OOC Entry 12 - A bit late, but still

Well, last OOC Entry I promised to publish a new story within a week. I missed that deadline I set myself by one day. I was finished with the story two days ago, but couldn't find the time to do proofreading during the weekend. As usual I will probably find another ten mistakes or ways how to express something better when I re-read it in a few days, and feel really embarrassed because people already saw and read it.

In any case, a storm begins to gather and Awakened Industries will have to face the most dangerous opponent they ever met on their home ground.

Unfortunately I found about as much time to play EVE recently as I found time to write stories, and that's not a lot. My social life and relationship have picked up quite a bit, and combining that with work and other things just cut into my time for such things. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but I tend to miss "my guys" sometimes.

Speaking of game related stuff. There is a new episode of Lost In Eve where Jade announces his plans for a new alliance and that ZER0 Return is recruiting. So if you are looking for a wormhole corporation with great people look up the 'Z3R0 Return Mining Recruitment' channel in-game, and if you are interested in the alliance after listening to Jade ... I guess then you will have to talk to him about it, but you are welcome in the recruitment channel as well.

Be seeing you on the final frontier.

11 - Turning the Tide - Part 1

Classified Document – Ministry of Internal Order
Reference Number: 113-CC1437
Subject: Sylera Aulithe

For the eyes of the commanding Praetor only.

Honoured Praetor

I hereby inform you that we have succeeded in dispelling any doubts that the Aulithe family had about the fate of their daughter. A group of previously apprehended Minmatar terrorists have been implicated as the guilty parties in her alleged death. All of them have submitted the according confessions when promised a quick and painless execution. The sentence was carried out in the presence of the family to their satisfaction.

It shames me to report, that our efforts to capture the missing capsuleer herself were so-far fruitless. Our last attempt to seize her in Defsunun was a failure, as you know from report 113-CC1435. The Caldari trader she had contacted has relocated his office to Minmatar space and Kaalakiota corporation refuses extradition of corporate personnel except if proof is provided that general treaties between the Empire and the Caldari State have been violated.

We are, however, still investigating the lead provided by the sole survivor of the commando team we had dispatched. It appears that her accomplices are members of an unaffiliated capsuleer corporation called 'Awakened Industries'. You will find the records we could obtain about those individuals enclosed with this report. Allow me to mention here, that this is a group comprised of dangerous criminals and renegades, including the excommunicated traitor Keram Themas.

Unfortunately, it seems that this godless rabble are hiding in uncharted regions commonly referred to as 'Wormhole Space'. Considering the difficulty of finding and navigating those systems, I therefore most humbly request your permission to hire a group of mercenaries familiar with such territory.

The advantage of doing so is twofold: On one side, we thereby acquire the service of operatives with the necessary experience, on the other side we maintain our distance and guarantee plausible deniability of our involvement.

I remain in expectation of your reply.

Yours in service to God and the Empress

Lictor Curiatus Arzad Kel-Udar

***

Cedrien looked over the new recruits assembled before him. There were hundreds of them, but despite their numbers, the assembly seemed insignificantly small on the vast expanse of the carrier's flight deck. The Gallente commander noted, not without irony, that he never achieved the rank required to command a ship like this during the military career that got cut short by the moral choices he made. Now that he was an independent capsuleer in a region of space where such principles were meaningless, he would become the living core of this massive vessel.

Even with a capsuleer pilot, this Thanatos-class carrier was in need of a large crew and additional pilots to fly it's wings of fighters. The recruitment of suitable crew members had taken almost as long as the construction of the ship itself. Not many people were prepared to choose a life on this most isolated frontier. Those who would leave behind their familiar worlds were often uprooted individuals from difficult backgrounds: Fugitive criminals, escaped slaves, deserters from military ranks, failed colonists and the odd adventurer who actively looked for the challenge of settling wormhole space. Judicious security screening was of prime importance, but allowances had to be made. Otherwise one would never find enough crew-members to supplement the existing personnel up to a number necessary for the operation of a capital ship that size

Cedrien took a deep breath after the introductory speech he had just given to the assembly. He had kept it brief and to the point. 'With this I want to welcome you aboard your new ship, the Euryale.' he added as a closing statement to his presentation. ' Any questions?' He paused and looked over the rows of people before him. No response came. Obviously he had made himself clear and every single man and woman present understood what they had signed on for. 'Good. Please refer to your section leaders for assignment of quarters. Dismissed.'

