My Fuzzy Side ... Venturing Beyond the Frontiers
Commencing start-up sequence ... Life support ... Nominal Power Plant ... Nominal Engines ... Powered up and ready Frame Shift FTL Drive ... Ready Sensors ... Online
Testing Thrusters ... Horizontal RCS ... Nominal Vertical RCS ... Nominal Lateral RCS ... Nominal Main Thrusters ... Nominal. Maximum speed rated at 550 kph
“Alright, Frostfire, it's been a while but you're still going strong. Command, this is Commander Rawen, ship identification Krait II, callsign Frostfire, ship ID RA-28K; requesting permission to depart.”
“Copy RA-28K, permission granted. Observe safe speed limit of 100 kph inside and within close vicinity of the docking port. Safe travels, commander.”
With a soft purr of the main thrusters, Frostfire lifts off of the platform, quickly reaching the maximum allowed speed. Rawen gently leads his “beast” out of the port and into an open space. “Alright, bud, give me the roar!” says Rawen as he hits the “Boost”. And the beast obeys, filling the wolf commander's ears with the simulated sound of the engines. “Oh yes, I missed this. Ok, time to plot the course.” Rawen opens the map and sets destination to the GER system, planet HMBG, station CCH.
“Frame shift drive, charging ...”
The sound of the FTL drive slowly spinning up fills Rawen with anticipation.
“Ready to engage. Accelerate to maximum speed and proceed outside of the range of any gravity well.”
Rawen hits the boost once more to get Frostfire out of the masslock. The moment the ship reports no masslock, FTL drive kicks in:
4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... ENGAGE!
That's right. Woof has been on an adventure again. This time a bit closer to my home as I could travel by land (despite my Elite-themed intro). Visiting the one and only Eurofurence in the German metropolis of Hamburg. How was it? Well, let's embark on the journey beyond the frontiers of known universe.
Day 0 ... Set the course to Hamburg. And let's hope nothing breaks.
First task of every con is to get to the place. I chose the train this time around since the connection from my place was pretty good and train travel is quite comfortable. That said, it was with German Railways (DB) about which I've heard some “horror stories”; cancelled trains, inconsistent delays etc. But not afraid and committed, I've set out on the early Tuesday morning.
First part, reach my capital city. Ironically, it was this part of the trip which has almost made the things complicated. The train was arriving from Slovakia and was already running late by like 10 minutes, leaving very little time for the transfer. I proactively asked whether the connecting train would be waiting and was assured that we should be able to catch up. And indeed we did. The train arrived with a comfortable 5 minute window and the transfer was just an simple platform change. Once on board the train to Germany, things settled down. First part done.
The second part of the trip was leading me to Berlin, the “split city”. Small historical window, though you probably know what I'm referencing, Berlin was split into two during Cold War based on the occupation zones. It was also temporarily “stripped” of the capital city status since it was in the middle of Eastern Germany. Western Germany had its Cold War capital in Bonn. Anyway, my stay in Berlin was short and only limited to the main station which is ... absolutely huge. Like, imagine a massive shopping centre and you build a train station right below it. Another bonus was the train actually arriving early so I had more than plenty of time to get a bit of a rest and grab a quick bite to eat.
“Last mile”, the trip with the (in)famous DB ICE to Hamburg. The trip went completely smooth and to be honest, it felt a little bit like being in a plane. Except having more comfortable cargo options and being way quieter. Also, are all the ICE announcers this bubbly or was I just lucky? Anyway, a small mishap due to inexperience, I could've gone for a different station which would've dropped me off right next to the con place and closer to the hotel. On the bright side, I could get in a small walk and some sights in the city.
After checking in at the hotel (and paying quite a hefty price — Hamburg is really expensive even by local standards) I released my fluffy parts from their travel “prison” and went for short walk around around the hotel and bit into the city to get a bit more familiar with the place. Gotta say, Hamburg looks quite neat but still makes me feel like I've been dropped in the middle of a highway. Malmö felt a little more homey but that's just my bias speaking since I feel cosier in smaller cities.
