EvE: Awakening

Author: Hardradda

Original post: https://the-huntsman.blogspot.com/2017/10/eve-online-short-story.html

Entry for the YC119 Pod and Planet Fiction Contest in the Eight Thousand Suns in New Eden category.

You don’t really have a childhood in new Eden, there’s the indoctrination phase, then you are thrown out in to space; a small pod filled with technology and fuelled by the need to see the expansion and ascension of your race to superiority, especially over those Gallente bastards. When you’re Caldari you’re taught two things; the company is your family...and never trust the Gallente.

The Caldari Military training was; I believed, the greatest time of my life. I spent 3 years on my fast track career in the Caldari State Protectorate, accolades and medals flowed as I sought to rid the stars of the Gallente and Minmitar terrorists. Being awarded command of my first Hookbill class frigate; was the finest day in my existence.

Everything that the Company and Nation required of me I did without hesitation, I was not the arm that swung the blade; I was the cutting edge of that blade, finer than a razor.

I remember the moment that set in motion the events that would change everything, destroy my ideals and turn me in to something all together...different.

I was docking in Wiyrkomi Peace Corps station in Prism after repelling a Gallente force, their Tristan class frigates disgorging drones like some vile infested sow had left my Navy Class Caracal with more than a few scars which I complimented by having the killmarks painted on the hull to serve as a reminder, this cat has claws!

A private conversation request from a redacted name, the name a mixture of Numbers following the designation of Caldari Citizen but I had been taught these codes, it was a senior operative within Caldari Military intelligence.

“Captain Vat Surrant, I wonder if I could tempt you to consider a new quarry?”

I had worked my ass off to get on the capital ship training programme. Was this my moment?

“I am what the Company needs me to be Ma’am.”

I could barely contain my excitement, I was glad we weren’t meeting face to face, I’d have come across too eager.

“Your combat record is exemplary but this target will require an entirely different skill set.”

This was it, this was my moment!

“I am of the Caldari for the Caldari Ma’am.”

“Excellent, you will travel to Hysera to the Corporate Police force Station at Planet II, you will find a secure container; coded to your clearances, install the implants and undertake the training required for the assignment, everything is in the container.”

“Yes Ma’am, might I ask about the new quarry?”

“Let’s just say that I hope you enjoy hunting Rabbits; welcome to the Intelligence Services Captain.”

The Intelligence officer left the conversation immediately.

Ten jumps isn’t a long time, I decided to swap to a Manticore Class Frigate, the bomb launcher was useless but the cloak was worthwhile on the journey, I was going to pass through Tama a system infested and plagued by low life capsuleers; who for years had preyed on and cost Caldari lives.

The journey was swift and uneventful, in the few short minutes I dwelled on the officer’s words, I’ll confess I was surprised to be heading to Hysera, it’s not known as a Capital ship training ground and the State Police do not tend to get involved in Navy activities and vice versa.

My Mind raced. What if they wanted me to be a Force Auxilliary pilot? I had the utmost respect for the Logistics but I was the sword, not the shield.

Maybe I’d train for a Chimera or Phoenix then the glorious Titan Class vessels of the Caldari Navy. I could wait no longer.

I docked and just as I had been told; I found there was a small secure container, I entered my officer level clearance, opened the container and found only confusion.

There were no capital ship manuals or uniform and insignias, there was a flight suit, angular and white, the Servant Sisters of Eve emblem emblazoned upon it, I lifted it out in a rush to get at the rest of what awaited me and it was only to add to my despair, my new implants were the highest grade learning implants, not combat focused as I had been.

I despaired, had I done something catastrophically wrong. I could only be sure of one thing; whatever I’d done must have been horrific to see my career destroyed and find myself on a new path...exploration.

I sat dejected examining the flight suit, I picked up the implants and read the safety instructions, their interface with my capsule meant that in the event of destruction they would not transfer with my consciousness.

I lifted out the implants and noticed the collection of skill books and skill injectors; surely to ensure I learned my new scanning skills quickly.

