Lonetrek region – Okela constellation
Tsuguwa system – Planet VI
Caldari Navy Assembly Plant Station
9 February YC 127
Today I received a message from Ozanero Voiras, Level 2 Security Agent, which requested my presence in her office at my earliest convenience.
“Earliest convenience, my foot,” I mumbled finishing my breakfast hastily.
In military parlance ‘earliest convenience’ was a polite way of saying ‘chop chop!’ If after such a message a capsuleer did not arrive post-haste, the agent’s attitude could become decidedly icy. Even if tardiness didn’t lead to a formal decrease in standings, the contractor could expect agents to give him the shittiest missions in their backlog.
As I entered the agent’s office, Ozanero greeted me and invited me to sit in a visitor’s chair. Then she produced a non-fungible token of the kind being used for single-copy certified documents, and pushed it to me over the table.
“Your methods, Mr Korff, are unconventional, but definitely effective,” said the agent, “Some of the remains that you brought from the last mission indeed belonged to Kruul. This is a certificate confirming the kill.”
I took the token and asked sarcastically, “And what am I supposed to do with it? Frame it and hang on the wall?”
Ozanero did not react to my goading and replied coolly, “You may find it useful if you decide to purchase certain items from the Navy loyalty point store.”
I made a mental note to check the LP shop later and put the token into the pocket.
“But I guess that you didn’t ask me to visit you ‘at my earliest convenience’ just to give me this certificate,” I said.
“You are quite right, Mr Korff. As you have a recent and positive experience fighting Kruul, I deemed it reasonable to request your assistance in another mission against him.”
“Another mission against Kruul?” I asked incredulously, “Are you telling me that he somehow managed to escape?”
“In a sense, yes. The same way all you, capsuleers, escape when your pod explodes.”
“Oh, damn!” I exclaimed as it dawned on me what it meant. “He is a capsuleer too!” I shook my head in exasperation, “Why do you, guys, bestow eternal life on scum like him? Can’t you run personality tests, or something, before admitting people to capsuleer training programs?”
Ozanero pursed her lips, “We deny any responsibility for the actions of individual pod pilots who are not active members of Caldari Navy. But even if we didn’t, you couldn’t blame us for producing that particular pirate – he was trained by Amarr Empire.”
I raised my hand in a placating gesture, “Sorry, forget I said it. I am just frustrated.” I took a deep breath to calm myself, “So, how can I assist? Do you want me to kill the bastard again?”
The agent’s face relaxed, “Not necessarily. You may need to kill him but it is not the main objective of the mission. What I am going to tell you now is highly confidential. You will need to forget about this mission as soon as you have completed it. Understood?”
My curiosity was piqued as confidentiality was a standard clause in all mission contracts and the agents didn’t bother reiterating it. I nodded.
Ozanero continued, “A daughter of a senior Navy officer has gone missing. Recently she was spotted in a disreputable nightclub which belonged to Kruul. We are afraid that she was forced into slave labour or even prostitution. Your objective is to retrieve her from the club and bring her safely back to her family. And this time you are getting a squad of marines to help you.”
I scoffed, “Of course, I am. The best I can do on my own is blow up the nightclub and hope that I can extract the girl from the debris in one piece and breathing. Anything else I need to know?”
“Yes, you will get further details of the mission plan from Marine Sergeant Aoki. He will meet you in the dock.”
There was no time to lose. I accepted the mission and headed to my hangar.
When I arrived to the docks Sergeant Aoki was already waiting for me. He wore an impressive Katana-class heavy assault suit reinforced with a kinetic shield. The sergeant’s angular face did not betray any emotion regarding the upcoming deployment. In a few dry sentences he outlined the tactical plan: my objective was to suppress all the guards deployed in space, after which his squad would fly onboard a breacher pod to the pleasure hub and rescue the girl. I would then pick up the pod from space and warp out. Having finished his explanation, he requested a permission to load the breacher pod to my destroyer’s cargo hold.
