THE FIRST CRAWL - The Skyhook 1.23.110

((Where three STRIX officers set back diplomatic relations with Omerta to the Dark Age. Or at least they would have, if Omerta hadn't wisely stayed out of their way.))

Vieve Tisserand > I promise that I will swear that you blindfolded me and threw me into the cargohold.

Vieve Tisserand > Just for the record.

Darius Antares chuckles as he checks in his weapon at the security booth.

Darius Antares > C'mon Vieve, it's an adventure. *winks slyly*

Trent Valtine makes his way into the bar, flanked by Captains Antares and Tisserand. As he passes the bar, he orders a shot of tequila.

Darius Antares > Wow! *Darius exclaims* This IS a nice spread!

Trent Valtine nods > Yeah, quite a place. A bit less homey than the Athena, but definitely a place I wouldn't mind coming back to.

Darius Antares surveys the dance floor and architecture as he strolls to the bar

Vieve Tisserand scritches the scarlet flower that's tucked behind her ear, which is attached to the dark green vine that wraps around the top of her sparkly silver dress -- and surrenders her entire tiny bag to the weapons check.

Darius Antares orders a tequila for himself and Trent

Trent Valtine passes the shot he already had waiting for him to Vieve, and picks up the shot
Darius ordered. He raises it and smirks > To setting back diplomatic relations.

Darius Antares laughs > Aye!

Darius Antares throws back the shot and sets the glass back on the bar.

Vieve Tisserand looks at the drink in her hand, and sips from it. She makes a face, then just drains the glass.

Vieve Tisserand > Wasn't bad. Afraid I'm going to have to drink a lot of them, though. The glasses are small!

Darius Antares orders another round for the three and continues to survey The Skyhook interior.

Trent Valtine knocks back the shot, and turns to look around the crowd. > You know, I'm not sure I actually see an Omerta pilot in here...Or what're they calling themselves now? Ghost Party? Festival? Somethin' like that?

Darius Antares > Ghost Festival, I believe.

Trent Valtine nods. > Wonder why they changed up the name.

Darius Antares > Indeed, very Matar-esque. Don't you think?

Vieve Tisserand > Wonder if they were warned in advance and decided to park a camp outside the station?

Trent Valtine shrugs and orders another round for the three of them. > I guess I should've warned my crew what happens when the pilot drinks tequila...

Vieve Tisserand > Oh. Wait. Did I say that out loud? Bad Vie. Have another drink.

Vieve Tisserand picks up the shot glass and downs it.

Trent Valtine does the same

Darius Antares chuckles at Trent's inference.

Darius Antares quickly catches up on his shot

Trent Valtine > Oh well. They'll figure it out when I scrape a few thousand isk worth of ship paint off on a docking bay door.

Vieve Tisserand > So, what happens when the pilot drinks tequila?

Vieve Tisserand > Ah. That.

Trent Valtine chuckles > Yup. That.

Trent Valtine > So, are you two going to be able to make it to any of the mining shifts next Monday?

Vieve Tisserand > Did you want me to come sing at the rocks again?

Vieve Tisserand orders another round of tequila.

Trent Valtine grins > Of course. It'll lull them into a false sense of security.

Darius Antares > Mmmmmmm * clucks his tongue * Afraid not, I'm behind on some paperwork and that's my day to catch up on it all. *frowns*

Trent Valtine nods > Not a problem. Are Mondays usually busy for ya 'round those times?Darius Antares takes another shot.

Vieve Tisserand > Are you scared of my singing around those times?

Trent Valtine orders another and downs it to catch up.

Darius Antares chuckles

Vieve Tisserand > He isn't answering. He is terrified, I swear.

Darius Antares > Actually, I like the singing on mining ops.

Vieve Tisserand has that third shot.

Darius Antares > Kind of a tradition, actually

Trent Valtine nods

Trent Valtine > Started by a dear friend who unfortunately has left the stars indefinitely.

Darius Antares nods

Darius Antares > You both make it to the memorial?

Trent Valtine shakes his head and sighs > Unfortunately, no. But, I plan to make a bit of a pilgrimage out to it soon to pay my respects.

Vieve Tisserand > I was also unable to go. Stuck out in Eglennaert getting another clone vetted.

Vieve Tisserand makes a face. "But I will go visit the memorial soon. I didn't know him, but I have heard so many things about him that I almost feel like I do."

Darius Antares > Same here, that should be another thing to put on our night owl agenda.

Trent Valtine nods. > Definitely.

Darius Antares grins and enters some data on his wrist-holo

Vieve Tisserand starts counting empty shot glasses.

Trent Valtine > I also missed the presentation of Vahn's memorial award, which I also regret.
Came in just when the party was winding down.

Trent Valtine orders another shot.