I would not have believed that it was possible be more confused but the name of the first skillbook caused me to swear. It read Gallente Frigate.

I was starting to wonder if someone had slipped me some mindflood.

I pulled out more books, Gallente Cruiser, Destroyer, Battelcruiser and Battleship, drone, armour and mechanic skills. A complete roster of skills to ensure a capsuleer would be equipped to a comparable level as I was after years of service and training in the Caldari Navy. As I lifted the last skill book from the container I noticed a charter document.

Captain, Your exemplary record has not gone unnoticed; you have performed above expectations consistently. But this has come at some cost. The other officers respect you but are intimidated, it would be fair to say you are not well liked, for this reason you have been selected by the highest echelons of command for a clandestine mission.

You will go before a promotion board and will be passed over for what is a deserved promotion, the seed will be sown that your fellow officers had conspired against you, this will result in your alleged defection.

From there you will travel to the region of Venal and make your way to P-VYVL; where you shall find a Guristas Station. Your story of defection will resonate with both Laitanen and Kosakami and should aid in your insertion in to their ranks.

You are to infiltrate the Guristas, carry out any mission they see fit, even if it costs Caldari lives, you must not be discovered; failure is not an option, we have waited many years for the right candidate for this mission.

Upon establishing yourself in their ranks you are to earn their trust and learn the whereabouts of their ship building facilities. Report this to us and we will mobilise an armada and obliterate them.

It is time to clean up Caldari space Captain!

Perform well Captain, and the Capital fleet will be your first...of many.

Caldari Citizen 7211891920119

I didn’t know how to react, was I so good at my job they didn’t want me? Was I so good that I was the only person they could trust? My first Commander would have seen things differently; he would have told me that I wasn’t the best pilot, just the right one.

The following days were a blur, the Promotion panel was so real that I genuinely felt rejected, I had started to become paranoid, maybe they did want rid of me and this was to force me to make the decision my superiors didn’t have the stomach for.

Between the spiced wine and the confusing events, I lost it, screaming at officers in the mess, splashed wine down my uniform, I couldn’t tell if I had played the role to a tune or if I had been played like a fool but it went perfectly, vomiting in the entrance to my docking bay was enough to warrant a reprimand. I took that as my cue, I cleaned up, put on the flight suit and took my raptor out, broadcasting insults in local communications channels, I stayed on the undock for a while; sending duel requests to anything undocking, when militia ships started landing on grid I left.

35 Jumps doesn’t take long in a Raptor, but was long enough for me to resign my commission, bad mouth the State in every Caldari system until I jumped in to M-OEE8, I’d been in sovereignty space before but always as part of a fleet, this was different, I was alone, not just alone, I was going to be hunted, chased by everything, I had expected it but was totally unprepared for the reality. It felt like jumping any normal gate but the moment that my screens started displaying multiple warp disruption bubbles I realised it wasn’t the same, the locals weren’t afraid me, they owned this space.

A scan of my overview showed a rag tag group of frigates and a Sabre. I’d ensured the ship was configured for travelling quickly, I chuckled as my sensors indicated the sound of locking attempts, I entered warp and bypassed them all.

It was a life changing moment, the realisation that these pilots live like this, not knowing who or what may be on the other side of a gate. I couldn’t help but respect them...a little.

I journeyed through Tribute towards Venal, systems became quieter until I found myself alone JURU-T. I warped around the system trying to shake of the sense of being hunted. I wasn’t truly alone. I moved through the belts and encountered Guristas ships of varying sizes but did not engage them; I didn’t want to put a price on my head at this stage.

I sat in system until my pulse quieted and my hands stopped shaking, it was unsettling but exhilarating.

I steeled myself and continued until I reached my destination, there were numerous pilots not aligned to the Guristas, I picked up on their exchanges, their interactions were guarded; each looking to know more about the other than they tell of themselves, sizing each other up, trying to understand who was friend or foe. I treated everyone like an enemy, silence gives away nothing.

