I’d like to say I was out all night drinking. I’d like to say I was up all night partying or doing something else equally fun to justify how I feel this morning. Truth is, none of those things occured. 

I’m dizzy. I’m nauseous. I want to puke. Even writing this entry makes me want to pass out.

I hate getting older.

I really don’t like interrupting a good story, and hopefully you have found my stories to be good, ha. Anywho, I’m sure every faithful EVE player knows by now that FANFEST 2009 has been announced.

What wasn’t announced is that PyjamaSam and Roc Wieler will be there. The ladies below obviously had this picture taken when they saw me coming; they look incredibly happy.

So, if you want to meet PyjamaSam and I, maybe have a few drinks (though Sam is a wuss and doesn’t really drink), maybe engage in some backyard wrestling, or just enjoy some general cavorting, get your tickets now.

We’ll see you there.

And PS. Check out the new picture of Mynxee over in my Flickr gallery to the right –>

After a brief chat with Sister Alitura, I was on my way to Gallente space. The Sisters of Eve had influence in all of New Eden’s empires, and while they continued to work on the mystery of the strange datacore I had acquired earlier, there was a request for assistance from Delphine Xarasier, a Federation ally to the Sisters. The Gallente were also an ally to the Republic, so it was with great zeal that I travelled towards Harerget system, looking forward to the chance to nurture and strengthen that amicable bond.

It turned out Delphine was having drone issues. Did I ever mention how much I hated drones? They were untrustworthy machines that had a tendency of turning on you, or completely ignoring you, when needed most. As thankful as I was for the many technologies we enjoyed in our lives as capsuleers, drones were a sore spot with me. Her drones were going rogue without reason, and she wanted me to find out why. Did I really look like a specialist in this sort of thing? I held my tongue, and did what was required, blasting apart a few rogue drones and retrieving the parts for her team to analyze.

In the meantime, my aid was needed elsewhere.

“A recently established colony still depends on Federation support for items they can’t produce yet. Their last shipment of medical supplies was lost en route, and we think it may be due to rogue drone action. Regardless, this batch of supplies needs to get through. Lives are depending on it.” Delphine said to me through a private comm.

The antibiotics had been placed aboard my ship, and I was ready to head out. 

I reached the colonial supply depot without incident a few hours later, for which I was thankful for. I was content having a simple mission for a change, something I wouldn’t fail at abysmally. I contacted Delphine when the cargo handlers had finished removing their medical supplies from my ship.

“I told you I’d help if you helped me. Well, the Serpentis Corporation has just kidnapped one of CreoDron’s top minds, Dr. Aspasia Castille. She was analyzing those drone parts that you recovered earlier. The information she has is critical to figuring out what’s going wrong with the drones, but the Serpentis aren’t going to let her go without a fight. They’re planning to take her to their installation at Harerget. I want you to get there first. Destroy their base and the ships guarding it before the transport ship arrives.”

I smiled to myself, switching my ammo to the appropriate type for maximum damage against the Serpentis. My Rifter frigate, the Ripsack, was eager to educate some pirates.

I warped in right on top of them, and set my 200mm vulcan autocannons ablaze. Hulls were shredded as I continued to weave amongst the surprised Serpentis frigates. It took them far too long to field their bigger ships, a few cruisers and a battle cruiser. I made short work of the cruisers, then focused my attention on the largest and final ship, continually bombarding their base with missles.

While engaged, Aura warned me of an incoming warp signature. One hundred kilometers off my stern, a Serpentis transport materialized, then was quickly diverted to a secondary rendezvous point elsewhere. I broke off from the battle cruiser, overheating my Gisti afterburner in pursuit of the transport, trying to get within range to use my Republic Fleet warp scrambler. I was too late. The transport easily entered warp over forty kilometers from me. I was infuriated with yet another failure and took my anger out on the battle cruiser, eventually blowing it to pieces. Still, my anger was not quelled. I destroyed the entire Serpentis outpost before I finally calmed enough to make my report.

“It’s a shame you weren’t able to disable the transport ship, but we’re glad you destroyed the Serpentis research station. Though we were able to intercept the transport, both ships were lost in the course of the ensuing battle. However, we believe a datacore containing Dr. Castille’s notes may still exist.

