The Chain of Being - Part 1

Adrain Sourail decided to finally break the awkward silence that hung over the table in the exclusive restaurant his superiour officer had invited him to for supper. He set down his wineglass and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Madame, I can't help to ask why you invited me here."

Dechenne en Chalune chewed and swallowed slowly. She half-closed her narrow eyes while she savoured the taste of her last bite and hummed softly in appreciation. Adrain wished the old intelligence director wouldn't draw it out so much. It was her signature thing to do. Always keep everyone guessing - and worrying - what her next move could be. She hadn't earned the nickname "Lady Anxiety" among the members of the department for nothing.

"Because you are my most valued operative of course, and I thought you would enjoy some good food and drink" The Intaki finally said and smiled.

Adrain looked at her cheerful expression with skepticism. Her matronly smile emphasized the wrinkles on her golden-skinned face. She managed to look like anybody's favourite grandmother if she smiled like that, but Adrain knew there must be something else to it. There always was with Dechenne en Chalune.

"Have you ever considered how much food tells us about a society or a culture?" The old woman continued after skewering a rubbery small cephalopod on her plate. "Minmatar cooking, for example, favours dishes which are intended for communal consumption. A lot of different small items of food which are arranged on big platters. Everyone at the table shares and exchanges."

Adrain wondered where this was going while the intelligence director put the marinated piece of seafood into her mouth and chewed languidly. She swallowed, sipped from her glass of wine and then carried on.

"They are also fond of strong natural tastes. Game, spicy vegetables, intense fruit flavours, bitter herbs, that kind of thing. The combination offers a lot of diversity and contrast."

She pointed at her own plate with the fork. "Quite different from our own style. In Gallente cuisine everything is about creating the most refined combination of tastes, subtly tailored to personal choice. There is diversity, but it is a diversity of choice for each individual." Dechenne en Chalune picked up some vegetables together with another piece of squid and ate it at length.

Adrain was wondering where this whole talk about food preparation was supposed to go, but he did listen intently. He knew his superiour. She hardly ever engaged in idle talk without meaning to get to a point. So far the Gallente agent failed to deduce what it might be though.

"I can see that you are becoming impatient, so let me come to the point." The elderly intelligence director retrieved a neocom from her handbag and slid it across the table.

Adrain skimmed through the Scope News item that was on display. Clearly Eifyr & Co unexpectedly announced a conference to present a revolutionary scientific breakthrough. The name of the main speaker caught Adrain's attention. "Hegomir Torstan? Wasn't he abducted by some capsuleers recently."

"Correct. Wormhole dwellers to be more precise. Specifically a corporation called Awakened Industries under the command of this man." Dechenne reached over to touch the necom display which emitted the holographic image of a bearded Gallente looking man.

Adrain nodded gravely. "I recognize him. He was last on record interacting with one of our agents before she vanished."

The white-haired Intaki emptied her glass and leaned back in her chair. "Right, Nevire Chatal. So, where does that leave us?"

Adrain finished the article and stroked his chin in thought. "It looks like a group of lawless capsuleers lead by a former navy officer have dropped a major scientific breakthrough in the lap of a Matari megacorporation. In addition to that, they might be involved in the loss of an agent." he frowned for a moment. "If I am not mistaken then the agent in question was on the trail of a wanted capsuleer spy. According to intelligence reports, the same woman agent Chatal was after, was also involved in the abduction of Savant Torstan. Sounds like we have a challenge on our hands." Adrain smirked slightly "And an opportunity to tie up a few loose ends."

Dechenne nodded and displayed her grandmotherly smile again. "Like I said in the beginning, you are one of my most valued operatives. You are good at connecting the dots" she took the provided cloth napkin from the table to dab her lips. "Now remember what I said about food and its reflection of a society's values."

Finally Adrain understood her meaning. "The difference in culture. The recent political moves by Empress Jamyl have defused the conflict between the Amarr Empire and the Republic. Since then the cultural differences between the Gallente and the Minmatar have become more of an issue. Now some Gallente ..."he searched for the appropriate word "... renegades have provided a Matari scientist with the means to get ahead in the game. This might develop into an issue of federal security."

The smile of the old Intaki widened to the same extent as her eyes narrowed. "Which is where we come in. Or you more specifically."

Adrain looked at his superiour quizzically.

Dechenne en Chalune responded to his unvoiced question "I am sending you to that conference with the fake identity of a Duvolle Laboratories acquisition specialist. We need to know everything we can get our hands on about that new breakthrough in Sleeper research Torstan will be presenting." she waved her hand nonchalantly "I expect that the public presentation will only scratch the surface. Your job is to get your hands on the whole story."

"How far can I go?" Adrain asked. His demeanor had turned from slightly confused to fully professional in an instant.

"Any means necessary." his superiour answered matter-of-factly. "Just make sure it remains deniable." she smirked "I would hate it if I had a senator pacing back and forth in my office shouting something about a diplomatic incident."

"Understood." Adrain replied curtly. 

"Well" Dechenne en Chalune gestured at Adrain's almost untouched food. "Enjoy the meal. You are leaving tomorrow on the first liner to Eram."

***

"Seriously! Is all that excessive caution necessary?!" Agitated, Hegomir Torstan paced back and forth on the forward bridge of the Rapier class recon ship. "This is a nimble ship of Minmatar design. With my added modifications it should easily be able to evade every trap, and time is of essence here my Gallente friend."

Sitalaerd Baunee tried his best to concentrate on the tactical holograms displayed before his captain's chair. "You do want your research, and yourself, to reach Eram safely I would assume." he said dismissively and then issued the order to move closer to the wormhole in a spiral course.

The veteran Gallente captain did not want to take an unnecessary risk here. Most of Awakened Industries' crews were still not back home. Their stations were hardly defensible and none of the corporations capsuleers - including his commander - had returned to the Anoikis cluster either.

At least he had received word that the daring mission to rescue Sandrielle Jaunes was successful. Everyone would be due to return soon. The many Sleeper drones which kept circling their main control tower, still gorging their machine minds on all available information, created an effective deterrent against attack, but they were also an unknown factor. The former Gallente navy officer did not like unknown factors. If Cedrien Roucellis himself would not have agreed with the urgent demands of savant Torstan to be allowed a visit to the Arek'Jalaan facility in Eram, he would certainly not have risked one of their few remaining ships for something like that.

Particularly not at a time when they needed to rebuild their battered defenses. Even now, their station barely had the fuel to last through a full defensive reinforcement cycle despite the fact that the shield generators had been restored. Granted, Torstan's insights gained from communication with the Sleepers had helped a lot to make that happen, but that did not make this trip less risky in Sitalaerd's opinion.

"Captain. I just registered a Buzzard class frigate on long range scan for a moment." the crewman at the sensor station reported.

"Any new entry signatures?" Sitalaerd asked.

The young Matari nodded affirmative. "Yes sir. One new wormhole is being picked up by our probes." the crewman paused and turned around to face the captain. "Sir, its graviton emission profile indicates a class six phenomenon on the Criele scale."

Sitalaerd frowned. "That could mean a scout for a major force." He considered the situation and finally shook his head. "We are in no shape to defend against anyone who would want to confront us now."

He turned to the communications officer. "Lieutenant Maillot. Notify the station crew. Tell them to go on full defence and prepare for evacuation. Inform commander Roucellis on fluid router about the situation too."

If this small exploration ship was the harbinger of an attack, him and his crew would not make any difference either. He pressed his lips together and looked at the wavering vortex before them. "Helmsman. Take us through. We will continue our mission."

"Finally" Hegomir Torstan threw his arms up with a sigh or relief.

The Chain of Being - Part 2

Adrain's superiour had been right.

Despite the fact that Arek'Jalaan officially hosted the “groundbreaking” presentation of Hegomir Torstan, Eifyr & Co corporate security had provided the venue and they kept a tight ship. Everyone who was not a member of the corporation was required to wear an implant blocker to prevent recordings. Even neocoms and similar devices were taken away from non-affiliated visitors. Adrain even suspected that several of the people dressed in security uniforms were actually Republic Intelligence.