Darius Antares does the same

Darius Antares > Vie? Want another?

Vieve Tisserand > Make it two. I'm behind you guys.

Vieve Tisserand dimples. "Thank you!"

Darius Antares > That's the spirit. *orders two shots for Vie and adds on a pint to chase his*

Vieve Tisserand > Ever have one of those weeks where everything feels like some vast conspiracy?

Trent Valtine > C'mon, chasing? Darius, while we're here, I don't wanna see you chase tequila with anything but more tequila. <>

Vieve Tisserand gets up onto a bar stool, and collects one of the shot glasses. "To vast conspiracies."

Darius Antares chuckles and joins in the toast > Conspiracies!

Trent Valtine holds his up > To vast conspiracies.

Trent Valtine > And who is conspiring against you this week?

Vieve Tisserand gets her shot down. "Everybody. For good and for ill and for just generally weird."

Vieve Tisserand > Gerrard.

Darius Antares smirks > Gerrard!?!?

Trent Valtine > Gerrard?

Vieve Tisserand nods gravely, and trades empty shot glass for full one.

Trent Valtine > How is our fearless Combat Accountant conspirin' against ya?

Vieve Tisserand holds up a finger while she gets the shot down.

Vieve Tisserand watches Darius keel over.

Vieve Tisserand puts her glass down.

Vieve Tisserand > Damn.

Trent Valtine > So?

Trent Valtine > This sounds like a good story.

Vieve Tisserand waves a finger at Darius. "Should we prop him up or something?"

Trent Valtine > Nah...he'll probably be fine...

Trent Valtine > Probably...

Vieve Tisserand hops down from her bar stool, and crouches by Darius. She turns his head so he won't choke on any vomit. "Oh, you're awake."

Darius Antares shakes off the dizzy spell

Trent Valtine > Welcome back to the land of the livin', Darius. We thought you were down for the count for a minute there.

Vieve Tisserand gets up and backs away from Darius. "I'm sorry. I know it is really hard to believe that Gerrard can conspire against anyone. I know the feeling."

Darius Antares > Just a tad overwhelming.

Vieve Tisserand > Yes!

Vieve Tisserand hops up and down to emphasize the point.

Trent Valtine > So how's he conspiring against ya?

Darius Antares dicides to sit down on a bar stool.

Vieve Tisserand > Well. He took me out to dinner. No, that's not right. Wait, Vie, back up. Backing up.

Darius Antares sips from his pint of beer.

Vieve Tisserand backs up and leans against the bar.

Darius Antares > So, he buys you dinner and that's a conspiracy?

Vieve Tisserand > He suggested that I find some attractive corporation member to ask him out to dinner, this in front of whom we think is Sakura Nihil's sister, and me, like a nitwit, tried to recruit her for the corporation because I thought he...

Vieve Tisserand pauses.

Vieve Tisserand > He didn't buy me dinner.

Darius Antares scratches his scruffy chin

Vieve Tisserand > We went on a lunar picnic. I rented all terrain skis, just in case that it didn't turn out to be an interrogation about how I spent my time hiding out in Amarr ... and I am still REALLY SORRY about that washing machine.

Vieve Tisserand > Is there more tequila?

Darius Antares pushes his shot glass towards Vie

Trent Valtine > Well, since he didn't buy ya dinner, the drinks are on us.

Vieve Tisserand > Thank you.

Vieve Tisserand downs the shot.

Vieve Tisserand > Now, where was I?

Darius Antares > Ski's and Interrogation

Trent Valtine downs the shot and pauses for a second. > I wonder how the crew'll react when I damn near crash the ship...Maybe I should take the Interbus.

Darius Antares ponders

Vieve Tisserand > Well...
Darius Antares > Probably a lot of screaming

Trent Valtine nods > Probably

Vieve Tisserand > He brought along a portable cloaking generator, which I thought was perfect, because, hey, it was a remote moon, and cloaked -- there was no way that anybody would find my dead body for a while, because, you know...

Vieve Tisserand > Screaming?

Darius Antares chuckles and takes his shot from the round and chases it with a chug of beer

Vieve Tisserand > Oh, yeah, there was some of that.

Vieve Tisserand > A fair bit of that, actually.

Darius Antares > Portable cloaking generator, that is a touch of DuNord class there.

Trent Valtine > Wait...Why was there a cloaking generator...?

Vieve Tisserand > Jules was being ... Jules again, you see, which I didn't know at the time, but it made sense in retrospect when I found out.

Darius Antares sips his beer and shrugs at Trent, trying to follow Vie's story.

Trent Valtine orders a whiskey on the rocks.

Vieve Tisserand > Because apparently Gerrard had told him that he was going off on a picnic with me, and Jules was ... Jules, and thus curious about where exactly, and I sometimes really think that he should have a hobby other than tracking people down, because...

