Navy Records: Alpha-1
09:01 - 30th January - 110YC - Khanid Prime - Location Unknown

They stood like tin soldiers.

6 men
Unmoving and seemingly lifeless apart from the barely perceptible movement of the chest to indicate they where still breathing.

They where all imposing.
And every single one of these men was over 6 feet tall and had been chosen for the prowess as soldiers.
Each one of them was picked specifically for this assignment.
Each one of them was Khanid

"Welcome all of you.

Welcome to the most elite group I have had the honour of commanding.

Welcome to the Phasmatis Miles Militis
Otherwise known as the Ghost Soldiers."

Infront of these men was a man of medium height, solid build and was completely covered by a large black robe.

His voice was soft, yet very powerful.
His mere presence was enough to inspire these men.

"You have all been selected for this position for one reason.
Your natural ability as a soldier.
Your innate tallent at combat."

Once again the voice washed over the ears of the soldiers.
Filling them with pride.

"From today you will cease to be part of the normal Imperial Navy and will henceforth serve under my command until released."

The men nodded in agreement.

Smiling the robed man raised his right arm and beconed the closest man forward

Taking one step forward Math'ra Hiede stood still, awaiting the judgement.

"This man here, he is your leader.
He is the heart of this unit.
Do you recognise this man as your leader?"

The rest of the assembled men yelled their agreement.

Now guesturing towards the rest of the squad the robed man spoke again
"Now, do you recognise these men as your limbs and blood, for you are each parts of a whole."

"I do." Came the solemn reply

The robed man removed his hood slowly

"Then welcome home brothers."

Navy Records Alpha-2
05:37 - 1st February - 110YC - Planetside Kihtaled II - Remote Training Area.

All was quite.

In the dense forest only the sound of the wind in the branches could be heard.

All was quite.

Exceot for the heart beat of one man.
Prone on the forest floor
Alone in the world.

"Ghost Lead, elements 2 through to 5 are in position."

"Acknowledged Ghost 2"

The soft comms crackle broke the immediate silence in the area.

"Ghost Units.
Target is 15 kilometres South West.
Meet at RP Tango-Delta-7"

"Acknowledged Ghost Lead"

The prone man slowly raised himself to a crouching position and moved off into the shrubbery.

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20 Minutes Later
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"Ghost Lead.

Ghost team is assembled."


Math'ra Hiede stood at the edge of the small clearing that held his 5 team mates.
Known as Ghost Team, they where all Khanid warriors who where selected for their natural talent at physical combat.

They stood there in their camo. uniforms.
Armed and decidedly lethal.

"Ghost Team.
Time to move "

Math'ra moved into the clearing and geastured with his enourmous blaster rifle before fading into the dense forest.
Without even checking to see if his team had followed he started ahead with his loping stride and ran towards his objective.
10 minutes later he stopped and motioned to his team to spread out.
The target was a shielded bunker that they had to secure.
It held data about rebel ship movements and was designated as a high priority hit target by command.

"Alright Ghosts.
I want Ghosts 3, 4 and 5 to take the southern entrance
Ghost 2, your with me."

Math'ra recieved the usual short acknowledgements before continuing.

"Go time is 5 minutes.
Remember what we do."

As the team spread out, appearing to simply dissapear into the forest around them Math'ra looked at Ghost 2 and nodded.
There was nothing that they needed to say.
They knew what they where doing.

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06:12 - 1st February - 110YC - Planetside Kihtaled II - Remote Training Area

All was quite.
Ghosts sat in wait.
Time was running short.

"All Ghost elements Indicate ready status."

Math'ra recieved 5 fully ready messages.
They where ready.

"All Ghost elements engage target."

As Math'ra finished the order he was already up an running out of the forest and towards the out-lying patrol house.
Blasting apart the door Math'ra swept the room with Anti-matter plasma shots as his Kaalakiota Assault Rifle melted to two guards that where stationed in there.
As Math'ra turned and moved into the remaining rooms he heard Ghost 2 enter and head towards to command console.
After clearing the remaining room he turned to Ghost 2 and tilted his head to his side.
Ghost 2 nodded and Math'ra spoke.

"Shields are down, Ghosts are go for active infiltration."

Math'ra turned and sprinted out of the small outpost and sped along the open ground towards the main bunker.

The bunker guards where still completely un-aware that the elite unit was bearing down upon them.
Infact they never knew untill it was too late.

The main door was bent and destroyed by a massive Thermal explosion from Ghost 2's grenade and as both Math'ra and Ghost charged into the open hangar bay he felt another explosion.

Presumably from his Ghosts on the other side of the base.
Math'ra did not stop to ponder, he merely ran towards the corridor that lead to the command area of the Bunker.
As he entered into the tight area a ceiling turret dropped down and started spraying laser fire towards him.
As Math'ra dived and rolled Ghost 2 was hit in the shoulder and dropped in pain.
Rolling onto his back and drawing his sidearm he blasted the turret, sending hot metal shards pelting down around him.

Barely stopping to check on Ghost 2, who waved him off and grabbed his dropped rifle and grimly followed behind Math'ra they started forward again.
Running into 2 more turrets that where easily dispatched of, Math'ra and Ghost 2 slowly came up on the exterior door to the Command Area.
Recieving reports from Ghost's 2 and 5 that the Armory was taken care of and Ghost 4 had reset the targeting protocols on the turrets.

They where now ready for the final fight.

Nodding to Ghost 2 he activated the blast doors and jumped back just in time as a deafening boom filled the air as portable infantry artillery cannon fired through the doorway. blasting a hole into the far wall.

Math'ra grimaced.
That cannon meant there was an exo-suit trooper in that room.
That meant they where almost certainly dead.

Looking at Ghost 2 he nodded slowly.
Ghost 2 blinked, his eyes showing through the faceplate of his helmet before nodding slowly himself.
Math'ra prayed to god and signalled.
Ghost 2 Stepped out into the firing line of the exo-suit and opened fire with his own Hybrid assault rifle darting off to one side of the room to draw the fire of the armored machine.
Making it half way across the room Ghost 2 managed to damage one of the legs of the massive machine before he entire top-left of the torso was shredded by autocannon fire.
Using the oportunity provided by Ghost 2's sacrifice he ran behind the armored soldier and placed 2 EMP Grenades with Adhesive bonding and sprinted for the oposite door.

Making it 3 quarters of the way before the machine turned and opened fire on him, throwing him to the floor from the explosion made by the artillery cannon he covered his head and pressed the detonator he had in his hands.

An almighty flash and the sound of thunder was all Math'ra could percieve as the EMP grenades blew the Suit into small electrocuted pieces and thankfully leaving Math'ra with only a gash in his right leg from shrapnel.

Standing gingerly he moved towards to door that held the final area in this crazed control bunker he steeled himself and opened the door.

He was met this time by small-arms fire from the 5 remaining guards in the room
Throwing himself behind one of the makeshift barriers he lobbed his own Thermal grenade towards the Guards and was rewarded by the screams of 2 of the men.
Discarding his rifle he drew his dual side-arms and stood rapidly and started moving sideways while blasting away anything that moved.
Math'ra killed 2 more men in that initial charge before the final man stood , having remained calm as his compatriots where blown apart scythed fire towards Math'ra before it abruptly stopped and the world went dark.


"Math'ra Hiede and Ghost squad.
Objective achieved, you are now being un-hooked from the simulators."

As Math'ra's senses where returned to his real body and extricated himself from the simulator and turned to the Khanid Admiral standing behind him and his squad.

"Well Done.

well done indeed." came the quite voice, tinged with amusement.

Navy Records - Beta-3
22:03 - 5th February - 110YC - Unknown Bleak Lands System -Patrol Route Gama Delta 5

All was silent.

No sound could be heard as the small squadron of Executioner-Class Frigates flew in formation through the dark and cold space.

"Keep it tight back there Delta-5
Just because this is the last leg of the patrol doesn't mean you can get sloppy"

Math'ra Hiede was on edge, this patrol route always threw up something, and for almost the entirety of the patrol, nothing had been untoward.
Sure there was a couple of Cargo Vessels that had been scanned, but they where legitimate businessmen on their way back from Matari Space.
But nothing like a Minmatar Rebel fleet that was reported to be around this area.
Shaking himself from the reverie as he recieved acknowledgement from his squad mate that he was tightening up again he pulled the squad around into allignment for the next planetry group when suddenly his proximity alarms started screaming in his ears.

"Squad break formation and move to attack group Alpha, Group Delta your going in first!"

The signal had alerted him that there where was a large incoming fleet of vessels, and they wheren't friendly.

"Sir! It's the Matari Scum!" Came the nervous cry from one of his pilots
"I know that Takamena, just do what you have been trained to do and you will be fine. Charlie 3 - Is that Cyno breacon still operational?"

He recieved a confirmation from the small covert ops frigate that was attached to the squad for situations just like this.

"Alright then boys - this is how we will do it.
Delta Lead you have the Cruisers, lock them down and yourselves alive
Gamma, your under my command, we are going for the big ships - two men per battleship.
I'm going to solo that command ship."

He cut off the complaints by the pilots that he was being stupid

"No, this is how it will be.
Charlie-3, when you get a safe moment and all targets are engaged, call command and get them to send the Carriers.
Alright, All groups engage."

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22:07 - 5th February - 110YC - Unknown Bleak Lands System -Patrol Route Gama Delta 5

"Delta-5 Is down! Capsule is warping out.
Gamma-4 is down! Capsule didn't make it!"

Cursing to himself and willing his frigate to move even faster under Microwarpdrive power he circled and dodged the fast tracking guns of the Sleipner-Class Commant Ship while he recieved reports from his squad.

They where taking losses but Charlie-3 had reported that two Navy Carriers where inbound and would soon be on deck to deal with the problem

But it wasn't fast enough.

"Come on boys, we have got them, Command has Carriers INS Liberty and INS Herald inbound and they will be here any second."

Math'ra was now really beginning to worry, of the 10 Executioners he started with, only 6 where left and 2 men had been sent back to base as clones.

But he couldn't stay worried, he had a command ship to take down.

Using what little firepower he had he threw the tiny frigate into complex twists and turns letting off lasers bursts that impacted on the shielding on the big ship, barely causing ripples on its huge shield systems but he knew that god was on his side. He was going to win this fight.

Then suddenly his camera drones projected a pure white flash that he thought meant the end of his ship and his part in the fight.

But then the drones where back in working order and sitting in the middle of the Minmatar Fleet was a group of not just two Carriers, but an entire Imperial Armarda.
5 carriers, 20 battleships and untold numbers of smaller ships flew into battle and started laying waste to the insignificant force.
Then, with a final flash a Titan entered the field.