“Not so quick, Sergeant. We are not flying this ship today,” said I, instructing the docking crew to replace Merimetso with Kaukokärki.
Seeing a slightly quizzical expression on Aoki’s face, I explained, “Merimetso is great against Guristas, but not so much when I have to fight The Seven. Kaukokärki has a sniper fit which is more suitable in the upcoming battle.”
The Sergeant nodded, “Makes sense. I just didn’t expect you to keep two destroyers with different fits.”
I shrugged, “Saves time in situations like this. Swapping ships is faster than refitting them.”
As soon as Kaukokärki was towed into the hangar, I loaded the breacher pod with the marines into the ship and undocked.
Lonetrek region – Okela constellation
Nourvukaiken system – Mission location
Our destination was in Nourvukaiken. When we arrived at the location provided by Ozanero, I marvelled at the boldness of Kruul’s operations. His pleasure hub was not even in a deadspace pocket which could be reached only by an acceleration gate. On the contrary, it was anchored in the regular space where it could be accessed easily by any ship with a warp drive. However, the agent called it disreputable, not illegal. Knowing our profit-loving government, they would happily register any enterprise which paid taxes into the State’s coffers.
My musings were interrupted by the sound of alarm indicating that I was targeted. Although the hub was not protected by a gate, it didn’t mean it was unguarded. My overview showed eight frigates called Kruul’s Henchman led by a cruiser piloted by Kruul himself. All of them were acquiring a target lock on me. I immediately turned away from the pirate fleet and activated the microwarpdrive. The distance between the pirates and me started rapidly increasing.
Aiko, who was monitoring the tactical display from the pod, said dryly, “I think you are flying in the wrong direction, Captain.”
“Sergeant, let’s have a deal,” I answered, “I don’t teach you how to assault pleasure hubs, and you don’t tell me how to fight pirate ships.”
Silence was the only answer I got from the marine. I waited until the distance to the nearest pirate reached 100 km and turned the MWD off.
In the meantime, I got a message from Kruul in the local broadcast channel: “So you’re one of their lap-dogs come to do their dirty work, eh? I’m warning you, if you don’t leave immediately I’ll have to sling out my new weapon on your ass.”
I rolled my eyes, “How do you know I haven’t come here to have a relaxing evening in the company of your girls?”
The pirate sniggered, “I saw what kind of relaxation you prefer at my brothel in Tsuguwa. You may have destroyed my body, but I still have vivid memories of that encounter. Mind you, I’ve installed some combat implants in my new clone, so this time you will be the one to take the pod express home.”
“And what do those implants do?” I asked with a genuine curiosity. Combat implants were a new area for me and I was keen to learn about them.
“You’ll see soon enough,” growled Kruul, “Just don’t go cryin’ home to mommy in your capsule when I’m done wit ya. And don’t beg for your life, it’s pathetic…”
Before Kruul had an opportunity to turn his threats into actions the first of his henchmen entered my firing range. I promptly acquired a target lock and concentrated the fire of all seven of my 150-mm railguns on it. The high-calibre rails ripped through the pirate frigate with a devastating efficiency – it took only two salvos to blow up the hapless guard. Meanwhile, the remaining frigates quickly gained on me. One by one they were entering the optimal range of my weapons, and one by one they exploded. Kruul’s cruiser, though, was slower than my destroyer and the distance between us kept growing. I noticed that he kept launching heavy missiles in my direction but none of them had reached me so far.
Having rid the space of Kruul’s escort, I turned my attention to the man himself. I willed Kaukokärki into an 85-km orbit around his cruiser and, while the destroyer was closing the distance, asked Kruul in the local channel, “How are the implants doing, by the way? I hope they aren’t overheating.”
There was no response from the pirate. His launcher was still shooting the missiles ineffectually. I chuckled – whatever implants he installed, they did not improve the reach of his weapons. When Kruul’s cruiser finally reached my railguns’ range, I targeted and started firing at him.
“Vlad, he has sent a distress signal,” said Aura urgently.
