“If the Guristas are gonna ever balance the scales against the corrupt and oppressive Empires, then they need to take their Capsuleers for themselves. Weaponize the demigods against them! Take them out of their economy and add them to their own! The Guristas can field all the battleships, dreadnoughts and titans they want, but there’s no weapon more lethal than a Capsuleer fresh out of the academy…They need to be brought into the fold…Brought in before the Empires and CONCORD can condition them to be mindless puppets to their agenda…More dogs to send after my people.”
- Suha Raibuya
“I think he answers to that Wayist nutjob.”
October 25th YC 121
Akels Searbier’s Office - Hoiyori, Nannaras X
“Akels! Akels?!”
“Ah! Viokoro! I-I wasn’t aware you were comi-”
“Did you get a document on your desk this morning from the Myrskytuuli Regiment?”
“Oh! Yes I did! let’s see…Its right he- Hey!”
“Let me look at this…”
“It’s rude to snatch something out of someone’s hand, don’t you think? A-A-And that’s a sensitive document of Lucrative Excavations! You can’t just look at-”
“Akels just gimme a goddamn moment!”
“I-…ugh.”
“…Son of a ■■■■■! You signed off on this already?! This is your signature, ain’t it?”
“Well…Yeah! What’s the problem here?”
“Akels you’re signing off to have thirty of your Overseers to be sent out to the ■■■■■■■ captial system of the Guristas pirates at the request of a ■■■■■■■ Capsuleer! Your telling me YOU don’t see the problem here?”
“Well…No, see I’ve looked into what’s going on over there and I think it’s a very noble initiative.”
“Noble Initiat- Akels! Are you so ■■■■■■■ naive that you don’t see what’s going on with this whole “initiative” out in Guristas occupied space?”
“Well Suha actually explained to me that she wanted to see economic prosperity in the region of Venal-”
“-Which benefits a bunch of pirates that are armed to the teeth and ready to attack anyone at a moment’s notice and steal everything they have that isn’t bolted down! Spirits above Akels!”
“Well - my Overseers aren’t getting involved in any of the Guristas’ uh…“Necessary business”…Just helping our Capsuleer benefactor run a few extractors on five worlds in 6NJ8-V…I’m assuming you also got a note requesting help your specialists?”
“Yeah! I did…And I’m not comfortable signing this ■■■■ off and sending people off to middle of null security space surrounded by nothing but those ■■■■■■■ lunatics.”
“I don’t think it’s THAT dangerous Viokoro. I have the upmost confidence that my people will be safe and sou-”
“Your Father would’ve never done some ■■■■ like this…”
“I- wha-?”
“More and more I’m starting to see why the Ohrions locked Monden up under “Mandatory Care” and put you in power, so they can slide some fedoshit like THIS across your desk and you’ll sign off on it happily and eagerly.”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“What I’m trying to say is - and this is of no fault of your own - but your easily manipulated Akels.”
“Okay now hol-”
“I like you Akels, I really do! The fact is however that you roll over and just go along with whatever the ■■■■■■■ Yakens want to do, you have some unquestioning trust in things these ■■■■■■■ want to do. You’re…a puppet for them! Your Father wasn’t, he was way too stubborn to become one so they locked him up so they can put you in place instead.”
“My father is “locked up” because he couldn’t control himself!”
“…”
“You and your conspiracies Viokoro! Goodness gracious! My Father got caught red handed with contraband in his office! He was a drunk! He was constantly out drinking! Maxing out his limits at every establishment in the colony that served alcohol! There’s no conspiracy of the Yakens replacing him Viokoro! The Ohrions placed him into Mandatory Care because he needed help, desperately. Before he destroyed himself any further.”
“…Okay, I’m…Sorry Akels.”
“…I…I-I’m sorry too…I-I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you I just…Didn’t want you talking over me again! That’s all everyone does, I don’t get to finish a sentence ever, someone’s always gotta cut me off and speak over me…And you spoke over me to berate me! Just throw some salt in the wound why don’t you! You wanna know why I’m so supportive of what the Yakens want to do? Because at least they respect me, the Patriarch never cut me off and spoke over me. Tokitu never walked into my office unannounced and snatched a sensitive document out of my hand.”
