Rebirth in Shadow

Author: Jack Carrigan

Original post: https://jackcarrigan.wordpress.com/2018/10/17/rebirth-in-shadow/

Entry for the YC120 Pod and Planet Fiction Contest in the A Day in the Life category.

DUVOLLE LABORATORIES FACTORY
GRISPIRE SOLAR SYSTEM
PLACID REGION
GALLENTE FEDERATION

The repetitive droning tones of an alarm echoed throughout the quarters, and I woke up with a groan, only to climb from my bed, knocking over a bunch of beer bottles, “Son of a bitch.” I sighed as I looked over and saw Trianna still sleeping, but there was work to be done. I yawned and scratched at my beard as I walked toward the makeshift office that occupied a corner of my quarters. I fumbled with a pack of cigarettes, only to extract one between my teeth, light it and take a drag. I then sat down behind the desk I had set up, and started checking through messages I had received. I exhaled smoke in a huff as I observed the one message from a dead-end sender bearing the all too familiar logo of the Black Eagles. The message had a video attached, which I begrudgingly let play, only to see a dark figure, silhouetted by the glow of a cybernetic eye, “Hello Jack. You know the score by now, and as usual, we need a little off-the-books help. Obviously the pay is there. Coordinates have already been relayed to the navigations systems on your Leopard-class shuttle.” I scowled as I stood up, and walked toward the shower in time to see Trianna stirring and climbing from bed. I took in her shapely form prior to stepping into the shower. After finishing with the shower and dressing, it was off to handle yet another job that my brother Vick would claim is the last one. I sealed myself into my capsule, and it was loaded into Dart, my Leopard-class shuttle. Given the direct link with that vessel, I assumed that discretion was going to be the name of the game this time around. I undocked the small, nimble vessel, and willed it into warp toward the Pelille stargate after loading the coordinates.

CALDARI NAVY ASSEMBLY PLANT
OKKAMON SOLAR SYSTEM
BLACK RISE REGION
CALDARI STATE

I received docking permission, and soon found myself being directed into a small hangar with a lot of State military personnel, militia and various civilians roaming about. As Dart was secured in place, I unsealed my capsule, and made my way into the ship’s cargo hold. As I did so, I noticed the hatch open, and despite my instinct, didn’t draw my weapon. A man wearing dark robes entered the ship hold, and then retracted the hood, “Figured I’d see you off personally this time.” I snarled, “Vick, you’re lucky I didn’t put a hole in you. And what the hell are you doing having me dock up in a public station, when you know damned well I’m wanted in all four empires?” “Well, that’s why I chose you. Seeing as your reputation precedes you, you’re perfect,” he replied. “This better be fucking good,” I said as I opened a small foot locker, and started rummaging through it, only to pull out a set of Amarrian holder’s robes. “Well, there is a luxury yacht on board this station in a private hangar. They’re currently seeking state-loyal pirates for security,” Vick said with a smirk. I nodded, “And of course you used my military record to paint me as a traitor to the Federation, to make me just what you needed so that I could get on board. Who’s the mark?” Vick stood up straight, “Funny you should choose the robes of an Amarrian holder, especially one loyal to the Kador family, but there is a particular holder on board that needs to die. He has been instrumental in trafficking Matari women and children for his own sick pleasure.” I pulled out a cigarette, “Got it. And for some reason the Federation wants this spacefaring waste of perfectly good biomass turned into a pile of oozing viscera.” “Well, that’s where it gets interesting,” Vick quickly replied; his face and tone going dark, “He has also been obtaining Federation women and children. What makes matters worse, is this rapist and pedophile has possession of someone very particular.” “I fail to see why I should start caring more about that than the ISK,” I chortled, quite amused with myself. Vick sighed, “They’ve got Gellick’s daughter. She is sixteen years old.” I stopped what I was doing long enough to directly face Vick, “You mean to tell me that they have Emilio Gellick’s daughter. As in, he has Federation Navy Special Forces Vice Admiral Emilio Gellick’s daughter, Nadia?” “The very same,” Vick replied coldly. A sigh escaped my lips, “Fine. I’m in. But the old man owes me a personal favor for this shit.”

OKKAMON SOLAR SYSTEM BLACK RISE REGION CALDARI STATE

Managing to board the Victorieux Luxury Yacht was simple enough given my current status with the empires. I was given access to almost all portions of the vessel as I was providing security, or so they were led to believe. I surveyed my surroundings, and couldn’t help but be sickened by the things I saw. Holders were notorious for their abuse of women and children, especially those not of the Amarr Empire. What disgusted me more was that everyone around just acted like everything was normal. I began walking through the ship’s corridors, trying to find quarters, or a makeshift slave pen which would no doubt be around the cargohold, and be in extremely ill condition.

After a few moments, I found myself in the cargohold, which had been turned into a slave pen. The dead bodies of children, both male and female were discarded in a pile, all with obvious signs of injuries which would have been caused by struggling. Several were lashed to chairs or between poles, and fitted with null crowns to prevent resistance. I covered my mouth and stifled the urge to vomit. The odor was horrific, and the sounds were sickening. I noticed there was one particular set of pens which were separated from the rest, and began to approach. A tall man wearing dark robes stepped from inside one of the pens after adjusting his robes, “You’re welcome to the young ones, but the older girl is for the holder’s pleasure only. He wants to break her in properly.” I nodded my understanding, and as soon as the man passed, I quickly turned, reaching out with my left hand, grasping his chin, and clapped my right across the back of his head, violently turning his head until an audible crack was heard. The man’s body slumped over, and his dead eyes stared into infinity from behind his hood.

