The Wandering Bloom

I was 10 when I received my first exosuit, it was my great great great grandfathers, my family had kept it in pristine shape through the years as a relic from the earliest days of the Wandering Bloom. It had been modified by all its previous owners, but you could still see pieces in there that were from the oldest days of our culture, back when the Luminar Order brought us in. When we were guardians of the Temple at Neryssa

I was 11 when I made my first modification to it, just small boosters for zero-g maneuvering. My mother said that every Kheltasi would evolve with their exosuit. My father had apparently put in the filter exchange, hard to believe that my ancestors lived without filtration. His father had put in the circulation, I could see whole histories of our society built across the suit. 

I was 15 when I started to outgrow my childhood exosuit and began collecting the parts necessary for building my own. Collecting the parts was easy, but truly making it my own would be a lifelong journey. The first thing I did was make sure that the speech portions of the suit would allow me to have different communication channels if I wanted, as well as a built-in translator so I would be able to communicate with anyone.

I was 16 when I left for my Wandering Bloom, my mother and father saw me off as I trekked along the swamps of Neryssa to find a port where I could find a starship that I could get work on. It took me three months of walking, but in that time I learned how to scavenge for my food, and how to make field repairs and modifications to my suit using natural parts. When I made it to the port I saw many other kheltasi on their Blooms as well. 

I was 17 when I earned passage on a ship, with a group called the Serpent's Coil, they said they needed a blue kheltasi, apparently the other mountain kheltasi use a different port but I was happy to be needed. They had me working in a laboratory with their other scientists, I explained I was an engineer. However, they had insisted that I would be of more use in the lab, from what I could tell, they made poisons using whatever they had on hand. I have also made a modification to my suit to allow me to eject  toxins from a wrist mount. Maybe this is the wisdom I am to learn, to use the natural abilities against others.

I was 18 when I realized what we were actually doing in the lab, we had been working on creating a sentient poison, the goal being that we could program it with instructions or distinct bio-markers and it would target specific individuals. Unfortunately, I didn't have all the pieces, they also wanted to make this poison inert unless activated, as well as highly addictive, that way it could be spread across the galaxy and they could have control. 

I was 19 when I set out to destroy the work I had done for the last few years with the Coil. I needed to make several modifications to my exosuit to be able to enact my plan, first was installing blaster protection, as well as a full oxygen exchange system. I knew enough from the years of working with them that they would try to find some way to make me stay, or even change my mind for me. 

I was 20 when I escaped the Serpent's Coil, I sabotaged my work by creating an antidote to my natural toxins, then I destroyed the notes. They noticed but I exited the ship when we made port. Luckily many of the others on the ship could not tell me apart with my exosuit on, the benefit of relying on a full suit for survival. Unfortunately they would figure out what I had done and the Syndicate does not forgive.

I was 22 when I ran into the Ascendancy for the first time. They are apparently aware of the Wandering Bloom and allow it to occur, but I needed to fill out mountains of paperwork just to enter and leave the planet. They also gave me a badge so I would be able to identify myself to others in the Ascendancy as being a Wandering Bloom pilgrim. The majority of the people I met within the Ascendancy were wildly different, some were kind, others aggressively unwelcoming, most were simply good to ignore that I existed.

I was 23 when I got a job as an engineer on an Ember Maw starship; my friend and coworker was a Starforged named Jacob. I had earned my place in the shop by impressing Jacob with how quickly I was able to repair an engine, while it was still running. It required quick hands and quick thinking, he said I would need to be able to do that in space when we get into a heavy attack. I asked how often that happens and he explained that it was part of their culture to seize ships and have star battles. Each culture has their own rituals it seems, just like the kheltasi have the wandering bloom, so does the Ember Maw have theirs.

I was 24 when I was a part of my first raid, I confined myself to the engine room, but Jacob insisted that we be ready to leave at a moment's notice if the Ember Call was made. As we would be left to die on a burning ship along with the captain, while the crew jumped aboard the new vessel. It was a harrowing experience, but it caused me to put in flame-proofing and other safety measures into my exosuit. 

I was 25 when the Whispered Knife assassins found me. They were hired by the Serpent's Coil 3 years ago when the Coil tried to activate their drug and it didn’t work. They traced it back to me and found me on an Ember Maw ship after I foolishly used my name on a parts order. Jacob insisted that we could find the part we’d need on another ship, but he didn't know this was for my exosuit. Regardless, the Knife destroyed our section of the ship and Jacob was taken in the blast, ejected into space as the portside engine was blown off.

I was 26 when I realized that the Syndicate was much larger than I had ever believed, I had been on the run for the last 2 years. Using a fake name and an assumed Identity; I have instead gotten work with the Black Fangs, they are more appreciative of my technological abilities. I have also seen the incredibly cruelty that the syndicate is capable of; I have witnessed the Sable Chain enslave entire bloodlines to pay off a distant relative’s debt, I have witnessed the Crimson Blades selling their protection to rivals and profiting off the carnage, and I witnessed the Bleeding Veil smuggle entire people into and out of the Ascendancy. Can the wisdom be that the only way to survive in this galaxy is to control everyone? 

I was 30 when the Whispered Knife found me again but this time I had been preparing efficiently for this inevitability. I had built sensors as well as a drone that could be deployed at will. I had managed to take down the assassin they sent after me, but I’m sure it won't be the last. I decided to get away from the Black Fangs ship and attempt to build my own ship so I wouldn't be subject to a criminal empire. 

I was 32 when I found Jacob again. He had survived in the void for 2 years before finding passage on a ship for some group called the Tide-Kin, he asked if I wanted to join him. I explained that I was trying to find my own way and that joining with another group of fighters wouldn’t teach me new wisdom. He explained that while they did fight, it wasn't for profit or glory, but to keep and maintain the freedom they’ve fought so hard for. I told him I wasnt ready and needed to find my own method to peace.

I was 35 when I finally got enough parts to complete my ship, it was very nimble but now I needed a crew. I would find others seeking freedom and peace, my crew was a slapdash of different species, all who had been used by the Ascendancy for their innate skills and the syndicate to further their goals. We were a crew of rescues, wanting nothing more than to explore the galaxy on our own terms.

I was 38 when I joined the Severed Fold, I met with Jacob again, but this time we had both grown from our journeys. The Wandering Bloom had taught me that wisdom comes from my willingness to defend what I believe in. I had spent a childhood as a curious wanderer, only thinking that the world was there for me to use and advance myself. I had spent years associating with criminals learning that even with all your beliefs someone can still come along and take everything from you. I spent time on my own learning what true freedom is.

So here I am at age 42, bringing my wisdom back to Neryssa. The galaxy cares not for who we are as individuals, only for what we can provide them. It is our job to carve our own path to walk or we will just be wandering without finding any more information that can bloom back home.