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Chapter Six
Omens
Malkalen V – Moon 1
Lonetrek Region
Ishukone Corporate Headquarters
Executive Conference Room, Level 25
Les was just about to complete his ad-hoc summary presentation to the Board when the twin doors suddenly flung open, prompting the guards to whirl towards the new arrivals with their weapons drawn. Rali strode right past them, with Capri close on his heels.
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” Rali said, waltzing by his empty chair and marching directly towards the holoprojector controls at the head of the room. “I have some important announcements to make, and time is short. Joining me in just—”
Raurvoras Umokka’s temper flared. “Just who the hell do you think you are, Ralirashi,” she growled. “And what in the Maker’s name is that all over your jacket, why are you twenty minutes late, and who is this person with you?”
Rali looked down and realized that he hadn’t changed his Ishukone business uniform from last evening, and that some remnants of his regurgitated dinner were still apparent. He shrugged.
“This is my new personal assistant, Capri Henjska,” he answered. Capri waved at the group, looking sheepish. “And these spots on my jacket are something akin to protein delicacies, I believe.”
The Board members started muttering among themselves, and both Les and Ahtonen threw their hands in the air in disgust. Les seized the opportunity to go right for the jugular.
“You see what I have to deal with, Director? Personally, I think he should be committed.”
“I’m going to put a stop to this right now,” she snapped back, her face ashen. “Guards, please escort Mr. Okimo and his ‘assistant’ out of the room. Now.”
The guards began moving forward. “Mr. Okimo, please come with us.”
Rali held his ground. “I thought I warned you, Director, that time was short.”
Just when she was about to reply, a loud tone emanated from the conference table speaker. “Ms. Umokka, Admiral Iella of the Caldari Navy is on the line. He says it’s urgent, and that he needs to speak with Mr. Okimo.”
The Board members exchanged puzzled looks, while the guards turned back to Raurvoras for an answer. Before she could give them one, Rali spoke up.
“Thank you very much, Maura. Please put the Admiral through on the view screen in here.”
“Yes, sir,” the secretary responded. To everyone’s surprise, the security commander of the Caldari Navy was now an attendee of their private Board meeting. The guards backed away from Rali. Open jaws around the conference room snapped shut as the Admiral spoke.
“Good morning, Ishukone,” the gruff voice said. “What’s all the commotion about?”
“Good morning Admiral, and thank you for joining us on such short notice,” Rali said. “Today is going to be a breakthrough day for Ishukone, the Caldari Navy, and in fact the entire Caldari State, and I wanted all of you to witness this glorious occasion firsthand.”
Rali pulled a disk out of his pocket and started waving it in front of the group. Raurvoras looked nauseous.
“The contents of this disk will change your entire perspective of Ishukone, Director. Indeed, it will change all of your views.” He stared directly at Les Akkilen. “Oh, how Ishukone has just prospered under your leadership, sir.”
Rali placed the disk on the conference room table. “But we’ll save the best for last. First, I would like to introduce to you Ishukone’s greatest innovation yet: The Raven-class battleship. Lights!” The room automatically dimmed, and the holoprojector began casting a live, three dimensional image of the prototype capital ship as seen from the camera drones orbiting Lieutenant Reppola’s Caracal. The Raven’s majestic image was almost as large as the table itself. Some gasps went around the room. Les appeared confused.
“Incorporating all of the very latest in cutting edge starship engineering and weapons technology, the Raven is the ultimate symbol of Caldari might and Ishukone pride,” Rali said, savoring the astonished looks of the Board members. “When we set out to design her, our goal was to unseat Lai Dai’s Scorpion as the State’s flagship. It is my personal belief that we have achieved that, and my objective today is to make believers out of the rest of you as well.”
The Navy Admiral looked impressed. “That’s some damn fine work there, Ishukone,” he said. “She looks like she was made to project power. What kind of weaponry—“
Rali took great pleasure in waving off one of the highest-ranking members of the Caldari elite. “Admiral, I’ll be pleased to answer any questions after our demonstration,” he said. “But for now, I think it would be best to let the Raven’s power speak for itself.”
