Engineering Peace - Part 1

'Many capsuleers completely neglect their physical body.' Sandrielle lectured while standing ready on the practice floor. 'They rely on control systems and implants to augment their reflexes and believe that this is enough.' Sitting low in her legs, her whole body was poised like a wound spring ready to release it's force. 'That is a mistake. Only by training those reflexes accordingly, can you pilot a ship to it's full potential.'

Sylera stood next to her, mirroring her pose and tried to ignore the pain she felt in her thighs. Wishing the other woman would stop talking and grant her the release of movement.

'Your ship is the extension of your body. Only if that body is well trained, can you achieve the highest level of control over a ship's systems and weapons.' Sandrielle continued with her arms raised and ready to either strike or block within the blink of an eye.

Sylera clenched her jaw, her legs began to tremble with the strain of maintaining that low stance.

'Relax. Breathe deeply and evenly.' the Gallente woman commanded. 'Your mind needs to overcome the pain. Sink your awareness into the center of your body and at the same time expand your senses to take in your surroundings.'

Sweat began to form beads on the young Amarrian's fair face. Her mind had difficulty even understanding how she should do both the things Sandrielle wanted from her at the same time. The burning in her legs did not make it any easier.

'If you fly a ship, you will have to control many systems at the same time while you stay aware of the field and maintain a calm relaxed state. The more instinctive your actions are, the quicker and more precisely you will react.' the dark-haired Gallente carried on. 'When you choose your target you focus your outer awareness onto it. Direct all your intentions to it's destruction. This should be the one goal you have in your mind, and then you strike.'

At the last word Sandrielle suddenly exploded into movement. Her leading left hand grabbing, then pulling as she moved forward, executing an uppercut with her right. A step, a kick, a vicious wrenching movement all followed in quick succession. Sylera barely followed the flowing sequence of uninterrupted attacks, but she did her best to execute them in the same way.

Sandrielle turned, blocked, jabbed and punched before sinking back into her low stance, exhaling slowly. She was all calm preparedness again, showing not the slightest indication that she had just gone through a flurry of aggressive and defensive movements.

Sylera finished a few seconds behind her breathing heavily.

The Gallente rose from her stance and looked at the whitish-blond young woman, shaking her head the the strained expression on the Amarrian's fine features. 'You are too tense, that is why you are too slow.'

From her gray eyes, Sylera shot a frustrated look at the other woman.

'I have seen you perform better.' Sandrielle commented. 'What is it with you today?'

Sylera rose, dropped her arms and pressed her lips together. 'It is him. That Matari scientist.' she sounded full of poisonous hatred. 'Why did you bring him here?'

'We would never have made it out of there without him as a hostage.' the older woman replied calmly. Modulating her voice in an effort to stem the tide of rage she could see building up in the young Amarrian.

It did not help. Sylera's comely features became a mask of seething wrath and she pointed at the other capsuleer. 'Don't try to trick me!' she hissed. 'You can't tell me it was a coincidence that you met specifically with him.' She took one step closer to Sandrielle who just calmly folded her arms in front of her chest and nodded.

'It is true, we knew he was there, and we hoped we could get him.' Sandrielle admitted.

Sylera turned away from her and drew her eyebrows together angrily. 'I want him dead.' she whispered grimly. 'I had to kill my own people because of him. She looked back at the olive skinned face of the Gallente. 'I have lost my home because of him.'

Sandrielle shook her head and kept trying to calm the young woman down by talking to her in soothing tones. 'You had to do what you did not because of him, but because of what the Amarr Empire decided to do as a result.' She approached Sylera and reached out to touch her cheek, trying to create a physical rapport. 'He abused you, but it was them who wanted to kill you and took away your possibility to return to your home.' Sandrielle said with genuine pity. 'And if you want them to stop hunting you, we need him.'

Sylera pushed Sandrielle's arm away and looked deep into her almost black eyes. 'Need him for what?' she replied. Now with more pain than anger in her voice.

'He is the only one who can undo the modifications of your implanted control systems. Only then the Empire will leave you in peace because you have become worthless to them.'

***

'Aaah, a Loki class strategic cruiser.' Hegomir Torstan exclaimed with admiration. 'Of course I was among the people who designed the subsystems. It was one of the greatest achievements of my career.' he added with a self-satisfied smile.