His instincts, developed throughout years in the service, enabled him to notice the telling signs. The forced casual behaviour. The furtive glances and subtle signals exchanged between agents working as a team. That effort to inconspicuously follow and watch their chosen targets, himself clearly one of them.

The small number of attendants who were not Minmatar each had one of those intelligence operatives shadow them throughout the conference. Adrain pondered the merit of such surveillance. He was not formally trained as a scientist or engineer, but even with his limited knowledge about the presented material, it seemed remarkably thin to him. Despite the subject of possible advances of Sleeper reverse-engineering, Torstan's presentation came across as more of a sales pitch than an actual scientific lecture.
When Torstan concluded, followed by applause that seemed way to enthusiastic, Adrain re-evaluated his options for losing his tail. He acted his best to look like he was hanging on Torstan's every word during the Q&A session, but in the meantime he expanded his senses to gauge the reactions of people he suspected to be agents.

The net was tight.

Grudgingly Adrain had to settle for the fact that he would not be able to make his move just yet. He made an effort to not let his annoyance show when he left the auditorium and stepped out into the red light of Eram's sun and the crowd of reporters who descended on the scientific and corporate representatives who walked out of the Eifyr&Co building.

'This is Aishe Guldar for Eram System News.' a stunning young Krusual woman blocked his path. She wore a recording visor and her black hair was braided along the crown of her skull.

'Girome de Roue of Duvolle Laboratories has just emerged from the building and is willing to answer a few questions on Gallente interests.' she opened and beamed a disarming smile at Adrain when she confronted him with his cover identity in a way that was clearly meant for him to be caught off-guard.

Had he truly been a Duvolle corporate official who wanted to keep a low profile, he would indeed be uncomfortable with being recorded on a live newscast. The Gallente agent acted as if that were the case while sizing up the young reporter.

Adrain inhaled through his nose. 'Tailored pheromones, how cute.' he noticed. Either the local news-channel spent a lot on biomodifications for their reporters or this was a honeytrap. If it was, they obviously had not figured him out completely or they would know his preferences. He smiled back at the admittedly well chosen female and for a moment he was honestly endeared with her for trying hard to appear desirable. He used that feeling to make his smile appear genuine.

Adrain knew most Republic Intelligence operatives from the records of his own agency. He had taken the effort to thoroughly familiarize himself with each and every one of them before departure. If that girl was not who she pretended to be, then she would most likely be a junior corporate counter-intelligence agent who had gotten a chance to score a big one with this assignment. Adrain decided to take the bait. If his hunch were to be correct, this could be a way to get closer to Torstan and the actual knowledge the Sebiestor engineer possessed.

'Indeed, how may I be of service?' he asked and very obviously let his eyes travel along the girl's curves for effect. She had dressed in a form-fitting ensemble that would work wonders on someone who actually cared about breasts and hips like hers.

Adrain made sure that he appeared to care.

'A Duvolle representative coming all this way to listen to a presentation by an Eifyr&Co scientist? What is the story behind that?' The young woman asked aggressively.

'Well …' Adrain replied. 'You are the reporter so I leave the storytelling up to you.' he intentionally looked at her cleavage more than her face. It would help to make her think she had the intended effect.

'Come on now.' she kept pushing. 'Someone working for a shrewd woman like Jinneth Duvolle must have an agenda.'

Adrain had to admit that she got the part about working for a shrewd woman right. Only in his case it wasn't Jinneth Duvolle.

'Guilty as charged.' he replied and played the role of the boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Looking around and then back at her décolleté before he met her eyes again he cocked his head slightly and softened his voice. 'My corporation has not authorized me to make public statements, but …' he paused for effect and smiled suggestively. 'I would agree with continuing this conversation in a more ... private place.'

**

Adrain checked his wrist-neocom. He had enough time to do what he needed to and get away before the girl would wake up. The sedative he produced from his sweat-glands would easily keep her under for another hour or two. He had initially been skeptical of the biomods provided by Poteque, but he had to admit they were effective and had the additional advantage of not registering on the usual augmentation scanners.

Strategically he had ordered a bottle of “Sun Blood” a very potent local drink known for its aphrodisiac properties as well as its devastating hangovers. Of course they never drank all of it and he had poured half of the strong liquor down the toilet drain, but when the girl did wake up and find the empty bottle she would chalk up her groggy state and fuzzy memory to the beverage's aftereffects.

It was as Adrain had suspected. After going through her purse he linked up the girl's necom to his own portable device. He was soon able to break the encryption on her system and identify her as a member of Eifyr&Co corporate intelligence. Her clearance was low but enough to serve his purposes. Using his own neocom's data pattern extractor he transferred her security key onto his own identity profile and modify it accordingly to fit him.

Adrain did not want for her to return empty handed, that would be too suspicious and attract further attention, so he fed some data into her storage to make it appear as she had lifted interesting information from him. It was all fake material about his assumed identity and largely inconsequential internal information about Duvolle Laboratories which he retrieved from Federal Intelligence databanks. That should be enough for her to report a success to her superiors, maybe get a small pat on the back for a job well done. Case closed, no reason to pursue any further.

Adrain liked tying up loose ends.

Before this was over there would be many more for him to take care of.

**

Miranjee suppressed the urge to yawn. She was tired but her sense of duty prevented her from showing it. Despite her drowsiness she was dedicated to her task keeping watch at the sensor station during the late shift. The capsuleers of Awakened Industries had provided for them better than most pod-pilot commanders would. Never since she left her tribal homeland had she experienced such true dedication to a community. Now it came down to her and all the remaining personnel to rebuild as much as they can until the capsuleer contingent would return home from their dangerous mission. Reports indicated that it had been successful, but many ships had been lost together with their crews. Regrouping and finding a way back to Anoikis would take time.

When the directional scanner readout flared and the proximity alarm sounded, Miranjee came to full attention in an instant. She called up the scan analytics and her eyes widened. What appeared on the display was a full fleet of combat ships, and their transmission beacons marked them as …

Miranjee uttered a string of Matari curses just before the communications console lit up with a hailing signal. She got up from her chair at the surveillance station and looked out of the window into space. Ship after ship appeared out of warp beyond the starbase shield. Miranjee hit the receiver almost absent-mindedly as she looked at the red-splattered Amarr vessels which assembled into formation out there.

With the hailing frequency open, the communication system came to life and transmitted a cold voice accustomed to command. 'Members of Awakened Industries. This is Deacon Commander Dam-Tharel of the Blood Raider Covenant. We are here to make you an offer.'

Miranjee activated the station's battle alarm.

The Chain of Being - Part 3

Ffeifra was surprised how exhilarated she felt about the return of Hegomir Torstan to active duty.

A light bounce was in her step as she walked down the flight of stairs and the corridor which lead to the Savant's personal laboratory on the Eram University campus and she felt butterflies in her stomach. It wasn't any form of physical attraction she felt for the man. Having worked for Torstan as personal assistant over the course of six years, she was quite certain that she didn't have any feelings for him in that way. Neither had the exceptional engineer himself made any advances towards her, quite unlike the Eifyr&Co executive she had served before. A terrible, lecherous old man who would leer at her suggestively whenever he had her make arrangements for pleasure girls to visit him and other corporate dignitaries in their private quarters.

Hegomir Torstan could be arrogant, unsympathetic and rude, but he never touched her or even as much as looked at her ambiguously. He always behaved strictly professional and in his own special way he treated Ffeifra with respect. Still a bachelor, despite his age and fame, he had of course attracted rumours that his tastes lay elsewhere, but Ffeifra knew him better than to assume such things. She was quite sure that Torstan was largely incapable of intimacy and would rather spend his time with complex field equations or the design of a propulsion system than indulging in romantic pursuits. He would probably consider that a waste of his capacities, Ffeifra mused, and she had to smile as she reached the door to Savant Torstan's laboratory.