Math'ra was dumbstruck.

It only took the mighty golden fleet a matter of seconds to decimate the Minmatar Fleet. The almighty roar of laser fire burst forth of the battleships and tore into the ranks of the matari fleet, slicing and burning through shields and armor with equal ease.

Then with the wrath of god itself, the Titan deployed its guns onto the enemy and the fire of god was unleashed upon the unsuspecting matari pilots.

Everything that carried a Minmatar call-signature was destroyed, in seconds each ship was disected and melted through the sheer firepower that the Amarrians had called forth and as he re-called his battered squadron to form an escort for the larger ships due to orders he had recieved he could merely watch in amazement as the 30 ships strong fleet of the Minmatar was reduced to nothing but space slag and floating corpses.

then he was called upon by private com.

"Lieutenant Commander Hiede.
This is Admiral Khanid of INS Indestructable.
Pull your men out and dock them aboard the Titan.
I wish to talk with you personally."

As he gingerly flew his ship into the enourmous holds of the Titan, the last man aboard after what was left of his squad had docked and gone to debriefing but he had been called to the captains quarters instead.

The Admiral had then taken the fleet back to the nearby base and docked remotely with the Navy Battlestation, with the rest of the fleet on escort he had called Math'ra to the command decks of the station.

As he made his way there he mused on what had happened, amazed that the Navy had thought to deploy such firepower onto such a small threat.

Finally making his way into the large war room he met Admiral Khanid and his aides.

"I'm glad to see you in good shape Lieutenant Commander." He greeted him with his normal soft voice.

Standing to attention and stading stiff in his newly pressed dress uniform he replied to the tall man

"Thank you for coming to our aide Admiral."

Tiyran waved it off with a gesture

"I was nearby and re-routed the distress call from your Cov-Ops pilot,
But as for why I called you here, you may notice the holo-projector showing a small world."

Math'ra nodded but held his tongue, the Admiral didn't like to be interupted.

"It is the stronghold of the Minmatar rebels you encountered today.
The commander of the fleet is a capsuleer we want dead.
The thing is of course he is a capsuleer, and as such we can't employ standard means to kill him.
But we have recent intel to explain that his clone databank and active clones are here.
Every single damn one of them, along with all data backups and information.
Now, this is where you come in."

The admiral rounded on him after looking at the now highlighted ground structure and base.

"Your going to take him out."
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Navy Records Beta-4
04:25 - 4th March - 110YC - Unkown System - Minmatar Rebel Outpost.
Everything was still.
Nothing was moving, apart from the single blade of grass that moved sofly in the breeze, only it wasn't a breeze.
It was the breath of a man holding so still that the most advanced motion sensor these minmatar rebels had wouldn't notice him.

He was an assassin.
It wasn't his first solo mission.
But he was nervous.

Thinking to himself Lieutenant Commander M. Hiede lay in wait with a Kaalakiota Issue Military Grade Rail Sniper System.

Normally the Amarrians used only laser weaponry, but his current rank and background as a Khanid allowed him the leeway to acquire a proper rifle for this job.

He was lying in wait for a capsuleer.
A special capsuleer.
The one who had lead the attack on his fathers wing.
He was going to die.

Math'ra knew the stakes where high, he also knew that if this body died they would just re-clone him using his last backup.

This was why that particular section of the planet-based cloning facility was being rigged to explode with and EMP bomb, erasing all data in that facility and hopefully damaging the clones themselves as well.

But first he needed to get this man.

So he waited.

For 3 days, on a ridgeline ten standard kilometres away with a clear view of the spaceport shuttles and the accessway infront of them.
Then, he saw him finally, he had gotten a message on his HUD that told him the Capsuleers Maelstrom Class Battleship had entered orbit and deployed a shuttle vessel to ferry it's commander to the surface.

The Egger was wearing a long black jacket and combat pants, and very vivid marks from badly done implant jobs, he walked with a slight limp and looked angry at something.

He didn't ponder what it was.
It took Math'ra a total of 3 seconds to aim, adjust his sights, load the shot and fire one Tungsten Carbide shell straight through the protective screen and into the head of his target.

The body stopped in its tracks and was thrown against the far wall from the power of the shot and slumped down in a heap on the floor, leaving a trail of brains and blood on the screen and walls

Klaxons screamed as his shot was fired.

Suddenly the entire base was swarming with Minmatar thugs, he fired off a few more shots to devastating effects on the closest of the men.
knowing what he had to do now he slung the rifle on his back as it collapsed down into a more transportable package and he pulled out his personal side-arms, standing he ran for all he was worth through the heavy forest that surrounded the base towards his destined pickup when he heard the EMP go off.

Then suddenly, all was dark and silent before a sonic boom and a flash as the EMP bomb planted by Math'ra's squad before was detonated, throwing him back and frying most of his gear, even at 10 kilometres.

With a sudden burst of adrenaline surging through his veins he ran harder.
knowing that his target was dead.
His father was avenged.

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16:48 - 4th March - 110YC - Unkown System - Minmatar Rebel Outpost.

It had been 12 hours and no pickup had come, something didn't feel right.
It had only taken him 5 hours to reach the extraction point, it would have been less if he hadn't had to dodge the swarming patrols of Matari Rebels.

What was going on in space he thought, surely they hadn't found the nigh Undectable Covert Ops Recon Ship in orbit?

But what if they had?
A lone Pilgrim was no match for an armed Matari fleet.

It was then that he heard the voices, the harsh guteral voices of Brutor men.

Quickly diving into a nearby bush, clearing the landing zone he lay still as 5 men walked out into the open, all in combat armour and carrying Republic Fleet Issue Assault Rifles.

2nd rate stuff in Math'ra's opinion, but it provided some protection from modern weapons, but the guns, they where brand new, only in use by special forces soldiers.

Not Rebels.

As the 5 men swept the area, one moved closer to where Math'ra was hiding.
Realising that he would be discovered he tensed himself to spring at the man and catch him by suprise, hopefully the would be enough to atleast subdue this man and grab his gun.

When he finally got within 2 steps of actually treading on Math'ra he sprung, leaping up from where he was and catching the man in the neck, silencing him, abrubtly he knocked the man down with the force of the blow and used the combat knife that he had to stab the man under the chin and kill him.

Wiping his now bloody right hand on the chest of the fallen man he retrieved the assault rifle, careful to say down low he moved back around to see the rest of the men.

one had clearly noticed something amiss as he motioned over to another man as they came to inspect the area Math'ra was in he drew the rifle up and suddenly rose and opened fire, his first shot went wide of the closest mans head and shattered a tree over the other side of the clearing.

His second and third went through the throat and the forehead with deadly accuracy.

Turning and diving to his side as the third man opened fire with his own rifle, scoring a glancing hit to his chest, but his light armour absorbed most of the shot, the others went wide and high, the man was obviously not a trained marksman.

As Math'ra landed he used the last of the guns magazine on walking shots up the remaining mans torso, tearing large pieces of it off due to the force of the rounds and their explosive ammunition.

Discarding the used rifle he drew his dual side-arms, his trusty blaster pistols provided by none other than Kaalakiota, getting up again he went to move in search of the other two men but was stopped dead by a cold muzzle on the back of his neck

"Move an intch you little fucker, and I'll blow you apart and no fancy implants will save you, now drop your guns before I loose my patience."

The remaining man scooped his guns as he dropped them onto the ground and raised his hands in defeat.

"Alright.. now YOU are comin... eurgh!"

The mans harsh voice was cut off by a short flash of light and the laser beam went straight through his left eye and into his brain causing him to fall to the ground in an akwards heap
Then again came the flash of another laser beam that scythed back and forward, downing the remaining Minmatar before two men stepped out of the thick foliage.

"Lieutenant Commander Hiede, good to see you alive"

It was the soft voice of Tiyran Khanid, Admiral in the Imperial Navy
"Come on, the extraction shuttle is this way."
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Navy Records - Delta-V
12:50 - 29th July - 110YC - Unkown System - Imperial Navy Station.

A booming voice echoed around the small black room.
Seeming to come from everywhere and no-where at the same time.

"Lieutenant Commander Hiede, you have come before this enquiry board because of your blatant disrespect for your Commanding Officers, and even more grevious a crime, against our Lord God."

Math'ra stood in the middle of this room, with a single light shining down above him, he knew there where two armed guard standing about 2 metres behind him, but more importantly where the men infront of him.
5 of them, sitting side by side facing him from the shadows, all hooded and wore heavy black cloaks.
and one of them was Khanid, he could tell.

"How do you plead for these crimes Lieutenant Commander?" Came the booming voice again.
Gathering himself Math'ra lifted his head up to look at the board of 5 men infront of him and with a hard look on his face, and put as much steel in his voice as he could.

"Guilty"

"You do know what this means then, do you not?"

This voice was softer, but just as powerful.
It had been the Khanid on the end who had spoken

"Yes Sir, I do."

The Khanid man sighed and shook his head at Math'ra before looking at the central figure of the group.
"Very well then.
Continue with the prosecution Grand Admiral."
The True Amarrian in the centre stood and removed his robe.

"Then by the word of the Senior Council, and blessed by our lord God.
You. Lieutenant Commander Hiede are hereby dissmissed dishourably from the service of the Imperial Navy. And are hereby forbidden from entering into Amarrian space for the period of 6 months."

This last statement got a slight gasp of surprise from all in the room, mostly for its leniancy.

Then the Grand Admiral looked at the guards and said
"Take him out"

Then all was blackness.
The Navy had disowned him.


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07:33 - 30th July - 110YC - Unkown System - Imperial Navy Station.

Everything ached.
this was the only coherent thought he could manage in his current state.
That everything Hurt.

He wasn't even sure where he was, or why he was there, the only thing that he could fathom was the deep and unrelenting waves of pain.

Then, across the waves of agony there was a cold voice, something that scared him down to the very core, An Inquisitor.

"Good, you are awake.
Filthy heretic."

He could only manage a groan in reply as he was rolled onto his back and he gazed at the balding Amarrian man in front of him.

Once again, the cold voice pierced his consciousness

"Thats right... Look at me, see what you have been reduced to.
A play thing, a mere toy.
That's right, your life before you has been destroyed.
You are now mine."

Then all was blackness and pain as the electrodes that where attached to his bare skin pulsed with raw electricity, surging through his body causing massive convulsions and nerve damage.

This temporary relief in unconciousnes was shortlived as the torturers manually revived him.

Taking their time as they let his body rest and try and pull itself back together.
And just as he started feeling strong again, they would resume.