I docked in the station passing a couple of strategic cruisers engaging an Osprey, the pilot broadcast locally for assistance and was met with derision and mockery, their Capsule was in the process of exploding when my docking request was completing, poor bastard.

I expected the station to be run down and in a state of disrepair, it was not, it was well maintained, in perfect defensive condition their Sovereignty would not be challenged easily.

I paid a visit to the Mission offices, the only missions I’d be trusted with were distribution missions, from the elite of a Navy to a delivery person; not what I had envisioned, I guess I had hoped that I’d be sent out to fight other factions but no; “Pick this up, take it there, come back.” This was my role to begin with. It’s not surprising, when you have sent as many of the Guristas back to the rebirth chambers as I had; I should be glad they didn’t just kill me.

I bought a Vexor class ship, I’d installed the skills and accelerated their training with the implants and skill injectors, but I can assure you, being able to fly and knowing how to fly a ship... are not the same thing.

Over the coming months I earned enough respect and reputation to access lower level security missions; the time helped as I grew accustomed to my new ships and abilities; drones had been an especially hard adjustment, I’d used them in the past but not as my principal weapons, by the time I was comfortable piloting an Ishtar it was second nature. I no longer considered them odd affectations of the Gallente ships but viewed them as an extension of my will.

I dedicated myself to my mission and was invited to join them. I was officially undercover within the Guristas.

After my recent performances I was deemed to have sufficient loyalty to be granted a Worm, originally a Merlin class frigate but even as a true Caldari Soldier this ship was a marvel, it had far greater damage output capabilities than its progenitor. Its drone systems had been re-engineered; I was amazed at its destructive potential.

I was instructed to protect a Maze, we had many of them throughout the region as staging bases; they had the greatest defences of any Guristas structure, I was instructed that I was in the Vanguard in the event of hostiles. I was on station for 4 hours when we got word that one of our Havens had been destroyed and intelligence that was taken at the time indicated our location, we prepared for an attack.

We were on patrol when a Raven Class battleship landed. In an instant we moved to engage, the enemy ship was nearly seventy kilometres away so we made best speed whilst we prepared to send further waves of ships if needed.

My initial expectations were that the Battleship would die in seconds but as we moved to engage a second and third landed; as did two Basilisk class Logistics cruisers, this was escalating.

Our Battleships immediately engaged the Ravens whilst the Logistics cruisers used their superior shield transfer arrays to allow the Ravens to survive the incoming damage, Cruise missiles flew around the battlefield, ships and drones exploded as our enemies gained the upper hand. My targeting alarm sounded, the lead raven had sent forth a flight of Hornet Drones, fast and deadly. I increased my orbit around the raven running the risk of losing my web and tried to maintain as much speed, the drones closed in seconds, they orbited like angry planets around a sun, I could hear my hull groan with the impacts of their shells on my shields. I steadied myself, I launched my drones and prayed my shields would hold, the drones kept on shooting me and I locked them up and fired my Rockets, I methodically killed each enemy drone, I was at half shields and low on capacitor. I recalled my drones took a quick survey of the battlefield, I was unprepared for the carnage, wrecks littered the space around us, I checked my ammunition reserves; I was stocked well enough, I moved back in to a tight orbit around the Raven, they clearly intended to use our deployed warp gates to move in to the inner reaches of our stronghold; all I could hope to do was slow them enough to ensure our defensive systems could destroy their ships.

I studied my overview; we were losing ships, unable to break through the defensive capabilities of the Logistics and withstand the damage from the Ravens, we were losing.

Jav Klassen our fleet commander called the retreat.

“We’re losing too many ships, fall back, we’ll have more ships and torpedo batteries waiting for them.”

“FC I have a web on the lead raven, do you want me to slow it down?”

“Negative, get out of there!”

