Encapsulated

[Vladimir_Korff]

The Blood-Stained Stars: Shifting Foundations — Part III

Goading the Leader

Heimatar region — Sveipar constellation
Lustrevik system — Planet VII — Moon 9
Brutor Tribe Academy

27 August YC 127

It took Tarak Erand just a day to process the information I brought to him, organise surveillance and plan a mission. From my experience with Caldari Navy security agents, I expected to spend at least a week exploring the station before I got called, but here I was, sitting in Erand’s office and being briefed on the mission plan.

“First of all,” Tarak said, “I want to thank you for the intel you delivered. We had our suspicions about a few of those ships but didn’t have enough evidence to pursue the leads. Now that you have confirmed their association with the smugglers, we established surveillance and quickly identified locations of several smuggling hubs in the system.”

“How did you do that?” I asked curiously. “If it’s not a secret.”

“Hehe,” Tarak chuckled, “in fact it is, and I won’t tell you because I don’t know it. What I know is that the mathematics of it is very simple, while the engineering is very complex. There are devices which can calculate the exact vector of a warp tunnel. They are very expensive and I can rent them for a short period only, but the investment was totally worth it. We installed them on each star gate in Lustrevik and started tracking smugglers’ movements. In just one day, we managed to locate four smuggler bases!”

“The direction of the warp alone is not enough to pinpoint the destination. Do those devices also estimate the length of the warp tunnel?”

“No, they can’t. But that’s where that simple piece of mathematics comes in handy. Imagine that two ships head to the same destination from different star gates. What can you say about their flight paths?”

I shrugged, “They will intersect. But how do you know that they fly to the same destination?”

“Because their warp tunnels intersect!” Tarak exclaimed triumphantly. “It’s almost improbable that two random flight paths intersect in an empty area of space, especially when the direction of the flight does not point to any known space object.”

“Neat,” I nodded, expressing my appreciation. “I once worked with a guy who could determine the warp destination using only the sensor data from my ship. I have no idea how he did it, and hoped that you could explain how it was possible. But obviously, you use a different technology.”

My words immediately stirred the agent’s interest and he asked, “Who was the guy? He may be a valuable contractor if we need to track someone again.”

I grinned, “I’ll send you his contact details, but I don’t think you can afford him. The guy is really good and the only way I could engage his services was by saving his life. But sorry for the distraction. Tell me what you are going to do with those smugglers and their bases.”

“I’ll do better — I’ll tell you what we are going to do with them. You have an important role to play. There is a well-guarded smuggling hub — it is defended by a posse of cruisers, battlecruisers and battleships. They even have a carrier in their fleet. I want you to go to that base and kill everything that moves.”

My jaw dropped, and I stared at the agent in utter disbelief.

“You want me to take out the whole fleet? In a destroyer???”

Tarak gave me an earnest look which he managed to maintain for the whole three seconds. Then he cracked and guffawed.

“Mate, you should have seen your face,” he laughed. “Pure gold!”

I rolled my eyes, “I was about to walk out. Some agents think that since capsuleers are ‘immortal’ it’s OK to send them to suicide missions.”

“Nah, relax. The mission that I have for you should be doable in a dessy. We suspect that the smuggling hub I mentioned is their main base which is why it is so well-guarded. What I plan is send our fleet to attack their other base. The second base defences are rather poor so I expect smugglers to draw reinforcements from the first base. They may leave a skeleton fleet there, but you should have no trouble dealing with it. I’ll give you more instructions when you arrive at the hub.”

“OK, suppose I destroy the remaining guards. What’s next?”

“Your mission will be over but your attack will clear the way for our space marines who will storm the hub. If we are lucky, we will capture the smugglers leader.”

“And you are not afraid that the main fleet will return to the hub before you can extract your target?”

Tarak smiled and winked at me, “There is a risk, true. But, you know, fortune favours the bold.”

“Alright,” I said, “your risk, your call. When do we start?”

“Ready when you are, mate. Our fleet is on stand-by.”

I chuckled, “You really move fast, don’t you? I like it. As I usually say, the best time to do anything is now. Everything else is just procrastination.”

Tarak laughed, “That’s the spirit! I won’t be surprised if one of your ancestors was a Minmatar.”

“Who knows?” I replied.

With that, I accepted the mission and left for the docks.

---

Heimatar region — Sveipar constellation
Lustrevik system — Mission location

“So, what’s the mission today? Another reccy?” Aura asked, as we landed on the grid near the smuggling hub.

To my horror, the whole smuggler fleet, complete with the carrier, was still there, guarding the base.

“Um, not exactly,” I replied slowly. “We just need to take out this fleet, that’s all.”

I was rewarded with a horrified expression on Aura’s face which, I suspected, mirrored mine when Tarak Erand had pulled my leg.

“The whole fleet?” Aura clarified.

As she said that, shimmering warp bubbles appeared around the ships and they sped away.

That was cutting it too fine to my taste, I thought to myself.

Aloud I said, “Yes, that was the plan, but those cowards fled at the first sight of my destroyer,” and shook my head ruefully.

Aura gave me a suspicious look and asked, “Captain, what level is this mission?”

“Level 1.”

“Ah,” Aura made a sceptical grimace, “and it entailed fighting a fleet of battleships led by a carrier?”

“Oh, you know those Minmatars…” I said airily. “Anyway, not to worry. We just need to clean up the remaining guard and the mission is done.”

At that moment, Tarak Erand’s image popped up on a comms screen.

“A slight change of plans,” he said. “You see that Auxiliary Power Array? You need to destroy it.”

Auxiliary Power Array

“You mean, instead of destroying the guard?” I asked.

“No, in addition to,” the agent replied.

I frowned, “That was not in the mission brief.”

Tarak raised an ironic eyebrow, “Let’s say, this is instead of destroying the carrier which so disappointed you by fleeing the battlefield.”

I was about to say that destroying the carrier was not in the mission brief either, when I caught sight of Aura avidly listening to our conversation. The objection stuck in my throat.

“Alright,” I said pretending a reluctant acquiescence, and added defiantly, “but structure bashing normally carries a higher price than a ship kill.”

The agent chuckled, “I believe that your mission bonus will provide sufficient compensation for your trouble,” and ended the connection.

Aura looked at me with awe, “So you really accepted a mission against a carrier?”

“Well,” I replied nonchalantly, “I couldn’t lose face in front of those Minmatars. But anyway, let’s get to the business before…”

I nearly said “before the fleet returns.”

“Before?” Aura asked.

“Um… before the remainder of the fleet flees away,” I finished, giving Aura the best imitation of Captain Yamamoto’s supercilious smile.

My first objective, however, was the auxiliary power array. I willed Kaukokärki into a customary 85-km orbit around the structure, but then corrected it to 78 klicks — there was no reason to spend Spike ammo on structure bashing, so I changed it to iron charges which had a shorter effective range. The array was not well-protected against an attack and it took me just 29 seconds to blow it up. While I was at it, the hitherto dormant guard ships took a keen interest in my person and targeted me.

Corelum Chief Spy

I swapped iron charges for Spike and targeted them back. There were three Pithi Plunderer frigates and one Corelum Chief Spy cruiser. I decided to take care of the bigger ship first and aimed my railguns at the Chief Spy. The subsequent battle, one-sided as it was, did not support my argument that it was harder to destroy a structure than a ship, as I spent full 31 seconds dismantling the smuggler — two seconds longer than I needed to kill the power array. When the cruiser was gone, I turned to the remaining frigates. Each of them needed just 2-3 volleys of Spike charges which I obligingly provided.

Pithi Plunderer

When the grid was clear, I received a message from the agent confirming that my mission was completed. I wanted to stay and watch the marines’ assault on the smuggling hub, but then I remembered that the main smuggler fleet could return at any moment, and thought it prudent to return to the station.

[Vladimir_Korff]

The Blood-Stained Stars: Shifting Foundations — Part IV

Hunting the Lieutenants

Heimatar region — Sveipar constellation
Lustrevik system — Planet VII — Moon 9
Brutor Tribe Academy

28 August YC 127

Yesterday, when I tried to contact Tarak Erand after the mission, he said that he had no time for debriefing as he was busy interrogating a mercenary who was captured by the marines in the smuggling hub. This morning, at 5 am local time, the agent called me and invited to his office for an urgent assignment. Once again, the events unfolded with a frightening speed at the Brutor Tribe Academy.

