank was in Combat. I decided to try again.
I made money, I had to, as the learning curve is expensive in both time and money. I studied the combat footage from the greats, from pirates, from dedicated combat pilots, and I practiced their maneuvers.
I made my second Elite in trade, not because I wanted to be rich but because I wanted to fund my true expedition. It wasn't a celebrated event.
I would fly in the arena, seeing how small ship combat could improve my situational awareness, and when I started to pay attention to specific maneuvering, and that a great pilot is also outfitted with a strong ship; this is the winning combination.
I fought wars, I bounty hunted, and I studied and studied the tactics of other pilots relentlessly. At times, when I thought I was on my game, I would briefly get cocky and I would pay for it; combat is no place for being too brazen, especially if your steed can't handle the fire. I learned to balance, I learned to turn away from the kill when I had to, and I learned when my ship would allow me to press the attack for 5 more seconds to win.
10,000 kills later and I made Elite in combat. And now I feel un-prepared for the war that all of us are being thrust into. This war, being either natural or being used against us by agencies such as Aegis, in either case is going to mean that all of these learned skills over the years is going to be pressed to the limits. This isn't going to be about a personal struggle any longer, but a community struggle, from our wing to our local group of systems and beyond.
This is the time when we all need to start embracing the violence of war, not because of rank or money, but because we're on the cusp of being forced out of our systems and maybe even out of this sector of the galaxy.
If you cannot fight, then learn to be support, as the combat pilots will need it in both monetary means and even in the heat of battle with their ships on the verge of destruction. We all have to learn to listen to this song of violence and war, and find our place in it. The end of a solitary pilot may be coming to a close for the time being, and if we do not succeed, it may never be back at all.