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]]