The universe of New Eden was discovered by our people over 21,000 years in the future. The possibility of humans traveling to another section of space was the discovery of a natural wormhole. As humans as they are, being curious, we traveled through. Colonizing the many of planets and stars the space provided. When we thought everything was in utopia, the wormhole collapsed. The many of colonies stretched across space were isolated, smaller colonies dropped in the matter of months.
The generations through out the years tried to continue the few traditions their ancestors celebrated on our home world. They, like the smaller colonies, died off. Technology was lost, customs forgotten. The Dreams of humanity never did fade though, from the beginning humans looked upon the heavens above, eventually reaching their goal. History repeated, as humans broke the surfaces of worlds that larger colonies survived.
The first colony that reached the stars were the Amarr, a belief in religion that helped them be closer to their god, accelerated their technological advance. They traveled to a nearby system, discovering another form of human. They were of a tribal descent, the Amarrians tried to reclaim the souls of this race known as the Minmatar. Sadly they were enslaved, forced to "reclaim" themselves and rejoice with their fellow religious followers. Being of not true Amarr they were never treated as equal.
As these two races faced a front, another world was riddled with war since the collapsing of the wormhole. They shared a world, not settling their differences. One side was of an Economic Dictatorship, ones of wealth had control of the armies that defended their race, known as The Caldari State. The other race was controlled by democratic properties; they have prospered well in the war, besides the casualties. They are known as the Gallente Federation. In this war of the two sides, Gallente had pushed the Caldari off of their home world, expanding on other worlds and claiming space as their own.
With technology advancing in such rapid pace, our species found ways to make people immortal. The discovery of a natural forming wormhole in the newly found space had relics of New Eden's past. Technology that offered god like powers, The Amarrians were the first to discover this advancement. It allowed the transfer of cognitive memory of one body to a Clone that shared the same genetic attributes.
This technology made the immortals break from the descended races, making a mind of their own and starting a brutal deadly war known as the Empyrean war. Immortals versus the mortals, the battles held above ground were nearly all but lost from the Empyreans. The ground battles still fought for the races, a still bloody stalemate. The Amarrians developed technology to condensing the Empyrean tech. into a ground unit consumable. Creating the very first Immortal soldier, this tech was also not easy to control by the Amarr. Like the Empyreans the soldiers broke from the race. This technology of Immortal Soldiers was quickly spread through the races. Forming the largest war in history, Empyreans and Immortal soldiers were forging their own future, nothing standing in their way.
Region: Black Rise
System: Asaiki I
Sovereignty of the Caldari State
I looked at the ceiling of my quarters. It had blue lights lining the walls against the ceiling, the walls glimmering with a metallic sheen. My Neo Comm was flashing, notifying me of the post battle reports. I lifted my arm and activated the hologram watch, a screen materialized out of the device, I tapped the notification. The hologram presented an aftermath report.
/Start
\Paragraph-indent/
Reports of the Molden Heath section have appeared inconclusive of the system Klingt. District 5, 9, and 21 are under constant attack with little to no clone reserves left. Possible failure or shut down of Districts. CEO of PFBHZ has requested to take place of your district.
CONCORD/
\Press Enter to accept the following contract/
I made a sigh; this wasn't good news for the Corporation. I offered the contract to PFBHZ. They would make sovereignty of the district. There were too few mercenaries in my corp. Just wasn't enough to keep up with the steady pounding we've been given, wasn't fair for my people to invest the money in to a lost cause.
I closed my Neo Comm and sat up in my bed, my mistress was on the couch just a little away from the bed. The bed wasn't much for comfort, "just something for you clone to use," Was what my battle instructor told me. Most Immortals in the caldari didn't have much respect for those of mortal descent. This certain facility I was placed for mine and my mistress's protection, other Immortals were placed here as well. But they too shared some sympathy for those that are mortal.
"Good evening," She said turning her head. She had brown hair, tied in a bun. Her face was slim, with piercing green eyes. She wore a white silk robe, the Caldari symbol pated on the shoulder. Her eyes are what made me fall for her, even with her beauty, they told a sad story. Her home world was destroyed by an Empyrean; I was on the ground during the invasion. I saved her life, just barely. The contractor wasn't very pleased with my doings. We nearly got vaporized on the warp out of system.
"Hello, Mistress Axton." I said smiling.
She got up from the couch holding a data pad, I swung my legs over the edge on checked my pulse. She walked up to me and sat down beside me.
"I'm at fifty-six beats per minute," I declared, "How have you been?"
She noted the BPM and cracked a smile, "Better, now that your here." She lifted the pad to my head and checked to see if all cognitive implants were connected properly, "You seem to be in check, I'll have the data uploaded to the network."
I turned my face to meet her gaze, her eyes pierced into me like they always did. I got chills down my back and leaned in to greet her the proper way. She returned 'the greet' and got up to go back to the couch.
"Has anyone visited while I was gone?" I asked, slipping on my padded underarmour and shined my insignia. The insignia was an eagle with arrows in one hand and lightning bolts in the other.
"Uh….yes, CEO Adar visited. He had several contracts for you." Mistress Axton replied.
I got up from my bed and walked over to the couch. As I walked up the three steps leading to the couch, I could see my drop suit fittings and vehicle fittings spread on the coffee table, I continued my way to the couch and dropped beside my mistress. I pulled out a drawer containing my liquor. I grabbed out two glasses and poured a glass for Mistress Axton. I gulped down the liquid and gave her one more kiss before I left the quarters.
The Hallway in the station resembled the quarters I lived in. Other mercenaries like me were exiting their rooms and heading away towards the hangars. I walked down the halls, catching sometime on my peripheral vision of Empyreans hitting on mortals. They made it uncomfortable for me as my professional persona was on the instant I left my quarters. PDA wasn't very professional in my case; I don't know much of the star pilots' customs. They were stuffed inside a capsule that kept their safe from the forces of space, the capsule allowed the Empyrean to become one with the pilot, linking cognitive processes to ship and reaction times in battle to accelerate by one hundred ten percent.
