Nevermore

Greetings IGS, it’s been sometime since I last made an announcement on these hallowed walls, but this is something I should have said a long time ago.

In just 22 more days, it will be… what should have been… my 4th year anniversary to the breathtaking Evanda Char.

I know that I let you down and gave you, probably, some of the worst months of your life… for that I am sorry.

More importantly, I did something even worse and broke a promise to you that I regret to this day. Whether it was my own fault or not doesn’t really matter, at the end of the day I hurt you. I am so sorry, I never meant to leave.

That’s all I wanted to say, well, apart from thanking you for giving me the best days that I will ever remember and for those memories, I commissioned an up and coming holo-artist to produce a piece which, I hope, will keep some of those memories alive.

Hjoramold will never be the same…. so have a Rum and Quafe on me.

Holo image reviews from Odatrik and Amamake.

Another Sansha carrier down, though it was only a Chimera.

Lonetrek…. what a sad sad region.

But I’m not here for the sight seeing.

Not two hours ago, stuck inside a station hanger while two of our mercenary targets wait for me to undock.

Yep, nothing new there…until..

Splashdown : “Undocking?”

I mean, seriously, how can I not take up an offer like that?

So, Scotty clears me and out I jump… out to take on a joint team of a Rifter and an Armageddon…yeah, this will go well..

The Mighty "Indoctrinate" undocks...

…..

Rifter is straight on me, locked jammed and webbed… okay..

Geddon drops it’s drones, Hmm…. shields down to half.

Thankfully, the Rifter pilot had not counted on one thing…

MWD’s…

Yes, he’d fitted a Warp Disruptor instead of the Scrambler…

Bang, MWD on, drones falling behind.

Tracking disruptor on, poof, Geddon loses lock…. Rifter out of range..

Cloak on…

No death today…. not yet, anyway.

So, it is set.

A small hanger of ships prepared.

A few hundred million ISK spent on fittings.

Targets named.

5 hours to go until the fun can begin…. this time, no repercussions, no fear…. just streams of fire.

A lone blinking green light was flashing, illuminating the sparsely decorated room. The metallic walls glowed with the light while the sound of faint breathing echoed.

A gentle sigh left the lips of the slowly waking man as he slowly sat up on the barely functional bed. Letting out a couple of coughs, he wipes his hand over the flashing Neocom and reads the message it presents.

“Guess that’s it then….”

Running his fingers over the Neocom, he takes a deep breath…

“Open internal comms relay. Minmatar United Freedom Front. Begin message…

Members of MUFF, it is with a heavy heart that today, I hand in my resignation from the position of CEO and also my position as an employee of the corporation. Unfortunately there are matters that I must attend to and I cannot do them while I am in this position.

As such, I leave Kerianna to hold the reigns while I step out into the big blue. I hope I see some of you again soon.

Fly safe my friends…

End recording and send.

…it’s time for a new dawn…”

Meklon takes his hand from the Neocom as it returns to it’s suspended state, as he stands the lights in the room begin to illuminate, deactivating moments later as he disappears through his quarters doorway.

The embedded strip lights in the wall flickered, casting eerie shadows around the bare room. Several terminals were busy running automated tasks, keeping the corporations daily routines in check, yet there appeared to be no sign of anyone physically entering the office for some time.

The control desk was covered in layers of fine dust, Meklon ran his finger over the surface and sighed heavily.

“Nothing but ghosts…..”

He sat down and began the main terminals power-up procedure, comforting himself into the old chair which had served himself and those before him as the head of the Minmatar United Freedom Front. Within seconds, his eyes glazed as he began accessing the corporate logs….

…a few active pilots remaining…
…Biggus Tankus stepped down as CEO…
…Meklon given the CEO position…
…Multiple offices closed. Gulfonodi assetts impounded and locked down…
…POS Network offline…
…Alliance status dissolved…
…Mass pilot evacuation…

Meklon breathed out deeply, sitting back into the chair as his eyes refocused to the physical realm.