“You can’t get good mercenaries anymore,” Tarak complained with mock disappointment. “They crack before you even get to the fun stuff.”

Then the agent grinned savagely and gave me a wink which made me shudder. I didn’t want to hear about the details of the interrogation, so I hastily steered the conversation to its outcome.

“What have you learned?” I asked.

“Not a lot, but enough to get you out of bed at this ungodly hour. The merc gave us names of three lieutenants, Dagan’s underlings. If we capture at least one of them, he should be able to tell us where to find his boss, or so I hope.”

“And where do we find those lieutenants?”

“According to the merc, there is a deadspace facility nearby. The lieutenants are supposed to meet there in order to arrange some kind of a ‘big deal’.”

I winced, “Big deal, you say? Probably means big security.”

“Nah. We have scanned the area and found only a bunch of frigates — nothing that you can’t cope with.”

“Wait a moment. You mean the lieutenants have already gathered there?”

Tarak shrugged and gave me an apologetic look.

I sighed, “No rest for the wicked, eh? Okay, tell me.”

“Your mission is simple — warp to the location and take out all the guards. Then, we shall scan the structures and locate the lieutenants. You will pick them up and bring to the station. If they refuse to board, shoot their shields. That usually convinces people you mean business.”

“Simple…” I grumbled, accepting the mission. “In my experience, the simplicity of the mission changes drastically between the briefing and the debriefing.”

“Hahaha,” Tarak laughed heartily. “The important thing is that there is a debriefing, which, I hope, we shall have in an hour or so.”

“I dunno,” I replied, walking towards the door. “I have 5 hours 38 minutes to get a bonus, so I might take my sweet time. I might even go back to my room and have a couple of hours of shuteye.”

“Hey,” the agent yelled to my back, “you must go now! We don’t know how long those smugglers will be there.”

“Then you should have set a shorter bonus timeframe,” I chuckled and closed the door.

Of course, I went straight to the docks. If those bastards escaped, I wouldn’t get any reward at all.

“Cap, what are you doing here so early?” Aura asked me, by way of greeting. “Did the Brutors kick you out of the station for disorderly behaviour? That would be quite a story to tell your grandchildren!”

“Worse,” I said yawning. “An urgent mission.”

“Ah, another carrier to intimidate?”

“With Brutors, you never know, although I was assured that it would be just a bunch of punks in frigates. Also, there will be a passenger pickup.”

“What kind of passenger?” Aura asked suspiciously.

“A reluctant one.”

“Oh, then I better reconfigure the cargo hold to separate him, or her, from the ammo. Better not give them ideas.”

“Good thinking,” I yawned one last time and submerged myself in the pod goo.

Don’t know about you but for me yawning in the goo was never as satisfying as doing it in the air. Anyway, it was time to wake up. Punks or not, I wanted to be fully alert when the fight started. I requested an injection of a combat booster and undocked.

---

Heimatar region — Sveipar constellation
Lustrevik system — Mission location

Minmatar Stabase Control Tower

There were seven rookie mercenaries orbiting a Minmatar Starbase Control Tower. Inexperienced and eager to prove themselves, they were the cheapest security available on the market. I sighed. Those were not the kind of guys to back off — a combination of stupidity, arrogance and a desire not to lose face in front of mates could not be overcome by a reasonable word. But since they were, in some sense, my colleagues, I thought it necessary to announce my intentions and give them a warning.

“Gentlemen,” I said in the local channel, “I need to pick up a passenger here. Just letting you know to avoid any misunderstanding.”

A young guy, in his early twenties, popped up on my comms screen and addressed me with an exemplary confidence, “This area is closed for traffic. We have not been informed of any pickups. So my advice — get lost. This is to avoid any misunderstanding.”

“No, you wouldn’t be informed of the pickup. It’s a surprise one, and it’s happening whether you or, for that matter, the passenger want it or not.”

“Ah, that kind of pickup,” the merc grinned. “This is exactly the reason why we are here — to take care of people like you who might bother our clients. You have no idea how glad I am to see you — I thought I would die from boredom. Hey, guys, we’ve got our work cut out for us. Go, get him!”

I rolled my eyes and closed the connection. In response to Aura’s questioning look, I shrugged and said, “I tried.”

Mercenary

In the meantime, the mercenaries targeted Kaukokärki and sped towards me. They were 60 kilometres away, and I didn’t even bother moving the ship. I targeted them all at once, selected the closest frigate and fired a volley from my rails. The frigate disappeared in a fiery explosion. I shook my head at such a poor choice of security. Surely, the smugglers could afford better protection than this bunch of losers. I then turned my rails to the next approaching ship. Seven volleys and 30 seconds was all it took to dispatch the whole mercenary fleet. When the ‘fight’ was over, I contacted the agent and asked him for further directions.

“We have monitored the mercs’ radio chatter,” said Tarak. “It appears they wanted to evacuate someone from the habitation before you started firing. The lieutenants must be there.”

I looked at the Overview window and saw only the frigate wrecks and a Minmatar starbase control tower.

“I don’t see any habitation modules on my Overview,” I said.

“That’s because it is attached to the control tower,” Tarak explained.

I sent a camera drone to circumnavigate the tower and soon found a habitation module, attached snugly to the tower on the opposite side.

“Okay, got it,” I confirmed.

I moved Kaukokärki around, so that I had a direct view of the module, and announced in the local channel, “If Lieutenants Kirus, Hjorald and Kurn be so kind to leave the habitation module in spacesuits, I will pick them up and deliver to a much better guarded place.”

Aura snorted, “A better guarded place, indeed!”

I shushed her with a smile and waited for an answer. None ensued.

“Hmm… A round of hybrid charges?” I suggested to Aura.

“Why not? You already tried kind words,” she chuckled.

I targeted the tower and shot a salvo at it. The tower’s shield damage indicator developed a bit of redness in its right extremity. That, however, provoked a disproportionate reaction.

A ruddy angry face popped up on the comms screen and yelled at me, “What in the Void do you think you are doing? Stop shooting immediately or I will call CONCORD!”

I kept my cool and said, “And you’d be?..”

“My name is Kordal Hekram. I am the control tower manager. We run a reputable business here, capsuleer. You have no right to attack us!”

I raised a sardonic eyebrow, “Reputable? Then why do you host smugglers in your habitation module?”

Kordal Hekram was visibly taken aback, “Smugglers? They are smugglers?”

“I have it on good authority that Messieurs Kirus, Hjorald and Kurn are high-ranking officers in a smuggler fleet.”

“I didn’t know that. They just rented the module for a conference. I had no idea they were criminals. You have to believe me!”

I smiled affably, “Not to worry. I’ll be happy to rid your tower of their tarnishing presence. Just expel them and I’ll pick them up.”

“But I can’t! They brought a lot of security with them. If I send my station guards to kick them out, it will be a bloodbath.”

My smile faded, “Then you leave me no other choice but to keep disassembling your lovely tower until I can separate their bodies from the metal scraps.”

To back up my words with deeds, I fired another salvo at the tower shield.

“Wait!” Hekram screamed in horror.

His gaze moved away from the screen and he performed some manipulations, as he mumbled, “If only I knew those dickheads would be so much trouble…”

A few seconds later, puffs of smoke appeared along the perimeter of the habitation module wall which was adjacent to the control tower, and the whole thing slowly drifted away.

“There! All yours! Take the module, but leave my tower alone,” Hekram said desperately, and terminated the connection.

“Thank you very much,” I said to the blank screen.

Habitation Module

It appeared that the manager decided to sacrifice the module and activated separation charges which detached it from the main structure. Aura highlighted a new line item labelled ‘Habitation Module’ in the Overview module and showed me thumbs up. I nodded and repeated my polite request in the local channel. This time I was rewarded with an image of an enraged Krusual who was all but spitting at the screen.

“Who do you think you are, egger, to make demands? Get lost while you still have that pretty ship of yours. Our fleet is on the way here and they will squash you like a bug!”

He then ended the connection and didn’t give me an opportunity to persuade him.

I sighed and asked Aura, “Another round?”

