Sixty-Two Jumps

Author: Darrell Musko

Original post: https://forums-archive.eveonline.com/message/6176968#post6176968

Entry for the YC117 Pod and Planet Fiction Contest in the A Day in the Life category.

Prologue

A soft orange light began to blink on the console and the capsuleer rose from his chaise lounge situated in the middle of the room. As he approached the console, the motion sensors picked up his movement and the rest of the console began to brighten, screens and monitors flickered to life and a projection of countless constellations filled the room, centered just above the lounge where the capsuleer had been a moment ago. His hands passed over the console and an image of a stern-faced woman appeared on one of the monitors as the capsuleer went back to his perch in the middle of the room, with the swirling images of the cosmos slowly rotating just overhead. “Go ahead,” the capsuleer prompted. “Thank you for accepting our call. We have a job for you, one that I think you might enjoy,” the woman began. The capsuleer scoffed, “You mean unlike the previous employment offer from your Corporation? It really makes me lament the state of affairs when fellow capsuleers can't handle a trifle such as your last predicament.” He let the last word hang in the air, as if daring the woman to disagree. She held her composure, though, and replied quickly. “You made out well enough on that, if I recall correctly, and we respect your professionalism. Particularly, your discretion...” He didn't reply. After a brief moment of quiet, the woman started again. “I'm going to need your assurances that the same terms as last time apply. Before I detail the mission I'm going to need you to accept or deny our employment offer -” “You know that's not how it works, Elise. I get the details, I let you know how much it will cost, then you get the pleasure of sitting back while I get the job done.” Elise stared hard into the camera for so long that the capsuleer began to wonder if the connection had been severed, but finally she spoke, “Alright. I'll give you the details. Just know that if we discover any of this information is leaked we will look to you for answers.” “Elise, please, your threats are completely unnecessary and quite adorable. But I will admit your behavior has me intrigued. Continue, and please show me the respect a professional of my caliber deserves.” Elise punched a few keys just off screen and then began, “I've just sent you the sitrep briefing as it currently stands. Inside you'll find all the necessary information to do your job, including POIs, fleet composition forecasts and the current convoy route, pending any W-Space deviations if they occur. I'll give you a few minutes to -” “I'll do it.” “Did you even... never mind. You were always too fast for your own good. So, what's this going to cost us? We're prepared to negotiate a fair price, considering the circumstances.” “No. I want one.” “Absolutely not. Out of the question.” “Good luck on your hunt, then.” He moved to end the transmission, but Elise quickly spoke up. “Wait! We'll pay you twice your usual fee!” “Ha! A dozen capsuleers, podded I presume, ships and fits, administrative costs... you know that I could ask for ten times my usual fee and when I'm successful you'd come out ahead. No. We both know ISK isn't the issue here. I just want one, Elise.” There was another long period of silence, but this time Elise visibly wrestled with the decision. Finally, “Alright. We'll hand over one of our choosing when the job is done to our satisfaction.” The capsuleer allowed a small smile to break his normally stoic facade, then he cleared his throat and punched a few keys placed discreetly along the side of his lounge. “Contract signed and sent, I'll prep and depart immediately.” Elise sighed and pushed a few keys, then, “Contract confirmed. Show these militia bumpkins that they have no idea who they've upset. Good hunting, Santo.” “You were right Elise,” replied Santo Trafficante, New Eden's deadliest and most prolific bounty hunter, “this is one job that I will most certainly enjoy.”

Nisuwa – One Hundred Twenty-Four Jumps

Kontraband Venning, CEO of Mecha Enterprises Fleet [XMETA], a small but respectable Corporation fighting for the Gallente Federal Defense Union, clapped his hands a few times in an attempt to get the attention of his pilots gathered in the XMETA offices aboard the captured Caldari State Protectorate Logistic Support Station.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen, calm down. We've got some serious business to attend to. It's a truly rare occasion that we are all gathered together so I know you guys suspect something big is up.”

He let the suggestion linger for a bit and it had the desired effect. His pilots focused and the chit chat quickly died down. “Okay. I hope everyone has a clean jump clone available, because we are going Null.”

Kontra hit a button on a nearby console and the lights dimmed and a star map filled the room. A bright yellow line pulsing between several dozen of the systems delineated a route.

