A Dance with Death - Short Story

((Copied from the EVE-Online Forums where they where originally posted))

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 still 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.