The Krusual woman was so preoccupied with how unexpectedly happy she was to have Torstan back and the opportunity to resume her work for him that she didn't even notice the missing security guard who should have been posted outside the lab. When the heavy blast door slid open she settled into the realization that, in a really subtle way which she could not even fully understand herself, she loved that ingenious but socially inept old man.

Then, as she took her first step into the laboratory, her internal reflections were shattered when she saw the security guard. He lay on the ground and the angle at which his neck was bent looked disturbingly unnatural. She wanted to put her satchel with the neocom and other equipment on the ground and check on the man, but before she could do so, something hit her just above the sacrum and a jolt went through her body. It did not hurt. In fact, her mind reeled at the sudden realisation that she did not feel a thing at all from her waist down and within moments her legs collapsed beneath her uselessly. While the door slid shut behind her, a quick sequence of further blows uncannily paralysed her upper body as well and she fell against the heavy barrier that shut the room from the outside.

At that moment Ffeifra cursed Hegomir Torstan for insisting that no surveillance should be installed in his private laboratory because he wanted to conduct his work without prying eyes.

***

'Say that again?!' Cedrien's voice sounded just as surprised as the expression on his face looked.

'You heard it right commander' the holographic projection of Sitalaerd confirmed. 'It's Blood Raiders, a whole fleet of them. They are floating in space outside our shields.'

'Are the Sleeper Drones still there?' Sitting across the table from Cedrien in the rented office they all occupied, Shisei looked on with a furrowed brow

'Yes, some of them.' Sitalaerd nodded 'The majority have dispersed but a few are circling around the Blood Raider ships doing nothing.' The projected image of the aged Gallente man flickered momentarily and his voice distorted. Clearly the Intaki Syndicate did not reserve the best fluid-routers for people just passing through to use anonymous short-stay uplinks.

Sylera stared blankly into the starscape of Poitot that was visible through the wall-size window. 'They will not attack unless fired upon.' Alira, who sat next to her, confirmed that with a nod. The bond both women had shared with the collective consciousness of those enigmatic machines was enough for Cedrien to trust their appraisal of the situation.

'Imud Sefrim' Keram cursed in Amarrian. 'Sani Sabik, the only people with a more fucked up religion than the Empire itself.'

'What is it that attracts all those religious fanatics to us?' Cedrien wondered with a sigh.

Whether it was intended as a rhetorical question or not, Sitalaerd answered. 'Commander, they want to negotiate with us about a material called Isogen-5. I have never heard of it sir.'

'I have.' Shisei said slowly. 'The scientists of Arek'Jalaan were very interested in it and are convinced that it had a central role in the Seyllin Incident.'

When the others around the table looked at him expectantly, he elaborated. 'A disaster which occurred before the first wormholes to Anoikis were discovered. The researchers of Arek'Jalaan are convinced that Isogen-5 was the source of a powerful shockwave which caused those tunnels in the space-time fabric. Furthermore ...'

Cedrien's raised hand interrupted him.

'You just mentioned Arek'Jalaan.' The Gallente capsuleer tilted his head. 'Sandrielle is on her way back to us from Eram where she dropped off Torstan.' he pressed his lips together. 'She's got to turn around and ask Torstan to get us in contact with those Arek'Jalaan people.'

Cedrien returned his attention to the projection of his trusted lieutenant. 'Sitaelaerd. Do what you can to stall them. Tell them we are bringing an expert on the subject to negotiate for mutual benefit.'

The old Gallente nodded in response.

'In the meantime all of us need to get to work and find ourselves a route in.' Cedrien addressed his assembled capsuleers. 'Vacation is over.'

***

The man who pulled up a chair and sat down across from Ffeifra wore the uniform of technical maintenance staff, but he clearly wasn't Matari. He looked more like a Gallente to her with his soft comely features and dark eyes. The expression on his face was strangely sad as he leaned forward and sighed before speaking.

'You will die here today' he stated with a voice that sounded surprisingly emphatic despite that ultimate declaration. 'You will, however, have a choice to save many lives, innocent lives, if you help me.'

Ffeifra, still unable to feel or move anything but her hands that he had bound behind her back, stared at him defiantly and said nothing. Still, his words shook her to the core with the quiet inevitability he conveyed.

'There is a reactor powering this laboratory as you probably know.' the man continued with his soft voice. Ffeifra wondered why his face looked vaguely familiar.

'Currently this reactor is approaching a critical condition which will cause a massive explosion.' he took something from a pocket of his utility jacket. 'Nobody can stop this from happening.' he continued. '… but you, you can influence when it happens.'

He held up the object from his pocket. It looked like a short tube with a single button on top . 'This trigger will cause an acceleration of the reaction which will result in the explosion happening within thirty seconds after you press the button.'

Ffeifra's eyes widened and her breathing accelerated. Quickly she tried to get a hold of herself. She did not want him to notice the fear that took hold of her.

'It is still very early and there are few people in this building, but soon a large group of schoolchildren will arrive to visit the university where the famous Hegomir Torstan works. If not triggered earlier, the explosion will occur when they are well inside the building.'

The man shook his head. 'But I don't want those children to die and I am sure you don't want that either. So if you help me I will give you this' He held up the device. '… and you can sacrifice yourself and a few others to save dozens of young people who have their whole lives ahead of them.' he into Ffeifra's eyes directly, imploringly even. 'Will you help me?'

'What do you want?' Ffeifra hissed at him through clenched teeth and strained to get some sort of control over her body to no avail.

'Hegomir Torstan's private residence is a well kept secret. I want you to tell me where it is … and the access codes to the place.' The man demanded.

Ffeifra felt the chill caused by the thought of her impending death creeping up her spine but it was soon followed by a wave of intense heat caused by intense hate against that Gallente with his false empathy and the cynical choice he offered her. If she was to die here today, maybe she could take that man with her. In the end she nodded. 'I will help you.' she said with grim determination.

He got up slowly, walked around Ffeifra and closed her fingers around the small tube, then he returned to his seat and looked at her again expectantly.

'Get fucked by a slaver dog' Ffeifra spat at him and pushed the button.

The man shook his head. 'It is not armed yet, of course. The location and the access code.' he paused and locked gaze again with Ffeifra. 'Please.' he added softly.

***

Adrain walked across the central plaza of Eram University campus. A group of anti-gravity passenger vehicles touched down at the far end of the large open expanse. Children poured out, attended by their teachers. The adults did their best to contain the overly enthusiastic gaggle of minors when the explosion occurred.

Adrain was thrown to the ground by the shockwave just as everyone else in the vicinity of the blast that tore up the lab complex. He got up and walked away calmly without looking back while the campus behind him erupted in a cacophony of alarms and panicked screaming.

He knew his destination and nodded to himself introspectively. 'Minmatar. They will always make a sacrifice for their people.'

24 - Metempsychosis

'How many have died?'

Keram shrugged, unsure, while appreciating the backside of the naked woman gazing out of the wide panorama window of the observation deck into the endless depths of space. 'Fifteen-hundred, maybe two-thousand.' He did not sound particularly affected by the idea of so many dead people.

'And on their side?' she asked.

'Probably about ten times as many.' the Amarrian replied. 'A good part of them died when you turned off life support on that Nyx before self-destructing.'

'Self-destructing.' she echoed with a bitter chuckle. 'As if there was anything left of me to destroy.' She did not turn to face Keram, and if she minded him staring at her nakedness then she showed no sign of it.

The former pirate shook his head. 'I got to say, turning off life support was one thing, but locking down the escape pods, that was just cold.'

Now the woman turned her head to look at him. 'Do you realize how many I saved by letting none of them live?' she said with an intensity that belied the low whisper of her voice.

She turned back to stare into the void.