The exit of the hall lead out to a very busy hangar, I could see Empyreans and Mercenaries walking in and out every way. Several guards wearing light armour came marching to the quarter's hall. My mistress was safe; the AI that watched the station could confirm a friend of ours. I stood at the edge of the hall and saluted, they brushed me off, not noticing my insignia. Their armour was similar to my battle underarmour, except instead of hydraulic gel cushioning me from the heavy plates, they had steel-titanium plates that covered the major muscle groups on the body.
I continued on without bothering, Budsin Adar was impatient when I didn't get to him fast. He usually offered high paying contracts for me, and on several occasions, supported orbital fleet support. I was a mercenary and never really asked on his intentions for attacking systems, but he usually left something with My Mistress. This meant it was something personal.
I walked down to the commons area, Budsin was sitting at a table drinking a glass of Amarrian wine. Stolen from the Salvage auction they had after an Avatar-class Titan was destroyed nearby. Budsin Adar was shorter than I; my augmented skeletal structure stood an extra foot above him. He had black hair, short and neatly groomed. Sat upon his chin was a goatee that complimented his hair.
I pulled out a chair from another table and sat next to him. "Good Evening, how goes it with your crusade?" I asked.
"Axton, longtime no see. I'll open a nuero-interface link, it needs to be private."
He looked at me, and then I could hear the thoughts that were transmitting from the brain-waves. Mordu's legion, they have my family. I don't know who wanted to take them. I glanced at him, I never really understood how this linkage worked, but I tried anyway, I thought to myself.
The legion is only a mercenary faction. They probably took the contract because of its pay. Who do you know that has good money? Mercenaries, as far as I know, don't like doing kidnappings. Liability issues of course.
I got up and looked at the Amarrian wine. I grabbed the glass and took a sip of it. It tasted as if the grapes were grown purely of their god, very strong taste that had yet a very sweet side to it, I couldn't really tell which side tasted better.
I'll offer four hundred billion to kill the bastard who took them, and bring them home safe. He finished the statement; the assassination of one was strictly against my morals. But his family was missing, they could be anywhere.
The price is big, but I need an Empyrean to help me and my Corp. I replied in thought. He studied my face, trying to find a way to lower the payment. I stared back, living no soul behind my eyes.
"I'll get a pilot, but please don't use the term 'Empyrean' it was what the Amarr used for derogatory words. Call us Capsuleers." He replied out loud.
I smiled and shook his hand for the acceptance of the contract. He got up from the chair and strode over to the hangars, where his Drake-class frigate was waiting for his capsule to be docked within.
A drone came down from the ceiling and picked up the mess left on the table. I watched it do its job. The drone's tentacles fell from its body and quickly vanished the Amarrian wine and its glass. I turned on my heel and headed to the battle-net. Hoping to access some files on this contract.
Region: Molden Heath
Sovereignty: Contested
Liza took inventory of her stock; she was currently docked in a station in an asteroid field. She was sent here originally to do tedious patrols around the Klingt system, but she found it difficult to do by it herself. Officially, the space with a two point six AU distance was to be clear of all rogue drones and pirates. Unofficially, Liza would just sit in her quarters and make fake reports to her corp.
Alone here has done a toll on her psychological mind. She, numerous of times, attempted to kill herself and her clones. The drones that were assigned to protect her would sedate her if she opposed harm to herself. Waking up with no memory of harming herself.
Liza was a capsuleer, red hair and blue eyes. Her Genetics got mutated during the cloning process, this being her sixth clone and she decided to keep the blue eyes. It allured some strays that would warp near her station. Her face was available to anyone that could find her hiding spot. When she was sane, she considered herself a siren.
Her stock was full, except for the missing shipment of laser batteries. She ignored that fact, the ships or drones that would warp or fly by, were easily destroyed by her installations on nearby asteroids. Thanks to her corp. mercenaries safely put up defense grid system, only Liza could cognitively accept the firing of the systems.
She opened her Neo-Comm and started typing the week's report. When the file was almost ready to send. The radar picked up an anomaly; she closed the sheet and tapped into the in-system map.
Buoy number one flashed, something must have bumped it, she thought to herself. The anomaly then flashed about five hundred kilometers from her station.
That's impossible, the outside installations rotated the ground they sat on, spitting anti-matter rounds into the anomaly. She closed the map and raced to her ship.
The "Faithful" fired its rail guns, the inside of the vessel shuddered as molten metal spat from the weapons. The captain in the bridge was smiling; his grin was as white as the snow on Klingt.
"Jacob, get me another firing solution on that Empyrean." He barked.
"Solution online now, sir!" Jacob replied, he wiped his pail forearm across his sweaty forehead. The inside of the ship usually overheated fast when firing these weapons, but Captain Friech left the Legion's docks early. The engineers didn't have enough time to finish the coolant system, nor the engine repairs from the encounter with the last Empyrean.
Captain Friech was fearless against the Immortals, he liked to strike right where they would regain consciousness. Wiping the humanoids from existence. Captain Friech was slightly old, yearning around fifty seven. The grey hair on his head was neatly combed to the side. His eyes were blue, fading in color from his years of stress.
"Sir, anti-matter rounds coming on impact. They're targeted for our engines." The navigation officer informed.
"Bring the ship to grid six Charlie Delta. Then blow that Empyrean to hell, Jacob!" He ordered. The "Faithful" spun turning it bow towards the rounds, after the Rail guns fired their salvo and punctured through Liza's asteroid. Friech grinned as he could see the atmosphere vent out and debris fly into deep space. The Faithful shook as anti-matter rounds struck the bow.
