I dream.

My pod has sustained critical damage; navigation systems inoperable. I reflexively vomit in the surrounding fluid as I manually remove breathing and feeding tubes from my throat and nose; the slithering sensation of them from the inside out always foreign to my senses. I get one final assessment from Aura before having her release the umbilicals attached to the base of my skull and spine.

I take a deep breath.

My pod cracks, the metal bending along several seams, as it splashes down, the intense heat of the atmospheric entry dissipating as so much steam upon hitting this ocean. I sear my skin, the pungent smell filling my nostrils as I struggle to be free from this sinking coffin.

I am stuck.

Deeper and deeper the pod sinks, dragging me to my watery grave. Even light eventually cannot escape, and I am blind, my arms flailing about in slow motion, desperately reaching out for salvation … and finding it.

My hands grasps tightly around something I cannot see. I feel waves of pressure roll over me, feel the strength of the creature. My other hand secures itself, and I hold on for all I have; my pod and this creature in a mortal tug of war. I am the rope.

My body bends, threatening to break, but at last I spring free of the capsule, still bound by the strength of my arms and my will to this mysterious creature.

My lungs threaten to burst, and I need to breathe in air more than anything else I have ever wanted, but I know if I do, it will be my death.

The creature pushes forward suddenly, and I nearly lose my grip. Still I cannot see. I can only pray the creature is moving towards the surface, towards the light, towards life.

Minutes pass, my lungs afire. I can feel myself slipping. Even in the blackness, I can see spots before my eyes, and know I do not have much time left. Pressure is building, crushing me from the inside, as my lungs build up pressure from the inside.

The creature is plunging deeper. I panic and let go.

I feel myself slow, no longer accelerated by the incredible speed of the creature. I float, no indication of which way is up, which way I would swim to if my arms and legs were responding. They aren’t.

I can feel myself sinking.

I have many regrets from my lives, not of things I have done, but rather of things I have not done, things I have not said. Mynxee.

The murky depths continue to crush me, threatening to end of my life more quickly than lack of oxygen will.

I am blinded by a light so intense it burns my retinas. I am falling. At least that is what it feels like. I open my mouth to chance a breath and only succeed in sucking in water, making my situation even more perilous.

I see humanoid figures coming towards me, silhouetted against the bright light. I raise my arm to shield my eyes, trying to get a better look.

They grasp at me, holding onto my arms, and I feel a surge of motion once again.

One of them holds my face gently, kissing me, breathing oxygen into my lungs. My life is saved, if only for the moment.

The light fades to a more manageable daylight, and I can see a beautiful city far below, growing in the distance.

My saviours are more clear to my eyes now, they are human, but with fishtails; mermaids of legend, and whatever the man version is called. I hope it is one of the females that was kissing me, though I don’t really care since I am alive.

I spend the next several days with these people, learning that they communicate telepathically, understanding their technological advancements are not as advanced as New Eden. They provide me with a special breathing apparatus that converts water into oxygen, and I sustain myself on seaweed and mollusks.

We’re not sure if my breathing equipment will work in my universe, as I am the first human they have met. I have no choice but to gamble that it will. I cannot stay here.

We have conceived several plans to get me home, and discarded them all. In the end, I will go as I came, naked and alone.

They swim with me as close as they can, but I must push myself into their sun, into the hole I came from. When they saw me fall from their sun, they thought I was a god. I am.

I feel the crushing pressure anew as I push forward, the blinding light causing me to squeeze my eyes shut. Even with my arm in front of my face, the light penetrates through.

Then suddenly, darkness, and a greater pressure than anything I have known.

I open my eyes.

I see stars all around me.

Looking behind, I am at the mouth of a black hole. My confusion is only surpassed by the fact that the water converting breathing apparatus isn’t functioning in this unexpected environment, and I begin to asphyxiate.

The gravity of the black hole begins to crush me, dragging back into its black center. I am helpless.

A small light starts flashing on my NeoCom. I pick it up and see I have one message. It is from Mynxee.

“Wake up.”

I do, with a gasp, throwing the pillow from my face. My alarm clock is beeping on my bedside table. I turn it off.

I quickly assess my environment. I am in my quarters aboard the Ripsack, my Jaguar class assault frigate.

I laugh and shake my head. No more pizza cones before bed.

ZQ-Z3Y
CATCH REGION

“What do you mean there’s an abandoned Abaddon in front of you, Wieler?” the Ushra’Khan Fleet Commander asked again.

“I’m telling ya, I’m less than 20k from it, angling in cautiously on an escape vector, just in case.” I replied, skepticism in my own voice.

“Do you require backup?” the fleet commander repeated.

“Negative. You know what they say when things look too good to be true…”

I continued my slow approach, constantly checking my ship scanners for any signs of incoming warp signatures. There were none. I maintained a calm, practiced heart rate, though I fully expected a Curse to decloak at any moment to be quickly joined by an Amarr gank fleet.

It wasn’t meant to happen that day. My Jaguar, the Ripsack, remained docked alongside the Abaddon for hours, while my small team explored the abandoned and derelict ship.

Every moment was a nerve-wracking adventure, both for the team expecting danger around every corridor corner, and for me, constantly on watch for any sudden unwelcome guests.

There was nothing out of the ordinary to be found once the initial sweep of the vessel had been completed. My tech specialist downloaded the computer’s core data onto our ship, and I quickly had Aura scan through the immense amount of data, flagging anything out of the ordinary.

It didn’t take long to get a hit.

My eyes widened slightly as I read what she had discovered, old memories flooding the forefront of my mind. I quickly recalled my team, followed up with my fleet commander, then took leave of this region of space, making full haste towards a place I hadn’t been in a very long time.

