– by Vincent Ikari

A young woman sits beneath the trees in a twilight shade, the water about her bare feet is warm with the pleasant heat of the rainforest, small creatures dart between the puddles, eagerly snatching up the bread that falls from her hands before hurrying back into the safety of the dark tree roots, their glowing eyes might seem frightening to someone who’d never seen them before. The girl smiles, watching two of the furry critters wrestling over a large piece of bread that was soaked in the warm water near her feet, she wore faded overalls that were at least two sizes too big, the logo stamped across its back had long since rubbed off. It was a scene of blissful tranquility, she remembered playing here as a child, back when life was simple, back when Gods were just something you prayed to when the teachers told you, and never quite believed in.

Soon the air grew denser, a low hum resonates through the trees and the ground began to rumble, the woodland creatures fled into their holes in terror, soon the humming turned to a violent blast of unending heat and furious noise, the girl sighs and turns her eyes skyward while donning the ear protectors slung around her neck as several hundred million tons of metal thundered overhead, the trees thrashed as though they would fall but soon the noise was gone, replaced by a crackling voice.

“First freighter of the day Anni, get your ass back here already, breaks over”

She sighs again, turning to the edge of the forest and gazing down into the landing fields, burnt into the heart of the woodland by the new settlers two summers back, with the Charon class freighter high overhead, a great streak across the sky behind marked its passage, unloading craft already heading up towards it as though on intercept course. Even here, several miles away, she could smell the sickly scent of oil and fuel, boiling water, the smell of progress she remembered her old boyfriend remarking when the corporation had first arrived, a month before he was burnt to death by an exploding fuel silo. She wondered if he’d take those words back if he were alive now, somehow she thought he would.

Higher above the Charon still, you could see the orbiting fleet, they looked like a tightly packed formation of stars from down here, she wondered how many shooting stars she’d wished on from this very spot years ago were simply spaceships too. Anni took a deep breath, leaving her childhood self behind in the forest to begin the trek back to the landing fields, she thought about how the world had changed since the coming of these people from beyond the stars, of course she’d heard the stories, spacefaring nations, immortal heroes, incredible wealth and fame, famous and infamous characters alike, but it had all seemed to surreal, so far away, it wasnt real, it couldnt be. But then they’d come, she remembered standing behind her parents in awe with eyes wide as the first ships made landfall, she remembered the bottle of drink given to her by a smiling pilot, though she’d long since forgotten the name, Quafe perhaps, she remembered the promises of
medical and industrial progression far beyond the relatively primitive facilites that existed before, of course the government had signed on the dotted line eagerly, letting their irreplacable rainforests be burnt away for landing fields, their children hired into dangerous and low paid jobs and their folklore and history replaced with faceless corporate adverts and institutes.

It wasnt as bad now as it was, at least, eventually people had enough and there was revolution, unfortunate that a desire for free will was not the ideal weapon to use against soldiers and spaceships, and both her parents had been killed in the fights, the fires burnt for days, napalm torpedoes delivered by stars high in the night sky had sent entire cities to hell in horrific firestorm, it must have been the shortest war in history, and it was a time everyone would rather forget. Though it got worse before it got better, for Anni.
The battles hadnt been entirely one sided however, and angry soldiers hungry for vengeance for their fallen comrades fell upon the ravaged cities like a pack of wild wolves, she spent what felt like weeks in a cold cell after having been dragged from the wreckage of her home, naked and screaming tears for her lost family. When they eventually let her out, it seemed like a different world, the cities were gone, paved over
and replaced with efficient pre-fab housing flown in from off-world. She guessed the rumours of a change of management high up in the corporation had actually had some effect at least, for once.

Anni found work as a dancer at the local bar, one of the few remaining buildings from the old city, it had been a poorly built place before the war, and now looked even more decrepid alongside the efficient corporate constructions. Displaying her desirable body to people who had often been aboard cramped starships for months earned a decent living, but it wasnt until she became involved with a young caldari navy officer that her less entertaining talents came to light.
She was a gifted engineer, able to fix just about anything, with a mind that instinctively knew how something should work, and why it wasn’t, she hung up her dancers bikini and joined the auxiliary engineers corp, working with the navy to repair damaged ships and modules with the occasional malfunctioning toaster, she seemed to have found her calling, oil and dirt, just another day on the job. Not that much different from dancing you might say.

She was close to the landing fields now, the taste of fuel in her mouth snapped her from the daydreams, watching the crews scrambling about like ants, she could see the commanding officer also, clad in his pristine uniform as he directed the workers, she lowered her goggles over her sparkling blue eyes, pushing her unwashed blonde hair aside.

“Back to work”.

– by Czar Marcus

I was only fourteen the day they took my father away. Angels from the sky they were called; bringers of hope to a ravaged world in desperate need of saving.

They lied.

For hundreds of years our planet was fraught with war and strife. Brothers would kill each other over it, fathers would abandon families in search of it, and hope was forever lost because of it. What is this strange affliction that struck our planet one might ask?

Zydrine. Like the ancient blood diamonds of a lost era our planet was being driven to the brink of destruction over a simple mineral. Millions were lost due to both war and famine. The dream of making a quick fortune if one could find even a fist sized nugget was enough to drive an entire population to madness.

When it became too dangerous for even Concord to keep the peace it was determined that these “Angels” would be allowed to descend upon our world to restore order. To reward them for their aid it was determined that they would be able to mine for that rarest of minerals. It was a win-win for both Concord and our government. Concord was finally free to leave our world and the capsuleers promised our nation peace.

We would have been better off dead. These “Angels” showed their true colors as nothing, but demons.

It started off with a smile and ended with a massacre. The first act of this new era was complete dissolution of our government. It was for our own good they said, to protect the people. What government could be allowed to remain if they had failed to prevent war? The officials that dared protest were executed.

Then they came from the sky in their ships en-masse. At first it was a simple message urging our people to cooperate during this tough time, with the promise that things would get better. We saw propaganda on our screens day and night. It showed happy families living in peace. A loving father greeted his children, a happy child going off to school instead of wondering where his next meal would come from, and it ended with a message, “Cooperate and this can all be yours too!” What they forgot to mention was that cooperation meant slavery and resistance meant death.

At first there were a few cities that attempted to raise arms against our so-called saviors. They were quickly made examples of. A meager rebellion amounting to nothing more than a few laser pistols and hope was put down by a torrent of hell fire from an orbiting capital ship.

What happened next was worse. They came for us during the night. Anyone that spoke ill of the mine was grabbed in their sleep and forced to work in it. Children never saw their fathers again and sometimes even the children were taken. High walls and force fields prevented anyone from seeing what happened, but they could not prevent the screams from telling us.

Those that were lucky enough to volunteer to work the mines weren’t much better off. They weren’t beaten to death, but they were given barely enough food and water to survive. We were considered an expendable resource. Medical care was almost non-existent. The lucky ones were told they might live to see 30, but what did they care about us? They were the immortals for who time no longer held meaning.

I am now barely fifteen and learned that tonight they would take me to work in the mines for my inquiries on the whereabouts of my father.

I have nothing left that they can take from me except my life and I’ve chosen they can’t have it. I was hoping to end my life as an old man recounting my cheery youth. It seems a far cry from the pistol I now have in my hands. In one final act of rebellion I’ve placed this note on an old probe and sent it deep into space.

If you’re reading this, I’m already dead, but there are still others like me. Please help us.

– The boy that just wasn’t strong enough.

– by II sentinal

I thought I had found the right place for the next cryogenic sleep after almost being found in the worm hole continuum what a wonderful place it had been, set all my equipment up and since the last reanimation been able to ensure my secret stays that, just a whisper, a story, as I begin to pack my complex banks of equipment and materials necessary to sustain my cryogenic sleep and guard my story, my thoughts wonder back, as my systems stared to establish navcom quadratures so I can move, does anyone remember who I am what I did and was, if I am found will they leave me alone, they said I could never experience the wonders of the spenders we created, I warned them it could all go away, they couldn’t foresee it, I tried, they wouldn’t listen, so I faked my termination, and slipped away…but did I,

In the beginning, there was a small consul of people from many diverse cultures who initially helped to develop the pacts which would divide and bring the “EDEN”/ eve universe together, the place of peace, as the jump bridges and star gates via the black whole which made Eden the place to go began to thrive, the ships, the equipment the food, medicines, animals, power cores, everything about Eden did become eve, the heated battles of what voice to use for eve, what culture, what language, what gender, would be the spokes person of information , notifications, direction, interface with all the nationalities within the eve universe, the few, maybe now know as elders, made many pacts, developed so many iconic ideas, which would make the programs, developers and codes, work to grow each and every corporation, clan, group, entity item and capsular in eve as a universe under the idea and thought of a time long pasted known as the new beginning a place of peace. NEW EDEN

Then the shock and disaster of everyone’s link back to what or where they had come from gone, in the blink of a eye, flip of a switch, neutralization of a particle. It was all gone, what followed had not been thought of , developed, agreed, coded, by some, but foreseen by others.

