Closing In : Part 2

Eventually I swallowed my pride, called in a favour, and got a BS pilot to assist me. Even then, when my initial plan had been for her to draw aggro and tank and me to shoot, it took both of us to get below 50% armor on the Prophecy.

We cleaned up after ourselves, but I am certain that, without help that outclassed the Prophecy, I would never have been able to "close the act".

I returned to the station (deciding to do no harm to the Amarri station the enemy ships had been orbiting -- on the way getting a comm from an Amarr Navy Security agent who offered assistance in "bringing the hammer of God" down on Dagan, once I had his location.

Just the Gallente to offer help, then.


I got back to the Sisters of EVE station and to Sister [Kharitania] to find that she wished me to make my choice -- all four "Empires" were offering to help me. I considered the options -- I would have gone to the Caldari, to my brother in blood, but he had based himself in 0.5 space and I did not relish the risk. I settled on a Minmatar called Ang and set course, taking only essentials with me.


Ang gave me co-ordinates for Dagan -- as promised, the Minmatar were there to clear some of the way, leaving three guards, who were relatively easy to kill, and then there was Dagan himself, in a heavily-tanked shop. Again, I called in help, and the BS cut through his ahields and armor while I played rabbit to the greyhound. Then it was time to clean up -- including some Minmatar cruisers who hadn't survived -- which emphasised how necessary my BS back-up had been.
Then I reported back to Ang.


I think he wanted time to do a thorough interrogation, because I had time to go and get some skillbooks -- the Moa I'd been gifted was fitted with railguns, so I needed Medium Hybrid, and I'd done the Scanning to high enough level, to clear me for Archaeology. I'm going to run that up in the hope that I can use it for missions, and then work up in the R&D corps.


Meanwhile, back with Ang, when I got back to him, he said the Sisters were going to take Dagan off everyone's hands. All I had to do was take him to them. I loaded him into my hold (in a pod) and flew up to a acceleration gate, and through.

On the other side there were battleships from all four governments, and a Wreathe belonging to the Sisters. I was warned not to activate weapons, and approached the Wreathe. No-one moved, as I loaded Dagan into the Wreathe, and as soon as they'd closed their hold, I was advised that I should return to Ang.

He paid me 250 ISK and bade me well. Apparently that was the end of my missions - neither Ang, nor the Sisters wanted to offer me further work.

Which meant I had to head back along my old course, collect up what I had left in hangers, and then make it back to my temporary base, and get on with the training regime.

Closing In : Part 1

Sister [Kharitania] was unapologetic but candid about the situation. Yes, I had been ... misled ... over the exact nature of events, and, yes, information had been witheld from me, but it had been for my own good. Dagan was the primary issue and, she emphasised, I should concentrate on that.

I had, she said, travelled a long way on her service -- in return she was willing to offer me missions worth 250K ISk. The first of which was to deliver some documents, so that a 'legend' -- a credible background identity -- could be built for an agent to infiltrate the enemy's operations.

I meditated, then took the mission, delivering the chip and then making a discreet departure again, lest I had been observed. Once back with Sister K, I took on board the agent, and delivered her to a waiting spaceliner.

I was tempted to blow up the landing pad it had been using, but I was diverted by a message from the Minmater Security Agency, which offered me [unquestioned] support for my endeavour.

I returned to the station, cleared my jets with Sister K and went to my quarters, to meditate and to sleep.


When I woke, it was to be told that a Society ship had been sighted in-system and was suspected of trying to intercept communications, thereby endangering our agent's life, as she tried to report back to [Kharitania]. I took off on a mission to destroy or drive off the ship. Sister [Kharitania] warned that the Society ship would probably be protected: she asked me to spare the lives of the escort, but when I arrived, they attacked me, and I was forced to defend myself.

In fact, although they had good weapons, their ships were relatively weak, and offered me little salvage. I was about to return to base and report, when a message came in, on a Caldari channel, from an officer of the Ishukone Watch Security. He also offered me support in my work, so long as Dagan was handed over to them at the end. I now suspect that the Minmatar would also want my assistance in this regard, and cutting the man in half will, I fear, satisfy neither.

