After the Seven – Finale

Lonetrek region – Okela constellation
Tsuguwa system – Planet VI
Caldari Navy Assembly Plant Station

15 December YC 126

It took me three days to finally reach Purkkoken Honuken. He invited me to his office and, as soon as I came in, started talking about a new mission.

“Good day, Mr Korff. I have a very important mission for you. We’ve got reports of a Guristas patrol in this sector. Our surveillance reports they are scouts providing intel back to their leaders for a much larger raiding party. We cannot have them discover our weak points or gather any intel on our convoy travel routes. You’ll need to intercept the pirate patrol, Mr Korff.”

I was quite taken aback by that ‘Mr Korff’ formality, as we were on the first name terms for quite a while, but there was a more important question on my mind.

“And what about The Seven?”

“I don’t have any actionable intel on that gang at the moment,” answered Purkkoken smoothly, and returned to his ‘very important mission’, “So, are you taking this assignment, Mr Korff?”

I shrugged, “If there is nothing else, Mr Honuken, then I am happy to accept this mission.”

Purkkoken beamed and said, “Fantastic! Let me accompany you to the docks, Mr Korff. I’ll fill you in on the details.”

I was surprised to hear that since the mission information was classified and agents only discussed it in the security of their offices. Fair enough, as we walked to the docks, Purkkoken didn’t mention the mission even once. Instead, he was talking incessantly about a Yoiul party in their department, and how one of the girls got drunk and became very familiar with the department chief, which led to all kinds of embarrassment.

When we finally reached my hangar, then instead of bidding me farewell Purkkoken slapped me on the back and said, “And you know what happened next day?”

Then he gave me the tiniest nod in the direction of the destroyer, indicating that we should continue walking along the gangway.

I had no idea what it was all about but played along, saying aloud, “No, please do tell me!”

As soon as we were on the bridge, the agent dropped himself into one of the chairs and closed his eyes. Then he looked at me with an apologetic smile and said, “Sorry, Vlad. I couldn’t talk about The Seven outside. I am in the soup.”

I had a lot of questions for the agent but I decided to let him tell the story his way, and simply said, “I am all ears.”

“In short, I am officially taken off The Seven investigation,” Purkkoken said with a deep sigh.

“Why?”

“Because of ‘a conflict of interests’.”

I scowled, “What conflict?”

“You remember, before the last mission I told you about the lady who overheard the conversation between Locceed and his lieutenant? Well, that lady, Rika, had a very personal interest in that mission. I didn’t show you her message at the time, but read it now and you’ll understand.”

Purkkoken produced his datapad, opened a file and handed it to me. Here is the full message from Rika.

Brave Capsuleer,
Allow me to offer my sincere thanks for your efforts to rescue me and my fellow hostages from the clutches of The Seven. If you would be interested, I’ve offered Purkkoken Honuken a sum of ISK to pay you in exchange for doing me a little favor.
During my time with The Seven, one of their officers was so cruel that I’m inclined to seek revenge on a personal level. Seeing as you have become quite familiar with their organization and tactics, I can think of no one better suited for carrying out this task. Please destroy his ship for me.
If you’re interested, the target’s name is Locceed and I happen to know where he’ll be in the near future, as one of his lieutenants let the information slip during casual conversation when I was nearby.
Once again, thank you for freeing me from The Seven’s clutches. I hope you find my offer appealing.

“I still don’t see how it is your conflict of interest,” I said, returning the datapad to Purkkoken.

“You see,” said Purkkoken in a hesitant tone, “she wrote that letter after I,” he swallowed, “went on a date with her. Vlad, you can’t imagine how charming she was. I wanted to impress her, and when she complained about Locceed, I said that I could easily organise a revenge if I knew his whereabouts. Then she remembered how Locceed talked about the flight plan. All I needed then was your consent!”

I nodded, “Yeah, this does look like a conflict of interest, but that’s just one mission and it’s not exactly at odds with Caldari Navy interests. Why would they take the whole investigation from you?”

Purkkoken winced, as if the memory physically hurt him, “You see, the reward that she offered was pretty solid by baseliners’ standards but for a capsuleer it was just small change, and I was sure you wouldn’t be interested. That is why I had to stretch the importance of that Locceed a fair bit, so that I could make it an official Caldari Navy mission with a proper bonus. And then that mission was selected for a random post-completion check where auditors asked a lot of sharp questions and came to a conclusion that the reward was not justified.”

I rolled my eyes, “For Bob’s sake, Purkkoken! Why am I not surprised that you are still languishing in the Level 1 agent role despite all your experience? I hope that at least all is well between you and Rika, after you kept your promise.”

“That is the most frustrating thing, Vlad! After you told me that Locceed was defeated, I called Rika to tell her good news and we agreed to meet in 30 minutes to celebrate the victory, but she never turned up. I tried to find her on the station but it looked like she had never existed – she didn’t stay at any hotels, she didn’t register for a long-term accommodation and she didn’t leave the station.”

I remembered how Locceed talked about ‘implanting triggered responses’ and the penny dropped.

“Mate,” I laughed, “we were both played by that bastard Locceed! He told me that he had let Rika overhear his conversation on purpose, to set up a trap for us. Now it appears that she was his accomplice from the start, and he said all that to protect her from suspicions which would arise after the ambush. But she managed to escape before she was apprehended. It’s a brilliant double bluff!”

Purkkoken looked gloomily at me, “I don’t know why you find this situation so funny.”

“Sorry,” I raise my hand placatingly, “I didn’t want to hurt your romantic feelings. Anyway, I am interested in completing The Seven investigation. Tell me which agent has got it and I’ll work with them.”

“Erm…” Purkkoken shifted uncomfortably, “even if I tell you the name, the new agent won’t work with you on it. It was not an official directive but I know that privately she was instructed not to offer any missions related to The Seven to you.”

“What?” I cried indignantly, “Are you saying that I was blacklisted because of your amorous shenanigans?”

“No, no, no,” he waved his hands, “from the operational perspective the mission was accomplished and your standings with the Navy and the State were increased in line with the official guidelines. You are not banned from any missions except this particular investigation. They think you were too involved in it, and want to keep you away from it just in case.”

I gave Purkkoken a heavy look, “Okay, so now I have to work hard to rebuild your ruined reputation,” then I sighed and asked resignedly, “That mission that you just gave me, does it have a name?”

“Yes, it’s called The Score.”

“Alright, let’s settle it.”

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