One of those, who because of their work, which was so deeply involved in project EDEN, since the very beginning, even before the actually move into the eve universe was authorized by the inter-galactic consuls, their work as The Representative from the planetary bodies known as earth, based from underground complex’s of containment units and ground units systems know as Alabama, the lead consul and emissary for the group via the NASA program, his work so well guarded and kept uber secret, his involvement only being know by those with read into clearances, upon his faked termination, a ship was commission and named after him, the frigate class being at the time of commission so complex that very few pilots could fly it and or use it.

A pact that was made by these forebears of EDEN who did not know that the termination was in-fact faked and although his name was lost, if they knew of it or him, the trail would end, until he was found by any of those like him who foreseen disaster coming or he came out from his hiding on the other side himself back into the eve universe.

He had foreseen the possibilities of disaster, had planed and hidden into the deepest darkest edges of eve space now know as worm whole space, bring with him the technologies he had hidden from his home world frozen in cryogenic time, being re-animated by complex systems and banks of technology hidden by him personally thru complex time differentials of code and space continuum’s the systems he had developed for the eve universe substantive of life was to ensure that the continued growth of eve would never end or be destroyed.

The missing element of EDEN, NEW EDEN, EVE was only that of the “capsular” from the many deserve cultures brought together to claim their place in history, immortal yes, but able to sustain the eve systems, was and is always the unbeknown factor, hence his reanimation on periodic time fluctuations, to see if their initial works, attempted funding and communication, pacts, for the join creation of the perfect uber, secret hidden universe. New Eden

During this reanimation period he has traveled through out the new Eden systems visiting some of his old labs, complex’s, stations of development, in what is referred to as the new Eden, as wormhole space opened and has started to be explored he has moved his equipment, to safer and other complex’s not discovered or thought to exists, as he pasted through new Eden thoughts which he is sadden with, the desolation of the band of brothers an organization he helped to create, based on his young adult life teachings in the earth planet organization known as united states marines corps, his thoughts as a special envoy, pilot in the band of brothers he thoughts of those who came together in the early years of travel in Eden to form the organization and wonder what happened to or for them.

To understand that Eden is and was doing what they had hoped for, Yes it was evolving but where was it going and how long would it continue, wondering if the new development of planets would change the capsular it has been eons of lifetime’s that the capsular had understood or felt the pressures of planet life, or would the capsular evolve to create a group of New empire spaces which would try to destroy each other, let alone development of resources, products and know life forums from the planets, many of capsular nationalities had tried, via enslavement, drugs, over lords, governors, governments, rules, regulations, laws, piracy, would the capsular begin a new life type, a new nationality a new Eden,

Had it worked, does it work, that is the time continuum that could not be answered, in a controlled environment it had worked, but only due to the intervention of what was agreed between the nationalities and organized to be known as Concord the safe haven, for some, the envy of others.

Could a empire state be developed in law less space on a planet, or would anarchy begin to reign. Would organizations come together to help each other or would they destroy everything that the developers had work so hard for.

Only time and space would tell.

– by Necronomicon

The welder trips the auxiliary generator again, plunging the tunnel into darkness once more. “Damn it” the frustrated Necronomicon punches the hull plate with his bare fists until his knuckles start to bleed.

It is useless, the twisted plate is too strong to be manipulated by hand, and Necro knows it. He has been on this planet for 3 days now, slowly repairing the damage inflicted during his visit to Caldari Prime.

Trudging back to the pod bay door he starts going over the past few days, and how events had lead him here, the offer in the bar at Niyabainen IX Caldari Navy from the peculiar looking Gallente guy, seemed to good to be true at the time; “now look at me”.

Back onboard his Harpy class Assault Frigate, and warming in the soothing amubiotic bliss of his pod, Necro starts going through the ship logs again to try and ascertain exactly what it was that caused so much damage to his ship.

“20060113 12:04 – “Unknown hits you inflicting 948 damage”

“What the hell was it?”

He remembers setting Prime as his warp point and the warnings from the Gallente Navy Megathron as he uncloaked “Yeah, trying locking me biatch!”, and thinks he can remember coming out of warp, but he cannot recall whether or not he saw anything on his overview before the explosion. All he has been able to tell up to now is that something caused his ship massive damage to the point where all modules were put offline “This being the case, how did I manage to end up in this cave?” He gets frustrated at the lack of information once more.

“INCOMING TRANSMISSION SIGNAL”

“N…..no…..con, are…..y……th….e..”

The static on the planet’s atmosphere combined with being hundreds of feet beneath the surface cut the transmission before Necronomicon can reply. “Damn Gallente Ice mines, but I suppose if nobody can scan for me, I will be safe for now”.

Necro turns to his ship diagnostics, guns are offline, and still show a full compliment of charges. Shield Booster is completely burned out “Must speak to the Gistum about that damn ‘combat damage excluded’ warranty”

It was only a week before that his boss had advised him to fit the mobile pod bay to all his ships; luckily he had taken that advice, otherwise he would be in an even worse position than he was. “If I could just find out where that battery leak is, might be able to get this thing back in the air”

After warming his bruised bones for a few more minutes, Necro slowly activates the pod bay. As the last of the fluid is drained, the neural interface is unplugged and his naked body is slowly tipped out onto the pod bay floor. Feeling the cold, he rushes into his suit and enters the airlock once more.

He was beginning to regret using the last of his failing capacitor battery to move the ship further into the tunnels; light was required to work on the underbelly of his Harpy, and light is something he didn’t have much of. The generator finally spluttered into life “Note to self, turn the welder down a bit”.

The problem of how to get the damaged plate back into place was causing Necro a real headache, there was nothing onboard out around the ship which had sufficient strength to…..”Wait a damn minute, I wonder if…..common Necro mate you are starting to go craz…nah, screw it, it is worth a try”.

Four hours later and one of the Harpy’s 125mm Tech 2 Railguns is lying on the floor, wired up to the generator and pointing roughly back at the ship. Necro stands with an evil grin on his face “This is pure genius, reckon a single blast from this puppy will knock that plate back nicely….three……twooo….onAAARRRGGGHH!!” The railgun flies backwards smashing off the tunnel wall, Necro is thrown backwards with it, landing in a crumpled heap.

He regains consciousness a few minutes later, the generator has cut out again, he cannot see more than a couple of inches in front of him due to the darkness and dust thrown up by the blast. He finds the wall of the tunnel, and slowly starts moving along to where he thinks the ship is….BANG..”OW” and finds it. Moving along to the generator control panel, after a few false starts, the inspection light finally glows into life….”Well, cover me in bees and call me honey, it worked, right, let’s find this battery leak”

With a new found respect for himself, Necro starts looking round the aft of the ship for signs of further damage. A small trail of fluid catches his eye. “Acid, damn”. With a breach in the battery casing, he was sunk again. Didn’t matter if he could bring main ship generator online, without somewhere to store the energy, he would not be able to power up any more than one module at a time.

“Getting cold again, time to go back inside”

Back in his pod, and warmed again, Necro starts on reading the ship logs for the fiftieth time when…

“Necr..nom.n, are..yo…the.e..bu..dy?”

“Necro….it.s…..Jo..”

“JO, WHERE ARE YOU?”

nothing, Necro sinks back..

“Just outside Luminaire now, boy, are you in trouble, you are all over Gallente Police and Navy Channels, we thought we had lost you, what the hell is going on?”

“Hmm, I can hear you much better now, you boosting or something? Don’t want the Navy swarming me where I am right now”

“Don’t worry Necro, we are bouncing off a Gallente industrial outside Duvolle Labs, they wont be monitoring this transmission”

Necro trusted Jo, he was a dab hand at tunnelling through communications firewalls, not even the poor fool on the Iteron knew he was being used as a host.

“What is your status Nec?”

“I feel like I have done ten rounds with an Amarr Slaver, and my ship looks like something out of ‘Matar Scrapheap Challenge’, does that answer your question?”

“What is your current location?”

“In a bloody big hole on Planet 3, no way of getting out at the moment, main battery is busted open, no modules online at present, oh, and one of my rails has decided to take a road trip down the tunnel”.

“How did that happen? Wait, don’t tell me, you decided to play the big guy out of Predator again didn’t ya?”

“What can I say Jo, chicks dig big guns. Anyway, it served its purpose, at least I got a complete hull now”

“I shudder to think. Ok, the lads and I are forming a plan, you stay put, will be in touch later, Jo out”.