"Damage assessment?" he asked, he turned to see the reports on-screen, Nothing the engineers back at HQ won't fix, he thought. Besides, these contracts he's been accepting, offered every personal on the vessel over a hundred years' worth of retirement.
Region: Molden Heath
System: Egbinger IV
Sovereignty: Contested
I walked down a hallway, leading to the main war room. Red lights all over were flaring, sirens set at alert status. I saw two mercenaries run past me, their tags were ONS. I guess technically I'm a stow away, I didn't figure for this war-barge to be towed out here. My senses weren't fully awakened, I was going to inject a slight dose of adrenaline when I got to the arms lockers.
The war room was full of other mercenaries, all sharing the same tags. This battle was for ONS apparently, most of my corporation members were MIA from our last planetary invasion. I walked onto the war-barge to think a little bit, my Mistress went away to visit friends in the nearby system. Armed drones guarded her drop ship to the station there.
I opened the battle-net and formed my own squad. I closed the tab and walked out into the room, other bodies started looking over at me. I could feel eyes following my moves, I wandered over to the lockers and found a Dropsuit. Not one I was trained to use par say. It was manufactured by one of the mega-corporations, Ishukone. For Drop suit purposes they were specialized in logistical warfare. The Caldari were fine in designing an outfit, the main chest plate carried its own shield generator. The helmet was designed for shields as well.
I punched the lock and opened the locker, I slipped on the helmet and my HUD opened up. It read nothing except distances my reticle showed for the weapon, I slipped on the chest plate and plate legs. The HUD then updated in blue numbers the percentages of the efficiency of the modules. My shields bar pumped up and read one hundred percent.
I lifted next the more important part of the battle, my rifle. The HUD displayed the information of the type and uploaded it to cloning re-animation units that would deploy form orbit. It was a Dovoulle assault rifle, Dovoulle laboratories were famous and in-famous for their tech. They developed the first assault rifle to shoot plasma encased projectiles, the in-famous part was the technology was leaked and immortals got hold of it. Those that destroy anything in their path almost made the mandatory deactivation of all research from CONCORD.
I lifted the nano-hives next, these complex boxes disposed of nanites form, in any way, the ammo that a weapon needs. It would materialize on the belt that a person would carry. The next thing was grenades, these things would discharge an explosion and millions of micro shrapnel, Deadly against those not wearing shield tech. The last thing I could see in the locker was a nanite injector, on the side it read from another mega-corp, Wyrokirmi. They speaclized in nanite technology, these tiny things in the vial would enter someone's blood stream and replace any damaged nerve tissue.
I turned around and exited through the door, the other mercenaries from this corp were heading to arm-up. I continued to the Drop-bays, where several other mercenaries were loading into a Mobile Command Center. The last figure on board signaled me to hurry.
As I sprinted towards the loading doors, my helmet automatically activated the night vision optics. Inside I could see the bodies of fifteen others armored up and ready to drop. The person that motioned me to hurry was strapping in her seat. I looked immediately to my left and sat down in a chair that was open. I strapped in and then I waited for the MCC to leave port with the war-barge.
All I could see inside was the lights of where the eye slits would be. The ship lurched forward, then up. I could feel my stomach rise, it then dropped and settled down into the atmosphere. The inside was starting to heat up, inside my skin started to sweat. My Dropsuit corrected the heat spike and cooled down my temperature, it felt ice cold. The MCC slowed down, giving the inside a bumpy ride. It settled above at one thousand feet, then a green light shined through the bay. A door in the middle of the room opened up and revealed the alien world below. Mercenaries got up from their seats and jumped through.
I got up and peered over the edge, my stomach started to rise again as several missiles flew underneath. This wasn't the first time I've seen this, but I knew that I felt all the pain a mortal can feel on foot, until I wake up at a CRU. I crouched and leaped through the door way. My electronic sensors started reading the atmospheric pressure and adjusted my oxygen for antiquate motor skill function. A sensor in my top left vision noted the height and speed I was falling, the MCC's AI uploaded a inertia dampener equation that would be enough to survive a fall. A Blue shield appeared form under my boots as I fell through the air.
When I smacked on the ground, the dampener malfunctioned and didn't absorb all the force. My legs cracked and I felt my shin splinter, I collapsed on the floor hugging my legs. In agony I managed to grab an injector and stabbed it into my ankle, the nanites felt like ice running through my veins. I felt my shins growing back together, it was painful nonetheless. I got to my feet and studied the field ahead.
Bolases were coming from all directions, vehicles were materializing from under a light bending shroud that appeared invisible. I looked ahead and saw a docking station for an MCC to store its on-board AI. I walked for several meters and saw a squad of mercs planning the battle.
"Quil'n, I want you to support the eighty second armored. They'll be the main assault group," a female officer ordered, "Kromstien, follow the infantry division and provide any heavy support that you can"
The mercs saluted and ran to catch up with their orders, I looked at the man named Quil'n, he wore similar armor to mine. It was of logistical class, but based off a Minmatar frame. The minmatar frame had a pack to carry all the logistic equipment, the faceplate had one eye slit, his glowed red. The body frame was black, slightly camouflaged of light yellows and greys. He sprinted to the tanks that just dropped and hopped on top of one.
I looked back over at the officer, she had an LAV parked waiting for her gunner to get in.
"Soldier!" A voice came on in my Battle-comms, "Get in the LAV, and were taking heat off of the front gate."
"Yes, mam." I replied back, I didn't normally like being ordered from others. Hence the reason I formed my own corporation, but the abnormal loss in roster of my corp was rather unorthodox for any corporation. I jogged to the gunner seat and hopped in. I pulled the charging handle and tapped the side of the trunk to signal I was ready.
