To Colonia and Beyond - Home at last
01 Sep 2019Traegon
"So, you finally made it back," he said, in typical Roviden fashion, as if I'd simply taken too long to grab supplies from a nearby system.I smiled - there was no point in egging him on, however badly I wanted to. "It would seem so. It's good to be back, and to see that you also made it in one piece. After the beating I took heading back from Beagle's Point, and then through the area that I'll forever refer to as 'The Big Empty', I started to worry that you might've had similar troubles."
"Me? No major troubles. I decided against returning to Colonia, but instead took The Highway. My ship gave me a little trouble near Eagle's Landing, so I had to spend more time there than I would've liked. It gave me a chance to hear the scuttlebutt from The Bubble. It looks like we missed a huge Thargoid incursion." Roviden paused, considering his next words carefully. "I'm not happy about that. I would've liked to be part of the fight. We lost a lot of people, I'm told. As you've probably already seen from the updated galaxy maps, there's a lot of damage to repair." Roviden was characteristic stoic about it, but those closest to him could easily recognize the sadness in his voice. He might appear to be emotionless, but he does have them. He continued, "I know you probably want to relax for a few days, but I'm heading out soon. I want to see where the fight is, or take it to them if I must."
I nodded in silent agreement. "I can see why you'd think that. But, honestly? No. I've spent enough time doing almost nothing. Scanning planets and jumping from system to system might be exhausting, but it started to feel like sleepwalking near the end. I've had my fill of idleness. I'm planning to leave the 'conda here for repairs, submit all my scan data, and then see where the fight is. I'm not expecting you to wait for me, but if you find anything, shoot me a communique and save me the trouble of looking for the fight myself. I'm hoping there's still plenty of activity out near Electra."
He smiled, a big toothy smile, and slapped me on the back. Truly a rare occurrence. "Now that's what I like to hear. I'm glad you mentioned that - I forgot to turn in my scan data. How about we take care of that, and meet this evening and make plans. It'll be nice to get back in the saddle and bring down a few Thargoids."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll meet you at 2200," I said. We shook hands, and he turned to head back to his ship.
Watching him go, I paused for only a moment before turning back to my ship. Four months ago, we left for Colonia on a dare. Between us, we've travelled over 200,000LY, been to the center of the galaxy, seen countless star systems and had the experience of a lifetime so far. It's been a wild ride. Now, we're planning to meet and organize a strategy to take the fight to the Thargoids.
It's like we never left.