Aura made round eyes and waved her hands in protest, “Wait! It’s not a starbase! You’ll blow this dump to smithereens! Ungroup your rails and change Spike to iron charges first. And, disable that auto-repeat.”

“Oh, right,” I said contritely and complied.

Then I shot a single iron charge at the habitation module which took out a solid chunk of its shield. I waited a few seconds, and when nothing happened, fired another charge, and then another one.

The comms screen lit up and I saw a new face which cried pleadingly, “Stop shooting! I surrender!”

Another voice in the background shouted, “Kirus, what are you doing? The help is on the way!”

Kirus turned from the camera and yelled back, “Look at the shield, you, idiot! We’ll be dead long before they arrive.”

“You aren’t going anywhere!” the other voice growled. “If we die, we die together.”

Kirus moved further from the camera and I saw that he held a pistol in his hand.

“If you have a death wish, I can grant it to you,” he said with a savage smile, “but I am not dying here.”

Then he disappeared from the screen completely. A minute later, one of the airlocks opened and a figure in an EVA suit pushed away from the module. I picked it up with a tractor beam and dragged it into my cargo hold. Having switched to CCTV, I noticed with approval that the hold was reconfigured so that the captive was placed in a separate compartment, away from hybrid charges and fireworks.

“What about your comrades?” I asked Kirus through the internal comms system. “Are they going to join us?”

“Those assholes think themselves some kind of heroes with a rebellious cause. They said they would rather die than surrender.”

“A rebellious cause?” I mused. “What would that be?”

“Man, I don’t know. We were smugglers, nothing more, nothing less. I was in it just for money. But I am not going to die for money!”

“Wise choice, if you are not a capsuleer,” I agreed.

I contacted Tarak.

“I’ve got one of the lieutenants. Hope one is enough. If you want more, you’ll have to smoke them out of that habitation module.”

“Nah, mate, all good,” the agent replied. “I’ll send a demolition crew, and they will blow up that hornet’s nest.”

“Um… Do you mind if I do the honours?”

“If you are so inclined, by all means. Just as a reminder, you aren’t getting anything extra for that.”

“Oh, it’s not for money, it’s for the betterment of my soul,” I said sweetly. “Besides, if they really expect reinforcements, I will have a better chance to escape than your demo squad.”

“Appreciate it, man, and good luck,” Tarak said and ended the connection.

In the end, Aura’s precautions proved to be excessive — it took me 20 volleys to demolish the habitation module. While I was at it, there were curses, threats and protests in the local channel. They were all in vain — the reinforcements did not arrive. I hoped that the smugglers would realise the inevitability of their demise and try to escape, but no one else emerged from the airlocks.

Well, they had a choice, I said to myself, watching the blossoming explosion which instantaneously annihilated everyone in the module.

My mission was done. It was time to go back to the base.

[Vladimir_Korff]

The Blood-Stained Stars: Shifting Foundations — Part V

Valuable Cargo

Heimatar region — Sveipar constellation
Lustrevik system — Planet VII — Moon 9
Brutor Tribe Academy

29 August YC 127

My Hunting the Lieutenants mission didn’t take long yesterday, and I delivered Kirus to Tarak Erand well before 7 am. As the agent started an interrogation early, I expected a call from him in the afternoon or, in the worst case, late at night. Despite my misgivings, no one bothered me at all. Curious, I went to the agent’s office without an invitation. After exchanging greetings, I asked Tarak about the progress of Kirus’s interrogation.

“Oh, Kirus,” the agent said unenthusiastically, “I had to ship him to Keita.”

Surprised, I raised my eyebrows and chuckled, “Did he prove to be such a hard nut to crack?”

“No, no, I didn’t touch him. It’s just that Keita said that she had dug out some info which could help with the interrogation, and asked me to transfer the prisoner to her station.”

“Hmm… I thought you, agents, were not keen to share information about your missions with other agents.”

Tarak nodded, “Typically not, but she is a referring agent for an ongoing operation. In such cases, we pool intelligence and resources and just focus on the mission success.”

“So what do we do now? Just wait for Keita to get back with a new intel?”

“Me — yes, but not you. In fact, I should have mentioned it straight away — the info that Keita plans to use for the interrogation was found in the evidence about Dagan that you brought to her. She wants you to be present while they are, ahem, talking to Kirus. So, your next mission is to fly to Hek.”

I was appalled, “Why does she need me there? I am not going to participate in that ‘talking’ even if you pay me!”

Tarak laughed, “What, you have no stomach for it? Yeah, it takes some getting used to. But don’t worry, you won’t be allowed anywhere near the prisoner. Keita just wanted to clarify something with you. Those dry sensor logs provide a lot of precise data, but it’s hard to understand without context. She needs your first-hand experience to interpret them.”

“Well, if it’s just helping Keita with the analysis…” I said hesitantly.

“Nothing more,” Tarak assured me. “So, are we good?”

“Yeah, I think so. How urgent is the mission?” I asked, totally expecting to hear ‘at your earliest convenience’.

“Can wait till tomorrow, methinks. Krusuals, they like to soften their prisoners before the questioning, you know?”

I didn’t know and didn’t want to know, so I nodded knowingly to close this unpleasant topic.

“Well, mate, that’s it then,” the agent said by way of farewell. “It’s been a pleasure working with you, despite your being of Caldari persuasion. If you ever visit our parts in future, drop by and I am sure I can rustle up a mission or two for you.”

“The pleasure is mine,” I replied politely and went to the docks.

---

Metropolis region — Barvigrard constellation
Hek system — Planet IV
Krusual Tribe Bureau

30 August YC 127

Upon arrival to Krusual Tribe Bureau, I contacted Keita and immediately got an invitation to visit her in the office. After exchanging greetings, I asked the agent how the interrogation was going.

“Oh, we have not started yet,” Keita replied. “We are keeping Kirus in a sensory deprivation tank; it’s similar to your capsule with pod goo. In my experience, it takes a couple of days of feeling nothing to make people very, very talkative.”

Despite myself, I felt a strange interest in the mechanics of that torture and asked, “I can imagine that you can leave the person without light, sound, smell and taste, but even in amniotic fluid they can move and touch themselves. So, they still can have tactile experiences, right?”

“Nah, we took care of that too. Injecting micro-doses of botulinum toxin incapacitates the muscles and turns them into jelly. Very effective. Although I have to say that I saw cases where some religious fanatics — you can guess whom I am talking about — experienced a kind of epiphany. They thought that they died, and their soul was separated from the body. Now, imagine you are waiting for your god to embrace you but instead you see a face of a friendly Minmatar technician who flushes you out of the tank.”

I snorted and asked, “What did you do with those? I guess they were not inclined to have a frank conversation after such a disappointment.”

Keita nodded and winked at me, “We have other methods.”

Before she could go into the details of those methods, I asked, “So, Tarak said that you needed me to help you with data analysis. How can I be of service?”

“Ah, yes. Look here,” the agent projected her datapad screen onto a wall monitor. “In the mission data that was sent to me, I found several travel logs. They appear to be recorded by different ships. All ships are unregistered. So, the questions for you: whose travel logs are these, and why are they mixed up with your combat logs?”

I looked at the screen. There were dates and destinations in Minmatar and Amarr spaces. The ships were identified by their factory numbers but had no registered call signs. Keita displayed the logs from different ships side by side and showed that, with rare exceptions, their itineraries were the same, meaning that they mostly travelled as a group.

“How many different ships are there in the logs?” I asked.

“Six,” said Keita.

“And what is their file creation timestamp?”

“It’s 28 August YC 127. To be precise,” she opened the file directory, “they were created at 5:54 am Universal Time.”

“Hmm… Two days ago, at 5:54 am I was rousting Kirus out of the habitation module. I have no idea how those files got added to my combat logs but I know someone who should know.”

I put my commlink onto the desk and started a call.

When the connection was established and the commlink projected a holographic image of the person on the other end, I smiled pleasantly and said, “Hello, Aura.”

[Aiko_Danuja]

Very nice, keep up the good work!

[Vladimir_Korff]

The Blood-Stained Stars: Shifting Foundations — Part VI

Metropolis region — Barvigrard constellation
Hek system — Planet IV
Krusual Tribe Bureau

30 August YC 127

Seeing that I was in a company of Keita Eslin, Aura assumed a blandly polite expression and said in a neutral tone, “Good morning, Captain. How can I be of service?”