As she barked at me I noticed the yellow targeting icon on the lead raven change to red, seconds later a salvo of cruise missiles hit my shields, my entire ship jolted, my relatively high speed and small hull being the only reason I wasn’t destroyed, my shields dropped to 80%, I hauled ass and aligned to the acceleration gate; not sure if I’d make it.

A targeting alarm sounded, then another, signalling Hornets and missiles incoming, I hit the Microwarpdrive, my ship lurched as the massive acceleration kicked in. A second salvo of missiles hit as I closed to ten kilometers, the crash of the missiles in to my ship drowned out by my shield alarm, a blaring Klaxon alerting me I now had less than 25% shields, I ran the numbers, it’s unlikely I’d survive a third; definitely not a fourth. I activated the gate proximity launch command and as third volley hit. My console screeched, my read outs turned red as my ship aligned. Seconds felt like hours, I could see more missiles on their way from the battleships as my inertia systems kicked in; I felt the weightless acceleration of a short controlled warp.

“SURRANT Status!? Jav shouted.

“I got out but the damage is in to my hull” I said breathlessly as my ship exited warp.

“Get reps on HIM! Anything with Electronic Counter Measures get out here, I want their targeting systems Jammed.”

Affirmatives came over the communications channels; I aligned to the ship maintenance bay, it was eighty clicks.

“Damn Surrant your ship looks like shit, you’re trailing smoke, better hope you aren’t losing atmosphere.”

“No FC, I’m good.”

I gunned my propulsion module and hoped that the ravens were too far from the gate to get through in time to blow me up.

“Surrant, you there’s no repair station grab my Gila and bring her out, get back in the fight!”

“Understood.”

When I got my capsule installed in Jav’s Gila I was stunned to realise it was decked out in Gallente regalia, since joining I had kept my passion for all things Caldari under wraps and hadn’t paid any attention to who came from where; the realisation that it was in fact a Gallente pilot who was my Fleet Commander and had just reorganised a fleet to protect me was startling, she had handed me a ship fitted with the finest of faction modules, equipped with the best of drones, it was valuable and she gave it to me without any conditions except to fight. I was reeling, why would a Gellente pilot do that for a Caldari citizen? We’re enemies, hatred so ingrained it was almost genetic. I felt like an imposter; a fraud, I felt unworthy, she had worked to earn it and equip the ship and was prepared to risk it in the hands of an age old enemy, I mean for crying out loud she was in a Moa, I could destroy her with her own ship.

“Surrant get out here the first Raven’s landing, anyone docked get the fuck out here and fight!” Jav’s voice had no malice; it was an instruction not an accusation.

I undocked and engaged the Raven, we destroyed it before the next Raven landed, we engaged the second and it exploded as the third and the Basilisks landed on grid, they attempted to flee...none of them escaped.

The celebrations were immense.

“Jav, I’ll drop your ship in the station.”

“Nah it’s ok, keep it, you earned it.”

But I hadn’t, it was for me to betray her and all the other pilots that I was flying with.

I felt unclean, I docked in the station; I had never felt lower in my life. That’s when the conversation request came in.

“Captain, I trust your mission is progressing?”

“Yes Ma’am, I’ve infiltrated the Pirates, you were correct; they were sympathetic to my plight.”

“Excellent, the armada will be in a position to strike soon, we cannot commit the ships for long, our window of opportunity is small, a fleet this size will not go unnoticed so we must be decisive and strike quickly.”

“I understand Ma’am.” I was sullen but I kept it from showing in my words.

“When you have the location fit a Cynosaural Field Generator to your ship, make your way to the destination system and use the Generator to open a point to point beacon and we shall bridge the entire fleet to your location in an instant.”

“I will be prepared Ma’am”

“See that you are, a Chimera class carrier has been commissioned in honour of your victory, and awaits your appointment captain, the Caldari State will deal a decisive blow to the Guristas Pirates, they will fall in to memory to stand as testament to those that betray the Caldari state!”

“Thank You Ma’am”

And with that she was gone; I was left to consider my position. When I took the mission I was certain of who I was and what I was fighting for, now I felt like a traitor to the Guristas.