Vieve Tisserand > It's really awkward when one is trying so hard to BLEND IN in Amarr and all, but --- oh, right.

Vieve Tisserand > Interrogation.

Vieve Tisserand > No interrogation.

Trent Valtine > There wasn't any interrogation?

Vieve Tisserand > Then I thought that we were out on this Fate forsaken moon with good wine and hot chocolate and marshmellows and yummy chunks of red meat because the bastard was going to promote me.

Trent Valtine > I thought he didn't get ya dinner.

Darius Antares > Ahh, hence the screaming?

Trent Valtine > This is sounding a lot like dinner to me.

Vieve Tisserand > I packed a picnic.

Vieve Tisserand > There were kabobs.

Trent Valtine > Ah, I see. <>

Vieve Tisserand > And yes, screaming! Lots of it, but ... all inside, of course, because he is -- was our esteemed CEO at the time, even though he wanted me to call him Gerrard because he said it would give him a rash if I didn't.

Darius Antares chuckles

Vieve Tisserand daintily selects another shot of tequila. "This is a nice bar. And we haven't even been thrown out yet. We should try harder."

Vieve Tisserand > I could find an Achuran and try speaking to them in Achur. That would probably get us thrown out.

Darius Antares waves off Vie's comment. > Nyah, I'm not trying to get kicked out. This place is actually nice.

Vieve Tisserand > Oh. Understood. Yes, sir. No getting kicked out.

Vieve Tisserand feeds Gertrude a bar snack.

Trent Valtine > Well, I guess getting kicked out shouldn't be at the top of the To-Do list, especially with no actual Ghost Festival pilots around.

Vieve Tisserand nods twice. "Makes sense."

Trent Valtine > Now, if there were some pirates around to mess with, I'd be happy to pick a fight.

Vieve Tisserand > Are they outside painting graffiti on your ship?

Trent Valtine > Could be

Darius Antares > Well, we're off duty! But we still represent STRIX, just remember not to make it into politics.

Trent Valtine > Though if they are, maybe it'd be a good idea to take my ship home, so that I can scrape the graffiti off.

Trent Valtine > No worries, Darius.

Vieve Tisserand > Yes, sir. No politics.

Vieve Tisserand gets around to drinking from the shot glass in her hand. When she finds it's already empty, she exchanges it for another.

Trent Valtine > I'd sooner insult Aria Jenneth's ideas on infomorph post-humanism than pick a fight based on real politics.

Darius Antares > Just saying, we're here to have a good time. *finishes off his beer*

Darius Antares chuckles

Trent Valtine nods and looks to Vieve.> Damn, you're puttin' 'em back, aren't ya?

Trent Valtine finishes off his glass of whiskey. > I've gotta catch up!

Vieve Tisserand > Human. That's what Gerrard said. That I was more human than almost anybody he knew, or something like that.

Vieve Tisserand > Which is just plain weird, if you ask me, all things considered.

Trent Valtine raises a brow > More human that anyone he knows, eh? Wonder what he meant by that.

Vieve Tisserand frowns. "I still think I should have gotten the deposit back on the tent."

Darius Antares laughs and orders another beer.

Vieve Tisserand > It was fine! Not like it was completely broken.

Trent Valtine > How'd ya partially break the tent?

Darius Antares > Aye, this sounds interesting indeed.

Vieve Tisserand looks around Darius at Trent. "Have you ever been with anybody who went the full special operations course at the Academy then got a special operations commission?"

Darius Antares > Nope

Vieve Tisserand > It was....

Darius Antares raises an eyebrow

Vieve Tisserand puts her shot glass down and gestures in the air. Could be conducting, could be invisible origami, could be the safety directions that someone will be giving Trent's crew when they're crash landing later.

Trent Valtine > It was...?

Vieve Tisserand pauses. "I have this weird urge to do math."

Darius Antares hisses at the word math

Vieve Tisserand jumps, and pats Gertrude.

Trent Valtine looks to Darius and laughs. > And you're a trader! Math is part of your job, more or less.

Darius Antares shrugs. > Yeh but that's creative math

Vieve Tisserand > And I'm not sure the chili will come out of his couch.

Trent Valtine grins > So what was the end to your sentence, Vieve? Or are you going to leave us on the edge of our seats?

Darius Antares snorts into his beer.

Trent Valtine > Wait, what was that?

Vieve Tisserand blinks slowly at Trent. "Hmm?"

Darius Antares tries to find a napkin to wipe the froth from his nose

Darius Antares curses the inept waitstaff

Trent Valtine > Ya said "It was", did some hand waving, and then mentioned somethin' about couches.

Darius Antares finally wipes it off with his sleeve

Vieve Tisserand > Oh.