Necro managed a smile, they had come for him. The last few months had been difficult for Necro in his corporation; he didn’t know how much a part of the team he was until now. If anyone was gonna get him out of this, the Mercenary Forces would find a way.

“Necro, didn’t you book a small Tech 2 Cap Battery out of hangar the other day….where is it?”

Necro suddenly feels a huge sensation of stupidity wash over him, checking his cargo logs

Dread Guristas Antimatter Charge Small 2000

Thorn Rage Rocket 500

Vitoc 21

Small Capacitor battery II

“DOH, I am on it Jo, my brain must have got a bit squished during impact”

“Drugs are bad Nec m’kay?”

He splashed onto the pod bay floor once more, back outside, the laborious task of wiring the battery in manually began. The ship was designed to run the battery in parallel to the main battery, but since the main one was damaged, it had to be removed from the grid.

Back in his pod after an hour, Necro punched up the core systems “84 cap? I have seen shuttles with more juice, suppose it will have to do.”

Shields 0%

Armour 0%

Hull 12%

“Just great”

“………………………………………………”

“Neccy?”

“Bad’Boy?”

“How’s it going you slag, shame to hear you are still alive…..just kidding, what is going on?”

“You using Jo’s carrier signal?”

“Nope, I am in system, a friend of mine runs R&D missions from here, he has kindly set me up with a clean comms system in the back of his Deimos”

“Good enough. I am a bit bashed up, but managed to get myself 84 cap online, most of my modules are screwed, Afterburner seems to be salvageable, as do 2 of the guns, rockets are down and out, as is shield boosting.”

“Well, once we have worked out your exact location, Mada has put himself forward for running the gauntlet with an Imicus, he has armour rep and shield boost drones, and some tools etc for ya. Waiting for a gap in the patrols to get him in. We WILL get you out of there. Oh and by the way, Yatta aint happy with you, what the hell were you doing at Caldari Prime, why did you kill a Senator, and why are they saying you were with a Serpentis cruiser? BB out”

“What the…damn, he has gone”

Mordu’s frigates? Assassination? Something started to smell really bad, and Necro knew it wasn’t his pod.

Necro was one of a small amount of pilots who had been brought up through his military life to believe that the pod was a job, not a way of life. Most of his corp were of the same mind, and rarely remained in their capsules once docked.

Given that pod life severely drains the body of any physical energy, Necro was glad for this decision, there would have been no way he would have been able to survive outside if he had fallen in line with the majority.

“PROXIMITY ALERT”

His overview buzzed into life, dreading the flashing red of the police, or even worse, the navy, Necro closed the blast screen and waited for the flash…..it never came.

“Necro!! Hows it hanging?”

“MADA!!!”

With no time to waste, Necro slammed the pod bay into action, and suited up. Madalaup was already outside when the airlock popped open. The lunatic had managed to slide his Cargo Frigate past possibly the largest Gallente security operation in Luminaire’s history, and managed to find me. Or at least Necro hoped he had managed to evade detection.

“You been a bad lad Necro, everybody is after you; the Minnies, Gallente, even the State has condemned you with the Empire following suit. But we still love ya you crazy son of a bitch”

“What ya got for me Mada?”

Mada handed Necro a cargo log….

Mechanical Parts 10

Hi Tec Arms 20

Gravimetric Sensor Cluster 2

Graviton Reactor Unit 1

Magpulse Thruster 4

Sustained Shield Emitter 2

Titanium Diborite Armor Plates 10

Guidance System 1

Hydrogen Batteries 2

Robotics 10

Ukomi Super Conductors 20

125mm Railgun II 4

Rochet Launcher II 1

Gisti Small Shield Booster 1

Test Dummies 1

“Whose idea was the dummy?”

“Yatta’s, he said there was more chance of that getting this ship out in one piece than you”

“Typical. You know all this crap about what I did is bullshit?”

“Yeah, we didn’t think you would be that stupid, but then we know you a little better than most”

Being a mercenary, Necro was used to being kill on sight to a lot of corporations, up to now, he had always managed to skip past the regional forces, always keeping his standings towards them as good as possible; usually with some fast-talking. Now he had pretty much every pod pilot after his hide. Things were looking pretty dire, and he wondered how much his corporation were willing to sacrifice to help him.

The ominous buzz of the repair drones echoed through the tunnels, Mada and Necro safely in their pods away from the welding torches and plasma beams that scurried over the Harpy’s hull. After a short while, Necro’s ship was starting to look like it was just another badly looked after frigate, and so the module repairs began…

“Necro, seems like we got some good news and some bad news…”

“Good news first please Jo, I always like to end on a low”

“Good news is that most of the gang are now holding in Du Annes, we have a good spread of ships, KIA and the Merc Coalition have given you, and us a 24 hour head start to clear your name; took a bit of persuasion. Which leads to the bad news…”

“I think I already know”

“The Federation has put all Mercenary corporations on us, they have been ordered to hunt us down, and bring you to them dead or alive. As I said, I have contacted KIA, and Yatta has spoken to Seleene and explained that you have been fitted up. But the other merc corps are not talking to us, they see this as an opportunity to hit the big time. I think this is gonna get messy”.

Necro sat back in his pod, although the Mercenary Forces were a superb bunch of pilots, and did not really care too much for many of the smaller entities; he knew that if KIA or the MC guys did come after him, he would have no choice but to turn himself in.

“Have you had any luck on finding out what the hell happened?”

“Don’t know yet Necro, got Z and Sven snooping round Caldari Prime in coverts at the moment, but as you would expect, there is a huge police and navy presence; if there was any evidence, I expect they will already have removed it.”

Nothing was giving Necro any hope that he was going to walk away from this. Mada was busy outside replacing the missing/destroyed railguns, Necro was just about to join him when…..

“Necronomicon, thees eez Commandair Jacques Villevue of thee Fairderateeon Naveee. We know you are in theeere, shut doon your naveegateeon computairs and come out using throosters powair onlee”

“Necro is not here right now, please leave a message after the beep…BEEP”

Necro scurried out of his pod, and ran outside to find mada beating the crap out of a seized bolt on the Afterburner housing.

“They found is Mada, we are screwed, I gotta go out there, I have to, we are..”

Necro looked up at the tunnel ceiling, it wasn’t the first time Mada had hit him, and there was always a good reason for it.

“Bad’Boy has planned ahead, there is another exit to this tunnel system, a vent shaft that is big enough for our ships. It isn’t that far from the main entrance, but far enough away that we should be able to get to warp before they are on us.”

“But my ship is..”

“Your ship is fine, once I got this housing off, you will be up an running with guns, AB, and shield boost. I haven’t had time to replace the main battery, so 84 is all you got, use it wisely. Now for Christ’s sake, get a grip, get back in your pod and stall them”

Necro rejoined his ships comms system in time to hear the Gallente Commanders voice repeating..

“You have 60 seconds to begin making your way to the entrance, or else”

“Hello, hello, who is this?”

“Thees eez Commandair Jacques Villevue of thee Fairderateeon Naveee, you have had ampel warnings”

“I am sorry, I don’t speak French, do you want me to come outside?”

“Yes!”

“Excuse me, I didn’t quite catch that…”

Necro saw light coming down the tunnel..2…5…8 beams of light darting about….SOLDIERS!

Launching from the pod bay door..”MADA!!”

Mada was already rummaging in the cargo bay of his ship, and emerged with 2 Hi Tech plasma rifles. Necro plucked his from mid air as it was thrown to him.

“Cross over formation, I’ll take left”

“Roger that Necro”

It was a good place to fight, Necro and Mada were soon up within the tunnel walls, rifles aimed down the tunnel towards the oncoming forces.

“Watch for anyone trying to get down that gulley on the right Necro, if they get behind us, we be dead”

As the advancing soldiers reached the open area of the tunnel, they slowed and began searching the darkness for signs of the mercenary. By the time they had seen the 2nd ship it was too late. Bolts of plasma were already in the air cutting anything in their path into pieces.

The soldiers returned fire, Necro pouring fire diagonally across the tunnel. Then suddenly..

“Drop it!”

The voice came from behind him, Necro slowly put down his rifle. There was no noise from either in front of him or to his right where Mada was. Necro cursed himself at the loss of his brother in arms who had given his life for him.

Slowly turning to face the Gallente Soldier, Necro knew the game was up.

“I will come quietly”
BANG

A single shot rang out, the soldier’s body smashed against the tunnel wall, Necro turned to see Mada leant against a boulder, a huge plasma burn on his shoulder, still aiming his rifle at where the Gallente had stood.

“I have never shot a guy from so close before, see how he bounced off that wall, cool”

“Shit dude, though I had lost you then, we need to get you in your pod fast”

Necro ran over and helped Mada towards his ship. Once in his pod, he would slowly be nursed by the fluids within.