“Damn, that's like... that's sixty-two jumps!” exclaimed Godren Storm, XMETA's resident old codger. She'd been a capsuleer for years now, coming in with the initial influx of capsuleers in YC105. In those years she'd been to every part of New Eden, from the heart of the Gallente Federation where she'd grown up to the desolate wastes of shattered wormhole systems. Now she was content to push Gallente interests via militia work, albeit as long as those interests were within a dozen jumps of Nisuwa where she'd grown some relative roots. “Sixty-two jumps – one way, Godren,” added Freddie Ellecon, a young capsuleer that had risen through XMETA's ranks quickly, becoming a director faster than all but the initial founders, “don't forget we have to come home... please continue, Kontra.”

“Yes,” Kontra confirmed, “we will be coming back on this one, ships, and pods hopefully, intact. But let me get to what it is we'll be doing, and for that let's hear from Silver.” Silver Suspria walked to the front of the briefing room, her long hair hanging in loose curls over her stylish pilot jumpsuit. Silver's appearance was at odds with her personality, and glimpses of her fiery attitude come boiling up when she speaks. Despite her petite frame and the evident care with which she presents herself, she was an absolute monster in the pod and it leaked into her briefings more often than not. At this moment, however, she was very composed and the blood lust everyone knew was within would have been very hard to find if they didn't already know her. “Alright, an old acquaintance of mine is in one of the large Null Sec Blocs, or rather he was. He was a spy, and I believe he's been burned. I haven't heard from him in the last 36 hours and thus, this op. Draw your attention to this message I received at 0400 yesterday.” The pilots all took a moment to quickly scan the message. An intense quiet took hold of the room, broken by an abrupt and derisive snort. Liara Tasonni, sober for once, or maybe just for now, stood up and loudly began, “That's a myth! You brought us all in here to tell campfire stories? I tell you what, I for one am not going to blast my ass all the way across the known galaxy for some unconfirmed message about some ridiculous sh-” “They're real, Liara.” Everyone turned to see Zoe, the quiet and reclusive member of XMETA with the longest tenure in the Corporation, and the best pilot hands down. “I haven't seen them all, but I've seen enough to know they exist.” “Can someone take a minute and explain to me what these are? I've never heard of a... Utu? A ship, I presume?” chimed in Cyber, the corp's often absent diplomat to areas of space distant and foreign. “Yes, one of the rarest ships in the galaxy. And the others mentioned there, the Moracha, the Imp, the Malice, everything you see in that manifest – if that scan is legitimate then you are looking at the most expensive Obelisk haul in recorded history.” Zoe affirmed. “And it's already ours,” Silver added. “My contact had these sitting in station. Along with this scan result I received a contract. The ships are now mine and sitting in freeport just sixty-two jumps away. We can assume the original owners don't know exactly who has them anymore, they've passed through too many hands. We just have to fly down there and bring them out.” “Three things I'm wondering though...” Tarko Auduin chimed in, “is what happened to all those hands these ships passed through, who did these ships belong to, and why do we even need to move them? If they are as rare as you say we'll have a target on our backs from the get go, if not already! I say we sell them to the highest bidder and call it a win.” “Fair questions, Tarko, so let's address them,” Kontra began, “one, we don't know what has happened to the people who have come into contact with these ships. Silver's contact hasn't responded to all our attempts to communicate leading us to believe he is either dead or missing, but anyway out of the picture. We can assume the same from everyone else up to him coming into possession of these.” “Two, because of the missing chain of possession, we don't know exactly who these ships belonged to in the first place. Now, Silver's acquaintance was deep undercover in the Northern Coalition, but since they've been slowly dwindling in their influence we don't believe the ships were theirs but that they instead came into possession of them in a similar situation to ours.” “And finally, why not sell them? We've talked about that and honestly... we're a bit torn. We could make a lot of money, true. The truth is it would probably be the most logical step – just sell them and put it all behind us, but would it really be the end of it? Silver was contracted these hulls, his information is already on file. They will come after us now, whoever they are.” “Well, perhaps they're reasonable business people and will recognize they're wasting their time and resources coming after a small group of nobodies like us,” Darrell Musko offered, then quickly added, “No offense.” “Maybe, Darrell,” answered Silver, “but this is what I was stuck on – when will you ever, ever, have the opportunity to fly one of these things? These are ships of mythical stature, whose capabilities make everything we fly look like children's toys. These ships are meant to be flown, not gather dust in some nullbear's hangar.” “So we're going to have a director vote,” Kontra cut in, “we recognize we are taking a risk, but if ever there was a risk worth taking I think it's now. We just wanted to hear everyone's concerns before taking the vote. Does anyone have anything else to add?” The pilots looked around at each other, but no one had anything else to say. Liara let out another derisive snort.