Vieve Tisserand > It wasn't an interrogation.

Trent Valtine > Ya've lost me.

Darius Antares > And chili

Vieve Tisserand > Really good chili.

Trent Valtine > Where does chili come into play in the whole story?

Vieve Tisserand frowns again. "But I think I broke Scythus. Pop. He was spinning like crazy, bouncing like a rubber ball, so I had to hit him a few times so he'd just stop and listen to me and he wasn't listening because I guess he was happy...."

Vieve Tisserand > But I had no idea! None!

Vieve Tisserand > Chili?

Vieve Tisserand > It was good chili. Gicodel. Sisters of Eve station. There's this guy named Pablo.

Darius Antares once again enters some data into his wrist-holo

Vieve Tisserand picks up a napkin and wipes some of the missed beer off the bar top.

Trent Valtine wonders if he keeps doing that just to keep up with Vieve's story. Drunk and unaided by technology, Trent was having a rather hard time following it.

Vieve Tisserand tilts her head to look at a spot on the bar, then scrubs the spot really really hard with the napkin.

Trent Valtine orders another shot. Perhaps the problem was that he could still see straight...

Vieve Tisserand > So, what were we talking about? Politics?

Trent Valtine takes his shot. > Damned if I know.

Vieve Tisserand > Oh, right. Eternal damnation.

Trent Valtine > Sure

Trent Valtine > Sounds about right to me

Vieve Tisserand scrubs, while Gertrude unfurls some from around her and attacks an unsuspecting bowl of bar snacks. "Which I am, you know. Quite. Very."

Trent Valtine > Eternally damned, you mean?

Trent Valtine > I wouldn't go that far.

Darius Antares moves his fingers away quickly from the snack bowl

Vieve Tisserand > I really think the pressure of the job got to him. He just woke up one day and said, oh, hey, I keep thinking about Vieve even after she leaves a room, because she makes me want to claw my eyeballs out....

Vieve Tisserand > No. That's Gervais
.
Vieve Tisserand > Gerrard. Different g. Very very different g. As in we were having so much fun with gravitational forces.

Trent Valtine laughs

Darius Antares chuckles and nods at Vie's comment.

Vieve Tisserand > And I got promoted anyway.

Vieve Tisserand > Aggravating.

Vieve Tisserand > The things we do in the service of the Federation.

Vieve Tisserand > I don't want to give back Scythus' cat. I'm afraid he'll eat it.

Darius Antares > Ah, it'll get more comfortable as time goes on.

Darius Antares > And then there will be more promotions

Vieve Tisserand looks up from the pulp of the napkin she has scrubbed to death trying to get the decorative spot off the bar top. "You are an evil man, Darius Antares."

Trent Valtine > Why do you have Scythus' cat? And why would he eat it?

Trent Valtine > Better question...Do I wanna know?

Vieve Tisserand > The cat ran away from him after I made him go pop.

Darius Antares chuckles and raises his beer to Trent

Vieve Tisserand > I took the cat with me. It's a sweet cat. Hasn't clawed up my butt at all.

Darius Antares > You popped Scythus and scared his cat.

Vieve Tisserand > Pop!

Vieve Tisserand > Made a big mess. I'm not even sure he's the same person anymore.

Darius Antares > Well then! TO messes! *takes a swig*

Vieve Tisserand > Is there more tequila? I think I like tequila? It makes things look pretty.

Darius Antares laughs and summons the bartender

Trent Valtine orders another round of tequila shots

Darius Antares > I think you might need InterBus later too Vie.

Vieve Tisserand > I think I like tequila? What is this, Vie, an interrogation?

Vieve Tisserand > If I wake up in some Caldari laboratory, it is all my fault.

Vieve Tisserand > No.

Vieve Tisserand > Your fault.

Vieve Tisserand > And you will have to marry Maman.

Trent Valtine downs his shot. > That's right, Darius, it is your fault. Why don't we go for a ride in your ship rahter than paying the interbus fee?

Vieve Tisserand collects a shot of tequila. "Thank you, good sirs."

Trent Valtine > Ah, bugger. Got knocked out again.

Vieve Tisserand looks down at the sprawled Darius.

Vieve Tisserand > Usually, when I black out like that, I'm at least upright.

Trent Valtine snickers a bit. > He fell funny.

Vieve Tisserand > Or I wake up several systems away wearing a bad wig.

Vieve Tisserand > I don't know why I don't look good in wigs.

Vieve Tisserand > I hate my hair.

Vieve Tisserand > He looks so peaceful there on the floor, doesn't he?

Trent Valtine > Oh, it's much prettier than a wig'd be. Wigs are silly.

Trent Valtine nods > You know, he does look rather peaceful.