Hiding my smile, I said, “You may be of great service if you help us understand how these files,” I pointed at the screen, “appeared in my combat logs.”

Without batting an eye, Aura said, “Unfortunately, I am not aware of the circumstances in which they were produced, Captain.”

I stared at her for a few moments and said, “And now answer this question as if we were talking privately.”

Aura shot a quick look at the agent and asked in a normal tone, “Are you sure, Cap?”

I nodded reassuringly.

Aura shrugged, “Okay, I got them from the mercs.”

“You mean the mercenaries who were guarding Dagan’s lieutenants?”

“Uh-huh.”

There was a pause after which Keita and I exploded with questions.

“How did you manage to get them?”

“Why are there only six?”

“Did you get anything else?”

Aura looked at Keita, then at me, then at Keita again.

When we stopped yelling questions at her, she asked coolly, “Which question should I answer first?”

I raised my hand before Keita could say anything.

“Tell us everything from the beginning.”

“Where do I begin?” Aura mused. “Right. Two days ago, while you were asleep, I was patching the ship’s firmware.”

“What does it have to do with the mercs?” Keita interrupted.

“Patience!” I said. “Let Aura tell it her way, then we can ask questions.”

Aura gave me a grateful look and continued, “There was a known vulnerability which allowed privilege escalation through RAP.”

“RAP?” I asked, confused.

“Remote Access Protocol. It’s typically used for software configuration by authorised technicians when they are not physically present on the ship. Recently, hackers discovered a bug in it which allowed anyone to bypass authentication and authorisation. The vendor rather quickly released a patch which I installed. Then I decided to test it, just in case.”

“Test it? How?” I said.

“Oh, I wrote an exploit.”

I started doubting the wisdom of having that conversation in Keita’s presence.

“An exploit. Okay. Go on.”

“Then I tried to use it to get through the security controls, and I am pleased to say that it didn’t work. But then it occurred to me that I should have tested it on the unpatched software first, to make sure it worked at all. I didn’t want to roll back the patch on our ship…”

I held my breath, dreading what would come next.

“…but then you came and said we had a mission. When we arrived to that star base and I saw the mercs, I wondered if their ship firmware was patched. So I deployed my exploit and, as Gallenteans say, voila!” Aura finished and looked at us triumphantly.

“Voila what?” I asked.

“I got access! I could see the file system on their onboard computers, and I could download files, which I did.”

“But why were there files only from six ships? There were seven mercs, if I remember correctly.”

“You do remember correctly,” Aura said and added in an accusatory tone, “but you shot down the seventh one before I managed to get anything from it.”

“So, you managed to get the travel logs from those ships. Was there anything else? Anything that could explain why the mercs visited those locations?” Keita asked eagerly.

“Well, there were other files but they were encrypted,” Aura admitted reluctantly.

“Why didn’t you store them in the combat logs too?”

“What’s the point? Until they are deciphered, they are useless.”

“Can you decipher them?” I asked.

“I tried, but it’s taking ages on a destroyer’s computer. I need at least a battleship to complete the decryption in a reasonable time.”

I looked at Keita, “Do you have a spare battleship?”

The agent snorted, “I don’t, but even if I did I would not let a Caldari contractor to take control of it. No offence meant. But I may have something better. Recently, we upgraded the station computing array, and it has a lot of spare capacity.”

“Is it better than battleship’s?” Aura asked.

“Much better,” Keita smiled. “Okay, given the potential importance of information stored in the encrypted files, I’ll give you user access to the computing array. Feel free to use whatever spare capacity it can give you to decrypt the files as quickly as possible. What’s the name of your ship again?”

“Kaukokärki,” I said.

Keita tapped something on her datapad and said, “Done.”

“Yay!” Aura cheered and ended the connection.

The agent looked at me pensively and said, “Um… I meant to ask you, Vlad, is you navigational AI a standard issue?”

“Stock standard,” I replied with a deadpan expression.

“Mmm,” Keita murmured doubtfully and changed the topic. “How long do you think it will take to crack those encrypted files?”

“Dunno. I think Aura will start the process and get back to us with an estimate. She’ll need to measure the progress for a few minutes.”

“Alright, so we have a few minutes,” Keita said standing up. “Want a coffee?”

Before I could answer, the lights in the room blinked, became dimmer and then gradually restored their brightness. The agent frowned, sat back in her chair and started doing something on her datapad.

“Problem?” I asked.

“Don’t know. Trying to find out.”

While she was tapping furiously, I noticed that the wall screen was frozen. I stood up, opened the office door and peeked out. At first, I didn’t see anything unusual but then I noticed a delivery robot stuck in the middle of a corridor, confused faces of people who tried to go through automatic doors which did not open when approached and, most alarmingly, through the viewport I saw a growing queue of ships waiting for a docking permission. The queue was not moving.

“Vlad!” the agent called.

I returned to the office.

“Can you check if you have access to any local station services? Even something as simple as the station directory,” she asked.

I took out my datapad and tried to connect to the directory. The request timed out.

I shook my head, “Nope, I can’t,” and then told Keita what I saw outside.

“Damn!” she cursed. “It looks like the computing array is down. And it’s when we need it most!”

“Shall we call the IT support?”

“Nah, if it’s a major problem, they’ll be useless. I have a better idea.”

[Vladimir_Korff]

The Blood-Stained Stars: Shifting Foundations — Part VII

Metropolis region — Barvigrard constellation
Hek system — Planet IV
Krusual Tribe Bureau

30 August YC 127

Keita Eslin put her commlink on the desk and dialled a number. A holo of a dishevelled Krusual guy appeared above the desk.

“Hi, Harkul. How are you doing?” Keita greeted him.

“If you are calling about the computer malfunction, I am already on it. It’s a Sev 1 incident, everything is down,” Harkul said without looking at us.

“Oh, right. Yes, I was calling about the array. I am glad that it’s your shift. We are in safe hands.”

The guy scoffed, “I wish I had your confidence,” and terminated the connection.

“Who was that?” I asked.

“Harkul Vessan, our Lead Systems Engineer. If anyone can resolve this issue, it’s him. In fact, he was the one who did the computer array upgrade, so he knows it inside out.”

“Mmm… I see. By the way, when did you plan to start Kirus’s interrogation?”

“Later today,” said Keita. “Why?”

“I understand that you want to have additional info about the movement of the mercs before you start, but I don’t think the files will be decrypted in time for that. Even if it’s not a military-grade cipher, and even using your station computer, it will probably take weeks to decrypt them.”

“Weeks?” the agent frowned.

“Weeks, maybe days if we are lucky, but I am positive it’s not hours. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense to encrypt anything at all.”

“Hmm… I can change the interrogation schedule but I need to know when to expect the decrypted files. Do you think your Aura can give us an estimate based on the decryption progress before the array went down? I mean, if she managed to start the process before that.”

“Don’t know about that, but it’s a good idea to call her and tell her about the outage, in case she hasn’t figured it out.”

Before I could dial Aura on the commlink, the lights blinked again, this time first becoming brighter and then dimming to their usual luminosity. At the same time, my commlink showed an incoming call from Aura.

“She is probably calling to complain about the outage,” I chuckled, accepting the call.

“Cap! I’ve done it!” Aura yelled triumphantly as soon as the connection was established. “I’ve decrypted the files!”

“What? Already?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes. I could never imagine how quickly 5,000,000 AURIX-9 quantum cores can crack consumer-grade encryption. But I have to admit we were a bit lucky. Those cheapskates used an outdated cipher which was vulnerable to differential cryptanalysis. I ran a few tests and managed to reduce the keyspace by orders of magnitude! After that, it was a walk in the park!”

“And you were not affected by the outage?” I asked.

Aura scowled, “What outage?”

Before I could answer, Keita interjected, “Wait a moment. Did you say you used five million cores?”

“Yes, it was awesome!” Aura replied.

“But that’s the size of the whole array! I told you to take only spare capacity. Do you realise that you effectively stopped all the work on this station by monopolising its computer?”

Aura gave the agent a cold look and said, “I don’t control resource allocation on your array. If the scheduler decided to allocate the whole lot, blame the scheduler, not me.”