What I wasn't ready for was the sudden acceleration, I nearly fell off, but I grabbed a good hold of the handle. The officer drove past two of the lead tanks, leading into a valley that had several short plateaus. On top were soldiers setting up small 40 mm plasma turrets, another invention of Dovoulle laboratories. Unfortunately they weren't on the same side as us. They spat rounds at six hundred round per second.
Several rounds hit the hull of the LAV and cut the optical support for my HUD. I had to fire blindly, I pulled the trigger and spat 40 mm plasma encased projectile at the turret set ups. The rounds struck the gunners, the plasma burned out a hole, while the projectile ripped right through the back of their head.
Bullets started flying from behind us, the plasma exploded on impact near more set-ups ahead. Molten rock and flesh flew down from the plateaus. The officer that was driving the LAV turned the vehicle sharply, several small railgun rounds impacted where we once were, sparks of electricity fring in directions, a small burned crater remained.
The sudden turn flipped our vehicle over on it's back, I looked out where light was shining through. The sound of tank treads heading towards us, their cannons were deafening up close. They fired their hundred five millimeter rounds at the opposition. I crawled out the trunk and got to my knees, several rounds flew past my head. The officer darted in front of me firing her assault rifle. I pulled the charging handle to my rifle and cautiously walked to the side of the rock formation.
Peering over the other side, opposition forces were well dug in. Several troops in Amarr armor were shooting their heavy machine guns. Rounds peppered the rocks, tearing the minerals into dust. I pulled myself back to cover. Ok, I'm going to sprint to the plateau next to me. I have to get connected to other squads.
I peered back out of cover with my rifle to my shoulder, I aimed down my sights and fired the rifle. The rounds peppered the Amarr armor, the plasma ripped right through the Dropsuit, blood and other shell fragments ripped out the other side. I fired one more round into the soldier, aiming at his head, the faceplate exploded from overheating.
The covering fire of the HMG seized, so I decided to run across the open. The friendlies gave covering fire, I slid on my thigh to the cover. Rounds started hitting my shields, it sounded like rocks being thrown at glass. My module read the percentage at sixty four percent. I quickly scrambled up to my feet and got back behind cover.
"Soldier, follow alpha squad to flank the main line." The officer barked, she got up and fired sixteen rounds. The enemy returned the favor, bullets hitting her neck. She fell back, a white abnormal fluid spraying from her arteries. I quickly got out an injector and crawled to her body, I stabbed her thigh and saw her twitch, I could see at her neck the wound cover up. She twitch one more time and got back up, I cupped her armpit and helped her back up. More enemy rounds peppered the plateau, spraying dust in the air.
I ran to follow alpha squad, looking back at the squad down behind cover. Enemy was fire keeping their heads down. Looking back ahead the squad consisted of three soldiers, one was the minmatar frame I saw earlier and his faceplate had plasma burns all over. Another was wearing a Dropsuit that was a Gallente frame, these suits were strong against plasma burns, four eye slits allowed for different functions. Most functions were the different fiber-optics, one was for thermal site. The last soldier wore a Caldari assault suit, it had flat surface all around. Allowing an easy flow for the shield modules.
"Logi, follow us. Try to keep up." Quil'n ordered, he turned his burned head towards the enemy and fired his assault rifle.
I followed him and the others, they unleashed a very deadly volley of plasma and lasers. I lifted my rifle and fired half a clip into the enemy line. The weapon barrel started glowing red from the heat, I stopped firing and the weapons safety sent a coolant down to the barrel, trying to save it from melting.
The enemy line diminished, bodies ripped to pieces. Opposition forces that were out of range for our rifles ran behind a metal barrier. Our main line pushed through the middle of the two plateaus and turned to their left where the remaining force was hiding. The heavy designated to support the armored infantry, started up the heavy machine gun and fired two hundred rounds into the cover the opposition hid. The metal chipped and disintegrated, revealing the figures behind. Every soldier opened fire on the bodies, their flesh was ripped to tiny bits as hundreds of rounds peppered their lifeless bodies.
The fire seized, the commanding officer ordered three scouts to download a virus into a Null Station. These installations fired anti-matter rounds into the air, targeted usually at any Mobile Command Center stationed within a thirty kilometer distance of it.
The officer glanced at me then pointed at me, I went to her, not knowing what was going to happen.
"What the hell are you doing in this battle, Axton?" She asked.
I was surprised she knew who I was, "Um…..well," I started, I rubbed my hand on the back of my hand, "I kind of boarded without knowing I was leaving."
"You're not supposed to be here," She continued, she turned to her other corporation mercenaries, "Tell the war-barge to send in the orbital support."
The sky above was full of clouds, encircled with the trace of a red lightening. The sound of air crackling sounded throughout the valley.
"Mam, the supply depot went off course. It landed thirty meters from the city." Quil'n informed, he lifted his rifle and slung it around his shoulder, walking towards the exit of the valley.
"Wait officer, do I know you?" I asked.
She turned to face me ,"I'm General klana," She said.
I was still confused on who she was, but if she was general. Meant she was CEO of a corporation still fighting for control of Molden Heath, Difficult job to do, very money oriented.
She reloaded her rifle's clip. The gun hissed as the pressurized heated air in the chamber released. I looked down at my rifle; the coolant system integrated in the barrel cooled it down to a safe level. I reloaded the rifle, pulling the charging handle a fresh round flew out the exit chamber.
I followed the platoon of mercenaries; they were all running out of the valley to the final hit spot. The docking station had three Null stations, inside a city, making any heavy firepower have high damage collateral. Civilians at these colonies were now excess casualties to watch out for. For me, orbital bombardment was unauthorized.
Region: the Citadel
System: Asakai IV
5 years ago
"All fire teams, this is command. Intel has reported greens sneaking in behind, you will insert on the front door to buy them some time. Our contractor has requested low orbit, so move fast."
