An Angel in Hell - Part1

'You just got to love the Syndicate' Aluvetti thought to himself as he reclined in the gel-cushion bench inside his recessed booth at the back of the nightclub. His gaze drifted across the people writhing and cavorting on the dance-floor, enraptured by the immersi-sonic system of this well visited establishment. His own body tingled with the afterglow of the sensations caused by frequencies expertly amplified and tuned to evoke both physical and psychological reactions. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

It had been some time since he last visited Poitot. A fact he regretted. To him, there existed nothing better than the mixture of Gallente hedonism and Caldari business-sense which characterized this region of space. The full potential of this combination achieved by a lack of regulations and CONCORD interference.

He couldn't care less about the supposed spiritual depth of the Intaki people. They offered deals available nowhere else, and pleasures illegal even in the Gallente Federation. If trading wasn't second nature to him, the sensory distractions would be enticing enough to forget that he was here for business. His eyes followed two passing, youthful Intaki girls wearing more adaptive nano-makeup than clothing, but then his awareness latched on to the one individual standing out from the party crowd and club habitués.

The craggy-faced man weaved through the assorted revelers with his deep-set eyes intently focused on piercing the dark recesses of the establishment. His functional, loose-fitting robes looked Amarr, and were definitely setting him apart from the spectacular outfits most other people here wore. Aluvetti nodded to himself slowly. That must be the man he expected.

The contacts of that unsettling Gallente woman had seeded rumours throughout the surrounding systems for days now. It had only been a matter of time until someone followed up on them.

The Caldari trader suppressed a momentary shudder when his thoughts turned to the Awakend Industries capsuleer who had hired him for this job. He dispelled the thought and raised his cocktail glass in a subtle gesture to catch the attention of the other man, when the narrow-featured visage turned his way. With a nod the Amarrian acknowledged and approached the booth tucked away in the back of the club.

***

Shisei's mind resurged from the instant trance he had conditioned himself to fall into whenever his ship shot through a gate. For many capsuleers gate-jumps were disorienting. Even after years of experience, the sensations transmitted to the nervous system as a result of the staggering forces catapulting a ship across many lightyears of space, affected a pilot. Many veterans of the spacelanes found their own way to deal with it. For Shisei it was meditative conditioning as taught by Achura tradition.

Immediately after landing, he focused his awareness on the local system's sensor broadcast. He did not find a record of his ship's beacon. Satisfied he concluded that Sandrielle's operatives had successfully bribed the local gate operators to omit his jump record. The absence of CONCORD control from this out-of-the way system, operated by loose collectives, made such subversion a question of money alone. Shisei's body twisted subtly in his pod with residual movement as he turned the massive bulk of his Orca into alignment to the station in orbit with Poitot's fifth planet. Then he willed his ship into warp speed.

'Are you sure it is the people we expect?' he inquired on their encrypted fluid-router channel.

'Aluvetti gave an affirmative signal.' Sandrielle's disembodied voice answered back 'Also, my contact has told me that an Anathema class Amarr vessel has docked, using the registration of a defunct corporation.'

'Are we cleared to dock close enough to them?' Shisei checked further.

'It is all arranged.' The Gallente woman replied.

***

'I know you have a past with Awakened Industries.' the nameless Amarrian revealed with an earnest expression that made his pale face look even more like a corpse's visage. 'How can I trust you?'

Aluvetti scoffed and set down his cocktail glass. 'I sure do. They kidnapped and tortured me.' he leaned forward and stared into the other man's eyes through the stroboscopic flashes of the club's lighting. 'They cost me my commission in Amarr space.'

He returned to his reclining position. 'Believe me, I have no reason to like them.'

A mirthful smile appeared on his face 'Besides, there's only one thing I really care about, and that's striking a deal.' He rested his palm on the data-storage spindle that lay on the table in front of him. 'So do you want to make this deal or not.'

A smirk appeared on the emaciated features of the Amarrian. 'You have made sure it is authentic?'

'Directly from a Republic-commissioned black-project of Eifyr&Co.' Aluvetti assured him. 'If you don't believe me you can verify it.'