Your task is to retrieve that datacore, Roc Wieler.

Be warned, all indications are that the ship was contracted by the Guardian Angels as part of their protection agreement with the Serpentis Corporation. I’m sure they’ll send a ship to scan the wreckage and see what can be salvaged as well. They will be looking for some way to recoup part of their loss.” Delphine seemed slightly sad, and I could empathize. I wished she had given me the intercept coordinates, and had let me known what other assets were available to me on these missions. I could’ve easily broken off from my engagment and secured the transport elsewhere, without loss of life to any of her people. It seemed things were simply moving too fast for me to keep up. I was slowly realizing that the universe didn’t revolve around me after all, and that I was just one man trying to make whatever small difference he could, and wasn’t really sure that in the long run it even mattered.

Her intel had been spot on. Dozens of Guardian Angels were on the scene when I arrived. None left. Aura managed to scan down the item Delphine had hoped existed, Dr. Castille’s datacore.

I returned it to Delphine, and requested some time to make repairs to my frigate. She was more than happy to provide me with a work crew, as it would take her team a few hours to analyze the datacore anyway. I spent that time overseeing her mechanics, correcting small mistakes they were making on my Minmatar ship, rolling up my sleeves and pitching in where needed, until the repairs were complete. 

My comm beeped. Delphine had news.

“The datacore you recovered has proved interesting. Before her kidnapping, Dr. Castille found several oddities in the drone components. Honestly, it’s created more questions than answers for CreoDron staff. As a sign of good faith, I’m going to share some information with you. Our drones are being corrupted by some other kind of drone. I need you to take some information to a friend of mine in Caldari space.  They’ve also been suffering from drone problems recently, and this data may help him and his people. I need you to keep this quiet. Our friendship isn’t exactly something we’re broadcasting, not with both of our empires at each other’s throats.” Delphine hesitated, unsure as to whether she should continue. 

My face was completely blank, revealing neither my understanding of her situation, nor the hidden disgust and rage I felt at her audacity. I could care less about drone problems. And the Caldari? They could rot in hell. They had already cost me a fine ship on this expedition; let them sort out their own damn problems. Helping them was something I simply would not do.

Delphine took a deep breath and pushed on. “If you agree, I’ll make sure the information is securely hidden onboard your ship. You’ll never even know it’s there, all you have to do is go and talk to Immuri Asaka, and he’ll take care of the rest.”

My mind swirled at what she was asking. Surely Shakor couldn’t have meant for me to assist our enemy for the good of the Sisters? This was becoming madness and I wanted no part of it. I sighed, conflicted, finally coming to the only decision that gave me clarity. Duty was duty, and this was mine to fulfill. I could hate the Caldari all I wanted. I could hate this war. I could hate this entire game Sister Alitura was playing. And yet, I would see it through. I was tenacious and stubborn. I refused to be bested in anything I put my hands to.

Delphine relaxed visibly when I agreed to her request. I wished her well, letting her know should she ever require any further assistance from me, I would be honoured to aid an ally of the Republic. She returned the gesture by letting me know she would personally put in a letter to Prime Minister Shakor speaking of my good deeds on behalf of the Republic.

Waiting impatiently for her technicians to finish secreting her data aboard my ship, I laid in a course for Hatakani, deep in Caldari high sec.

I had a sinking feeling that things were about to get even more interesting for me. I had no idea at the time how right I was.

When the war first began, pilots were eager and we felt ourselves more than able. I remember the first fleet I led into Caldari space; it seemed so long ago. Over one hundred proud Minmatar pilots, along with thousands of crew members, travelled through dozens of systems, on our way to show the State the folly of siding with our enemy.

We made a stop at each system in Old Man Star that long day. You would think the Caldari would’ve reacted aggressively with such a massive display of force in the heart of their territories, and they did react, though not in the way any of us, full of bloodlust, had hoped for. The Caldari hid in stations, remaining docked up, warning each other about the mighty invasion force that had befallen them. They were unprepared. They were inferior. I hadn’t gone back since.