I lifted my rifle to my shoulder and fired four rounds at an enemy soldier hiding behind a cargo box, the blood sprayed out the back six feet due to the drop ship's air thrusters. Several missiles flew overhead and impacted drop ships on the forward advance. The ship twisted in the air and hit a barrier that was holding the ceiling above us.
"Move alpha squad! Move!" The squad commander yelled.
The enemy force was heavily defending the area, three Heavy Attack Vehicles were unleashing fragmental rounds at our advance, their rounds when impacted left a burning crater of red hue.
I got off the drop ship and sprinted to a barrier where two mercenaries were firing assault rifles, rounds were being exchanged at a very fast rate. My shields flared as a swarm of missiles hit the barrier I was at. My shields dropped to ten percent. I shouldered the weapon again and fired short round bursts at the enemy line, several rounds found a home and ripped the body to shreds.
An enemy HAV reared through the front line of infantry.
"Get Jacks on those tanks!" One merc yelled, behind him another merc. Pulled out a swarm launcher and fired several silos of missiles, they spun with each other as if they were orbiting each other, then they impacted on the tank hull and it exploded from the inside. "Move up, we got the clearing." The Squad leader said.
I Got up from cover and fired several rounds at the smoke, it wasn't meant for a kill shot, just so I could keep the window open for another minute or two. Two Black Eagle Commandos ran past me and went through the black smoke.
"Ground team, Command is losing the fight up here. You need to hurry fast." The Comms went off again.
The facility we were advancing towards started collecting energy, blue lighting encircled a spire at the top. We didn't make it to the control panel in time.
Titus Heth, you will be damned. The Caldari forces that were defending the system were putting up a good fight, the Gallente Federation destroyed thirty logistical class frigates. The Caldari was in retreat for about half an AU, then a Titan-Class Vessel warped in system to assist the losing Caldari. The Leviathan could unleash a Doomsday device called 'Oblivion'. Since the Titan Warped in-system, the Gallente fleet lost half its capitol ships.
The captain of the Gallente Fleet paced back and forth, his options were low. The Ground troops were being slowed by heavy resistance. His Satellite images were showing the destruction below. He had to pull them out, he pulled up his comms tab and opened a wide spread frequency for Gallente Soldiers and Mercenaries.
"Ground team, Command is losing the fight up here. You need to hurry fast." He closed the comm. Link and watched the aft camera view, sixteen Caldari Ships warped in-system. It was all but lost, and he knew he wouldn't be able to make it back.
"Lieutenant Baker, get a firing solution for the capitol ship, were going to slow them down." The commander ordered, he walked over to the piloting chair and charged after the Leviathan.
"Sir, rail gun rounds depleted. We could send in the drone fleet, the Caldari usually target them to get them off their shields." Baker replied, he turned his head to see the aging commander nodding his head.
Baker tapped into the data pads before him and sent the drones to their deaths. The remaining Gallente ships were able to be seen through the view screens, bright yellow line were being exchanged from both factions. Impacting the vessels were the amazing show of atmosphere venting and igniting. The stolen Amarr weapons were installed to the Gallente frames, these weapons were lasers that burned through metal faster than plasma.
The Drones launched from the Carriers cargo bays, little fighter and bombers threw themselves at the enemy. The turrets aboard the enemy fleet had trouble targeting the stealth bombers, the payload hit their shields.
Baker was surprised on what was actually happening, a Drake-Class frigate was being swarmed in drones, the ships shields dropped. Baker could see the bombs rip apart the metal exterior, "Sir, the drones are being more than we bargained for. They bought us a window to extract planetary troops," Turned his swivel chair to look at the Commander.
"Lieutenant, call in an emergency re-calls on all planetary troops." He said.
The Sky was riddled with cloud bursts, the sky lit up blue, I could notice gunships coming from orbit. My NetTac updated and gave me several EVAC points, it was time to go. I grabbed what I found at a nearby metropolis, I filled my survival pack with souvenirs. Also a little extra, we captured two POWs. One was female, she had singed hair all in a mess, her eyes were green. The other was a male, he had several lacerations to his head from falling debris. He had black hair and his eyes were completely brown, no white was visible.
A gunship drifted near my squad and touched the ground, "Get the prisoners in the ship." My squad leader ordered.
I pulled a chain that had the prisoners tied up to, I stepped onto the platform of the ship and tied it to a pole. The prisoners walked in and sat down in chairs, the seats once carried wounded soldiers; blood was in splats on the cushions. I sat down across from the prisoners and set my pack on my side. I removed my helmet and set it down at my feet.
I have black hair, there once were blue eyes and it was a slight faint blue. My age of clones have been increasing, I don't normally spend my time switching clones. The clone was beaten down; I had several scars from previous battles. My augmentations made my veins underneath my skin show through.
"Were on captain, get us into orbit." I said.
The Pilot acknowledged the order and shut the doors to the main bay. The shield doors slowly came out from underneath and sealed in the air, dim lights lit the seating area. One of the prisoners lifted their heads, "Where are we going? I mean I really doubt that were coming back here." It was a female voice.
I leaned in from my seat and looked at her eyes, "To be honest, I'm taking you and your friend away from the Gallente Fleet. This ship isn't owned by them, I was only hired with a handsome amount of cash."
Her face looked more relieved; she looked down at her hands and didn't notice they were being clenched in fists the entire time. She let go of her grip and relaxed. The gunship lurched in an upward direction. My stomach dropped, it didn't quite feel normal, usually the fighters would only move that fast in sudden acceleration.
"Sir, we have a small situation. The Caldari fleet is targeting us." The pilot informed.
The Gunship jerked to the right, throwing me out of my seat. My head came very close to hitting the metal bar I had the prisoners tied to. I caught my momentum by catching grip to the bar. The pilot jerked the controls to the left, this threw me back into my seat, "Get us to the nearest planet, mercenary group Delta have warp able ships there." I ordered to the pilot.