The image pulled back to reveal the fleet of ships clustered above the EC-P8R stargate in Torrinos. Rali continued.
“As you can see, our test pilot and accompanying research vessels are preparing to cross the border into unregulated space. In order for us to continue broadcasting, you’ll need to authorize Lieutenant Reppola’s transit across the line.”
The Admiral frowned. “Is that absolutely necessary? Can’t a suitable—”
Rali interrupted him again. “The most effective and economical means of conducting live-fire exercises in the name of assessing naval combat prowess is by testing against live enemy targets, Admiral. Would you have me destroy some of the Navy’s ships instead?”
It was Ahtonen’s turn to look ill, and Capri cleared her throat. Rali didn’t flinch, and kept up his persistence. “Admiral, the clock is ticking.”
“Fine,” he muttered, turning a little red. “Lieutenant Reppola, you are authorized to transit into Echo-Charlie-Papa-Eight-Romeo. Your primary mission is to maintain your broadcast via this feed. You will be acting independently under the Navy’s jurisdiction for the duration of this assignment, after which time you will immediately return to Torrinos for debriefing. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” a scratchy voice replied over the conference room speakers. The response was quickly followed by a second interruption from Raurvoras’s secretary.
“Mr. Okimo, there’s another urgent incoming message from—”
“Put him right through,” Rali answered, smiling broadly. A new voice was heard on the speakers.
“This is your Raven test pilot speaking. Lieutenant Reppola will be under my direct command once we cross, and he will follow my orders once ‘testing’ commences. In the name of both his own safety and that of his crew, there will be no exceptions to that condition. Is that clear?”
Admiral Iella lost his temper. “Who the hell is this? Do you have any idea who I am?”
“Of course, Admiral,” Otro replied. “And I’m certain that you know who I am as well.”
Jaws dropped around the table again as the name “Otro Gariushi” appeared on the conference call attendance list. No one could believe that Ishukone’s most wanted criminal was now a participating member of their Board meeting. Admiral Iella’s eyes were bulging out of their sockets.
Otro continued. “Lieutenant Reppola’s safety is now my responsibility. You have my word that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that he returns in one piece. For now, your job is to decide if the Raven has a place in the Caldari Navy. Do not take that task lightly, Admiral. The future of the Caldari State rests on your decision.”
Otro’s name disappeared from the attendance list, and the Board members squinted as the fleet of ships entered the stargate.
~
Forward Nine Perimeter
ROIR-Y System
Pure Blind Region
“Bane,” the voice said. “You told me this would be over with quickly.”
“I know what I said, Fatal,” snapped Bane. “In just a few moments, I’ll have Gavriel.”
“And the presence of strike fleets at the southern crossings implies that you’ve lost Gariushi,” Fatal growled. “How many more ships will you need to capture one man?”
“As many as it fucking takes!” Bane shouted. The comm channel with his Echo-Charlie strike fleet commander began flashing, but he ignored it so he could continue his tirade against Fatal. “I am nearly thrice your years, boy, and I won’t be spoken to like some kind of subordinate piss officer. Now, I promised you two corpses, and you will have them both within the hour!”
Bane shut down the commlink with Fatal and switched to the blinking channel. “What is it this time, Commander?”
The voice was frantic. “We’re under attack! Combined elements from Ishukone, Navy, and rebel Guristas ships! Please advise!”
“Commander, I specifically ordered you not to cross into Empire space! Who authorized—”
The Guristas commander cut him off. “We’re still on the Echo-Charlie side, sir! They came to us!”
Impossible, thought Bane. Ishukone, Guristas, and Navy forces combining and then crossing the border? Clearly this man has lost his mind!
“What the hell is that thing?” the commander shouted. “We are getting killed out here! We have to withdraw, Admiral! Advise, goddamnit!”
“What are you talking about,” Bane shouted back. “Get a hold of yourself, man! Report on the situation!”
“It’s Gariushi! He’s the one leading the strike, and I’ve never seen that… oh, my God—”
The Echo-Charlie commander’s line went dead.
