A/N: Thank you for selecting my story! I will do my best not to disappoint, however this is my first fic so bare with me. Somethings before I get started: I do not nor pretend to own the Eve Online universe. Systems, ships, and Races are all a part of this universe the only thing that is mine is the characters and the storyline.

Prolog

"ACTION STATIONS! ACTION STATIONS! ENTIRE SHIP TO DEFCON 1! CAPTAIN TO THE BRIDGE!" shouted the stern voice of the First Officer over the alarm klaxon.

Captain Charlie Roberts rolled over on his bed to look at his clock, it read 0:30. He got up and walked towards his wardrobe, cursing the interruption for not coming two hours earlier when he was awake. As he finished putting his uniform on his uniform he put his finger to his ear and spoke though is sub-dermal coms implant "Crystal, Sit-rep!" as he opened his door and stepped out into the corridor. Immediately the two marine guards outside his hatch snapped to attention. Now that he was outside of his quarters the klaxon was louder and the shouts of chiefs issuing orders could be heard.

"Chuck, we got three contacts on us, two Megathron battleships and a single Ares class interceptor. The Ares already has us tackled down and the Megathrons are locked on us."

"Have they opened fire?"

"Negative sir, but they just started hailing us"

"Very well Commander, send our alibi over, fire up the shield hardeners but do nothing else. I will be in the bridge shortly"

"Aye-aye sir!" and the connection was dropped

Charlie dropped his hand and broke out into a full run towards the bridge, this was bad the only reason they would have this much firepower on their hands is if their cover was blown. He was going to try to keep it anyway, he didn't like the odds of his Drake class battle cruiser against two Megathrons. Who knows maybe the fleet commander will be a complete moron and fall for the deception.

As he turned toward the bridge the guards snapped too, one giving a crisp salute, and the other opening the hatch for his captain. Charlie returned the salute before stepping on to the bridge. Crystal immediately called "Captain on the Bridge!" and everyone stood up.

"As you were, Ensign Thompson put the Gallente Fleet Commander on the speakers let's see what see what these bastards want"

The ensign silently did was he was told then the Fleet Commander's voice could be heard over the comms "Unidentified Drake class battle cruiser, this is Capitaine de vaisseau Francis Barret of the Federation Navy, please send identification or you will be fired upon!"

Charlie cleared his throat and replied, "This is Captain Charlie Roberts of the Caldari Provisions ship Gra'ika, how can we help you on this mighty fine day?"

Barret however was not convinced, "Do you expect me to believe that Caldari Provisions would have the balls to come out to Gallente space during a war? Don't play me for a fool Captain Roberts, it's more likely you are spying, I gave you your chance now you will feel the wraith of the Gallente Federation crash down on your tiny ship traitor! FIRE AT WILL!" Barret then closed the frequency down, if these fools wanted to play with fire they would get severely burned.

"FUCK! That didn't go well, tactical lock all three ships and arm the missiles, target the lead Megathron and fire when ready, deploy drones to engage the Ares heavy missiles won't do a damn thing to that little bastard. Helm, set a course for Sankkasen and warp as soon as the Ares is down!"

A pair of "Aye-aye sir!" told him that his officers understood and were executed his orders. There wasn't not much to be done now but sit and watch, his ship was designed to take a beating but not this much of a beating without support. Hopefully the drones would be able to take down the interceptor before the pair of Megathrons could punch through the Gra'ika's shields or else this battle would be lost. Calling for back up was not an option because they had gone radio silent on this mission. The Gra'ika was ordered to scout out the boarder systems and assess patrol strength. A smaller and faster ship was not an option because if it was detected the Federation Fleet would be suspicious of the craft, a Drake class battle cruiser on the other hand was a popular ship in the private sector and under normal circumstances gone unnoticed. Now they had to depend on mindless flying robots for their survival. He looked down on the Tactical Holographic Projector Table, THPT, table in front of him and watched the drones flying around the tiny ship that was giving them so much grief only another minute or two and they would be free, they just might live to talk about this one! Charlie wasn't watching the Megathrons they were of no concern, he already knew that his ship would not be able to destroy one of them.

Commander Crystal 'Eeman stood to the left of her captain, she had the easy job of watching and listening, trying to catch something the captain missed. She was watching the Megathrons intently; the lead one was already down to half armor, a few more critical hits and it might actually be forced to retreat. That would buy them much more time, at least five more minutes, it would guarantee their safe retreat. Captain Roberts spoke again and she momentarily looked up at her friend and commanding officer.

"Lieutenant Xo, The interceptor will be destroyed any second now, check alignment and warp when ready, Lieutenant Ha'aris prepare to cease fire-"

"Belay that order Lieutenant Ha'aris!" Shouted Crystal, she just turned her attention back to the THPT and saw that both the Megathrons deployed their own drones, "Sir, both Megathrons have deployed drones it appears that they are targeting our own… They won't last long enough to take down the interceptor…"

Charlie gritted his teeth, "Those bastards are just toying with us they could have used those drones from the start! Ha'aris, how long will our shields hold up for?"