The other man pulled a portable neocom from the folds of his loose robe. The display illuminated his sharp features while he ran his checks on the storage unit. 'It looks genuine.' he concluded curtly and turned his dark-eyed gaze back at Aluvetti.

'What?' the Caldari trader inquired after a few wordless seconds only filled by the reverberations of the immersive sound. 'I have no idea what this actually is or what to do with it. All I know is, you want it, and that is all I need to know.'

A slow nod was the Amarrian's response, and then he entered numbers into his portable device. 'The funds you requested have been transferred.' He paused and held Aluvetti's gaze again 'Along with a bonus to ensure your continued silence about our dealings.' The Amarrian got up while Aluvetti checked the fund transfer on his own neocom and slid the storage unit across the table.

'Be sure to never forget that part of the agreement' the robed man added.

Aluvetti looked up at him and smiled disarmingly 'I never forget something that people pay me for.'

***

Inside the station's vast docking bay Shisei maneuvered the bulk of his craft through the cavernous tunnels toward his assigned position. As promised, he could see the small covert ops craft of Amarr design floating above a docking ring right below the one assigned to him. Ignoring proximity alerts and overriding repelling force-fields he dropped the full mass of his ship into the chasm of the main docking well.

The powerful levitation field of the docking ring slowed his descent, but not enough to prevent an impact strong enough to justify the next action. With a mental signal Shisei unlocked one of the cargo bays and sent a cascade of unrefined ore raining down on the small Amarr vessel.

'Registration MOD775, what is your problem?!' came the irate inquiry of the local dock operator.

'My excuses for this mishap' Shisei answered and noted that the forged beacon of his ship had transmitted properly 'My proximity sensors got damaged in a brush with pirates coming in.' he sent a faked damage report across the link with a quick command.

'Please let the captain of that ship know that I will compensate him for any inconvenience. The same goes for any cleanup costs you will have.'

'Allright.' came the response 'Just make sure you get your ship properly repaired before you create more problems.'

'Certainly.' Shisei replied calmly.

In the meantime, nanites embedded within the dumped ore, began to integrate particles of the spilled metals into the hull of the Anathema below. Not enough to change the composition of the ship's outer layer in a conspicuous way, but sufficient for a vessel with finely tuned metallurgical sensors to spot the difference.

Sensors like those available on an Orca.

An Angel in Hell - Part 2

Nanites crawled through Slylera's spinal plugs and burrowed into her nervous system She could feel them like needles threading razor-wire through her flesh. Somewhere far away, she knew, her body twisted with tortured cramps and her mouth opened in a reflexive scream that would go unheard inside her liquid prison.

Sylera withdrew further into the deepest recesses of her mind. Or was she pushed? Evicted from her own consciousness. She almost wished it to be over so she could curl up in that dark isolation and stop feeling this agony. But here it was, where what remained of her would make it's last stand against the onslaught.

They had taken her sight and replaced it with a blinding storm of hypnotic patterns that razed her awareness. They had deafened her ears to everything but tortuous psycho-acoustics that shredded her mind. All her tactile senses had been turned into conduits for agonizing pain. Now they had sent machines into the very core of her nervous system.

For Sylera it had been a fighting retreat. Further and further away from that world of agony she had withdrawn, enduring as much as she could at every step. By now she had lost her sense of time. She found it hard to remember what it was like to have a physical form for anything else but to be a source of suffering. Her self-awareness flickered like a dying ember in the ashes of a scorched landscape. As if fanned by an invisible wind, her imagination suddenly flared into a manifestation of memory.

***

'May God help me with this.' Sylera prayed as she faced Sandrielle yet again on the practice floor.

The Gallente woman rose from her stance of readiness and glared at the young Amarrian. 'This is why you keep failing!' she berated her. 'You rely on a supposed force outside of yourself to help you, while you need to have the will and discipline within.'

Sylera frowned offended. 'My faith lends me strength and guidance.' she exclaimed defensively. 'Besides that, it offers me broader view of existence than your bland atheism.' she accused the other woman.

