Onga

Sovereignty: Minmatar Republic
Constellation: Erada
Region: Heimatar
Security Level: 1.0

Now I don't want to turn my log into a boring tour booklet by any means but I think adding these little bits of info is helpful as a start. I traveled to Onga which is just a single jump away from Pator. Still in 1.0 security space where everyone is nice and secure and CONCORD comes warping in if you so much as sneeze.

But I'm no pirate so I guess I don't have to worry about that. I can just enjoy the system. Of course I'm already seeing a problem with a sort of 'seen one asteroid seen them all' sort of situation. Not the best analogy as I've only seen scordite and veldspar so far of course ^^. But I've noticed from orbit planets look a bit similar and asteroid belts are not interesting beyond novel types of ore. Partially this is because I'm still in top security space and that's the most predictable space. Still I need to branch out a bit more. I'm unsure if cataloging a single system at a time is the way to go. Still there were several fun things in the Onga system.


I wouldn't have minded growing up in Onga. The Onga system is right on the outer edge of the Crimson Nebula. I'm sure it has more technical names, but that's what we call it, nothing but deep red expanse in the night's sky. From Matar you can only see it properly with a telescope but now I'm bathed in the red light from all around me. It's just...beautiful. For comparison above I put the stargate in Pator I used to jump into Onga. Here is Onga, with the deep red nebula filling the sky:

Just beautiful...it makes me almost a bit giddy, and for a while I was just content to fly around. Even asteroids seemed more beautiful cast in their new light. It really is amazing seeing the universe shifted...even a few light years and everything seems to change. It's different flying as a capsuleer as well. I'd gone on vacations before but you usually fly right through systems. Interbus isn't designed to be a sightseeing venture. Transports aren't designed to let you meander around and just enjoy the surroundings.

If Onga was made with purpose, it's maker was an artist. The particulate matter that formed Onga is only partially made up of the nebula. It's possible that its natural gravity well led to massive comet activity, but the elemental composition is different, and therefore several planets are a turquoise blue against the background of crimson red. The innermost planet is solid with huge water deposits, which can give hints at the theoretical comet activity. Though far more beautiful are the gas giant planets further out. I wish my ship had a spectral analyzer but no such luck for this kind of vessel. Science ships are in practically zero demand amongst pod pilots so I don't know how I'd get one. I was never a whiz at chemistry so I can only guess at the composition from here. It's not a bad system for the inhabitants. Most people live in the innermost system and can harvest fusion fuels from the gas giants, though far from the most efficient power collection method.

Unfortunately there are no ice fields or stable orbit comets to mine in this system. It doesn't seem to be a very large mining system. Amongst all the hot spots I only saw one or two people mining. But I could have just warped in during their coffee break ^^. So I can't reserve any true judgment.

I felt primed and ready to do some more exploring when something interesting came to me instead. On the local channel there was a crackle and news...someone had discovered a wormhole. It was a Gallente man who'd designated himself 2123123. He'd apparently just come through the wormhole from Gallente space. I was intrigued....I'd never gone through a wormhold before and I thought it would be nice to at least take a look at one. He offered to create a fleet link and I decided to accept it.

A jump towards his com signal and I found myself in orbit near a huge ceremonial ring near the sixth planet of the system. Like the memorial at Matar there's no official inscription I could find, but it doesn't look like standard Minmatar work, engineering or art. Really, it looks like the piece of a ship, but it dwarfs my little shuttle completly....It looks like it would dwarf a battleship. It looks like something you'd only see on a titan...though admittedly I've never seen one. And...it isn't a ship itself, it looks like the piece of a ship, like a vent nozzle for a thruster....and that would imply something even larger.


I didn't have a whole lot of time to ponder though, as my new friend was trying to relocate the wormhole he'd come through. He helped me get a feel for my spatial scanning systems too which was really helpful, but sadly we couldn't find the wormhole again. The poor guy had to fly back to Duripant, though it wasn't a super long trip. While taking stock of his travel plans, I learned a lot from him casually chatting over our comm system.

2123123 > u wanna come back to duripant with me
2123123 > it's in federation space
Miko Stargazer > sure :) did you find the wormhole?
2123123 > no not yet
2123123 > its destablinzing
2123123 > go to map and search bar
2123123 > duripant
Miko Stargazer > bit of a trip ^^
2123123 > 12 jumps not far
2123123 > i have a minmatarian ship
Miko Stargazer > true. What do you usually do in Duripant?
2123123 > i mine and talk an do missions
2123123 > and terminate caldarians that enter our space
2123123 > what ship u have
Miko Stargazer > hehe, don't like the caldari huh? Guess that comes with the territory in the Federation.
2123123 > were in war with caldari lol
Miko Stargazer > Just a shuttle right now....I'm doing some exploring and it's the fastest ship to use for now ^^
2123123 > o how much it cost
Miko Stargazer > let me check ^^
2123123 > 9000
Miko Stargazer > exactly 10,000 the one I bought ^^
2123123 > im gallente lol
2123123 > remember
2123123 > i buy gallente stuff most ofthe time
2123123 > caldari stuff is the most expensive stuff!!!

I know there is conflict going on all around me, thousands dying on a daily basis during these wars...it's funny though, how distant I feel from it here. Others are more active, doing their part now and then, but I was never much of a fighter. If a Minmatar Navy man wanted me to go kill a fleet of Amarr, I'm not sure if I could.

I don't....hate the Amarr. I hate what they did to our people and the slavery that so many of our people still endure but I cannot bring myself to hate all Amarran people, all of their existence. Nor can I hate the Caldari for their actions. That is more the Gallente's fight than ours. But I can empathize with the Caldari as well. They lost their home in battle with the Gallente. It's rather sad, not being able to return home. I wonder if that is what makes the Caldari how they are. Without a home and place to return to with love, perhaps they find it harder to love a planet or system, and see merely sources of income.

I can't really make a judgment like that though. Who's to say what drives every single Caldari out there. I have to fight such urges. It's the urge to paint with a wide brush an entire people that causes so much pain. It is the Amarran's who can't see their slaves as equals...the Gallente and Caldari who can't come to terms with each other. And really I'm scared in a way. More and more people are getting into capsules now, becoming pod pilots. And yet I think what could heal us most is leaving our ships and meeting face to face.

Talking about interstellar wars isn't too fun, but it reminds me of two people I met in Onga, one a native girl and one a distant Caldari I spoke to for only a minute or two as she passed through my system. I think I'll reserve another post to describing those. Both of them got me thinking about where to go from here. For now....just look at the art of the universe, cold rocks orbiting a crimson sky.