First it was the electricity, then various forms of physical abuse puncuated by the cold Inquisitors voice, constantly berating him and tearing at his mind.

When finally it became too much.
His resolve failed him.

He wept, he cried like it was his last moment on earth, and the world was dying infront of him.

This was when the laughter started.
The cold evil laugh of a man with nothing left in his life other than to do to others what he did to him.
When he had no more tears to shed, he turned to merely sobbing quietly to himself.
Turning inward and away from the cruel world.

And there he was left - 3 days he was left alone and naked in the cold room with nothing but the evil laugh and his own tattered mind.

Then, on the beginning of the third day, he was dragged upright and forced to look at the man infront of him, it was the Khanid man from the board 5 days previously.

"Can you stand?" came the soft voice from the cloaked and hooded man infront of him.

His dry throat complained as he struggled to speak.

"I.. I think so.. but I nee... need some water."

This seemed to incite a soft chuckle from the man, who nodded off to his right.

"Here, your water."

Nodding grateful thanks he gulped down the water, ignoring the burning in his throat and stood shakily upfright infront of the Khanid man.

"Now. Lets get you out of here."

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13:25 - 3th August - 110YC - Unkown System - Imperial Navy Station.

All he remembered was being clothed like a monk and being rushed through endless hallways and corridors as he was ushered around by the Khanid man and his retinue when finally, they stopped.

By this time Math'ra was not able to walk by himself, and leant heavily on one of the men beside him.

When the Khanid man turned to face him again he had a look of sorrow on his face.

"This is where we leave you.
At the end of this corridor there is a small room, inside there is a pod suit.
Take the door that leads into the elevator that goes to the hangar's
It leads to my private hangar, inside you will find a newly commisioned Punisher Class Frigate, it has clearance codes for throughout the Empire, but I suggest you leave as soon as you can."

Math'ra by now had managed to atleast stand again and was beginning to get his breath back as he nodded to the strange man.

"Good, then I wish you the best of luck."

The Khanid man turned and strode down the hallway and left Math'ra there, on his own.
Alive.

He could scarcely believe it, he would thank god, but he knew how worthless that would be.
So he thanked his father.

30 Minutes later and he was starting to feel normal, the small room was a fulyl fledged captain's quaters for an Admiral of the Imperial Navy, whoever had just rescued him was willing to risk his entire family to save him.

This confused Math'ra.

Shaking himself out of the reverie, he checked that the pod suit was on correctly and all his implants where in working order.

Striding out the door and proceeded to the hangar, barely managing to hide the limp in his mostly lame left leg

He was promtly met by a Ni-Kunni man who rushed him into an awaiting capsule which was then inserted into the Punisher frigate with the callsign - Deception

Blasting out of the hangar he set co-ordinates for New Caldari.
Leaving behind a shattered world and some very angry officials.
Warrants for his arrest where already being issued.
Signed by a familiar looking Khanid man with a soft smile on his face.

Vengeance

23:50 - 31st December - 110 YC - Perimeter system - Unkown Location.

The nearby sun was glowing brightly off the port side of the vessel, illuminating it's golden hull casting it's menacing shadow over the nearby steel grey hulls of the rest of Caldari ships in the fleet.

"Hold here soldiers. We still have to recieve confirmation of targets status"

The golden ships pilot's orders where met with degrees of enthusiasm, but all acknowledged the orders.

This final waiting game had been the culmination of months of work for this small hunter gang. Things where finally coming to a head.

A small blue light blinked on the message display, and some co-ordinates where displayed.

"Align ships to Perimeter Planet 3"
Once again, the order was acknowledged, and the ships rotated and engines flared into life, directing their ships into line with their designated directions.

The captain of the golden hulled vessel smiled to himself sombrely inside his capsule and surveyed his fleet with the buzzing camera drones. Thinking to himself the whole time that this was it, the time was nigh
and they where finally ready.

Arrayed around him where the plain and bleak hulls of 2 Drake-class Battlecruisers, 1 Caracal-Class Cruiser and 2 Blackbird-Class Cruisers - the Golden ship the only representation of the glory of the Amarrian
fleet, this seemed to mildly amuse the Capsules inhabitant but only distracted him slightly from his task at hand as he knew they where just surplus for this coming conflict.

Once again, a light blinked on the HUD, but this time it was red and a crackly Vherokiour voice came through.

"I have him."

"Is it my man?"

This came as more of an order than a question, knowing full well the answer.

"Yes Sir, it's him. He is stationary at Perimeter 3, approximately 20km from standard exit point."

Sighing slightly, the Amarrian Capsuleer nodded to himself

"Alright then, inform me if anything changes."

Returning his camera drones from their roaming around the fleet, the re-centered on the Armageddon-Class Amarrian Battleship and the familiar surreal feeling entered into him, sending a shiver down his spine and
through his artificial implants.

Tensing to clear his thoughts he tried to get himself in order, once this was completed he relaxed and open fleet coms.

"All Fleet, slave warp drives to my ships warp beacon." he ordered crisply to his compatriots.

Barely waiting for any responses he continued with his orders.

"Warping Fleet in 3....2....1....NOW!"

He snarled though the coms as his ship shuddered momentarily before the very fabric of space was bent and changed to form the warp tunnel around the fleet. And then the artificial roar
of engines filled his ears and everything became streaks of silver and gold as the ships the ships thundered through the warp tunnel, but in the seconds before the warp sucked him in and the camera drones retreated into the ships
bays, he looked at the golden sun and it seemed as if to wink at him, in a silent acknowledgment.

Vengeance was coming.

During the warp, final orders where issued to the fleet, the drakes and caracal where to wait for confirmation to engage, and the two blackbirds where to activate all ECM modules on the target when locks where gained, any secondary targets
where to engaged with ECM, but the primary was to be the Raven-Class Caldari Battleship that was supposed to be lying in wait at their destination, oblivious to the threat hurtling through space towards it.

When finally the warp tunnel ended and the ships emerged near the planet, the Armageddon pilot burst out of formation and started burning his way towards the Raven. Transmitting his orders to the ship via the capsule he was connected to.

The local space began to distort and landed a Webber onto of the Raven and engaged the warp disruption beam, effectively locking the Raven in place.

Then the most devastating weapon systems in the Amarrian Navy's ranks where opened up on the Raven.

7 Mega Pulse Lasers shattered the silence of space and sliced through the remaining gap between the two gargantuan ships and slammed into the starboard side of the ship and dissipated on its energy shielding, leaving trails of electromagnetic energy skittering over the rest of the shields.

When suddenly his ears where filled with a familiar roar, and a small ball of dread formed in his stomach - Torpedos.

The Raven's missile tubes had opened and with a burst of flame 6 torpedos streaked forth and swerved towards their designated target.

The Armageddon suddenly dove forward in a vain attempt to dodge the deadly missiles when they safely flew straight past and exploded not 10 kilometres behind the mighty vessel on the support ships of the fleet.

Math'ra Hiede cursed himself for forgetting to order the remaining ships to engage when they took things into their own hands and all split off on different paths and started their own co-ordinated missile volley.

And once again a roar filled his ears as 21 heavy missiles where simultaneously fired from their tubes and sent on their deadly path towards the Raven.
As the battle raged for a singular minute, which to Math'ra felt like hours, the Raven's shield buckled and broke just before another wave of missiles slammed into the engine bay of the Raven and exploded violently.
Blasting through the armour plating and destroying large chunks of the rear end of the Raven.

Then, with all the vindication that he could muster.
Math'ra sent his final targeting orders to his guns and they replied instantly.

Their almightily ear shattering blast erupted as they burned through one of the wings and into command decks of the Raven and continued into the reactor bay of the battleship.

This final blow triggered a roiling blast that emanated outwards straight through the burnt remains that where the command decks not five seconds ago and blew apart the fore section of the Raven. Leaving
nothing left but a smouldering wing and a blasted engine as any recognisable piece of the ship.

but during its final moments, his scanners registered the pilot's capsule ejected and warped off to an unknown safe destination.

As Math'ra slouchedd his shoulders down and relaxed his iron will from around the ships systems and let it idle came the first elated cries from his fleet's Pilots that they scored a kill with no losses taken.

When he had finally composed himself enough to talk he opened the coms and said shortly

"Congratulations, welcome to 111 YC Pilots."

A Scope Reporter in trouble with a fringe organisation... why does that not surprise me in the slightest.

These where Math'ra Hiede's thoughts as his Amarr Navy Slicer slide out of dock with a practiced ease of doing it a million times.

I just hope she doesn't end up like the last few people this agent sent me to pick up.

He mentally sent the co-ordinates through to the warpdrive and alligned the powerful frigate towards the designated direction, feeling a small rush as it accelerated brutally into warp.

What is it with overly nosey females and getting into trouble...

He mentally scrolled through the control menus for the Slicer, the new navy mods had optimised the perfomance of every single system on the ship, he had even splashed out and bought some rigging kits and rare pirate modifications for the armor systems and the afterburner.

Time to see if that hard earned ISK was worth spending or not I guess

He watched as the projected distance remaining swiftly went down as he neared the exit of the warp tunnel

Why the Mordus Legion anyway, whats so interesting about them that makes you want to risk your neck to go delve where you shouldn't be?

He calmly maintained control of the Slicer as it smoothly came out of the warp tunnel, launching his camera drone to view the scene.
Zooming out he observed the deadspace pocket the reporter was hiding at, expecting to find an awaiting frigate safely obscured by some asteroid belt.
finding neither a frigate or an asteroid belt upon a quick visual scan he zoomed in on a large gas cloud.

Oh lovely, she has to go and get a freighter shot up as well.
I wonder how many people she got killed for that little escapade, or even if she is till alive.

Mentally sighing he pulled the camera drone back into a close trail behind his Slicer as he activated the pirate afterburner and deftly accelerated the ship into a cruise that would cover the 50 kilometres in a mater of seconds.

I really have to thank that dealer for this bit of kit, I clock just over a kilometre a second with this baby, thats entering into Microwarp teritory...

He allowed himself a moment to savour the thought before the large broken hull entered his vision.
The interstellar freighter was in large chunks, most of the aft section was perforated with holes that could have only been delivered by high calibre Battleship rounds

I hope that those battleships have left, this Slicer is tough... but not THAT tough

Cutting out the Afterburner he slowly flew closer at a couple of meters per second, carefully observing the extensive damage with his camera drone as his deadspace local comm-channel blinked.

"Hey Capsuleer, over the port side I am waiting on the airlock Theta-VII!"