Sandrielle shook her head and continued in a more benevolent tone. 'You mistake my lack of faith in your god for a lack of spirituality.' she said in an attempt to bridge the gap between them. 'Have I not taught you many things that are deeply metaphysical.'

Sylera relaxed her stance as well, now that their sparring session was diverted from the physical to the mental. 'That may be so, but none of them have to do with faith.' she conceded.

'My intention is not to convert you or undermine your belief in god.' the older woman explained soothingly. 'Still, to master the skills I teach, you need to find the strength within yourself.' she paused when Sylera still looked at her defiantly. 'Doesn't your own scripture tell you that it pleases god if you develop yourself?'

'It is also written that excessive self-absorption leads to the sin of hubris.' Sylera retorted.

'And I would caution you against the same.' The Gallente woman readily answered. 'This does not have to be an argument about theology or faith.' Sandrielle continued after a pause. 'All I am asking of you, is to learn to focus your mind to fully control your body's actions. The earlier you realize that this has to come from inside of you, the more you will progress.' she smiled disarmingly then. 'Or do you think your god helps me of all people?'

'Clearly that can't be.' Sylera replied dryly.

***

Prakevi's dark eyes dispassionately regarded the lithe body contorting inside the pod under agonies he could only muse about with curiosity. He smoothed his shining black hair back with a slender hand, and looked at the readouts of his instrument console. 'What is the magnitude of pain those peak oscillations really represent' He wondered to himself. Questions about such extreme experiences always jabbed at his inquisitive mind.

His reflections were interrupted when he heard the heavy steps of the Lictor approach from behind. Prakevi straightened his thin body and turned to bow to the imposing robed figure. 'Your eminence.' he greeted deferentially.

Lictor Kel-Udar drew his bushy eyebrows together in the shadow of his cowl. 'How far is she?' he demanded curtly.

The Ni-Kunni scientist took a step to the side. With a graceful, sweeping gesture he presented the wide instrument panel with it's various reports and collected data. 'There is only very little of her that remains inside that body.' he announced with a voice as smooth and cultured as a silk scarf, and as deadly as the same article of clothing would be when used for strangulation.

'How long until you have achieved complete menticide?' the Lictor's grating baritone inquired further while the tall man leaned closer to check the readouts.

'It can't be longer than a day or two.' Prakevi replied with quiet confidence. Again he stroked over his black tresses with subconscious pride. 'I have begun to introduce nanites into her spinal cord, rebuilding her reflexive responses.' he continued and directed the attention of the Lictor to a particular status monitor showing the invasion of Sylera's vegetative system.

Kel-Udar reached into a pocket of his robe and retrieved a storage spindle of obvious Matari design. 'See to it, that you can make use of the schematics contained on here.' he commanded. 'They were used in the original experiment.'

The Ni-Kunni scientist looked at the storage-unit. An affronted expression cast a shadow over his bronze-skinned features. 'Your eminence' he began 'I must most humbly protest. Those are most certainly the inferiour results of those unsophisticated …'

'Enough.' Kel-Udar boomed at him and Prakevi seemed to shrink visibly before the large, broad-shouldered Lictor 'Those unsophisticated Matari managed to succeed with this. I order you to find a use for their results.'

Prakevi bowed deeply and presented his hands to receive the spindle. 'As you wish your eminence.' he replied. His face softened in obedience.

***

“That must be it. The sensor readouts point to this location” Shisei broadcast a three dimensional rendering of his sensor-scan across the channel.

“Looks like a mining colony.” Keram replied sceptically when he saw the cluster of interconnected asteroids dotted with several small constructions materialize before his mind's eye.

“It may seem so.” the Achura replied “But the thermal readouts indicate no significant industrial activity.”

“It probably was one, but has been re-purposed.” Cedrien agreed over the line. “Shisei, see whether you can bring us in closer.”

Slowly the long, flat shape of Shisei's Orca command ship began to turn and align on to a trajectory through the slowly rotating masses of mineral-rich asteroids. The three bulky mining barges floating close-by mirrored his maneuver while they kept their powerful drill-lasers trained on different drifting rocks, melting ores from stone as they went. For all intents and purposes the Awakened Industries fleet looked like yet another mining crew out to make a profit in this dangerous but rich environment beyond CONCORD controlled space.