View of the Hamburg Lombardsbrücke
Evening view of the canal near the Hamburg City Hall
The Hamburg City Hall building
After grabbing some quick dinner, I ventured towards the park and the CCH which is right next it. And believe me, I needed only to follow my ears and I'd easily find the place. Quite a bit of folks already around the CCH with a suiter here and there. And believe it or not, I “caught” my first dragon. And not just any dragon. Lately I started watching Brixxy Brightmane, a fluffy dragon at heart, a really cosy streamer. Honestly, he really makes the streams feel like a cosy corner. We talked a little bit during his streams and he was open to a meet and greet. And guess what, we did so on the very first day right before the con! He didn't know it was me at first since I hadn't got my badges on but he immediately connected the dots once I shared the picture I took. And of course, the dragon got some gentle ear scritchies and a fluffy hug.
The cosy fluffy coffee dragon, Brixxy Brightmane
After a bit of “loitering” around, I headed back to the hotel since I was worn out from the trip. But everything pointed to some great times ahead. Plan for day 1? First, the officialities (rego, official suite badge etc.). Next, let the woof loose :3
Day 1 ... Lift-off
Alright, the travelling part is finished, time to start the adventure. This of course means tackling the first “dreaded” challenge of the con: the registration queue. And you know what, let's do it with style: suited up. That's right, let's dive into the fuzzy charcater right from the get go. So yeah, in my fluffy form, armed with my new messenger bag from Keeya full of stickers, small camera so I can take pictures without having to remove my paws (note to self, figure out some touchscreen-friendly paws?), I set out for the short walk towards the venue, wondering how long the queue may be. You could definitely feel that furs were starting to “conquer” the place as the number of people with various fuzzy parts and furry merch were starting to gather around with the venue getting closer.
About halfway, I've spotted a small group of people with one of them wearing a familiar looking tail; cat-like, black with a very recognisable, bright rainbow mane. “Wait, this one looks a little familiar, could it be?” I wondered but wasn't really sure. Well, life took the reins for me there because the moment we got closer and crossed the large road before the park next to the venue, my guess was confirmed. I was indeed blessed by the trio of Kianga, Keeya and Rengyr. Gotta say, the con started really great. First, an encounter with a cosy dragon and now a meetup with some lovely FediFolks :3 We walked together to the venue where we split up for the registration queues (I got the regular one while others got the priority one). The queue seemed long but according to Kianga's words, the last year's one was way worse, starting even before the nearby park. This time around the queue was roughly in front of the Dammtor train station, which is right next to the venue.
Queuing for the registration. The queue was already at the Dammtor station in the morning.
The wait wasn't bad either. Once the door opened around 9 AM, the queue started moving at quite a steady pace. The wait was also made bit more pleasant with a small group of fuzzy colleagues from Poland who also had someone playing a bit of music which definitely raised the mood. Even managed to trade the first sticker and got to meet another FedFloof, Kooda. During the registration, a funny mistake happened because I was almost issued a wrong badge. Luckily, the error was quickly spotted and I was indeed given the right one. Equipped with the official badge, I headed into the backrooms to take a bit of a breather from being suited up and also pick up the second, suiter badge. That one was handled quickly since the queue in the fursuit lounge was minimal. Fully equipped, I went to roam the place and engage in “suiter catching” and hopefully entertaining some folks during the wait. Sunny weather with a very slight breeze made the experience manageable while providing great lighting for pictures. Lunchtime was slowly approaching which means I had to head back into the hotel to “become human meatbag” again. On my way back I managed to yet again catch up with the trio from the morning, this time me being caught by them.