Chuckling to himself he didn't bother to respond to the reporter, her face displaying as a little holo square on his com channel.
He simply directing the ship through a twisted maze of metal that was once the interior of the ship.
Pulling along side the airlock that the Reporter said to meet her at he sent the commands through the ship and carefully moved his own starboard side docking port inline with the ships port.
Focusing the camera drone on this area so as to get a better view he slid into place, extending the boarding tunnel for the reporter to board the ship on.


"Finally! What took you so long!
Look, I have Mordus Legion pirates following me, get me to a safe station and we will talk about getting you this information"

Mordus Legion? Information?

Something inside him squirmed as he got the mental feeling he was being played like a harp.
Then, as he was barely finished thinking a small squad of Mordus Frigates dropped out of warp right ontop of the derelict freighter.
The local comms blinked again, this time with a dark civire face of a Mordus Legion Captain standing on the bridge of a Kestrel-Class Caldari Frigate.

Thank God they arn't capsuleers.

The course voice of the Mordus Legion captain came across the comms

"Caris Risia, you are still alive?"
"I am, no thanks to you or your crews!"
"Well we you are listed as a criminal in our database, your drivel about a drone wasn't believable when you came through first, and it certainly isn't now.
Prepare to die Caris"

Cursing to himself mentally he turned his attention to the Reporter, who was still standing in the wrecked ship yelling into the Comms, getting fed up with the useless Reporter he projected his voice into the boarding tunnel and into the room where she was standing.

"Get your arse into my ship now if you value your life! AND I MEAN NOW!"

Galvanised into action by his powerful voice the reporter turned, and seemed to finall notice the boarind ramp, dashing onto is as Math'ra observed his overview.
It displayed a small formation of Caldari designed frigates, four Merlin-Class Frigates and four more Kestrel-Classes which where holding at range, simply prepared to hurl missiles from a distance as the Merlins did the dirty work for them.

Well. I wonder if they are prepared for the full force of a trained capsuleer and a veteran of the Imperial Navy

Quickly checking that the Reporter was safely in the cargo bay he withdrew the connection lines with the destroyed Freighter as a private channel blinked open.

"We have no quarell with you pilot, however we will not hesitate to destroy you if you do not hand over your cargo."

"Captain, I respect your opinions, but I must respectully decline, this cargo is worth more to me than your lives, and those of your crew."

"So be it."

And with that the comm channel closed and he was suddenly aware of the notification of eight locking tones.

May your souls be carried to heaven and God grant them mercy

As the first Hybrid rounds slammed into the Slicers shields he pushed the ship into a hard acceleration, activating the Afterburner and bringing himself around on a tight orbit of the first Merlin.
Carefully monitering the other seven vessels, the three Merlins with blasters and rockets diving out of his intercept path, still spewing antimatter and explosive rockets while they attacked. The four kestrels launched their first volley of missiles, all tuned for Electro-Magnetic damage.
Wincing mentally he pushed the Slicer into a straight line and activated his guns in a vain attempt to do some damage to the Merlin he was chasing as he tried to evade the missile volley.
The manuevre failed him, not gaining enough speed or range the EM tuned Missiles evaporated what was left of the Slicers shields

Well time to surprise them, I doubt there where expecting this...

Math'ra pulled his ship into a reverse spin, letting it slide backwards through space as he re-loaded the guns for Scorch ammunition and acquired a lock on the nearest Merlin, now just over eleven Kilometres away.

Rest in pieces scum

The three brand new Tech Two Pulse lasers flared into life, the power of their laserbeam increased further by an amplification matrix taken directly from the Amarr Navy.
In two short burts the first Merlin exploded.
The port wing sliced clean off with one of the lasers, the other hitting the warp core and instantly vaporising the hull.

By now the three other Merlins had closed to within four kilometres and where peppering the armor plating with their salvos.

And trick number two... the pirate mod that cost more than a months wages...

With a sharp mental command, the armour repair systems sprang to life and the incomprehendable nanite swarm slithered in waves over the armour plating, and within seconds notified him that it was at full integrity again.
Grinning to himself inside the Capsule he pushed the Slicer into a complicated dance, twisting and pushing his ship through harder, faster and infinitely more complex turns that the Merlins could manage with a convential crew.

Coming out of a corkscrew that brought him ontop of one Merlin he again fired the pulse lasers and their amplified beams of pure energy sliced through the shields and hull in the time it took the ship to react to his surprising appearance, burning holes down through the decks in a small trifecta, the beams breached the reactor core and again the ship exploded in a magestic fireball for the mere second it took the oxygen to be burnt.

Casting a thought for the crew he threw his ship in a loop through the wreckage of the Merlin, bits of metal pinging against his hull like tiny needles against a wall and another volley of EM missiles streaked through the space and impacted on the armour plates, the nanites easily repairing the damage almost as soon as it was inflicted.

Spotting a golden oportunity as the two remaining Merlins pulled away in a counter loop that would bring both of them ontop of him he reversed thrust and stopped his ship dead in space, the ships crews not able to compensate for the swift changes he was able to pull off pulled out of the loop and around in a formation turn, Math'ra appplied a vectored thrust and alligned himself with the two frigates.
Sending purple beams of death through the space the explosion from the first Merlin pushed the second off course, adjusting only slightly Math'ra quickly despatched the final Merlin.

Offering a small prayer for the captains and crew of the vessels, he pushed his ship into a lazy loop to bring him back in line with the four remaining frigates.
Upon completing the turn he almost physically blinked inside his capsule, they where running away?

Since when did the Legion recruit such poor material...

Accelerating his Slicer to roughly four times the velocity of the retreating frigates he easily caught and destroyed the one on the far right side of the line they had formed, causing the remaining three to peel off in different directions as he swooped and dived, taking almost no time to destroy two more of the slower and less refined Kestrels as the missiles they fired where left to slam against the hull of the dead freightor as the twisted around the now very close wreck.

The local comms blinked again, the same captain was apparently trying to beg for mercy.

You don't get mercy when you try and kill me, you only get death.

He didn't even say this to the captain, he simply pulled his Slicer into one final turn and rounded on the bridge of the Kestrel.
Math'ra could have sworn he saw the face of the captain go pale as the guns flashed and ended the lives aboard the final frigate.

"Hey... can you get me to a sta- (A stomach wrenching sound is heard) Station now..."

The weak voice of the reporter came over the internal comms, apparently quite unwell from the incredible moves a proper capsuleer can perform.

"As you wish Ms. Risia, and I do hope your stomach can take more than a gentle cruise."

All he heard in reply was a whimper as the pushed the Slicer into warp and back through space towards the safety of a station.

Consequences of Life

Of all the jobs I have done, the millions I have killed.... I never expected to have to do this ....

It had been about a week since the incident with the Scope Reporter, and following the leads he had been chasing it had led him here.
From the Federation, to the State and even through the Republic and back onto the Empire and the Mandate.

What cruel jest is this, me.... an Agent of ever-living death is sent on a mission of mercy

Taking with him the item the agent had given him, instead of placing it in the cargohold like he would do with other objects for an agent mission, simply choosing to dump them in a container and leave the owners to retrieve it themselves.

No, this time he placed it securely in the captains chair of the bridge before suiting up and stepping into his Capsule.

I am used to taking lives... but going to the families of one I killed to give them their daughters last physical connection in the universe?
What sort of sick joke is this God?
Is this your way of keeping me human?
If it is, I have to say its working...

He slowly and carefully entered the capsule, imersing himself in the capsules nutrient fluid and making sure all the connections where in place and the mask securely attached.
Mentally sighing to himself the ran a gentle mental caress over the Amarr Navy Slicers systems, bringing them to life in the usual sequence and as always the ship responded with a warm buzz, telling him that everything was in perfect working in order and ready to be used for its deadly purpose

Not this time my friend, this time we are simply couriers for a greater being

Ejecting a camera drone so as to view his ship from the insides of the Matari designed station station, speaking breifly with the docking manager he gained permision to undock and guided his ship through the bowels of the station and out into space, greeted by a flash of the Red-Gold sun of the Ammatar system.

It's like the entire system is in mourning, glowing the colours of the Mandate....

Bringing up the co-ordinates to the mining station the womans family lived in, an encoded message from the Agent sprung onto his display infront of him.

"Math'ra Hiede, as a capsuleer you are an agent of death.
It is time to show you people what you cause to billions of people out there, everytime you murder someone a family mourns their loss.
It's time to show you the consequences of life."

Damn that man, he has the information I need and yet he insists on doing this to me
God you really are one cruel bastard

Sending the co-ordinates of the deadspace outpost to the warpdrive he threw the Slicer into warp with an unusual vengance, simply venting a bit of his anger on the ship.
It groaned as he pushed the ship almost too hard and instantly regreted doing the childish thing.

Thats a rookies mistake, let their emotions get a hold of them when on a mission.
Come on Math, your better than that.
Calm and collected, like the Admiral always said

The flight was short, the system itself wasn't very large and it didn't take long for his ship to make the distance.
Coming out of the warp tunnel and into view of the Asteroid station a lump caught in his throat.

Is this how the Admiral felt when he came home to tell my family of fathers death?

Shaking the morose thought out of his mind the flew the twenty kilometres to the hangarbay at a sedate pace, at ten kilometres he was hailed by the station commander and asked to explain his presence.
Carefully explaining that he was on a mission for the Mandate and that he would not destroy anything he was granted permission to land, blessedly it was only a short distance from the habitat that the family resided in.

Here comes the hard part...

After docking the Slicer safely and shutting down all the systems he ejected himself from the Capsule and headed to the onboard showers.
No matter how good the stationside ones might have been it was still a risk he wasn't taking today.

I don't want to walk away with some rare disease that I might catch from these people

Dressing himself in his dark black outfit he decided to leave his two guns onboard, he wouldn't need them today.
Instead strapping the twelve inch blade that Hitome had given him for his birthday.
Checking himself in a mirror he pulled his long black hair into a ponytail behind his head, nodding to himself he walked to the bridge and retrieved the item.
A small doll that the woman he had murdered had with he since the day she entered into service with the Ammatar.

Making his way off the ship and through the bowels of the station, the men and women he passed stared in awe as his unhidden capsule implants shone in the dim light, a few bowed before him as they recognised the small rank badge on his shoulder as that of an Archon of the Ordo Magna.

Reaching the habitat that the family owned he pressed a button and checked to see if they where home.
They where and an elderly couple answered it, both with aprehensive faces.
The elder man spoke first.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

Oh lovely, he has an attitude as well.

"I am Archon Math'ra Hiede of the Ordo Magna, and I am here to deliver you some bad news... about your daughter."

