A few nights ago, I hung out in the level 99 bar in Umokka, watching “ the local wildlife”. One table especially caught my attention as this rather flimsy looking character made a cold, cynical, but oh how impressive impact on me.
Apparently this fellow were talking to either an accomplice or an agent “off the clock”,

 

“ I might run missions a lot and you may see me play around with my friends, but if you screw me over you will regret it. If you contact me for help on your mission and later don't split the loot, I'll come out, probe you down, and pop your ass.”
The Agent, acquaintance or whoever it was, attempted to look undisturbed and balanced, although the color waning from his face gave him away. Wit a gesture resembling a Mafioso, pinching the unlucky opponents cheek, this cynical yet quite interesting pilot ended the conversation and went to sit …. Alone at the next table. I found myself  nervously drawn to his presence, and with a lump in my throat I approached his location.

“Now that’s what I call handling a conversation correctly”, I said – attempting to look tougher than I actually am.
“ And who might you be, young whippersnapper? Be quick about it, im getting a twitch in my triggerfinger”. What rattled me a bit was the fact that this pilot weren’t even taking his eyes off his beer. He meant it ….

“ Eh – somehow I feel I might be waking up with a fresh new clone soon, so.. ill just jump in it… I overheard, and saw you talking to that low-life over there, and found that I would like to get to know you..  you might pod me once in the future, but atleast I will then know who it is”. Smile, show disregard to death, be arrogant…

 

The pilots eyes narrowed, as if he was a human scanner looking for weaknesses. He must have found plenty, iwas a bout to piss myself… but knowing my clone was updated, all I in realty had to fear was the cost for a new clone.. a few million ISK and potentially a new frigate worth half a million. That would mean about 2 weeks, maybe a month of piracy… This character thou, could prove to become a valuable contact, so what the hell…

Next thing I know this character has jumped to his feet, grabbed my by the neck and given my nose a face to face encounter with the table. Broken. Blood flowing the only thing I found prudent to utter was
“ pain is the only weakness leaving the body…”

 

The pilot stops with a surprised look in his face. Laughter – deep hearty laughter…
“ Your’e allright, bumblebee” sit down.. have a drink.. one without too much blood heheh….”

“ Alright, now that the informalities are done with, hello, I'm Tonglil, also know as the Weekend Warrior! .. what can I do ya for?”

 

So there I was, with a broken nose and a new acquaintance, doing my best to make use of my social skills. I tried to figure out Tonglil, both for pure interest, and – well one never know when background information gets in handy …

 

“Primarily, I grew up to a family working for the Caldari Navy, my dad is an ex-CovOps pilot and my mother was a Navigation Officer in Command aboard a Widow class ship. Ironically they both did espionage and spy work behind enemy lines avoiding fire, while I prefer to get right in my foe's face. Still not quite sure if im a honor to my family or a big disappointment, but hell im getting by … that’s all I really care about…

My dad is living in Nonni now after retiring, my mother passed away when I was 12 during an assignment to bridge forces for surveillance in a part of 0.0 close to this constellation. I have a very good job with my agent in Umokka, who always seems to acquire and give me the best missions in the region. I can earn a fair share of good money from these tasks and it's always good to keep the nice Caldari space clean and non-infested by ..well..anyone who venture in front of my turrets, really.”

 For some odd reason the smile Tonglil presented while saying this made me somewhat uneasy. Sane or balanced isn’t exactly the phrase I would use to describe him.

 As the night passed on, I got to know Tonglil fairly well.. as well as you can know anyone in the haze of toxins you drench your systems with, drinking in a bar. What differed in this meeting was that neither me nor him had yet drawn weapons, something my last bar encounters often had ended with….

 

“These days I’m getting kind of lazy… I had some luck a ways back, so I “invested” some money in a few entrepreneurial companies, and it keeps me from having to fly every day. These days I usually do some missions for an agent of mine, or do some hunting during the weekend…

I told my agent I need less stress around this time of the year and he understands. Sometimes he would contact me about a great mission before suggesting it to the other pilots lining outside of his doors. I appreciate him for that, but I am trying to acquire more funds for my expeditions with the industry sides of the universe. I’m not sure if I should be flying truth be told, my agent and I had an exchange of opinions a bit back, which resulted in me shooting off his ear – yes I KNOW I missed – I was hung over.. …. So he sent me to a shrink….the shrink used a lot of irritating  words to describe me ..told me to focus .. so I did.. on him … I didn’t miss ….”

But yes, if you do mess with me, expect to lose something, your mission wrecks, your ship, or your way of income. I have lots of friends, and they are all pretty much as sane as I am – get the pun ? ..

 

I like this guy….. might have to shoot him if I meet him out there.  But hey .. I like him…

 

Tonglil also has a blog where he boasts of his own endeavors – maybe you guys should go check it out .. ?