"Ten-four, I'll try my best." He replied, the gunship turned on its side and moved itself upward, in perspective of the ground we were turning. The Gravitational forces inside were forcing my hair's cowlick in a downward position. I looked to the prisoners, they weren't conditioned for this. The Female had blacked out from the G-forces being over four and a half. The male was still out cold, his mouth was excreting saliva.
My helmet had smashed hard enough on the wall that the visors glass shattered, tiny pieces were being thrown everywhere. The air pressure inside was not adjusting fast enough with our rapid ascent to the vacuum above. Caldari fighters were tailing us when we broke the atmosphere, they fired three missiles. Two impacted behind us and just popped into smoke, the last one hit outside bow. The gunship lost the air jet control and titled to its side. The planetary gravity still affected me inside; I slowly fell towards the wall.
I put my forearms in front of me to catch my fall; I hit the side with a hard impact. I could feel my ulna and radius fracture, a sharp end of the Ulna stuck out my skin. My augmented body repaired itself with its enhanced platelets; it was composed of minuet amounts of nanites. The bone slowly went back inside and healed back together, my arm was in almost near passing out pain.
The Gunship jerked back into normal flight position, the inside g-forces knocked me to the seat I was once in, my head smacked into the backseat.
"Sir, I think I lost them. We'll be at the DZ in about twenty minutes, please keep the Comms clear. I'm activating the stealth cloak." The Comms cut off and we were silent for the rest of the trip.
Region: Molden Heath
System: Egbinger IV
Sovereignty: Contested
I stayed behind outside the Metropolis that the mercenaries were fighting for. Technically I wasn't supposed to be here, it was rather unsafe for me to be planet side. I didn't really have any allies nearby, my Corp was supposed to have a station outside the Klingt system. But it recently went under as inactive, the only way for me to get off this rock now was to kill my current clone and hope to god that I re-awaken back at my station in Caldari space.
I sat down on a rock, the snow just lead a trail to me. I waited for a mercenary to come and find me. I didn't have really any guts to just aim a pistol to my head and re-animate somewhere else. I did know I would never die in theory, but the psychological aspect of putting something to my head, knowing it had the ability to end a person's life, would torment me. Never seen it happen, before I signed up for this program of immortality they did teach us dangers of going completely insane.
During the prototype ages of this tech, the Amarr sent a small squad to finish a resistance cell on a system known as Pike's landing. The report was that one prototype spoke in an ancient language; the language was not in records. The 'official' description was of 'random gibberish'. The other prototypes had to "restrain" him, his conscious never re-animated. Later in this three hour invasion, one of these Prototypes shot himself. His conscious never also re-animated.
This tech did advance since the prototype ages; the re-animation process was a lot less dangerous. Meaning the termination of a consciousness was less likely, but some did experience terrible psychological effects. Constant depression would likely end in termination. If a clone died in battle not by his own hand, only remembers the pain in death, occasionally the face of who killed them. Sadly, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was prevalent in several soldiers.
I would rather suffer in PTSD than depression, so now I sit waiting for my killer to appear. I looked up from the ground; the city was flaring of anti-aircraft shooting Drop-ships. The muffled sounds of explosions heard throughout the valley, the sky turned from a red and green lightning to a heavy downpour of snowfall. Flakes were bigger than my hand; they just stacked on top of each other.
I sighed; it was taking them too long. The battle ahead looked to be massive; several low-orbit destroyers were soaring above the city. One Destroyer lit up blue lights, and then followed by blue lasers pounding the planetary defenses. The sound waves took several seconds after the firing. But when it hit me the explosion made my ears ring, it was a bombardment that was fired, the deadliest strike that was authorized for planetary battle. CONCORD didn't want any mass destruction of systems, several planets still offered life. They didn't want any total fallout on a planet.
I heard footsteps behind me; I looked behind me to see a small group of mercenaries. One was the CEO of the attackers' corporation. She raised a carthum scrambler pistol to my head. I took my helmet off and made a slight nod to her, she pulled the trigger. The last thing I remember on that planet was a bright laser burning through my head.
System: New Caldari
Sovereignty: Caldari Providence Directorate
Budsin walked down a long hallway leading to the conference room. His corporation was on its way of becoming part of the politics of the Caldari State, he was proud of what has happened in the past week. His income boosted in the billions, he pays a fifteen point six percent tax to the state. This weekend he hopes to get a seat in the council, just a little convincing of Tibus Heth then he'll be able to join.
The Dictator was hard minded, changing his stubborn head was a challenge. The dictator rose to power during the chaos of the formation of the state. He kept a steady mind during, but now being awhile since the end, he was in constant paranoia of being killed as how he did with the previous leader.
He walked up to the main doors, "Please allow retina scan for further entrance." The stations AI said. Budsin opened his eyelid and looked into a camera that recorded his retinal biogenetic signature.
The doors slid opened and revealed a long table, Mega-Corporation CEOs were sitting around a hologram that showed the Caldari owned space and up to the borderlines of Gallente owned space.
"We have reports in the Caldari Border-zone, several recon Gallenteans gathering inward." One CEO pointed at a region in space that magnified, thirteen systems revealed. Several massive anomalies showed in red blips near Gallentean space.
Budsin continued walking towards an empty chair, at the desk was a bowl of mixed nuts and a glass of wine grown in the Caldari Prime Vineyards.
Tibus pointed at the anomalies and they magnified again, "I believe this here," He opened up the data files on the blip. It read to be about 2 km, "is a Gallente Capitol ship."
"That's unlikely, they would never send one so far away from their Naval yards."
Budsin was rather confused on what actual region of space it was actually in. He flew through that area; it was more of an absented government in that place. Why would Caldari Mega-corp. CEOs need to worry about a region of space that's riddled in constant Empyrean war?