Now, as my Firetail was webbed and scrammed, I realized that war had separated the wheat from the chaff. Those that had survived had grown strong; those that hadn’t grown strong hadn’t survived. I gave the order to jettison the life pods, not wanting to have a single death on my conscience, nor as a card for that cursed Sister Alitura to use against my efforts on her behalf.

The crew escaped, our enemy not even targetting the pods speeding away from my ship. Their entire focus was on me. My brow furrowed, my anger focused, and I gave them the only fight I knew how; I gave them everything I had. Two frigates and an interceptor was my final tally before the hot flash of light engulfed me. As I mentioned earlier, the strong survive. I kept my senses about me and warped away in my pod, denying them the victory of my death, denying them the destruction of the implants in my brain. It was foolish, I know, having hundreds of millions of ISK wired into my head in hostile territory. It was something I would’ve reprimanded any of my pilots for doing, yet here I was, breaking my own rules.

I docked up, found an overpriced Rifter, and fitted it up with a passive shield tank. I hired a local merc to pick up my crew, then paid a civilian charter to see them back to Dal. I wasn’t going to risk anyone’s life in this but my own. Reluctantly, they had complied. It was hard to get a Matari marine to desert his commanding officer. I waited out the gate camp, then made my way unopposed through space, hoping the trail hadn’t gone cold, hoping I could still track down my lead in Manarq.

The emission trails were almost invisible, and were a challenge to isolate from all the other traffic that has passed through this system in the last few hours, but I managed to make my way after the ship. I warped to where Aura estimated the craft should’ve been given standard velocities and time passed; I arrived at nothingness.

I made several dozen micro jumps, backtracking my path, until I arrived at a scene of destruction. Wreckage littered the area, and Aura confirmed it had the markings of a recent ambush. I had arrived too late.

I commed Tevis Jak, the Concord agent Sister Alitura had me dealing with on this leg of my journey, and informed him of my failure, patching him into the live feed of my camera drone. Inwardly, I felt this second failure hard. In my two outings for the Sisters of Eve, I had arrived too late to be of any use. I thought about Shakor and how my deficiencies here might reflect on both my personal record, and on our overall standing with the Sisters. Shakor’s documents had stated how politically imperative success was in this venture, and I had experienced the polar opposite of success thus far.

“My sensors are picking up a strange bit of tech in that can. I’ve marked it on your HUD. Bring it to me.” Tevis said. I maneuvered the Rifter ably to the can, extending a robotic arm to tear open the canister and bring its contents into the small cargo bay of the frigate. I took a quick look through the cargo cam, observing the item.

Engaging my warp drive, I hurried back to Tar System, and Tevis Jak, the anomolous piece of tech secured. What had transpired here remained a mystery to me. Had I lost my only lead? Would this odd item provide a new clue for me to follow? Or would it all end here, the Sisters disappointed, an opportunity with them lost? Worrying about it now wasn’t going to change the outcome.

After returning my cargo to Tevis, I opened an encrypted comm directly with Maleatu Shakor. He wasn’t pleased with the information I delivered, and told me to get things back on track no matter what the cost. He disconnected abruptly, reminiscient of Sister Alitura, leaving me with a sinking feeling in my stomach about the whole matter. I felt like a pawn being used in a game I didn’t understand, and suspected if I were privy to the machinations of this puzzle, would disapprove wholeheartedly.

My comm beeped. It was Tevis Jak.

“Ok, I found your first guy, but it looks like he’s already shipped out again. What a fighter, huh? He’s down in the crew manifest as ‘Red’, and his convoy has him listed under the same handle, so there you go.” Tevis said.

I manually prepped my ship, Aura cycling all systems to green.

Jak continued. “I’m giving you coordinates to intercept the convoy now. You should be able to catch them before they get too far. I’m worried that they don’t have enough security to deal with the number of rats – sorry, pirates – where they’re headed. They might need your help.”

I hastened across the stars towards the intercept point, the entire time wondering what the point of all of this was once again. Could they not provide their own security wing? And if they were truly that inept why did Shakor want to win their favour so badly? My head hurt. I was always better off simply doing what I was told, being a good soldier. Do something with all you have or do nothing at all. That was one of my many rules.