I resolved to destroy my career and possibly my life; I opened a secure conversation with Jav.

“Jav, I need some advice and possibly some help.”

“Ok Vat, whatever you need.”

“There’s no easy way to say this, I’m a Spy, I’m a Captain in the Caldari Navy; I was sent to infiltrate the Guristas, locate the ship building yards and report their location to Naval Intelligence so that a Capital Armada can be bridged in and destroy everything.”

The wait for her to reply was agonising, I imagined a blockade of ships being dispatched to surround the station, every possible route blocked, all gates camped.

“You’re a crappy spy if you’re telling me this”

Not what I expected.

“Listen Vat, half of the pilots in here are defectors and half of them came in as spies. You have to decide what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean, I’ve played my hand, you can’t let my mission continue!”

“That’s your decision, run back to the Caldari Navy, see how your career works out, or drop your past and throw yourself in to your new life, stop acting like a Gurista and become one!”

“I don’t know what to do, I used to be so sure about what was right but I guess I’ve gone native.”

“Native? Native? What drugs are you taking? None of us are Native, we’re from all of the corners of New Eden, all races, no agenda other than messing with the empires and getting rich, we do what we want, to who we want, when we want.”

It was at this point I realised why I was having trouble making the decision, I was seeing a different world, the Guristas weren’t a threat to the Caldari they were a nuisance, destroying them was a Vendetta. This was about an agenda not about protecting the Caldari State, there were far more pressing issues to the state.

“Jav, I’ve got an idea...”

“Is it a bad one?”

“Very”

“Count me in” I could tell she was smiling.

I sent the mail as instructed, the Naval Armada formed, I’d fit the Cynosaural Field Generator and moved in my Manticore Class frigate in to position.

I joined the communications channel.

“Captain Surrant can you hear us?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“We have a capital fleet, nearly two hundred capital vessels and support ships, we bridge on your mark, we don’t have a great deal of time, we will jump as soon as you state the Beacon is up, the instruction Captain is ‘Cyno is Up’, understood?”

“Yes Ma’am”

I counted to thirty, de-cloaked and activated the generator, “CYNO IS UP!”

The Caldari fleet jumped to the Beacon, in to the midst of a full scale battle between warring Low Security Corporations, ships of all sizes flashed red on overviews of the Caldari Commanders, the space filled with weapons fire, fighters erupted from the bays of the Capital Vessels, confusion reigned supreme?

“Captain?”

“It’s like you said Ma’am, it’s time to clean up Caldari Space, welcome to Tama.”

I disconnected from the communications channel as she screamed at me, I heard Captains in the background as they tried to control the fleet, it was chaos, beautiful and poetic anarchy, I watched as more and more beacons lit the field; more and more ships would join the battle as it escalated.

I sat stationary, held in place by the force the Cynosaural beacon, a small ship in an enormous maelstrom and waited for someone to blow me up, I’d prepared for my destruction, I’m a combat pilot, I’ve lost ships before, except this time it would be on my own terms. I heard the alarms sound to warn me of targeting locks; the pulsing sound was barely audible over the explosions. I watched as damage read outs went red and the screeching alarm that accompanied the destruction of my ship and ejection of my Capsule, with practiced reflexes I warped out, the capsules navigation systems are not built to travel fast but the tiny size of the ship means there isn’t a great deal of mass to accelerate. I entered warp and left the carnage behind.

I warped to a location I’d saved in space which we’d scoped out before hand, there I found another Manticore Frigate, I boarded and started to activate all of my modules and initiated the cloaking sequence, a voice in my earpiece spoke.

“You’re late Surrant” Jav was laughing.

“What can I say it took them longer than I expected to kill me” I was laughing too.

“We’re watching the battle cloaked off the gate, it’s a massive clusterfuck, they’re all shooting one another. Good to go?”

“Yeah, I’m cloaked at the rendezvous location.”

