EVE Blog Banter #3

This month's EVE Blog Banter comes to us from Roc Wieler of Roc's Ramblings. Roc's asks us to "write a story about a fellow EVE Blogger, or an EVE player whom has inspired you or affected you in some tangible way. After your story, describe why you chose them, and any Holiday wish you have specifically for them".

Oh my.

I would love to write a story about a number of my fellow EVE bloggers and a fair few are already in my blog posts; by some quirk of fate The Bastards Alliance has managed to accumulate a large number of the pirate bloggers out there including the well-known vixen of destruction, Mynxee and the sexy, sweet voiced but oh-so-deadly, Shae Tiann. We then have Jedizah (witty, fun pirate out-takes) and Hallan (crazy rifter pilot) and now Khaled, VB Sarge, and more.

In no particular order of importance, here are the EVE Players who have inspired me and continue to inspire me in New Eden. I wish them a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

• Kane Rizzel
  
• Jubes
  
• Mynxee
• Shae Tiann
• RoninData
• Viper Sam
• Votrian Alpha
• Chribba
• CrazyKinux
• Ombey
  

However, I feel like that I should write about a very special 'someone' who has inspired me into logging into New Eden daily and why I fly the way I do. This someone keeps me coming back, day after day. I love her very much.

Sit back and enjoy.

+++

"Pilot designation: Flashfresh. Ship types qualified: Minmatar MK III Rifter-class frigate. Posting"

With some pride, I stepped forward and took the small bio-chip and placed it onto the back of my hand. It beeped as it recognised my DNA. I had finally qualified to fly the rifter-class frigate, I had been working for agents of various corporations already, moving goods and mining asteroids. However, higher quality and much more regarded agents were now already lining up offering me work and the future was bright. Graduating from the reaper-class ship straight from pod academy took months of dedicated study but it was worth it. There was a ripple of polite applause from the assembled class of '56, my class and my friends, as I made my way back to my seat. Pity my parents were not alive to see me this day.

I glanced around the crowd, those seated around me and the general spectators gallery further back. Specifically, I scanned for one individual in particular and eventually spotted her in the shadows. Even in the dark, I could see her green eyes boring into me. I knew she was smiling, like a feral cat.

After the graduation ceremony, with a drink in hand, I slipped away and waited for her, my heart pounding like a drum. In my sweaty hand was a note, handwritten in a beautiful flowing script. It said simply: 'West Balcony, second floor. 19:00 standard. Angel' I tried to re-hearse what I wanted to say, thoughts tumbling in my mind, so much to gush out and yet, still not enough. What if I said something wrong? What if she did not turn up?

"You're early."

Shocked, I whirled around, nearly sloshing my drink out of the cup. There she was: even in the long dark cloak, her slim figure underneath was so evident , the curves tantalisingly close to the surface. Her face, still hidden in the shadows of her hood, didn't hide the mischievous smile beaming from it. She called herself Angel, though I doubt it was her real name.

"I, I-." Stammering like a fool. Her hand, ending in immaculately manicured nails, reached out covered my mouth. Cool and firm.

"Shhhhhh" She murmured to me and then grabbed my hand. "Come with me and close your eyes. I have a surprise for you."

Like a fool in a drunken stupor, I was dragged and staggered after her. I tried to figure out where I was going, it was getting noisier and I could smell a combination of engine oil and the tang of ozone. I think we were close to one of the station's hangar.

"Watch your step Flash." She warned, as I tripped over what felt like a cable. "We're almost there." I felt her positioning me and then with a soft whisper she said.

"Open your eyes."

She had indeed led me towards the ship hangar and I was underneath a freshly painted rifter-class frigate, a newer MK IV with upgraded engines. She twirled.

"Here's your new ship, loverboy."

I was gobsmacked.

"Pardon? This is mine? Why?" I blurbed. She twirled close to me and leaned close and kissed me on the nose.

"Why? Because of what we discussed last week. I see so much potential in you. So much. You are destined for great things Flash. Great things. People shall hear your name and quake in fear."

I stared at the ship and then her. She continued.

"I know what you're thinking, those stupid mining operations those idiot agents keep asking you to do. They're beneath you. You said as much. Those courier runs, can be done by drones. I can see in you a need for a challenge. Deep down you know that, unless you take a different path, then this will be your future. An eternity of mining and hauling. You're immortal lover boy. You can do more. You crave for constant change and excitement."