I decelerated to normal space, and realized that I was once again too late. The convoy lay in tatters around me.  Aura scanned the system for signs of the pirates that committed this atrocity. The trail was cold. I scanned the destroyed ships for signs of life. There was none. I matched up corpses against the crew manifest I had been provided. It was a grim duty I performed, but one that would be appreciated by the families whom had lost their loved ones this day. It was near the end of the scanning that I came across the corpse of “Red”. He was just one more victim of a conspiracy I could not fathom.

I opened a comm with Tevis, to let him know the latest in what was becoming a long series of failures.

“Dead is he?” Tevis began. “Figures. I’ll keep the investigation open but unless something changes, there’s little Concord can do.”

What the hell did he mean by that? Investigation? Figures? I felt myself growing more and more lost in this convulted tapestry that had been woven.

With nothing left for me to do at the scene, I headed back to meet up with Tevis Jak. About three systems out, I received a transmission from him.

“Just got a message from Sister Alitura.” Tevis said. “I sent her that weird datacore you found at the previous site. She says they weren’t able to decipher it. Pity.”

It was quickly becoming clear to my limited intellect that something untowards was going on here. The Sisters of Eve working with Concord, seemingly random people linked only from a mysterious incident aboard the Damsel turning up dead, encrypted datacores not willing to give up their secrets. To top it all off, Shakor himself had sent me here in the first place. I hated not being in the know. I became more easily agitated when I didn’t know the bigger picture. Needless to say, my ire was growing.

Tevis was still talking. “Still, she’s very interested in consulting with you. So go do what she wishes. The Sisters are good people.”

As I laid in my course for Arnon, I couldn’t help but think to myself, That remains to be seen.

Only three more jumps, I thought to myself as I hurtled through space in my Firetail. Sabin had done great work; the Firetail was behaving like I remembered, smooth, effortless and deadly. 

Two more jumps.

General Fist had sat me down and slid the dossier across the highly polished table towards me. I broke the seal on the envelope, the personal wax stamp of Prime Minister Shakor. Whatever the contents of this package were, it was obviously backed by significant political power.

I read over the documents, acknowledging my acceptance of the orders to Fist, whom undoubtedly was privy to the information already. I returned the documents into the dossier, throwing it into a nearby fireplace. The General and I stood, saluted each other and went our separate ways, not another word being spoken between us that day.

One more jump.

I sat down with Cytral and requested some leave time from my duties at Freeform Industries. I had been doing that a lot lately, and while Cytral had always been patient with me and supportive of my military activities, he did have to think of his company first. “Just make sure you’re back for the grand opening of the Academy, ok?” He finally said with a smirk on his face. Cytral’s latest idea was a training academy for new capsuleers, to teach them the fundamentals of survival in New Eden. To me, it sounded like EVE University, but who was I to shatter someone’s dream? I had even agreed to be the Warfare Training Officer in Cytral’s new venture. I guess it would indeed look bad if I couldn’t be there for the opening ceremonies.

“Will do, Cy. Thanks.” I said.

SISTERS OF EVE BUREAU
ARNON SYSTEM

 I had arrived. After being granted docking permission, I let the tow barge berth my ship, showered off, then quickly changed into my Colonel’s uniform. It was my first experience dealing with the Sisters of EVE and I wanted to make a good impression.

I looked at my chrono and quickened my pace; Sister Alitura was not one to be kept waiting I had been told. I was ushered into a cavernous room with a luxurious red carpet, dimly lit from hidden wall sconces. It was simply yet richly furnished. Sister Alitura greeted me, or at least I assumed it was her, being the sole occupant of the room. Her brown hair was tied tight to her head in a bun. She wore a simple dark red gown, almost matching the colour of the plush carpeting. A single horn-like implant dominated the majority of her forehead, and I forced myself not to stare at it as I sat down with her to begin our conversation.

“I ask for help and they send me a capsuleer.” She began, annoyance heavy in her voice.

“You are a capsuleer aren’t you? An immortal pilot who subverts the rules of life and death, who shapes the fate of empires? You’ll have to excuse my skepticism.” Disdain and sarcasm were evident in her tone.