Old Man Star – Twenty-Three Jumps, Twelve in Fleet

The fleet was twelve strong. They sat amassed on the outer edges of a wormhole, three scanning Buzzards, six interceptors of various model, and three Proteii. “Good job on scanning us down a chain, Kaia,” Zoe's voice echoed over the comms, “with this we're at a fraction of the length we had anticipated.” “No problem,” Kaia answered, “I'll follow you through the other side back to K-Space and then start looking for better chains while the op moves forward.” “Sounds good,” Kontra barked, “now Chrif and Godren, you two monitor the holes and keep us informed. The rest of you, let's go!”

Chrif and Godren cloaked up in their buzzards and the rest of the fleet jumped through. “When I came through here earlier it was empty, but that doesn't mean we should linger.” Kaia advised. The fleet quickly warped to the outbound hole and jumped through into Null. “Alright, you guys keep moving up the pipe and I'll start scanning these systems behind you, hopefully catching a quick jump back home.” “Sounds good, Kaia. Keep an ear on the chatter.” Kontra said as the fleet jumped out, leaving their scanner behind.

1DDR-X – Twelve Jumps, Nine in Fleet

“This doesn’t feel right, Kontra,” Silver admitted, “we make it all the way to station and see no one? I mean, yeah, Null is often just a barren wasteland but this seems too good to be true.” “I hear you,” Kontra agreed, “but what can we do? Whatever trap they’ve set we’ve wandered right into it. All we can do is keep working our plan and hope we move too fast for them to react. Hop into that freighter and let’s start heading back. Kaia, any luck on a better route home?” “Nothing yet, still looking,” came Kaia’s response over comms. With the fleet docked in station, Silver went about prepping the freighter for launch, including having the interceptor he came in loaded into the cargo bay. “Fleet undock, Silver go ahead and finish up your preparations and we’ll start to scout the route back. Give me plus one, two and three – James, Darrell, Liara,” Kontra ordered. The three pilots gave their confirmations and the fleet began to move. Kontra, Zoe and Freddie were in the three Proteus class Strategic Cruisers while the rest of the fleet stayed mobile in Interceptors. They were at a safe set of coordinates just in warp range of the outbound stargate and awaiting the intel from their scouts. James’ voice came in first. “Gate is clear, though we have one bogey in system and I don’t have a scan on him,” James reported. “See if you can find him,” Kontra began, “and the rest of the scouts keep moving. Silver, undock and get that beautiful beast through this gate, we are moving.” “10-4,” replied Silver, who began the undocking procedure from the station with all the valuable hulls secured safely in her newly acquired freighter, “Here goes the dumbest idea we’ve ever had.” Darrell’s voice broke in over comms, “Plus two intel: gate is clear, one in local, appears to be in a Mackinaw. I’ll see if I can get eyes.” “And I’m landing on gate three now, preparing to jump,” Liara added. “Good, Silver, how’s it coming?” Kontra asked. “Slow and steady, entering warp in about 5 seconds.” “Putting you into the next system in about one minute. James, intel on the plus one.” James took a minute to respond, “Well, uh... I can’t find the bogey pilot, still not sure what he’s in. The gate is clear though so I’ll head –” “Break break break,” Liara burst in over comms, “hostile fleet spike. They are landing on plus three out-gate. Looks like...fifteen Svipuls, Keres, Hyena, Kitsune. Snigwaffe. I’m bouncing to a tactical. They’re warping to the plus two. Numbers don’t add up, there seems to be one more, maybe a straggler, whoever it was, they weren’t with the Svipul gang... oh sh-” A brief feedback spike screeched over the channel followed by a short burst of static. “Liara? Liara come in? She must have been podded. Darrell, what’s the plus two look like? Silver, jump into the plus one as you land on gate.” Kontra ordered. “Snigwaffe spike here in the plus two. I’m 250 kilometers off the out-gate, no ships on scan, they’re still holding gate cloak.” “Find out what was able to take out Liara’s pod, it’ll be a few minutes while she gets reset on comms back in Nisuwa.” Kontra told him. Silver briefly added, “Jumping.” “Fleet, jump jump jump. Silver immediately begin to jump into the next system, we’re gonna try something here. James, you’re with us. Darrell, where they at?” Kontra quickly asked. “They’ve uncloaked, aligning… ok, they’ve warped to your gate. They’ve seen me, so they know we’ve got eyes. One has recently committed a criminal offense… wait, that’s not a Snigwaffe pilot… oh…” Darrell’s comms clicked a few times as he quickly maneuvered his mind through the pod’s control systems, then he spoke, “It’s Santo.” Just then Liara burst onto the frequency, “It’s Santo Trafficante! He podded me, he’s in a Proteus and –” “Break, break, break!” Darrell interrupted, “I’ve been engaged by Santo, he’s at the out gate – damn! I’m down, that was fast, gonna get my pod –” then again their ears ringed as Darrell’s pod exploded. “Alright, everyone, listen up. Zoe, you and Freddie are going to engage this Svipul gang as they jump in. The rest of us will hopefully cross jump them, we should all be landing around the same time. While they’re engaged with the Proteus guys, Silver jump on through, they will have aggression and won’t be able to pursue. Then get your pretty little butt on its way to the next gate. Copy?” Kontra quickly asked. A chorus of 10-4s and Rogers piped through the comms and the plan was in motion. The faster ships landed and jumped, with Freddie and Zoe staying on gate. Just as the vanguard jumped out, Local spiked with over a dozen new pilots. “Perfect timing, guys,” Freddie laughed, “now let’s see how many of these guys we can take down, Zoe.” “Sure.” Zoe quietly agreed. Almost immediately the Svipul gang uncloaked and started aggressing the two XMETA pilots left behind. Amidst the fire and shrapnel of the ensuing dogfight, Silver landed in her massive Obelisk. “Other side is clear, Silver,” Kontra prompted, “Santo is still in system but we don’t know where.” “Jumping,” Silver confirmed, “thanks guys, see you back in Nis.” “Yep,” Zoe replied casually.

