Way back in history, before mankind discovered electricity, stories were spoken from generation to generation.
The Mabinogion is a collection of stories from the old country of Wales from around 1300 AD, and one of the main characters was a wise king called Pwyll.
Fast forward 2000 years and Pwyll is the name of a star system colonised by settlers with Welsh ancestry. It is also the system where Nadir Ffenics was born.
Pwyll is within Federation space and was one of the earlier worlds settled in the waves of colonisation. 324,000 souls call it home and while the living can be hard, they're still able to maintain their unique identity and heritage.
Tanner Holdings isn't an easy place to grow up, but at least a boy can grow up normally with ground beneath his feet and gravity to know which way is up and down. As soon as he was old enough to pilot a spaceship, he was shuttling ships from long-term storage up to the launch bays. With time and experience, Nadir was able to gain a basic flight licence and began flying shuttles between the stations within the Pwyll system. It was a job, it paid the bills, and it was going exactly nowhere.
The message arrived in September 3302 with Gold priority from some attorney office with an unpronounceable name. It began, "We are the authorised executors of the Will of Blaidd Roberts, formerly of Mattingly Port."
Nadir tried to cudgel his brain into working order. "Bad Bob" was a laughing stock at Mattingly Port! He spent all his time in the bars or the sim lounges living the life of a bum! Nadir carried on reading the message,
"Due to his kindness and listening to the tales of an old space dog, I, Blaidd Roberts, bequeath to Nadir Ffenics my classic Faulcon DeLacy Sidewinder Mk1 ship, full registration with the Pilot's Federation, and 1000Cr for him to disburse as he sees fit."
Nadir felt like he'd been punched in the gut! He used to listen to Bad Bob's tall stories as a kindness and courtesy to the old spacer! he never expected Bob to remember him or give him a spaceship and registration with the Pilot's Federation!
Bob continued,
"I used to talk to Nadir about my trips to Jaques Station and drinking liquor from Jaques Quintentian Stills. Jaques might be a cyborg but he's been around a long time and seen a lot of things. I wonder if his long distance jump was an attempt to leave the bubble while he still could. I worry for this new generation because the threat of war between the Federation and the Empire is a real possibility. If you will listen to my advice one last time Nadir, GET OUT OF THE BUBBLE! Take the Sidewinder, get it fitted for deep space flight as soon as you can and get out to where Jaques Station ended up. It's the new frontier and a bold, fresh start. If war tears apart the civilised worlds, humanity will continue 22,000 light years away. Even now there is a fledgling colony being built out there. Leave the old worlds behind. Find your future at Colonia!"
And so Nadir eventually found himself stood in front of a Sidewinder in a dock in Trevithick Dock, LHS 3447.
He'd taken the phoenix as his icon and so it was a simple matter to name the ship. It would be called Aeleni, Welsh for Rebirth. The first thing he'd done was get the ship resprayed with Red Ignition flames and stencilled with the name.
Over the next 2 days, he flew the ship on courier missions around LHS 3447.
Then he spent the next 2 days flying trade runs around Yimanbin and Mahimata. Imperial slaves aren't nice to trade, but the Empire pays well to bus them around.
Then he spent the next 2 days shadowing syssec around a Hi-RES at Gl 606.1 B, stealing kills of wanted fugitives.
At the end of 6 days, Nadir had enough credits to fit the Sidewinder properly for deep space flight. Flying over to LHS 20 in Li Yong-Rui territory, he visited the Outfitters at Ohm City who could do quality ship fitting at 10% below the standard price. In the end, they even made some modifications to personalise the ship even more. It really was one of a kind.
As he sat inside Aeleni's cockpit on the launch pad, Nadir looked around at the metal, ceramic, composite and glass that was going to keep him alive for the next few weeks. "Heart of Fire baby! Heart of Fire!"
Checking the system status showed that he'd already begun to make progress with each of the disciplines for the Pilots Federation. The final one of CQC wasn't for him. Why fly simulated ships when you can fly ships for real?