“I wonder if anyone else is left to give him a hand,” I replied.
As if in response to my words, 10 Mercenary Elite Fighters warped into the vicinity of the pleasure hub and headed in my direction. I nodded appreciatively – for all his braggadocio, Kruul knew how to hedge his bets. That, however, was not going to help him; the Fighters were a solid 100 clicks away while Kruul’s shield melted under the fire of my one-fifties faster than snow under a blowtorch. It took me just 25 seconds to make mincemeat of Kruul’s cruiser – armour, hull, implants and all. Then I turned my attention to the mercenaries who were still pursuing me despite the loss of their employer. I guess they were aware of his empyrean nature and had hopes for a bounty if they could blow me up.
I kept flying away from the pleasure hub as the Fighters were slowly closing the distance between us. At some point I got bored waiting for them to come into my firing range and made a 90-degree turn, flying perpendicularly to my previous course. Their relative speed increased dramatically and soon the first of them was within reach of my railguns. The Mercenary Elite Fighters were 50% sturdier than Kruul’s Henchmen which meant that I needed three salvos instead of two to destroy one of them. Initially everything went pretty well – I targeted and fired at the closest mercenary, dispatching one every 15 seconds. Then, when the distance between us reduced to 30 km, I started getting first hits from Inferno Light Missiles. Every impact reduced my shield by 45 hit points, and the damage indicator rapidly crawled across my dashboard. I cursed, turned Kaukokärki away from the murderous frigates and activated the microwarpdrive. By the time I left their effective firing range half my shield was gone!
Aura, looking wide-eyed at the four remaining Figters, said in a shocked voice, “That was a smart move to pull away from the pleasure hub, Captain. Imagine what would happen if all ten of them warped in on top of us.”
I nodded, accepting the praise, and matched my velocity to that of the frigates, so that they stayed within reach of my railguns but were unable to close in on me. After that it was just a matter of time before the space was clear of all threats. I made a U-turn and flew in the direction of the pleasure hub, at the same time starting a countdown for the breacher pod launch. As I was approaching the hub, I saw several small vessels undocking and warping away from it. I hoped those were just scared patrons and not the pirates evacuating their ‘human resources’.
“Sergeant,” I said on the intercom, “it looks like the hangar is clear. You should have no problem docking there.”
“Roger that,” was a curt response.
When we were 5 km away from the pleasure hub I jettisoned the breacher pod and stood sentry near the entrance to the dock. As the pod’s exhaust nozzle flared up, it quickly covered the distance separating it from the hub and disappeared within the hangar. There was nothing else left for me but wait. Minutes passed.
Suddenly, I saw flickers of light coming out of the docking entrance. The illumination continued for a few seconds after which Sergeant Aoki’s voice interrupted the radio silence.
“Captain, we have the VIP. Get ready to pick us up in…”
At that moment a bright flash coloured the dock blindingly white.
“Sergeant,” I said alarmed, “What was that? Are you OK?”
“Later,” was all I heard in reply, after which the fireworks resumed.
Now the weak flickers I saw before were periodically punctuated by bright white flashes, albeit not as strong as the first one. After a couple of agonisingly slow minutes, I heard Aoki’s voice again.
“Captain, can you tractor the pod out of the hangar?”
I looked at the overview. The pleasure hub was not classified as a container from which I could extract other objects.
I glanced at Aura questioningly, “Can you do that overview calibration trick on the hub?”
She shook her head, “No, it appears as a solid structure even at a granular level.”
“Negative, Sergeant,” I replied to Aoki, “What’s the problem?”
“The pod’s controls are cooked,” said the Sergeant breathing heavily, “The pirates have got a high-power laser gun which they fired at the pod when we were about to undock. We managed to push them back, but the time is on their side. That thing can burn through bulkheads. I have already lost four of my marines.”
“Is there any other way I can assist?” I asked desperately, although I had not the slightest idea what I could do.
“Blow up the hub,” immediately replied Aoki, making it sound as the most obvious thing to do.