'Well.' Keram said with mocking cheerfulness. 'You clearly cared enough to commit mass murder.' He drew his eyebrows together and continued more seriously. 'Actually, so did we, and we sacrificed a lot too. Don't forget that.'

'Forget.' she repeated introspectively, hugged herself and shivered. It was not a tremor caused by chill. In fact the interiour of the Tombship was rather hot and humid due to its aged and struggling climate control systems. The woman ran her hands along her body like she had to remind herself that it was actually there. 'I remember my name.' she said only slightly louder.

'Good.' Keram answered sarcastically. 'I wasn't sure whether the burn scanner was still working properly.'

The olive skinned woman turned around fully and now fixated his eyes with her own. 'My real name.' she breathed in a low voice. Keram found that he could not hold her gaze. Since he had known her, she had never been a person he felt at ease with, but now there was something decidedly unsettling in her eyes. He distracted himself by looking lower and following the swell of her breasts while she slowly approached.

'The Hive had erased me. The Ida nuns gave me a new name, but it was not mine. When they released me to go back to the stars they gave me another. It was also not mine. Year after year I have lived a life as another woman. Now that they wanted to destroy me again, I finally remembered who I once was.'

Due to her tall Gallente physique she ended up face-to-face with Amarrian man and the intensity of her presence forced him to look into her eyes. 'I will not ever forget anything again.' she finally added.

Keram pressed his lips together. With uncharacteristic seriousness, and suddenly not interested in her body at all anymore, he finally looked at her directly. 'Sandrielle, or whatever your real name is, you know I have suffered a lot too. We all have. It is a fucked up universe out there, and being immortal does not make us gods. If anything, it makes us even more fucked up.' he put his hands on her shoulders. There was nothing but sincere concern expressed by the gesture and his voice.

'Don't go crazy on us Sandrielle. We need you. You are one of us. We came for you because of that. Tenshin Noy and all the men and women in his fleet came for you because of who you are. It doesn't mean shit who did what and when to make you that person. That you are here today and talking to me, alive, that's all that matters. If you lose it then everyone who died in that battle gave their life for nothing.' he grasped her shoulders more forcefully and almost shook her. 'Do you hear me?'

'Tenshin Noy?' Sandrielle looked perplexed.

Before Keram could reply, a multicoloured flare outside illuminated the Amarrian's aquiline features and he looked over Sandrielle's shoulder. 'What in the name of the empress' tits?' he growled and let go of Sandrielle to approach the panorama window.

At the center of the crackling energy field a spindly ship with solar panel outriggers floated motionlessly. Seconds later, space erupted with ships. A whole fleet with the massive discus shape of a red-and-green patterned Nyx supercarrier at its centre suddenly floated right in front of the Tombship.

'Great!' Keram shouted and threw up his arms in defeat. 'So much for the secret hiding place of our clone store.'

***

'Sandrielle!' Tenshin Noy increased his pace to be the first to reach her after entering the expansive observation deck together with several of his commanders and the Awakened Industry capsuleers in tow. The Intaki was spurred on by the excitement of seeing the woman he had once loved back among the living. Upon reaching her, he immediately threw his arms around her now robed body and rested his cheek against hers with unrestrained affection.

The woman who had always displayed the most incredible self-control for as long as her wormhole-settler companions could remember, now appeared utterly surprised and incapable of any reaction. Then, tentatively, Sandrielle returned the hug. At last she wrapped her arms around him more tightly and kissed his face. 'Tenshin.' she breathed. 'It has been so long.' she ran her hand through his black hair and it looked like tears were clouding her eyes. 'I can not even say how that makes me feel now.' Overwhelmed by her own reaction she shook her head.

'Then say nothing.' Tenshin Noy replied with an affectionate smile and pulled her closer again. Tears rolled from his eyes, and against his shoulder Sandrielle spilled her own.

Cedrien remained at a respectful distance from the two former comrades, friends and lovers embracing each-other. Of all the Awakened Industries capsuleers he had known Sandrielle best. Yet he could not make sense of her reaction at that moment and wondered how she had changed. He looked at Keram with that unspoken question written on his face. The Amarrian leaned back in the chair he occupied at a seating area off to the side and shrugged helplessly. It looked like he would come up with something witty, but he never made it. Alira came at him faster than that and straddled him with her slender frame.

'It's good to feel you again.' she said with a saucy smile and a wink.

Keram displayed a crooked grin. '... said no Minmatar to an Amarrian ever.' he took the opening to finally deliver a snarky oneliner. The red-haired Sebiestor playfully slapped his face and then leaned down to plant a kiss on his lips.

At the rear of the group who had entered, Kassina Vikkonen smirked sourly. She switched to her native Caldari, addressing Shisei Kanioota who stood next to her and smiled beatifically at the emotional reunions. 'I reckon we can all be thankful for the passion of Gallente, Minmatar and Amarr people and the great adventures that has provided us.' The tall bounty-hunter frowned. 'As long as they don't forget to pay their debts to me.' she added.

Shisei's smile did not falter. 'Sarcasm? And I took you for such a strictly professional woman.' he paused. 'Sometimes achievement is its own reward.'

Kassina shook her head slowly. 'Spare me your Achura motivational quotes.' she sighed.

As Cedrien looked on, sadness cast a shadow over his features while he watched Sandrielle showing a side of herself that he had never seen and while Alira and Keram kissed wildly.

'She used to be very much in love with you.' a soft voice suddenly said next to him. He hadn't noticed Sylera appearing at his side. Bewildered he looked at the pale young Amarrian. 'I shared my mind with her. I felt the memory of it.' Sylera elaborated further and nodded in the direction of Alira and her Amarrian lover.

Cedrien nodded. 'I know.' he sighed heavily. 'But I couldn't. I am her commander.' He took a deep breath. 'And you might remember what happened to the last woman I loved.'

'You can not always live in the past commander.' Sylera said firmly. 'None of us can afford to do so. Actually, it was Sandrielle who made me realize that.'

Cedrien looked at the fine-featured Amarrian again, and she looked back up at him with those light gray eyes, smiling softly. Even affectionately, it seemed to him.

***

Darkness. Cold, damp metal against her skin. The skimpy dancing costume she had worn during the last moments she remembered hung in tatters from her. The depleted air stank of urine, faeces and the cloying, sweet odour of menstrual blood. She heard sobs and groans, pleas for mercy, names being called out, prayers and offers. A medley of female despair in all languages of the cluster. Slowly her fingers crept along the metal wall she must have been propped up against during her unconsciousness. She recoiled when she touched something that felt like hair.

For a split second the image of another young woman was illuminated by an impossibly bright light. It would have burnt itself into her retina, but before that could happen, she and everything around her had become vaporized.

***

With his chest thrust out in pride, the bridge adjutante approached the tall, straight backed figure wearing a long red coat trimmed with grey and white. He stopped at a respectful distance from the man viewing a tactical holograph of the fleet assembled at the newly spawned wormhole.

'Archdeacon-Commander. The Lord has accepted our sacrifice! Our scouts report that we have found the right place!'

'Finally our prayers were answered. Order the fleet to proceed and move up behind them.' The Archdeacon-Commander replied calmly.

23 - Contagion - Part 1

'Cloning pod 27D-E status: Activation completed.' 

'Life-signs stable.' 

'Infomorph transfer complete.' 

A disembodied and artificial sounding female voice announced in a soft tone. 

Hatti Sugoi checked the instrument panel at his monitoring station overlooking a vast hall containing mindless bodies awaiting the death of their sponsors. One of them had just been imbued with the memory, personality, experience – the soul if one believes in such a thing – of yet another customer who had lost his life out there in the ceaseless violence committed by capsuleers against their own kind and everyone else.

Hatti filed the successful clone activation in the system and got up to step out onto the mobile catwalk. With the whine of servo motors it approached cloning pod 27D-E after Hatti entered the pod retrieval sequence into the control neocom.