I shook my head, I was proud of what I had done so far. My standings with my agents were rising.

"No, you're wrong. I am happy with my life as a capsuleer. I am valued and the work is stimulating."

She laughed, a light musical note.

"Stimulating? I don't need to hack into your cortex links to know that you day dream about other things when you're hauling cans of quafe between systems." She winked. "And you talk in your sleep..."

"Other things?" I asked, a slight tickle of fear in my stomach.

"Yes, other things. You dream of pitched fights in the depths of space, where the strong, like you survive. You dream of riches beyond your imagination. Where you answer to no one but yourself and fate."

I slowly nodded, a little bit shocked at how easily this woman had wormed it out of me.

"Want me to show you another life? A life that you have been looking for ever since your parents were killed?"

I was a capsuleer. An elite of elite. However, it was true that I wanted more. So much more than hauling quafe and toy dolls between systems. She turned around and walked towards the section of the hangar where the capsuleers entered their pods.

"Let me show you."

I was gobsmacked for the second time, stripped nearly naked and about to enter the warm gelatious goo of the pod when I heard the soft rustle of a robe dropping down onto the floor. I glanced back and saw Angel's slim, naked body filling my vision. I tried to hide my excitement but with only a small towel, it was hard.

"I am going to join you Flash.We'll link in together." A technician, hidden in the background until now, sputtered.

"This is strictly against regulations! The pod is not designed for -" The protestation of the technician cut short abruptly at the sudden appearance of exquisite diamonds on the table.

"Will this take care of any irregularities?" She purred.

The technician scooped up the gems and regarded them keenly. His eyes widened a little and he coughed nervously.

"Certainly miss. Certainly."

Ah the power of isk. She winked at me and whispered.

"The power of near limitless levels of isk, all can be yours." She reached out her hand and pulled me close. Moving closer to me, I could feel the coolness of her skin and the swell of her breasts. It was evident that I was extremely excited but she merely giggled.

"Hold on." The floor below us opened up and I dropped down into the floor below, the pod was waiting for us. It was a tight and very intimate squeeze in the capsule. Not at all uncomfortable. The automated cortex links snaked out and slithered into the various input sockets around the back of our heads and spines. The pod lid slowly closed as the warm, amniotic flooded in. We clasped each other closer and slowly, my consciousness was expanded as the pod was plugged into the waiting rifter.

I opened up my eyes to the vastness of space and my soul soared as the rifter left the undock point.

"Let me show you another world Flash."

The rifter hit the afterburners and streaked away towards a gate, I noticed that the frigate was heading away from the main centres and into the wilds of low-security space.

"Where are we going?" I asked; well, I thought of the question as I couldn't speak, otherwise I would choke on the amniotic gel.

"To low-sec and your destiny Flash."

There was a flash of fear as I recalled the horror stories of this region of un-lawful space. It was away from the reach of CONCORD unless you were close to the gates and stations but the regions betwen them was no-man's land. Ships were pulverised into scrap by those who preyed on them.

"Is it safe?"

"Of course it is. You're not going to be a victim anymore. Just relax."

The rifter made the journey and finally jumped into low-sec, the warning message by Aurora casually dismissed. I was in low-sec. There were no monsters waiting to gobble me up. Just me and lots of asteroids.

There was a blip on the screen.

"Ah. We have a guest in the system. Can you see him Flash?"

I willed the scanner up and performed a quick scan and located another rifter in a belt.

"That's good Flash, but I am afraid he's found you first." There was a shriek. "Battlestations lover boy. You better show me what you have."

The second rifter jumped into the same belt and immediately locked me. My rifter was rocked back and forth as missiles smacked against the shields. My shields were already gone and I hadn't got a shot off. Whipping my rifter around and diving into the belt, I hit the afterburner. Behind me, the enemy rifter gave chase. I ducked and dived between massive asteroids, auto canon fire stitching a firery path behind me.

"You're doing good Flash, but time to bite back. Here, let me show you." My rifter, now not in my control, performed a physics defying loop and turn and I was suddenly behind the enemy rifter. "Now back to you."

The tone of my targetting computer changed into a solid tone. I opened up with my 150mm autocanons, the emp shells streaked across space and blowing out the rear shields of the enemy rifter. Adrenaline was pumping into my body at a furious rate. I felt like a God. The second and third salvo bit deep into the armour.