I opened my mouth to speak but she continued on without missing a beat.

“I work with a humanitarian organization, the Sisters of EVE.” She paused here, evaluating me with her eyes before continuing. “I’ve seen your kind hasten the deaths of millions every day.” 

I quickly opened my mouth to interject, to deny and defend myself against her. I was not the type of man who took the deaths of any lightly, and would not take her outright assault on my character.

Once again, she blazed forward, her words silencing me before I had made a sound.

“You expect me to believe you’re different? To prove yourself, your actions will have to do the talking. We’ve just received a distress call from a ship called the Damsel, and you just happened to have arrived at the most fortuitous time. Get out there and save some lives. Prove to me your not just another murderous liar with a god complex. With all the power at your disposal, you certainly could be a force for good. And one thing is certain; Good is in dire need of allies these days.”

She had laid it on the table bluntly, and I accepted her views, and her challenge, without hesitation. For the most part, I agreed with her opinion of capsuleers. I was sickened often by the disregard they showed for the lives they spent so easily. Perhaps in these Sisters I had found a philosophy that was in harmony with my own. I was eager to find out.

I saluted Sister Alitura, who did not return the salute but merely waved me away. Quickly changing back into my pod suit, my crew and I launched into space towards the Damsel.

Sister Alitura’s intel had been accurate, and the wreck of the ship was easy to find. Life signs, on the other hand, were not. I scanned the entire sector; not a living thing to be found. My heart sank as I opened a comm link to her, my first venture already feeling a failure.

“It seems Concord was faster to respond, but your backup was definitely appreciated. There were a handful of survivors picked up. They’ve been taken to various care facilities in the area – wherever vacancies could be found.” Abruptly, as I was becoming accustomed to with her, she closed the signal, the screen requesting the data from my scan of the area. I complied, sending the data, though I really couldn’t see what use it would be. With nothing left to do out there, I headed back to the Sisters of EVE Bureau to dock.

I was nearly 4 AU away when Sister Alitura commed me unexpectedly.

“We got some interesting information out of your trip. It seems no one fired on the Damsel. Something must’ve happened inside the ship. We’d like you to track those survivors down, see if you can get any information about the ship’s path, pilot or cargo. We need to know what caused this disaster.

Concord is the first logical step. I’ve gotten in touch with agent Tevis Jak, who may have information for you. His location is being updated to your NeoCom: he’s currently acting as an ORE agent. Go see if you can find a piece of this puzzle.”

With that, Alitura disconnected. I was really becoming irritated with her attitude. My orders had been to assist the Sisters of EVE in whatever way they needed, and to represent the Minmatar in the best possible light. Being treated like a slave surely didn’t count. It had dawned on me that Alitura and I, sorry, Sister Alitura and I hadn’t even exchanged a single word at that point; it had all been her ordering, me complying wordlessly. Yeah, that didn’t sit well with me at all.

I went to the location in my NeoCom, one system away, and quickly found the ORE ship Tevis Jak was flying. It was easy for me to match speeds with him, and send him a private comm with my Sisters of EVE encryption credentials.

“Ah, Sister Alitura said you’d be coming.” Tevis began in a very friendly voice. “You’re here about the Damsel, right?” he asked. I replied I was, and that any information he had on the ship would be useful to me: it’s recorded path, pilot, cargo, etc. 

“That ship’s registered to a pilot under the name of Marihem Dagan.” Tevis replied. I made note of the information.

It seemed Dagan was still nearby, only a couple of systems away. I thanked Jak for the information and quickly warped away in pursuit of my only lead.

As we began reverting to realspace, warning alarms began blaring across the ship. My crew and marines quickly scrambled, preparing for whatever dangers would come our way.

Aura quickly displayed the threat to me; a hostile Caldari Navy gate camp. The Tribal Liberation Force was allied with the Gallente militia, and therefore an enemy to Caldari State. 

I throttled forward knowing there was no going back. I would have to push my way through. Anything less and I risked losing my quarry, and giving Sister Alitura the satisfaction of being right was something I was not prepared to do.