“What?” I cried in dismay, “But what about the girl?”
“The VIP is strapped securely in the pod which is sturdy enough to survive the destruction of the hub. You can pick it up from the debris.”
“What about you?”
“We have to hold the pirates at bay, or they will fry the vessel. Don’t worry about us. We have armoured assault suits which give us a non-zero chance of survival.”
“B-but…” I stammered, trying to think of another solution.
“Hurry, Captain,” the Sergeant said urgently, “There are only four of us remaining.”
“Damn you, Aoki”, I mumbled through clenched teeth and targeted the pleasure hub.
The structure had hardly any defences. Every salvo from my one-fifties fired at point-blank range chewed through the hub’s shield and armour as if they were paper-thin. After just 20 seconds its structural integrity was completely compromised. I expected the hub to break apart but I was suddenly blinded by a violent explosion.
“What the fuck?” I cried out as the a field of small debris quickly expanded in all directions, shaking Kaukokärki on its way.
That was not supposed to happen. It was a habitation module, not a fuel depot.
“Look,” suddenly said Aura, pointing at the overview.
I turned my gaze to the indicated window and saw that there were now two objects where the pleasure hub had just been. One of them was a breacher pod! It looked badly mangled but in one piece. Another was some non-descript container. I quickly approached the pod and dragged it into the cargo hold. As all its electronics was fried, I did not have a radio connection to it. I used a loudspeaker in the hold to ask if there was anyone alive, but there was no answer. I then looked closer at the other object. It appeared to be an unpowered escape pod. My heart raced as the tractor beam grabbed the container and pulled it into my cargo hold. Could it be that the marines managed to get out of the station at the last minute? My hopes were dashed when the HUD told me that the escape pod contained ten ‘exotic male dancers’.
As soon as the first of the ‘dancers’ emerged from the escape pod, I addressed him through the intercom, “This is Captain Korff. Welcome aboard. I need your urgent assistance. Please check if there is anyone alive onboard the other pod.”
The CCTV camera showed the man enter the breacher pod and only now I noticed that the door was missing. All the time while the pod was in space after the explosion, it was unpressurised! A few seconds later the man ducked out of the pod and said, “There is a girl inside but she is not breathing. I think she is dead.”
“Damn it!” I growled willing Kaukokärki into the warp toward the Tsuguwa gate, “Try to resuscitate her! She wasn’t exposed to the vacuum that long.”
The man looked uncertain for a second but then shrugged and headed back into the breacher pod.
Lonetrek region – Okela constellation
Tsuguwa system – Planet VI
Caldari Navy Assembly Plant Station
As we were flying back to Caldari Navy Assembly Plant station in Tsuguwa I called Ozanero and described the situation. She just nodded and dropped the connection. I don’t know what kind of emergency powers she possessed but when, a few minutes later, I was docking at the CNAP, the dispatcher gave my docking request a priority and I whizzed past the queue of vessels waiting for their turn. I was directed to a berth where medical personnel was already waiting. I also noticed a tall man in a Navy uniform with admiral’s insignia who rushed into Kaukokärki’s cargo hold ahead of the medics as soon as I docked. After a few minutes, the same group emerged from the hold with the girl lying on a stretcher with an oxygen mask on her face. They quickly loaded the stretcher into an ambulance and departed. Then I saw a squad of military police entering my destroyer and escorting the rescued exotic dancers away, one of them gesticulating angrily at the officers. After their departure no one else seemed to be interested in my Cormorant anymore, and I turned to Aura.
“Shall we return to the pleasure hub location and search the debris for the marines?” I asked.
She shook her head sadly, “I checked the detailed logs. The explosion was so powerful that there was nothing human-sized left, like everything went through a meat-grinder. I am surprised that the escape pod we picked up was in one piece. They must have left the hub just before the explosion.”
I sighed, “Alright. In such case, I think I’ll sign off for the day.”
Aura looked at me apologetically, “I’ve just got a message from Ozanero. She wants you for a mission debrief at 5 pm.”