His content expression turned into an annoyed frown, though, as he looked around the scenery in the vast maintenance hangar. Equipment crates and toolboxes were heaped in irregular stacks everywhere, with their contents spilling from them. Analytical consoles with half-opened panels and diverse non-standard apparatuses patched into them stood all around the workfloor in seemingly random places. Overhead a number of modular ship-components hung in robotic cranes waiting to be fitted to the floating vessel, and everywhere tools, half-finished projects and cans of Quafe littered the place.

'It is a shame to keep such a grandiose ship under such abominable circumstances.' he added disapprovingly, encompassing the whole of the hangar with a sweeping gesture.

Alira raised her eyebrows and jumped from the crate she had lazily sat on. 'Abominable?!' she shot back at the old engineer and clenched her fists. 'Look old man, this is how I work, and I'm not tidying the place up just because some corporate bigshot drops by.' She made a face at the other Sebiestor. 'Also, last time I checked, you were a hostage. So don't get the idea in your head that you can have something to say here.'

Savant Torstan composed himself and remembered why he had asked leave to visit the hangar in the first place. 'My comment was out of place.' He grimaced slightly as if the apology caused him physical pain. 'It is of course your ship and your hangar. As a matter of fact, I came here specifically to meet you.' he added with a more friendly tone.

Alira's expression turned from anger to surprise. 'Me? What for?'

'I wanted to meet the woman who not only bested the security system of the Arek J'alaan facility but also managed to break through the modifications I have made to that Amarr capsuleer's control system.' He bowed slightly 'I am most impressed with your talents.'

'Alira frowned and quirked one of her narrow eyebrows quizzically. 'Are you trying to make a pass at me? Because if you do you should know that I already have a man in my bed.'

Torstan raised his palms defensively. 'By the sun of Matar no!' he exclaimed. 'My admiration is of a strictly professional nature.'

'Strictly professional, huh?' Alira muttered and sat down. 'Is that what you called it when you decided to use Sansha technology to subvert the free will of a human being?' She shook her head. 'Apart from how wrong that is, do you have any idea how dangerous that implant technology can be? Some of the code that is burned into those optronics has not even been reverse-engineered, ever. Nobody knows what that stuff does.'

'It was a calculated risk.' Hegomir defended himself. 'I have built in certain failsafes. Measures you masterfully exploited I have to say.'

'Yes, I know. Good thing the kill-switch you built into it was done in a really shoddy way, otherwise Sylera would be dead now.' Alira snapped.

'Maybe that would have been better for everyone.' Torstan mused. 'Are you not worried about what could happen if that technology fell into the hands of our enemies. They would turn Minmatar slaves into instruments of warfare against their own kind!' He warned 'You might be too young to know that, but the Amarr Empire did work together with Sansha Kuvakei to that end, before political pressure forced them to join the campaign against his nation.'

Alira nodded with a sarcastic smile on her boyish features. 'Right, so you thought this time you'd be the one to finish what they had started.' She shook her head in disbelief. 'For a man who is so smart you are quite an idiot, you know.'

Now it was his turn to react with indignation. 'What I did was for the sake of our people. Think about the lives that could be saved if we were able to end this conflict.'

Alira scoffed. 'If I remember correctly, Empress Jamyl used almost the exact same words.' She gestured dismissively. 'I have a Gallente commander. Our main scientist and industrialist is Caldari, my lover is an Amarr outlaw. They are my clan now. The most important thing for us is looking after eachother, but none of us would ever go as far as throwing our moral values out the airlock for the sake of that.' She paused for a moment. 'Well. Not sure about Sandrielle. I don't think she has moral values.'

Alira smirked slightly. 'You are not making anything better by becoming like the enemy.' she added.

Hegomir Torstan looked away across the chaotic workfloor and folded his arms. 'Maybe I have lost my moral compass.' he reflected grudgingly. 'Maybe I have made a mistake.'

Alira nodded in agreement. 'Damn well you have.' she grumbled.

'But you're going to get a chance to make it right. That's what you're here for.' She stepped closer to the old engineer and looked him directly into the eyes when he turned his face back at her. 'You better make sure you use that opportunity, because there wont be a second chance.'