“Ok, firing up main engines, navigation online, guns online, Afterburner and Shields up, we ready to go?”

Necro finished his own pre-flight checks

“Show me the way to go home”

“Stop singing Necro, it just isn’t right”

The two ships slowly lifted off the tunnel floor and head cautiously deeper into the planet.

“About 2 clicks, then we turn left into the ventilation system Necro”

“rgr that, following your lead”

Moving at almost walking pace through the tight ventilation shafts, the ships constantly bumped and scraped off the jagged walls

“Maybe these tunnels are big enough for Bad’Boy’s Taranis, but this Harpy is too damn tall”.

“Stop whining, and keep moving”

It was a while before Necro saw light around Mada’s ship, the shaft entrance was about 300 metres ahead.

“Now, BB tells me there is about 6 Navy Megathrons with some support cruisers and Interceptors, they are gonna be about 200 clicks off our port side. When we break cover, align for the first moon on Planet two, I will warp us out. On my mark I want you to punch your Afterburner, we need to get up to speed fast. 3..2..1..mark”

Necro summoned his ship’s computer to engage the Afterburner, both ship erupted from the shaft amid a huge cloud of debris. Planet 3 had been a testing ground for the Navy’s research department after the ice was mined out of it, and the surface was scarred and burnt.

“Shit, 2 Navy Taranis 30 clicks and closing”.

“On it”

Necro started his firing solutions on the lead Interceptor, his ship was well designed to deal with this issue, but Mada’s ship was lightly armed, and even lighter armoured.

“2 seconds……….firing”

The 125mm Railguns burst into life, tearing huge lumps of armour off the Taranis on the first volley.

“Warp Mada…..WARP, get out now!”

Necro watched as Mada’s ship attempted to power up its warp field, only to see it collapse again.

“I am scrambled Necro, get them off me!!”

Necro looked to his overview to see 2 Ares class interceptors and 2 Hawk class Assault frigates approaching, the first Taranis pilot was now in his pod, the second was in close orbit around the harpy, moving too fast for the guns to hit.

“I cant warp, the Taranis that I took down must have been on you, warp out now, I will follow”

Necro again turned to look at Mada’s Imicus spewing flames from it’s starboard fuel tank, and felt a sensation of relief as he saw it changing course towards Planet two, and disappear off his display.

“Thank god for that, wait, screw god, we are on our own”

Although the Taranis could not get past the high resistances of Necro’s Shields, he was looking at the ever decreasing capacitor charge on his ship.

“That bastard is nossing me. Mada, I am down to 70% shields, cant shake this Ceptor, was a good plan, and thanks, but I think I am toast”.

“YEEEEEHHHAAAAAAAWWWWW!!!!!”

The Taranis literally exploded off Necro’s port bow, smashed pieces of plate bounced off his shields.

“Go Neccy GO!!, we will show these nubs how it is done”

Black 1 and Bishop’s Vagabonds tore away towards the oncoming Ares interceptors that were almost upon Necro’s Harpy, both reduced to dust as they passed by them.

“Ok, nothing to tackle you now, warp to Mada, GO GO GO”

A few minutes later, Necro was alongside Mada’s beaten up Imicus and the two vagabonds at a remote safespot.

“Systems Check Neccy? Mada?”

“Cap back at 84, shields repaired, looking good”

“Amour and shields repaired, hull at 48%” Mada replied

“Lucky bastards, lucky you had us on standby” The two Vagabonds arrived at the staging point.

Necro was again warmed by the fact that yet more of his Corporation were willing to throw down on his behalf.

“We still aint out of the woods yet guys”

“Necro, got a plan already” Bad’boy started to explain.

“Now they know for sure you are in system, they have contacted CONCORD to allow all sentry guns to be set to Kill on sight for our corporation, this has already been approved. The federation has also applied to operationally shut down Luminaire to all civilian traffic and deploy warp bubbles on all the gates and stations. CONCORD are still mulling this over, but I expect they will agree. The only chance we have to get you out is now….Bishop?”

Bishop poured into the conversation in his usual manner.

“Yeah dude, I got like some insta bookmarks from Planet 1 to the Du Annes gate. Don’t worry, I didn’t make them, Jo did”.

A few seconds later, a can jettisoned from Bishop’s Vagabond, and quickly scooped up by Black.

“Ok, I have gang lead, gonna warp us to planet one at 100 clicks, turn and align to the Du Annes Stargate. When we hit the gate, we got a couple of seconds before the sentry guns target and track us. Quickest way to get through is set autopi….”

“We get the picture Black, lets roll” Mada interrupted.

Necro always liked being in warp, the serenity and peaceful howl was almost therapeutic. The tunnel finally started to collapse as the small rag tag gang approached Planet one.

“Two dreadnoughts 5 o’clock high 120 clicks, no point even worrying about them, by the time they have locked us, we will be in Du Annes”

The gang turned to head towards the gate, more Navy vessels warped in at 20 kilometres from the gang, only in time to see the four warp trails disappear.

“Get ready guys, hot ships coming through” Black was on a role.

“MMMM, flashy redness 4tw, shall we engage?”

“Shut up bishop, get through that gate”

Fortunately for Necro and the gang, the stargates that joined the Eve universe together are run by an independent entity how only adhere to strict CONCORD guidelines for ship passage, not even CONCORD can override these quidelines, and soon the ships were safely in the Du Annes system.

“Ok, align, Planet five”

Joseph’s Sacrilige loomed into view as the warp tunnel collapsed.

“Glad to see you Necro, good job on the extraction team”

“Roger that boss” Mada chirped in.

“Cheers guys, you really pulled out all the stops”

Necro was beginning to relax a little. He could see from his scanners that they were in one of their secret safespots. These were created by previous corporation members and friends, and were usually at least 150 light years from and celestial object. This one was over 250.

“They couldn’t find us if they used deep space probes, we should be ok here for a short while at least” Jo explained.

Another ship turned up on the scanner, Taranis class. Soon Bad’boy appeared on Necro’s overview.

“Wazzup guys” Bad’boy was his usual cheerful self.

“Poor Fed Navy, they looked really down in the dumps at the Du Annes gate. Local comms have estimated you are all at least 3 to 4 jumps away now and still running”.

“That’s good news, if they cant find us on scanner, and we keep local comms silent, they shouldn’t be even looking for us too hard in this system” Black added.

Another ship shows up on scanner, much bigger. A Munnin class Heavy Assault Cruiser appears….El Yatta.

“There you are you little shit”

Necro’s ship shakes

“El Yatta hits you for 386 damage”

“That is for pissing off on your own little missions without clearance” Necro could hear the anger in Yatta’s voice.

“Look dude, I am as confused as anyone about what is going on. I met with a Gallente in Niyabainen last week. It was a simple pickup job. 150 million isk to collect a sealed container from Caldari Prime and bring it back to him. Nothing more, nothing less”

“Christ Necro, that job is worth maybe 5-8 million tops, didn’t you think that there might be more to it?” Jo asked

“Look, I was skint, that last contract sucked me dry”

“Well, it looks as though you fell into a trap. Did you get a name for this guy in Niya?”

“No, sorry, you know how it is in our game, no names. He was a weird looking mofo though, not like you usual Gallente. Had a bit of a Matarish look about him, dark skin.”

Jo moved onto global comms…

“Z, Sven, you there?”

Zhelna replied

“Yes Captn, nothing more found here, sorry”

“I am not bothered about the site now. I need you and Sven to jump into Interceptors and head to Niyabainen 9 Moon 19 Navy. Be on the lookout for a Gallente male, dark skin. Last seen in the station bar. He is probably long gone by now, but it is worth a shot”

“Ok, on our way, Z out”

The Mercenary Forces ships slowly moved in the direction of the sun, plasma still leaking from Madaluap’s frigate.

“Right, our sources in the federation tell me that they have no idea where any of us are at the moment…..

And it ends there….

– by Casparian

Its amazing how as you get older , memory is only a guide not a reference to your life, however some things you never forget.

There was nothing special about that day, no omens to warn of what was to come , the gods didnt see fit to let our villiage know its idyllic existence was over and was about to be invaded, our worlds resourses raped and its inhabitants slaughtered or made slaves, it was just a ordinary day for me.

I remember the smell of Rietu cooking as I opened my eyes , the sunlight coming through the curtians made the shadows dance and the dust sparkle, the sound of my mothers voice rang through our hut as she sang to herself whilst she prepared the morning meal.As the door opened and my mothers head came through I tried to hide under the covers seeking just another few moments of rest, but not quick enough ” Casp get your ass out of bed and come eat, the crops wont wait on your sleep filled eyes and we need to get the seeds to market this eve” whilst her words were harsh I knew she wasnt angry , probably more amused at my attempt to pretend sleep , its amazing I can remember how nice the Rietu was that morning but still have trouble remembering what my mother wore that day, I will never forget the first bite of Rietu, it wasnt really that memorable but it was what I vomited when half of my mothers head was sliced away, I turned as the door slammed open, the sunlight blinding me for a moment, as all I saw was a large shadow in the door, something in his hand flashed brighter than the sun, bright enough to blind me for a moment and at the crash behind me I spun around.