I groaned, “I better come, or she will cut my bonus.”
At 4:58 pm I knocked on the door of Ozanero Voiras’s office and, having received a positive reply, entered. The agent looked at me with a tired smile and invited me to sit down. When I was seated, she took a familiar-looking token from a drawer and gave it to me.
I raised my eyebrow, “Is it what I think it is?”
Ozanero nodded, “Yep, every time you defeat Kruul, you get a certificate.”
“And you don’t require a collection of body parts to confirm the kill?”
The agent chuckled, “Our department gave it a considerate thought after you delivered a crate of ‘specimens’ from the Seven’s brothel. What usually happened when we issued a mission against Kruul was that a capsuleer who blew up the pirate’s cruiser would grab the first piece of organic matter from the wreck and present it to us as Kruul’s. We would analyse the DNA and either confirm the kill or reject it, depending on whose body part it actually was. There were even incidents when capsuleers tried to present their own blood as Kruul’s,” Ozanero rolled her eyes and continued, “Such laid-back attitude exhibited by capsuleers ensured that now and then the department could save on the cost of the token. When you wheeled in your mobile morgue, suddenly the onus was on us – we had to ensure that we analysed all organic matter, if we wanted to claim that Kruul’s remains were not part of it. Given the cruiser had about two dozen crew members apart from Kruul himself, it took us a considerable amount of time and money to analyse the DNA taken from various body parts before we actually found a Kruul’s one. After that I was given an informal directive to use only flight logs and video footage to verify Kruul’s kills reported by you. I hope you will be discrete and will not disclose this information to other capsuleers who might want to adopt your approach.”
I looked meaningfully at the CCTV camera and asked, “And you are not afraid of divulging this confidential directive to me?”
“It’s a calculated risk based on your behavioural profile. If I don’t give you an explanation, it is likely that you will casually comment on this discrepancy in a conversation with other capsuleers from which they will draw undesirable conclusions. But if I take you into my confidence, Vladimir Korff, then I believe that the chance of your disclosing this information will be minimal.”
I made a mental note of not having been called ‘Mr Korff’ for the first time since I started working with the agent. Aloud I said, “Behavioural profile, huh? Maybe it’s time for me to do something weird to throw your psychologists off-kilter. But don’t worry, I won’t do it this time. Such things work best when they are not expected. You secret is safe with me.”
Ozanero laughed and teased me, “I didn’t expect you to do anything funny this time either. So if you want to reduce the confidence of our predictive modelling, now is as good time as any.”
I said, “Touché,” and laughed with the agent. Then I changed the topic, “By the way, how is the girl?”
“She is fine. Mild hypoxia, but nothing serious. You did a good job quickly picking her up from the hub debris, as did that rescued exotic dancer who kept her blood oxygen up until you arrived to the station. I was more afraid for her father who looked as if he was about to have a fit of apoplexy.” Suddenly the agent emitted a girlish giggle, “Can you imagine his face when he saw his unconscious daughter being kissed by a half-naked man?”
I guffawed, “Oh no! Now I understand why that dancer was so agitated when he left the Cormorant. He was doing his best to resuscitate the girl, when he was apprehended by a furious father who immediately jumped to wrong conclusions. Did they come to fisticuffs?”
“Not that I am aware of,” replied Ozanero shaking with laughter. Then she took a deep breath, calming herself, and said, “Anyway, congratulations on the successful mission! I appreciate your prompt response and professional conduct.”
At that point my mood darkened, “You call it successful? We have just lost ten lives in an attempt to save one. That doesn’t fit the definition of ‘success’ in my books.”
Ozanero grew serious and looked me in the eye, “Vladimir, if you don’t mind me calling you by your given name,” I shook my head, and she continued, “from your file I know that you have never served in the Navy. You have been a security contractor who is free to come and go as he wishes, and for that reason you do not understand the people like those marines who chose to be career servicemen and servicewomen. They live by their own code of honour which defines who they are, and to some degree it applies to all Navy personnel. One of the axioms of their existence is that they don’t leave one of their own behind. The numbers of lives saved and lost are not part of their success formula, as long as they do what they believe is right. It gives them mental strength and resilience to perform such feats of valour which Feds would never think possible.”