Despite working in this capacity for years, the middle aged Civire cloning technician actually resented capsuleers. To him they were cheaters in the competition that was the foundation of Caldari society. 

Barring actual deficiencies, every citizen should have the same chance to succeed or fail. Of course, some were born into a highly successful corporate family, but then their privilege was a result of the efforts of the previous generation. Also, their station and wealth would not be a birthright but more like an inheritance they would have to actively preserve throughout their life. If they failed to do so, others would outdo them and their fortunes would be lost.

Capsuleers, however, were simply born with a specific neural structure that was suitable for integration with a capsule control system. The Jovians - who had historically introduced this technology to the Caldari - had of course genetically modified themselves long ago to be fully compatible. The other nations of New Eden had failed, so far, to develop a similarly effective method of genetic engineering, and as long as that remained the case, being suitable was nothing but a lucky draw in a genetic lottery.

Lotteries were a very poor way of allocating wealth or station as far as Hatti was concerned. It was something the Gallente would do. Play a game of chance instead of using merit as a basis for privilege.

There is nothing that set a capsuleer apart from others in terms of skill, culture or achievement, and it showed. Throughout the years that Hatti had worked in the field, he had seen all kinds of types who would never have amounted to anything if they hadn't been granted immortality by coincidence alone: Psychopathic mass-murderers, socially inept and obsessive hoarders of meaningless wealth and incompetent megalomaniacs who lost hundreds of crewmen because they were not even able to configure and use their spaceships properly. 

Members of the latter group were usually the most vocal after revival. Mostly they would put the blame for their failure on others, spout empty threats, and refuse to pay for clone upgrades on ridiculous grounds.

In the end they all paid of course. After all, a contract is a contract.

Hatti Sugoi expected the usual disrespect or any other form of unacceptable behaviour while he waited for a robotic arm to retrieve the drained cloning pod with it's newly awakened occupant. Morosely he held up a simple robe when the pod opened to release a bald Achura man bearing a Kaalakiota corporate tattoo on his temple.

'Thank you very much.' the Achura said with a respectful bow before he slipped into the offered robe. 'Your name is Hatti Sugoi, correct? You have been working here for several years if I am not mistaken?'

Hatti had not expected to be greeted by name, or acknowledged at all. Most capsuleers just slipped into the robe acting as if he wasn't there. Only a few would even bother to thank him.

At the second glance, he now remembered this man too. Shisei Kanioota, a rather uncommon specimen among capsuleers. He was always calm and professionally friendly. Sometimes he would linger for a few minutes after revival and share his thoughts with Hatti and even donate ISK to the staff retirement fund. He was still a capsuleer, though, and the very fact that he was standing here and now meant that dozens, possibly hundreds, had died today on one of his ships that he had most likely lost in a reckless action.

'That is correct Kanioota-haan.' Hatti replied slightly surprised.  

'I hope your transition was not too unpleasant.' Hatti said as a concession to customer service..

Shisei Kanioota smiled thinly. 'Why do I get the feeling that you have had a few difficult customers today?'

Hatti smirked. 'It has been a long day.' he replied evasively and entered the instruction to return into the control neocom.

Kanioota swayed slightly and held on to the handrail when the catwalk started to move. The capsuleers were always a bit wobbly on their feet in the first minutes after revival. 'Was it a big loss?' Hatti asked without really caring that much for an answer.

'A loss?' Kanioota shook his head. 'A sacrifice, yes, but not a loss.'

'Tell that to the families of the crew.' Hatti muttered quietly.

'Nobody lost their lives.' The Achura man must have heard him. Hatti cursed himself inwardly for thinking out loud. If Kanioota filed a complaint about his behaviour, his job could be in danger.

'I am sorry for what I said Kanioota-haan.' Hatti said quickly, followed by a bow. 'It's not my place to question your decisions.'

Kanioota chuckled once and put a hand on Hatti's shoulder. 'Don't worry. I am not offended. In fact, I very much agree with your way of seeing things.'

Hatti turned around to face the capsuleer when they arrived back at the control station. 'You do?' he asked with open astonishment.

Kanioota nodded. 'It would be horribly inhumane to put the lives of a crew on the line when you know that the whole purpose of your mission is to get your ship destroyed.' the Achura said. 'We capsuleers are in danger to lose touch with humanity too easily as it is. We should constantly remind ourselves what it means to be human, and not walk down a path that will lead us even further away from what we naturally are.'

Hatti's eyebrows rose and his forehead wrinkled as a result of the bewildered expression. It really seemed like this capsuleer was very different from the usual customer he had to take care of here. 'Uhm. Thank you for your leniency Kanioota-haan.' was all he could think of saying in response. He hadn't anticipated some philosophical discourse on human nature.

'Oh, don't mention it.' Kantioota replied with a slight smile. 'Actually, if I may, could I ask you to stay for a bit here in your control room. I don't feel like facing the commotion of the station quite yet, and I am in no hurry either.'

For the first time on this day, Hatti Sugoi smiled. 'Oh, of course Kanioota-haan.' He opened the door to the control room and gestured at a chair. 'Would you maybe care to tell me about that sacrifice you made of your ship? … Just to pass the time.'

Shisei Kanioota dropped into the chair with a satisfied smile. 'Well, why not? You have to know, it all began with the abduction of a valued member of my corporation …'

***

In the far reaches of lawless space, a fleet of warships painted in red and green and market with the stylized image of an ebailla insect were busy tearing apart the wreck of a large Orca class industrial ship. 

Their victim had offered little resistance, and the spoils gained from this kill were exceptional, both in value and in quantity. As they collected cargo containers that had spilled from the wreckage and distilled useful components from the remains of the ship with salvaging beams, they were oblivious to the microscopic machines that had been cunningly hidden in the molecular structure of their loot.

Without being noticed, the infinitesimal automatons spread throughout the ships they had been taken on to, and began to execute the instructions they had been programmed with.

23 - Contagion - Part 2

A contingent of warships decorated with red-and-green patterns moved swiftly before a star spangled background dominated by a feeble red sun. In the distance, the Cloud Ring nebula spanned across the whole galactic region bearing it's name. Had an observer been present to follow the trails of ionized particles left in the wake of the small fleet, and then draw the curve of that trajectory further across the starscape, that observer would have noticed the dark, tapered disk-shape which occluded the stars many tens of kilometers further along the flightpath of the ships.

Like the fast smaller vessels, that vast object transmitted a signature which identified it as a starship. A Nyx class supercarrier in that particular case. It carried neither name nor number, just like the pod pilot who steered the Gallente-designed craft. The only identification, available by deciphering the transmitted positioning signal, was a pilot license issued to the capsuleer alliance known as The Hive. The squadron of warships which approached their mothership were as nameless as the supercarrier itself. The pod pilots at their helms - members of the same collective – carried no individual identification either. Pilots of The Hive did not have an identity, they only had their function in the fleet. Individual distinction was considered unnecessary, even undesirable, according to the philosophy of those nomadic capsuleers.

While the humans aboard the ships had been stripped of all care for individuality, the swarm of microscopic machines they carried with them unknowingly were motivated by nothing else than their quest for a single individual. After the raiding party had entered the docking bay of the nameless carrier ship, the nanomachines insinuated themselves into the molecular structure of the mothership. They began to course through the systems that guided the massive vessel, it's internal sensors and communication lines, the bulkheads and walkways and transport elevators, even the bloodstreams of the crew and the very air that they breathed.

Just like the capsuleers and crews of The Hive, this multitude of infinitesimal machines had a collective purpose. Theirs was to find one particular human, and once they found her, they would re-dedicate themselves to a new purpose according to their programming. Until then, they would proliferate and replicate themselves by using the materials available in the microcosm they inhabited. They would spread like an infection through the ships they were designed to target, and keep on doing so until they had fulfilled the mission they were meant for.