He raised his hands and held the doll flat across his open palms so the elderly parents could see the item.
Almost as soon as it had come into view the woman burst into tears and the man's face went pale and shook, but didn't break.

"I think, Archon, you had best come inside."

Simply nodding Math'ra ducked his large frame through the doorway and followed the grieving couple through the simple habitats hallway and into their decent sized living room.

"How did you come by this Archon?"
"I was given it by your daughters master, he wanted to return to you the only physical remains of your daughter"

The man was obviously shaken, and hearing that his daughters body would never come home nearly broke him, although testament to the old mans strength he didn't cry and his voice barely tremored.

"What happened?"
"She was sent of a covert mission for the mandate, she was to infiltrate a smuggling ring and take over it so as to disrupt the Minmatar local system it operated in"
"And?"
"A Capsuleer, following a trail through Republic space bartered for some information and in return was told this Smuggling operation was the price if he wanted that information. In no uncertain terms he flew to the location provided and destroyed every single vessel in sight, along with most of the station housing the crews on board."

The mans face grew hard as he listened and the woman stopped crying, turning to look at Math'ra with a gaping mouth
Math'ra ignored these changes and continued

"The only thing I ever knew about your daughter was how exceptionally well she flew her ship, It was one of the most difficult fights I had been in since beginning this chase and whatever I may have done, you should be proud of you daughter."
"I understand"

Math'ra nearly did a double take, he had been prepared for many things, but not for them to say they understood, and not only was it not the father, it was the mother who had spoken.

"Archon, I see that you may not understand my words, but hear me out.
Our daughter was born to a poor destitute family, we couldn't afford to raise her and maintain our place in this colony.
So we sent her to our master in the hope she would become something great. And she was, she was a captain of a starship and exceeded all our hopes and dreams, although she will never come home now we can take solace in the fact she was truely gifted and we can remeber that of her"

Shocked Math'ra simply stood there, his face blank and still quite surprised

"Please, would you like to say and have something?"

Regaining a measure of control he forced a smile

"I am sorry, but I cannot.
I am overdue all ready, but please take this as my own personal way of saying sorry"

He drew out his datapad and typed a few commands in, still smiling he placed it on the table infront of the couple.

"It isn't a gift of anything more than a new life, if you both choose I can raise you from this place you live in and give you a home on any planet inside the Mandate, Empire or even the Kingdom."

The couple simply looked at him and smiled, the elderly man turned to his wife and nodded, she nodded in return and turned to Math'ra

"Your offer is kind, and it shows you are a rare find in a capsuleer, you still have your heart.
But we cannot take this offer, we cannot take anything from you without being constantly reminded of our loss"
"As you wish, although if you have ever any need of anything.."

Math'ra tapped the datapad.

"Use that to contact me, and I will do whatever it is inside my power to help"
"Thank you"

With that Math'ra smiled at took his leave, wandering through the station untill he reached his Ship again, tipping the station about a thousand more ISK than they asked for he went aboard and found the captains chair on the bridge.
And there he sat crying for hours.

That was the consequence of life.

Lifes little surprises
Well THAT was interesting...

The Paladin-Class Marauder slowly slid into its docking port, now a very familiar sight to the station crew who worked in that hangar.

I hate Rogue Drones... The simply kill things and leave the carnage everywhere, at least the Blood Raiders and the Sansha use it for something.

Math'ra was in a foul mood, there had been a large influx of Drone infestations into the systems surrounding his base of operations, after making sure that the Paladin was docked securely and the crew where given leave for the rest of the day he headed to the ships Captains Quarters to get cleaned up from his pod.

Stalking off the ship and through the busy Carthum stations hangar, casting dangerous glares at the over zealous Carthum employees that had come to check over his Paladin, and make sure that all the systems where up to scratch after the first few months of active deployment.
Striding towards them he skipped the ceremonius "bull****" as he liked to think of it.

"What do you want?" he spat at the lead tech, a Ni-Kunni of medium height and a slight build.
In the mans defence he didn't flinch under the withering stare of a proffesional capsuleer.

"Pilot Hiede, we have come to inspect your Paladin, registered name Divine Inquisition."
"Oh, and I am supposed to give you access to the ship or something?"
"Yes, that would be usefull."

The man almost smiled at Math'ra, but the withering stare stopped him.

"Fine, see my Executive Officer"
"Where can I find him then?"
"No idea, he will be around here somewhere."
"But tha-!"

The man wasn't able to finish his sentance, as upon saying what he had to Math'ra had whirled around and stalked in the opposite direction, and towards the nearest lift that would send him in the direction of the agent he had to see.

After about fifteen minutes of walking through the station Math'ra arrived outside the large office of a highly respected and payed agent of the Carthum Conglomerate, he could have been there faster but the walk had helped curb his annoyance at everything and he was now ready to talk to the man.

I hope I still get the bonus for this, I will have carbon scoring on the armour plating for months after today.

Assuming a military stance outside the entrance he waited, not bothering to press the panel near the door that wrang the secretary inside.
It wasn't long before he was rewarded by the large golden door sliding back to reveal the agents secretary sitting behind her desk, a rather beautiful Ni-Kunni sat there as always, filling and working with the hundreds of reports that came with a high profile agent.

Looking up with a slight smile she spoke with a clear crisp voice in perfect Amarrian.
"Oh, Mr. Hiede, Mr. Aphuka will not be long."
"Thank you Meridia"

The lady simply smiled at him for another fleeting moment before returning to her work, smiling in return Math'ra turned away as she refocused on his work, turning to look towards the black-glass office where Sihsad Aphuka spoke with his capsuleers.

Damn agents think they control us, what the don't understand is they simply pay better than everyone else.

The door to the room slid open and a short True Amarrian walked out, the gleam of his capsule implants showing as he walked past, the badge of a member of the 24th Imperial Crusade, although only an Arch Lieutenant.

Smiling to himself internally he remembered the ceremony where he had been awarded the rank of Imperial Major, a rank he still held.

"Ah Math'ra, please join me" The silken voice of the Ni-Kunni man eminated from the office.

Now to get paid and rest for the day, I have had enough drones to last a lifetime.

Math'ra walked slowly into the room, the door sliding closed behind him with a hiss that indicated they where in a sound-proof area.

"So, how went the cleansing my friend?"
"The drones are dead, none of the passengers survived, like every other damn time you send me out there"
"Well that is unfortunate... alas we must continue, there is always more work to be done."

The Ni-Kunni man sat in his large red chair, the interior of the room a mixture of pale gold and deep red, the colours of the Carthum Conglomerate.
The man leaned over his computer and typed something rapidly before looking at Math'ra again.

"The agreed amount of seven hundred thousand Kredits has been transfered to your account, along with an additional six hundred and fifty thousand Kredits for being as prompt as you always are.

Math'ra forced a smile.

Well that pays for the fuel... He thought to himself with a laugh.

"Thank you Sihsad"
"Anytime! But I must ask, do you have time to maybe save a rather special damsel in distress?"
"Oh come on Sihsad! She can't be gone AGAIN!?"
"Oh yes she is, the one and only Kruul has her again."
"For ****s sake, I am not putting my arse on the line for her again this week, maybe next week but not this one."
"I understand completely, I will forward that one onto another client."

Once again Sihsad tapped away at the computer, re-routing that contract to another unfortunate capsuleer.

"So, is there anything you wanted?"
"Yes, I want you to locate a certain Hitome Kei for me."
"As you wish, the standard fee applies"
"Whatever, bill me for it, I want to know where she is."
"It will be done my friend"
"Right."
"So, anything else, no more contracts today?"
"No, I need a break, I have seen enough scrap metal make itself aparent before me today"
"Fair enough, you have a good afternoon Math'ra"
"Right."

Math'ra stood slowly and turned away to leave, Sihsad opened the doors for him and smiled

"I will have the location for you soon"
"Thanks."

With that Math'ra turned and left, ignoring the secretary on his way out he almost lept out into the station, glad to be free of the agents clutches.

I wish there was someone else who was better placed, but he is the best I can find.

He had worked for this man so long that he had even rented a stationside apartment for when he felt like sleeping somewhere else other than on his ship.

Walking aimlessly down through the station he stumbled upon a couple of young Brutor ex-slaves, judging by their clothing and manour terrorising an old True Amarrian, they where hassling him for some Kredits to go to the local bar, to the old mans credit he was steadfastly ignoring them and trying to continue on his way when one of the young men grabbed the mans shoulder.
By now Math'ra had walked up quietly behind the two without being seen, drawing the extremely valuble twelve inch knife he had been given for his last birthday by a special friend of his, he placed the flat of the blade on the offensive mans shoulder.

"Leave this good man alone if you like your head in one piece." growled Math'ra, using his implants to boost the bass in his voice, making him sound altogether enourmous and very dangerous, over an above his normal appearance.

The young man, a Brutor jumped violently, flinging the old man away, sending him sprawling on the ground while trying to draw his own rusted knife and twist to face Math'ra.

"Wrong move"
Math'ra used the momentum the Brutor had with the twist to his advantage, snatching the knife hand out of the air and twisting it roughly behind the smaller mans back, then uncermoniosly knocking him out with the hilt of the knife.

His friend meanwhile, a much smaller Vherokior, was attempting to creep up on the fallen man and steal something.
Dropping the limp body of the Brutor he drew one of his ominous looking blaster pistols and pointed it at the Matari.
"Leave him alone."

Screeching the small man ducked and run for cover.

Grunting he sheathed both his weapons and pulled the limp body of the Brutor to the side of the dark alley he hadn't realised he was in before moving to help the old man, carefully assisting the man to stand.

"Thank you child, your help with those thugs is a blessing from god."
"It is only my duty to our lord, I am glad I could help."
"Well its greatly appreciated, now I should be getting home"
"Is it far?"
"No, its just down and off to the left"

The old man gestured down the alley and into the bright light of the main street of this level, where he would be much safer.
Nodding Math'ra straightened and smiled at the old man, his jacket sliding back to reveal the Ordo Manga insignia on his left breast, it caused the old man to gasp and prostrate himself on the ground, taken aback by this response Math'ra cast his gaze around for a cause, finding none he looked down at himself and spying the badge he sighed, covering it up again he knelt infront of the man.

I never get used to that, I spent too long outside the Empire to ever be fully comfortable with the idea that with that insignia I am like an Angel of death

he spoke softly to the old man.
"Please get up"
"Y-yes m-my lord"
"Drop the lord, I am no lord, just a man with a few implants."

The old man smiled a bit as he scrambled to his feet.

"whats your name?" Math'ra asked.
"Furthen Hi'ede"

Math'ra blinked, the mans name sending a shock down his spine.

