Faith Restored
14 Nov 2020Chiefcrash
Something strange happened to me today. Well, something strange always happens out here, so let me rephrase: a few stranger-than-usual things happened today: I had my faith in humanity restored enough I felt compelled to tell someone about it...You see, I'm a bit of a loner. I tend to avoid folks, fly under the radar, and avoid the less desirable elements of society that seem all too common. I don't even usually keep a log, because who would read it? That's why I walked into that Pilot Federation's recruiter office. The idea of being left to my own devices, set loose into the galaxy in a ship free from the annoyances and disappointment of my fellow humans? "Sign me up!" is what I literally screamed at the poor sergeant manning the desk. And that was how I liked it: just me and my ship, doing whatever seemed to strike my fancy, whenever it was convenient. Whether or not the latest Federation/Imperial dust-up mattered to me was a matter of *choice*, and that meant everything to me. Simple, clean, and without much in the way of complications.
I heard the Pilot's Federation Alert, same as everyone, and was a bit intrigued by the reward they were offering. Move some stuff to Coal Sack, and you'll give me a heavily-engineered frame shift drive? "Sign me up," I said yet again. And so I began some repetitive treks hauling Power Generators out of Adit in my Type 9, the Belly Scraper. Nothing exciting, but a decent paycheck and the hopes of a unique piece of equipment. Or at least, that's what I was strapped in for...
As luck, circumstance, or whatever mystical forces you believe in would have it, I happened to start cracking jokes with another commander while waiting to dock and unload another couple hundred tons of material at the Spirit of Nysa. This particular commander happened to have a fleet carrier, and was about to jump back to The Bubble to pick up another load, if I wanted to hitch a ride. "Sure," I said, "would you like some help loading this beast when you get there?" I was not at all prepared for what happened next.
Somehow, without much in the way of words spoken, we developed a system or arrangement: he would jump to a system, and I would load his carrier. He would jump back to the Coal Sack, and I would unload a chunk of his carrier, leaving some for him to unload so he could also make progress towards the lucrative reward. Nothing new, except for one small detail: this commander was generous. He was setting the prices on his carrier's market in such a way as we both made a decent profit without realizing it. And yet, perhaps because we've both become jaded by the greed of others we've encountered, we both felt like we were taking advantage of the other. I felt compelled to donate some fuel for his troubles, so he felt compelled to improve the prices offered me. All the while, we continued to find common ground through jokes and good will. At some point, and I'm not sure where, we seemed less concerned about our own progress and more concerned about making sure our newfound friend came out happy...
In the span of a day, we moved tens of thousands of tons of goods to ensure new spaceports would be built, serving untold numbers of commanders in the exciting times to come. With a little luck, we'll even manage to claim our sought-after rewards to aid our explorations. But as momentous as those things are, they are almost a door prize at this point. I found a reward worth so much more. When I stepped out into the galactic plane, I had prepared myself for what was to come. I prepared myself for hardship, loneliness, and danger. I prepared myself for leaving society for good. However, I was not prepared for one man's simple kindness and generosity to give me a reason to stay...