A Little R & R

Selina sat down at her terminal with a quiet sigh. A cool breeze off the nearby ocean water blew it's way through her open air cottage. Outside, the local insects sang their eerie tunes to each other, a constant chorus of chirps and buzzing that to many, the sound came together in what is often thought to be a very entrancing music, the whispered words of the sirens hidden within, lulling the weary traveler into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Besides being a bit out of the way from the usual war scarred or overly populated planets, it was one of the reasons she enjoyed coming here. Many referred to it as a place where one could go and live out a Second Life, free from the corporations and governments and all the political battles that were fought far above and beyond in the depths of space.

Sitting on the veranda, she keyed up the terminal, punched in her access codes and waited for the usual beep to notify her it had started recording.

"Begin personal log 59730-86-571."

She paused for a moment, eyes turning to stair out over the waves crashing over the sandy beach nearby.

"I'm starting to lose track of when it was I last breathed the recirculated air of a spaceship. When I last felt the warm goo of the capsule... To be honest, it feels good. I know of course I'm going to have to return again, and soon, but for the time being, I've been enjoying my much needed vacation.

"I've already made contact with some of my old co-pilots. Things within the corporation have really appeared to have gone to shit. Some predicted this, others denied even the remote possibility of it. I sort of saw it coming, saw the degeneration of spirits within the corp and out of frustration, decided it was time for a vacation. Now, as I begin looking towards my return to capsuleer life, I'm learning a lot has changed.

"My old mentor, Mikolan, has resigned his pilot's license entirely. He contracted me all his assets, much of which i can't even use given they're Minmatar and Caldari operating systems (of which I know so little about), mining gear and whatever else he had collecting dust in hangers spread out across New Eden. He also sold his clones, pulling in a hefty 3.7 billion of which he gave me 3.5 of that. I guess 200 million is enough to retire on? I don't know. Personally, I have no intentions of doing that myself any time soon. So with the 3.5 and whatever I make from selling off his assets....well, lets just say I'll be pretty well set for awhile.

"And it's a good thing too as I also just resigned my position within the corporation. Not sure yet what I'm going to do from here though. I need to take some time to sort through the pile of ships and gear I have, sell what I'll never use, trash what I can't sell, inventory what I intend to keep...etc, etc. After that...I don't know. I've got a friend out in 0.0 wanting me to join up with them. Guess they're currently at war with the Goons and could use the extra set of guns. Another old friend submitted his application to them yesterday in fact.

"Strange as it is for me to say though...I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. I would no longer consider myself a fresh pilot, a rookie or any other newbish name one might come up with...but then I'm far from being a seasoned pilot as well. Truth is, I want to experience it all. Well...okay. Not all. The whole manufacturing and trading side doesn't interest me in the least. And after having watched the rather boring and mundane activities Mikolan went through with the whole mining bit...umm...yeah. That's not for me either. No surprise to me that he retired so soon. As for exploring, yes. I fully intend to train up those skills as I could certainly make use of being able to find the hidden plexes, archeology and radar sights. (Could REALLY care less about the wormholes unless it takes me from one side of New Eden to another perhaps for some little travelling adventure.)

"I'm done with the high sec, empire corporations. I've come to the conclusion that any corporation, who spends more than 75% of their time in High Sec is a complete waste of my time. Not saying they're bad people. I mean, some one's gotta build the guns and ammo for the rest of us to blow each other up with. It's just that I'm not a productive type. I'm the destructive type. The blood of others is my drug. The death and explosions I creates the energy that drives me. And the more I get, the more I want.

"So I have a few options I could consider.

"One, I stay solo and just hack out my own existence. Fighting and killing anything that I cross paths with. Of course this is a rather lonely and difficult road but challenges are something I thoroughly enjoy. But I could easily see that becoming rather boring and tactically difficult in such a vast universe.

"Option two is to join my friends in nullsec. That is of course given I am accepted by their corporation. I'm sure with their endorsement, I could get in though and my desire to go live in nullsec is quite powerful.

"Third option. Join the Gallante militia. They're always in need of pilots. And especially now with the latest news I've picked up on regarding their horrible losses against the Caldari. But empire politics really don't interest me. I never have been much for being just a pawn in a political war machine.

"That leaves, the fourth, final, and also very tempting option of turning pirate. Normally, I'm the one going after the so-called 'blinkies' but yet...to be one... To actually live that life I read so much about in the public pilot logs... To truly live by my own rules... Damn, it's so tempting...

"So I don't know. As I said, I have a lot of gear I've got to get sorted first before I have to actually make the decision, so there's no rush. But soon...soon the time will come and it's certainly something I need to think about.

"End log."

Leaning back in her seat, her eyes briefly went distant as she pondered over all she'd spoken. Finally, after a lengthy moment, she breathed in deeply the cool air blowing in off the water and let out a sigh. She really should get back to work on going over the inventory lists her accountant had sent her but...eh. "What's the rush," she thought as she grabbed her surfboard from beside the door, she struck out across the sand with a wide smile. "Work can wait for just another day..."