I returned and Sister [Kharitania] told me that Parthus, an ally of Dagan's was in-system -- if I could capture him, he might be induced to give useflu information. I went to the co-ordinates she gave me, warned that he would likely have guards. A group of rookie mercenraies attacked me, and I took them out, but then two tougher ships arrived and at once my capacitor was drained. I had heard of weapons like these, capable of draining the energy from an entire capacitor in cycles, but till today had never experienced one. Barely holding on to armor, I warped out, to a dead-spot and then from there to a station, to repair.

Going back I managed to despatch the guards, with Parthus apparently disinterested. According to my scan, he was in a battlecruiser, and as I orbited him it became clear that he was the source of the capdrain -- again I had to warp out, deeply in structure, and repair. Going back (most of my mission fee used up in the repair shop), I tried close orbiting, but again the cap drain forced me to fall away.

A Breach of Trust :: Part 3

Computer: record and store for transmission in the event of my death ::

Hear me, my ancestors: I am Baihua, daughter of Heng; Caldari, of the Achura [tasch]; [commonly calling] myself, among the other races, White Carnation.

Today I go to face mortal combat, summoned to the field by Lord Taphos of the Amarr; my [second/tasch-ublaut] is Dovirch Anselm of the Ammatar Consulate in Tanoo.

I declare to you, revered forebears, this is not a combat of my choosing; I go under command of my foe.

I choose this, for honor, and I am resolved, in honor, to fight to death.

= = = = = =


Computer: resume normal log-keeping function

Taphos was, in all honesty, a fool.

Having called me into combat, and having (presumably) selected his ship and weapons for victory, he made three tactical errors. First, having positioned himself at what he presumably believed was a tactically-advantageous range, he allowed me to shorten that range on him, without having the weapons to stop me at once, or the means to hold me at long range. Second, he then attempted to avoid me, at a range at which my weapons were actively striking him, rather than mount a massive onslaught to force me to retreat. Third, his weapons were ineffective at piercing shield and armour and cutting direct into structure, giving me time to eat through his ship.

He was a fool :: now he is a dead fool. And his ship did not even contain parts worth salvaging.




I returned to Anselm :: officially (he said) I had been accused of contract fraud, and been acquitted, by God, on the field of battle. So be it.

Anselm revealed to me that Dagan, the man I have been following, belongs to something called the Society for Conscious Thought. And (unsurprisingly) the Sisters of EVE have an interest in watching the Society, closely. He has therefore offered me ISK to return to Sister [Kharitania], for the Sisters to conclude whatever business they have with Dagan.

Frankly, this does not trouble me -- I am certain beyond sure that Amarr ways are not for me, and I shall quit their space with speed, pausing only to purchase and fit a cargo-hold expander, as I do not wish to leave anything behind me.

Now I face 23 jumps to return to the Sister's station, and (perhaps) to find out a little more of what is going on.

Hai.

A Breach of Trust :: Part 2

Hai

For those to whom these transmissions come a-new, I am White Carnation, of the Achura [tasch]; I am engaging in an extended series of missions throughout New Eden (or the civilised and relatively-safe) portions.

I am in Amarr space and on the advice of the lastest in a set of patrons, had flown to a system, to a Theological Council station, to meet with an archaeologist (whom I shall call Doctor Dogge).
He greeted me, and asked me to recover for him an artifact from a local asteroid cluster. He was good enough to warn me that pirates were guarding it, which justified the 200K ISk reward he was offering. I thanked [Fate] that it appeared that no innocents had to die this time, and set off, fitting my ship with a device he lent me, which he said would make obtaining the item more easy once the pirates were gone.

I found myself faced by four pirates, two large, two small. I was forced to execute them, before I could use the analyser to search the "tomb" -- a half-dome with appurtenant additions. I canned it, and was told that the relic had been reocvered, although I saw no sign of it. I returned to Dogge who professed himself satisfied. In return, as well as my fee and a small bonus (the artefact was unscratched), he gave me the co-ordinates of a disused monstery, suggesting that I might there find more clues in my quest.

I thanked him and set off. As I approached the area I thought back to quiet nights long past when I had visited the Achura Sisterhood and begun my learnings of [Fate] and of the [Cosmos]. My reveries were interrupted by the appearcne of a fleetlet of Scavengers, flying a variety of ships, who were gathered round the site. I feared that they had already stolen anything of value, and their taunts over the channel confirmed this. I shot each one, as they bore on me,and from the last recovered a crumpled piece of parchment written in arcane symbols I could not recognise.