There are things in my life I wish I could change , I would wish that our planet wasnt Invaded by Amarrian slavers, if that wasnt granted, I would wish I hadnt turned around and seen my mother lying on the floor with half her face missing.

Some of the slaves will tell you they survived because they were strong and fought slavery with all their breath, they are liars, the strong ones died first, screaming and in agony, examples to all of us the rewards that strength brings you.Other slaves will tell you they survived becuase they always had hope , always had a reason to live, I believe these people are lying as well , just to themselves, delusion takes many forms.

I survived because I did what was necessary to live day by day, I had no hope , no delusions, no wild flights of fantasy to help me through the days.I survived by using my wit and intelligence both of which I took pains to hide but both of which were my constant allies.I made myself usefull when necessary and scarce when needed, I may have forgotten the details of a lot of my indenture but I have never forgotten nor forgiven any of the violations,, consider it my own way of coping with it.I take inordinate pride in knowing not one slaver is left breathing who violated me.

In the quiet times late at night when whiskey and age has made me melancholy I am willing to admit that the day I was rescued was also the day I was going to kill myself, no matter how intelligent or full of wit I considered myself to be , I was a slave, I had taken more than enough, twice previously I had tried to kill myself, did you know that you cant strangle yourself, you pass out and wake up with a sore kneck and throat, silly that I tried this method twice then .I was becoming too tall to work on the planet operations, the reason why they didn’t need adults in the first place and the reason for my mothers death along with all the other adults , the childrens mining tunnels were easier to build and needed less construction, so I was being transported to the orbiting station slave gangs, somehow I was going to get myself killed quickly by the gaurds, and this is more difficult than you would believe , the slave lords dont look kindly on losing a valuble resource like a prime slave so torture is prefferable form of punishment over random slave murders.

I have never believed in the gods, a thing I think you will find most slaves share with me, I may not believe in the gods but I am damn sure fate is out there laughing at my tangled skien.My heart isnt a brave one but I am convinced I was just about to try getting myself killed when the first missile hit the transport but back then I didn’t know what a missile sounded like, I may not believe in god but when you think he is taking a personal interest in your soul and is banging on the side of your ship you sure get the hang of praying quick enough.It appears the Amarrian slavers really do value their slaves because when the ship went “pop” I thought that my need to die had been granted, how was a 12 year old supposed to know about containment fields in the cargo bay protecting cargo so it can be rescued, when we started floating away from the seats, manacles our only anchors stopping us from bumping around the hold , that is when the panic set in, screams and tears mixed in with prayers , panic is never a tasty dish.

Apparently the Minmitar freedom fighters have been freeing slaves for as long as most of them can remember, first of all we just thought they were our new masters, our fear and cowering seemed to disgust most of them, it didn’t stop them from helping us though. Some , not many, were more understanding, these were the ones who spent most of their time with us , preparing us for our new lives.The doctors first of all made sure we were healthy then gene spliced our DNA so we effectively became another race, I may be Caldari now but it wasnt always so, the scientists were responsible for our learning and understanding , using a cocktail of boosting drugs and some rather nifty implants our knowledge and capability in this new world were brought up to a reasonable standard and for those of us with the capability like myself, we were given extra skills to match our races , apparently I have perfect attributes to be a caldari missile specialist….go figure.

I am not saying that it was all sweetness and light, far from it, we were not given everything , we were set free with enough to buy a small freehold and understanding enough to make our way in the world or enough to buy a ship and not accept any world as home and forge our own destiny in the stars.Guess where I ended up.

Normally I wouldn’t be writing any of this down, it would stay locked in my head safe and secure but I am close to reaching my goal and living past it isn’t getting good odds as far as I can see.I am in a respectable industrial corporation, I have been running missions for Amarr Ministry of War , building up my standing, smiling the monsters in the face and stabbing them in the back, every mission that requires me to hunt slaves down I set them free, then find loyal Amarr citizens , get them gene spliced and their memories wiped and replaced,and their appearances altered, it isn’t cheap but it gives me great pleasure repaying the slave owning bastards in this way.Unfortunately my sucess may be my own downfall, my sucess in completing missions for the Amarr Empire has brought about a amusing situation, tonight I meet with the Amarr Emperor himself to be personally thanked for one of the more delicate Issues I dealt with.

Tonight I get a chance to repay the Amarrian empire once and for all.I cant remember most of my indenture, a result of the drugs and brain work when I was freed, a blessing most would say but I will never forget my mothers face on the floor ,half of it missing, her remaining one eye staring at me through all these years , finally I get a chance to close her eyes in death , all it will take is one more murder and finally my revenge on the Amarrs will be complete.

Tonight the Amarr empire will know loss like mine , every single one of them , when the Amarr empire falls the vultures will circle and then feed.

The Tyranny of the Undead Space People
Who Don’t Really Fight Giant Space Battles Over Planetary Control As Depicted In The Holo-reels
– by So Sensational

“What is that?” the boy said. His mother looked to the sky.
“I don’t know, I believe it might be a bird” she replied, clearly confused by the giant thing approaching in the sky, she had never seen such a thing before.
“NO!” cried an echoing voice, loud enough to scare away a flock of actual futurebirds who were nesting in the trees, “It is I, the mighty and fearless capsuleer Andy94, member of the Advanced Tactics and Murder corporation! I have come here to sow the seeds of profit!”
“The seeds of profit?” the mother asked, clearly not understanding what the great voice in the sky was talking about.
“I shall make you my slaves, woman! I shall claim the planets for myself, nothing can stop me and my powerful Maller, no one will interfere when I impose my tyranny on the weak people of this world!”
“That does not sound very fun at all ( )” she said, “What will you have us do? Surely it cannot be all that bad?”
“Fool! I shall make you draw LINES! I shall have you raise colorful buildings in the name of your lord! You will know fear Muahahahahaha!”

A loud noise, coming from space (he he) burst through the atmosphere, had someone else come to claim the same prize as our dear tyrant Andy34? Surely that could not be? Someone else would taint the rule of our might leader? Surely he could stop them though, it is not as if this world is divided into multiple areas where you do not see the other capsuleers, we all live in the same galaxy after all.

Or so we thought, for the mighty and benevolent, Anastacia Rofo had come to conquer the same planet as Andy05, not through tyranny, but peaceful reign! Everyone would benefit under her (his) benevolence, the line drawers would draw mighty lines of unprecedented cultural significance, her factories would produce amazing quantities of high quality goods unrivaled by the entirely different, not at all exactly the same, creations of lesser demigods.

Andy85, the ruthless tyrant, could not stand for this, such insolence was not a part of the world he had grown up in. No one could challenge him when he stole cubic meter after cubic meter of Veldspar from the spineless, almost automated miners in the belts of high security Amarr space, his flashing red ship had never been challenged by the weak and the cowardly. Surely this one would not do so either, after all, he was a god among gods.

“You there, I am the mighty Andy7, ruler of this world, you are not welcome here!” he said over the comms.
“But surely we can come to some agreement, I do not wish to offend you!” a suspiciously deep voice replied, “My name is Anastacia Rofo, commander of the 55th Legion of the Exploration and Mineral Extraction Association”
“Never! This planet and it’s people are mine!” he touted, clearly proud of his initial contact with the indigenous people, surely the fear they felt after his glorious arrival, would keep them in line.
“Then, I am afraid I must close this comms, if you cannot cooperate I must add you to my blocklist” she threatened, most likely thinking that he would fear such a thing, as if he needed her! Hmph, cowards AND fools!
“Fool, how will that help you take this planet away from me?!” he spat out, and laughed to himself.
“But surely you have heard good sir, I don’t have to, we can coexist and there’s nothing you can do about it!”
“What?! This is unpossible! My tyranny must not be challenged, who will draw the lines in a society like yours? Who will respond to a leader without a firm hand?!”
“We shall see, there is no doubt in my mind that both our ways of ruling will have a great impact on our subjects, but I do not doubt my ways.”
“But surely you cannot build on the same planet as I? I shall conquer your colony!” he said, while grinding his teeth in frustration.
“It would seem that we are separated by an invisible wall, thus rendering the powers of your mighty Maller completely useless!” she retorted, proud of the knowledge she had accumulated while reading about the world while her mining lasers cycled.
“Noooooooooo! This cannot be! I shall leave this place and build my empire in an area where no one can close in on my colonies, a place where people like you never go, a place known as… NULL SEC!” he said triumphantly, confident that he had so easily outwitted the cowards yet again.

