Old Memories
03 May 2021Terias
Hard to believe I never started one of these things before... I suppose it's just one of those things that you figure you'll start tomorrow, but tomorrow never arrives... and then you're sitting there years after the journey began wishing you had kept notes of some kind. Oh well, better late than never.Where to begin? Got my pilots licence back in 3302... A lot has happened between then and now, and without a doubt I'm going to miss the bulk of the details but we'll give it a go. Maybe it's my age starting to get to me, maybe it's the space madness starting to set in. Hard to say really...
It's strange to think back and I sit in my private quarters aboard the HMCS Mega-Maid, a literal fleet at my disposal and enough credits to purchase a small moon, to remember how things started. To recall the early days... the struggle for every credit with a new gold rush or money making scheme popping up every month or two.(Now that I think about it I guess it hasn't changed much.)
In the beginning I had the same problem that a lot of new commanders have today although I think we had it worse. (Damn I really am going to sound like a crotchety old bastard here aren't I?) The resources we have at our disposal didn't even exist back then. There were no galactic records or quick reference guides readily available. We had our nav computer and that was it! No fancy limpets for mining... We scooped all our material BY HAND DAMNIT! No... wait... We didn't because no one mined. Hmmmm... Not many folks did much exploration either... No such thing as a DSS, we flew out to each planet just for that level 1 scan. My God that was horrible... 300,000 LS just for another icy body. *shudder* Maybe we should focus on the positives...
I do recall pilfering kills from the local authorities in Resource Extraction Sites in my not even A-rated Viper MK III. That first upgrade out of the sidewinder was amazing. The handling felt about the same but having those 2 extra hard points made me feel like I could take on the galaxy... (That is until you run into a python and quickly get reminded about how insignificant your little Viper truly is.) Once I got the hang of things I was able to cash in several hundred thousand credits per hour of sniping kills from the authorities. Sure there were a few times I was forced to visit the insurance broker and part with some of my money, but overall it was profitable. From there I managed to scrape enough together to get into the Cobra and then I was off to the races!
It was somewhere around that time that I found my inner smuggler. Imperial slaves were a hot commodity especially in the right markets. Rare goods and the infamous Rare Run were only in their infancy, and despite the size of our galaxy word spreads fast. It wasn't long before the more unscrupulous characters were hanging out at the docks waiting for us to come and in blast us back to the stone age. At that point I got the scatter brained idea that perhaps I too should graduate from smuggler to outright piracy. A scatter brained idea that ended up costing me MUCH more than it was worth. Ironically it seems you can only afford to become a pirate once you don't need to pirate anymore. (Leave my poor piloting skills out of this equation if you please. Going down this rabbit hole isn't going to help my confidence.) My pirating career was brief and cost me a small fortune. In the end I decided that it just wasn't for me.
Right... So rare goods, rare runs and then... what was it? Gold trading I believe... I did it so long in a Type 7 that I can still remember the system. Wurango. I should go back and visit some time. (Computer! Set a reminder: Visit Wurango for old times sake.) I met a few good Commanders up in that region of space doing the same cargo hauling as I was. Jumping back and forth skipping out on super-cruise all together. Those were the days... Jump into a system with Nav-Lock engaged on a wing mate and you could drop directly at the station instead of super-cruising all the way there. Damn I would pay good money to get function reinstalled. Oh well...
It was somewhere around this point that one of the other Commanders we were hauling cargo with let us in on the latest cash grab. Conflict Zones. All you had to do was find a conflict zone that had a capital class ship in it and you were GOLDEN. Join the side with the capital ship and shoot EVERYTHING in sight. Then we would take our Vultures and tuck ourselves inside some compartment of the capital ships hiding from enemy fire. See, back in those days you couldn't defeat the capital ships. (Why the Imperials and Fed's ever willingly installed heat relays onto their ships is beyond me.) I remember spending HOURS in my little vulture watching the capital ships melt away any opponents and the redemption office was none the wiser. I had a few scary moments to be sure (they were war zones after all,) but it definitely gave me a taste for combat.
I made a small fortune blasting the heck out of whatever faction happened to be on the other side of any capital ship. I was so young and naive that I didn't even give two thoughts about who I was actually fighting for. All I wanted was that big pay day... and eventually I had saved up enough for my very own... PYTHON. Dreams do come true. The lines, the firepower, the armor... All mine to abuse and take over to galaxy! It had taken a long time to get there but I was madly in love. After being terrified of these things I was the big gun now. All the glory that Faulcon Delacy had to offer was MINE... well... up until it wasn't.
See, the problem that plagued me is the same problem that plagues a lot of green commanders. Overconfidence. Immediately after getting said python I ran straight back to the same conflict zones that I had been so fruitfully farming in my vulture. Now I'm sure most of you know where this is all going but let me set the groundwork. I had sold every other ship I had in order to afford this python... It wasn't fancy, it was STOCK minus a few guns I had slapped on it. Now being in this ship I figured I no longer had to cower and hide behind these capital ships and I would just fly from ship to ship obliterating anything in my path... That will always remain the single biggest blunder I've ever had in my pilot career. Never fly without a rebuy... And rebuy I did. Or at least I would have if I had a single cent left to my name.
So there I am, wishing I could take that decision back. The singular lowest moment in my career. It was at this point that I decided to leave the Pilots Federation and retire on a beautiful Earth-like world. Don't fret, I did find my way back but I took an extended vacation for a couple years after that. Losing everything has a way of putting things in perspective for you and that's a tough lesson to learn. I found the bottom of countless Lavian Brandy bottles trying to forget the experience but it sticks with me... haunting me. The rest of the story will have to wait for another day but at least I've started to document events as closely as I can remember.
-o7 Commanders