YC127.8.6
ANOIKIS “WORMHOLE SPACE”
REGION R7 - CONSTELLATION C57
THE J142845 SYSTEM - DEEP SPACE
The Enforcer-class cruiser’s warp drive hummed and vibrated through the hull, the resonance carrying into Lynne Rankin’s capsule. Suspended in hydrostatic fluid and linked through metallic conduits, she was hardwired into the ship - commanding it with thought alone. As she breathed, the ship breathed with her. She just recently entered a barely classified star system in Anoikis, “wormhole space” as other capsuleers like herself would refer to it - given that the only way in or out is by finding and traversing an unstable wormhole, either leading back to Known Space in New Eden or deeper into the gods-forsaken depths of this region.
Some lunatics had made homes out here, deliberately provoking the hornet’s nest that is the Sleeper Drones - risking everything to extract rare materials that couldn’t be replicated outside Anoikis. These drones guard assets and enclaves scattered throughout this region of space, massive structures packed full with cryogenic chambers that supposedly house an ancient race of humans that plugged themselves into a simulated virtual reality - to escape death and have their minds live in paradise. This group of restful minds has been affectionately nicknamed “Sleepers” for lack of a more fitting name. Their drones, by extension called “Sleeper Drones”, protect the enclave and other noteworthy assets within the star systems of Anoikis - sometimes quarantining whole areas of space for reasons beyond understanding.
For most people, Sleeper Drones are seen as a disturbingly inexhaustible resource from automated foundries still yet to be discovered by Empire or Capsuleer alike, greedily collecting the resources to create Strategic Cruisers and crudely reverse engineering Triglavian technology. For Lynne, however, this bountiful and unobservable area is a perfect opportunity to let out a little steam. She’d been cooped up in paperwork in C-WPWH managing aspects of the new Keepstar erected, a crowning achievement for her Alliance, but a logistical fueling nightmare she had the distinct not-pleasure of requisitioning fuel components from local suppliers.
Lynne had a rare opportunity of free time and decided to dust off her Enforcer-Class Cruiser, a stealthy, decommissioned CONCORD Cruiser she’d acquired as thanks for volunteering as a recruitment aid to new Capsuleers. Fitted with a Covert Ops Cloaking Device, the ship soared unnoticed through the seemingly empty system of J142845. She was in warp to a Sleeper site designated as a “Perimeter Comms Relay”, categorized by early Sisters of EVE expeditions. When the cruiser dropped out of warp its stealthed camera drones extended the image of the local area into the mind’s eye of Lynne. Five cruiser-sized Sleeper Drones drifted in space, idle and inert, conserving power for the relay’s defense - or perhaps simply lingering in failure. The Enclave they guarded had already been shattered, a six-kilometer long asteroid embedded in its flank like a final insult.
Confirming her Stealth was intact, Lynne maneuvered her ship through the area, she wanted to get closer to the Comms Relay itself since that’s where the best loot is rumored to be and where she would lay in wait. Capsuleer-ran reports showed some increased traffic in this system, so the hope was that she wouldn’t have to wait long to find a victim to satisfy her boredom. Silently, and with her emissions retained within the hull of her ship, the cruiser drifted towards what her camera drones identified as “Ejected Sleeper Databanks”. She had a small clue why these databanks were “ejected”, given the aforementioned asteroid looming in silent victory over the Enclave.
The Enforcer slipped through wreckage and idle drones, carefully keeping at least two kilometers from any large object to preserve its cloak integrity, Lynne set up a comfortable five kilometers away from one of the Ejected Databanks. She took a mental deep breath, confirmed her 425mm autocannons were loaded, and her warp scrambler and webifier were primed, she settled in to wait for an unsuspecting victim to arrive.
2 HOURS LATER
An alert rang in the back of Lynne’s mind. She had been watching her directional scanner for so long the pings almost had been mentally tuned out. She got a hit. The star system was not that big, 14.3 AU across and well within range of her directional scans. A Stratios Cruiser had briefly appeared on scan before it had activated its own cloak. She shifted within her pod as she subconsciously gave in to a baser instinct to get physically comfortable, stretching her neck from side to side as hydrostatic fluid sloshed in response around her. This may be the one.
The stealthed camera drones panned around the area, the Sleeper Drones still lazily floating in the void around the disturbed Enclave. A faint shimmer appeared roughly 65 kilometers from her position, a Stratios shed off its cloak and began a hard burn towards the Sleeper Drones. Lynne licked her lips in anticipation, and the drones must have had a similar thought as they immediately began to fire upon the Stratios and their bulbous designs lumbering in its direction.