He walked off the podium while everyone dispersed and approached the group of his assigned officers. Most of them were former Federal Navy personnel like him. He had chosen his most trusted and long-serving crew member – Sitalaerd - as his first officer and bridge commander. The older man still saluted him with the habitual military reflex of a veteran soldier, despite the fact, that Cedrien held no official rank here and had by now even stopped wearing his old Federal Navy uniform. The group of new officers followed the example of the old hand and saluted too.

'Do you think you will get them into shape for running this carrier together with me?' Cedrien addressed Sitalaerd

The other man scratched his chin, covered in grey stubbles, with slight skepticism. 'Many of them are not familiar with this particular class of ship, but they all have served on Gallente ships.' He gestured at a heavyset Mannar man beside him whom he had picked as his second in command. 'Corierre here has served on a Thanatos-class carrier before.'

The round faced Mannar nodded his clean-shaved head. 'Yes sir, for three years actually.' he specified, speaking Gallente with a heavy accent.

'Good, we will need your experience.' Cedrien sounded satisfied. In fact he was relieved, since he himself had only flown training simulations fed into the neural interface of his capsule 'We shall take her out on a shakedown voyage to some Sleeper ruins tomorrow. Something unspectacular to give the fighter pilots some training.' he nodded slightly at the gaunt faced woman who was designated as leader of the fighter wings. 'Considering the amount of traffic we get in here, there will probably not be much else but Sleepers to fight for some time. That should give everyone enough possibility to get familiar with the operation of this ship.'

'We have quite a few experienced fighter pilots.' the wing commander assured him.

'I will conduct a full briefing of the command crew later today.' Sitalaerd added.

Cedrien nodded affirmatively, dismissing the officers, and prepared to leave for a last test of the finished capsule control system. It had been the final installation on the ship, and the most crucial one for it's operation.

***

The slender hull of the Sei'r was slowly orbiting the undulating passage of a wormhole under the cover of a cloaking field. Nobody had ever set up an outpost in this apocalyptic ruin of a solar system they occupied. Local space was dominated by the immense gravity well of a black hole that slowly stripped the matter off a feeble orange sun. The few remaining planets which had not been torn apart by the pull of the collapsed star had become molten infernos or tempestuous plasma furnaces under the influence of wrenching tidal forces.

The passage they were watching lead to an equally deserted region that had looked like a dead-end when they originally scanned it. Still, they maintained surveillance here on this outlying position. Robotic probes skimmed along the edges of the black hole's relentless pull to look out for potentially opening wormhole conduits.

Idle hours of covert surveillance had made Alira leave her pod and join her command crew on the bridge. It was the graveyard shift now, and the Sebiestor capsuleer was engaged in a game of Kalanbha with the bridge's only other occupant, her engineering chief Hakaar.

Like many ancient Minmatar games, Kalanbha was simple in it's concept, yet it required complex strategy. Originally designed to be played with pebbles and small grooves made in soft ground, one row for each player, it was included as a standard recreational program into holographic projectors and neocoms these days.

Hakaar displayed his strikingly white teeth in a broad grin, and shook his heavy mane of thick braids with mocking amusement at his captain's last move. 'You think you're smart, huh?' he taunted while he displaced a number of gleaming virtual pebbles from his row into Alira's.

His capsuleer commander frowned in concentration and pursed her lips, obviously at a loss to predict what the Brutor engineer's intended strategy could be. Alira was still deliberating about a suitable reaction when the instrument panel at the main command console lit up indicating a sensor echo. Both were on their feet immediately. With a few quick command entries Hakaar reconfigured a part of the main bridge window to magnify the wormhole they were orbiting at a significant distance. The fluctuating portal began to oscillate with sub-atomic agitation. A luminous wave washed over it's edges as the passage of mass caused a burst of photons.

Alira engaged the high resolution sensors and manually primed the ship's defensive systems. Without the neural interface of her capsule, the processes seemed painfully slow to her, but at this instance speed was not an issue. They were safely situated scores of kilometers off the wormhole and under the protection of their cloak.

She checked the sensor readouts. Only a small amount of mass displacement was indicated. Whatever had come through could not be too threatening. Slowly the sharp edged, vertical winged shape of a Caldari covert ops frigate materialized on the magnified image of the viewscreen. The small ship maintained it's position, now that it's material composition had attuned itself to the new location, and started to launch a small swarm of probes.

'I have recalled our probes' Hakaar announced 'No need for them to know that there's anyone here.' A smirk appeared on his dark, broad-featured face. 'Probably just another lone scout looking for lucrative mining sites.' he assumed.

'Then why is he not cloaking again?' Alira replied with suspicion in her voice.

'Maybe he feels safe? There's nothing here apart from enough Sleeper constructs to keep a whole fleet of ships busy.' the chief engineer followed his statement with a shrug. 'Nobody wants to settle black hole systems.'