***

'Shadow Leader, this is Shadow Scout.' Cedrien received a fluid-router communication from Alira. 'I have a positive. Yrton Constellation. System designation QXW-PV. According to the starmap that's 7.34 lightyears from target.'

Cedrien smiled inwardly but his face remained impassive inside the capsule his body floated in. Only when he willed the immense bulk of the Thanatos-class carrier to turn in space and align itself to the outgoing wormhole, his arms rose slightly and he twisted subtly at the waist due to residual impulses traveling through his nervous system.

'Will the wormholes on the way to your location take the mass of our fleet?' The Gallente commander asked.

'Easily.' Alira replied. 'Also, my recon squad confirms that there is no activity in any of the three systems in the chain.'

'Copy.' Cedrien confirmed. 'Alira, move to the target system and report any potential hostiles you see on the way. I need you to get into range with the ship we are tracking. Move as fast as you can.' he ordered and then switched to fleet broadband. 'Shadow Sword, Shadow Pivot, lock on to my signature and follow me in warp. We have a clear path and a positive on destination. The faster we go, the higher the chance that nobody will catch on to us.'

'Finally.' a voice with a distinctive Intaki accent replied. 'This place makes me nervous, having no local signature transmission coverage and all.'

'Sword Leader.' Cedrien addressed the Intaki wing commander. 'I am transmitting navigational data from my scout to you. Can you give me an ETR for Mace fleet.'

'Stand by.' Tenshin Noy answered while Cedrien sent the mental command to his ship to spin up the warp drive.

'They say they will have to activate a number of dormant assets in a few points along the jump route but expect to be ready for deployment in T minus 8 minutes. Full jump sequence to target destination will take 40 seconds from initiation.'

'Copy.' Cedrien replied. 'I am entering warp, follow me to the transmitted coordinates.' he added as his carrier was enveloped by it's subspace warp-bubble and carried away by imaginary-mass quantum streams at supra-light speed.

***

'Who are you?'

'My name is Agenine Favrausse.'

Of course that was not what they wanted to hear. So she was rewarded with a new wave of unspeakable pain as the drilling implement she was impaled upon twisted and tore the flesh of her insides.

A deeply sequestered part of herself marveled at the amount of damage a body could sustain without dying. Of course, she would be dead already if they wouldn't keep her inside this capsule and have the nourishing fluid replace her lost blood. She wondered whether anyone on the outside would even be able to see her inside the pod which she imagined to be opaque crimson by now. She didn't know for sure, though, because they had taken her eyes rather early during this whole ordeal.

How long had this been going on? She didn't have the slightest idea.

Obviously she wouldn't need her eyes to be suitable as a pilot, so they had just become a source of agony and anguish. She wouldn't need her arms or her legs or her breasts or her lips or her teeth either to fly a ship. So they had taken those too. Not right away and not all at once, of course. They wouldn't waste any possibility to inflict pain. If she would still have a face to smirk with, she would have done so as she cynically wondered how much of her body they could destroy and still keep enough of her intact to become what they wanted her to be again: One of them, a capsuleer flying ships for The Hive. A non-entity with only the desire to serve the collective.

She was determined to endure much longer than that. As long as it took for them to concede defeat and finally kill her.

'Who are you?'

'My name is Keitu.'

The result of the answer was the expected one. Even with the pain amplification turning everything into an overbearing surge of torment, she imagined that she could feel how something major ruptured inside of her and spilled out most of the contents of her pelvic cavity.

She reckoned that the instrument which ravaged her would start to wrap the small intestine around itself next. That part inside of her which had become strangely detached from the whole experience, the part which had become a tempered hidden core so long ago on a grimy bunk aboard a Hive ship like this one, morbidly entertained the notion that her intestine would jam that bladed drill and overload the servo motors until they burned out.

'Who are you?'

'My name is Sandrielle Jaunes.'

The thought had been fun while it lasted. She had to let go of it it in the face of the next wave of tortuous pain, though.

23 - Contagion - Part 3

Cradled in her pod and in tune with the Sei'r, Alira mentally prepared herself for the battle to come.

'Find your center and your senses will expand freely into space.' That was something she once heard from Shisei, but the Caldari scientist could not be with them now to provide any such wisdom. They had to move swiftly from staging areas hidden in the remotest regions of space when they received the news that Sandrielle's biological signature had been detected. There had been no time for Shisei to join up with them.

In preparation, the Rasenzoku had called upon capsuleers who had long sworn off active duty, to come out of their self-imposed isolation and commit their immense Titan ships once more. It is said that a Titan is the last ship that a capsuleer will ever plug in to. Often it turned out to be true. Many of those who have become one with those gigantic craft ended up changed. The existence as a mere human, or even as capsuleer steering a battleship, paled in comparison with merging one's consciousness with a machine that houses thousands of people and wields the power to scorch a planet. Often such capsuleers would become so detached by the experience that they withdrew from the active ranks and chose solitary existence in the vast emptiness of the galactic fringe. Only the most massive confrontations would bring those hermits back from their reclusion, or the short commitment for the eventual operation which needs a Titan's ability to send whole fleets through spacetime on artificial warp bridges.

Alira was not the type for large battles. Stalking and hunting like the cunning Slarde which prowl through the high grass of the plains on her homeworld, that was more her style. She thought of the last major battle that Awakened Industries had fought against the Yanissary Order. While they had held the field, they had effectively lost. Despite the Sleeper Drones and the support of Arclight alliance. The confrontation left their home in wormhole space devastated and their fleet scattered.

What they had faced then was less than half the size of the force which escorted the Nyx class supercarrier Alira now observed from her cloaked position. The design of the massive red-and-green painted ship morbidly reminded her of the sigil on a funeral plaque. She dispelled that thought as quickly as she could.

'Shadow scout, report.' Cedrien sounded collected and calm as always.

His voice reassured Alira and her focus returned. 'They are right below me at designated range. I'm in position.' she replied with her thoughts being synthesized into voice for the recipients.

'Good. Shadow Pivot. Are you ready to engage?'

'On your mark.' the Intaki accented voice of commander Tenshin Noy replied.

'We have the capsuleers of Rasenzoku on our side. Their experience fighting against The Hive must be good for something'. Alira thought in an effort to get her hopes up.

'Copy. You take over until Mace arrives. Pivot is yours. Alira light her up!' Cedrien commanded across the vast distances bridged by the fluid-router link. His contingent would arrive at a later stage of the confrontation. Provided, of course, their plan worked at all.

'Copy.' Alira replied tersely and willed her ship to shed it's cloaking field. Less than a second later her next neural impulse activated the cynosural field generator which twisted and spun the fabric of space until the forces it applied squeezed light in angry colours from the subatomic particles of the cosmic tapestry.

The part of Alira's awareness which was focused on her ship's sensors registered the immediate reaction of the Hive fleet. Smaller ships began to accelerate towards her position while the heavier battleships turned around slowly for their own approach. The Nyx supercarrier itself spewed forth a swarm of fighter craft that joined the race of the assault wing toward Alira's lonely Minmatar ship.

At this point, she was still well out of range, even for the battleships, but not for long. The energy requirements of the cynosural field disabled her engines and made her a stationary target. The faster attack ships would be close enough to engage her soon. It appeared that the Rasenzoku tactical experts had been correct. The Hive pilots showed little consideration and immediately rushed her. She just hope that the rest of the plan would work out just as well.

'The vanguard of assault frigates and interceptors is closing fast, only forty clicks left.' Alira reported. She brought her artillery guns to bear on one particularly fast approaching ship. 'Cruisers now at fifty.'

'Pivot fleet. Stand by for bridge. Alira, report when the cruisers hit forty distance.' came the order from wing commander Noy.

Alira fired her artillery cannons at a Stiletto class interceptor which lead the pack that charged at her. The Hive ship sent disrupting signals which affected her tracking systems, but it was still flying straight for her, making no attempt at evasion. Alira's high-powered shells tore the frail interceptor to pieces with only two volleys. Quickly she focused her targeting system on the next closest opponent. She would not have much time left before those fast ships could swing into an orbit around her and become untrackable for her artillery turrets.