A quick rest, much needed shower after suiting (trust me folks, you absolutely want to get one the moment you take the suit off) and I slowly took a walk back, this time without the suit, because there were places to get food and drinks and I could also keep taking pictures. So I grabbed some bite to eat once I arrived and went to handle one more “official” thing; grab the con t-shirt which I ordered with the ticket. I didn't want to take it immediately after the registration to avoid the queue and it was a good choice since in the early afternoon the queue was already short. Once I had this one handled, I headed back outside and spotted a familiar floof with a familiar looking protogen. I began approaching the sneakily since they weren't looking and managed to “sneak in” on the floof; none other than Loimu and Dr4gonMouse; the fuzzy couple from NFC. A fuzzy hug and brief friendly talk followed with a happy reunion. Speaking of reunions, another one happened. One I kind of knew was possible but wouldn't expect to actually happen.
Dr4gonMouse and Loimu
Now, I believe most of my readers know me from through Mastodon and maybe few folks from BlueSky (mostly folks who already knew me from before), but my proper origins in the fandom stem from a Discord server which I got into during the COVID lockdowns to “save my sanity” (or fuel my insanity; whichever you prefer). I have left the place quite some time ago due to tense atmosphere there and I did so very abruptly and basically disappeared from many people's lives. Only few (my SO included) from the place stayed around. But as time went, something in me started gnawing on my conscience: “Rawen, what you did was right but you have to admit some innocent folks got caught in the crossfire. Maybe they at least deserve to know what happened.” This thought was lingering in my head for a long time but I never acted upon it. Until now.
As I was heading back to the hotel to take a bit of a breather and maybe suit up for the second round. I spotted a familiar-looking eastern dragon in the queue. “Wait ... is that ... is that Ryu? That'd mean that their companion is Fio.” And believe me, she looked very familiar despite me seeing her picture only once. I hesitated for a bit decided to act. I walked toward the dragon and asked:
“Excuse me, but I have to ask. Are you Ryu, Kovat's partner (we'll get to him later)?”
“Yes, yes I am!”
At that moment, I was 100% sure.
“In that case I have to ask you companion as well, are you Fio?”
“Yeah”
I immediately grabbed my badge and showed it to them: “Does this black wolf look familiar?”
“Oh my gosh, Rawen! It's you!”
Both Fio and Ryu were ecstatic to meet me in-person. Fio knew me from the very early days of the aforementioned server and Ryu heard about from Kovat who knew me as well. They were all waiting together but Kovat wasn't around at the moment since he was grabbing some stuff he apparently forgot (sorry, Kovat, I just had to :P). We caught up a little bit but since the queue was moving steadily we split up so we wouldn't create a traffic jam. But yes, this was one happy reunion which only got better the next day.
Once I got back to the hotel for a short R&R, I suited up again to roam the venue some more. The number of people was steadily growing but the place is massive compared to venues for NFC so it didn't feel crowded. I was just casually being in my element; a fluffy woof, happily trotting around the place, taking an occasional picture or being playful when an opportunity presented itself. However, the weariness from the yesterday's travel still lingered and I started feeling it so I took went back to the hotel to take the suit off and came back to spend the rest of the day out of the suit while waiting for the opening ceremony. During my stay there I happened to encounter one hell of an adorable couple, Tosh with his partner Volpeloz, this time around as her beagle character Lorrie. And honestly, I'll let the picture speak for itself. Tosh being the adorable ball of corgi energy and Lorrie ... a total cuteness overload.
Tosh Corgi with Volpeloz as Lorrie the Beagle
The ceremony was however delayed so I kept roaming around, only to stumble upon Ryu, resting outside and waiting for the rest of their company who were picking up a friend, Quenn from the airport (they were arriving from the US). By the time we met, Quenn apparently just landed and Ryu was waiting for the gang to come back. I've stayed around for bit while we were “cursing” the “German precision” when it comes to public transportation but we eventually parted ways. The ceremony got delayed further so I slowly returned back to the hotel because the weariness started weighing in. The ceremony was being streamed as well so I could watch it that way. Well, at least part of it since the stream had quite a bit of technical issue for the good first half. Eventually it got fixed and yeah, the show was pretty neat and Greeny is an adorable EF mascot.
This concludes the first day of EF adventures. What comes next? Well, let's find out.
