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The Blood-Stained Stars: Queens and Drones — Part IV

Coreli Spy

Planting the Body

Essense region – Peccanouette constellation
Arnon System – Planet IX – Moon 3
Sisters of EVE Bureau station

9 August YC 127

“What are we waiting for?” I asked Alitura. “If we can’t do anything for Burgan, can we try extracting Corin Risia?”

The agent shook her head, “As I said, there is no time for both missions. In 15 minutes you’ll be leaving the dock for the second part of Burgan rescue operation. I have just enough time to brief you. The DNA sample that you brought is being imprinted, as we speak, on a slab of human biomass — same material which is used for making capsuleer clones.”

“I was under impression that clone manufacturing took somewhat more than 15 minutes,” I said sceptically. Continue reading “The Blood-Stained Stars: Queens and Drones — Part IV”

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The Blood-Stained Stars: Queens and Drones — Part III

Bag of Blood

Essense region – Peccanouette constellation
Arnon System – Planet IX – Moon 3
Sisters of EVE Bureau station

9 August YC 127

It was the morning after a Friday night which I spent celebrating the end of the work week. Not that I had specific working days or hours, but it was a tradition that I cherished from my programming days. Understandably, I planned to sleep off the worst effects of the hangover and turned on Do Not Disturb mode on my commlink. Imagine my surprise, when the damn thing started buzzing around 8 o’clock. There was only one person who could call me at any time — Aura — and she would not do it without a reason. Well, it had to be a bloody good reason, I thought darkly, picking up the device. Continue reading “The Blood-Stained Stars: Queens and Drones — Part III”

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The Blood-Stained Stars: Queens and Drones — Part II

The Scope Development Studio

Nature Pictures

Essense region – Peccanouette constellation
Arnon System – Planet IX – Moon 3
Sisters of EVE Bureau station

24 July YC 127

Although my previous mission was a success, it didn’t get us any closer to tracking the mysterious rogue drone which corrupted well-behaved domestic ones. After I shot down the drones blockading the Food Relief Corporation station, there were a lot of wrecks but no loot. The little buggers were a crunchy lot — when they exploded there wasn’t anything big enough to salvage and study. Sister Alitura was disappointed but she asked me to hang around as she was pursuing a few other leads which could require my assistance. I didn’t mind. Alitura was her usual sardonic self but I noticed that it stopped rubbing me the wrong way. I guess, I just got used to it and didn’t take it personally. Continue reading “The Blood-Stained Stars: Queens and Drones — Part II”

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The Blood-Stained Stars: Queens and Drones — Part I

Royal Jelly

Essense region – Peccanouette constellation
Arnon System – Planet IX – Moon 3
Sisters of EVE Bureau station

13 July YC 127

I smiled pleasantly, “Good day to you too, Sister.”

Alitura shook her head in a display of frustration, “We have an urgent situation here, and I’d appreciate if you took it seriously.”

“If it is that urgent, why didn’t you engage a local pilot rather than someone seven jumps away?”

“Because,” Alitura replied with a note of bitterness, “if you remember, my management decided that the only contractor I could work with on The Damsel case was you.”

“The Damsel case?” I asked eagerly. “Have you got any new leads?” Continue reading “The Blood-Stained Stars: Queens and Drones — Part I”

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The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets — Part VII

Sisters of EVE Bureau station

A Sense of Dread

The Citadel region — Caldari Border Zone constellation
Hatakani system — Planet VI — Moon 4
Hyasyoda Corporation Refinery station

13 July YC 127

“What? Not a single circuit?!” Immuri Asaka cried in disbelief.

I shook my head ruefully. As expected, the agent was disappointed when I told him that I hadn’t been able to loot any components from the drone wrecks.

“I don’t know, mate. I really don’t know what to do,” Immuri mumbled pacing the room. “Without drone components, I simply can’t proceed with the research.” Continue reading “The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets — Part VII”

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The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets — Part VI

Infester Alvi

Every Drone Inside

The Citadel region — Caldari Border Zone constellation
Hatakani system — Planet VI — Moon 4
Hyasyoda Corporation Refinery station

13 July YC 127

After my last milk run mission, Immuri Asaka stopped bothering me with stupid assignments. I called on him every few days and was heartened to learn that he was fully focused on the datacore investigation. Today, I went to see him for the latest progress update and found him in a lab. The agent was slumped in a chair and stared into the distance.

“Hey, how are things?” I said, by way of greeting.

Immuri looked at me with bleary eyes and sighed, “Shitty, but thanks for asking.” Continue reading “The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets — Part VI”

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The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets — Part V

Storage Warehouse

An Economy Under Threat

The Citadel region — Caldari Border Zone constellation
Hatakani system — Planet VI — Moon 4
Hyasyoda Corporation Refinery station

2 July YC 127

When I got the next call from Immuri Asaka he sounded agitated. I hurried to his office, thinking there was some kind of breakthrough in his research.

“Vlad, I am so glad to see you!” exclaimed the agent when I walked in.

I had a bad feeling about it — agents were never glad to see me for my own sake. To think about it, probably no one was. Except Aura.

“How is your drone research going?” I asked, still hoping for good news.

“Forget the research! I need your help urgently — it’s a question of life and death!” Continue reading “The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets — Part V”

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The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets — Part IV

Starbase Control Tower

Mercenary Distractions

The Citadel region — Caldari Border Zone constellation
Hatakani system — Planet VI — Moon 4
Hyasyoda Corporation Refinery station

29 June YC 127

The last mission reward was worth more than a beer or two, and a good thing it was as Immuri took his sweet time solving the Vitimala problem. During that time I became a regular at The Kyonoke Spire bar — the bartender began calling me by name, and some of the loners greeted me with a nod. I started feeling as part of the furniture when a call from Immuri finally came. Keeping in mind his warning about drinking too much, I paced myself. The result was a warm and fuzzy state of mind in which I could miss the station entrance while docking, but wouldn’t miss the station altogether.

In such a merry mood I walked into Immuri’s office and plopped into the guest chair.

“Hiya!” I said jovially. “How is Vitimala doing? Is he still guarding that honeypot?” Continue reading “The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets — Part IV”

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The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets — Part III

Imperial Armaments Factory

House of Records

The Citadel region — Caldari Border Zone constellation
Hatakani system — Planet VI — Moon 4
Hyasyoda Corporation Refinery station

7 June YC 127

While Immuri Asaka was conferring with his superiors, I went out in search of accommodation. I checked GalNet reviews and found a few hotels recommended by capsuleers. Then I cross-referenced them with the bar directory I was studying earlier that day and discovered that each of the hotels had a top-rated bar.

That’s all you need to know about capsuleers’ choices, I thought to myself and booked a room at The Kyonoke Spire. Continue reading “The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets — Part III”

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The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets – Part II

Drone Hive

Passive Observation

The Citadel region – Caldari Border Zone constellation
Hatakani system – Planet VI – Moon 4
Hyasyoda Corporation Refinery system

6 June YC 127

“These two datacores,” Immuri said, “will be of great help but I also need up-to-date information on the corrupted drones. We managed to contain them in the deadspace pocket. One of my colleagues is monitoring the situation there but I haven’t heard from her. I talked to my superiors and was told that outbound communications were tightly controlled by our security forces in that pocket. I need you to be my eyes in the field. Fly over there and report your observations to me.”

“Um… Won’t your security forces try to ‘control’ me when they see an outsider pop up on their overviews?” Continue reading “The Blood-Stained Stars: Shadow Puppets – Part II”

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