'Cruiser wing now at fortyfive … three … one!' Alira transmitted

'Bridge up! Pivot Fleet jump!' The order from Tenshin Noy resulted in a firework of particle shockwaves all around Alira's position. When the energy flare died down, it revealed squadrons of Rasenzoku ships which had materialized seemingly from nowhere.

'Bombs away!' Keram's voice sounded over the communications channel enthusiastically. The squadron of stealth bomber craft which had bridged onto the battlefield sent their payload hurtling through space at the approaching cruisers. Mere moments later, a second sun cast it's harsh light on the fighting capsuleer forces. Only wreckage and four badly damaged cruisers of Amarrian design emerged from that conflagration caused by the thermal explosive charges. The cruiser wing had been destroyed almost utterly by the rain of bombs.

At the same time the frigates and fighters were entering engagement range. Already the first began to open fire at the Rasenzoku forces. The wing of wedge-tailed Pilgrim class recon ships, which formed the main part of Pivot Fleet, opened their dronebays and sent a cloud of automated fighting machines against the Hive attack craft.

Alira's multitasking brain raced to process the streams of information coming from her ship and the immediate surroundings. Space around her had turned into a storm of energy discharges, electronic warfare signals, weapons fire, quickly maneuvering ships and swarming drones. The enemy frigates and fighters had originally homed in on one ship, hers, now they found themselves among a group of more than twenty stealthbombers and recon cruisers. The Hive outnumbered them, but the smaller ships had been counting on cruiser support, and that wont be coming anymore. Even now Alira was sending barrage after barrage into the hull of the slowly approaching and heavily armoured Amarr ships that had survived the bomb blast. She had downed one already, and the next one had already lost more than half of it's plating.

'Stealth bomber squadron, pull range and see whether you can peel off any of those small ships.' Keram commanded and steered his ship away from the dogfight at full speed.

'I got three fighters on my tail … need fire support.' came the desperate answer of a Rasenzoku bomber pilot. Drones managed to track and kill one of the three pursuing craft, but the other two managed to destroy the lightly built stealthbomber before they were themselves taken by the drones.

'Pivot main. Jump!' Tenshin Noy called out, and with another discharge of lightning and glowing energy shockwaves, four battleships, vaguely shaped like tailed arthropods poised for the kill, appeared on the scene. While their drones joined the hunt for the smaller craft, they opened their cruise missile launcher bays. 'Widow pilots, sort targets by range. Target the closest enemy battleships that are approaching and launch. All stealthbombers warp to the closest planet and align back to this position. Stand by for warp-in. Pilgrims, I want energy neutralizers and tracking disruption on all close range ships, send light drones against distant targets, heavy stuff against close range after you drained their propulsion systems.' The Intaki commander quickly issued his stream of commands.

'Copy. Bombers get out of here!' Keram responded and one by one the small ships sped away into the direction of the nearby gas giant.

One more was caught by an enemy interceptor and went down under concentrated weapon's fire, but the small fleet of Hive fast attackers was getting decimated Drained of energy and with the tracking systems of their guns rendered useless by the Pilgrims, they were quickly picked off by drones.

Alira felt the tension release itself from her body when the cynosural field generator had finally completed it's cycle. Another attacking Maller class attack cruiser came apart with the last of her salvos, but she also increasingly took fire. Relieved, she willed her ship into motion kept firing on the last enemy cruiser that began to chase her. Her shields were down, and her armor was being depleted by pulse-laser beams, but her mind had entered a state of heightened lucidity under the pressure of the fight. Her ship had become more than just an extension of herself, she had become the ship, just like she had experienced in the glimpses she got of the Sleeper mind.

Quickly the battle against the smaller craft was won, but they were still facing a large force of enemy battleships and of course a supercarrier which, even now, undocked more Hive attack craft.

'Pivot main, deploy jump modules and then jump to the target under your own power.' Tenshin Noy ordered.

'Everyone else, pull drones, get in range, and follow as soon as the micro jump units are active.'

In response, each of the Widow class battleships dropped a contraption from it's cargo hold which unfolded itself into a circular field generator. At the same time, graviton emissions distorted the light around the four large vessels and finally catapulted them a full hundred kilometers closer to the enemy supercarrier. Seconds after the deployed micro jump units signaled readiness, Alira and the squadron of Pilgrim recon cruisers were cast across space by similar forces.

The wrecks of the Hive attack wing and the spent jump units were the only thing that remained at their initial position. The enemy battleships which had previously been close to engagement range had to turn around cumbersomely to close the distance yet again.

'Pivot main. I want full cruise missile fire on that Nyx. All ECM on the battleships. All drones against the close range attack ships they are undocking. Pilgrims, all tracking disruption against the battleships. Targets will be broadcast. Alira, you go for your primary objective.' Tenshin Noy issued his instructions before his Widow battleship activated a cynosural field of it's own. A mere twenty kilometers above the massive shape of the Hive supercarrier.

'Bomber squad, warp to my position at ten and open up with torpedoes on the Nyx. Launch void bombs at the thing. Everyone stay out of explosion radius. Pilgrims close in and engage neutralizers once the bombs went off. Alira you will have to coast through than one!' The Intaki commander's voice provided the lyrics for the symphony of destruction that played out around the Hive mothership now that new cruisers and frigates had issued forth from the carrier's hangars to engage the Rasenzoku fleet.

Alira directed all power to the propulsion of her ship and closed in on the supercarrier, scanning it's vast hull for emergency airlocks. Yet another sequence of energy shockwaves announced the arrival of more friendly ships that had come to the cynosural beacon which Tenshin Noy had activated.

The stealthbombers under Keram's command warped in from the nearby planet and engaged, Alira weaved through the first torpedo explosions that tore through the carrier's shields while speeding along the top surface of the enemy ship. She was taking fire from several Hive ships, but she had found her target. Her ship rocked from impacts of energy beams, artillery fire and hybrid weapon charges. Alira steered her ship confidently through it all. Like the Sleepers she swam through space

Now she registered the soothing sensation of projected armour repair nanites. On her sensors she saw Cedrien's Thanatos carrier and two Rasenzoku Archon class carriers which had jumped to Tenshin Noy's beacon.

The battle reached new levels of intensity around her. An interdiction field formed. It must be one of their own. Indeed, Alira saw that they had brought heavy interdictors with them along with the carriers, and a squadron of battleships too. She registered it all, but she had her own objective. Alira calculated a speed and course that would bring her ship right on top of that airlock she had spotted. She needed to get there, nothing else mattered right now.

Then all active systems on her ship shut down as the Void bombs spread their destructive electromagnetic detonation pulses.

Contagion - Part 4

Fitfully progressing through a series of flickers, the lighting in the sally room off the airlock turned back on even as the ship was being rocked by a series of heavy impacts. Kassina Vikkonen grimaced momentarily and then quickly reassured herself that all her men were unharmed. Muttering curses in Caldari battle slang here and there, all of them signalled readiness and quickly resumed their equipment check.

'Are you still sure you want to do this girl?' the tall Caldari bounty hunter asked the young Amarrian who seemed unaccustomed to the combat suit she was wearing. 'Now's the last chance to opt out.' Kassina grabbed hold of the bulkhead when another salvo hit the ship. 'If we don't get shot to pieces before we even arrive.' she added grimly.

Seated on a folding bench, Sylera continued the diagnostic check of her combat suit. Without looking up she replied. 'I am the most qualified in the sort of infomorph transfer we need to undertake.'

'We have a medic.' Kassina Vikkonen said and gestured to encompass her team of battle-hardened troopers.

Sylera finished the diagnostics and set the systems of her enhanced armour into their active state. Micromotors whined as she rose and finally looked up at the other woman. Kassina still stood head and shoulders taller than the lightly built Amarrian.

