Headless

Domain was rough for all of us. I had known throughout the week that Takashi would be unavailable for the event, tied up with some planetside business. Immediately after the race in Placid, I notified Graelyn that the burden of running point would likely fall to him, to which he responded with his customary groan. Neon, being our most experienced frigate pilot, was also aware that he may find himself at the head of the Venture pack. It's safe to say, however, that everyone is most comfortable with Takashi driving the team, and he's so reliable that nobody gives much serious thought to ever having to fill his shoes. This strikes me as a failure of the Venture system; it's always good business practice to know how to do your boss's job, just in case.

For my part, I showed up dead tired in Domain. Normally, I'm staged in the correct region the night before the race, ready to receive the starting location and get in position as quickly as possible. A late night handling some personal matters and a trek from Kor-Azor back home to Sinq Laison left me too sleepy to make the trip back out to Domain. I was hauling a pair of Comets in an Iteron IV that needed to be delivered after the race, which made the journey exceptionally slow, so I docked up somewhere around the Gallente-Caldari border zone to catch a brief nap. I was tempted to go straight back to bed after handling the necessities of race fees and registrations, but I'm not one to leave the team hanging when the going gets tough.

Talk of postponement due to the prospect of low turnout gave me a glimmer of hope that I might soon be sound asleep, and as much as I personally favored a delay that would allow us to return to the field later with our captain at the helm, I had to concede that my personal preferences and team interests cannot supersede what's best for the whole; the race must go on. Sadly, Graelyn was nowhere to be found, and I held out hope for his arrival so long that I didn't turn in fees until about four minutes prior to the official start time. Though our team comprised four of the nine racers on the field, two frigates and two assault ships, our lack of any interceptors was a definite disadvantage. I took comfort in the fact that the even breakdown amongst classes, three pilots in each, assured us quality placements in the classes where we did field racers.

After a rushed run through our pre-flight checklist, I reminded everyone of their obligations should they find themselves on point. Most likely, the responsibility was going to be on Neon's shoulders, as it indeed was throughout most of the race, but anything can happen out there. I served as the de facto captain, despite not being on the track, but aside from answering some minor questions from Neon, he did a wonderful job of handling most everything himself. We focused on quality procedure, and I'm proud to say that we ran a solid formation throughout the race without incurring any penalties. This is really what I look for in my final analysis. Technique can be improved to reduce overall finish times, but sloppy procedure is a hard habit to squash, so I'm incredibly thankful that the team flies by the book.

We are once again beneficiaries of another pilot's disqualification. While I do hate to see any racer disqualified after running a fine race, Nicoletta Mithra's misfortune has allowed two of our assault ship pilots, Saikoyu and Koronakesh, to tie for first place individual standings. Because Scuderia Caille earns no points as a team this race, we have also regained a narrow lead in the team standings, offsetting our absence from the class in Placid. Neon continues to hang onto first place for himself and the team in the frigate class, as well. The hand of fate leaves us trailing in the interceptor class, but I have full confidence in our pilots' ability to bounce back from the points deficit.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the week has been the return of Thulla Icin to our roster, along with a new rookie, Solstice Exocet. I'm always overjoyed when one of the family comes home, and it's good to see that even our newest members are sharing the Venture vision with their fellow pilots. I'll have to remember to thank Miranda for encouraging Solstice to join the family. In the meantime, I now find myself scribbling some of my own notes in the margins of Venture history. I can see why Mr. Zek is always smiling in the photos I've seen. He had the best job in the cluster.