The following burst of warning lights on the sensor panel dispelled Hakaar's lax attitude in an instant. Alira shook her head and a feeling of foreboding crept up on her. 'This is no lone scout. Whatever is coming through now has enough mass to almost collapse this entrance. I better get into my pod.' The powerful flare of the wormhole looming behind the small frigate on the viewscreen illuminated the bridge while she ran for the exit.

Hakaar's eyes widened as he witnessed how several ships materialized at once. He was forced to extend the viewscreen's size to accommodate the spread-out formation of strategic cruiser hulls. They were followed by the massive bulk of two battleships that looked similar to standard Amarr designs, but showed ominous differences from the familiar Armageddon-class hulls. A flight of Minmatar-built interdictor destroyers shot ahead of the main body a moment later. The final arrival did not need magnification to be clearly visible through the wide bridge windows.
The Brutor engineer slowly mouthed a silent curse as a massive shadow oozed over the assembled fleet of smaller ships and the wormhole tunnel contracted under the strain of the mass passing through it.

'Forward recon to base! Do you copy?' Alira called on the combat channel as soon as she was ensconced in her capsule and had full control over the ship's systems. Slowly the Sei'r was aligning towards the wormhole that lead to their home. Nervously she regarded the threatening fleet through the virtual eyes the ship's sensors lent her.

'This is base. What's the situation?' came the reply from the comm station back at their main tower.

'Get me captain Roucellis on the line right now.' Alira urged

Tense minutes passed. She accelerated the ship into warp just at the moment when that newly arrived combat fleet began to fan out, probably in preparation to occupy strategic locations in this system.

'Alira?' Cedrien's voice finally responded on the channel.

'Cedrien, we have a problem. A whole combat force just appeared in this system.' She paused while checking the short range scanner to see whether they were closing in on the exit she was heading for. 'A whole wing of Legion and Proteus cruisers fit for combat, Bhaalgorn battleships, Sabre interdictors.' Her ship came out of warp and she held that position. Just close enough to the wormhole exit to pass through at any moment but far away enough to maintain her cloak.
'And they have an Archon carrier.' she added.

'Could you get their designation?' Cedrien inquired.

'I got a corp registry ticker from the initial scan.' Alira sent the data through the fluid-router link.

Cedrien cursed under his breath. 'The Janissary Order?! That's not just a combat force. That is an invasion fleet!.'

11 - Turning the Tide - Part 2

All over the station, mobilization alarms sounded, crews were assembled, ships prepared, weapon bays loaded and defensive stations manned. The operations centre was no exception. Here each scanning console and communications desk was occupied by crew members trying to channel their fear and tension into focused activity. Cedrien and the other five capsuleer pilots occupied the main command station.

'The Janissary Order is a mercenary outfit specializing in wormhole operations.' the Gallente commander explained while CONCORD registry data was switched to the main holographic display. 'They have an impeccable track record. As you would expect from a mercenary fleet, they have no loyalty to any cause except what money can buy. When it comes to that, however, they are steadfast. They have never betrayed an employer and only rarely failed to fulfill their contract.' he paused to call up a series of pilot records. 'What makes them particularly dangerous, is the fact that they have a significant number of experienced capsuleer pilots employed.'

Sylera looked confused 'How did they even find us here? I thought it was impossible to find a particular wormhole if it does not directly connect to a known location.'

Shisei nodded thoughtfully at that question. 'When we ran a gravitational analysis on that black-hole system, it indicated, that only one specific exit would generally exist there.' He looked up from the mathematical model he had double checked.

'Then they must have done a chain collapse to gain another entrance.' Cedrien concluded.

Sylera's narrow eyebrows drew together into a puzzled frown. Before she could ask the question which was obviously on her mind Sandrielle softly rested her hand on the younger woman's shoulder. 'It is possible to calculate the probability of a certain wormhole system opening into another.' she began to elaborate. 'Once a suitable system is found, one can cause it's naturally occurring exit to collapse multiple times until the sought-for connection opens.' she leveled her gaze at the others with a significant look on her face. 'It implies an action guided by intent. They were looking for that particular star-system.'

Keram shook his head in disbelief. 'What would they want with this black-hole wasteland?' he scoffed.

The Gallente woman looked at him patronizingly. 'Nothing.' she replied dryly. 'There is only one obvious conclusion: They wanted to get to us, and someone informed them which system we are currently connected to.'

'So you are saying we have a spy?' Keram asked through clenched teeth. Sandrielle nodded gravely.