"Despite with every fact of that war brings us, gentlemen. There are always informants." Heth announced, he waved his hand and the hologram that displayed the anomalies disappeared. He got up and slowly walked to Budsin.
"I've been fighting his gun for hire, and now I have one of his closest friends here." Tibus continued walking towards Adar and reached into his jacket pocket.
Budsin knew who he was talking about; he quickly sprang to his feet and backed off from Tibus. Tibus pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Budsin. This wasn't going to be an inauguration into the State's fleet. Budsin probably had a good idea on what happened to his clone bank two. He knew now this was going to be it, he would never re-waken.
Adar outspread his arms and got ready for a tackle on the Dictator. Tibus quickly pointed the gun and shot, the round missed and hit a wall behind Budsin. The tackle knocked the dictator down, his gun flew from his grip. Adar was almost out of breath from that, he got on his hands and knees in a quick effort to get up fast. The dictator swipe kicked his feet underneath from him, forcing him to lose his stance.
Tibus rolled and picked up the weapon, he now had the upper hand in the short brawl. Budsin had lost; he put his hands up in an attempt in surrender. Tibus put his other hand on the pistol and pulled the trigger.
Region: The Citadel
System: Intaki I
4 years ago
I've been running from the Caldari for a while now, the battle of Asakai was no more than defeat. The gunship I was escaping in was nearly about to fall apart, the left air-burst engine was malfunctioning. We landed at the extraction point for the Gallentean contracted mercenaries, but it turned out that the guns-for-hire are being killed immediately the entrance of the atmosphere. Three whole squads have been wiped, and the probability of them being re-animated is very unlikely.
The Caldari chased us out of system, were nearly out of options but to hopefully find a place to lay low for a couple days. The Prisoners we captured were stabilized by the medical drones that were stored. They just needed a food source, which unfortunately for all of us aboard, we started running low on dehydrated foods.
"Sir, I found a planet about half an Astronomical Unit away. There's no argument, were landing to repair the engine and for supplies." The Pilot called in the Comms.
I lifted my head from a cushion from the seating, my mouth had a little bit of drool from my rest. I hadn't rested for more than six hours for a long time; it's been too long for me to actively remember. The female prisoner was across the floor from me, she had an oxygen mask on her face. Her body has never been augmented to these conditions.
My body was augmented to use max muscle of cognitive power with miniscule amounts of oxygen. It allowed me to function fine in most conditions of planets without proper oxygen amounts.
I got to my feet and brushed off some dirt that clung to my under armor. I looked at the cabin door to the cockpit. I walked over to it opened it to talk to the pilot. He was sitting in a chair at the most front control panel; these things were mostly used for fire missions, requiring more personnel to pilot the ship. I sat down behind him and kicked my feet up on the console.
"If you're going to be here strap in, I activated the gyroscope system in the loading bay. That way you don't fly all over when we enter atmosphere."
I made a grunt sound and clicked in the seat, "What system we near?" I asked.
"Were near Intaki, I don't have enough resources to carry us back to safe space." I replied he moved the controls in a downward position. Glass protecting us from the vacuum started glowing orange. My stomach lifted into my chest, we dropped descent at over five hundred kilometers and hour. It was dangerous speeds; the passengers in the loading bay would be safe. The ammo that this usually carries needs to be at cool temperatures or risk an inevitable interior inferno.
"Altitude is at two point six thousand kilometers, hold on to something." The pilot said again. My stomach felt as if it dropped right into my lap, I actually came near to blacking out. I felt light headed then when we decelerated I lost the nausea and looked at the front view. A metropolis was ahead, it had several cargo ships leaving and entering the space. A spire sat in the middle, electric spikes could be seen shooting electrolyzed particles in radio waves. It allowed for no cords.
"This is Gunship cargo Echo-six one two, requesting permission to dock at landing bay Romeo." The pilot called to the landing tower.
There was a brief pause before the control tower answered, "Gunship cargo Echo-Six one two, what was your outbound vector from entry?"
"Try to make a believable vector, one that passes Asakai." I told the pilot.
"Uh, we came from Black Rise region; we need immediate landing permission, running low on fuel food and repairs on engine four." He answered.
There was another short pause until the next response, "Gunship Echo, you have denied permission to landing bay Romeo. Advert course to landing bay Theta."
The connection cut off, meaning there was no changing of their minds. I looked at the back of the pilots head, "What now? Is that a bad spot?" I asked.
"Well, it usually means were not of importance to land in immediate care. So, I'd say we'll be here a little longer than expected." He replied, he jerked the controls to the left and set the gunship down, "I'll try to speed up the repairs," he handed me a wallet, "Go to town, and take the female so you don't look too suspicious. Buy some dehydrated foods and water."
I nodded my head, "You got it boss." I got up and exited through the cabin doors, the female prisoner was sitting in an upright position against the seating. A medical drone was reading her biosignatures.
"Drone forty cease care of female, care for the male." I ordered. The drone lifted from the ground and hovered in mid-air. "Were going to town, grab some fresh clothes in the storage container." I told the female.
She got up from where she was taking in oxygen and opened a door that was above the head space of the seating. She grabbed a sterilized shirt and pants. I turned around and punched open the compartment, inside was my official clothing. It was a dark blue robe, thick with padding. The left side of the chest had my rank in my Corporation, it was rank of corporal. The right shoulder carried the insignia of the corp. It was five stars that encircled a skull. It was shined to look nice, I last wore this on deployment. I took it off for obvious reasons, plasma encased projectiles burn right through this kind of stuff.
I slipped it on over my Under armor plating and attached the strap that held the robe on to my left side waist. The female was now wearing a sterilized white shirt, meaning it was whiter than bleach white. She wore a pair of pants, colored in a shade of black. It changed to a red when the point of perspective changed.
"Let's go," I told her.
