Saturday 5 December 2009

All in a Name - Mei 'Starkiller'

It was the darkness, thick and heavy like a great cloak surrounding her on every side. How long had she been unconscious? A message blinking on her screen: farewell, Starkiller...

Two days ago:
Something was following her ship - an aging Incursus-class Frigate named ‘Aeko’ - but nothing was visible.
Checking the overview and scanning the surrounding area with every system. Nothing out of the ordinary, a moon 2.9AU distant, and a lush, verdant green planet a little further.

Several unknown vessels de-cloaked 25km from her small ship, locking onto her. They looked like Kestrel-class Frigates – an even dozen all told – but the black coloration and Caldari Navy insignia on the side told her otherwise. She tried hailing the lead ship, “this is Xiao Mei in the civilian vessel ‘Aeko,’ we’re not hostile and just patrolling the area for low-ranking pirates. Please respond.”

All hell broke loose.

A thick accent came over the NeoComm system, “Gallente scum, prepare to die. Squad lead to all units, engage. Blow this ship to hell.”
There was no time to think. Taking the helm, she ordered her ship to align, swinging the little ship about. “Warp drive has been shut down,” engineering reported. Shit, she thought. Staring out of the view port in disbelief, she saw the first volley of missiles screaming toward her. Acting on instinct and beginning evasive manoeuvres, “engineering, gunnery, let’s get this show on the road. Load up the Antimatter into the guns, we’ll see if these Caldari scum like a taste of our Blasters.”
Gaining target lock with the nearest ship, she engaged.

Multiple impacts made the ship shudder, tearing the shields apart. Armor repair system on, she began to open fire. First volley missed, second volley... third hit, taking a large chunk out of her target’s shield. A few more volleys. The enemy vessel began to align. Heavy armor damage both being given and taken.
I’ll take at least one of you with me. Her mind racing as she moved to re-address, locking a second ship, nanobot armor assemblers straining to patch the incoming damage. Her basic training in the Gallente military had taught her many things, but this was a new tactic to her. Primary target warped off. Awaiting the cycle, she engaged the second ship. Alarm systems screaming for her attention as the capacitor begins to empty. Another sound, the ship’s sensors picking up another two vessels approaching – both Worm-class Frigates.

Guristas pirates, here? What are they doing so far into Gallente nullsec? The Caldari vessel she was attacking explodes. The shockwave of the explosion rocks her ship, capacitor stabilising.
“Civilian vessel, ‘Aeko,’ disengage, we’ll take care of these idiots,” a woman’s voice said over the NeoComm. Ignoring them, Mei turned her ship and locked another, opening fire. The Guristas pilots both engaging different targets, their warp disruptors keeping the vessels locked down and unable to warp.
The enemy fleet turns around. Mei thinking of nothing but blood locked and began to engage the lead ship. The unknown pilots joined her, locking down his warp drive. “Xiao Mei to lead vessel, call off your attack or my friends and I will litter the system with your wreckage.” No answer.
The same female voice speaking over the NeoComm system, “Caldari scum, this is Usagi Kielle of the Guristas Associates. I am here for blood, yours, to be precise, Aldo Saenz. You killed my parents – who were peaceful merchants - in Jita. Now it is time for your end.”
The three vessels – Mei and the Guristas pilots – opened fire, tearing the target apart in seconds. The warp core breached, sending a shockwave several kilometres out.

Aeko sat there, floating lazily in space, her slender lines reflecting the light of the twin stars.
The Guristas pilots both orbiting, and firing the occasional volley of missiles at each other. Why they decided to stay perplexed Mei as she watched the ships both make sudden manoeuvres, dog-fighting and kiting each other’s vessels.

Usagi spoke privately to her friend and Corp mate, “I have a bad feeling about this. Something is going to happen. We’ll stay here awhile then leave.”
There was no need for anything else to be said. She opened a comm channel with Mei, “align to the red star, I’ll warp us on my mark, they know you were in this belt.” Linking their systems into a fleet, Usagi warped the three Frigates to the star.

Yesterday, 01:54.
How they did it - Mei was never sure - but Usagi and her unknown friend flew for hours, hunting their rival Serpentis pilots, harrying them in the asteroid belts and chasing them around the system like the legendary wolves of ancient tales.
Try as she could, she was never able to keep up with the speed and precision of the two Guristas pilots. Warping back to the star, she retired to her cot.

The reverberating shudder of multiple impacts, and the sirens awoke her. The gawping faces of her crewmen told her of the dread sight that awaited her – Leviathan, Titan - the biggest class of ship in New Eden. She had heard reports, and seen images of the great monstrosities, but had never seen one in space.
She could only stare.
Those who saw an enemy Titan seldom lived to speak of it. A sound brought her out of her reverie, the sound of the Caldari Hornet Drones firing and slowly destroying her ship’s shields. Shouting orders to her stricken crewmen, she spoke into her comms channel. “Mei to fleet, I’m under attack. Enemy Titan – Leviathan-class – attacking me, I can’t warp.” She heard the acknowledgement and began to move her ship, heading straight towards the star. Quickly she gained distance, the Titan-class ship was far slower then she expected. With an exultant cry she left disruptor range and warped several thousand kilometres towards the sun, her new friends warping into her position. “What Titan?” Usagi’s friend asked, sounding bored.

An explosion tore the silence apart. The second Guristas ship breaching as a torpedo engulfed the small vessel in its massive corona. A smouldering wreck took the place of what had once been a nimble ship.
Usagi cursed as she threw her ship about and opened fire as the Leviathan sent out a wave of Hornet Light Drones. A switch clicked in place within Mei’s mind. “I have an idea, how many missiles do you have in your hold?”
“I have six thousand missiles left, why?” Usagi asked, confused. Following Mei’s instructions, she jettisoned 5,000 of her missiles into space, as a Hobgoblin Light Drone flew past and engaged the enemy drones. “Keep big boy there busy then run when I say.” Mei said as she turned around, warping to the star.

“It’s been an honour flying with you guys.” Mei said over the internal intercoms. It had been. They were the best two crewmen she had ever known and was considering raising their pay once she passed the tests to become a Capsuleer.
If her sensors were right, this little red dwarf star was unstable, and in theory, a big enough detonation would cause it to turn nova.
She hoped...

Her crew had left the frigate and were travelling home in their escape pods whilst she muttered a hopeful prayer to every God she could think of. This had to work, if it did, she’d be single-handedly striking a massive blow to the Caldari Navy in the destruction of one of their most powerful vessels.
The red glow and heat in the cockpit intensified as she drew closer, shield systems struggling to compensate.
She had to get closer. But the heat, the light, so intense...
She had to do this, her consciousness was slipping. Longing for the deep, cool darkness was awaited her. Shaking her head, she focused on her task. I must do this. If my life needs to be used like this to harm the State, then I shall do this, she thought.
“Run, now,” she managed to say over the fleet channel before the darkness engulfed her.

The star went nova.
Caught up in the sudden, violent explosion, the Leviathan was ripped open, spilling its pressurised guts into the void. It burst like a swollen balloon, spinning around under its shuddering impact and spewing its contents in a trail of fire behind itself. Then it was gone...

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