LG-WA9 – Ten Jumps, Five in Fleet

As Silver broke cloak and started to align her massive ship along the exit vector, Santo decloaked in his Proteus and initiated a Warp Scrambler on her.

“Scrammed, guys,” Silver confirmed, “gonna need a little help here while I keep aligning.” The remaining XMETA fleet engaged the enemy Proteus, but their Interceptors were not equipped to deal with such a threat. Only Kontraband in his Proteus was applying any pressure to the bounty hunter. “We only have about sixty seconds before those Svipuls jump back through, I’ll see if I can neut him off,” Kontra yelled. “Check, check,” Kaia’s voice broke in, “I just jumped into you guys her in LG tac. Do not, say again, do not warp to the current out-gate. There is a Pandemic Legion camp on the other side.” “Damnit!” Silver screamed, “Well, I guess it’s time for Phase Two. Kontra, how you holding up there with Santo? I’m gonna need about thirty seconds to initiate this…” “I can give you thirty seconds,” Kontra replied, but the sound of system alerts and blaring alarms going off in his pod carried over through the channel, “maybe.” “Tarko, James, Austin, I’m jettisoning the hulls in three…two…one…go, go, go!” Silver said. Immediately, the three remaining Inty pilots ejected from their ships and boarded the now free-floating Utu, Malice and Moracha. Kaia’s voice came in, “Warp to Kaia, warp to Kaia, I’ve found an exit.” “Where does it go?” Silver asked. “I don’t know, but it’s not here.” Kaia admitted. “Fair enough,” Silver said, “Kontra if you can give me a few more seconds I’ll be out.” “He’s got me scrammed in the Moracha, now,” James broke in. “In that case, godspeed,” Kontra said as he warped off-grid en route to Kaia’s rendezvous. “I’m out now, too,” Silver added. “Sorry James.” “Nah,” James dismissed, “this should be interesting. Kontra’s already softened him up for me!” “We’re down on this side,” Freddie’s voice chimed in, “those Svipuls will be after you guys in a few seconds, minus six of their friends.” “Nice work, everyone. Kaia,” Kontra said, “get in this hole and find us a way out.” “Hopped in as soon as Tarko landed,” Kaia quipped. The rest of the fleet jumped into the wormhole and left James and Santo fighting it out behind them.