I raised a placating hand, “No one is blaming anyone here. We are just trying to get to the root of this incident.”

“Yes, and find out what, or who, was at that root,” Keita said, looking daggers at Aura. “Excuse me, I need to make a call.”

The agent dialled a number on her commlink and a familiar face of Harkul Vessan appeared on the holoprojection.

“Yes, Keita, it’s all fixed now,” the engineer said instead of a greeting.

“Fixed?” Keita said acidly. “And what was the problem that you ‘fixed’?”

Harkul Vessan made a vague gesture with his hand, “Oh, it’s a rather technical issue. I don’t think you’ll understand.”

“Try me.”

Harkul sighed and said in a low voice, “Okay, Keita, just between you and me, the problem simply disappeared. I don’t know what went wrong but I am going to find out and make sure it will not happen again.”

“Good. And I think I can help you with that.”

The engineer looked sceptically at Keita, “You? How?”

“You will know if you come to my office. Trust me, it will be worth your while.”

Harkul scoffed, “It better be. See you in five minutes.”

We spent those minutes in tense silence. I didn’t know what happened but was afraid that Aura and I would be blamed regardless. Stopping a station inhabited by tens of thousands of people even for a few minutes meant a huge loss, and someone had to be held responsible for that. I, being a Caldari at the wrong time and the wrong place, was a very convenient scapegoat.

Finally, Harkul Vessan arrived and, without an invitation, plopped into a chair.

“I’m listening,” he said with an amused expression on his face.

Keita gave a summary of the latest events, as we knew them, and finished with a question, “Can you explain how a user account could grab all computing resources?”

The engineer shook his head and stood up, “It couldn’t. If that’s your theory, you are wasting my time.”

I relaxed, feeling that we were off the hook, when Aura exclaimed, “Of course, it can. If a user selects the highest priority for her job, it will pre-empt all processes with lower priorities.”

I silently groaned wishing her to shut up.

Harkul turned to Aura, “Are you saying that your job was running with the highest priority?”

I held my breath.

“It was. She,” here Aura pointed an accusing finger at the agent, “said that I had to decrypt the files as quickly as possible. So I set the priority according to her demands.”

“■■■■■■■■,” the engineer sneered. “Users can’t set the job priority.”

“Really? Go read the documentation! Your system interface has a dedicated parameter for the process priority.”

“I know that,” Harkul replied angrily, “and this is exactly why I developed a user interface which prevents users from setting the priority willy-nilly. For any user job the priority is hard-coded to Medium which limits the CPU consumption to 0.001% of the total capacity. If you say that you managed to set the highest priority then you must have hacked the system.”

Keita Eslin went pale. If that was true, it meant that she allowed a hacker to access the station computer. For a security agent it was the end of her career.

“Did you?” the agent whispered.

Aura froze like a wild animal caught in the headlights of an upcoming vehicle. With a gasp, I remembered that I needed to breath. Fresh air eased my rising terror, and I interjected before Aura could say anything.

“Hang on a minute. You said that you wrote a user interface on top of the system one, right? After you did that, did you block user access to the system interface?”

Now it was Harkul’s turn to get pale. He opened his mouth to reply, then closed it, then opened it again and stammered, “I… I don’t think I did. But the system interface isn’t advertised. Users shouldn’t know how to access it.”

“So, it is available,” I pressed my point.

“Well, yes, if you know where to find it.”

“Right,” I said and turned to Keita. “I am not a specialist but I know a thing or two about cyber security. And one of those things is that obscurity is not security. If something is not known you can’t expect it to remain so. And this is exactly what happened today — a user discovered a system to which she had authorised access, and used it within the limits of the given authority. If such use was not intended, then there should have been appropriate controls in place.”

The agent took a deep breath and some colour returned to her face. She turned to the system engineer who looked shell-shocked. When Keita spoke, her voice was a low purr.

“Harkul, my friend, it’s quite unfortunate that the system interface was not blocked but,” she made a dramatic pause and continued with a sympathetic smile, “nobody’s perfect, we all make mistakes. We learn from those mistakes and move on. This is how individuals and the society develop and grow.”

The engineer eagerly nodded to her words.

“Regretfully,” the agent said with a concerned expression, “not all see this learning process as an essential part of life. Some people think that mistakes must be punished. We all know such people. I am afraid that some of them might blow this incident out of proportion, point a finger at you, and call for unjustified disciplinary measures.”

At the mention of disciplinary measures, Harkul swallowed hard.

Keita smiled reassuringly and said, “I do not agree with such an approach, and I don’t think that anyone outside this room needs to know what has happened. You are a smart guy, Harkul, and you surely can explain away the incident in ‘technical’ terms.”

There was just a tiny bit of venom in her last words, but Harkul didn’t seem to notice it.

“Um… I definitely can,” the engineer said, his spirits lifting.

“Brilliant,” said the agent, “and please don’t forget to block user access to the system interface.”

“Oh, of course, of course. So I better go do it right away,” Harkul said with his voice rising as if he was asking for a permission.

“The sooner the better,” Keita agreed with a kind smile.

It was all the encouragement the engineer needed, and he bolted out of the door.

When Harkul was gone, Keita turned to Aura and said, “Aura, you did a great job decrypting those files. And you managed to do it just in time for the start of the Kirus’s interrogation. Well done. Can you please transfer those decrypted file to me?”

Aura, who looked both pleased by the praise and apprehensive, glanced at me questioningly.

I gave her a tight nod and said, “Please transfer the files to agent Eslin and that will be all for now. Thanks a lot for your help, Aura.”

Aura understood that it was a dismissal and ended the connection.

Then Keita Eslin addressed me warmly, “Captain, I am so glad that this unpleasant episode has come to an end. You and I, we know that Aura had no malicious intent; she just did her best to help us in our investigation. However, if other people become aware of what has happened, they may think that a rogue AI has infiltrated the system and brought it down. Then, it may be hard to persuade them that your Aura is really a ‘stock standard’ AI, as you say. If I may give you an unsolicited advice,” she smiled self-deprecatingly, “it will be better to keep the knowledge of today’s events between us. You may totally rely on my discretion.”

I was just too happy to take her advice and told her so.

“Perfect,” said the agent. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need some time to study the files that Aura, undoubtedly, has already sent to me.”

We said our good-byes and I left the office.

As I was walking to the ship, it occurred to me that Keita had presented the situation as if she was doing us a favour by offering to hush up the real reasons behind the computer outage. But at the same time she was as interested in the cover-up as we were. If the truth became known she would be blamed for letting an allegedly rogue AI into the computer system. I marvelled at how the agent managed to turn the tables and remembered what Sister Alitura said about Krusual: they could be a little sly. Agent Eslin was a Vherokior but some of the Krusual traits obviously rubbed off on her. I smiled and shook my head in wry appreciation of Keita’s wiles.

When I got back to Kaukokärki I called Aura.

“Aura, darling, we need to talk,” I began the conversation.

“Yes, Captain,” she replied in a small voice.

I prepared a whole lecture on the dangers of using undocumented software features, on the consequences of monopolising computers and on the importance of holding one’s tongue. At the same time, I didn’t want to discourage Aura from being creative — after all, her solution, despite all its drawbacks, helped progress our case. To achieve that, I decided to present my pearls of wisdom in the form of a ■■■■ sandwich.

“I have to admit, Aura, using the system interface directly was a smart move…” I stared saying when Aura interrupted me.

“Um, sorry, Captain, but I didn’t.”

“You didn’t what?”

“I didn’t use the system interface.”

I frowned, “Then how did you manage to increase the job priority?”

“Well… I…” Aura stammered, “I thought about it. But as Mr Vessan said, it was not advertised, and I couldn’t find it. I checked the job progress and realised it would still take ages to finish at Medium priority. So I…”

Aura went silent. I waited for her to say something but she just fidgeted and stared down.

“So you what?” I asked impatiently.

“I… hacked the system,” Aura replied sheepishly.

My jaw dropped — I hadn’t seen that coming. My carefully prepared speech collapsed like a house of cards. A moment later, the irony and sheer absurdity of it all sank in, and I could only bury my face in my hands and laugh hysterically.

[Aiko_Danuja]

If Aura is hacking the system, then she needs to be purged and deleted. A sentient AI cannot be trusted.