Joining the Federation immediately after its founding, the Intaki remain one of the largest ethnicities of the nation. Exceedingly gifted communicators, the Intaki are today very prominent among the Federal bureaucracy. Though Gallentean culture has permeated their society to some extent, they still cling to their cultural identities and beliefs, most notably their unusual theories regarding the human life cycle – in particular, death and rebirth. These theories give them a unique outlook on life and the living, and many attribute the Intaki’s stoic nature to this philosophy.

LISUDEH SYSTEM
DEVOID REGION

“Haven’t heard from you since you killed Taphos in the ritual duel, and to be honest, given your well publicized hatred of the Amarr, I never expected to.” Doctor Canius said through the comm.

It had been over a year since I been in touch with Canius. He was my best lead when I trying to discover the whereabouts of Dagan for Sister Alitura and the Sisters of Eve. I had given her my word that I would find him and bring him to justice. At the time, my infamy as a Republic War Hero made it virtually impossible to travel through the Amarr systems without getting shot on sight, and in fact, I had lost several frigates in my attempts to make good on my promise.  Eventually, the Republic demanded more of my priority on the front lines of the war than in humouring the Sisters of Eve, and the memory had faded.

It was the Abaddon that had rekindled my interest.

While scanning the databanks of the ship, Aura had flagged Society of Conscious Thought, and that sparked my memory of Dagan, and my promise to Sister Alitura. I didn’t know whether the derelict ship had been there for over a year, or if Dagan was still at large.

The only way to find out was to pick up where I had left off, and that meant Doc Canius. It was unsettling in some ways to travel unmolested through Amarr space. It was as if I had been forgotten…

“Yeah, it’s been a while, doc. Couldn’t be helped. Listen, I need some information.” I said.

“Of course you do. Why else would you come back from the dead to bother me?” Canius replied. I was confused by his comment, but attributed it to a phrasing analogy I simply didn’t see applying.

“What do you have on Dagan and the Society of Conscious Thought?” I asked bluntly.

“Geez, didn’t you resolve that months ago?” Canius replied.

“It’s been over a year actually, and no; there was a war and all…” I let the rest of the sentence hang unspoken.

There was silence on the comm for a while before Canius finally started transmitting data.

“You were lied to, Roc Wieler. I had initially assumed you knew, which is why I hadn’t heard from you, then with the reports of your death, I filed this away, figuring it would never be needed. I was going to delete this information in a few days, so you’re timing is quite fortuitous.”

Again he had mentioned my death. At the moment I was more concerned about the lying part.

“Who lied to me, Canius? What are you talking about?” I asked, urgency entering my voice.

“The Sisters of Eve, Roc; Alitura. They’ve known where Dagan has been all along. They played you.”

Each of us has triggers to our anger, some more than others. There are degrees to these triggers; some slightly flustering us while the extreme others instill in us a blinding and uncontrollable rage. At that moment, I was closer to the latter; dangerously closer.

“Thank you … doc.” I squeezed out through clenched teeth, transferring a small sum of ISK to Doctor Canius’ account as a token of good will for hanging onto this information for so long.

I laid in my next course … Arnon. It was time to say hello to an old friend.

I received this letter in response to a comment made HERE that basically stated I could show several five minute workouts that would crush us all.

Dear Roc,

Been lurking in your blog for a while now, but felt compelled to speak up when you mentioned 5 minute workouts. I spend 3 hours ever single day in the gym, so know you’re talking crap. Nobody can get a good workout in 5 minutes.

Proof or STFU,

Knuckle Dragging Moron

Let me start my reply by saying that unless you are a professional bodybuilder, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever why anyone should spend more than 45 minutes doing a weight workout. If you want to do cardio for 6 hours, that’s a different story, I’m strictly talking muscle training here.

Muscle building burn can occur in less than one minute when done correctly, so I will most definitely put up or shut up.

Here is a quick sample of a five minute workout I challenge anyone to do:

• 1 minute of burpees
• 1 minute of single leg pushups
• 1 minute of burpees
• 1 minute of single leg pushups
• 1 minute of burpees

No rest between each exercise. That’s five minutes of exercise that is working your cardio, chest, shoulders, back, arms, legs and abs.

Here’s another sample, same rules:

• 1 minute squat/shoulder press
• 1 minute knee tuck jumps
• 1 minute squat/shoulder press
• 1 minute knee tuck jumps
• 1 minute squat/shoulder press

Tired yet? Try doing 3 – 4 rounds of this with only 1 minute rest between sets!

I hope by now you’re understanding the concept. Proper form, repetition, abuse that muscle group until it no longer functions. If you’re performing these exercises correctly, you will notice significant improvements in yourself within 7 days. Seriously.

And if you want to make it harder, try to do more repetitions within each minute, or add heavier weights to the routine.

It’s astounding the abuse the human body can recover from. Don’t be afraid to push your limits!

Three things before I go. The first is my favourite five minute routine:

• 1 minute 12 mph treadmill sprint on a 20 degree incline
• 1 minute 7 mph treadmill jog on a 12 degree incline
• 1 minute 12 mph treadmill sprint on a 20 degree incline
• 1 minute 7 mph treadmill jog on a 12 degree incline
• 1 minute 12 mph treadmill sprint on a 20 degree incline

If that doesn’t make you feel like puking as you fall over collapsing then you’re a better man than me.

Secondly, please remember to consult your physician before engaging in any type of physical exercise, especially some of the strenuous exercises I reference in my blog. I am merely making recommendations that have worked for me and cannot be held liable for any personal injury you may sustain by reading this.

And lastly, thanks to Zuzana from www.bodyrock.tv for being so damn hot.