I've been a commander with the Pilots Federation since 3304, and I figure it's finally time I start writing down some of the adventures I've had over the years. Big things have been brewing in the galaxy, between the end of the Thargoid war and the invasion of Sol, the ship manufacturers ramping up production, Brewer Corporation sponsoring commander-led colonization, and the Distant Worlds 3 expedition coming up in just a couple of months. After recently flying through my home system, I decided to finally look back at the old times and record the many adventures and lessons this path has had in store.

My story begins in the core system Eranin, like many commanders around that time, as it was a hub of political activity that inspired many new pilots. I was born in New Fresno on Azeban years after the Eranin People's Party claimed the system's independence from the Federation. I had always looked up and wondered what those traveling the stars see, how the galaxy looks from their perspective. The turmoil after the Federation began trying to claim the system back only drove me to finally get out there and see for myself. I saved enough credits for a ride up to Azeban City, and from there, hitched a ride to Asellus Primus where the Pilots Federation was handing out licenses at the Local Branch at Baker's Prospect. Back in the early 3300's, the Pilots Federation initiation for new pilots was still rather rudimentary despite adding ranks for Trade and Exploration just over a decade earlier. As far as I can recall, I basically signed up, was given a Sidewinder, and kicked out the nest to more or less figure out the unknown for myself.

Harmless. Penniless. Aimless. The PF's ranks sure can be blunt.

I loved that little Sidewinder, as silly as it seems looking back now. It was my freedom, my first step out into the galaxy. I guess I have a bit of an attachment to ships; I like to really make the most of them and see how far I can take them. I spent at least 100 flight hours in that Sidewinder and did everything I could with it, as crazy as that is. Part of it was that I didn't even realize how far the possibilities went beyond the Sidewinder's capabilities. I don't know how many hours it took to realize that the ship was configured to plot economical routes instead of fastest routes by default... they didn't even cover that at the Pilots Federation branch at the time. I remember taking the trek to Maia to collect Meta-Alloys with an economical route plotted and wondered how anyone gets anywhere in the galaxy.

That ship's value is now 1.25mil credits, not bad for a little Sidey. It was definitely a rough start looking back at the ship logs. Mostly running missions between Baker's Prospect and Azeban City. Clear evidence of learning docking the hard way, with docking request logs followed by hull damage logs. Ah, that's right, the old mentors. The exploration mentor had me salvage a black box in Asellus Primus. I learned about danger the hard way when I responded to a distress call, only to find a Dangerous pilot in a Python. I turned out to be the salvage after that encounter. I barely understood how little chance I had in that moment. Honestly, I forgot about that until reading through the ship logs. A friend of mine from Eranin had also decided to try out the commander life. Unfortunately, I think the challenges commanders faced in the early 3300's put him off. As far as I know, he's probably back on Azeban enjoying the terrestrial life.

I took a liking to older artworks, especially in music, some classic pre-War era stuff. In the first half of the 21st century, and even as early as the late 20th century, some of their music started to branch into more experimental forms, birthing some of the more recognizable sounds of today. I liked the oddity of these styles, and so, many of my ships are named after songs from one of my favorite albums of that time. My Sidewinder, The Oppressor (a bit ironic, but the song sounded "spacey"), saw more action than perhaps many. All my early ranks were done in it. Learned how to drive an SRV with it. Explored every signal and station and planet I could with it, or at least it felt that way. I was taking advantage of nearby systems in economic boom, running goods and data deliveries, and apparently successfully took down my first pirate lord. I guess I got cocky as I found an opportunity to get in on a civil war. It looks like I enjoyed banging my head against the wall, and making insurance claims, as I failed to take down any combatants in war zones.

There was a community goal going on while I got my commander's license, "The Didiomanja Emperor's Grace Academy Inauguration." I learned about running out of fuel the hard way on the trek to Didiomanja, and the self-destruct feature, but I didn't yet know about the Fuel Rats. After collecting rare goods for the celebration, I got a taste of the imperial life, something totally foreign to me. What a world, a whole different culture. For my contributions, I got a huge 500,000 credits (haha). I stuck around Leydenfrost Dock for a while, beginning to build my reputation with the Empire. I started slowly getting the hang of things. Holding my own in combat, navigating, engineering, learning what worked and what didn't, what threats I had to be more careful of.

A big moment in my (very) early career was participating in one of the following community goals, where the three superpowers put a taskforce together to wipe out the terrorist organization known as the League of Reparation. Okay, combating an interstellar terrorist organization... in my little Sidewinder. Let's do this. I stacked a bunch of massacre missions, and while it did not go on without a handful of rebuys, I actually completed those missions, with some help from Federal forces of course. However, something's wrong. I asked some commanders who also joined the taskforce why the mission board shows that I have not contributed. I then learned the hard way about the difference between massacre missions and combat bonds. I probably didn't realize it on account of The Oppressor getting destroyed and salvaged repeatedly, but the other CMDRs kindly explained that combat bonds are lost upon ship destruction, while progress on a mission is not, and so I had no bonds to hand in. Great. The CMDRs were very helpful though. While I was warned that I "may get eaten alive in a Sidewinder" (not untrue), they winged up with me and headed into a high intensity conflict zone. One Sidewinder. One Cobra MkIII. One Fuel Rat in a Federal Corvette. Quite a dichotomy of firepower. A second CMDR in a Corvette showed up as well. In that wing, The Oppressor was well-protected, and suffered no further catastrophes, other than once getting my cockpit blown out and making it back to the station just barely in time. That was my first witnessing of the scale of power the ships in this galaxy could reach, and it was a sight to behold. Sadly, though I added them to my contacts, that was the first and last I ever flew with them. I hope they're well.

I did get another friend into the commander's life as well, and though we've both taken the occasional break from spaceflight, we're still going pretty strong to this day. I'll try to catch up to current day with these entries. If any other highlights from my Sidewinder days come to mind, I'll bring them up again, but I think I've rambled on even longer than I expected. Although, I did just notice one of the following community goals I took part in included rescue operations in Delphi, within the Pleiades Sector. I don't think I knew it at the time, but that was my first brush with Thargoid activity. Not much more to say about that though other than successfully rescuing some folks from a megaship. Another event I would have forgotten about had it not been recorded. Anyway, after much time in The Oppressor, I eventually wanted to see what else the galaxy had to offer. After some research, I decided on my next ship. The Asp Explorer. Oh man, that ship and my time in it deserves an entry or several on its own. I clocked hundreds of flight hours in that ship. Got it about 8 months after my first liftoff. Harmless. Penniless. Aimless. No more. I made my way up to Novice, Dealer, and Surveyor, all in The Oppressor. I guess I still have some fondness for that dinky little ship.

Fly safe.

Boxed, unsettled, the flying metals race through the sky. Identify, see through the glass eye, saying goodbye in The Oppressor.