'They are now camped on the other side of our exit.' Alira cut short any possible outburst when she saw how Keram's face reflected the building up of rage. 'They warped in their fleet around me, launched warp disruption spheres and began to close in on me.' her face contorted slightly with the memory of frustration. 'Once they had me surrounded they started activating smartbombs and forced me to jump through. It was a very well coordinated setup. Cedrien is right, they are definitely very professional and very dangerous.' she added.

'So far they seem to be maintaining their position on the other side of that wormhole.' Shisei announced after checking the deep-space scanner. 'No jumps have occurred since Alira returned.'

'So what the hell are they waiting for?' Keram growled.

'There is only one way to find out.' Cedrien answered. 'Shisei, what is the status of that wormhole?'

'It has not reached the end of it's activity cycle.' the Achura scientist replied 'According to my calculations, it should remain open for another six hours and twenty minutes.' he reported after adding a few figures into his mathematical model.

'Then this is as much time as we have.' Cedrien stated flatly. Looking at each of his companions individually he gave his orders. 'Keram, you and Sylera take over station defense. Shut down everything we do not need and make sure there are crews for all guns and EWAR platforms. I want each one of you to command one wing of defense frigates. Focus on electronic warfare and capacitor disruption.' he picked up his heavy armoured jacket while he continued. 'Alira, take out your ship and every recon team you can assemble. I want that whole system covered. Shisei, you will coordinate the evacuation of all non-essential personnel and materials to a safe location planetside.' The Caldari man nodded knowingly. Emergency plans for such an eventuality had long been made. 'Sandrielle, get Sitalaerd to prepare the Euryale.'

The Gallente woman quirked a brow. 'What about you?' she wondered.

'I will take a shuttle out through that wormhole and parlay with those Janissaries.' Cedrien replied matter-of-factly.

The gathered pilots all looked at him with expressions ranging from concern to skepticism. Cedrien opened his arms, palms upward, in a gesture of annoyed incomprehension emphasized by a stern expression 'You have your orders, get to it!' he stated in a tone that precluded any contradiction.

Everyone got up and headed for the exit. Alira shot a worried glance back after she had boarded the elevator with the others. She watched Cedrien giving last orders to the command-centre crew, then the heavy blast doors cut her vision off. She tried to tell herself that the churning feeling in her stomach came from the sudden downward plunge of the elevator cabin, but she knew that there was more to it.

***

Cedrien's right hand trembled slightly when he hit the command sequence to jump the shuttle through the wormhole. He felt exposed and defenseless flying manually.No hull surrounding him like the extension of his own fragile body, no shields or armor, nothing he could fight with. If the assembled force on the other side decided to open fire, he would die here. For good. Without the neural interface of his capsule there would be no instant remapping of his consciousness into a new clone body at the moment of his violent death. He smiled grimly at the prospect, then the gravitational pull of the wormhole catapulted his ship through.

When he emerged on the other side, he did not need the flaring of warning sensors to tell him about the deadly threat he faced. Against the ominous backdrop of a collapsed star, the enemy fleet filled the field of vision his cockpit window provided. What little light the struggling orange sun of this system could provide was occluded by the vast bulk of an Archon-class carrier. It's two-pronged bow stretched out far above him. In it's shadow two Bhaalgorn battleships floated like atavistic instruments of war, designed to bludgeon an enemy to death. The rest of the fleet circled around the wormhole like a pack of predators ready to pounce on their prey. Like Alira had said, warp-distruption spheres had been deployed to prevent any escape away from the wormhole.

Cedrien took a deep breath and willed his hands to stop shaking. He hailed on an open frequency.

'Captain Roucellis.' came the reply, emphasizing the generic title in a mocking way. 'Have you come to negotiate the conditions of your surrender?' the sneering voice was not accompanied by any image transmission.

'I have come alone, unarmed and unplugged.' He answered. 'You seem to know who I am. Although I do know the Janissary Order, I do not recognize you. I would like to talk to your commander face-to-face.'

'Why would he want to do that?' the unidentified voice sounded bored.

'Because I know that you did not come here without purpose.' Cedrien countered. 'Neither did you come simply to destroy us, or you would have already made your move. Let us talk about what you are here for, and we shall see whether an agreement can be made that satisfies your terms.'

The communications relay remained silent for some of tense moments. 'We may be mercenaries, but that does not mean we do not honour general rules of engagement.' the disembodied voice finally answered. 'You may fly your craft into the carrier's hangar. We guarantee your safety and free passage as a negotiator.'

Cedrien permitted himself a sigh of relief. 'Affirmative.' he responded and steered his shuttle towards the Archon carrier's hangar bay.