Day 2 ... Meeting royalty, doing irresponsible monetary choices and FediFloofs
Day 2, waking up a bit more rested, I took a small morning walk around the city again to get the bones moving. I didn't want to head back into the con space immediately so I could preserve some energy since there were things to attend this time around. But hey, you know me, I can't say no to suiting and I like roaming the place in the early times when venue is a little quieter. So out I go in full fluff yet again to walk around, share hug and be a woof who likes pets. Because this woof is a friendly woof :3
The morning went by quick because time flies when it's a good one and also an event which many like and dread at the same time was about to happen, the Dealer's Den. Before that however, I spotted a familiar orange floof but this time it wasn't “just” Loimu. It was King Loimu, in his royal foxy fluffiness :3 Of course, proper respects were in order.
His Foxy Majesty, King Loimu
After a short talk we parted ways since I wanted to take break and grab some lunch before committing to some “irresponsible spending”. On my way back, I heard a familiar voice, Ryu, right in front of the train station. And this time around accompanied by the full gang of Fio, Quenn and Kovat. And believe me, those of you who had the chance to talk to Kovat, he's just as energetic in real life as online. He's a fluffy bouncy goblin :3 We talked a bit, exchanged all the stickers around, I reintroduced myself to Quenn who hasn't seen me in basically million years (we all shared the same server back in the days). I've also showed my fluffy dragon SO (with their permission of course) since we all know each other. It was a lovely meetup.
Back at the hotel, de-suit, de-stink (the most important step right after), a bit of rest to recover some energy and to also let the time pass to avoid the insane queue and out we go to commit a “monetary massacre”. And whoo boy, can I just say my wallet was screaming. But worth it, as you can see :3
Dealer’s Den Haul
More shirts, plushies, an adorable mug, arts (one that's not shown is a trad commission which will be shipped later since the artist, Mlice, would've been super busy during the con. Good news for them though, the comms sold out :3) and something practical in a form a cooling vest and collar. A slightly amusing story, when I was getting the vest, EzWolf looked at me and was like “I think Small will fit you just right.” and yes, he was correct. Why is it funny for me? Because on one hand, I'm usually medium/large when it comes to clothes so hearing small made me ask myself “am I really that small?” but at the same time, EzWolf is from Netherlands which as you may know are the tallest people in Europe so their reference for sizing is slightly different.
Once I got back from the shopping spree, it was time to get ready for the evening event, the Fediverse meetup. Prime opportunity to quickly test the new cooling gear. And holy hell is it a blessing. I was a little worried that the vest is going to feel as if you had an ice cube tossed under your shirt but that's not what it feels like. Instead, it's super cosy, kind of like getting a light hug except this one is cooling you down. The cooling collar though is what saves the day for me the most. I wasn't able to “charge” it much since I haven't got a fridge at hand but even just the cold water can make it work. I managed to do the walk to the venue without feeling like I stuck my head into a bucket of water which is already a huge boon. So yes, can fully recommend getting the cooling gear for suiting even if you're just wearing a partial.
Off to the Fedi meetup we go. And was it a little funny for me to get there because I simply had a navigation sense of a drunken pigeon that day. But I eventually found the spot and got into the cosy meeting with the fluffs I only knew in the virtual sense. Folks like Azzuen with his big woof plushie that's actually a puppet. Super adorable woof with some sharp teefies made by a really cosy guy. I of course arrived with my plushie woof as well so we gathered them up among other fellow floofs I could also name Neop, Kianga (host of the event this time around suited up), Keeya, Tuxel with an army of protobeans which were promptly turned into sushi-beans (monch :3), Livi, BlackWolf, ... so many folks and everyone felt at least tiny bit familiar even if we never interacted directly before. So yeah, if someone tells you Mastodon or Fediverse is obscure, they have no idea what they're talking about. We talked a bit, took some pictures with suiters (we were mostly hogging the fans), exchanged stickers (Roky seems to be stealing hearts of folks since he was gone moments after I laid the batch on the sticker table, followed by Archie “the tech wizard).