“Why could we not have the mining ships flown by baseline-crews?” Alira complained over the fluid-router link. “I feel defenseless in this thing.”

“Because that would put too many lives at risk.” Cedrien reminded her. “We discussed this.” he added brusquely.

Inside her pod Alira's face displayed only a slight frown. As a result of the nerve-impulses diverted from her brain to the ship, the interiour lighting of the mining barge darkened significantly, but nobody was present in it's deserted halls to notice.

“It's your fault that you learned how to fly those rock-skips.” Keram taunted “If you hadn't, you could be out here with me trying to dodge asteroids and avoid getting decloaked.”

“Quiet! We have been spotted” Cedrien interrupted the Amarr pirate's provocations.

Casting fleeting shadows on the asteroids, a squadron of baroque-styled Amarr navy ships swooped in from behind one of the largest space-borne rocks. Weapon systems rose from recesses along their hulls and targeting sensors locked on to the ponderous mining ships.

An Angel in Hell - Part 3

Small frigates, shaped like the disembodied pincers of gigantic crabs, swiftly circled around the group of defenseless mining barges, held them in place with warp disruption fields, and battered at their weak shields with short-range energy-beams.

Two cruisers followed, closing in on the group of industrial vessels which drifted in close formation around their massive Orca command ship. The design of the Amarr combat ships spelled dread for their opponents: Built to resemble diving birds of prey with cruel and powerful beaks.

The shields of the first Covetor-class miner failed under the searing heat of accelerated photons. Already the insufficient armour plating on the ore processing vessel began to melt away in strands of liquefied metal, trailing off into space.

The main blow was still to come, though. With slow inevitability the massive hull of an Amarr navy battleship maneuvered itself through a gap between the indifferently spinning asteroids, soon it would have a free field of fire.

'Everyone, release drones and send them against the frigates.' Cedrien tersely commanded. The channel was close to breaking up as his ship rapidly approached it's violent end.

'Shisei, undock the ships! Everyone eject and board your ships now!' he shouted his last oder before a new salvo tore through the core of his Covetor and the bulky industrial hull came apart in an explosion of burning plasma and molten ore.

Hangar bays opened on the ventral side of the large command ship while the remaining Covetors ,and the Orca itself, released a swarm of small automated fighters which engaged the enemy frigates. The docking clamps which secured the now revealed attack ships disengaged and released the deadly vessels into space. The pilots abandoned the humble mining barges and within moments their capsules were cradled within the open pod receptacles of three strategic cruisers.

The swift operation was the assigned cue for Keram who had followed the ponderously maneuvering battleship which just obliterated another mining craft with it's first broadside. A useless victory in view of the changed situation.

Above and behind the long, slender Amarr hull, the forked wedge-shape of Keram's Pilgrim cruiser cast off the shroud of it's cloaking field. Immediately he began to send bursts of disruptive charges into the enemy ship.

'Shisei, make sure Keram gets energy transfer and keep his armour in full repair as best as you can' Cedrien instructed while he readied the weapon systems of his Proteus.

'The battleship is our primary, send more drones against the rest. Let's take them down.' he added and accelerated his organic-looking hammerhead hull towards the target.

***

'Your eminence, that mining fleet …' the holographic projection of a deck officer on the patrol battleship was barely coherent.. Fire, smoke and screams on a rapidly darkening bridge formed a backdrop of devastation for the jittering image.

Lictor Kel-Udar looked on with subdued rage simmering in his gray eyes. '… it was a trap. They are draining …' finally, the transmission broke down.

Kel-Udar pressed his lips together. 'I should have known.' he grumbled, then he whirled around and pointed at the station's combat commander who fidgeted nervously behind him. 'You!' the Lictor bellowed, and the uniformed man saluted with a jolt 'Mobilize every ship we have at our disposal.' The Lictor underscored his final words by adding a sweeping cut with his thickly-veined hand. 'I want them annihilated!'

