Lonetrek region – Okela constellation
Tsuguwa system – Planet VI
Caldari Navy Assembly Plant Station
16 March YC 127
Today I got an unusual call from Ozanero Voiras, Level 2 Security Agent.
“Vladimir, where are you?” she said by way of greeting.
“Um… I am here, in Tsuguwa,” I replied. “Why?”
“Erm… Can you do me a favour?” said the agent with an uncharacteristic hesitation.
That didn’t sound like a run-of-the-mill mission assignment, if it was a mission at all. Maybe she wanted me to look after her cat while she was on vacation. I raised my eyebrows enquiringly.
“Do you mind flying to Arnon,” she continued, “and helping out Sisters of Eve with an urgent rescue mission?”
Arnon? Sisters of Eve? I had a lot of questions, but after hearing the words ‘urgent rescue mission’ my legs started moving me in the direction of the docks. Nevertheless, I was capable of multitasking, meaning I could walk and talk at the same time. So I started asking my questions.
“Where in the void is Arnon?” was my first one.
“It’s in Essence. Just 15 jumps away,” replied Ozanero.
I stumbled on hearing that.
“Essence? That’s Gallente space!”
“Don’t worry. Your standings with the Feds are not too bad.”
“But their standings in my books aren’t good enough,” I grumbled. “Anyway, why is a Caldari security agent referring her contractor to a third party? I thought you, lot, tended to guard your contacts. Or is my performance so poor that you’ve decided to pass me on?”
“Oh no, it’s nothing like that,” Ozanero objected vehemently. “It’s just that Sisters are a neutral faction and from time to time we rely on their cooperation. It pays to have good relations with them, and this is an opportunity to strengthen our ties. Besides, they must be really desperate. You see, Sister Alitura is a Level 1 agent, and she would not have reached out to me if she could find someone available at that level. Since she decided to escalate it to Level 2, the situation must be dire. I have been calling all my contractors, regardless of their standings, but haven’t had much luck so far. I am so glad that I was able to reach you. Can you take this assignment, Vladimir?”
I turned my commlink around so that the camera showed the entrance to the docks.
“Almost there. Send me the coordinates, and I’ll do my best.”
Ozanero’s face lit up with joy, “Oh, thank you so much! I don’t know what I would do without you.”
Probably call another pilot, I thought.
Aloud I said, “You are welcome,” and ended the connection.
“We are going to Gallente Federation? Cool!” exclaimed Aura when I told her about our ‘mission’. “After our Lonetrek exploration trip I thought we should travel more. What is the destination system?”
“Arnon,” I said lackadaisically.
“Arnon? Hmm…” Aura opened the system map with a sceptical look. “If you didn’t tell me it was in Federation space I could take that system for Caldari – three stations out of four belong to CBD corporation.”
“That part doesn’t surprise me at all. CBD does a lot of export and import, so if there is one Caldari mega-corp that you expect to find abroad, it’s them.”
“Oh, well. At least we will visit the Sisters’ station. What are we flying?”
“Kaukokärki.”
Aura raised her eyebrow, “For a Level 1 mission? Sounds like an overkill.”
“Maybe, but if there is any escalation I don’t want to make 30 jumps to Tsuguwa and back just to change the destroyer.”
“Fair enough. The route is ready, Captain.”
I acknowledged Aura’s report with a nod and undocked.
A Beacon Becons
Essense region – Peccanouette constellation
Arnon System – Planet IX – Moon 3
Sisters of EVE Bureau
Sister Alitura looked up from the screen and fixed her unsympathetic gaze at me.
“You are a capsuleer,” she said accusingly.
I was taken aback by her tone but replied lightly, “Guilty as charged,” using my best used-car-salesman smile. That didn’t produce the desired effect.
Alitura shook her head in disbelief, “I asked for help and she sent me a goddamn capsuleer! One of those immortal arrogant pilots who think that they shape the fate of empires!”
“Well, since you’ve mentioned that, Empress Catiz I is sitting on her throne courtesy of such an arrogant pilot,” I said acerbically.
“And what good has it done? While you and your ilk are playing gods, millions of ordinary people suffer from your games. You, empyreans,” she spat out the word, “don’t have a modicum of humanity in you!”
I didn’t know what Sister Alitura had against capsuleers, in general, and me, in particular, but I was fed up with her hostility.
I stood up and said, “That’s enough! I did not fly all the way here to be insulted.”
As I started making my way to the door, the agent cried out, “Wait! I didn’t ask for a capsuleer but I don’t have a choice…”
I turned sharply toward her and put my clenched fists on her table with a bang.
“Yes, you do, Sister,” I hissed looking her in the eye. “If you want help from me and my ilk, you will choose your words wisely. You can choose to continue your baseless accusations, or you can start telling me what you need me to do.”
For a long moment our eyes were locked and no one said anything. Then the agent took a deep breath and started talking in a flat, business-like tone.
“We have received a distress signal from a ship called The Damsel. The signal came from Manarq system. We do not know the situation there but we believe that lives of people onboard The Damsel are in danger. We need you to fly to the last known location of the ship and provide whatever assistance is required.”
In normal circumstances I would ask for details, but I wanted to end that conversation as soon as possible.
I nodded and said curtly, “My ship is Kaukokärki. Send the coordinates to my navigational AI.”
Without saying another word, I turned and left that inhospitable place.
Genesis region – Sanctum constellation
Manarq system – Mission location
“Holy shit!” I gasped, looking at the scene in front of me. “What in void has happened here?”
The Damsel turned out to be a Minmatar battleship, or rather had been, since what I was looking at was its wreck. As if sending a Level 1 mission pilot to the rescue of a battleship was not enough, two other objects completing the nature morte were remains of Amarrian and Minmatar dreadnoughts.
“Any signs of life onboard any of the ships?” I asked Aura.
“None,” she replied with an apologetic smile.
“I don’t know if I should be upset or relieved by the fact that we came late to the party. If we arrived when there was a fight between capital ships, by now we would be flying back home in a capsule.”
“If we were lucky,” added Aura grimly.
“Hmm…” I mused. “It’s quite unusual that the opposing fleets are so closely matched that they manage to destroy each other at the same time. I wonder if there was a third party involved.”
“Dunno,” Aura shrugged her shoulders. “What do we do now? Go back to Sisters and say that the mission was a failure?”
“I am not admitting any failure,” I said angrily. “Not after the treatment that righteous upstart security agent gave me in her office. It’s not my problem that there is no one to save.”
At that moment I got a call from the righteous upstart security agent.
“Captain,” Sister Alitura said in a neutral but urgent tone, “there has been a development since you left the station. Please return to my office at your earliest convenience.”
Then she ended the connection. Aura and I looked at each other in astonishment.
“Er… Warp drive active, Captain?” asked Aura uncertainly.
I made a grimace, “I guess so… If only to collect our reward.”