Always the same, dreams and lives broken, decisions to be made….

“I think the old girl deserves a rest, too much to do………”

***//Audio Feed//***

“….Neocom unit has taken some slight damage but still functional, to a degree. Local wildlife is getting a little more interested in me… no ammo left for the firearms, stuck with makeshift polearms.

There was a faint transmission signal about 7 hours ago, but I fear that it was just some form of comms glitch.

I don’t think I’m getting out of this one alive, so this… will probably be the last entry I make.

If anyone finds whats left of me here, please, get my corpse off of this rock and take it back to the Gulfonodi system.

…it’s funny really, for the first time I’m thinking about the mortality I have, which for the last 5 years or so I have taken for granted….. I don’t want to die, not yet…”

***//Audio Feed Terminated//***

The barren wasteland stretched over the horizon, the seemingly endless grey desert of course granite only giving way to the onsetting dark as the white sun slowly slipped out of sight.
A small camp fire blazed in the dusk throwing a myriad of dancing shadows to crawl over the makeshift lean-to, fashioned from the debris of the ruined shuttle,  almost hypnotizing yet also moving in such a familiar way.

The localized area was bleak, a few pockets of solidified H2O and several species of indigenous wildlife to provide enough substanence to survive, the air was heavy, almost a fog – so much so, that a breathful would be like breathing underwater. Scattered around the floor were signs of activity, empty ration packs, datapads, empty polycarbon bottles, various handscanners and two pistol based firearms.

Crouched infront of the fire, shrowded in several emergency rough and worn blankets, a lone figure sits poking the fire with a dulled combat knife. A small spit is hoisted above the fire with an indistinguishable animal tied to it, though the cadaver is missing several chunks of it’s flesh.

A chill wind starts to blow, causing the figure to stand slowly, turning to face the wind. The blankets flutter slightly, a pair of tatterted Caldari Navy combat boots flicker into view as the blankets continue to move with the wind as the lone man drags a couple of battered thermic shielding plates over to the fire and sets them into the ground, creating a small wind breaker before sitting back down to the fire. He unveils his wrist for a moment, his fingers dancing over the signaless Neocom…

“Begin journal entry… date unknown.

I’m estimating a good four months I’ve been stranded here now… if this forsaken lump of rock has a standard orbital day. I’ve finally managed to salvage parts from the wreck to get the Neocom unit charged, however, I’m not receiving any relay signal so I doubt this will actually get through.

I’m not sure how much time this thing will last, so these entries will be sparse, but for now there is adequate supplies… of a sort… to survive a while longer. There seems to be no local violent wildlife and the weather seems to…”

A violent gust of wind forces through, sending one of the thermal shields spiraling into the air…

“…be the greatest threat. I’d best take shelter for the night, it’s going to be a rough one.”

As he stands he throws one of the blankets over the fire and takes the remains of his meal, wrapping it in his make-shift shawl. Stumbling against the wind, he crawls under his lean-to, pulling up the bulk-head door to break the wind with a small pulley system.

“Goodnight my dear….”

Powering down the Neocom unit, he places the ‘food’ into a small storage container before curling onto a small roll mat to spend the rest of the night listening to the wind…

Redirected through CONCORD communication relay A762BB2….
Originating source……………..unknown.

Destination…………………………Gulfonodi X-15 Republic Fleet Testing Facilities.
Originating ID……………….unable to display contents.

<————HoloMessage container begins—————->

*…random static flutters for 12 seconds…*

“………on tracing the la…… “

*…a high frequency burst screams through the message for 2 seconds…*

“….ation is red, but ……….. shortly through………ming home.”

<————HoloMessage container ends—————->

Well, guess I’m going to be taking a trip into CVA space soon….

…and if I’m honest, I’m really looking forward to it.
I don’t think I’ve ever been excited in this way to head to Providence, but damn, I think it’s going to be worth it in ways I can’t yet fathom.

Oh well… better start packing…