***

It did not come as a surprise to Cedrien that his hosts had chosen for a massive display of power to welcome him. A battalion-strength force stood assembled on the flight deck. Each soldier fully clad in red-and-tan fighting armor and armed with an assault weapon. Behind the regimented rows of troopers he could vaguely make out brisk activity in the fighter hangars. The small attack craft were being loaded and prepared for duty.

A four man escort waited for Cedrien when he emerged from his shuttle. They directed his steps down the flight deck by executing a snappy turn and heading in that direction, effectively forcing him to fall into step. He knew the Janissary Order from his military days as a disciplined and effective military outfit, as often working for the Gallente Federation as they would accept payment from the opposing side. Their specialization in wormhole-space operations made them a prime choice for striking targets that would try to operate from the isolation of those obscure regions. No standing military force had major cadres trained and equipped to handle such missions.

As they neared the end of the long expanse they traversed, Cedrien began to recognize the commanding officer who stood there to receive him, flanked by a detail of personal guards. The formerly platinum-blond buzz-cut of the Deteis man had by now turned into silvery white.

His strong-jawed, squarish features were creased by more wrinkles, but the steel-gray eyes under their bushy eyebrows still had the same determined glint to them.

'Commodore Sivaata.' Cedrien greeted the other man with a slight bow. 'It has been some time since we met.'

'Captain Roucellis.' Sivaata saluted briskly. 'The last time your superiour commander was my employer. I am honoured by the opportunity to face you as adversary now.'

Cedrien smirked slightly. 'I am afraid I might disappoint you. I am not quite in the position to provide a challenge against a force like yours.' he added while gesturing at the assembled troops.

'You have always been a most resourceful man.' the Deteis commander complimented him. 'Shall we.' he offered, and extended a hand toward the main deck elevator. Cedrien nodded and walked ahead. The older man joined him while the escorting soldiers positioned themselves around the two of them and followed. Both remained in silence during their progress through the massive ship's interiour. Cedrien remembered the attitude of this man, he would not be diverted by idle chatter, nor would he discuss business outside a setting he considered suitable to do so.

When they had arrived in a small conference room overlooking the flight deck, and an attendant had served fragrant, spiced coffee, Cedrien knew the moment had come to open up the negotiations. 'I know that it is useless to ask who employed you, or to make you an offer to buy you out of your contract.' he began. '… but my guess is you did not halt your incursion into our system for no reason.'

Sivaata nodded and slowly sipped from his steaming cup. He set it down before he answered. 'I did come here prepared for a serious confrontation, but it may still be avoided.' he sounded genuinely disappointed at the prospect. 'Among your number is a capsuleer who I am to retrieve, alive.' he took another sip from his drink before continuing. 'Deliver her to me, and we will retreat.'

Cedrien quirked a brow 'Now you are making it difficult for me.' he smiled 'It so happens that I have more than one female capsuleer among my crew.'

The Janissary commander touched the conference table's surface with his index finger and an embedded neocom panel activated. A few strokes later, a familiar young Amarrian face appeared as holographic projection, hovering between the two men. Wordlessly Sivaata looked over the rim of his cup at Cedrien while he drank.

'So it is her you want.' Cedrien acknowledged. 'This young woman only recently joined us.' he stretched in his chair and took a few sips from his own coffee. '… and to be honest, I am not quite sure whether she fits in well with us.' he continued.

The older Deteis man displayed an expression of resignation on his previously unreadable face. 'So you will deliver her to me?' he asked flatly.

'Well.' Cedrien wistfully started and inclined his head as if he'd consider the option. 'As you know I used to be a military man.' Sivaata nodded and set down his cup. 'While I have left this life behind me, I still value some of it's principles.' Cedrien continued, emptied his own cup in one go and deftly put it down. 'One of those principles is, that you do not sell out your crew to the enemy.' he displayed a sarcastic smile on his bearded face. 'In fact, in the light of some recent personal experiences, I would even say, that I value this principle higher than the Federal Navy itself.'

Commodore Sivaata's eyes gleamed at this response. 'So I can take this as a refusal?' he asked rhetorically and finished his drink too.

'Please accept my excuses for wasting your time like this.' Cedrien replied with an implicit confirmation.

For the first time the other man smiled openly. 'Not at all captain Roucellis.' he got up in preparation to escort his guest back to the flight deck. 'It is good that we have resolved this matter.' he gestured toward the door. 'I will give you the time to return to your base. When this wormhole reaches the end of it's cycle, we will engage.' Cedrien nodded, knowing that the man's word can be trusted on both counts. 'I am looking forward to our battle.' the Deteis commander added 'There are too few worthy opponents these days.'