~
Raurvoras drew her gaze away from the holographic display to look at the faces in the darkened room. All wore expressions of amazement, even delight, at the destruction unfolding in front of them. The Raven reminded her of stories in ancient mythology, when warriors known as “archers” ignited the tips of their arrows and launched them from range into the thick of advancing armies to spread fire and chaos among their ranks. Another bright flash drew a series of gasps in the room as a procession of torpedoes launched from the Raven converged and detonated on a Guristas Ascriber, destroying it in a single volley. The battle was brutally lopsided. The Guristas were completely unprepared to face a behemoth like the Raven, let alone an attack from such a diverse force.
And this Otro Gariushi! What was he doing, and for how long has he had the trust of Ralirashi Okimo? I was the one who approved the 25 million isk bounty for his corpse, and now here I am watching him lead Ishukone and Navy ships in an attack against the Guristas! His crimes against Ishukone are notorious, but this display of leadership is remarkable, if not legendary. Regardless of the Raven’s power, how else could he unite such opposite forces in combat against such a formidable enemy!
Another flash of light illuminated the room as the detonations from Mjolnir torpedoes shredded the shields and armor of a Guristas Exterminator. A barrage of railfire and heavy missiles from the rest of Otro’s fleet pulverized the doomed cruiser moments later, adding another wreck to the graveyard of shattered Guristas warships littering the space around the Torrinos jumpgate. The battle was over, and as far as Raurvoras could tell, Gariushi’s fleet did not suffer a single casualty.
The men and women seated around the table were shaking their heads in awe. All except for Les Akkilen, in whom I sense genuine fear for some reason, Raurvoras thought. Les was always one to take immediate credit for any accomplishment that shed Ishukone in a positive light, and yet he had mentioned nothing about this remarkable technology to the Board during his briefing. She looked over at Rali’s buxom “assistant”, who had yet to speak and looked just as nervous as Les did. Rali, on the other hand, looked angry. Determined. It was such a sharp contradiction to the Rali that she thought she knew. He had always been so meek, so timid, so subservient to Les and anyone else who managed to intimidate him. And yet today he had put some of the most respected and feared elites of Caldari society in their place, and had done it several times in the same meeting!
Her eyes found the disk lying on the table close to where Rali was standing. What the hell did he mean by “changing my perspective of Ishukone?”
~
Fatal was so angry that he began to tremble. The price I pay for dealing with Bane is far exceeding the worth of his contributions here, he thought. His age is showing with his decision-making. No matter how many cybernetic implants he uses to slow down the aging process, his mind continues to rot.
The commlink began flashing. It was Otro Gariushi, and Fatal just watched it blink, unsure if he should answer it. Letting the comm request hang, a message appeared in his inbox after a few moments:
The Raven just passed its first combat trials in EC-P8R at the expense of a Guristas strike fleet. Are you interested in making a deal, or shall I move on to the next strike fleet?
Stunned, Fatal read the message a second time. His spies had told him that a single Raven prototype was constructed, and was so hyper secret that even the Navy was unaware of its existence. Am I to really believe that Otro simply walked into a hangar somewhere and stole it? Impossible! Another commlink channel began flashing: It was the EC-P8R strike fleet commander under Bane’s command. Fatal answered it immediately.
“What is it, Commander.”
The voice was scratchy. “Sir, my fleet has been destroyed, and I am in a webbed and warp-scrambled pod near the Torrinos gate on the Echo-Charlie side. I have been instructed by my captors to contact you directly and feed camera drone footage taken from my ship before its destruction to your location. Standby to receive.”
Fatal’s hands rolled into tight fists. “Very well, Commander. Awaiting transmission.”
After watching thirty seconds of video, Fatal answered the open commlink channel with Otro.
~
“I take it you like what you’ve seen so far, Fatal,” said Otro. “Your commander will be released unharmed for his cooperation.”
“What is it that you want,” came the response. “In exchange for that ship.”