Initiating final prep, he asked for clearance to launch and was given permission. Using lateral thrusters to lift vertically, retracting the landing gear, nudge the throttle forward but keep below port speed! Aiming for the slot, Nadir felt a knot begin to tighten in his stomach. He was really going to do it! He was going to head out for Jaques Station more than 22 kylies away with almost no preparation and enough credits to pay the insurance rebuy a couple of times.
Once beyond the toastrack, he punched the throttle full forward. This would be the last station he will see for the next few weeks. The next station will be Jaques in the far off Eol Prou Nebula, now renamed the Colonia Nebula... his future.
Plotting the first of many FSD jumps, Nadir spoke his traditional farewell...
Hwyl Fawr!
The Mabinogion is a collection of stories from the old country of Wales from around 1300 AD, and one of the main characters was a wise king called Pwyll.
Fast forward 2000 years and Pwyll is the name of a star system colonised by settlers with Welsh ancestry. It is also the system where Nadir Ffenics was born.
Pwyll is within Federation space and was one of the earlier worlds settled in the waves of colonisation. 324,000 souls call it home and while the living can be hard, they're still able to maintain their unique identity and heritage.
Tanner Holdings isn't an easy place to grow up, but at least a boy can grow up normally with ground beneath his feet and gravity to know which way is up and down. As soon as he was old enough to pilot a spaceship, he was shuttling ships from long-term storage up to the launch bays. With time and experience, Nadir was able to gain a basic flight licence and began flying shuttles between the stations within the Pwyll system. It was a job, it paid the bills, and it was going exactly nowhere.
The message arrived in September 3302 with Gold priority from some attorney office with an unpronounceable name. It began, "We are the authorised executors of the Will of Blaidd Roberts, formerly of Mattingly Port."
Nadir tried to cudgel his brain into working order. "Bad Bob" was a laughing stock at Mattingly Port! He spent all his time in the bars or the sim lounges living the life of a bum! Nadir carried on reading the message,
"Due to his kindness and listening to the tales of an old space dog, I, Blaidd Roberts, bequeath to Nadir Ffenics my classic Faulcon DeLacy Sidewinder Mk1 ship, full registration with the Pilot's Federation, and 1000Cr for him to disburse as he sees fit."
Nadir felt like he'd been punched in the gut! He used to listen to Bad Bob's tall stories as a kindness and courtesy to the old spacer! he never expected Bob to remember him or give him a spaceship and registration with the Pilot's Federation!
Bob continued,
"I used to talk to Nadir about my trips to Jaques Station and drinking liquor from Jaques Quintentian Stills. Jaques might be a cyborg but he's been around a long time and seen a lot of things. I wonder if his long distance jump was an attempt to leave the bubble while he still could. I worry for this new generation because the threat of war between the Federation and the Empire is a real possibility. If you will listen to my advice one last time Nadir, GET OUT OF THE BUBBLE! Take the Sidewinder, get it fitted for deep space flight as soon as you can and get out to where Jaques Station ended up. It's the new frontier and a bold, fresh start. If war tears apart the civilised worlds, humanity will continue 22,000 light years away. Even now there is a fledgling colony being built out there. Leave the old worlds behind. Find your future at Colonia!"
And so Nadir eventually found himself stood in front of a Sidewinder in a dock in Trevithick Dock, LHS 3447.
Over the next 2 days, he flew the ship on courier missions around LHS 3447.
Then he spent the next 2 days flying trade runs around Yimanbin and Mahimata. Imperial slaves aren't nice to trade, but the Empire pays well to bus them around.
Then he spent the next 2 days shadowing syssec around a Hi-RES at Gl 606.1 B, stealing kills of wanted fugitives.
Checking the system status showed that he'd already begun to make progress with each of the disciplines for the Pilots Federation. The final one of CQC wasn't for him. Why fly simulated ships when you can fly ships for real?
Once beyond the toastrack, he punched the throttle full forward. This would be the last station he will see for the next few weeks. The next station will be Jaques in the far off Eol Prou Nebula, now renamed the Colonia Nebula... his future.
Plotting the first of many FSD jumps, Nadir spoke his traditional farewell...
Hwyl Fawr!
