Chapter Seven Beta

Milliway's and the Frigid North

ISK Balance: 12,010,000.00

After waking up at eight yesterday morning, I was overjoyed to find that downtime was to end in just thirty seconds. Leaping at this unexpected opportunity, I plotted the a westward-wheeling route I felt struck a nice balance between safety and speed. I rocketed through Empire space, and had broken through into the lawlessness of of no-security space - and into space claimed by the Fallen Souls alliance.

I checked the active pilots filter of my map obsessively, watching with concern as the one station system I had to brave began to glow a brighter yellow with each refreshing. I also surprised myself some by having the foresight to check the surrounding sovereignty, and was pleased to see that Fallen Souls was arranged in a narrow east-to-west strip, meaning I might be able to lose any pursuers by passing into a neighbor's territory where the predators might tread more warily.

I threw caution to the wind in favor of speed and warped straight through the station system, passing clean through Fallen Souls' space a few sparse minutes after triggering their perimeter alarms. Pleased with myself, I laid back to enjoy the dead silence of the rest of the trip. System after abandoned system flashed by, and a 50+ jump journey that had taken hours the first time through had taken but one hour. Yggdrasil and I idled at yet another edge of the galaxy with the aptly-named Milliway's to our back, and chatted with the locals.

This northermost system, interestingly enough, is owned by Mercenary Coalition. It shouldn't be a surprise they claim it as a Province, but it is to me since I'm so used to seeing them in action against strongholds in the south. It amuses me in the same way a tropical bird stranded in the Arctic amuses me. Unfortunately, this particular tropical bird is heavily armed and frequently displeased.

It's fitting, as I plan to head south next. After exploring the heavily fractured political nature of the north where the region flails wildly without the solidity Dusk and Dawn provided, I'm ready for the battlefield of the south where I hope to see some of the military giants that define EVE ramming into each other like rhinoceroses. One of my favorite systems, FAT-6P, has been heavily besieged - seems as good a place to start as any.

Best be getting underway now, shouldn't we?

Also, I'd like to thank Tassadar Beta for the advance payment on the next Stabber I'm going to need after I inevitably lose Yggdrasil. A small spark of an idea occured to me as I rolled the eleven million ISK around in my head, though. These ships that I take to the corners of the galaxy gather history and experiences as I fly them, just like any other pilot's ship, but then I feel as through I've lost that history with each ship's destruction. In the interest of preserving a bit of that lineage, perhaps someone who's interested might buy one of these ships and the smidgin of legend they've accumulated, and further my own journey by way of their patronage.

Just a thought, not one important enough to preclude the lure of the south.