“Its fair market value, with the following caveat,” Otro replied. “As you already know, this battleship is the only one of its kind, and I have the only blueprint in existence for it. You will never see either if you violate any part of the agreement I’m about to offer.”
“I’m listening,” Fatal replied.
Otro explained his conditions and execution plan. “Finally, Bane has sent troops into Forward Nine to capture Gavriel and his close associate Mila. I want their assault called off immediately. Doing so will demonstrate your good faith in pursuing this deal.”
“Standby.” There was a one-minute pause before a reply came back: “Impossible.”
Otro’s stomach turned over. “Why not?”
“Because the station comm relays have been disabled from the inside, and the only way to communicate with them directly is by radio.”
Otro controlled his urge to panic. “Well, why don’t you just order Bane—”
“He refused,” Fatal answered. “And I’m on my way there right now to correct that.”
“You’d better come alone—” Otro started.
“Don’t push your luck, Gariushi,” Fatal growled. “You’ve already played your best cards.”
The line went dead. Otro set course for the ROIR-Y system and announced deployment instructions to the rest of his fleet.
~
“Absolutely not!” Admiral Iella yelled. “I will not authorize Lieutenant Reppola to go any deeper into unregulated space. This is an outrage! A pirate leading Navy forces into combat—”
“—is hardly unusual considering that the Guristas Cartel is comprised mostly of ex-Navy personnel,” Otro said, continuing for the Admiral in mid-sentence. “I would think that this kind of operation is routine for you by now.”
Admiral Iella shook his head, visibly angry. “You son of a bitch, when I find you—”
“—you’ll shake my hand and thank me for doing the Navy such a great service by field testing its new flagship and collecting the greatest bounty the Caldari Navy has ever issued.”
“What the hell are you talking about now—”
“I’m talking about bringing you the head of Admiral Bane, whose command you once served under.”
Admiral Iella balked. All eyes in the room were focused on him now.
Otro continued. “Besides Fatal himself, I don’t believe that any one man caused more damage to the Navy than Bane did, with his defection to the Guristas, the personnel he took with him, the officers that he betrayed, and the technology that he stole. I think that killing him should be enough to earn your respect. After all, the Navy has been trying to get him for years now, including yourself if I’m not mistaken.”
Rali spoke up for the first time since the battle at EC-P8R began. “And how did the Raven perform in combat, Commander Gariushi?”
“I think the decisive outcome of the battle you just witnessed speaks for itself,” Otro replied. “She has exceeded my highest expectations. You have done remarkable work, Mr. Okimo. The Raven is a brilliant masterpiece of engineering, and it will command a hefty price tag in the open market.”
There were several simultaneous objections in the room. Admiral Iella spoke the loudest. “That ship is classified military technology, you can’t sell—”
“—that which the Caldari Navy does not yet own?” Otro interrupted. “It seems that most of the Navy’s so-called ‘classified’ military technology is already for sale on the open market, Admiral. The Raven will be no different.”
“That ship is the property of the Ishukone Coporation,” Les said. Everyone in the room turned towards him. “The decision of how it is marketed will be determined by this Board, not by—”
“You have no say in any of this,” Rali shouted. “I think your supreme incompetence has already done enough to— ”
“Not yet, Mr. Okimo,” Otro cautioned. Both Les and Rali were livid, and the Board members alternated confused stares between the two. “We’ll address Mr. Akkilen’s interesting perspective on the financial status of Ishukone as soon as we conclude the final test for the Raven.”
“Another test?” asked Raurvoras. “I think we’re all thoroughly convinced of this ship’s power.”
“This one will seal a few deals,” Otro replied. “And dispense any remaining doubts among you about my intentions. Trust me, reestablishing Ishukone’s preeminence within the Caldari State is my goal here. But a word of advice to all of you: Keep Mr. Akkilen someplace where you can see him. He might already be having second thoughts about staying for the duration of this meeting.”
Ahtonen leaned forward on the table. “What is it exactly that you are implying, Mr. Gariushi?”
