Farewell, Old Friend

On this day, my Hyperion battleship was destroyed in Evati in defense of an alliance-mate.

In itself, this event is nothing special: ships are destroyed every day, and indeed, as each of us will someday fade into the past, so too do our starships have a day where they come to return to their base elements.

But the Uninvited Ghost was more than just a ship, to me. When Kai Lomu was building her, I helped collect some of the rarer minerals through hunting and killing rogue drones in pockets of lowsec nearby, gathering and reprocessing the salvage. It was a labour of love, and in return, she paid me back by outliving two insurance cycles. Had I bothered with a third run, she'd have outlived that, as well.

For over nine months, the Uninvited Ghost served well, surviving a BoB primary attempt, a Moros in seige mode, and participating in multiple heavy-class actions in A-ZLHX, Arzi, Decon, Goudiyah, Hagilur, Irmalin, Katugumur, Mafra and Todifraun. I came to know her like an old friend, her quirks and foibles, her strengths and specifics. Commanding her was a joy and as instinctive as breathing. The men and women who served on her, those who live and those who did not survive her death throes, were her lifeblood, and worked together to make her better than the sum of her parts.

Despite hardships faced, the Uninvited Ghost remained a steadfast companion. Other of my ships have lived but fleetingly and died unmourned; yet she survived beyond expectation.

So it is with sorrow that I now commend the Uninvited Ghost to the stars. Perhaps after her death, she was looted and salvaged greedily by her killers. Her spirit, however, will not be so easily wiped from memory nor taken and kept to be sold or hoarded.

To the Uninvited Ghost: my friend, and my guardian.