“Excellent, on our way, prepare to bridge, we’re going to jump and bypass M-0EE8 because damn sure the locals have caught wind of this fight and will be looking to catch stragglers.”

Moments later bombers started to land on grid as my fleet arrived, space shimmered as a Sin Black Operations Battleship de-cloaked.

“Everyone get one click from the Sin, we bridge in fifteen Seconds”

The space was distorted as a strange expanding sphere swelled out from the sin, light bent around the Battleship.

“Bridge, Bridge, Bridge” Jav ordered.

I activated the bridge command, appearing in the Tribute region.

“Is everyone through, did anybody miss the bridge?” Asked Jav as she scanned local.

Nobody answered, “Ok, cloak up, next bridge will go up in eight minutes, sit tight, Barrland you have the fleet take the guys home; Surrant and I have got an appointent.”

“Understood, you heard the lady cloak up we move in eight.” Said Barrland, I’d flown with him, mainly skirmishes but I understood clandestine insertion was his thing.

Jav and I moved to a private channel, “the following location is need to know so I’m fleet warping us, keep cloaked, do not engage anything we’ll be landing on a titan and bridge to our destination system.”

“Understood.” Jav wasn’t usually as officious; this was serious.

Just as she had said we moved silently, conversation was sparse which again was unlike her.

“Is everything ok Jav?” I wasn’t nervous, I’d made my choice and I knew, my fellow Guristas Members supported me.

“Yeah, just concentrating, I want to make sure we aren’t being scanned, a Titan is a juicy target and this one is on its own so this is a big gamble.”

We landed in a system which you’ll forgive me if I don’t record and again Jav activated a fleet warp taking temporary control over my ship.

We landed on the Titan and something occurred to me immediately, I didn’t recognise the ship designation, my overview showed that I was looking a Titan Class Capital Ship and I recognised the Basic hull design but the designation was not familiar. Surprising when you consider I had years of experience with Caldari Navy and taken lessons required of the Capital training programme.

“Jav, what the hell is that?”

“That’s the reason for all of the secrecy, get 1 click from the Titan, we bridge in thirty seconds.”

“Bridge Up!”

I didn’t recognise the pilot but I guess that makes sense when secrecy is the key.

I activated the bridge command and when my navigation systems adjusted to the new system I was dumb struck.

The system was filled with capital vessels, all familiar and not at the same time, my screens displayed Komodo Class Titans, Loggerhead Force Auxiliary Ships and Caiman class Dreadnaughts.

The ships that I had called illegitimate bastard offspring of two races had become labours of love for me, these were magnificent.

The Guristas Pirate Faction had not been satisfied to raid and pillage, we were ready to conquer.

“Like the view?” Jav asked.

“They’re beautiful” was all I could manage.

“Dock in station you’ll find all the necessary resources required to fly the Caiman.”

“I don’t know what to say, I’ve always wanted to be a capital pilot.” I stammered.

“Don’t thank me, those things are whole world of stress I don’t need, by the time you are ready for one your ship will be ready.”

“My ship?”

“The construction teams have almost finished it, Caiman Class Dreadnaught, she’s already been named, She’s called The Awakening, Hope you like it.”

“I can’t think of what to say.”

“Get docked up, you’ve got class.”

With that Jav warped out and left me alone with my thoughts.

I had spent my career in the Navy working to be the best I could, to make the State and the Corporation all it could be, but that hard work had brought me hostility and isolation from my peers, I’d been a noble and honest pilot that had been turned in to a spy, the Guristas were pirates, thieves and murderers but they loved and cared for one another, they worked for each other, for the people, not the state, not the glory of a nation. I realised that when we fought together it wasn’t because those were our orders but because we were a family, all races, all backgrounds, accepted for what you did for the group, not for what the group wanted from you.

I docked up, sat in my Quarters and picked up a book.

As I signed off for the night my console alerted me to a mail.

V,

Have fun with the new toys, and remember what we taught you, listen to your FC, shoot primaries and as always; broadcast for reps.

Fly safe.

J