Not to my total surprise they proved clear to Doctor Dogge. He declared it written in pseudo-Jovian characters, but to be easily decodable, and to demonstrate treason. I was to return with it to Anselm at once.

Doing so was easy, compared with the news on my return -- I had been challenged to single combat, to the death.

I slept poorly and woke this morning ill at ease.

A Breach of Trust :: Part 1

My next mission involved taking the news to Amarr space.

My mind was even more confused: there is no love lost at all between Amarr and Minmatar, and I was being asked to say, to the one, that I had killed their brother on behalf of the other. Additionally to which, I had never heard of the sector to which I was being asked to go, and it involved crossing a large amount of previously-to-me-unknown Minmatar space.

But I would be paid, and quit of [Keteslin] and it might get me closer to the solution to all this mystery. I took the job and set forth through the meanderings of the Minmatar star-gate system.


My new contact was a Sebiestor called Dovirch Anselm,who said he had no objection to my quoting his name, as he was merely an attorney within the Ammatar Consulate's Legan Division, a man of many years' standing, most of them in front of puisne judges (an apparent joke which passed [over my head]). He thanked me for coming, and gave me a doll and co-ordinates of an asteroid where the doll was to be delivered. Apparently it represented the last vestiges of a child's life, to be returned to its parents. I took it, and delivered it, watching all the while for ambush but finding none, to my relief. He paid me, handsomely, and told me to rest and then to return.

When I did, I learned that my behaviour had apparently met with the approval of Anselm (or his "lord" -- though whether he is actually enlieged I cannot tell). I was now told that my target ("Dagan") had once served the family of the lord, before fleeing after Empress Sarum's coronation. An archaeologist two jumps away was said to know Dagan and I am now directed to him as the next step in my voyagings.


I am resolved, now, that for the moment I will sleep aboard my ship, with the hatches sealed and with only the unneeded frivolities left dock-side, everything else loaded, even if I have to load and unload everything myself, morning, [noon], and night. This has ceased to be merely a set of paying jobs -- I now fear for my very life.

Shifting Foundations :: Part 3

To my concern, when [Keteslin] asked to see me again, it was to offer me a mission of murder. Apparently the man I had brought in had been persuaded to give the co-ordinates of his employer's location, and I was being asked to go there and to assassinate him. A far cry from research into rogue drones, or helping the Sisters of Eve. But I was promised that doing this would allow other matters to "fall into place"

And, given that [Destiny] moves in strange ways, I reflected that perhaps the {Cosmic All] had decided that this man's time had come. With a [querulous] heart, I accepted the mission.


Reaching the co-ordinates, I found mercenaries, who swept to attack me. They were reinforced almost immediately by more of their kind,and then the miscreant himself made an appearance, but hung back. I wondered whether this indicated a willingness to negotiate a surrender, and held off from firing while I surveyed and salvaged from the wrecked ships. To my dismay it was not to be so -- he manoeuvred himself into a good position, and then stripped my shields from me and started in on my armour. I was therefore obliged to despatch him.

(As a side note, these were poor mercenaries to salvage from -- little but scanners and projectile ammunition -- both useless to me -- and minor wrecked circuits)


My doubts about [Keteslin] and the Minmater in general grew more severe, when my next assignment, although apparently to do with the man I was seeking about the drones, turned out to be a thinly-disguised mission to rescue a Minmatar spy and kill all those holding him. I bit my lip and accpted the job, turning my face away from the fact that I was being offered 200K ISK to do this thing.

Whether it was ill-luck, ill-preparedness, or ill-Fate, I know not, but this was one the harder of my fights. The initial mercenary guards were simple to remove,m but when the leader and his guards arrievd I found myself in trouble -- they were armed with thermal weapons, which cut through ym shields,and they fired on volley, preventing my repair equipment from keeping up. Finally, however, having warped out twice, I managed to defeat them. I could not help but notice, howver, that they appeared based in a small Minmatar station, and to wonder exactly how renegade these Minmatar were.

Shifting Foundations :: Part 2

[[TRANSMISSION RECOVERED]]

myself looking at an entire smuggler fleet, including (assuming my scanner can be trusted) a stolen Nidhoggur carrier (being described as a Republic Harkal).