“…I just fear you trust them a little too much all because they show you this courtesy - which, you’re right, I should be showing you that same courtesy as well…”
“It be a start if you can hand me back that document.”
“Oh, right. Sorry about that. Here you go.”
“Thank you…So I take it you’re not gonna sign off on the request handed to you?”
“I…Don’t know if I even have a choice!”
“Well…Could always bring up with the Patriarch.”
“This request for my personnel might as well have been written by the Patriarch himself. Not only is this guy a Yaken, but a ■■■■■■■ Capsuleer too. Practically outranks the Patriarch.”
“I don’t think that’s true, I believe he still answers to the Patriarch like all of us.”
“I think he answers to that Wayist nutjob.”
“Suha?”
“Yeah…In fact I think a lot of people here answer to her.”
“Starting to sound like another conspiracy theory Viokoro…”
“J-Just hear me out! Okay?”
“I-I-I mean…Sure, I’ll hear you out.”
“Have you never been weirded out about why her likeness is plastered almost everywhere?”
“Well I’d say it’s uplifting! Cute design that raises morale around here…She’s quite the public figure, I bet I couldn’t find a single person that didnt like her.”
“That’s because they all left the colony Akels! After she stopped hiding her true colors and sympathies, everyone that was wary of her already, packed their bags and got on the next shuttle out of here.”
“Well I’d say those people are…Ignorant.”
"Akels, she somehow talked the Patriarch into twisting Stelmari’s arm into giving her one-point-five BILLION ISK to give the Guristas!"
“To rent out space to build a shrine aboard a station in her home system.”
“It’s money in the Guristas’ pockets! She just funneled over a billion ISK of Zaibatsu funds into the Guristas’ wallets! Do you have any ■■■■■■■ clue how much money that is? We could’ve got one of those nice Upwell citadels with that kind of money! We could’ve bought an entire ■■■■■■■ citadel to be a shrine to promote whatever nonsense she’s peddling!”
“To be fair I’d argue that a billion ISK is a drop in the bucket for the Guristas.”
“Yeah because they made trillions stealing and pillaging from the State for years. You right, drop in the bucket.”
“…Well…The Guristas have to survive somehow. They got bills to pay mouths to feed…”
“Then start a ■■■■■■■ farm.”
“Technically we are! See? That’s what this is all about…Kinda. these colonies our Capsuleer benefactor are opening provide a nee honest way of living out there.”
“Brilliant! Every Gurista is just gonna dismantle their warships and turn them into a armada of Epithals and farming equipment! The Rabbit himself might even apologize to the State for all the naughty-nuaghty things he did as a pirate lord…Oh wait! Naughty is literally part of their name! So guess we’re gonna have to do with that as well! How does “Behaved People” sound to you?”
“…Not as cool.”
“Right…No, those colonies exist to help stimulate a Capsuleer market forming past those planet’s atmospheres. Not to give the Gurista “Honest work” or whatever you wanna call it…”
“…I just…Hear about how Suha grew up and can’t see them as the barbarians I’ve been led to believe growing up…All the cartoons using them as stand-in bad guys, the news reports of their attacks. It’s just all comes off as propaganda in retrospect.”
“I mean the cartoon appearances? Sure, the reports on the attacks? Possibly real ■■■■.”
“I know! It’s just…I feel like I’ve been conditioned to see them as villains. To see nothing but evil in them and any wholesale slaughter committed by the Navies or Capsuleers should be seen as heroic and justified.”
“Now Capsuleers are all ■■■■■■ up and not heroic as anyone is led on to believe, but I have more trust in the Navies than some pirate outfit. Any day of the week.”
“I dunno how to put my thoughts to words in a way you’d understand.”
“Don’t worry about it, I think we’re done for now anyway. I’m sure you got plenty of work to take care of.”
“Yeah…Yeah I do.”
“Right…Well, thanks for showing me that paper Akels, sorry for my rude and brash behavior.”
“It’s fine Viokoro…I appreciate you understanding me there at least.”
“Mmhmm…Well, catch you around.”
“Yeah…Hey wait!”
“Yeah?”
“…You gonna sign off on the request? Or no?”
“…I’m gonna have to think about it some more.”