“Get the insertion cycle started!”

“There’s so much blood. Is it all his?”

“Focus soldier! We’re losing him!”

I hear them around me. It’s hard to make out everything being said in the cacophony of sounds. My ears are ringing so loudly I think I may puke and pass out. My vision is blurry and dark. Everything spins.

“How did he manage to escape?”

“He’s a Brutor.”

That last comment sounded satisfying. I don’t know where I am. I think I know these voices. I must, or I would still be fighting. Do I have any fight left? My body is numb with adrenaline. Am I dead? Not yet.

“Get those tubes hooked up! My God he’s a mess.”

“What’s that in his hand? Is that someone’s scalp? Oh God…” I hear the sound of vomiting. I don’t think it’s my own. I try to speak, but only hear guttural mumblings in my throat; or is that just my wishful thinking? Maybe I said nothing at all.

“C’mon people! Quickly, quickly!”

I see those little white squigglies of light in the corners of my vision. You know the ones. I try to focus on them, but they dart away, only to live in my peripheral vision. The corners of my eyes are darkening. It’s getting hard to breathe. I am so very tired. I just want to sleep.

“Aura! Pump him full of meds!” This voice is sounding more and more distant, more and more panicked. 

“Negative. Pilot body beyond repair. There is nothing I can do.” I recognize Aura’s voice amidst it all. Calm, soothing, reassuring me that I am still alive. 

“Dammit Aura!” There is resignation alongside the panic now. “Recycle him then!”

“Negative” comes her reply. “Capsuleer cloning is only for physical trauma beyond that which the mind and body can sustain.”

I hear scuffling and arguing, fading likes the tides against the shore. I think I hear my name. What is my name?

“Roc… Roc! C’mon Roc, look at me!” Yes, my name is Roc. Roc Wieler. I am glad my voice is telling me my name. 

“ROC! Look at me, soldier! That’s an order!” My gaze finally focuses. I have clarity. I see him there, my friend. I know him. What is his name? He’s yelling at me. Others are yelling at him.

He has a gun.

“Roc, I’m sorry. I don’t know if you can hear me, but I have to do this. I’m sorry. Forgive me.”

No.

I cannot die. I fought too hard. I will not die. I have too much to live for. I need to escape. I need to get back to my ship. I can’t clone outside of my pod. C’mon body, get up. Get up! Kill them. Kill them all! I need to …

Deafening loudness. Darkness. Screaming light.

I awaken.

Noticed I get quite a few views on my blog regarding the iPhone application. I believe we’ve agreed on the name “Skillwatch” Capsuleer, but that doesn’t mean it won’t change between now and release.

Core app functionality is complete. Now we’re just working through a few bugs. The UI has been fully implemented, with just a view visual tweaks remaining.

So, what does the app do?

v1.0 will:

– Show you time remaining on your currently training skill, or let you know if you are not training a skill.
– Your total ISK
– Your total SP
– Allows you to add as many characters as you want through the standard EVE api
– Automatically generates a racial background image based on your character’s race. This can optionally be turned off
– Skill description of currently training skill

There are a few more things (some of which you can see on the screenshot) that we are trying to get into version one, but if they don’t make it in, they’ll be added to version two:

– Tranquility server status indicator
– Aura voice announcing “Skill Training Completed”
– Ability to choose your own background picture for your character
– Your currently cloned SP amount
– and much, much more I won’t go into now!

Hopefully the alpha build will be finished tonight. That means some testing, some more tweaking, and hopefully we’ll have this out on the app store soon(tm).

Remember, ISK donations are welcome.

LOCATION: Freeform Industries Branch HQ, Dal system, Heimatar Region

CORPORATION LOG #CM11986 – ONBOARD SECURITY UNIDENTIFED THRASHER CLASS DESTROYER

“Still no word from Roc.”

“It’s not like him to miss a check in. Like him or not, the guy’s a pillar of military discipline. Do you know his mission details?”

“Just that he was flying for the Liberation Force, some deep recon work. He didn’t go into details. I didn’t think twice on it. It’s not his first time flying after all.”

“Yeah. When do we act? He is one of our own.”

“When can we act? We don’t know where he is, and I don’t even know if we have pilots with the clearance to find out. Much as I hate to say it, he might be SOL on this one.”

“Yeah. Fuck.”

LOCATION: Abandoned Pirate Colony, Asghed System, Devoid Region

TRIBAL LIBERATION FORCE RECON PROBE A1XT898 – RECON DATA COLLECTION COMPLETED

ACTIVE LIFEFORM READING – 0
CORPSE COUNT – 87
POD COUNT – 0
SHIP WRECKAGE INDICATES THREE INDIVIDUAL VESSEL TERMINATIONS – 2 MINMATAR, 1 GALLENTE

IONIC TRAIL SIGNATURES INDICATE MULTIPLE CYNOSURAL FIELDS GENERATED WITHIN LAST 12 HOURS. 

NO TRACE OF LIVING TRIBAL OPERATIVES.

LOCATION: Unknown

I can taste the blood in my mouth. It has that bitter metallic tinge to it. A cursory sweep of my tongue tells me I am missing a few teeth as well. There is massive swelling around my right eye, making this dark room even more entrenched in shadow. My arms and legs are tied too securely; my pulse throbs in my hands and feet. Left femur feels broken. I’m in rough shape.

Someone took my sunglasses.

Dammit.

“It would appear we are at a decisive moment in history, gentlemen.” the General began. He stood at the end of a large mahogany boardroom table, addressing various political figures, private sector investors, and military personnel. They were gathered here at 3AM in the morning, and many of the non military present were still working the kinks out of their tired, aching bodies.

“At 01:38 hours, we received an emergency burst transmission from an Aura unit on one of our shadow operatives in Devoid region. No viruses were found, nor were any markers indicating the transmission has been intercepted or tampered with. However, the message was damaged during relay. Let me play it for you so we’re all on the same page.”

“…Wieler clearance alpha-charlie-niner-niner-zero. Ambushed by <static> near <static><pause>Gallente betrayal is <static><pause>make it back<static><pause>Asghed<static> transmission<static>for the glory of the<static>”

The general rested his large hands against the solid table, his eyes glaring at those assembled with a fierce and dark intensity.

“Now then, what is our next move?”