I did not wait to be noticed and attacked, but returned to the station immediately.


From there I was sent to a Brutor Tribe Bureau, to report my findings. The agent there (from Security division) suggested that I "take out" an auxiliary power array in a nearby smuggler base, to draw forces off the base he and his associates were aiming to destroy. I saw little option but to accept what Fate had sent for me.

Once more I was faced with an entire fleet, but -- Heaven Be Thanked -- most of them were in the course of warping out. I thought I saw another Nidhoggur -- a worrying possibility, and I find myself forced to the uncomfortable prayer that my foes have only one, not two, of the most powerful fleet ships I have ever seen (or want to). Three frigates and a cruiser remained, with which I was forced to deal, before reinforcements of four more frigates arrived. Then I attended to the Power Array, mounted atop a floral-esque formation of station elements. Its destruction set off the entire complex, and I deemed it a [politic] time to depart, before the Nidhoggur came back.


I reported back to the Minmatar Security Division operative, who paid me a little over 200K for my efforts, and then asked me to go to capture one or more smugglers, whose location he could provide. As he was again offering a good fee for dealing with agents of Chaos, I agreed.

There were mercenaries guarding the meeting point-- a habitation module -- but they succumbed to persuasion. The battle must have alerted my targets however: they switched off their beacons, and I was forced to locate them by eye -- finding the module now clamped to a control tower.

As soon as I fired, they surrendered, and I took one of them back with me (the others were, I fear, on the wrong side of the airlock door when it opened -- I don't *like* mercenaries), to the MSD operative.

With his thanks I then made my way back to Agent [Keteslin].

Queens and Drones :: Part 3

Upon attending the Sister again, I was told that the Caldari agent was now ready to guide me ... not to accompany me, but to guide me, further to investigate the rogue drone.
With little choice, I accepted the mission, and launched forth into [the Void].

I warped to the Sister's bookmark and waited. There was no sign of anything, and I was directed to a nearby acceleration gate. Activating that, I was thrown into another area, where was a drone, but it passed almost at once through a spatial rift. I approached the rift with caution: on the farther side, the same [minuet] followed time, but in an area littered with debris, including several shuttlecraft wrecks. Again I "rifted": again the drone made its own rift to escape; again I followed, dutifully. This time there was no sign of the drone, and, on instructions, I returned to the ststion, for debriefing.


I reported to the Sister, who paid me my wage, and then ordered me to locate and destroy the drone, based on the data her Caldari was to download to my on-board.

I loaded up on ammunition and set forth (noting that while the mission fee was of the usual size, there was an enormous bonus (over 200K) going with it, which perhaps hinted at problems to come).

As soon as I arrived about eight drones set on me, whilst a ninth sped away through a gate. I fought the eight to and end and set off in pursuit. Once more there was an ambush, of around 14 drones. Too many, I found, and after a brief engagement I warped out, and made repairs. Given that I was in a Cormorant, I dreaded to think how a mere frigate would have coped.

Returning to the fray, I had once more to navigate the acceleration gate, and then to face the drones again. Once more I did battle; once more I fell back, shields shredded.

[[[TRANSMISSION LOST]]

Queens and Drones :: Part 2

When I returned to Sister [Kharitania], I was a little surprised, and honored, to be offered my choice of missions. One involved fighting Mordu's Legion mercenaries, to rescue a Gallente journalist; the other involved assisting a fellow Caldari. My choice was simple.

My exact mission was to fetch a DNA sample, for the Sister to apply to her longer-term strategic purpose. Briefed, and given my destination, I departed. 2 jumps later, I rendezvoused with the correct station and collected the vial of DNA; then, I returned to the Sister, who paid me an excellent fee of 150K ISK, and took the vial to a med-lab.


When next she sent for me, it was to show me a body double, laced with the genuine DNA, of the Caldari she wished to have to assist her. I was to take the body, to a small outpost, drop it there, and leave before hidden charges blew the station up. She warned me that the Serpentis might be there, but said that I need not attack them. Regrettably it would appear that no-one had told them of this licence, and I was attacked by at least 8 of their ships, ranging up to a heavy frigate in size. I found myself obliged to defend myself and to destroy them all. Then I set to depositing the body on the outpost, and departing once more. Whereupon a second set of Serpentis, headed, I believe, by a destroyer-class ship, made for me guns [a-blaze]. In destroying them, too, I came across 4 scientists in an escape pod, and rescued them, returning them to the Sister (although regrettably I saw no evidence that the outpost had, indeed, exploded.


