New Skies
New Beginnings for Erica
I tossed the covers to the side and sat upright, spinning around to place my bare feet on the cold steel floor as I rubbed my tired eyes. Sitting on the edge of my bed I cast my gaze around my new quarters within Red Light District tower, then outward through the large viewing window to the system beyond. Asgard - Home of Sky Syndicate, the largest alliance in wormhole space and their executor corporation the Sky Fighters. The system was vast, much bigger than Horizon or any of my previous homes. Through the viewing window I could see ships moving within our forcefield, pilots docking with the tower itself and the bright, rhythmic throbbing of a pulsar anomoly in the distance. I shuddered as I took in the view, wearing nothing but my underwear the early morning chill within the tower was tangible. Wiping the last traces of sleep from my eyes I reached to the side to retrieve my datapad from the bedside table and began to check my messages when I noticed the date - Y116 - it suddenly dawned on me that it'd been the better part of a year since I last made an entry into my holo-diary.
Much had transpired within that past year since I'd last made an entry. So much so that the thought of updating my diary seemed somewhat intimidating. However my life, and the lives of my family, had taken a dramatic and positive turn two months ago so I figured now would be the perfect time to begin logging regular diary entries once again, as well as casting my mind back over the previous years events and gradually telling the tales that'd made it memorable.
Sky Fighters - On first impression this corporation can seem somewhat intimidating. Wormhole mercenaries with over 250 pilots living a deep-space version of the Thukker lifestyle, a reputation for appearing and dissapearing like ghosts, known for always delivering tough fights and being populated with some of the most vocal and aggressive voices to be found on the Galnet forums. I'd watched their pilots' posts closely and spent time viewing the footage of some of their battles uploaded to the Galnet. It was exciting and impressive. In my opinion this was an organization that was going places and I wanted to be a part of that.
The larakin spirit and freedom of expression within the corporation was obvious and so it wasn't a surprise that in early Y116, after feeling the dire need for a drastic change of pace in my life, I decided to contact Sith1s Spectre to discuss leaving my family corporation and joining Sky Fighters. To say I was nervous would be an understatement - since beginning my capsuleer career I'd always worked within my own corporations. This isn't to say that I wasn't used to following orders or flying in fleets though as I'd done both during my time serving in the State militia, however going from living with a dozen friends and family to living with several hundred others was a big change.
Sith1s Spectre - FC and 2iC of Sky Fighters
I sat down and took part in an interview with Sith1s Spectre over the holo-comms. Sith, an experienced fleet commander and respected combat pilot himself, was second in charge of the corporation and one of it's lead recruiters. In contrast to his nature on the Galnet forums I found Sith to be a rather pleasant and very diplomatic individual. After a lengthy conversation and exchange of several messages afterward I was security-cleared and invited to join the corporation. Excited, I quickly packed up any needed ships and supplies and made my way to Asgard, a Class 5 system that was home for the corporation. I wasn't going alone, however, my sister Dani and personal assistant Candi would both be joining me as new combat pilots for Sky Fighters.
It took several days for the logistics to be completed - setting up a tower of our own within Asgard and bringing in all needed supplies and combat vessels. For my new home I chose a version of the medium Matari tower enhanced by the Angel cartel. This would turn out to be one of the biggest mistakes I'd ever made, as while fuel costs were low the quarters were extremely cramped and the power grid exceptionally limited. This resulted in a tower that was both uncomfortable to live in and difficult to fit effectively. I decided that as soon as practical I would upgrade our new home to a large tower, but for the meantime we had other things to worry about. Foremost among them was training - training in new ship doctrines and skill sets that we weren't used too, mainly Gallente and armour based vessels, both of which I had limited exprerience with. It was for this very reason I brought my lovely little assistant Candi with me as both were her field of speciality.
Our first week began ordinarily enough. My daily routine consisting of waking, enjoying breakfast and a steamy hot caramel synth-latte before embarking on my morning exercise routine - sets of situps, pressups and jogging laps with the girls around the stront tanks on the tower's lower levels. Afterward we would spend the day patrolling our vast chain of wormholes with our new colleagues before settling down for the evening. Our nights were usually spent relaxing and reading training manuals with my sister while Candi washed and plaited my hair, waxed my legs or attended various other personal grooming needs.
Combat opportunities were limited in the first week, we had so much to do and so much to setup. However sometimes you don't need to seek out the enemy, often they'll come right to your door - or even in it. Barely a day after we arrived the call went out to active pilots to attend the static for security whilst it was rolled. It seemed a hostile Loki had just entered the system and our plan was the roll the hole and hopefully trap him inside. I jumped into my trusty brawling Tengu the Lusty Wench while Candi boarded her Proteus and we both made our way to the static. Upon landing we found ourselves camping the hole along with several other colleagues whilst Winthorp began to mass the hole with his Moros dreadnaught. Winthorp jumped out ... then back in, the hole collapsing behind him right as the hostile Loki attempted to make a break for the doomed exit.
Quickly webbed, scrammed and blobbed the Loki had nowhere to run and was quickly dispatched. A friendly Devoter landed just in time to put a bubble up afterwards, trapping the unlucky pilot's capsule. Local system chat came to life while we waited for the Moros to get a target lock.
Winthorp > gf
Winthorp > moros pod kill incoming
Winthorp > sorry bro
Feano Sabi > haha, i understand
The enemy pilot had a sporting spirit and seemed well aware of how fellow-wormholers like to operate, taking his clone's death with honour.
One little kill, one brief fight, but it was our very first engagement alongside our new brothers and sisters in Sky Fighters and we were feeling good.
