Exploration Log, YC117.1.31 "New Opportunities"

C-PEWN
Esoteria - O-PQU0

I'd spent the recent days in the far southern reaches of known space searching for relics in the wake of yet another parting of ways. There are no ill words to speak for my former corporation or colleagues, suffice to say that money and numbers would carry farther than mere hopes and dreams. Having said my goodbyes, I set off on an expedition not in search of profit, but clarity of mind.

My travels had taken me far and wide, and as chance would have it, a wormhole had delivered me to the doorstep of old enemies. This was Skeleton Crew space, and their leader was quite adept at hunting pilots that got too comfortable under their cloaks. My worries were few; changing allegiances had altered the terms of engagement at this point, and there was a begrudging respect where hatred and rage once lived. It didn't take very long for one of them to hail me on the local frequency. After all, we'd shared the blood of war and like all old warriors, we love to reminisce.

It seems the telling of tales with my former foes had been time well spent, as I felt a sense of peace I'd not known in many years. Bidding farewell to the crew of skeletons, I prepared for my journey home-- a hangar I keep in Perimeter where I can stretch my legs and plan my next move. Travelling to The Forge from Esoteria is no easy task, many dozens of systems have to be navigated through hostile regions before you reach even minimal CONCORD protection. Even at the helm of an SOE Astero, there is a significant likelihood that I'd fall prey to hunters before making safe space. Having a half-billion isk in assorted relics and salvage in my hold, I'd prefer taking as few risks as possible. I had a buyer lined up who'd offered to pay for my ship as a finder's fee in addition to the value of my haul, that kind of bonus only comes from those that can afford it, and people like that don't like to wait.

Fortunately for myself and many like me, recent events around New Eden had borne a solution to problems such as these: Thera. The vast system had been revealed in the catastrophe somehow involving the superluminal event known commonly as Caroline's Star, the disappearance of the Jove and most of their inter-regional gates as well as the astonishing number of newly-reported wormhole systems. All of these events occurred simultaneously, and that mystery has been a splinter in my mind since the day it happened. Thera would get me home, and allow me to do some research along the way.

I pulled up the current Thera wormhole connections via the EvE-Scout service, thoughtfully provided by the enterprising corporation of the same name. I had much to thank those pilots for lately, as I had used their service many times to turn a very long trip into a very short one, though the lawless nature of the mysterious system still provides enough danger to keep one wary. In a stroke of luck I've rarely experienced, there is an active connection a mere six systems away, I only need to get there and recon the area before making the jump.

As I was about to close the NEOCOM window, something in the corner caught my attention-- an advertisement for a startup corporation allied with EvE-Scout, the very same people I had to thank for my many successes of late. The Signal Cartel bills itself as a passive entity devoted to exploration, a sort of explorer's union. It occurs to me that this may be the kind of organization I would do well to be involved with, as my lust for knowledge and wealth rarely provides camaraderie and support when employed by conventional corporations. As I make my way to the Thera entrance, I think seriously on this potential career move. I tune into their recruitment channel, and discuss my future.

By the time I'm safely docked in Perimeter, I've accepted an offer of employment from Signal Cartel. I contact my buyer and conduct my first business as a cartel member, with a strange sense of pride in the having of an ethical organization at my back. Such a thing is not without its commitments, however. In joining their ranks I've set out to be the rarest kind of pilot-- one that seeks great danger and reward at the furthest reaches, but in so doing no harm.

This is Gunner Stahl, captain of the exploration vessel The Scavenger's Daughter, signing off.

END TRANSMISSION