This is a story about my character in the Elite Dangerous game. A story of love and adventure, with a taste of science and beauty of space ships. A diary written by Commander Rhea, passionate fighter pilot.

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Day Three

  The day passed, my ship is in a hangar with repair bots working around the clock. I’m laying on the bed in low gravity of a Coriolis station. I can’t stop thinking about him. It’s almost noon, i’m surprised that it’s taking so long to fix the armor plating on my Fer deLance. There wasn’t any hull integrity damage, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.
  “Incoming encoded transmission.” Daydreaming will have to wait… My guess is that it’s my employer, probably unhappy with my failure to retrieve his precious cargo. “Answer.” I sit up and fix my hair. “Commander Rhea!” Obviously annoyed old man on the other side… “Hello,” I replied, with neutral voice. The communication was voice only, otherwise I would nicely bow as it is a custom in the Empire. “I will tripple the reward if you can find the cargo, but please hurry, it’s very important!” To be honest I would just fly down to the city and have a small vacation, perhaps my life would change thanks to the young man i met the other day, however, there was something in the voice of this old man that made me very curious what is that cargo, he sounds like he really cares about it a lot. “I will do my best, my Lord.” - “Thank you,” did I just hear relief? Interesting. “End transmission.”

  Repairs are finished, ammunition restocked, time to leave. I catch myself thinking about Eric again, as the Fer deLance raises from the depths of the station to the docking bay. I shake my head, i can’t afford a distraction right now. I slam throttle full forward while retracting the landing gear, however without boost, I don’t need to be on the docking blacklist here… Boosting inside of a station can do some serious damage. I already made my mind where to next during the conversation with the old man. I chose bad time to leave the station, my destination is on the other side of the planet. I’m in a hurry though… “Kirea open comms to the surface flight control.” - “bleep” - “Zorgon Peterson Romeo Hotel Echo Alpha, requesting landing permission at the Baynes City Spaceport.” - “Stand by,” following standard protocol, I’m requesting landing permission down in the city. They won’t even let you enter their air space around the city without it, it’s a big city, busy spaceport. “Permission granted, proceed to Zone B, Landing pad 34.” Damn… that’s pretty far from the main offices of the planetary security… My plan is to ask about those wrecked eagles, I hope that there will be some kind of sign where did they come from. It will likely involve a fair bit of waiting, I doubt that they took care of the crash site yet.
  “Kirea open comms to Eric.” He left me with his ID at least, so I can get in touch with him. “Come on answer meh…“ - “bleep” - “Hello?” It’s him! “Hi there,” i said, i feel like a teenager, my cheeks are burning too… “Oh hi! You haven’t left yet?” - “I did, I was at the station actually, when i received … lets say extension of the contract, I am to investigate where did the cargo ‘disappear’ to.” I didn’t want to say too much, I don’t know what’s going on with this contract but I don’t want to risk anything anymore. “Oh… okay” he replied. “I was wondering… maybe.. if you will have some free time.. I will be in the city today.” Geez I feel so silly! “And you would like to go out with me? I’ll be more than happy to show you around.” Pfft, he’s even teasing me. “Okay… Could you pick me up at the space port? We could meet in the hall, Zone B.” - “8 o’clock?” I nodded only to realise that it’s voice only… “…yes!” - “Okay, see you later then.” - “End transmission.” I lean backwards in my seat, smiling…
  “Warning, entering upper stratosphere.” I grab the stick and throttle again, and check the shields status. Most of the medium and smaller ships are aerodynamic and fine to enter without shields, however, I don’t need the paint burnt off… It’s somewhat fresh afterall hehe… It’s always quite a view as the dark sky slowly changes color into blue, with orange plasma mixed with blue flashes of the shield doing its job. Some modified shields have different colour, some are purple and some are green. I opt for the ballanced blue ones usually, they provide good protection with good recharge rates, while the green ones, also called Prismatic, are superior in strength, however they take at least twice that long to charge. Purple ones are the opposite, they are weaker, but they charge very fast. “Kirea open comms to Baynes City flight control.” - “bleep” - “Zorgon Peterson Romeo Hotel Echo Alpha, entering the Baynes City airspace, destination B-34.” - “Acknowledged, proceed.”

  I’m nervous and it’s still several hours away. I didn’t date anyone since i was a kid, which probably doesn’t count anyway. Anyway, I still have to visit the security office.
  “How may I help you?” asked an officer at the front desk. “Hello, I’m responsible for those three Eagles west of the city… or what’s left of them anyway.” I boldly state, and he just stares at me for a second before touching his ear piece. “Sir, there is someone claiming responsibility for the three destroyed ships. … Will do, sir.” He then looks at me, and gestures at the couch nearby. “Please, sit down, someone will be with you in a moment.” And so I walk over there, look around, and sit down. Waiting… always waiting… this will take ages, maybe I could get a tea somewhere nearby? “Excuse me.” Never mind, someone is walking towards me. It’s male officer, with mustache. “Are you the pilot responsible for the destruction of three Eagles roughly 24 to 36 hours ago?” He’s looking at my flight suit, his sight stopped on my shoulder, where my combat rank is. The Elite rank looks rather fancy I have to admit. Well, lets deal with it… I stand up and answer “Yes, I would have some questions.” - “You will have to come with me.” I’m confused, i will -have to- go? “Lead the way then.” There is no point arguing with them, especially if you want something from them, which I do…
  So they lead me into small room, one table, two chairs. I believe that this is where they interrogate suspects. Oh well… “Please sit down and tell me your name and identification of your ship.” - “Commander Rhea Ayase would be me, and the ship is Zorgon Peterson, Fer deLance by the name Kirea. Unique ID is Zorgon Peterson Romeo Hotel Echo Alpha.” I cross my arms as I finish, looking at him seriously. “Please wait a moment, I have to verify this.” And so he walks away… what did I say? Lots of waiting… sigh
  He returns a few minutes later, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience Commander, please understand that we can’t have people destroying ships all around the planet. Your naval rank is a whole different story though.” I knew it. As soon as they figure out my rank with the Imperial Navy, they pull their tail. “I understand, don’t worry.” - “How may we be of service?” He’s extremely polite now, it’s quite funny how quickly they change their attitude towards people of higher rank or political standing… bureaucracy. “I was wondering whether you had time to investigate whatever was left of them, I need to find out where did they come from and who they were.” I hope that they did recover black boxes, or at least transponders, or well, some other parts… “Well, we did not manage to look into the two that crashed a few hundred kilometers west, however the third that was nearby was completely destroyed, any kind of identification is gone.” Figured, after meeting them railguns… “Could you please send me a message as soon as you recover the other two wrecks? These should be fine, they just crashed into the ground. Were there any survivers?” - “Both ships were empty, whether they survived or not I do not know, and transponders were missing as well.” Now i’m angry! “Okay, please let me know as soon as you get what’s left into the city.” The officer nodded and opened the door for me. “Thank you for your time and help.” I turned back on the other side of the door and bowed, and walked away.

  I’m on my way from the security offices, spacing out all the time, sometimes about the issue at hand, while other times about my upcoming date. I need clothes, I can’t go in the damn suit again. I’ll wear my favorite skirt and top, but I could use some light, nice jacket to go with it. It’s cold at night and i’m not used to natural weather.

  It’s almost 8… looking into my tiny mirror under bad lighting in my ship… i’m nervous.

 

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