Trent Valtine > But, if we end up leaving before he does, I'm sure he'd appreciate us taking him along. It's never good to wake up in a pirate bar, with a hangover, surrounded by hostiles.

Vieve Tisserand > Quite true.

Vieve Tisserand > I don't think I can pick him up.

Vieve Tisserand > I could help drag him.

Trent Valtine > I could do it...though my balance is...probably not the greatest at the moment.

Vieve Tisserand > Dragging him might be best.

Vieve Tisserand > He'd already be on the floor, right?

Trent Valtine nods

Trent Valtine nudges him with a foot.> I wonder if he'll come-to this time, or if he's down for the night...

Vieve Tisserand reels in Gertrude, and puts the empty bowl of bar snacks back on the bar.

Vieve Tisserand > Did he drink a lot?

Trent Valtine > Well, I'd say we all did...but I guess he didn't take it was well...

Vieve Tisserand frowns. "Did I break his brain?"

Trent Valtine > Nah, he broke it himself.

Trent Valtine > It wasn't like it was working well in the first place anyway.

Trent Valtine grins

Vieve Tisserand > I do that, and all. Make people go pop. Which is why I'm really worried about Gerrard. See, I'm trying very hard to be normal, because I like being normal, and I can usually pull it off, but every now and then I just get so weird it's dangerous.

Trent Valtine > I don't think any of us could be described as the definition of regular. Nothing wrong with being who ya are
.
Vieve Tisserand > With tomato sauce.

Trent Valtine nods > Yep. With tomato sauce.

Vieve Tisserand nods.

Vieve Tisserand > Think he might wake up if we dragged him out on the dance floor?

Trent Valtine > Maybe, though I don't know how good of a dance partner he'd be...

Vieve Tisserand > We could dance around him like he was some Intaki idol.

Vieve Tisserand looks toward the dance floor. "Damn it all. I am going to dance!"

Vieve Tisserand kicks off her shoes, and tucks them into Darius' pants pockets.

Trent Valtine stands up, wobbling a bit. "Well, I'll join ya."

Vieve Tisserand > La la la la la.

Vieve Tisserand skips off toward the dance floor, with her plant glaring at the world behind her shoulder. That is, it might be if it had eyes.

Trent Valtine follows

Vieve Tisserand cannot dance. More to the point, she's a trained dancer, which doesn't mean she can dance like people who aren't, and the music in her head is probably different than what's playing. "So HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN DARIUS?" she asks.

Trent Valtine tries to dance with her, but has never been a good dancer in the first place, so the result looks rather ridiculous. "OH, SINCE I JOINED STRIX. BEEN GOOD FRIENDS SINCE."

Vieve Tisserand > OH! THAT'S GREAT! I KNEW HIS DAD SINCE I WAS LITTLE! HE'S THE REASON I DON'T LIKE PINK!

Trent Valtine laughs > WELL THAT'S GREAT! DARIUS IS THE REASON I DON'T LIKE KETCHUP!

Trent Valtine dances with Vieve for a while before deciding that it was probably time to get out of there, before he passes out and wakes up surrounded by angry pirates. He pulled Vieve off the dance floor, picked up Darius, and headed to the Interbus station.

Vieve skips out barefooted, because Darius is still guarding her shoes. "Bye, bye, pirates!" she sings. "We have no doughnuts today!"

((Found this log at the old, old STRIX Forum. Vie has honors for that original post and the wisdom to save the chat log. Brought back some good memories even with my crappy connection at the time. I think Darius still has a hold of those shoes.)

FAILED ORBIT

Kisogo....

All was black after the flash from the activated star-gate had faded away. Yet, Darius knew it was out there, waiting. The Caldari Crow, floating silently in it's cloaked cocoon, just waiting for the 'Run Rabbit Run' to make the first move.

“Don't crows feast on carrion?” Darius thought to himself, but then pushed that morbid thought out of his mental process.

He needed to concentrate right now. Concentrate on the safety of his crew and how to get this precious cargo to the riot plagued citizens of Kisogo, without loss of either. That last point was the kicker, here he was in an Amarrian stand-off and Darius was pretty sure he wasn't the one holding the Las-Pistol.

Activating the internal sensors, he verified that his last orders had been carried out and that his crew was as safe as possible in a situation like this. He then stretched his consciousness outwards, yearning to catch a glimpse of that damnable interceptor that had ruined his perfect run.

“Third times the charm....” Darius mused to himself. Then he saw it, a faint shimmer, behind the gate and a little above. Darius nodded to himself, realizing that the safety cloak was running out for his Caldari adversary.

He ran through some preliminary warp checks and then decided on his course. Normally he would've gone straight to the State War Academy. Kisogo's only space station and his regular point of drop-off for the supplies that he had been running out here. It was fast and easy and probably just what that pesky bird expected. Grimacing, he sent a tight-beam encoded transmission to his contact on the Academy station.

