Transition to a New Year

A steaming cup of strong black tea sat cooling on the table in front of Erun as he relaxed in his quarters in Intaki 5-5.  The last two months had been a storm of frenetic activity, filled with the completion of old projects, laying the foundations of current ones, and brainstorming of new ones.  He'd passed several personal milestones in December and January, and February held an even bigger one. 

Continuing his efforts at becoming a better combat pilot had seen him doing quite well for both months, with his losses becoming fewer as his skill at analyzing situations improved.  Finishing his small missile skills had greatly expanded his combat options, ships like the Corax, Breacher, and the Crow now viable.  The Corax had seen mild success, and he was working on fittings for the Breacher and Claw. Encountering several Serpentis Clone Negotiators had also done a great deal to pad Erun's wallet, having been fortuitous enough to locate three in a single day in January.  Having more Isk on hand had done wonders to soften the blow every time he lost a ship, and his crew losses were minimal due to their small size and the general predictability of his battles.  The frigates he tended to fly himself, and his destroyer crews had procedures in place depending on their tanking method. 

A cautionary sip of tea was taken as Erun leaned back in the couch, as he reviewed his balance sheets for the last two months.  Many of his projects had borne fruit, to the point where he had nearly doubled his cash on hand.  A significant part of that was his continued research into the most used components of his ship fittings, namely his guns.  He was now producing all of his own T2 hybrid turrets, greatly reducing the Isk burden he had to replace them.  Flying and losing as many Gallente ships as he did meant he lost a lot of turrets, as well as the accompanying drone complements.  Being able to pull replacements from personal stores instead of buying them off the market saves him a lot of money.  His newest research into hull and armor modules was doing just as well, with dozens of shiny new Tech 2 Damage Controls coming off the assembly lines in the last few days, with Energized Adaptive Nano Membranes soon to follow.  Another big contribution to his much expanded wallet was the asset consolidation he had done in the last two months.  It had taken several days to travel throughout New Eden and clean out dozens of hangars, with most everything being sold, or broken down and then sold.  It was also his hope that it would stop his Aura unit from grumbling every time he needed his assets displayed for navigational purposes.  

Thinking of Aura caused Erun's eyes to glaze over as he checked his Neocom and chuckled quietly to himself, thinking of another milestone he had passed just a week ago.  With the completion of Rapid Launch to Level 5 he had finally passed the 100 Million Skill points mark.  While many would mark this occasion with partying or some other frivolity, Erun had more than likely been asleep or meditating. It had honestly slipped his mind with everything else he had been working on.

Setting the now empty cup of tea on the table in front of him, Erun came back to the present. The biggest milestone on his mind was the anniversary of his joining the ILF! A year ago today he had joined the secessionist cause, hoping to find something worth fighting for after the endless drudgery of Nullsec. A loneliness had grown in him in the months leading up to joining, most everyone he'd started his career with more than five years ago had retired planetside, leaving channels emptier and emptier until he was soon left with only one or two semi-active channels.  The pilots of the ILF had become like a family to him in the year he had been with them, providing the camaraderie and basic PvP training he'd been craving since he'd first entered lowsec all those years ago.  Hopefully he'd be able to spend more time with them and work towards theirs, and now his, promise of a safe and secure homeworld...