But apparently the spy (for I fear this is what he has been) felt it safe to come to the station, and I was dismissed whilst he and the Sister laid their plans.

Queens and Drones :: Part 1

[Colloquial Greetings]

I flew seven and a half jumps to get back to Sister [Kharitania] -- I made a minor error on one of my calculations and flew most way to the wrong sector. I was honored to note that [Saka-san] had doubled my fee for this journey -- I fear that I shall never see him again.

The Sister signalled ahead that I should rest before approaching her, which I did, as well as meditating on the proper way to approach this unlooked-for reacquaintance.

When I did so, she gave me the dire news that lives were at risk -- that the rogue drone which she had identified was apparently close to a Sisters' station and she feared that it would attack. I was to fly there and rescue the station personnel.

I stripped my ship to the beams, and took off, conscious of the dangers I faced. When I arrived only one drone was in sight, but within moments other began to gather. I headed straight for the station, noting as I did that I was, effectively, running a gauntlet between two groups. To my relief neither group offered me aggression, and I was able to collect the station personnel and beat a safe retreat.


The good Sister was pleased at my return and paid 150K Isk for the mission, together with a small bonus for getting all of the station's personnel back safely.


She then told me that she had a fellow-Sister who had scanned one of the suspect drones, and asked me to go to collect her data. Apparently this lay on the edge of pirate space, but she believed me sufficiently experienced to look after myself. I agreed to do what I could and took off. The Sister had left the data with a news agency, and it proved quite simple to collect it, and then to return.
Once more I received a slightly larger mission fee together with a small bonus.

To my relief, Sister [Kharitania] then indicated that it was time for her devotions, and I was able to go and sleep and recover my [edge].

Shadow Puppets :: Part 3

[Saka-san] summoned me straight after my sleep, to ask me to take supplies up to a warehouse close to the blockading fleet. It was a simple mission, but I undertook it with the knowledge that even the smallest grain of sand is yet a part of the seashore. The supplies were for a colony whose deliveries had been interrupted -- a plight which the former fleet commander had ignored.

I saw that the fleet had now been reinforced with both cruiser and frigate-class vessels and I felt far more confident. I delivered my cargo and, given the all-clear, set course back to the station. To my surprise [Saka-san] implied that I should take up battle against the drones myself (or with the aid of "friends" which, had he but known it, I do not have).

But, to the servant, the master's commands are not to be ignored, and I set out.
The drone fleet had grown in size and it was with trepidation that I selected a fringe element to engage. Before I could even close to range, however, the entire armada locked onto me and came at me. At once I aligned out and looked to aim "over my shoulder". I had hoped that the Navy would engage, but they had apaprently been ordered to stand firm, in case more drones erupted.
However, as they pursued, I was able to eradicate them, one by one, often moving one gun to target a second ship whilst my others destroyed the target I had. Then, with them defeated, I tidied the wrecks, to save Naval time.


Whilst I was doing that, I received a transmission from Honorable [Saka-san] to say that the Sisters were asking for my services once more. Quickly I returned to the station to learn what Fate was to lay before me.

With a sense of dread, I learned that I was being asked to return to Sister [Kharitania], as she had need of my services. I begged leave to rest until the morrow, and spent time repacking all my possessions into my ship.

Shadow Puppets :: Part 2

When I returned to [Saka-san], he asked me to fly to one of our Imperial Armaments factories, to a contact there, who would give me a file on the local Naval commander, who was not impressing [Saka-san] with his handling of the situation, something with which, confidentially, I agreed. I claim no especial military expertise, but my recent experiences have taught me how nimble these drones can be in combat, yet for all I could see the current commander was relying, for containing them, on battleships, whose armaments are meant to fight their own kind, not to handle the equivalent of frigate sized attack craft.


I reached the factory, and spoke with the contact whom [Saka-san] had named to me, an officer of the House of Records. [H]e made available to me a sealed packet of papers, which I returned to [Saka-san]. The thanks he gave me, for a job well done, were quite enough reward, but I [obediently] accepted the small bonus he offered.