'Sandrielle is my teacher, my sister and my friend.' Sylera said. 'I have been in the hands of the enemy myself once. I will not let her endure this and do nothing. If she is still alive, I want to be there.'

Kassina pressed her thin lips together. 'You are a capsuleer, you should be out there, in a ship, fighting.'

'So are you.' Sylera replied and extended her hand to receive the weapon Kassina had been holding for her. 'So what are you doing here?'

'I wouldn't want to let my men go into battle without me.' Kassina nodded in understanding, but her expression remained full of doubt.

The Caldari could only respect the bond those wormhole capsuleers shared with each other, but she did not trust in the combat effectiveness of this fine-featured and frail-looking Amarrian. Her men, and herself, have all come through the intense training of the harshest Civire battle schools. Every single one of them had years of combat experience. They were her hand-picked best. The girl had a point though. If they reached their objective, they would have to extract the infomorph of Sandrielle Jaunes into a remote clone and override whatever systems The Hive could have linked her to. Finally Kassina shrugged and handed Sylera the electromagnetic rail-assault gun.

'Everyone should be free to choose the way how they die and what they die for.' Kassina smiled thinly. 'Just try not to get in the way too much.' she added more seriously.

'Attack squad. Prepare for boarding, we will dock with the enemy ship in ten.' a crewman's voice informed them via the intercom. Moments later the deck shuddered as the airlock connected with the Hive supercarrier. Kassina's men readied their weapons while the lock pressurized and slowly slid open.

Sylera put on her helmet and took her position at the rear, and then the outside portal of the airlock opened the way into the Hive vessel.

***

Fighter craft and drones swarmed around the enemy battleships which were persistently closing range. The amount of tracking disruption they faced from Rasenzoku recon ships forced them to concentrate their fire on the three carriers. Everything else was just moving too fast. In the meantime a squadron of Rasenzoku battleships and battlecruisers did what they could to decimate the heavy assault ships which The Hive had launched from the vast hangars of the supercarrier.

In the middle of that maelstrom of destruction, massive utility portals opened on the underside of the Oni, proud member of the Rasenzoku carrier wing. Powerful tractor fields activated and carried modular elements the size of small buildings from the Oni to it's sister ship the Stormguard. Likewise, elements of the other Archon carrier decoupled themselves from the ship's superstructure and floated toward the Oni. In an effort to maximize their effectiveness, the two capital ships switched roles in the middle of the battle. While one of them would focus fully on providing capacitor and repair to friendly ships, the other other would improve it's defences to full potential.

Cedrien observed the daring manoeuvre with surprised interest. It had never occurred to him to use a carrier's maintenance bay facilities to exchange modular elements between two such ships. Under the heavy fire they were facing, it was an innovative tactic to keep either ship in the battle while the enemy might think they have already broken it's defences.

Cedrien himself concentrated on directing his fighter wing and sentry drones to full potential. At this point they were committed to the fight. With heavy interdictors on the field, the Hive Nyx was prevented from escaping, but so were they. Cedrien's sensors registered Alira's Loki releasing itself from a ventral airlock on the enemy mothership.

'Commando team deployed!' the Matari capsuleer reported as she engaged her propulsion module and went into overdrive to escape the trio of Hive Zealot assault cruisers which were homing in on her. Her defences were in a precarious state, but she was kept on the verge of destruction by the streams of dedicated repair nanites issued by Cedrien's carrier.

Now it would be a race for time. They did not need to necessarily win that fight, they just had to hold out long enough for the commandos under Kassina Vikkonen to rescue Sandrielle. So far, they were doing well. Their earlier manoeuvre had resulted in a major loss of support and assault ships for The Hive. Now only the heavier ships and a few scrambled cruisers were available to them, and the Rasenzoku recon wing did it's best to keep the effectiveness of both low through the use of energy neutralizers and tracking disruptors.

They had endured some minor losses, but the balance of forces clearly favoured Rasenzoku.

Then an energy flare appeared off the split bow of the Hive Nyx.

'Enemy cyno active!' was immediately reported by a number of Rasenzoku pilots.

Now there was no telling what The Hive might bring into the fight.

***

Slylera twisted right and smashed the stock of her assault gun into the faceplate of the Hive trooper who had tried to ambush her from behind. Like an unwinding spring coil she twisted the other way, pushing with the left palm and sweeping her left leg across the floor at the same time. The smash, push and sweep – executed in such quick fashion and augmented by the suit's systems – floored the armoured enemy. Quickly Sylera took hold of her weapon with both hands again and sent a salvo of energized projectiles directly into the neck-seam of the Hive soldier's armour. The impact ripped his head clean off his body and shattered the helmet. It's parts slithered across the floor like a gory, broken eggshell.

'They are coming up behind us.' Sylera shouted over the combat link as she went back into cover behind the corner from which she had sprung, barely avoiding incoming fire.

'Tessin, Konai. Cover the rear!' Kassina ordered over the racket of gunfire and the low, pulsing hiss of the Hive lasers.

The two mercenaries quickly scrambled over to assist Sylera. One of them deftly rolled across the opening of the corridor from which more enemies were approaching. A white beam painted him and the shield of his suit flared under the strain. He was thrown into cover rather than moving under his own power. He signaled OK to his squad-mate before taking position and firing.

They were pinned down now between a heavy blast door, more Hive troopers coming from the rear and the contingent which guarded the cellblock that was their objective. The segmented bulkheads offered some cover, but under continuous fire the heavy beams and spars had become whittled down. Before long there would be nothing left to duck behind. More Hive reinforcements positioned themselves in the corridor behind them. Sylera and the two mercenaries did their best to hold them off with staggered, controlled bursts of hybrid charges.

'Wouldn't it be great if we'd brought something more heavy.' one of Kassina's men quipped after he dove away when a bulkhead segment exploded into white-glowing fragments under continuous laser fire.

'Can do.' Kassina growled back. Dropping behind cover she tapped a switch opening the utility panel of her gun and blocked the receiver assembly. She set the weapon on continuous autofire and pulled the trigger until the oversaturation gauge flashed with an angry red. Then she threw the weapon at the enemies crouched down around the cellblock entrance. When the electromagnetic charge proved too much for the weapon's structural integrity a second later, it exploded into a burst of supercharged shrapnel that tore through the Hive troopers behind their cover. Finally they could advance.

'Laaku. Get to work on that door override. Everyone else fall back to the cellblock entrance now!' Kassina ordered and sprinted to the defensive position only recently occupied by the Hive troopers.

Sylera followed and only heard the strangled scream as the man called Tessin tried to get across the mouth of the corridor again. This time the laserbeams of the Hive soldiers penetrated his shields. On her tactical HUD she saw his signal flash and vanish. 'Tessin's down!' She reported as she slid into cover and opened fire at the enemies now advancing behind them.

'Here. Hive laser weapon ma'm.' One of Kassina's mercenaries handed a weapon to his commander, then they all began to lay down suppressing fire as best as they could.

Ammunition began to run low for most of them and it would only be a question of time until the Hive brought in heavy weapons, and now they were with their backs against the cellblock door.

'Make it fast Laaku!' Kassina urged her field technician.

'Working as fast as I can ma'm!' Laaku replied from his position at an opened micro-optronics switchboard as he connected his codebreaker to the utility port.

Directly opposite from them, the heavy blast-door which had blocked that route slid open with the whine of powerful servo motors. An assault squad of more Hive troopers stormed in recklessly. Two went down under the concentrated fire of Kassina's unit but the powerful shields of the heavy combat suit that brought up the rear held.

'Laaku?!' Kassina shouted urgently and fired her scrambler rifle at the enemy who brought his large plasma cannon to bear.

'Almost there, almost there!' the tech-trooper responded just a moment before a plasma discharge obliterated part of the bulkhead behind him and Konai with it. A smouldering wound in the ship's interiour structure was all that remained, bleeding molten metal and compound materials.