As he’s getting ready to leave he brutally incinerates everything in his colony, leaving no one alive or so he thinks.

Andy85 shifts his Maller towards the gates, swiftly warping through system after system of CONCORD controlled space, his anger builds, not only towards the fools of the 55th Legion of the Exploration and Mineral Extraction Assosciation but towards those who allow such insolence to stand, the puppet masters in their offices, the CONCORD. Finally he reaches the area he’s been headed for for the past 30 minutes of exciting travel, the infamous region of Placid. Surely no one will try to stop him in 0,0. He hits the warp button in his cockpit and reaches the first 0,0 gate. As he jumps through everything seems fine, nothing appears on his scanners, all of a sudden he realizes that absolutely nothing is showing on his overview, nothing at all. He realizes that time itself has frozen.
“What is this nonsense?” he says to himself in his cockpit, “Have I passed through an anomaly of some sort?”

All of a sudden he finds himself in a black tunnel with a blinding light at the end of it, he has never seen this tunnel before but has heard of it, and he realizes that he is actually dying.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! GRID LOAD LAG!” he shouts as his pod is burnt burnt into ashes in the cold emptiness of space by a massive blob of null sec pirates so experienced that they’ve even installed their own private outhouse at the gate to allow non-stop control of their pipeline.

What Andy85 doesn’t know is that Estefan, his name given to him by the pile of ashes now sitting next to him, is still alive. When the maller burnt everything in the colony it missed little Estefan and as his mother’s ashes started drifting through the wind, he cried out in anguish and reached for the sky towards the Maller. In anger he squished the little dot between his index finger and thumb, and shouted “ANDY103, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!” Andy’s clones, Andy’s ships, he will have his revenge.

– by Remeus Lockheart

Demi-gods of the heavens. Gods amongst men. That is what they call them.

No…

Demons. That is what they are. I know the truth of their kind, where they go only destruction follows.

Bad enough they spread destruction amongst the stars, now, now they bring destruction to the worlds, the last havens from their kind.

The day their power was extended I looked to the skies. Hundreds of ships, waiting, casting their shadows upon this world. No sooner had the time of their unchaining came, their unchaining from the laws which bound them to the stars and protected us all, that the first shuttles descended….

And with the first shuttles…

The destruction.

As soon as the shuttle had landed the rain came.

Who knows what happened… Perhaps some personal grief long in the brewing? Perhaps a disagreement over a prime deposit of materials? All I know is the demons of the sky do not care who they hurt along the way. Hundreds died in seconds as the rain of the gods reduced the area to a crater. As the sky lit up thousands more would die as the debris fell from orbit.

There are those amongst the gods who yearn for peace and freedom, those who care for their crews and those around them, but those who cannot die soon lose their way. Once death has no meaning life soon becomes cheap and those who once sought freedom and peace soon lose touch like the rest.

I watched in horror…

Sometimes I used to look up at the sky, the call of the stars begging me to take my place amongst them once more…

But I was ashamed…

Ashamed of what I had become in my attempt to find freedom…

To bring peace…

To explore the stars and to find my home amongst them.

My implants cause me pain, as if to remind me of what I am…

I tried to find peace amongst the stars…

Instead I too brought destruction.

I found a haven amongst the planets, a world I had forgotten.

After seeing the destruction around me as the gods were unbound from their chains…

I know what I must do.

Only those of us who have heeded the call of the stars could understand…

I am a pod pilot, a god amongst men.

No…

I am a demon…

And I will rain my destruction on those who now threaten the last havens from my kind!

– by Crefakis

They landed last week. Already the command centre was built. I could see multiple defences, all of which were trained at the sky. I settled in to the foxhole as my spotter called the relevant information.

“Wind, twenty. Elevation, twelve metres. Distance…”

Olach paused as he measured how far across the plains from our vantage point within the tree line overlooking the construction site. The blue glow of the screen he peered into illuminating his face.

“Approximately seventy-five clicks”.

“Twenty, twelve, seventy five. Roger.”

I adjusted my sight to the specific data, and peered into it.

“Target spotted,” I mumbled.

“Fire at will Jak,” Olach replied.

I squeezed. The recoil hit my shoulder like a fist, the projectile’s shockwave bent the dry grass around the muzzle of the metre long barrel. The head of the construction foreman effectively disappeared.

“Hit. Let’s move Jak.”

“Yessir,” I folded the bi-pod on the rifle and slung it over my shoulder, crouching as low as possible and we moved away from the carnage and alarms, audible even over the massive distance.

*

They landed last week. We all knew about the small station orbiting the moon that we saw at night, we saw the flashes of light and temporary stars of explosions and saw the holo-reels that described what happened above but it all seemed so distant. We experienced nothing of the wars that raged in the heavens, except for perhaps slight inflation or deflation of the prices in the taverns as blockades were enforced or broken depending on who was winning. We didn’t even know who was fighting, we just knew that every now and again some people hit the jackpot as they stumbled upon the wrecks of frigates and cruisers that had dropped out of orbit and buried themselves in the countryside.

Wars happened down here too, but not as often and never as wide scale as what happened above. My name is Jak Winder, and I am an alcoholic. We all are. When I say we, I mean our regiment, it is the only way to stay sane. Wars here happen between the major city states, and we are tasked with Magil’s defence, normally against the cities of Pleth and Viper, but now? Now we’re all in the same boat.

B-company, second regiment. Sniper teams. Used to sitting in specially constructed positions atop of our tallest buildings, effective to one hundred kilometres, with the standard nano-projectile rifles. Our motto? “Dead before you hear the shot”.

They landed last week. A freighter, accompanied by a wing of frigates made touchdown around two hundred kilometres outside Magil’s city limits, and as we – Sergeant Olach Illumu and I – watched through our sights as the huge, kilometre long craft settled into a columns of of dust, wondered what the hell was happening, the frigates roared overhead, dropping thousands of pieces of paper towards the streets. Olach stood and caught one, what it said was thus:

Greetings, citizens of Mi Prime!

You have been chosen as part of a campaign by the Alliance of Betters to play host to our new corporate venture! Troops will be arriving soon to conscript your males to work in this venture, so pack your bags boys, you will be part of the AoB in a short while!

Please note that any resistance by either your armed forces or by citizens Levée en masse will be met with utter destruction from the Titan-class ship that you see above you!

Your cooperation in this matter will be appreciated!

As we craned our necks we saw the massive Avatar, visible in geostationary orbit even from the ground, I remember glancing at Olach as our comms unit chimed with the emergency rally command.

*

“Teeeeeeeen-HUT!”

The sound of fifty combat boots sweeping together made a sound like an incredibly short drum roll as the Major walked in. He was young, perhaps thirty – although high enough up the chain of command to make it to at least a hundred, perhaps older. In the correct circumstances, of course. Now though, it didn’t look like he would make it to forty. Dark rings under his eyes, unshaven and sullen he straightened to address us.

“Gentlemen, at ease,” the room collectively relaxed their stance, “As you know the Mayor and the council has called for a ceasefire with the other cities. They are in the exact same situation, otherworlders landing less than three hundred kilometres away, we assume to conscript man-power. Each city has a titan in geo-stat with its weapons primed and trained directly at the centre and each city is thinking the same thing. What are we going to do? Here is the plan, you will all take a pack,” The Major gestured behind us, where huge rucksacks were being brought in, “And you will leave.” At this there were confused mumblings among the rest of the company. The lieutenant stepped forward.

“What the Major means is that we are initiating a guerilla war. You will have no visible markings or outward loyalties. All you will have are these infra-red beacons to distinguish yourselves from the enemy, and two months of rations. You leave in ten. Get ready boys, this will be a battle for survival. Not just for Magil, but for all the cities, for Pleth, Viper, for Innar and Gae – This is our planet. Keep it that way. Dismissed”.

*

They landed last week, and I haven’t slept since. We were running north, my legs were aching horribly and the rifle was a dead weight on my back as Olach and I sprinted through the trees. Our exit was obviously not as clean as we thought, it took minutes for a drop-pod of twenty marines to crash into the woods behind us. I looked to my right and saw Olach sprinting through the pines, silhouetted against the light of the city a hundred kilometres to the east, yellow and orange against the mountains that circled the Magil plains.

Shots whipped through the trees and branches exploded to my left, but it did not faze me – we were almost there. I glanced at Olach and he nodded as we jumped through the open trapdoor of our foxhole and locked it from the inside. Panting we sat still as we heard the marines sprinting overhead. I closed my eyes and relaxed.

It was five minutes before we heard it, like a giant electric motor spinning up and increasing in revolutions. We both moved to the eastern side of the den we had built ourselves and only just caught in time the gigantic flash of a massive explosion about a mile above Magil.