"Sorry? did you say Hi'ede?"
"Yes, I am the last surviving elder of the Hi'ede clan that didn't move to the Kingdom with the great split."
"Indeed, do you have any other family here?"
"No, its just me, and my wife."

Math'ra stood back, shock resonating through him.
He pulled his datapad out of his pocket and after a few commands loaded the screen of his DED Information, taking a step closer before offering it to the elderly man.
With a slightly cautious look the man took it and scanned it, shock of his own becoming apparent.

"You arn't..."
"I am."
"By god... does you family still live!?"
"They do, and prosperously in the Kingdom."
"By god son! It's incredible!"

The old man smiled, years seeming to fade from his worn face.

"Your father, what is his name?"
"Yaur'an Hiede"
"It can't be..."

The old man forgot all semblance of formality and rushed forward, embravin Math'ra even though he was a good foot and a half taller than the man.

"Son, do you know who you are?"
"How do you mean?"
"Boy.. Math'ra... you are a Hi'ede, one of the older families of the Empire, almost erased over time, and I had though forever."

Math'ra smiled and crouched a bit, bringing the man into a large embrace.

"There is something you should know though."
"Whats that?"
"There was a large portion of money left over from the families funds, I was never going to touch it, but I think I may have someone to give it to if you would do me a favour."
"Anything, just say."
"Would you take me to see your family?"

Math'ra smiled, and even in the dim light of the alley, he could have sworn the old mans face glowed.

"I can leave anytime you wish."
"Brilliant! Now, I think you should meet my wife! She will be extatic!"

Chuckling to himself he straightened and gestured forward, the old man striding forth with a renewed vigor in his step, whistling a familiar tune that sang of life and unexpected blessings.

Well, life always has its little surprises.

With that thought he began to follow, a wide smile on his face.

Life in the shadows

Why did I agree to doing this again?

Math'ra strode through the grand halls of the Carthum station, ignoring the thousands of people hurrying about their business

I must be insane or something

He rounded a corner and entered a lift, punching a few buttons he made his way through the center of the station and towards the section he rented out

Women... they have such a powerful effect and they don't know it, or if they do they abuse the **** out of it.

He left the lift in the wake of a multitude of gaping face, they knew as well as he did only Capsuleers lived on this level.
Striding down an enourmous golden hall and eventually through a few smaller passages untill he reached his own place.
Smiling at the two large Khanid Cyberknights that guarded his apartment he let himself in, casting his eye around the main room to make sure it hadn't been touched.

Just as I left you, not that I expected any different

Slowly wandering across the large space he stepped into his personal chambers, taking no time to enjoy the golden and red walls or the numerous holo pictures displayed there, instead making for a hidden place, pressing the command pad in a specific sequence the hidden room opened from the right rear corner, a large portion of the wall sliding down to reveal a brilliant black suit on a manikin with a hybrid rifle leaning against it.

Hello old friend, I have need of you once again

Slowly and carefully removing all but his underclothes before slipping into the undersuit, carefully making sure it didn't obscure any of his implant sockets. After making sure the suit was on properly he began attaching the composite fibre/nanite armour plates to specific parts of the suit, taking exception care with the final piece of armour, this piece was the key as it jacked into most of the capsuleer implants and activated his control of the suit.
He shivered as his sense came alive with awareness of the suit and all of the trillions of nanites that helped cause it to work so effectively.

I never get used to that feeling, not matter how many times I do this, it never gets any easier.

Taking the helmet off the top of the stand and strapping the Custom made Kaalakiota Hybrid assault rifle to his back before grabbing the double hip holsters for his other two Kaalakiota pistols and strapping the belt to his waist and placing the guns there he donned a traditional Amarrian black cloak, easily covering his entire body and the rather special armour and armoury.
Retrieving a travel bag he left his chambers and headed down to his personal arms range, carefully collecting a few special items along with a large supply of hybrid ammunition he placed them in the bag with the suits helmet.

Now, to get out of here without causing a stir...

Smiling to himself as an idea came to him he called his two guards at the front

"Hector, Vurdan I need you both to do me a favour..."

Math'ra quickly outlayed the plan and recieved two affirmative responses, smiling some more he pulled the hood of the cloak over his face and headed out the front of the apartment.
Upon leaving Hector took the bag and Vurdan took Math'ra's rifle in his own arms, the appearance of a high ranking Admiral completed by the rank badge Math'ra now displayed on his chest he made his way through the station and towards his ship, the Amarr Navy Slicer christened the "Storm of Vengance"

Time to put this show on the road.

The Slicer slid out of station after the garbled and hasty replies of the docking manager confirming that an Admiral of the Imperial Navy was allowed to go as they pleased.
Laughing to himself he made a mental note to thank the actual owner of that radge badge one day, it had proved to be most usefull so far.
After making his way out of the station Math'ra set his course for a certain system in the Kingdom.

Time to go pay some poor bastards a visit they won't want to remember, and will be unable to forget

As always, the Slicer slid into warp and started eating the distance towards its destination.
the nineteen jumps that it took to reach the final destination passed without incident, the locals in the low-security area he now flew through showed no interest in a small Slicer that could easily evade all but the most hardened blockades with ease.

Almost makes you wonder if the Pirates have gotten soft.

He laughed to himself as he pushed the ship into one final warp that lead to a Royal Khanid Navy base in the middle of the lew-security system, upon reaching the docking point he was hailed by the station commander.

"Pilot Hiede, what is your intention here and what does the Ordo Magna want with us?"
"Nothing untoward Commander, its a pleasure to see you again as well"
"Nice, you have permission to land Hiede, but as always, I am watching you"
"I wouldn't have it any other way"

That merely caused the Commander to grunt as he guided the Slicer into his usual docking bay, leaving the fine position to the station tractorbeams this time as he left his capsule and re-equiped everything.

"the officer's ballroom... located upstairs elevator level 3...."
Thats where she said it was going to be, and at 20:00.
It's 18:50 now, so that gives me plenty of time...

Smirking to himself he pulled the helmet on firmly and sealed it off, integrating it with the rest of the suit as he loaded himself up with ammunition and a few special devices, once again donning the large black cloak, this time the Hybrid rifle would sit outside it and in clear view.
Exiting the ship he strode towards the nearest console and entered a command, pulling a small chip from a pocket he inserted it into the availiable slot.
Suddenly the entire docking bay went black and cries of alarm came up from surprised dock workers, chuckling to himself the helmets visor flared to life and a light amplified view of the docking bay around him was suddenly much more visible, silently walking out of the hangar and into the now darkened corridors of the station he sought out the room he was looking for.

This is almost too easy, either these people are just lax or I am in deep ****

After stopping breifly at another terminal to locate the exact position of the officers ballroom he made his way through the station, unseen and almost unheard by the scarce-few inhabitants of the lonely station.
Having no trouble in passing by the receptionist to the large formal room he made his way down through the room, noting the special seating arangements

Now comes the "fun" part.
Waiting for the lovely gentlemen and women whos evening I shall be intruding upon tonight.

Dropping the black cloak in the dark corner he chose he placed the Hybrid rifle under that and sat down.
After a minute or two he simply began to fade, the nanites in the suit reacting to his carefully measured commands and the active camouflage came into effect and his form became undistinquishable from the walls behind him.

Now I live my life in the shadows, or at least.
For a time.

Dark Machinations
Why did it come to this...
What did I do to deserve this burden

Math'ra stood upon a large stage, the deck before him was flooded with people all wearing black, many where holding each other as they looked up at one of the many projector screens that where hanging around the enormous room.

Dear God why...

Math'ra himself was dressed in a pristine, pressed black uniform with gold stitching, his large black cloak flowing freely behind him as a minor breeze stirred it, his long hair tied back behind him, hands held loosely behind his back.
He steps forward, up to the pedestal as the priest who had been speaking moves away.

"I stand here before you all, as captain of the late Paladin-Class Marauder and the man who led your brothers, sisters, mothers and father, daughters and sons to their fall."

He pauses for a moment before continuing.

"These men and women, these fine men and women served me dutifully for a longer service than almost any other crew I have known of.
And they served well, far beyond their normal call of duty and to a level of excellence that many can only dream of."

He gazes through the crowd, one of the many camera drones whirling down in front of his face.
The projector screens easily picking up the deepening lines that now creased his face, the deaths of so many lives weighing heavily on him.

"I can offer you no more sympathy than I all ready have, many will hold me to blame for this, and I would agree with them.
I am a Capsuleer; we are the universe's creations of untold destruction.
Yet we are still human, we live breath and die like any other.
We feel pain, sorrow and anguish at the passing of a loved one."

He pauses again to let his words sink in, many amongst them unprepared for his words.

"Your loved ones shall always be remembered by me, as it is not the ship that makes a vessel what it is, but the crew who man it.
And your loved ones made that crew what it was, a shining beacon of what this great Empire stands for.

I hereby grant each and every member of the crew ten thousand kredits as minimum compensation for their passing.
This money shall be directed to the closest living relative for distribution to the families."

A waves of talk breaks out, many staring with open mouths at the stage and the dark figure adorning it.


I wish I could do more...

"Now, I would take a moment for prayer, to help send their souls to heaven and for God to receive them with open arms"

Math'ra clasps his hands in front of his face slowly, closing his eyes to the crowd, the priest moving forward to speak the prayer to the crowd.
Each and every soul in the room bows their heads in prayer.

The mournful voice of the priest wringing forth, many amongst the crowd openly weeping.

May your souls be taken to God
And may God forgive me for my mistake

After a few minutes the priest steps aside again and Math'ra resumes his pose.

"We can never know what would have happened to your loved ones had they not died, we will always ask why, and what if.
However we should not let these thoughts dominate our minds.

Instead we should deign to remember them as they where, the strong and beautiful people they showed themselves to be."

Math'ra looks towards the ceiling, the golden arches of the Amarrian station soaring above them.

"We look to heaven for answers, and rarely are they directly forthcoming.
We pray to God, but rarely is he direct."

He looks down again, adopting a softer stance.

"The ways of the Lord can never be truly understood; as such we must continue to support and help each other where we can in times of trouble and grief.
May these words help you in your time of grief, such little solace as it gives."

Math'ra steps away from the podium, the priest resuming his place there and thanking Math'ra as he moved to the back of the stage.

The service continued for another few hours, the priest talking the whole time.
But Math'ra never heard a word.
Math'ra stood in the darkened corner of the stage, his mind elsewhere as he stands there.
The faces off all the crew he had met running through his mind, as well as the faces of those he didn't, having looked up every single file of every crew member to have actively served on the ship on that fateful mission.