Ozanero became agitated as she continued, “Now, imagine Aoki ordering his marines to retreat because it was too hard. How would they feel? They would not be committing a crime which would be judged by a court. They would not be committing a sin which would be judged by a god. They would not even be losing face which would be judged by others. They would be losing themselves, and their judgement is always ‘guilty’. There is no return from that.”
That was a lot to process and all I could do was fix on the last sentence, “No return? What do you mean? Return where?”
“To life. Or at least to normal life. Such breaches of the code are extremely rare but, whenever they happened, inevitably the servicepeople involved either committed a suicide or withdrew into themselves, many expiring in a few months,” the agent said sadly.
My head was spinning. I needed time to come to terms with what Ozanero had told me. Excusing myself, I rose from the chair and left the agent’s office.
I came to my apartment and dropped on the bed, mentally exhausted. What I needed at that moment was a good night’s sleep to clear my mind, but the thoughts and emotions buzzing in my head made any rest impossible. I spent two hours thinking about the mission, my mind going in circles: blaming myself, blaming the reckless girl, blaming the marines with their stupid code of honour, blaming myself again… Eventually, the confines of my room became unbearable, and I went out to distract myself.
Simply walking along the corridor and watching other people passing by had a calming influence on me. To reinforce the effect I went to my favourite Voidwatcher bar and ordered two pints of Amarrian Imperial Stout. Having found a place near the window, I quickly gulped down the first glass. As the alcohol slowly made its way to the brain, soothing my frayed nerves, I watched the endless mesmerising carousel of arriving and departing ships.
Some indeterminate time later my thoughts returned to the mission and I found that the recollection was not as painful and raw as before. Back in the apartment I was fixated on the unjustified loss of life, obviously projecting my own fear of death on the situation. Now, Ozanero’s words about the Navy’s absolutism started filtering through. Caldari society was always based on honour and loyalty. However, in the corporate world which most Caldari were part of, those values were tempered by business pragmatism and political acumen. For the sake of internal stability, the establishment did not encourage extreme manifestation of those principles. It was better to take a small loss here and there than to go to an all-out war with your competitor.
Having slipped into a philosophical mood, I realised that there was no such dampener in Caldari Navy. The Navy was a tool of last resort when the diplomacy failed, and it was paramount that when that tool was employed it always delivered the desired result. And so it did, through unwavering dedication of Caldari servicemen and servicewomen for whom a failure was not an option; for whom bargaining was not an option; for whom the duty was black and white – you either achieved the goal or died trying. They unconditionally put their lives on the line, but in return they got an all-empowering feeling of righteousness which left no space for moral qualms that dogged me so often. The Navy people were at peace with themselves and at one with the State, as long as they followed their code of honour. Having realised that, I felt a pang of envy at their being able to achieve such a harmony, but also a sense of pride of belonging to a nation which could inspire such feelings in its citizens.
I took a deep breath and looked with new eyes at men and women in Navy uniform who were in the bar. Suddenly, my gaze fell on a familiar face – Ozanero Voiras was sitting at one of the tables and talking to a man with space marine Lieutenant insignia. As if she felt my attention, her eyes looked across the bar and met mine. Almost imperceptibly Ozanero nodded showing her recognition. In response, I raised my glass of stout in a silent toast to the brave men and women with whom I had an honour to fly today. She understood me without words and raised her glass too. Her companion, seeing her gesture, turned to look at me. Ozanero said something to him, after which he nodded and raised his glass joining our toast.
I finished my beer and realised that my head was blissfully empty. At the same time, I felt incredibly tired. With an effort I stood up and slowly walked to my apartment. As soon as I reached my bedroom and my head hit the pillar, I sank into a mercifully dreamless sleep.