W-Space – Unknown Jumps, Five in Fleet

“Ok, this exit takes us to Providence, JEIV-E, which is still far from home but out of this region and the hole will likely collapse once Silver gets through with the Obelisk,” Kaia offered. Silver laughed, then began, “Actually, we will be fine in Providence. The folks there won’t attack me in this freighter.” “Yeah,” Kontra confirmed, “Providence residents have fallen prey to too many bait Freighters in the past, and this should be smooth sailing until we find a quicker route home.” “But, uh, won’t they go for us?” Tarko asked, silently gliding up next to the wormhole exit in his shiny new Malice. “Oh… right, well we will just have to fast burn to lowsec and let Silver take the risk on his own.” Kontra said. “This is James,” came James’ voice over comms, “the Svipuls came in and tackled me before I could get Santo down. He was able to somehow escape, but I got out in my pod. Jumping into your hole now. Anything I can fly?” “I’ll eject this Whiptail when you land,” Silver said. Moments later, James was in a Whiptail and the fleet gathered to jump through the wormhole into Providence. “I’ve found a few signatures already, scanning them down,” Kaia chimed in. They waited a few moments. Suddenly, the sensors picked up a number of scanner probes. “Everybody catch that? Core scanner probes. Somebody followed us in, stay frosty.” Kontra said. “Break, break,” Godren’s voice crackled into life, “So Chrif and I abandoned the old wormhole when you guys deviated earlier. I’m in Kedama and it looks like we found a hole with a route that pops out just two jumps from JEIV-E in IWZ3-C. You guys are just four jumps from home if you hurry!” “Fleet jump!” Kontra ordered, “Excellent work Godren! Let’s fast burn back.” The fleet jumped out and was on their way home.

Kedama – One Jump, Twelve in Fleet

Godren was waiting for the fleet on the Kedama side, along with the pilots podded earlier. As the ships came out of the wormhole they immediately warped for Nisuwa and docked. As Silver’s Obelisk came into station the pilots let out a cheer and began to congratulate each other on their success. They all gathered in the briefing room and starting going through the Obelisk manifest together, marveling now and then at their unbelievable luck. “Wait a second, where’s Chrif?” Kontra asked. Everyone looked around but he wasn’t in the briefing room. “He said something about getting a surprise ready when he and I were scanning earlier, then he disappeared,” Godren admitted. Kontra turned to the Corporation’s pilot activity console and brought its activity up on the main screen. There, they saw Chrif in a Hawk in Kedama, orbiting a Proteus with both ships guns blazing. The corp sprang into action, the pilots almost tripping over themselves as they went for the door to hop into their ships. Kontra stopped them with a whistle and when they looked at him saw a strange smile stamped widely across his face. He keyed on the room’s comm system. “Chrif,” Kontra prompted. “Yeah?” Chris answered. “Have you done what I think you’ve done?” Kontra asked. “What? You mean fit up a resist Hawk and goaded our stubborn specter, Santo, into engaging me outside the wormhole he followed you through?” Chrif laughed. “Yes,” Kontra confirmed, “exactly that.” “Oh, yeah,” Chrif added. “If that’s what you’re thinking then that’s what I’ve done. He’s about to go down.” As he finished, the monitor showed Santo’s Proteus explode in a flash. The room erupted into a new chorus of cheers. “Well done, XMETA.” Kontra said, “I think we’ve earned a drink on this one.”

Epilogue

Santo answered the call and was unsurprised to find Elise staring angrily at him. “Look, they were prepared to…” Santo began but Elise cut him off, “We are severing our relationship with you Mr. Trafficante. Your ineptitude on this job was beyond belief. You’ll notice we’ve added to the existing bounty on your head, and instructed all of our pilots that you are to be killed on sight, in or out of the pod.” Elise then quickly ended the transmission and Santa was left in his quarters, the star map slowly rotating above him. He punched a few keys on the terminal and a new face popped up. “Star Gazer location services, how may we assist you today Mr. Trafficante?” a friendly female voice prompted. Santo punched a few more keys and swiped a holo-file in her direction. She opened the file and the members of the XMETA Corporation filled her screen. Santo’s face remained stoic, but his eyes lit up as he spoke, “I’d like a locator agent for these capsuleers and any known acquaintances.”

The End