All gone...
Every single one of them.

The greatest tragedy was that the ship had been running to its very limit, the unexpected containment leak from the reactor core causing a chain reaction that destabilised the rest of the ships systems and rendered it immobile to the enemy warships that gleefully tore it apart.
The final blow had been a concentrated volley of laser fire straight to the warp core.

The explosion from that had ripped the ship apart, and mercilessly the aggressors had vaporised every remnants of the ship, including escape pods.

And it’s all my fault.

Finally, the service drew to a close.
The Priest giving his final words as the great hangar doors swung open to allow exit for the massive gathering.

Yet Math'ra still stood there, silent and unmoving for however long.
At one point the priest came over and spoke briefly before walking away when receiving no response.

It would be another day before he moved again.

When he did, it was with a strange sense of purpose.

He had a plan.
And there was nothing that would stop him now.

Hard Landing

"At the end of days when they descend
Watch for the coming of the Ark
For within it, salvation is carried"
- The Scriptures, Book II, Apocalypse 32:6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I will not hesitate when the test of Faith finds me, for only the strongest conviction will open the gates of paradise. My Faith in you is absolute; my sword is Yours, My God, and Your will guides me now and for all eternity.

The rumble of the dropship departing the docking bay or the Archon carrier was more of a physical sensation than an audible one, the high-tech combat suits provided to the Marines made sure of that.

Please God... let this one be better than the last, I don't know how much more I can take.

His name wasn't important, he was a Marine and his job was whatever the squad leader told him to do without question.
Without feeling or emotion.
Without thought.
Only this Marine was thinking, feeling and worrying.

I swear... I shall visit the priory when I get back, I will repent every sin just please let it be better than the last time.

The Marine looked up, his reflective black visor masking his contorted face as he looked around his squad.
They where all tall dark skinned Khanid Cyber-Knights however the only way that could have been guessed was from their unusual height, each of them at least seven feet tall.

Please...

There was a violent shake, and then the sound of an explosion as the door from the forward section of the drop-ship slid open to reveal an un-helmeted man, recognised instantly by the men in the drop-bay as their leader.

Another violent shake and explosion, this time the dropship was thrown sideways by the closeness of the detonating projectile warhead.

"As you may or may not have noticed... the Matari are putting up a fight"
A holoscreen to the commanders left flashed to life and displayed the arial view of the target spaceport.
"This is your target, the Heathens have flak installations in the surrounding landscape and our landing is going to be hot."

Now he picks a man to be the first out.... the first one to get shot at, and almost always the one who dies... please don't let it be me.

The Commander looked around for a moment, seeming to make a descision before raising his hand and pointing at the Marine.
"You, your going first this time."

God help me...

"Get ready, we will be down in less than five."

The Commander then whirled and left, each of the fifteen men standing and beginning to check their equipment, allowing Marine to walk forward slowly so he is closest to the rear blast-door.

They say when the door goes down, the flash grenade should always be tossed to try and give you that second to surprise the enemy

Another Flak-Cannon shell exploded near the ship, rocking the men inside as the rear end slews through the air in a wide arc

It never works... the enemy always ducks and hides, and the first man out dies.

A Klaxon started to scream in the ears of the men, their signal for imminent 'Hard Landing'
The Marine unslings his Laser rifle and prepares the high-yield flash grenade.

The red light above the door started to pulse, the signal that there was only seconds before deployment.

Lord, forgive me of my sins and wrong doings... just get me through this hatch alive.

There was an almighty crash as the dropship slammed into the deck of the hangar array, the klaxon stopped and the light went green.
The Marine tossed the grenade the instant the doors opened enough to let it out and he ducked.
They all ducked.

There was a moment of eerie silence before the chaos began.
Then came the flash, the explosive detonation of the flash grenade.
Instantly the Marine stood and opened fire towards the likely hiding places the Matari would be using.
And nothing came back at him, the grenade worked, it had given him that instant to get out and into the fray.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Face the enemy as a solid wall
For faith is your armor
And through it, the enemy will find no breach
Wrap your arms around the enemy
For faith is your fire
And with it, burn away his evil"
- The Scriptures, Amarr Askura 10:3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THANK GOD!

The other men in the squad swarmed out behind him, the startled Matari falling like leaves in autumn to the letahl fire from the Khanid soldiers.
The Marine spread wide, two men following him as they swept around the left wing of the drop-ship.

Come on now... just surrender and you wont all die.

"FRAG GRENADE!"
Came the frantic cry over their inter-helmet comms, giving only a second to dive for cover before the explosion threw the men near him to the ground.
Scrambling to stand again the Marine swept his gun around and sighted the offending grenade thrower, a slight man with tattoo's coursing his face.
That face wasn't there a second late.

A second after that, one of the squad members blew open the hangar door and waved the rest forward.
The Marine shook his head, the hangar was cleared now and the squad was rushing forward, calling him to be pointman again.

The Marine uttered a prayer as he reached them, tossed another grenade into the breach and stepped in behind it after it exploded.

He whirled around the corner, rifle raised only to be greeted to the sight of a huge expanse of civilians, all strewn across the floor dazed and shocked.
And a woman, a slight but beautiful Sebiestor.

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and his reflexes stopped his trigger finger.
The only problem was she was standing, and aiming a carbine at his chest.

"Don't shoo-!"

The Marines words died in his throat as the automatic carbine errupted and tore bloody gashes in his chest.
The squad immediately flowing in behind him and the Marines last vision on this woman being cut down by fourteen lasers.

God... you bastard....

His vision faded to black, life slipping from his ripped carcass.
The sound of Lasers cutting down men, women and child alike, was chasing him in his final moments.

Prejudices and Vices

Journal Entry 14: Campaign day 16
Entrant: Sephirot Hiede
Area: Tizcan Provinces
World: Amarr VIII (Oris)
Entry Begins

I am sick of this world.
I am so sick of this goddamn world.

The work here is oppresive, my men mention it to me constantly, whether its the desert plains, the marshy swamps or anything in between.

The rebelious houses are almost crushed, the Chockmah and I are nearly done here.

I look forward to taking what I came for and returning to space full time.

For now, I think I need to take a trip.
I need to clear my head

Entry Finishes
Journal Secured

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Math'ra stood from the interface and looked around, the camp they had made was very rough.
A few hastily erected tents and camo holo's a few natural elements of the surrounding plains was also used to try and conceal their presence, however its not an easy feat with nearly two hundred men.
Shouldering his heavy combat rifle he strides out of the command tent and walks towards a small knot of men, all Khanid and all armoured head to foot in a specialy customised battle-suit, he places his hand on the shoulders of one of the men who instantly turns and salutes Math'ra

"Sephirot"
"At ease, I'm just letting you know I will be off planet for the rest of the day, we are still awaiting the Chockmah forces and the heretics are silent."
"As you wish sir."

Math'ra smiles thinly at the man infront of him as the soldier relaxes to a more natural, but still very stiff position.

"You will be in charge, contact me on the Neo-Com if I am needed"
"As you wish sir."

The man salutes again, Math'ra returns the gesture before turning and striding off towards a large tent which houses the transport vehicles for the strike team, various militants saluting him as he passes through the camp.
Upon reaching the tent Math'ra passes through the entrace, brushing aside the heavy material that cordains off the area from sight, the transition for bright natural light to the dim pale light of the tent causing him to squint for a second before the optical implants kicked in and refocused the light accordingly.

"Sephirot! To what do I owe the honour of your presences?"

A small balding Ni-Kunni man scampers up to Math'ra as he enters the tent, causing a couple of the slaves working on the vehicles to s****** at the man, the man was thin of frame, dressed in an Amarrian robe and only about five foot tall which was in stark comparison to Math'ra who stood at least a foot and a half taller and dressed in matt black combat dress, Math'ra smiled slightly at the s******s, understanding exactly what it was about.

"Turman, I need my speeder."
"Of course, of course, she is right over there and ready to go."
"Thank you, and oh Turman?"
"Yes Sephirot?"
"Wipe the grease off your head."

Math'ra grins as the bald man frowned and slapped his hands ontop of his head and tried in vain to find the grease that wasn't there, the slaves howling with laughter at the man being made a fool of, which was promptly cut off by the glare of the small man.
Chuckling a little to himself, Math'ra walks over to his speeder and clambers in.

Not quite the same as an interceptor, but it comes close enough for this purpose.

Coaxing the highly strung racing engines to life, one either side of the central ****pit Math'ra guidede it out of the tent which was opened pre-emptively by two of the slaves.

Math'ra grins to himself as the powerful vehicle enters the light of the Orisian day

Well it may not be an interceptor but it sure is damn fast for a ground hugging box of junk.

Once the camp was cleared he punches the engines throttle to full and screams off through the plains towards the nearest spaceport, destined for space again.

Space, there is nothing more infinitely beautiful or relaxing.

The Crusader-class Interceptor slid out of dock slowly, Math'ra carefully weaving it through the traffic of the Amarrian trade station while passing all styles of ships, from Gallente Battleships to Caldari Freighters and the occasional Pirate Faction cruiser.

Capsuleers, what rich heedless mad men we all are.

Throwing the small ship in a Microwarp induced spiral he punches through a gap between two freighters before slewing to avoid a convoy of Mammoths.

And rediculously bad pilots as well...

Sighing mentally he alligns the ship towards a stargate and accelerates into warp.
Passing the time by mentally parsing a few commands

"Aura, state ISK wallet balance please."

The silverly voice of the Capsuleers only life time companion, Aura rings through his mind.

"Current Balance is.
One Billion, Fourty One Million, Three Hundred and Fourty Eight Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fifty Six point Two One Interstellar Kredidts."

Smiling to himself inside the capsule he activates the first gate in the sequence of eight that would take him deep into Caldari space, and to a broker he had been planning to meet.

"Aura, Scan Contracts: Item Search: Nightmare."

"Item: Nightmare
Availiability: 15 Capsule Capable Vessels on market"

"Aura, zoom region: The Forge"

"Region: The Forge
Availiability: 3 Capsule Capable Vessels on Market"

"Scan lowest price"

"Lowest Price: Nine Hundred and Seventy Million Interstellar Kredits"

"Thank you Aura"

"Your welcome Pilot"

Math'ra smiled internally, his queries had taken him long enough that he was now on the edge of Caldari space.

It's time to become a little unorthodox.

For the next few minutes he browsed and calculated, enjoying the prospect of what he was about to do.