"Sir, our shields are currently at 35% if enemy keeps its current rate of fire shields will fail in five minutes, two minutes after that hull breeches will occur with total failure of structural integrity in eight to nine minutes,"

"Very well Lieutenant, it appears we have met our match, today is the day we finally meet our ancestors. And when we see them we will tell them that we died like warriors! Fought to the last missile, man, and precious air pocket! WE ARE TRUE CALDARI AND WE WILL BE GIVEN A HERO'S WELCOME!" With that the entire bridge cheered, if they were going to go down they were going to stair Death in the face so that Death himself blushed.

The fighting continued for six more minutes, until the miserable Caldari ship was all but broken, but Capitaine de vaisseau Barret had other plans for his prey, "All unites cease fire! Open a channel with them, Captain Roberts this is your one and only chance, surrender your vessel and you and your true will be spared as Prisoners of War"

Roberts, laughed was his opponent mad? "Perhaps you haven't heard, us Caldari don't know the definition of the world surrender, if you want this ship, will have to pry it from our cold dead bodies!" With that he close the channel it did not matter what the man had to say anymore and he had more pressing matters that required his attention. It was the duty of every captain in the Caldari Navy to send a last transmission to high command should his or her ship be destroyed. This last transmission contained a final farewell from the crew to their families, it was a task he wished he did not have to do, but he owed his loyal crew that much. He typed the code into the keypad next to the THPT '/send/ file: final transmission /to HQ/'.

He was about to confirm the order when his Weapons officer spoke, "Sir, all three enemy vessels have disengaged and are retreating!" years of military life failing to hide his disbelieve.

"Remarkable! Helm, get us out of here before our friends change their minds! Thompson get me HQ, I need to inform them of the situation, the mission is aborted,"

"Sir, there's a fleet wide transmission, its Fleet Admiral Yarimotto himself!"

"Put it on screen let's see what the old space dog has to say!"

The voice of an old seasoned man well passed his space faring days came over the com system, "Ladies and Gentlemen, as of this moment all military action against the Gallente Federation are to cease, we have just signed a peace treaty. Congratulations sailors, the war is over! Your orders are to make best speed back to port for debriefing, Fleet Admiral out"

Loud cheers could be heard though out the entire ship, not only had they just survived impossible odds but it also marked the end of this long bloody war, their mission was done a full six months before it was scheduled too. Charlie couldn't help but feel glee with them he had a family waiting for him station side as well, a beautiful wife and infant daughter he had not seen in nearly three months! He turned to his best friend and first officer hand out stretched, "Congratulations Crystal, we did it, we survived yet another dance with the devil!"

"That we did Chuck, now it's time to go home and finally spend time with that family of yours I am determined to get your little girl to like me!"

"Patience my friend, Athena is only a baby I bet she won't even like me for a few weeks, lord knows I've been away too damn long, but that's the price I had to pay to ensure my family was safe. Now I am very tired, I am going to catch up on the sleep I just lost, you have the Bridge Commander," and with that he walked out of the Bridge and back to his quarters.

___________________________________________________________________________

The next day they arrived in their home system of Sankkasen and docked up. The entire crew was eager to get off and celebrate with friends and family Charlie and Crystal were the last ones off the ship.

"Chuck forget the debriefing, I will cover for you, go visit your family first. I know you have missed them greatly. The admiral will understand, remember last year he canceled all staff briefings for three days because his first grandchild was born!"

They had been arguing about this ever since Charlie woke up and he finally conceded to his friend, "Ok, Ok, you win! Just don't have too much fun without me"

Crystal laughed sarcastically, "Because I get all hot and bothered over a bunch of old men asking intense questions about a mission was a complete failure! Just give little Athena a hug for me and we'll call it even, I will be over as soon as the debriefing is done!"

Charlie looked at her with mock anger, "Commander 'Eeman, giving your superior officer orders now are you? That's a hefty reprimand, perhaps a demotion is in order!" he left towards the residential section laughing his head off as he went along. He was on top of the world now, now that the war was over he would be able to spend some quality time with his family and help his wife raise their daughter. He finally made it to the hall way his station quarters were located, he opened the door but was immediately panic stricken by what he saw. Pulled his service pistol out with one hand and tapped his hear with his other, "Crystal get up here bring a security detail, there's been a break-in! Blood and objects everywhere, their gone! My family is gone!" He knew without looking more that his wife and daughter were not here, somehow he knew he they were not on the station and he would probably never see them again. He just fell to the floor in tears, everything he had fought so hard for, had won this war for was gone forever…

A/N: This is the end of the prolog the main body of story will take place years later. please review!