Slice of Life

Smuggling in the early days consisted of... absolutely nothing to do with smuggling. But those who took to that profession - in V-Squad's case, Cyra and Nikki - held out hope that the class would receive an overhaul.

But until such a time came, smuggling entailed crafting spices and opening locked containers to find items that weren't even as valuable on the open market as the sealed container itself.

I mean, who locks up a loaf of bread and 3 credits anyway? Seriously!

But much like when your great aunt gives you a wrapped present that you just KNOW is a pair of red Christmas socks with a snowflake pattern, there's something thrilling about opening up a mystery container. And Nikki could turn even the most mundane activities into something fun.

As Cyra started to focus more on her other vocations and let smuggling become a secondary aspect to her skills, Nikki continued to hone her slicing abilities. We would save any sealed containers for her; not caring about the credits we could have made by selling it to other smugglers who did not have the benefit of having allies who supported them.

That's what made V-Squad so strong. We were more then a guild; we were mates; a pack. I may sound boastful by saying that, but I'm proud of what we built together. Killdoran opened my eyes to just what we were doing by giving his unbiased view when we first met.

Nikki shared with me a few pictures of her taking on those locked containers. It wasn't something I was privy to, being the honest squad leader and upstanding citizen I was. Certainly not like the smuggling riff-raff that I had to schlep around with.

While it was interesting to see the slicing interface, I found it far more fascinating looking into Nikki's inventory. Most of it was standard gear for a guy playing a girl toon. Hot pants. Revealing Fleshwrap. Sports bra. Exotic Leotard. You know: all of the essentials.

Another time, another slice. The inventory has changed save for the essentials, but one item stands out to me from both pictures: The Eyes of Mesra. From what I had seen, this item was extremely rare. It was Nikki's pride and joy. For the uninitiated, it was the equivalent of a Magic Eightball. And if that doesn't make it any clearer, you have earned my eternal pity.

Nikki used the Eyes of Mesra to handle the difficult decisions in her life in SWG. When in doubt, or feeling a touch of boredom, the Eyes of Mesra would tell her what to do. Vincer was the squad leader, but if he ever contradicted what the all powerful Eye said, I think Nikki's true loyalties would have shown through!

Nikki's intention was to show us how slicing works. Eight years later, the images give us a very fun slice of life memory.

I think that was the Eyes of Mesra's plan all along. All hail, the Eye!