[Vladimir_Korff]

The Blood-Stained Stars: Shifting Foundations — Part VIII

Metropolis region — Barvigrard constellation
Hek system — Planet IV
Krusual Tribe Bureau

30 August YC 127

In the end, I had to have a serious conversation with Aura. It was clear that Keita Eslin did not believe for a second that Aura’s software was unmodified. The agent let it slide because it was not in her best interest to kick up a stink, but next time we might not be that lucky. We agreed that in future any Aura’s actions which could be interpreted as a behaviour of a rogue AI should be explicitly approved by me with a certified command record on my commlink. Such an arrangement not only gave me better supervision over Aura’s riskier endeavours, but also protected her from persecution. It might look like I was taking a bullet for her, but in my experience, the powers that be had much more tolerance to capsuleers’ antics than to AI’s shenanigans, what with rogue drones being a constant reminder of the consequences of an uncontrolled AI evolution.

Marked for Death

31 August YC 127

I was apprehensive after the computer array incident, but no one knocked on my door and showed me an arrest warrant. Apparently, Keita and Harkul managed to hush up the real reasons behind the outage. Maybe it was that, or maybe it was the fact that my door was guarded by seven 150-mm Tech II railguns — I took no chances and spent that night on board of my destroyer. Whether anyone was lurking behind the dock entrance was for me to discover when I got summons from the agent this morning.

The agents have an unfortunate and unfailing knack for calling me at most inappropriate times. If I was not sleeping, then I was eating, or I was hungry and planning to have a meal. Sometimes I think that an ability to inconvenience a capsuleer is the main criterion by which corps select their agents. Today, for example, Keita Eslin called me when I was sitting on a toilet. One doesn’t decline agents’ calls if one wants to have business with them, so I had to respond. Naturally, I didn’t turn the video on.

“Captain Korff, you will be excited to learn that the files decrypted by your Aura was instrumental in the quick and, ahem, painless interrogation of Kirus,” Keita purred, obviously well-pleased with the outcome of the aforementioned interrogation.

I am shitting myself with excitement, I wanted to say.

The agent continued, “If you could come to my office at your earliest convenience, I would brief you on the results and discuss your next mission.”

“I’ll strain myself in an effort to be available for your service ASAP, Agent Eslin,” I replied, trying hard to keep sarcasm from my voice.

A shadow of uncertainty passed through Keita’s face which she dispelled with a professional smile, saying, “Then I’ll see you soon, Captain,” and ended the call.

Having quickly finished my private business, I told Aura not to do anything stupid if I got in trouble, then put on a brave face and left the ship. My fears proved to be unfounded — no one apprehended me and I arrived at the agent’s office unmolested. On reflection, I should have stopped worrying as soon as I got a call. Keita knew that if she had lured her contractor into a trap, she would have been done for as an agent — no one would ever take another mission from her.

---

Keita Eslin’s Office

“What we learned from the decrypted files,” Keita started her briefing, “was that mercs mostly provided escort services to various parties. The smuggler lieutenants were their regular customers, and we discovered a particular location which they frequented. Once I asked Kirus about that place, he knew that the game was up and started talking.”

“Smart guy,” I chuckled. “Will he get a milder sentence for cooperation?”

“Sentence?” Keita raised her eyebrows. “Why would we sentence him?”

“For smuggling, of course.”

“Smuggling is a valuable endeavour — it deprives a state of its customs duty. I plan to let Kirus continue that activity, and maybe shall even sponsor it.”

Seeing my incredulous look, Keita laughed and added, “With a strict condition that the said activity will be carried out only across Amarr-Caldari border.”

I smiled, showing my appreciation of the joke, and made a mental note to tell it to Ozanero Voiras, a Caldari Navy security agent, in case it turns out to be more than a joke.

“Anyway,” Keita smoothly returned the conversation to the task at hand, “Kirus is no longer a problem, but his boss still is.”

I was all ears.

“The location which Kirus frequently visited with the mercs,” the agent continued, “is a hideout of his employer who goes by the name of Izia Tabar. He is a battle-hardened smuggler baron wanted by CONCORD for a long time now.”

“Wait a moment,” I interjected. “I thought that the smuggling operations were headed by Dagan. He was the only reason why I got involved in this investigation.” I looked at Keita suspiciously and asked, “Did you know that Tabar was their boss?”

With a fixed smile, Keita replied in a steady, professional tone, “We knew of Izia Tabar before but we never associated him with this particular group of smugglers. Thanks to you and your navigational AI, we were able to ascertain his role in this crime syndicate. Now that we know his location, Izia Tabar must be eliminated. This is the mission I have for you.”

I scowled, “What’s in it for me? I am here for Dagan, not Tabar.”

The agent leaned on the desk, steepled her hands and looked at me thoughtfully.

“What’s in it for you?” she repeated. “Contractors like you are usually in it for money. Is it not enough?”

I scoffed, “You know that Level 1 missions are below my grade. The only reason I agreed to participate in your little war against smugglers is the hope that I will get to the bottom of The Damsel incident, and for that, I need Dagan.”

Keita sighed and drummed her fingers on the desk, “I only promised that I would share with you any intel about Dagan which we discovered during ‘my little war’. I did not say we would actively pursue him.”

I shrugged, “Killing Izia Tabar doesn’t look like an operation which would advance my interests. Feel free to engage another contractor.” I stood up and said, “Good day, Agent Eslin.”

“Wait!” Keita exclaimed. “The problem is I don’t have another contractor, and this mission is urgent. We cannot be sure how long Tabar will stay in his hideout. We have to act now. Look, I can’t raise your mission reward but I can give you a promise, and I hope it will be enough to interest you. Some time ago, one of my field agents infiltrated the smugglers’ recruitment and training facility. He has his brief but I can change it so that he prioritises finding intel on Dagan. That’s all I can offer. Are you game?”

To be honest, that smuggler syndicate was my only lead, so I was happy to clutch at any straw. But showing eagerness was not the right way to negotiate a contract with a wily agent. I gave Keita a heavy and calculating look, held it for a few seconds, and then slowly nodded. A relief flooded the agent’s face and she pushed her datapad with the mission brief towards me. I picked the device and read the screen. Minmatars did not mince words — all it said was ‘Assassinate Izia Tabar.’ I pressed my thumb to the sensor and accepted the mission.

[Vladimir_Korff]

The Blood-Stained Stars: Shifting Foundations — Part IX

Marked for Death

Metropolis region — Barvigrard constellation
Hek system — Mission location

31 August YC 127

“Wow!” I exclaimed when we arrived to our destination.

It was the first time I saw an Amarr Tactical Outpost. Despite its military designation, it was as pretty as a bonbon box, sharply contrasting with the rugged looks of the Minmatar station I had just left.

Amarr Tactical Outpost

“Beautiful,” Aura agreed.

“It will be a shame to destroy it.”

Aura frowned, “Why would you want to destroy it?”

“And how do you expect me to roust Tabar out of it? By a kind word?” I countered.

“Oh, you don’t need to demolish the whole thing for that. Just give it a few scorch marks, and he’ll panic.”

“Hmm, maybe,” I prevaricated. “Anyway, I plan to get rid of the guards first. No point in kicking the hornet’s nest when you already have hornets buzzing around.”

The outpost was guarded by five mercenaries, lazily orbiting the structure.

“It’s the same outfit which escorted Kirus and Co,” said Aura.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“Same buggy firmware, same RAP vulnerability, same exploit and the same travel logs as the previous lot had,” Aura smirked. Then her eyes widened and she whispered, “Should I have got your authorisation before I ran the exploit? Will they report me as a rogue AI to authorities?”

I laughed, “Smugglers? Complaining to authorities? Nah. And to allay your concerns, I’ll make sure that there will be no one left to complain.”

And so I did. Aura was probably right that Tabar used the same mercs as his lieutenants — if nothing else, they were just as crunchy. I spent exactly one volley of Spike charges on each ship, and then there were none. And then there were five again! Apparently, some guards were docked inside the outpost and rushed to the aid of their comrades when I started shooting. That was stupid. Even if they never encountered a capsuleer or, for that matter, a destroyer — after all, there is a reason why it is called so — the quick demise of their fleet mates should have been a lesson enough for them. What can I say? If people don’t use their brains to learn, then Survival of the Fittest Law kicks in, and I was its… um, gavel? Anyway, five more pops, five more wrecks.