Then he asked for for assistance, of a more martial form. The local commander being an incompetent, [Saka-san] wished to arrangee for our High Command to rotate in a more capable man; hiowever, he explained that his candidate was currently on assignment fighting mercenary freebooters, believed to be in pirate pay. If I could take out the freebooters, then my master's canddiate would be free to fight the drone menace. Querulous as to my capacity for this mission, but dutiful as to my responsibilities, I consented to do what I could.


The mercenaries proved to be in the same system, so reaching their location was but a warp. There were three of them, beside a control tower, hanging in the void like vultures. I selected one and [ordered] my ship into a close orbit. He, and his colleagues, died, and for good measure I also disposed of the control tower since it appeared to be linked to the mercenaries. This probably makes for me even more foes, but my honor is secure.

Shadow Puppets :: Part 1

Hai

Leaving the Gallente station in [ERASED] (with as much of my gear as I could carry), I made my way across 7 jumps, watching at each gate, lest one or another of my pirate foes were tracking me.

But all remained celestially calm and I docked at one of our corporations' stations, and reported to my new contact, whom I will call [Saka-san]. He sought my humble assistance in making contact with a field agent he had, or in assessing the state of vessels guarding a pocket of contaminated drones.

I agreed to the latter, and primed my guns, just in case; then I flew to the co-ordinates which [Saka-san] had given me and, to my concern, found a small fleetlet of drones hovering in space. There were, however, also Caldari Navy battleships, and it was towards one of these that I set my course. By the grace of Heaven, I had thought to set my mission log to "reactive" mode, and it notified me in [short order] that I had done enough to satisfy [Saka-san] and that I ought immediately to return to him. Although the drones remained quiescent, I preferred not to remain in their vicinity, since they clearly [out-gunned] me.


I made my report, and was paid 100K ISK, with a small bonus; I was then released, to take sustenance and consider how best I could help my -san further.

A Change of Scene

Unit: translate from Yuen-Ho to Standard. Output as [text-by-four]. Include new linguistic cleansing routines. Acknowledge.

Hai.
I rose and meditated again, before presenting myself to Lady [Dalia]. She told me that decryption of the datacore had proved "interesting" and that she now wished the information gleaned to go to a Caldari scientist, and would pay me 100K in ISK for flying to meet him. In return, she said, it was possible that he would have some work for me to do.

It will be pleasant to return to Caldari space again (not to mention to be quit of Lady Dalia and her airs.
I agreed and am leaving forthwith.

Automaton Impediment Part 2

Baihua, daughter of Heng, [also called] White Carnation, to my friends, once more my greeting; to my foes, my [malediction].

After working for Sister [Kharitania] and travelling to a new station, I began my [missioning] for a Gallente executive called Lady [Delia]. Having apparently [displeased] her, I found another agent within her honorable corporation and spent hours undertaking a series of rounds of missions -- even one or two of those provided by covert government agents -- and eventually I was accorded a [meeting] with one of the higher-level [executives] who consented to intercede on my behalf.

Lady [Delia] accorded me another mission -- fetching a datacore from a wrecked ship. Reading "between the lines" (a phrase taught me by a Minmatar friend), I [guessed] that there had been pirates involved. [Seeing] that I was also being offered over a hundred thousand ISK as a bonus for bringing the core back quickly, I also [guessed] that Lady [Delia] suspected that there were pirates waiting for the capsuleer assigned to the recovery.

So I was ready when I found myself over 20K from the wreck, and five pirates in orbit around it. No sooner had I cleared them, than another group arrived. But when a third set turned up, I regret to say that I lost my [temper], and charged at them. Then I [grabbed] the core and warped back.

Now the runour is that her Ladyship may wish me to travel to another system. I shall pray and meditate and then submit myself to her scrutiny.

Fare well, my friends; fear me, my enemies.

Slight Mission Impediment

Having taken some time to complete certain studies in String-Theory, Lady Delia has takene xception to my non-availability and will no longer communicate with me. I am therefore having to "grind" -- a term to which I have been introduced by a fellow capsuleer -- to try to build up standing with her corporation.

My account will return when I have suceeded (or failed, irrevocably)