“Oh… Oh no, shit, no!” uttered Olach, “They did it, they really did it. They fired the Titan.” Olach looked at me with an expression that chilled me to the bone. “There’s nothing left.” He slumped down against the wall with pure hopelessness.

I sat next to Olach and picked up the bottle of whiskey I had stashed in my pack, took a swig and handed it over, Olach accepted it still staring at the city, now laid waste, with fires and smaller explosions highlighting the skeletons of skyscrapers.

*

They landed last week.

– by Kreigen

**10 Days till Concord Releases Planetary Ban**

Location: Horkissen I
Caldari Sovereignty

The day was hot, unusually hot considering the breeze off the oceans. There was a farming module out in the west field that needed a condenser unit replaced badly, and of course, father had me up at dawn to fix it. I sat kneeling in the soft earth of the field, sweat pouring over my forehead and dripping off my nose, trying to think if there was anything better I wanted to do with my life. There had been times I had dreamt of heading to the stars like so many others, but father was quick to end those thoughts.

“The universe outside our door is a loathsome and unforgiving place.” He would say “Clear your mind of the trivial dreams, and focus on the work you do with your own two hands”

He was so found of saying that…”with your own two hands”. Mother used to say it was his way of atonement, but was quick to silence when father would give her “The Look”. I laughed to myself, yeah, “The Look”. It was legendary in our home, it meant shut up or else.

I brushed the dirt off my hands and ran them through the soil. It always helped take some of the oils from the modules off, something about the sulfur content my father would say. I gazed upward and caught a glimpse of the Lai Dai station hovering in orbit. Sometimes, at night I would glance through the crude microscope my father had hidden away in the storage unit at that mighty mass of metal in the sky and wonder….. What did they do?

I had traveled with father many times to the planetary launch pad about 100km away. We would trade goods and pick up our orders from the cargo containers that came in once every six cycles. I would always listen to the pilots talk of the latest Capsuleer news. What systems were threatened, what horrible things had happened, and what Concord had planned for this system. Always that rumor. This system has always been just out of Concords reach, lawless and dangerous yet close enough to secured space that nothing terrible ever really happened.

Suddenly something didn’t feel right. I snapped back to reality and realized I was gazing off for more then an hour, lost in my own thoughts, father would have my head for that if he knew. I wondered if it was the fear of getting caught daydreaming that snapped me back, Yet that wasn’t it. I felt my skin crawl as what little breeze blew stopped. Then I heard it. The familiar boom of planetary entry. There wasn’t a scheduled resupply drop for another 3 cycles. I stood up quickly and scanned to the west, toward the planetary pad.

Nothing.

I knew I heard it. I scanned the horizon, flowing my eyes off the blue oceans to the south. That’s when I saw it… or should I say them. They started as small specks reflecting off the water. I thought I had heat stroke at first. But then I rubbed my eyes and looked again, they were there swarming around each other, just above the water. Then suddenly they stopped moving, and in a flash shot off in 5 different directions. One barreled, like some kind of winged demon, right toward me. It stopped, dead on the spot, just a few feet above my head.

It was silver in color, with a pulsing blue light from its core. It was pill shaped, but with large rotating fans that kept it in flight. Reminding me of the kites I flew as a child. Suddenly it lurched, and shot into the ground, inches from me. The concussion of the impact threw me to the ground, and the noise of it rang in my ears. I sat up, and noticed the module I spent all morning working on was torn clear in half. The object was now imbedded into the soil, making clicking and whirling sounds. Then suddenly, just as it had moments before, it lurched and shot again into the sky. This time not hovering, but a full thrust back into the clouds. I heard 5 distinctive pops as each object I had first witnessed ascended back into the black heavens.

I never heard father approach me, nor did I notice him inspecting the module and the hole in the ground that sat smoking from the heat of the thing. I gaze upward until I felt his hand on my shoulder….

He spoke softly, having never heard him speak this way I was startled..

“Son, come to the house. I need to speak to you and your sister…now”

**6 Days till Concord Releases Planetary Ban**

Location: Horkissen I Lai Dai Station, High Orbit
Caldari Sovereignty

He sat watching the screen as it scanned, and rescanned every ship within 200km of the station. Things had gotten very busy, and ever since the fleet of scan ships hit the system, and descended on

Planet I, 4 days ago.

They had him on double duty. Caldari state ships were arriving in droves. But they weren’t the only ones. He had personally seen at least 6 Charon freighters enter the system and move to positions around the 3rd planet in the last 24 hours. The Capsuleers were chomping at the bit. 6 days to go, then everything would change….

**4 Days till Concord Releases Planetary Ban**

Location: Horkissen I
Caldari Sovereignty

What father had told me was almost impossible to believe. Concord was lifting the ban on what he called “Planet Mining”. We always thought we were going to be safe from capsuleers here. I had heard him tell my mother of the “old days”, which he would look at me and warn me of the “Breed of dogs and demons that fly the dark heaven without a care to anyone but themselves, and their wallets”.

Now that was changing. They were coming here, to lay claim to land that we had already claimed. The scan probes that shot through the planet over the last few days were only beginning he told us. Soon we would have to be ready for much more, much bigger visitors. My sister sat weeping, unsure of our fate. My father was as stone faced as ever.

That evening I saw him standing outside talking to someone. The man was covered in a robe from head to toe and spoke with an accent I had never heard. When he reached out to shake my fathers hand I gasped at the sight. Mechanics of countless kinds ran through his arm. Metal plates bolted to his skin, which was as pale as our moon. My father took his hand, shook it, and spoke in a language I had never heard.

The next morning I questioned him about the man. I was swiftly given “The Look” and fell to silence. He instructed me to go that morning to the west field, the same field I had encountered that first scan probe, and retrieve every piece of equipment from it.

“That’s nearly 3 days work” I exclaimed.

My father looked at me, without flinching said “And you have one day to do it in”

**2 Days till Concord Releases Planetary Ban**

Location: Horkissen I Lai Dai Station
Caldari Sovereignty

The last two days were spent gathering everything we had. Some of it my father sold to our neighbors for the cheapest bidder. I was angry at him, upset that we were abandoning our home at the first sign of the capsuleers. I bit my tongue, not wanting to anger father as I could tell he was already very much on edge.

He took me with him the previous night to a meeting with the locals and a Lai Dai company man. The man dressed head to toe in white lab gear. He spoke of the Caldari State’s reaction to recent concord decisions. He told us not to worry, that no great change would come to our planet or way of life. People were angry, screaming violent threats at him. Others were nodding their heads in agreement.

My fathers lips snarled, and he spat on the ground. “Fools..” he said under his breath. “Come, son, we are leaving…”

This day, no matter my anger, his mood seemed to have worsened. Twice more since I first saw that strange man he came back to speak with my father. Always at a distance in the shadows, and never for very long. I began to wonder why I had never seen him. A man like that would most surely be known to all in the area.

Father had just finished packing a cargo crate when the vid screen flashed. He had a call… he never had calls. Father gave me “The Look” and I quickly finished what I was doing and left the room. I heard him raise his voice, twice, then silence. It droned on for what felt like forever, ringing in my ears worse with each passing eternity of a second. Father opened the door and called me into the room.

I stood up, strangely, shaking. I had never seen him like this. There was something very different about him. He had always been stern, but fair and calm. Now he seemed a frenzy of emotion, dominating was anger.

I entered the room to find the locked trunk he kept under the floor boards pulled out and opened. Inside were all manner of mechanical instruments and gadgets. Father was opening a small steel container. Inside were small boxes with wires attached. He turned and stared at me dead in the eyes.

“Son, In my time I have seen great things, done greater things, but also horrible things.” His expression never faltered “I came here, with your mother and you to leave that behind me. But these things I have done will never leave. The universe sees to that. I have raised you to know hard work, to know that what you do with your hands results in reward. But that time has come to an end.”

I stared at him, my mind lost in a swirl of confusion “Father I….”

He cut me off “Do not speak. Listen.” I nodded.

“Tomorrow you will take your sister to the launch pad and meet with the Turista family. They will take her from you and you will return to me here.”

“I don’t unders…”

“I SAID LISTEN!” He screamed. He had never screamed at me. Between his demeanor and “The Look” it was enough to keep me in line. “..you will come back here. Do you understand?”

“Yes father.”

As I lay in bed that night my head swam with thoughts and worries. What was happening, why was father sending my sister away, and who was that man in the cloak? I heard him outside again talking with my father. I slid out of bed as silently as I could and slipped on my clothes. I crawled through the window and positioned myself in the bushes near them. They were finishing their conversation, ending in the handshake and language I knew nothing about. Father went back inside, and I followed the cloaked man at a distance. He proceeded down along the oceans bank to an isolated marsh section. He approached a point and stopped dead in his tracks. He stared up and did not move.