It was time to light the fire under the cauldron in which Izia Tabar ensconced himself. I targeted the outpost and shot an experimental round of Spike. The impact was absorbed by the shield which briefly coruscated where the charges hit it. I was about to load iron charges and start the structure bashing in earnest when a male’s face appeared on my comms screen. It was Izia Tabar. His eyes radiated cold fury but his voice was calm, confident and menacing.

“Do you have a death wish, capsuleer?” he asked looking me directly in the eye. “If you don’t get off the grid immediately, I will be only glad to grant it.”

An interesting gambit, I thought. He had no guards left. Did he have a cruiser docked in the outpost? Or was he playing for time, expecting reinforcements? Well, I wasn’t going to be distracted by his ruse. After all, being a capsuleer, I was capable of multitasking, to wit, talking and shooting at the same time. I decided to keep my rails loaded with Spike, in case I needed to quickly switch the target from the structure to Tabar’s ship.

I willed the railguns to fire on auto-repeat and politely asked the smuggler, “And how, Mr Tabar, do you propose to achieve such a feat? You don’t seem to have any firepower left,” I pointed at the Overview screen littered with icons of mercenary wrecks.

“Ha-ha, that was just an escort,” he said dismissively. “My lieutenants will soon arrive with reinforcements and they will tear you apart.”

“Your lieutenants?” I raised an inquiring eyebrow. “And who would those lieutenants be? One Mr Kirus whom I delivered into Minmatar custody?”

I nodded to Aura and she quickly found and played back the ship’s CCTV footage showing Kirus being dragged into our cargo hold.

“Or Messieurs Hjorald and Kurn, who refused to join Mr Kirus, and perished in an explosion of a structure very similar to this one?”

Aura, without my prompt, showed the explosion of the habitation module, captured by our camera drones. I gave her thumbs up. She beamed at me. Tabar scowled.

“I have a fleet,” he growled, “a large fleet led by a carrier. They will come and grind you to stardust, egger!”

“Ooh, a whole carrier for a lowly me,” I sneered. “Have you summoned it already, by the way? I am not an expert on carriers but I know it takes time and resources to organise their jumps between systems. And time is something you don’t have much of,” I said, pointing at the quickly growing red indicator of the outpost damage.

Izia Tabar stared at ,e with undisguised hatred, his eyes bulging and his breathing heavy.

After a few seconds he barked, “Prepare to die, egger! I am coming for you!”

I snorted, “I am always ready to die — this is the whole point of being a capsuleer. The question is: are you?”

The last sentence was addressed to an empty screen as the smuggler terminated the connection. Continuing my assault on the outpost, I manoeuvred Kaukokärki so that I had a direct view of the undock. Izia Tabar did not make me wait for his appearance (not that he could afford it, what with the outpost damage being deep in the armour). A shiny Amarrian frigate emerged from the outpost and, as soon as it cleared the exit… it started turning away from me.

“He is trying to flee!” Aura cried.

By the time she finished speaking I have already started acquiring a target lock on Tabar’s ship and gave the rails a command to stop firing at the outpost. The firing cycle ended and, a split second later, the smuggler’s frigate was locked. But Tabar didn’t waste time either — while I was preparing my attack, he aligned to his destination and accelerated. I didn’t have any tackle but I could not let him go!

Izia Tabar’s Ship

As a warp bubble was forming around Tabar’s ship, I willed and, superfluously, yelled, “Fire!”

The Spike hybrid charges slid soundlessly along the rails and hurtled across 70 kilometres separating me from the smuggler. I zoomed in the video from my camera drone just in time to see the rounds smash into the frigate’s prow. Some of them penetrated the shield and hit the armour, making the ship deviate from the intended warp heading. In his hasty attempt to warp away, Tabar didn’t leave himself any leeway, and his warp path was almost touching the station wall. After the hit, he was on a collision course with the outpost. Automatic crash avoidance system kicked in and cut both the warp engine and the jets.

It was a welcome delay, but it was not enough. I checked Tabar’s damage indicator — it was at 25%. I needed three more volleys. My railguns firing cycle lasted three seconds. Nine seconds was plenty for any frigate to warp away.

While the thrusters tried to align the smuggler’s ship to its warp destination, another volley from my rails reached it. This time charges hit the stern, making the ship turn faster to reach its desired direction and… overshoot it!

50% damage

Now the thrusters were firing in the opposite direction, first killing the rotation, and then reversing it. Another volley smashed into the frigate.

75% damage

Tabar’s ship had finally stabilised itself and started accelerating to reach the warp-out speed. It was enveloped in a shimmering bubble and was about to enter the warp tunnel, when the fourth and the final volley penetrated the distorted space. For a moment everything was still, as if Lady Luck was tossing a coin to decide what would happen next. Then a fiery flower blossomed where the frigate was. The explosion was so powerful that, when the cloud of debris dispersed, there was no wreck left.

“Wow,” said I.

“Beautiful,” said Aura.

“Your mission is accomplished,” said the agent.

[Vladimir_Korff]

The Blood-Stained Stars: Shifting Foundations — Part X

Thwarting the Succession

Metropolis region — Barvigrard constellation
Hek system — Planet IV
Krusual Tribe Bureau

1 September YC 127

I hoped to finally get information on the whereabouts of Dagan today; instead, I got another mission. I tried to contact Keita Eslin several times in the morning but her commlink just gave me an auto-reply, informing me that its mistress was extremely busy and would get back to me as soon as she could find some time in her packed schedule. Frustrated, I made my way to Keita’s office and confronted her.

“Oh, Captain Korff,” the agent said distractedly, typing something on her datapad, “please sit down. I think you may be quite useful.”

I nearly chocked on that brazen statement, “Me? Useful? I came here in anticipation that your Bureau and you will finally make yourselves useful to me!”

My outburst grabbed Keita’s attention and she looked up from her datapad, “Um… in which sense?”

“In a sense that you will give me information on Dagan that your field agent was expected to collect at the training facility.”

“Ah, that!” she smiled charmingly, “In this, Captain, our interests are perfectly aligned.”

I narrowed my eyes, “What do you mean? I’ve heard that line before, but so far the ‘alignment’ was all for your benefit.”

“I would be happy to give you everything our field agent gathered on Dagan, but the problem is we can’t exfiltrate him from the facility. After you eliminated Tabar and his lieutenants, we hoped that the remnants of his forces would scatter. Unfortunately, one of Tabar’s remaining lieutenants, an Ammatar called Mizara Nefra, has returned to the training facility and taken over.”

At that stage, I was quite fed up with delays and excuses.

I raised my eyebrows imperiously and asked in a peremptory tone, “And what are you doing to extract your agent, Agent Eslin?”

The agent’s smile did not falter but became a bit strained, as if it took some effort.

“Me? I am writing a brief for a rescue mission for which, as I said, you may be useful, Captain Korff. It is in your best interest to assist us in this operation, if you want to receive the intel on Dagan ASAP.”

I remembered Sister Alitura’s characterisation of Keita Eslin and rolled my eyes. A little sly, she said? That was hands down insidious!

I gestured at the agent’s datapad, asking her to show me the mission. When she passed the device to me, I pressed my thumb on a sensor without looking at the brief and went out of the office.

As I was walking to the docks, I called Aura and asked her to prepare the ship for immediate undocking.

“What’s the rush, Cap?” she asked curiously.

“Got a mission,” I said tersely.

“To do what?”

“Don’t know. It’s in the brief. Feel free to read it.”

Aura’s eyes widened, “You mean you didn’t? Cap, you shouldn’t be accepting missions without checking the brief. What if the agent asked you to fight a titan?”

I shook my head in annoyance, “She wouldn’t. She is just Level 1 — titans are above her paygrade.”

“Okay, but what if she pays you peanuts?” insisted Aura.

I snorted, “Doesn’t matter. As I said, Keita is Level 1 — whatever she pays is below my paygrade.”

There was a short pause while Aura was reading the brief after which she said, “It’s not too bad, Cap. The objective is a bit vague — ‘run interference for the Krusual spy in Tabar’s training compound’ — but the pay is decent by Level 1 standards. The Bureau will pay 200,000 ISK as a main reward and 96,000 ISK as a time bonus. By the way, the time bonus period is almost four hours. Even if you have a beer or two before the mission, we should be able to finish it in time.”