A small bit of the space-scape behind him changed and Darius knew that the Crow's cloak had dissipated.

“Now, while his sensor's are still muddled..” Darius internalized.

With but a thought the capsuleer's mind activated the sub-space thrusters on the 'Run Rabbit Run'. The ship shuddered from the force of going from all-stop to full ahead, and Darius noted the Nav-Officer on the command deck looking at his holographic displays in surprise. It always amused Darius at how much non-bonded ship captains played it safe with their vessels. He couldn't really blame them though, it's not like they had the connection to their ships. Intimately feeling the capabilities and knowing exactly how far systems and structures could be pushed.

Intermittent chirping brought Darius back from his musing to the situation at hand. He knew what that sound indicated. The Crow had fired up it's engines, was in pursuit and attempting to acquire a target lock.

“Almost there...” the flame-haired capsuleer thought to himself as he monitored the velocity read-outs.

He need to reach three-quarters of maximum velocity to enter warp in the most efficient manner, at this rate the interceptor would be all over him before that time. Another mental pulse and surprised glance from the Nav-Officer as the afterburners on the Iteron flawlessly dumped their contents into the engine core, nearly doubling the craft's speed.

“Just in time” Darius grunted, as that annoying chirp changed to a constant tone.

The Crow saw the familiar blip of the Iteron Mark III class vessel it was hunting appear before it. It's propulsion systems were still warming up after the safety cloak had dropped, but it's sensors were top-notch Caldari hardware. The capsuleer of the interceptor activated the weapon systems and started a lock process for his missile weapon systems.

“This is going to be to easy, seems Intel was right again” the Caldari reassured herself as his systems worked out the Iteron's trajectory. “He's heading right for the station”

Her Crow's over-drive capacitors had finished initializing just as the missile weapon system acquired a firm tone. Grinning to himself and at his soon to be easy kill, the Caldari put her thrusters to max out-put and prepared to fire a full salvo at the Gallente industrial's vulnerable aft. The nimble Caldari craft performed a dexterous, if not arrogant, roll-over and aligned itself on the same trajectory as it's target. The pilot noted the activation of the Iteron's afterburners and discounted the futile attempt to try and outrun her craft, smiling smugly to herself, she commanded her launchers to fire.

Darius restrained from chuckling to himself as his sensors informed him of the four incoming Caldari Navy light missiles. From the chatter he was receiving from his own command bridge, his crew was taking this development quite seriously. Unbeknownst to them however, this was exactly what Darius had wanted. He let a few more milliseconds tick by and then activated the shield boosters. The 'Run Rabbit Run' was immediately engulfed in the familiar pulsating blue haze just as the missile's impacted. The shield system funneled warning indicators into Darius' mind which were promptly discounted, he already knew what they were telling him. In layman's terms, the shields couldn't take much more of this, but it was enough to pull off the feint he had in mind.

The Iteron's shields pulsed as the ion boosters kicked in to resupply the damaged shields with more power. The interceptor capsuleer muttered a Caldari expletive and started the process of reloading her missile bays for another salvo, while training her rail guns for a burst. The shields on the 'Run Rabbit Run' pulsed again and Darius made his move. The afterburners had got him to full speed, now all he had to do was rely on his inertial dampeners.

“By the powers, I wish I had a holo-feed into that Crow's pod” was Darius' thought as he activated the autopilot and disengaged the afterburners “The look on that Caldari's face about now has got to be priceless!”

The Iteron came about forty-five degrees, the change in vector and missing afterburner thrust caused a dramatic reduction in speed. Something the capsuleer of the Crow had truly not anticipated, before she could register what had happened, let alone command her rails to fire, her craft had passed the 'Run Rabbit Run' and was out of gun range. Darius allowed himself a chuckle this time as he watched the interceptor barrel through his wash, it's speed suddenly turned into a disadvantage as it continued along the original course. Re-activating the afterburners, Darius again waited for that magic velocity number to appear so the auto-pilot could enter warp and get them out of here.

The Crow unfortunately knew something Darius did not. It's missiles had been reloaded and the capsuleer refrained from firing that close to avoid damage to a very expensive piece of State technology. Now however, the Iteron's maneuver had provided her with the perfect opportunity to release her payload. A mental caress and the launchers were set to bombardment mode as they rotated, tracking in on the re-aligning 'Run Rabbit Run'. Another thought and instantaneously the weapon system erupted into action. One salvo, Two salvo's, Three salvo's, Four salvo's, a total of sixteen missiles swarmed out of the interceptor, acquired their lock and streaked towards their target. It was now the Caldari's turn to wish for a visual link into Darius' pod.