After the meetup, I roamed the evening venue a little bit more and later headed back to the hotel to close the day. Overall, a day well spent :3
Day 3 ... A rain on the parade?
Waking up, I heard a very familiar sound. A sound that folks can find cosy but also one you don't really want to hear with regard to suiting. After rolling out of the bed and peeking outside, my worry was confirmed; it's raining. And it's on the day the fursuit parade is to happen. Will the rain go away? Let's hope so.
But first things first, a hefty breakfast is in order since there's going to be quite a bit of walking involved and there won't be chance to take a breather during the parade. I kept watching the clouds outside and things looked hopeful. Despite that, I wasn't taking the walk to CCH suited up this time around, wearing just the tail and sleeves and bringing the rest of the parts with me. Seriously, my suiting up experience is starting to feel like a Black Ops soldier preparing for a mission with all the things I have now. The walk to the venue however showed a lot of promise since sun was already peeking out and it was getting nicely warm.
Into the lounge, suit up, stash the backpack into a nice hidey spot so doesn't cosplay as a landmine for a tired suiter and let's roam the place a little before the main event. The weather became just right and as the time went on the crowd in front of the venue was steadily growing. As the time approached the start of the parade, I snuck into the crowd next a familiar duo of Loimu and Dr4gonMouse with two more fuzzy friends around. After a little while, a familiar four-legged puppet woof appeared but this time accompanied by his two-legged bigger “brother”. That's right, Azzu appeared in the suit and holy moly is he one gorgeous woof. We later moved into a different spot trying to find some shade since the sun started getting a little toasty but the parade set off in just a few minutes. Joining the flow with Azzu and co. started the walk into the nearby park. And I'm super thankful for having an ad hoc handler for the first half because even though I can manage fine on my own, a helpful hand is always super appreciated <3
We stuck together for roughly the first shortcut where I split up with Azzu, keeping the pace with the rest of the crowd. I briefly switched my “navigator” to CoVahr who happened to be close by so I kept pace with the fox-derg. A loop around the small lake and the crowd started getting a little dense since we encountered a little choke point on the path where there was comfortable room for maybe one suiter ... unless you wanted to take a bath in one of the many ponds of the park. I somehow managed to sneak my way through the crowd a little only to encounter another bunch of familiar faces, Rioku and Protox. And where there are these two, there's very likely the white dragon Brixxy, this time around accompanied by another floof, Kiro, the Shorca (Shark/Orca hybrid). The path opened into a small grassy rest where the folks split up a bit and Brixxy and Kiro posed for a picture. Having my camera at hand, I took the chance and we rejoined the crowd, continuing the trip.
Brixxy and Kiro in the Planten und Blomen park during the parade.
The rest of the walk went smoothly and steadily, people both from and outside the con lining the walk, waving, getting high-fives and recording the “river of floof” (hello, Gallen :3). The walk finished at the same spot and whoo boy was I starting to feel it. At this moment, having a spacious lounge was a nice boon (despite its rather limited capacity for stuff), compared to NFC which was a little cramped and the parade there really stretched its limits thin. Taking off the suit felt ... refreshing. Because as much as I love wearing my fluffy self, I'm still a meatbag on the inside that needs some time to cool off. Speaking of which, thank you EZCool collar for keeping me alive even though your “insides” have literally been liquefied. After the break, I roamed the place a bit more but the weariness started setting in quickly so after a while I went back to the lounge, grabbed my stashed backpack and headed back to the hotel, catching a picture along the way for some folks outside the venue (apologies if I looked worn out a little).