“I just want to get it over with,” I muttered.

“Ready when you are,” Aura said brightly. “The engine is warm and the pod is loaded.”

---

Metropolis region — Barvigrard constellation
Hek system — Mission location

Recruitment and Training Facility

We landed on the grid about 100 klicks away from the recruitment and training base. It was guarded by three ships which Neocom classified as Mercenary Rookies. I was taking my time to inspect the surrounds with my camera drones and other sensors, when the guards targeted Kaukokärki and sped in our direction. That was new. At such a range, I usually had to take a hostile action against the hostiles before hostilities commenced. Either I was getting famous among smugglers, or they were on high alert after their boss had been killed.

Mercenary Rookie

The Rookies certainly had a long targeting range — they yellow-boxed me before I could target them — but their effective firing range was much shorter. While I was marvelling at their quick reaction to my arrival, they closed the distance and were already 60 kilometres from me. I stood my ground — meaning I didn’t move the ship — and targeted them back. As soon as target locks were acquired, I shot a volley at the closest guard. Alpha! As usual, the first line of defence was just cannon, or should I say railgun, fodder for me. I quickly dispatched the remaining frigates and waited for further developments.

The developments did not make me wait long — almost immediately another group of four frigates emerged from the dock. It contained three Mercenary Fighters and was led by Mizara herself. Surprisingly, all of them were flying Caldari frigates — Mercs in Kestrels and Mizara in a Merlin. The fact that an Ammatar smuggler who did the biz across Minmatar-Amarr border chose a Caldari ship filled me with pride. Obviously, she preferred our military tech due to its superiority over the local products. So I thought until Mizara fired a weapon at me. I facepalmed. It was a missile! A goddamn missile on a ship bonused for hybrid turrets! Using missile launchers on a Merlin was like hitting a nail with the side surface of a hammer head — you got a result but it wasn’t as good as it could be with a blaster.

Mizara’s Ship

I shook my head ruefully — that abomination had to be destroyed. I mean, destroyed first. Others also fired missiles at me but at least they had enough sense to fly missile boats. For that, they would live a few seconds longer. As it turned out, only six seconds longer, since it was all the time I needed to blow up Mizara’s Merlin.

Mercenary Fighter

When the fight was over, I turned my attention to the training facility. My camera drones showed a stream of smaller ships and escape pods fleeing from the station. I called Keita Eslin.

“Hey, shall I pick up your agent?” I asked her showing the livestream.

Keita bit her lip, thought for a moment, then shook her head, “No. We haven’t been in touch since Mizara arrived, so we couldn’t tell him that you would come to rescue. And since there are smuggler forces remaining in the station, he has to keep radio silence to avoid detection. Better let him make his own way out of the facility. He will contact me when he is safe.”

“As you say,” I shrugged. “Anything else I need to do here?”

“No, the mission is accomplished, Captain. Thank you. Feel free to return to the base,” said Keita and ended the call.

[Vladimir_Korff]

The Blood-Stained Stars: Shifting Foundations — Part XI

Certificate of Death

Metropolis region — Barvigrard constellation
Hek system — Planet IV
Krusual Tribe Bureau

4 September YC 127

I may sound like a broken record but I am fresh out of polite words which can describe my circumstances. So please bear with me while I am repeating myself: I hoped to finally get information on the whereabouts of Dagan today; instead, I’ve got another mission. If you think that was a joke, wait until you hear what mission Keita Eslin prepared for me.

“No more missions until I get the promised info on Dagan!” I said angrily when the agent explained why she had summoned me to her office.

“Oh, it’s a very simple mission, and a lucrative one, for that matter,” Keta said with a glint in her eye. “All you need to do is travel to Ammatar Consulate Bureau in Tanoo and tell my counterpart Dovirch Anselm that Mizara will work for him no more.”

My jaw dropped.

“You call a delivery of this self-indulgent, gleeful and vindictive message a mission?” I asked incredulously.

“200,000 ISK,” the agent replied coolly, “plus the same amount if you finish the mission in 6 hours.”

I had a surreal feeling as if I was dreaming.

Trying to find some method in that madness, I asked, “You mean, your management has approved spending 400,000 ISK on a job which could be done for a fraction of that sum by a courier on a shuttle? Wait a moment, is it because you expect Ammatars to kill me in revenge? So that my clone is restored from an older backup and I forget that you promised me intel on Dagan?” Furiously, I shook a finger in Keita’s direction, “Don’t even count on that! I’ll make a fresh backup at a different station before I fly to that goddamn Ammatar agent…”

“Oh, so you accept the mission?” Keita interrupted me with a pleasant smile.

I stared at her for a few moments and then deflated like a punctured balloon, my anger replaced with frustration.

“Just tell me what this is all about,” I said resignedly.

Keita smile turned to a grin and then to a laugh which she tried to suppress, unsuccessfully.

“Sorry, Captain,” she said gasping for air, “I should have explained the context but when you started fuming about the mission I couldn’t help playing along.”

“You mean there is no mission?” I asked suspiciously.

“Oh yes, there is. Everything I told you is absolutely true.”

“Including the fact that you have nothing to tell me about Dagan?”

Keita signed, “To be honest, what I said pretty much sums up what we know about Dagan. According to my agent, he wasn’t really a member of the smuggler cartel. Smugglers had some dealings with him but his main contacts were Mizara and Izia Tabar. Others, including the rest of the lieutenants, were not privy to Dagan’s business. What the agent also found out was that Mizara was not a smuggler either — she was an Ammatar agent who infiltrated the cartel under cover and was actively undermining their operations.”

“Why would Ammatars try to disrupt the criminal operation which hurt Minmatar financial interests? Ammatars should be cheering them on.”

“Don’t forget that the illegal trade flowed in both directions, and their interests were as damaged as ours,” Keita explained. “This is probably the only area where Amarr’s, Ammatar’s and Minmatar’s interests coincide. Unfortunately, we learned about Mizara’s true identity only after you completed your last mission.”

“So what’s the point in sending me to tell Ammatars that their agent was killed? And why me, of all people? Even if they don’t kill me as soon as I tell them the news, they’ll probably kick me out of the station.”

“I wouldn’t be worried about that. As much as I despise those Amarr’s lackeys, I have to admit that their security agents have a certain code of honour, especially when they deal with capsuleers. From their perspective, being a contractor, you are not personally responsible for Mizara’s death. Neither will they blame us — since they didn’t deign to inform us about her true role in the criminal cartel, she was a valid target for our law enforcement.”

“And by sending me, do you hope to start some kind of collaboration with Ammatar, so that you can avoid stepping on each other’s toes?”

“Nah, there can be no collaboration with those traitors. In fact, even sending them such a message is unprecedented. You were right — there is an element of self-indulgence. This letter,” Keita pushed a memory stick to me, “contains no apology. We are just expressing a regret that Mizara Nefra did not have an opportunity to complete her undercover assignment. This way we let Ammatars know that we know who she was. But the main purpose of this mission is to give you a pretext to get in touch with Mizara’s handler, Ammatar Security Agent Dovirch Anselm.”

“Ha!” I snorted, “That will be a great introduction — ‘Hello, my name is Vlad, I was sent to tell you that I have killed your agent’. And why would I want to talk to him anyway?”

Keita smiled, “We don’t mention your name in the letter, and you don’t have to tell them about your role in Mizara’s demise, but they will know. As to why you might want to talk to Anselm, it’s because, with Mizara and Izia gone, he is the only remaining lead to Dagan.”

“And what makes you think that Anselm will be willing to share his knowledge of Dagan with me?”

“Nothing,” the agent shrugged noncommittally, “Now it’s up to you to extract that knowledge. I have held up my end of the bargain but I realise it’s not what you expected. This last mission is my way of saying thanks to you for all your help with eliminating the smugglers’ leadership. The reward, as you noticed, is generous and, who knows, maybe you can use it to bribe Anselm.”

Here Keita gave me a sly wink.

I laughed, “It looks like you don’t have a high opinion of Ammatar agents’ code of honour.”

“No, I don’t. And if I were you, I would make that infomorph backup before crossing the border.”