Can we suspend the incurring of fines in war zones, please?
24 Feb 2023Ember Lacson
I don't even remember how I got that fine. Was it because a couple of shards touched an already destroyed landing pad when I was attacking a scout? Did I accidentally caress the shields of one of the local AX pilots? I'm sure it wasn't pad loitering, because I was never in the vicinity of the pad unless I had docking clearance. The No Fire Zone has obviously been suspended, so it wasn't me going weapons hot as soon as I lifted off.... What the hell was it?! When I asked the officials, they said nobody was there to answer my question. When I tried to hand them the money so that I could get my access restored, they said nobody was there to process it. So, this is an open letter to all AX contract pilots who aren't affiliated with the AXI or Pilots Federation. Ahem. Go to your ship panel—the one on the right—tab over a couple times to the Ship tab, scroll down a couple of screens, and do you see that little thing that says "Report crimes against me?" Turn it the frak off. You're in a war zone. Friendly crossfire happens all the damn time. If it wasn't you, it wasn't you. But make sure it's not you. It's basic etiquette for wing combat of any kind that any CMDR with any experience would know. Not to sound elitist, but...well, here we are.In any case, the invasion in Vogulu was repelled successfully. All there is to do there is mop up the stragglers. I still have twenty Scouts to bag in the system before I can move on, and frankly I haven't had enough coffee as I'm writing this to return to Steiner's. The nearest Interstellar Factor contact that wasn't registered at an abandoned port was almost twenty light years away at a planetary port. Nicole was disappointed when I told her I was too tired to fly back to the carrier, but when I said it was a planetary port, she said she needed to practice her landings anyway. She's authorized to access my ship storage, so she hopped in my Exploracourier and came to join me. Nothing could have wiped the smile off her face when she disembarked. I playfully accused her of just wanting to fly a Courier, and she said, "Maybe."
We got a bite to eat and chatted with some of the locals before turning in. I was asleep pretty much right away, but in the middle of the night Nicole woke me up. I thought she was having convulsions, but when I woke her up she said it was just a nightmare. When I asked her what happened in it, she hesitated for a moment, then said, "Giant spiders," before snuggling back into my arms. She's never been afraid of spiders. I don't want to say something's fishy, but something's definitely weird. Maybe I'm just confused. Maybe her hesitation was just embarrassment. Hell, I'd be embarrassed too if something I thought was cute or cool in real life invaded my nightmares to keep me awake.
Nicole has already jumped back to Putas (sorry, Spanish speakers, that's the actual system name). I'm going to head back to Vogulu to clean up some Scouts, then I'll head home, take a nice hot shower, and change over to pax for a while.