She pressed the bay door controls and the doors slid opened. The outside of the ship was an empty landing bay. Several different welding stations were placed around the walls, spare sheets of metal and engines were lined with the welding stations. We went right, heading to the exit doors.
"Grab my hand," She said putting her arm near my side. The door slid open and revealed a booming metropolis. The streets were filled with pedestrians walking to and fro. Several street venders sold their goods. I took her arm and we walked down the street. People were everywhere, their chatter was quite loud. It sounded more like quiet murmuring than anything else.
The left side of the street seemed to be more of the rich side, even though they were just street carts, they were selling jewels that only could be produced in the earth of Gallentean planets. They were a diamond that when you would turn it, it would show different colors that were embedded inside the crystalline structure. Emerald was visible with ruby being seen as well.
"What's your name?"
"My name is Mailizza."
"See anything you like?" I asked to her.
She smirked a little and put her mouth to my ear, "The Diamonds."
I continued looking forward and kept walking, "We'll pick it up on the way back."
The Market we reached offered dehydrated foods, water, and for a luxury I bought Mailizza the diamond. My wallet was funded the money from the battle, I earned a bit around thirty million. Her diamond cost five hundred thousand, leaving enough money for me to open my own corporation.
Region: Black Rise
System: Asakai I
Sovereignty: Contested
Present Day
I felt as if I was being suspended in mid-air, I felt this feeling before. I was transferring into another body or at least I'm in the middle of the re-awakening process. I felt a sudden spinning in my mind and then my body felt like I was hit by a vessel. I opened my eyes and saw the quarters I lived in.
I could hear screams, people running and being chased by gunfire. This wasn't good. I sat up in my bed and turned to put on my under armor. Several assault rifle rounds shot off and followed by more screams. I quickly ran to my coffee table and pulled out a spare scrambler pistol I kept for safe keeping. I don't carry much ammo for it, only about three magazines.
"Scotty, I need the front door to be charged for defensive breach." I ordered the station's AI. The AI stood silent, That was definitely not a good sign. It usually meant that the station was in lockdown or the AI core was ripped out of its input socket.
I walked over to the doors controls and pulled a lever for the emergency open. The hallway had scorch marks from plasma burns along the wall. Blood was sprayed on several doors, I kept walking, with my second hand on the Scrambler Pistol. When I reached the end of the hall there were two soldiers walking, guns at the ready.
"Hey! Soldier! Come here!" I yelled.
They turned themselves around and fired sixteen rounds each at me. I popped back into the hallway and heard the hissing of plasma screaming passed my head. I reeled back around the edge and fired three shots into a soldier on the left. The laser went right through his chest cavity.
"This is Alpha two three, we have a soldier down. I repeat soldier down!" The other called into his comms.
I reeled back around the edge and fired the other half of the clip into his head, his internal temperature spiked passed boiling and exploded his head, decapitating him. I peeled around the corner and ran to the bodies. The weapons they used were quite advanced, they were constructed by Caldari. This could be told by the rail gun look of the weapon. They were to be prototyped in another week, that's what the state told its immortal mercenaries.
I picked up the rail-rifle and checked the amount left in the magazine. It held a capacity of seventy two magnetically charged rounds. These rounds disrupted electronics on drop suits and disabled shields. Then a small round would finish the job. I put my Scrambler Pistol in my under jacket's pocket. The barrel was still glowing red from the intense heat it produced; I lifted the rail rifle into my shoulder and continued walking down the hallway, heading towards the docks. Where, I hoped, would be a frigate or shuttle I could use to escape this system and link with my alliance, if they still exist.
Several soldiers were on guard for the entrance elevator, they were in a circle, chatting about the people they had just slain. I quickly hunched over and walked to a storage crate that was about five meters from the group.
"So, these guys in the barracks down in hallway seven-A were all behind counters. They didn't have enough time to suit up. My pal here," a soldier grabbed another from the shoulder and shook him, "Hung out his mini-gun and hosed them down," He pretended to hold a gun in his hands and made shooting sound effects, "for a Minmatar weapon, it spat out hell."
I clenched my fist around the handle of the weapon, "these assholes are going down." I whispered under my breathe.
I thought it was quiet enough for no one to hear, one of the soldiers turned his head, "Who's there?" He shouted. He moved his gun in my direction, a bright laser beam shined past my head.
"Niyo, it's cool. It was probably just those voices in your head." A soldier said, calming him.
Niyo went back to facing the group and re-conversed. I popped up behind the crate slowly and aimed the reticule in the sight on the torso of Niyo. I held the trigger down for a quarter of a second and the weapon discharged, spitting out ten rounds. The magnetically charged rounds shot straight through him and hit the wall behind him, dispelling the metal walls into molten slag.
The others reacted quickly and fired scrambler rounds into the storage crate, I ducked behind as three rounds sizzled past my head. I peered back over and held the trigger down for half a second. The weapon fired thirty rounds into four other soldiers. They fell down, having their faces almost melted from the energized projectiles.
I got up from my cover and walked to the elevator doors, my weapon pointing at the bodies, making sure they didn't move. I touched the keypad on the door and entered a bi-pass code to get in. The doors hissed open and I went inside. A screen on the wall glowed and offered the available ships that were ready for department. I Clicked onto a Drake-Class Frigate, "Drake is now being fitted for Armament."
I strapped myself inside the deck of the ship, "Computer get a destination route for the Molden Heath region, Sekulda IV." I ordered the on board AI. The ship hummed to life and lifted off of the dock. It lurched forward and headed out to space. Here I saw the Invasion armada that was sitting in orbit. It consisted of two Leviathan's and over fifty carriers. The Friend or Foe tags for this frigate I rode in was to mask me as neutral. The ship turned to port, the warp drive systems activated and I was shot out of system.
The Caldari state was declaring war on the Emperyeans.