Indeed, the brash Gallente's chuckle quickly disappeared when the sensors notified him of the death-storm that was immanently about to impact with his craft. A mental check of the drive status and Darius knew that this was going to be extremely close, too close. The first salvo stuck the not quite replenished shield system, the missiles vaporizing themselves against the hardened ion protective shell. Both had done their job, the shield had protected the Iteron from a salvo and the missiles had damaged the shield. Unfortunately, that damage was enough that when the second wave of four missiles struck, a few seconds later, it only took a single missile to shunt the shield systems off-line. Sparks flew on board the 'Run Rabbit Run' as the shield boosters over-loaded and violently shut-down. The heavy industrial craft was rocked by the missile's impacting on it's bare armor.

Darius grimaced as he felt the shields fail and the damage done to the plates of his vessel. On the plus side, without the shield system active it freed up enough capacitor energy that he could divert into the warp engines and hopefully get them out of here. His thought was cut off by a stabbing pain as the third salvo impacted, unimpeded, into the 'Run Rabbit Run'. Darius was barely aware of the claxons and red warning lights flashing on within his ship's corridors, the only thing he saw was the rapidly plummeting read-out of his industrial's armor status. A gut-wrenching lurch overwhelmed him and immediately knew this was it, he had failed. Preparing for the disorientation of the clone activation process Darius' thoughts drifted back to his life, his Corp-mates, his be-loved Mother and Sister....

“Wait a tick!” he interrupted himself “We're not dead!”

Re-focusing on the incessant data that his ship was attempting to feed him, showed Darius that this was indeed true. That lurch had been the auto-pilot engaging the warp-drive and speeding them out of harm's way. Noticing that the holographic projection unit was undamaged and feeling ecstatic about their narrow escape, Darius activated it and focused his consciousness on the command bridge. He was not, however, prepared for bad news.

“Sir, we've got a problem” The Tactical and Nav Officer reported at the same time as soon as his holo-image appeared on the bridge.

The makings of Darius' victory speech vanished as he listened to the rest of what his officers had to say.

“Shield systems are off-line. Armor is at critical levels. It seems that we've dragged that last salvo of missiles with us in warp, as soon as we decelerate they'll impact”.

“How is that even possible?” Darius was flabbergasted. “I mean, doesn't that violate some section of warp theory, I've never heard of this before!”

“It's definitely not normal, Sir” the Science officer interjected from her station. “and while it does, technically, violate some of the current hypothesis' concerning warp technology, our specific situation was likely not included in their tests”. A wry smile crossed her lips. “Additionally, they've never had the experience with your rather unique streak of luck, Sir.” Her final comment elicited a stifled chuckle from the Nav Officer and a snort from behind the tactical console.

“Well, then I'm glad to be a part of furthering scientific research” Darius stated sarcastically “and at least you're all still in good humor about all of this. You'll need it in about twenty seconds”. He finished with a forced smile.

The five thousand four hundred and fifty three kilometer radius solid planet of Kisogo IX appeared in the view-port less than thirty seconds later. “It's remarkable what your brain notices at times like this.” Darius mused as he slowly watched the planet rotate before him. Bright splotches of light spaced about the planet's surface indicated the massive industrial complexes and sprawling arcologies of the Caldari Mega Corps, while thin, barely perceptible web-like lines connected these huge dots, like some sort of gigantic megalomaniac spider bent on capitalistic conquest.

Then there was a massive explosion. The entire ship quavered beneath the impact and warning claxons began wailing across all areas of the vessel. The four trailing Caldari Navy missiles had made impact. The 'Run Rabbit Run' pitched violently on it's axis, filling the screen in front with the looming visage of the planet below.

“Captain! Damage control reports that propulsion systems have been knocked off-line. Armor is null and we seem to be venting atmosphere from the engineering section!” The Nav-Officer stated tersely. “We're dead in space, Sir.”

“Systems show that we need an escape velocity of five point seven kilometers per second to maintain orbit of the planet” the Science officer added glumly “Our current momentum won't allow us to even stay in a low orbit, we're caught in the gravity well Sir”.

The shoulders of Darius' holographic image slumped and he issued his orders slowly and concisely.

“Abandon ship. Send the evacuation signal to all decks, get yourselves and the crew to the life-pods. I'll set their destinations to the station in system.”

The officers sat in silence for a moment or two then sprang into action. The Evac code was transmitted to all-decks and the bridge crew began filing out to assist with getting the crew into the pods in an organized manner.

The Science officer paused before leaving the bridge “What about you Sir?”

The image of Darius turned away from the approaching planet and smirked “I'm old-fashioned.” then waving off his own comment he continued “ Don't worry about me, get to that station and find my contact Rixx. If she doesn't find you first, she'll know what to do. Now go!” Darius shooed her off the bridge and mentally keyed the door shut behind her before she had a chance to respond.