I immediately entered the pens, at which point several young Matari girls began crying and screaming. I had seen enough, and threw the robe off. I knelt down to where the girls could hear me, “I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to make sure no one ever does again. Now have any of you seen an older girl? Black hair, about five feet tall?” Most of them shook their heads, but one piped up, “You mean Nadia? She’s locked in that room there.” I moved quickly and released their bindings, “Go hide. I’ll be back for you soon.” I noticed the access panel to the room which one of the girls had directed me to was locked. It appeared that the electronic locks were set up only to respond to a specific proximity card. I dug out my knife and proceeded to pry the panel away from the wall, exposing the circuitry and wiring. I didn’t have enough time to manually bypass the locking mechanism, so I relied on the equipment my brother had provided me with. I plugged a small circuit board into the board that was part of the mechanism, only to hear the lock click audibly. I opened the door, and Nadia was restrained across a large bed. She was about to scream until I clasped my hand over her mouth. “Do not do that. You don’t want to tip off security that someone is down here. Especially when that someone is down here for the sole intent of getting you out of here,” I said before slowly uncovering her mouth. She was obviously terrified, “Who are you? How do I know you’re not just going to abuse me like the holder did to all the others?” “I used to serve under your father. Admiral Gellick used to mention you all the time in his morning briefings to our squadron,” I said with a chuckle, “Always told us to make sure you weren’t trying to stowaway.” She breathed a sigh of relief, “Well, now that you’ve found me, how are we getting out of here?” “You leave that to me,” I said as I cut her restraints. I stowed my knife, drew my flechette pistol, and motioned for her to follow me. She suppressed her urge to throw up at the sights and smells surrounding her in the cargo hold. I pointed to where I had instructed the young Matari girls to hide, “There are several young girls there, go hide with them, do not move from that spot until either I come get you, or Federation Special Forces show up.”

I made my way to one of the communications stations in the cargohold; only to punch in the communications codes I was given. The image of my brother appeared and he only answered with one word, “Well?” “She’s safe. Holder hadn’t gotten to her, but a lot of Matari and Federation children weren’t so lucky. I’m putting in the navigations relay codes now. So hopefully their own navigations system will become their worst enemy.” “Good,” Vick replied before the image disappeared.

I made my way back to where I had instructed Nadia to hide, and backed into the alcove with her and the young girls, keeping them at my back so that I could cover their hiding spot. I secured my pistol, and sat down after a while. Nadia tapped me on the shoulder, “What now?” “Now, we wait,” I replied.

Minutes seemed like hours, but it wasn’t long before suddenly the ship violently shuddered and alarm klaxons began blaring. I smiled, “Looks like the cavalry is here.”

The Victorieux Luxury Yacht had been engaged by an Ares-class Interceptor being supported by a Phobos-class Heavy Interdictor and a small Federation battlegroup comprised of Sin-Class Black Ops battleships, Arazu-class Force Reconnaissance Cruisers, a Thanatos-class carrier and a Ninazu-class Force Auxiliary. The vessel had been tackled, and ordered to cut its engines to avoid destruction, and was then pulled on board of the Thanatos-class carrier.

Explosions and automatic weapon fire echoed through the corridors, and it wasn’t long before multiple men and women carrying rifles and wearing the uniforms of the Federation Navy’s Special Forces were entering the cargohold. One called out, “Anyone alive in here?”

“Only those who’ve ever been close to death,” I retorted. I stood up with my hands above my head, and ushered the girls toward the Special Forces soldiers. One of them recognized me and nodded, “Lieutenant.” “Not anymore mate,” I replied as I walked toward them. I walked past them, only to see another group of Special Forces soldiers dragging the Amarrian holder in handcuffs toward the hatch. As I approached, I smiled, “I’ll be taking that one off your hands.” The one soldier stepped in front of me, “On whose authorization? And who the fuck are you?” “The less you know about this, the better. Just know that Admiral Gellick won’t mind,” I said with a snicker.

I snatched the man out of the grip of the soldier, and prodded him out the hatch. He shouted, “You won’t get away with this! The Empire will know the Federation was involved!” “Well, that’s why there won’t be any witnesses,” I said with a sinister smirk. I shoved the man toward a very familiar looking Leopard-class shuttle. From behind me, I heard Nadia shout, “Daddy! Oh thank God!” I shoved the holder into the cargo loader for Dart and turned only to see Admiral Gellick embrace his daughter. I then heard a familiar voice, “Carrigan! Front and center.” I slowly walked over, “You do realize that you don’t have any authority over me anymore, right?” “Well, technically, that’s untrue, as I could simply arrest you for all the mayhem you’ve caused since leaving the Navy,” he retorted in a very matter of fact manner, “But, I think I can overlook your bad behavior considering you brought my Nadia back to me unharmed.” “Well, I don’t know how that happened, but I’d recommend tightening security protocols. On two unrelated topics, make sure you have someone launch an investigation against the Empire and ensure that I get paid.”

“Right, well the Black Eagles should be handling your payment. Just know you have my gratitude,” Gellick said firmly. I nodded prior to walking back toward the Leopard and boarding it. The holder was restrained to a jumpseat in the cargo hold, and he was muttering to himself. “Well, you know what, you’ll have plenty of time to atone for your sins, as I’m turning you directly over to the Republic,” I said with a smirk. “You can’t. You won’t! Those animals will tear me apart,” he cried.

“Sounds like you’re getting exactly what you deserve then,” I said coldly before exiting the cargohold.

END