My soul soared at the same time as a bestial side of me strode to the fore. The fourth salvo punched into the hull.

I was intoxicated on the wine of combat. The enemy rifter tried to escape by diving up and out of the belt but I had the angle. The fifth salvo and the enemy's craft burst into pieces.

"Get the pod."

The pod was locked and I had this pod pilot's life in my hands.

"What are you going to do Flash? He has opened up to chat to you." There was a tingle in my back of my head as I communication implants patched into those of the defeated pilot. His voice (or thoughts) came in, accent-less and with a hint (oddly) of oranges. His avatar shimmered in my mind: a stern faced, Amarrian no less.

"Mercy. You beat me. I beg for mercy. I have no isk now." He said.

"None? Surely your ship was insured?" I answered.

"Well, yes but I need it to get a new one." He said.

Kill him, whispered Angel.

"True enough but you did fire on me first." I protested, my anger still not abated.

"Yes, but this is low-security space. I saw you and you're more or less out of pod school in a shiny new ship. I thought, why not?"

Kill him.

Without another thought, I opened fire and smashed his pod open. The warm, embracing amniotic fluid, cushioning and protecting the pilot, flash froze in the vacuum of space. I was on a high and I was addicted. This is what I wanted to do. This. THIS.

My heart, still hammering away, deafened my enhanced hearing. I wanted this to continue but wondered whether my body could take anymore. I savoured the feeling for a good fifteen minutes, completely oblivous to anything else. I was cursing for even trying to fool myself that running missions for faceless agents was to be the destiny of a capsuleer. I had lost so much time.

Reluctantly, the rifter headed back to base and I was soon docked up. Staggering out of the pod, I flopped like a newly birth calf onto the plasteel floor. A technician came forward and offered me a towel. Angel stepped away and moved straight to a shower unit.

"You did so well Flash. So well, I am proud of you."

I smiled weakly, still exhausted.

"I am leaving now, I have set you on the path that we both wanted."

"When are you back Angel?

She shook her head and smiled.

"You are destined to do great things Flash and every time you fly out and see the vastness of space, you will see me."

I now felt physically weak, the thrill of my first kill still coursing through me and sapping my motor energy.

"Wait. Wait. Don't leave. I can't do this on my own."

Angel shook her head, dark hair tumbling around her, miraculously dry and shiny.

"You did all that yourself. Bye bye Flash. We will not meet in the flesh again."

I reached out, my legs apparently not working.

"Wait. Angel. Is that your real name? Who are you? I don't even know you. I never knew you did I?"

She paused and turned her head towards me, her face, already made up, plump red lips parting in a slow wicked smile.

"You knew me in your dreamings of a better life in space. You knew me when you killed that pod pilot. You know who I am when you locked on that ship. You know me, you always had." She approached the exit, she was already dressed and looked immaculate.

"And my name is Eve and I am pleased to have made your acquaintance."
+++

Merry Christmas everyone. Current Blog Banter entries:

• CrazyKinux's Musing: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
  
• The Wandering Druid of Tranquility: What will your verse be?…
• A Merry Life and A Short One: EVE Blog Banter #3: What Not To Do
• Mad Rant: My Hero
• The Ralpha Dogs: A Greeting Card
• Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah: The Station
• Diving into Psyche Diver's Psyche: CK's Blog Banter #3: Praise and kudos
• Roc’s Ramblings: Blog Banter #3 - PyjamaSam
• Protosolus: EVE: Blog Banter 3 - A Piratical Legend
• Blogging from inside the Pod: The ‘Jita Incident’
• Achernar: Citizen Zhang
• Cosmik R5's EVE Blog: Blog Banter: Tribute to an EVE player - Letrange
• Letrange's EVE Blog: Is it December Banter time already?
• Life in Low Sec: EVE Blog Banter #3: Reverend Book
  
• Sweet Little Bad Girl: Blog Banter #3
  
• Votrian's EVE Blog: EVE Blog Banter #3 - my influences
• Zen and the Art of Internet Spaceship Maintenance: Blog Banter #3 Ships that pass in the night
• A Mule in EVE: The reawakening
• Jinarre's New Eden: Blog Banter: Inspiration
• The House Theodoulos: EVE Blog Banter #3
• Flashfresh - The Pirate: EVE Blog Banter #3