The bald-headed Khanid commander bowed quickly and prepared to leave, but suddenly the command centre was bathed in red light and filled with the wail of alarm sirens. Heavy blast doors locked the startled crew inside the circular chamber.

'Intrusion detected! All non-authorized personnel are considered hostile.' the synthesized, genderless voice of the station's control system announced. 'Intrusion detected. Perimeter defense programs initiated.' it added in between the alarm sounds.

On cue, automated laser turrets slid from strategically placed recesses in the operations room and began to slice through the panicked crew with impersonal efficiency

***

Cowering inside the ruin of her self, Sylera's consciousness barely registered that the pain had ceased. A dystopian serenity replaced the relentless sensory barrage, and eventually a new sensation filled the ravaged void of what she once called her mind. Like an unexpectedly beautiful sunrise after a long night of terrors her awareness expanded across a new vista.

She felt vast, extending through space and rock. Not a ship, but something else. Larger, more spread out. She reached out into the new channels that opened to her. Many things were familiar to her. Weapon systems, shields, the feeling of human beings moving through her insides.

But those were not the helpful crew-members she usually felt. They were a disease that infected her. They were the ones who had imprisoned and tortured her. The systems of the station were hers to command. She gave them instructions. Her will was rekindled by the desire for retribution and she cut them down with lasers, suffocated them with decompression, crushed their ships by overloading the forcefields of the docking bay until the powerful field generators melted down. Like a ravaging Maenad she laid waste to the construct until every single one of them was dead.

All but one. His end would not be so swift.

Invigorated by the very systems which had held her prisoner until now, she willed her stationary capsule to open.

***

Prakevi looked on with shock after he had fed the Minmatar schematics into his system. He realized something was wrong at a time when it was already too late. He was locked out of the interface and he could hear the alarms sounding all over the station. Fretfully he stroked over his sleek black hair and finally reached for the emergency shutdown.

His hand never touched it.

A perimeter defense turret sliced it off and left his wrist a cauterized stump. His howl of pain drowned in the screams of the alarm.

He ran for the door, but an emergency shutter blocked it before he could get there.

He desperately stared across the medical lab at the exposed pod in it's centre. The young woman inside it stirred. He needed to shut down her life support. With no interface to do it, the only way was destroying the system's main feed. Frantically he ran for the weapons locker while clutching his amputated wrist.

The beam of the defensive turret burned through consoles and laboratory desks on it's trajectory, until it finally was free of obstacles and continued it's path to cut Prakevi's legs from under him.

His legless torso hit the ground heavily. For a moment he looked in disbelief at his own twitching limbs lying there. The impact of the experience even erased the sensation of pain from his awareness. Until a few seconds later. Then he screamed at last, as the dam burst and the agony washed over him like a drowning wave.

When the turret finally severed his other arm at the shoulder his nervous system was so overwhelmed with shock that he hardly registered it.

Helpless and reduced to a whimpering mass of mutilated flesh, Prakevi looked on as the stationary pod opened.

The slender girl emerged among a cascade of viscous fluid. That elfin face twisted into a mask of wrath. The long whitish-blond hair clung to her pale naked body like living snakes. In the crimson glow of the emergency light she was an apparition of terrifying beauty. To Prakevi's agony-clouded vision she appeared like an avenging angel. Her eyes blazed with cleansing fire and in her wake followed the heavenly legions.

A silent prayer moved his lips before he finally lost consciousness and the host of the seraphim chased him into it's imaginary depths.

***

Cedrien and the other capsuleers had waited for reinforcements which never came. When the directional scanners showed no ships, the squadron of advanced combat ships left behind the smouldering wrecks of their enemies. Eventually they maneuvered close to the covert facility nested in the midst of this asteroid field.

No lights shone behind the many windows of the interlinked constructions, but fires blazed within and the mangled wrecks of ships vented burning plasma at the docking facility. Everywhere breaches in the constructions had spilled glowing debris and the bodies of occupants.

'What happened here?' Keram wondered on their internal frequency. 'Looks like we are late for the party.' he added with a dry, mocking tone.

'I guess my cleverly hidden viral protocol released our little angel from hell.' Alira responded with smug satisfaction.