Lonetrek region – Okela constellation
Tsuguwa system – Planet VI
Caldari Navy Assembly Plant Station
22 November YC 126
“What?!” exclaimed Purkkoken Honuken when I told him the vintage that I expected him to buy for me, “I didn’t think you were drinking such an expensive wine alone!”
“Why not?” I asked nonchalantly.
“This kind of wine is typically bought for a celebration and enjoyed with a company of friends. It’s too expensive to drink as your everyday table quaff.”
I shrugged, “I am a capsuleer, I can afford it.”
“But I am not! Why didn’t you tell me that you were drinking Gallentean sparkling?”
“Why didn’t you tell me that the Navy was paying just for 3 hours of my ‘holovid watching’?” I retorted.
Purkkoken narrowed his eyes, “Wait! Have you made up that Gallentean bubbly stuff just to take revenge for the incomplete mission brief?”
“Nope,” I lied smoothly, “but I’ll tell you this – you buy this wine and we’ll drink it together, as it were, in a company of friends.”
I gave him a mischievous wink to keep his suspicions alive. Purkkoken stared me in the eye, but I innocently kept his gaze with an expectant expression. Finally, he gave up. Well, almost gave up as he still had enough fight in him to demand one last concession.
“If I am to buy that bottle,” he said, “I need to earn a commission for one more mission, and you have to help me, as you can imagine, by successfully completing that mission. Deal?”
I made a bit of a show pretending to be reluctant but the request was fair, so pretty soon I agreed.
“Okay, what is that mission of yours?” I asked.
“I am glad you asked,” said the agent sarcastically, “as it is quite urgent. There is a deadspace asteroid belt…”
“Wait, how does it work?” interrupted I, “You mean deadspace forms a ring around the star?”
Purkkoken winced, “It doesn’t matter. I am not giving you a lecture on astrophysics. The important thing is that there is a deadspace pocket and there are asteroids in it. They are being mined, or at least were mined until recently, when miners reported sightings of a mysterious craft. After that we lost all communication with them. We don’t know whether they are alive or not but what we do know is that the pocket was infested by rogue drones which started building a silo there. Have you got any experience with those pests?”
“I was in Seeker Investigation Programme. Are Seekers the same as rogue drones?”
“Their behaviour is more or less the same, so there won’t be any surprises for you. Your primary task is to destroy the Drone Silo but I will appreciate if you clean up the guards as well. We’ll be sending a rescue team after you are finished there, and I’d like to make sure they can do their work unmolested. Any questions?”
“What kind of protection does that silo have? Shield? Armour?”
“They’ve just started, so I don’t expect any significant defences. This is why it is so important to destroy it as soon as possible – a completed silo may require a capital ship to blow it up, but now you can do it in a frigate.”
“Okay, got it. Where is the nest?”
Purkkoken tapped his datapad, “I’ve sent you the coordinates. It’s in the next system, Nourvukaiken.”
“Ooh, you are expanding your remit? On track for a promotion, eh?”
The agent groaned, “Oh, don’t talk to me about a promotion.”
I raised an eyebrow, “Is it that bad?”
He shook his head, “You have no idea, Vlad! Remember that Violent Expulsion mission where we noticed a few irregularities? I brought them to the attention of my commander. He didn’t think much about them, so I went straight to the Colonel.”
“And?”
“That’s when the shit hit the fan. He told me in no uncertain terms, that if I don’t forget that unfortunate incident, I can forget about my military career.”
“Wow! So you did touch a sore spot. Well, mate, I told you to be careful. If you want to use that mission as a leverage, you better have some solid evidence first.”
“I know,” sighed Purkkoken, “there are no shortcuts in sight, and I need to get my performance above average just to stay afloat. Can I rely on you?”
I slapped him on the shoulder, “Don’t you worry. I am not cutting corners, especially when it comes to drones of rogue or any other variety. The place will be hospital-grade clean when the rescue team arrives.”
Lonetrek region – Okela constellation
Nourvukaiken system – Mission location
When I arrived to the deadspace pocket I found that drones not only started on the silo, but also built a stationary Drone Point Defense Battery to guard the site. Additionally, there were a few combat drones with funny names milling around.
“Aura,” said I, “what do you think of all those monikers – Infester Alvi, Mammon Apis, Belphegor Apis? Are they endonyms, or was there a human who plucked them out of thin air?”
There was an uncharacteristic silence which lasted for some time.
“Aura?” I asked, concerned, “are you online?”
“Yep, I am just searching the dictionaries.”
A few more minutes passed. The drones did not show any interest in me, so I just waited. Finally, Aura’s image flashed brightly and she delivered her report.
“I don’t know if drones named themselves or someone else did the honours, but whoever it was they were definitely familiar with Latin.”
“Latin?” I asked, perplexed, “What’s Latin?”
“Oh, it’s a dead language that we brought across the Eve Gate because it was used in medicine and natural sciences. In short, ‘alvi’ means ‘bellies’, ‘mammon’ is ‘wealth’, ‘apis’ is ‘bee’ and ‘Belphegor’ is a kind of a lazy daemon.”
I considered that insight, “Well, ‘bee’ kind of makes sense as drones are swarm creatures, but put together – Infester Bellies, Wealthy Bee, Lazy Daemon Bee? Nah. Anyway, if the names reflect their true nature to any degree, I definitely prefer a lazy daemon, to an active one.”
“There is only one way to check,” said Aura and produced two virtual pistols which she aimed at the silo.
I concurred. First went the battery. It required quite a few salvoes but, being stationary, it didn’t stand a chance. I switched to the next target which turned out to be… a small rock.
“Why are you bashing this wannabe asteroid?” asked Aura, amused.
“Erm… Sorry, I simply target-locked everything in range, just to be sure,” I made an excuse on the fly, and targeted Infester Alvi. Eventually, they all went down – the bees, the daemons, and the bellies. I reloaded the guns and targeted the silo.
“Do you want to keep a bit more distance from that structure?” asked Aura in a concerned tone, and a moment later the silo exploded.
The destroyer shook momentarily when the blast wave reached it but there was no damage.
“You were saying?” I asked Aura.
“Nothing,” she replied gloomily, “The mission is accomplished, Captain. You can return to the station.”