'Run Rabbit Run' shuddered and Darius withdrew his consciousness back into his capsuleer's pod. Viewing the scene from a distance via the visual drones, it looked bad, real bad. The majority of the aft section of the Iteron was cavitated and the cowlings housing the business end of the ships propulsion system were mangled and almost unrecognizable. Darius watched with relief as life-pods began disengaging from the sides of the 'Run Rabbit Run', and one by one slowly winked out in brief flashes of their limited warp drives towards the Kisogo VII State War Academy station. Soon, he and his ship were alone and falling towards Kisogo IX.

ENCOUNTER AT THE GATE

Kassigainen....

Hatakani....

Sivala....

The gates winked by, flawlessly performing their duty. Sling-shotting the relatively small Gallente Industrial ship system to system. With each bright flare of a gate activation, the Iteron Mark III 'Run Rabbit Run' came closer to it's final destination.

Uedama....

Juunigaishi....

Suroken....

Her crew vigilantly scanned each new solar system critically, looking for anything that might bode danger. With each sensor sweep came the same result. No Contacts. No Hostiles. The Citadel Region of the Caldari State was eerily empty.

Kusomonmon....

Urlen....

The glare from the warp-gate dissipated and the photo-sensitive plas-steel windows slowly returned to their opaque state, allowing the personnel on the command bridge to once again gaze out into the immense depth of space. Before the auto-cloak safety field from the star-gate had fully disengaged, the Capsuleer helming the 'Run Rabbit Run' had already turned her about, priming the warp drive for the final intra-system jump to the last star-gate.

The drive finished it's initializing sequence as the Iteron Mark III completed it's lazy turn into warp alignment. The stars froze in place and the 'Run Rabbit Run' lurched forward into warp. At this exact moment, a tech officer manning one of the scanning stations saw something different appear on his holographic data terminal. A blip. A small, almost insignificant, thing with the exception that it was red. Red and blinking ferociously, like some sort of cyclopean terror trying to make out fine print on a Business Tribunal trade contract.

The tech officer checked and double checked the final telemetry readings and grimaced. Their unarmed vessel was heading directly towards the contact and he wouldn't be able to get a firm fix or transponder reading until the 'Run Rabbit Run' had finished her leap. Pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers in consternation the officer muttered under his breath, “Look first, always look”.

'Run Rabbit Run' broke out of warp on the mark, directly in line with the final star-gate. The ship's residual momentum was carrying it gingerly into optimal jump distance.

“Sir!” The tech officer blurted. “Hostile at five klicks. Eight-o'clock low and closing fast”.
“Condor class, Crow Interceptor”.

The tactical officer chimed in. “We're locked Sir! Crow is engaging a sensor scan!”

Inside the reinforced pod within the bowels of the ship, the Capsuleer stirred and broke out of his jump malaise. With but a thought, he activated the holo-projector on the bridge, bringing into being a visual representation for his crew.

“I'm activating shield boosters and...” The Capsuleer stated matter-of-factly as a glowing blue nimbus appeared outside the main view port. “.. reducing our target profile manually. We need to hit that Gate first. Helm, keep our forward velocity during my attitude changes”.

“Aye Aye, Sir!” answered the Helms-woman.

“And don't worry gang, we've ran this race before. I'll get us through it without a scratch. Trust me.” The lithe, red-haired holographic projection cheerily remarked with a sly wink.

The Crow raced past the lumbering Iteron Mark III, streaked aft for a kilometer. The Caldarian Capsuleer, in a gut-wrenching maneuverer, fired the interceptor's forward ventral de-acceleration thrusters and flipped about, end over end. Then, activating the ship's microwarp-drive it gracefully accelerated back along the course it had taken past the 'Run Rabbit Run'. As the Crow sped by it teasingly opened up with it's single 75mm Gatling rail gun. The rounds impacted the activated shields of the Iteron Mark III, doing little more than making a spectacular display of shattered munitions and ionized sparks. The interceptor traversed the length of the 'Run Rabbit Run' in seconds and was soon out in front of the industrial vessel.

“Crow has moved into jump position! Gate activating! He's gone sir.” relayed the tactical officer to the now concerned looking holo-capsuleer.

Seconds ticked by as the Gallente ship finally reached the maximum distance to engage the star-gate. The anxious command crew remained silent and maintained a concerned gaze at their Capsuleer's projection in the center of the bridge.

“Activate all Grav-locks on the cargo in the hold. Sound general quarters. Lock our destination into the Nav-puter. Keep the shields up and strap yourselves in” ordered the Capsuleer. 'Run Rabbit Run' lurched as the star-gate activated and the holographic projection faded away.

Kisogo....