The Stratios didn’t hesitate. Its shields soaked up the initial barrage as it deployed four Ogre-class heavy drones - by the distinct markings they appeared to be of the experimental “Tech 2” variety. The bulky, hulking Gallente drones were 11 meters in length, primarily due to their dual gatling blasters mounted like muscular arms on either side of a squat, angry frame. A tangled array of thrusters gave the illusion of legs, making the drones resemble furious mechanical brawlers. The drones moved with surprising speed for their bulk and closed on their ancient counterparts. The Ogres actually made very short work of the Sleeper Drones. To the Sleeper Drone’s credit: they weren’t alone.
Attached to the Enclave several more Sleeper Drones detached from hidden canals within the superstructure of the ancient object - including a battleship-class Sleeper Drone. Lynne almost felt sorry for the ancient drones, they didn’t stand up against a Capsuleer in command of state-of-the-art drones that could instantly recall any drone that was getting in too much trouble or micromanage their movements to avoid incoming fire. The Stratios itself held up pretty well, though its shields were gone its repair nanites barely broke a sweat in patching up the armor plating.
With a striking explosion, the last Sleeper Drone in defence of the Enclave had fallen, and the Stratios recalled its drones. In victory, it drifted toward the ejected databanks, casually inspecting the Sleeper wrecks as it made its approach. Dutiful tractor beams brought onboard any cargo the Capsuleer had thought was worth the space.
20 Kilometers. Lynne’s heart pounded.
15 Kilometers. Lynne stood by to deactivate her cloak.
10 Kilometers. Almost there.
5 kilometers. The Stratios drifted close to the Ejected Databank near Lynne’s hidden ship. Her cloaked camera drones focused in, scanning for signs of intrusion. The Databank pulsed with light - reacting to an active hacking sequence. That Capsuleer would now be distracted long enough for Lynne to take her chance. With a mental switch flipped, she deactivated her cloaking device. Her sensors would need to recalibrate from the cloaking device’s distortion field dissipating.
6 seconds. The Stratios didn’t move.
5 seconds. Lynne willed her Enforcer to approach the Stratios.
4 seconds. The Stratios finally began to move - attempting to warp away.
2 seconds. Lynne repeatedly attempted target locks, her scrambler and weapons primed.
1 second. The Stratios picked up speed, almost able to warp.
Scram. Web. Caught. Amid the debris and shattered Enclave, the Enforcer’s 425mm autocannons roared to life, projectile rounds soared into the Stratios at effectively point blank range. The Scram prevented the Stratios from warping away, the web hindering its movements. Armor repair nanites flared gold across impact points along the Stratios’ hull attempting to enact repairs, and the Ogres were deployed again - the other Capsuleer was panicking - choosing to fight rather than gamble on ECM drones to escape.
40% armor.
Dropping - 36%.
A desperate surge - back to 38%.
Then plunging - 22%.
The Stratios was losing this fight quickly, and it never even saw it coming. The Stratios then deployed energy neutralizers against Lynne’s Enforcer, attempting to short-circuit her capacitor long enough to disrupt power to the scrambler - too bad for the Stratios, Lynne had a capacitor booster that continuously lessened the impact of the neutralizing effects. The Ogres were dealing a substantial amount of damage back to Lynne, but her Ancillary Shield Booster kept her going - though not for long if she didn’t finish this quickly.
83% hull.
A final last ditch effort to repair armor above the hull taking damage.
Blasting that armor away, 43% hull.
14%.
The Stratios began to rupture, its hull integrity failing to hold the ship together, and then a stray 425mm Autocannon round smashed into the cruiser’s reactor - detonating it near instantly. Emergency protocols flared moments before the blast, launching the Capsuleer’s pod into the void - barely sparing its occupant. Lynne felt like a villain - but mercy won out. She let the capsule warp away back to whatever wormhole it had scurried in from.
“Screw you!” The pilot’s message echoed across the star system - just in case anyone else was lurking cloaked and curious. Lynne chuckled to herself as her scanners scoured the wrecked hull of the Stratios, attempting to find anything valuable that had survived the explosion. Estimated value: 300 million ISK in loot and modules. Not bad for an afternoon ambush.
“Pilot,” AURA’s synthetic voice cut in Lynne’s mind, “You have been added as a contact by the opposing Capsuleer. You now have Terrible Standings with that pilot. Future aggression is likely.”
“Tell him to bring shinier gear next time.” Lynne sighed, amused, and let herself enjoy the moment. Lynne destroyed the wreckage thoroughly after she was done picking through its remains, recloaked - and waited to spring the next trap.