Entry #4 27-9-24, 3310
27 Sep 2024Wei Cao
Wei Cao, logging in new data.Yesterday I thought to finally pay a visit to the engineer, who've invited me long time ago. But this rascal needs 50 bottles of Lavian brandy to "get the party going in style". Well, it's up to me to deliver. But once i realized that this goddamn liquor is a rarity and that it is not available whatsoever anywhere, i had to go to the Lave starport to get it. Well...48 bottles. I am 2 bottles short. I've took a few bounty missions hoping for a restock of the market, but even after I've completed it, the bottles were still nowhere to be seen.
Well, shame. I took my insufficient cargo with me and went to get 1,000,000 of federal combat bonds somewhere in the big black. Conneda system was in a full blown out war. A small, low intensity conflict zone was quite close to the entry point, so i went in guns blazing. These chumps didn't even scratch my paint, the shields are good enough for this type of a fight. Once the battle was over, i called in the fighter back, but set the turrets to fire at will and had loitered there for some time...and, unfortunately for me, that was a mistake. The battle resumed quicker than I thought, and i realized it only when my shields were down, the hull was down 50% and i was bombarded from all sides with torpedoes. Shame on me for hitting breaks before a toilet break.
While i sent in my fighter again to defend me, I've heard a familiar, yet chilling cracking of the cockpit glass. A few seconds later, the canopy shattered, and i was staring at cold vacuum in a decompressed space. At least the seatbelt is always on, but that was my afterthought. My first thought was that it felt nostalgic, yet different. It wasn't terrifying anymore.
I still remember the first time i have learned that the canopy can break and that your HUD and sounds can disappear. The panic I had that time in my voice when i was listening instructions from Attrexius and flying blindly to a small "star" that was the Starport in Tir Na Nog. The ticking timebomb of 5 minutes, which was less than 30 seconds when i was entering the Coriolis cube. And the relief I had back then...almost cried. After that I've learned to invest in a quality life support system and read the Codex about my real flight panel, not just the colorful HUD.
I had 25 minutes for a clean up. Without wasting time, I've cleared the zone and went to the KFH-78W fleet carrier nearby. These flying starports are really convenient. There were none back in the day, and i must say, it's a good feeling to know that there is a lot of large landing pads on these things.
I will rest now. Hopefully that brandy will be re-stocked by the market tomorrow.