"Aura, set destination for location of escrow for that Nightmare."
"Destination set: Perimeter"

The Crusader easily made its way through the congested traffic of the Perimeter stations entrance, the harsh angles and gunmetal colours of the Caldari station in stark conrast to the golden red ship of the Amarrians, Math'ra's camera drone casting its unrelenting gaze throughout the stations interior as he guides the ship into its designated docking bay.

Now, to find this ship

Ejecting his capsule from the Crusader and floating idly in the hangar he opens a connection to the escrow agent and confirms the contract that was offered for the ship, securing the details and sending the hangar co-ordinates for the ship to be transfered to.

He didn't have to wait long, the usual Caldari effeciency meant that within the hour the ship was brought to the hangar, and from the camera drone of the Capsule he observed the enourmous jagged vessel, smiling to himself inside the capsule at the feeling of raw power it eminated from its mere presence.

Time to see whether Kuvakei knew what he was doing or not

carefully guiding his capsule into the access ramp for the large Battleship before hooking it up to the ships central command systems and downloading the command routines into his brain Math'ra almost sighed with joy, the feeling of such a powerful vessel around him making him feel much more comfortable than that of a thin Frigate.

Now, what do I have for a crew.

The internal sections of the ship springs to life in his mind at the thought, he scans through the ship and the rather short crew list for such a vessel.

"Aura, contact XO"
"Contacting XO - Name: Adamus Therada"

A few seconds of silence before the voice of a well spoken Caldari echoed in his mind

"This is XO Therada, state your intent Captain."
"XO, I want to know the True Slave component of this vessels crew."
"As you wish sir, current true slave components of the crew consist of ninety five percent of active individuals"
"Ninety Five?"
"That is correct, this ship came directly from the Curse Region"
"And yourself, are you a True Slave?"
"I am sir."
"Good, then you and your fellow slaves are hereby removed from this ship effective immediately, I want to see you all gone within the hour."
"As you wish sir."

Math'ra cut the line before he had to listen to any more.

I may use your technology Kuvakei, but I won't use your slaves.

Within the hour, the crew had been transfered off the ship and not surprisingly bought by another Capsuleer for whatever purpose he desired.
Within another hour, a customised crew of Amarrian laser and capacitor specialists and Caldari shield techs, along with numerous others had been assembled and hired for the new ship.

Once the crew had been assembled and organised Math'ra opened coms with the entire crew.

"Crew of the newly commisioned Nightmare-Class Battleship, your now have the honour of working this ship as your permanent employment, this ship serves my will and as such you will do as I say, when I say with no exceptions.
This ship will be actively serving the Amarrian Empire, if any of you have qualms with this leave now or you will not be getting another chance untill your contracts expire.
Report to your section chiefs, we leave now."

With the completion of the his speech he fired the engines of the large vessel and aimed it for the undock ports.

Now to see what sort of a stir it causes when I get home.

The trip back to the Empire proved uneventful, a brief stop in Jita to acquire and load up the modules and components to make the ship worthy of the grand title it held.

Flying into the Empire however, had caused a stir.
The Gate masters had suddenly gone cold, the amount of camera drones circling his ship around gates was starting to seem like a swarm of flies.
The entrance into the station around Oris had a similar effect, the station docking manager seemed much colder than normal and when the ship was finally secured in his hangar, the station crew working around gave the ship dirty looks and uttered words under their breaths.

Taking his time to clean himself up and get dressed after the long capsule flight, Math'ra released the crew from duty and left to go stationside from the ship.
He didn't make it far before a large group of men approached him, all wearing dark brown robes and looking quite annoyed about something.

"You, who are you and why did you bring this...thing...here?"

A cold smile curled itself onto Math'ra's face, although the leader of the men was easily six feet tall, Math'ra dwarfed him and the attitude of the man was arrogant enough that is was enough to be at least mildly annoying.

"I am a Capsuleer, a Sephirot of the Ordo Magna and what I do is none of your business"

That caused the man to take a step back, a look of mild shock registering on his face.

"Filthy Capsuleers, even when you fly under God's banner you still are all heretical and disgusting."
"I can say the same thing about you, now get out of my sight before I loose my patience"

The leader of the men hissed at Math'ra before turning and leaving quickly, the gaggle of brown robed men following swiftly behind him.

Fanatics never change, no matter what you do.

Striding forward into the station proper, the looming form of the Sansha's Nation Battleship hanging behind him in the distance.

Nor does the Empire.

Glory and its pursuit

I never thought I would see the day when I would return here.

The day was bright, the skies soaring above where clear and blue and the white/gold city that expanded out behind and around Math'ra gleamed with Imperial glory on the planet of Amarr Prime.

A single clear and powerful voice rang out over the gathered men and women, there where thousands of soldiers and marines in the stadium all in dress uniforms and standing resolutely still, the path through the middle of them that lead to a raised podium where an Admiral of the Imperial Navy stood, flanked by two of his subordinates and a row of holy men.

Standing at opposite end stood Math'ra, a lone man in a sharp and crisp black military dress uniform designed for him specifically.
Ten paces behind stood five more men and women, mostly Khanid but a Caldari and a True Amarrian stood there as well all in similar outfits, the golden cross and interwoven half-moons of the Ordo Magna's crusade arm emblazoned on their chest and a pin with their rank beside it.

I never thought that I would ever be back here.

The voice started to resolve itself into understandable words as he finally payed attention to it.
"... And on our most holy planet, in our holy city we welcome again the glory of the Empire's capsuleers; we raise our voices and arms in welcome for these harbingers of doom and blades of holy righteousness!"

The Admiral paused in his serenade to allow his words to echo around for a moment.

"Come forth, Imperial Capsuleers and receive the blessings of God and the Empire!"

A thin smile curled onto Math'ra's face as he began to walk slowly down through the ranks upon ranks of Imperial Soldiers, his men and women following respectfully.
From deep within the rows of men and women rose the clear sound of Imperial trumpets, their piercing and crisp notes reverberating around and sending out a truly spine tingling welcome to the small order of Capsuleers arrayed before them.
Upon reaching the base of the raised podium Math'ra knelt down on one knee and bowed his head towards the Admiral and ten paces behind, in perfect unison his pilots did the same.

"Capsuleers, you have come here today to be formally enlisted into the Twenty Fourth Imperial Crusade, tradition dictates that you be given the chance to withdraw before your names and ranks are formally listed amongst us."

Nobody moved, the crowds gaze and attention focused entirely on the six Capsuleers.

"Then in the name of the Lord God, and with the Blessing of our Divine Empress Jamyl Sarum I do declare with holy edict the Ordo Peregrinus and her Capsuleers formally enlisted in the forces of the Crusade!"

A roar that shook the stadium erupted as the Capsuleers stood at the completion of the Admirals words, these soldiers knew what Capsuleers were and what they did but they also believed that these Capsuleers where Gods own gift to the war, the bringers of holy justice against the hordes of Matari s****they sought to enslave or destroy.

The voice rang over the roar, somehow seeming to cut through the noise and reach effortlessly to everyone "Rise Holy Capsuleers, and step forth to receive Gods Blessing!"

The Capsuleers all strode forth onto the Podium as the row of priests stepped forth and blessed each of them at the same time.
After the ritual the priests flowed back behind the Imperial men in front.

"Some of you have been here before, some of you are newly enlisted yet you shall all receive the ranks and rights of one of the Imperial Navy, go with God and Purge the skies of the Matari Rabble!"

The Capsuleers all bowed as the two men with the Admiral came forward and awarded each one of the Capsuleers their rank badge and command pin
As Math'ra stood and cast his gaze down at the badge on his chest his smile widened yet again.

Imperial Major Hiede, its nice to see that again.

The Ceremony continued for another few hours but Math'ra remembered little of it, the formality of the Empire was always impressive the first time, but the second lost its charm on him.

It was late in the afternoon when the Capsuleers headed to the space elevators to head back to their ships that where docked in the space around the planet.
As they where walking there was little talking as there didn't seem much to say, however after a while a beautiful young Khanid lady spoke, she was fingering her badge as she walked "So this is it, we are really part of this now aren’t we Brothers?"

Part of it? You have no idea Sister... no idea at all.

But before Math'ra could speak the voice of the True Amarrian came forth.
"God's blessing has been bestowed on us Sister, it his divine edict that we go forth and reclaim in his name, so yes we are a part of the great crusade."

The young Khanid smiled nervously and looked down. "I have never really killed a Capsuleer before..."
This time Math'ra got in first. "Yes you have Sister, that last war we where in you destroyed that Thorax, remember?"
The young woman shook her head and looked up at Math'ra who was easily taller than the rest of them "B..but you did most of that... without your Pilgrim I wouldn't have survived... besides, my Interface froze.... I was sitting there stuck."
Math'ra chuckled slightly "Perhaps, yet you still landed the final blows that destroyed it and CONCORD recognised that, so yes you have killed a Capsuleer Sister."
The young woman didn't look at all convinced but kept silent, Math'ra was known as someone who you didn't argue with in this group, his other jobs besides being the Commanding Officer left no doubt about that.

After another silent few minutes, the long kilometres sliding past as the shuttle there where in slowly flew towards the elevators the Caldari spoke up.
"So Brother, where do we go now? I have no base in the war zone and no ships to fly, none of us do."

A grin curled onto Math'ra's face "I have all ready seem to that, Sister Hailey and her cohorts have all ready provided me with many ships and vessels, and I have used some of the Corporations Kredits to stockpile ammunition and modules in the Warzone, you should all have access rights when we reach space"
A murmur ran around the group, none had been quite expecting that much.

One of the Khanids looked up, tearing his gaze from the book he was reading "You've done well Brother, now I would ask what our goal is for this Crusade?"
Math'ra looked at the man, giving him a sharp and appraising look before turning to gaze out a view port into space and its vast immeasurable expanses. "Our goal Brother, is as always to defend the Empire to be its heart shield and protect against the heretics and terrorists that would seek to destroy it." he lets out a soft sigh before continuing "Whether we will be overrun is yet something that we will have to wait and see, just pray that our faith and beliefs are strong enough to hold the line."

The mood in the room darkened, all had seen the reports, the way the Matari where beginning to push the Imperials back.

"We will hold" Everyone looked around at the Caldari.
"We will hold, because we have no choice." A murmur of agreement ran around the room, Math'ra was silent.
"Its true I am a Caldari, but if you learn nothing else of my people it should be the resolve to fight back against oppression, that even when you are pushed hard against the wall there is always a way out."

Math'ra nodded at the words "Well spoken brother, well spoken indeed"
Everyone voiced their agreement.

Math'ra looked around at the small group "To glory then, and the unrelenting power of the Empire"
Again, everyone agreed.

Space Beckoned.