Back at the hotel, a maintenance ordeal happened because whoo boy did the suit need it. Seriously, I don't think I need to visit a sauna anytime soon since I tend to bring my own X3 After the laborious task of cleaning and de-stinking the suit as much as I could with my limited tools, I headed back to the venue to maybe grab something to eat and I had a plan to attend one of the panels there. After a quick lunch, I had some time to spare so I took a short visit into the dealer's den again just in case something catches my eye. And guess what, my shirt hoarder in me couldn't resist getting one more for the collection. After I got out, my body really started telling me “take a rest, bud” which had me conflicted since there was an event that caught my interest. But I wasn't risking falling asleep during that so I got back to my room for more recovery. Well, somewhat of a recovery since I did some more suit maintenance in the meantime so it can be ready for the evening because hey, I may not be much into dancing but I'd be against my better judgement not to move my paws at least for a short while one night. The dance may have been brief since my stamina is basically non-existent and the parade has drained a lot of energy, but still, worth it to just let loose to the music. You just need to keep in mind the aftermath, aka “peeling” the suit from your body since you'll be absolutely drenched, no matter the amount of cooling gear. That said, the vest and the collar are absolute lifesavers.
After taking a break (and removing the completely soaked balaclava from my face), I packed up the suit parts, leaving only the sleeves and tail on and started heading out, only to stumble upon Kovat's group again, camped in the hall. I was in no rush so I joined them for a short talk. After a few minutes, another familiar face joined, Kryptid who I've met at NFC for the first time. We got around and I got some neat tips for suit building since Kryptid had to rework his suit head. Gotta say, magnetic detachable ears sound like a really good idea for travelling, considering Roky (my fox) is going to have much larger ears which could be tougher to fold into the case (Rawen fits in the small suitcase just enough with a tiny bit of folding a gentle squish on the cheeks). The night was progressing and we were all slightly worn out, we headed out and separated before the hotel.
Day 4 ... Time to make memories
The final day of the con. I wanted to squeeze in one more round of suiting, before all the closing events since I was heading home the next day and I wanted to give the suit enough time to dry. Stepping outside to the venue, I already felt a little bit toasty. This however didn't stop me from roaming around for a little while. And guess who appeared; Kovat and co. ... unaware of my presence. Time to be a sneaky woof >:3 I started carefully creeping closer but at the last second I was spotted by Fio. Kovat suggested that we could group up for the large con picture. Sounds like a good idea so let's meet up in front of the hotel since the place was usually their place of stay. I took a few more round around the place before heading off to the Wolf Meet. Gotta mingle with the extended pack for a while :3 And believe me, we might look all fierce and noble but let's face it, we're just dogs cosplaying as “royalty”. Bit of playing (yes, wolves also like to play fetch), bit of dancing and lots of howling was involved (Awooo!!!).
Teeny tiny woof woof
The idol has been given all the gifts.
After the meet, I took a breather in the lounge before the group photo and recharged my cooling collar since it was definitely getting hot outside and I didn't want to turn into a steak. Refreshed, at least as much as possible, I slowly headed out to find Kovat and co. on the agreed spot. And indeed I did, Kovat and Ryu catching all the sun they could (the joys of being from the UK). While me, Fio and Quenn were slowly roasting. As the photoshoot was getting near, we joined up with Kryptid and found ourselves a spot in the future picture. Organising the huge number of suiters (officially over two thousand) proved challenging as expected but on the plus side, we got instructions (take notes, NFC). Everything went smoothly and it was quite need to have a picture together with folks who were there during my inception into the fandom. It really felt like after me taking off on my own way we reunited to share what we've all been up to. Seems like this bridge might be worth slowly mending :3
After the photoshoot, we split up and I headed back to take a break since yet again, not only I needed to free my face from all the sweat but also recharge the cooling collar again. Sure, I was always giving like maybe 5 minutes but believe me, any amount of cooling you can sneak in works wonders. Alright, few more walks before heading home. And look, Kianga, Keeya and Rengyr appear. Keeya came to with an offer to have printed picture of me and Kianga and started looking for one which they took earlier. However, they weren't able to find it. After a while, we decided to make a quick new one. So I now have this little heartwarming memory <3
One happy memory from EF2025; me and Kianga
During the printing, Kianga decided to turn into a “floppy jaguar” and hey, why not join? So I did, gently resting my head on his thighs. Result? A small pile of black fur, mixed in with some silvery grey and rainbow colours. After bit, we gathered up and parted ways. But of course, a proper hug for all in case we won't see each other during the day. I took a one more round outside and look, I found a friend! He may have grown up a bit too much but still, it my boy, Gabumon!