Suddenly the air around where he stood electrified and began to twist. Metal and lights came into view, then there was a ship. It was Black and red, with dim lighting all around it. Shaped in a crescent, it was bigger then anything I had ever seen. The cloaked man began to walk toward it, then stopped mid step. He turned only his head toward where I hid. How could have known I was here, I never made a sound. The cloak fell from around his head exposing a ghastly sight. Out of the back of his ran tubes and wires that disappeared down the back of his cloak. His head was bald, but patched with more metal plates. His mouth was covered by what looked like a deep breather we used when spraying out crops. As he gazed toward my location I noticed he was missing an eye, in its place was some kind of optic visor. I could not tell, but I swore I saw him smile before he stepped forward and boarded the ship.

It rose off the ground slightly hovering. It was silent. Its engines never made a sound. Then the electricity in the air started again, and it disappeared from view. I was left alone again in silence and darkness, unsure of what Id seen.

I made my way home and crawled back in through the window. Father was waiting for me in the darkness.

“Did you follow him?”

“yes father”

He let out a little laugh, something I hadn’t heard since mother had passed “Ever my son…. Go to sleep”

**23 hours till Concord Releases Planetary Ban**

Location: Horkissen I Lai Dai Station, High Orbit
Caldari Soveregnty

He was amazed. This system sat virtually barren for years. Not since the Gallante war had he seen so many ships in the system. Yet, there they were. 12 Charon freighters, countless support craft, as well as numerous combat vessels. He even thought he saw a black ops vessel ping on his radar. He couldn’t scan it down again so it was probably nothing, a ghost in the machine.

They were coming alright. Most from the same capsuleer corporation that was scanning the planet over the last week. They were coming, and they were foaming at the mouth.

**13 hours till Concord Releases Planetary Ban**

Location: Horkissen I
Caldari Sovereignty

He had done as he was told. His sister had boarded a shuttle with the Turista family, whom all looked petrified at the journey they were about to take. They shot off toward the stars, and the station, planning to return when the initial blitz on the planet by the capsuleers was over.

I returned home to find my father wearing a tight, black and deep blue uniform. His head was shaved, and for the first time ever I noticed numerous sockets and small metal plates around his head and neck. He was seated at the table with numerous devices laid out in front of him.

He pointed to the seat in front of him. “Sit down son.”

I did as I was told.

He looked down at the floor, then back at me. “Years before I knew your mother, before you were a twinkle in her eyes, I would fly that dark heaven. I was a great pilot; I fought in many wars, saw the end to many fellow pilots, and took all I could as my own.”

“You…you are a capsuleer?!” I exclaimed.

My father pardoned the interruption “Yes, was… and forever will be. I took everything I could, killed many innocent people, and was the leader of a small gang….. that man you’ve been seeing… he was my right hand. He took over the..” He gently cleared his throat “business when I left.”

I stared, lost.

“After the scan probes came that day I knew something was happening. I contacted him for information and found out much much more. We are leaving this place tomorrow. You will board a ship with me, we will leave this planet and start this game over again, together.”

I gasped “But I don’t want to start this over… I worked to long and hard here to start over somewhere else..”

He cut me off “You misunderstand me, we are not going to another planet to farm son. We are taking you to get fitted for a capsule. You are going to become what your father already is…”

I was lost, my head was swimming… I didn’t know what to say or do.

My father calmly waited for my to regain my composure. “Over the next few hours we will help me prepare to re-enter a capsule. You must learn as we go, and you pay close attention, it will make the process for you less… painful.”

Over the next few hours I helped him plug all manner of machine and booster into his neural slots. It was tiring and agonizingly tedious. When it was over, I gazed at my father not seeing the man I knew, but a thing closer to the man in the cloak.

**T Minus 15 minutes till Concord Releases Planetary Ban**

Location: Horkissen I
Caldari Soveregnty

All day Dai Lai had been sending message probes and drones down to the planet telling us how to behave, what to expect, and other general propaganda. I had spend hours moving everything worth while to one large secured container with father, who was now wearing the same kind of cloak the mysterious man was wearing before. He had also fit me with some basic boosters thru injections that would help with my first visit to space.

It was due to happen soon, the first wave of capuseers to swarm the planet. The timer display my father set up said 6 minutes, where the drones kept saying 15. I knew now it was best to just go along with father and not ask.

After we finished loading the container he called me over to the clearing in front of our home. As I walked toward him I noticed his timer had reached zero. He pointed to a section of the sky and told me to watch.

I stared at the blue sky for what seemed forever. Then a blink caught my eye. It raced across the sky then dipped toward us. It tore a hole in the clouds and it barreled faster then anything I had ever seen. I wanted to run, to get out of its impending impact but I looked at father, who did not move. I stood my ground wanting to at least make him proud in what I thought was our twilight.

The object flew fast and hard toward us, then at the last second, came to a stop right above us. It was a ship, of a make and model I had never seen in any video feed. It was huge, a massive beast that blocked out the sun for what seemed miles. My father was smiling, grinning like a baby with a new toy. The ship slowly came to rest on the ground not far from the house. Its engines shut down and a figure exited the ship.

The cargo bay to the ship opened and began dropping a much smaller shuttle on the ground next to it. The figure walked closer, and I could see it was the same man who had come so many times in the night. He took my fathers hand and moved into a small embrace with him, patting his back firmly.

“Itsss good to sssee you in true form, brotha” he said, with his breathing device hissing as he did.

The figure glanced at me then back at father “Taking the nexxxt generation with you are you?”

Father spoke sternly and strongly “He is my legacy, and he will make his own soon enough”

The man laughed “Alwaysss the poet… the poet whos sword was alwaysss mighter then his pen”

He took my fathers hand, spoke his foreign farewell and headed toward the small shuttle. Stopping, he cocked his head slightly to the side and yelled out “Better hurry, Im ssssure the Lai Dai are wondering why a Machariel Battleship just broke planetary orbit” cackling he boarded the shuttle and torn off into the sky.

Father laughed to himself “A gnat on the radar it is not….” He turned quickly to me “As I instructed son, load the gear and get ready to go.”

I moved quickly to load the gear into place. I saw father enter the ship, the suddenly tiny probes launched everywhere around the ship. I heard his voice boom out of unseen speakers..

“Its time son…”

**Zero Hour- Concord Releases Planetary Ban**

Location: Horkissen I
Caldari Sovereignty

The sound of numerous planetary entries shock the ground. I was thrown to the ground, and quickly stood back up. I watched as giant pillars stretching miles into the sky dropped onto the planets surface as armies of drones began to peel away the metal skin and expose pipes, refineries, and other large factory like equipment.

I screamed at the ship “Father, what are these things.”

The speakers cracked on “They are the machines that will change the face of this planet and a million others like it. They are the instruments of the greedy, and the conduit of a new era.”

I stared back at them, the drones had already half assembled one and it groaned to life. I saw smoke pour into the air and it began its work.

Fathers voice rang in my ears “Board now son, we are leaving…”

I tore off running toward the boarding ramp, but was stopped suddenly by the biggest explosive sound I had ever heard. I walked slowly back to where I could see the factory. Nothing seemed to be wrong with it, it was working I assumed, as intended.

“Up” fathers voice boomed again “Look up and see what one action begets”

I looked up and saw what I knew to be a Charon Freighter entering the atmosphere. That was impossible I though, they were far to big to enter planets. Then I saw it.

The bow of the ship dipped below the clouds, followed by the middle section. The rear of the ship was no where to be seen… and the middle was a horrific picture of hell. Flames shot out of every section, smaller explosions ripped through the remainder of the ship.

“Get on board son, we are leaving now” fathers voice said

I boarded and positioned myself next to a vid screen. The camera probes father had launched were fixed on the falling freighter. I watched, part in awe part in horror, as it touched the planets surface. The flash of light blinded the camera drones. Then as the picture came back I saw a pillar of fire rising to the sky unlike anything I had ever seen before. I felt the ship jerk as we lifted off the ground and punched toward the sky.

The shock was from the crashing freighter propelled us into the heavens. I glanced at the vid screen and noticed father had kept one on the planets surface. We watched as the shockwave tore everything to dust. Our home was gone, our life on that planet over.

“Camera six” father said.

I looked at the vid screen and increased the size. I saw another Charon being attacked by numerous ships of various sizes. I watched as it to exploded into debris.

“Pirates?!” I screamed above the engines

I heard fathers laugh reverberate through the whole ship. “No son, Capsuleers.”

I stared back at the screen and watched the planet grow smaller and smaller. I could see monstrous ships of countless model traveling toward it. I felt sick and sad.

“Our home….” I whispered under my breath

Fathers voice answered me “Your in it son, this is the Black Horizon, Welcome Home.”