An unusually sized Gabumon
The day was however inevitably advancing and woof was getting weary. Back to the lounge, de-suit although I still kept the collar on to use up every tiny bit of the cooling and started heading home. Outside, I stumbled upon Loimu and Dr4gonMouse for one last time for short talk and of course a hug before the way home.
Back at the hotel, the difficult part began. Getting the suit parts into some decent shape to let them dry and very slowly but inevitably start packing up. I mostly gathered up the things and sorted them into small piles which will then be packed in and headed back to the venue for some last minute pictures and one more trip to the dealer's den for just one more piece which caught my eye. I was considering staying around for the closing ceremony and the pawpet show but weariness started getting more intense so I headed back to my room and had the events on stream (this time around it was going smoothly), keeping me entertained during the packing process. Some of the suit parts were already decently dry so I could pack them in easily. Only the hands were being pesky around the edges and of course the under armour which is of course directly on my body. I stayed up for a bit longer, sifting through the pictures from the con a little bit and chatting a while with Gallen who offered up a bit more suiting. I was tempted but my suit was already ready for packing.
As the time went by, a tiny bit of PCD was starting to creep in. Because I had wonderful time. Be it meeting the FediFolks and FediFloofs, reuniting with people from my early days or just being around all the fluffy critters, embracing my fluffy self. But all good things come to an end. Cry not because they're ending. Instead, smile because you could experience them. The memories you gathered, will stay with you and carry you in your time of need. And remember, as something ends, something begins anew. New adventures, new challenges, new roads to explore. And space is the final frontier.
Commencing start-up sequence ... Life support ... Nominal Power Plant ... Nominal Engines ... Powered up and ready Frame Shift FTL Drive ... Ready Sensors ... Online Testing Thrusters ... Horizontal RCS ... Nominal Vertical RCS ... Nominal Lateral RCS ... Nominal Main Thrusters ... Nominal. Maximum speed rated at 550 kph
Frostfire's engines hum as Rawen slides into the pilot seat, looking back at the places he's been to over the course of past days. The experiences, the memories, ... everything is sitting in his mind, filling him with joy and little bit of desire to stay for a bit longer.
“Command, this is Commander Rawen, ship identification Krait II, callsign Frostfire, ship ID RA-28K ... sigh … requesting permission to depart.”
“Copy RA-28K, permission granted. We're going to miss you. As usual, observe safe speed limit of 100 kph inside and within close vicinity of the docking port. Safe travels and see you soon, commander.”
“Yeah ... I'll miss you too.”
The engines roar as Frostfire rises from the platform an glides through the docking port into the open space. Rawen sets the throttle to full. “Mentat, ...” No, not yet. Rawen quickly steers the ship around heads towards the part of the station in which the event was held. “Just need to do something first.” Rawen turns of the inertial compensators and lets his Krait quietly drift along with the station, matching the rotation. He occasionally rocks the ship a little as if waving goodbye. Is someone watching? Who knows, but it warms Rawen's heart, seeing the place for one more time.
“Alright, let's head home,” Rawen reengages the compensators and peels away the ship turning away, “But ... one more thing before I go.” Rawen loops back, throttle on full. “3 ... 2 ... 1 ... Awoooo!!!”
Rawen boosts the ship, blitzing past the event spot in one last pass, leaving a light blue trail of dust from his engines. “Awoooo!!! That's what I'm talking about. Alright, Mentat, plot the course home.”
“Course plotted. Frame shift drive, charging ...”
Rawen turns the compensators off for one last time, letting the ship glide on it's own and flips the ship around to watch the station slowly grow smaller as he glides away
“Ready to engage. Accelerate to maximum speed, proceed outside of the range of any gravity well and align the ship with the jump destination.”
Rawen salutes in good bye and flips the ship back to its original course
4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... ENGAGE!
R.R.A.