The commlink connection dropped, and the room erupted into a frenzied discussion. Rali and several other Board members glared at Les, who returned the stares and then focused on the disk.
~
C8-CHY System
ROIR-Y Stargate
Fade Region
“Bane,” Fatal said. “Effectively immediately, you are stripped of your command. The remaining strike fleets assembled at the Empire crossings have been recalled, and your scouts have been retasked. This is my last warning: Call off your infantry assault on Forward Nine and report back to Six-November. We can talk about what happened later, but as of right now your hunting op is over.”
“The day that I obey one of your orders,” Bane replied. “Is the day that I decide to end myself. You have no right to interfere in my personal affairs. Those corpses will be mine, Fatal, and nothing you can say or do will prevent me from getting them.”
“So be it, Bane.” That makes this decision simple, Fatal thought as he dropped the connection. Getting the Raven at the expense of the old man is a bargain.
~
Forward Nine
ROIR-Y System
Pure Blind Region
Another mercenary fell in a mangled heap, this one with half of his skull missing. Even as bullets snapped just above her own head, Mila watched in numbed terror as the dead man’s leg twitched in spasms. “OSA” was this mercenary’s name, and it confused Mila that he was very much alive and fighting for his life a moment earlier. The bottom of the trench where she crouched was smeared in blood, and she found herself unable to remove her gaze from the growing puddle around the dead man’s shattered helmet.
The mercenaries were no longer firing their weapons as often as they were earlier in the fight, and she had not felt the eardrum-crushing blasts of the sentry guns in some time. In the fog of her traumatized mind, she accepted the realization that the end was near.
I did the best I could with the time I had, Mila thought. I wish my little brother well.
She felt a wet hand on her shoulder, turned and saw Gavriel slumped beside her. The brave man was saying something, and appeared calm as he spoke despite the hell surrounding them. He was having trouble breathing, and she noticed that the body armor covering his chest was shattered. Blood flowed from beneath it. She had trouble hearing, but she nevertheless understood the words coming from his mouth:
“I am so sorry for failing you, Mila.”
Still wearing a helmet, Mila realized there were dozens of red-colored targets surrounding them. She looked at the rifle lying across her lap, long since rendered useless after a mercenary took away its clip when his own ammunition was depleted. These angry men, whoever they are, Mila sensed, are capable of great evil. She saw them drag the Sergeant out in front of where Gavriel and her were seated and drop him onto the trench floor. Both his hands and legs were bound. Lying on his stomach and grievously injured, he managed to turn his head and face Mila. He was bleeding from his mouth, and his expression was one of sadness. One of the red targets stepped onto his back with a heavy boot and pulled out a pistol, taking aim at the back of the Sergeant’s head. Once again, she could read the Sergeant’s lips and understand his last words:
“Better cover her eyes, Cap’n.”
~
Word that the Echo-Charlie strike fleet had been decimated by Otro Gariushi spread quickly throughout the ranks of the Guristas. Admiral Bane’s plan to apprehend the traitors had gone horribly wrong, and people were dying unnecessarily because of it. Complicating matters even more were ominous rumors that Gariushi controlled an invincible fleet supported by a new super capital ship with devastating firepower.
Fatal’s decision to relieve Bane of his command was welcomed by all the Guristas. Many suspected that he had gone mad, and no one was surprised to hear that the old man refused to abdicate. Fatal gave his officers strict orders to force the issue with Bane once and for all.
At nearly the same instant when the troops aboard Forward Nine restored power, Bane was ambushed by his own escorts. Despite a torrent of vicious threats and a powerful counterattack that claimed the life of a Blackbird captain, the Scorpion’s warp drive and targeting sensors were quickly overwhelmed. Moments later, an armada of Guristas warships arrived and completed the total immobilization of his battleship. Fatal’s commands boomed on the local frequency:
“Attention Guristas infantry aboard Forward Nine: This is Fatal speaking. Admiral Bane has been relieved of his command. Gather your dead and wounded, return to your transport and wait for my instructions. You are to leave the two prisoners behind as they are—walk away from them both right now. Failure to comply will result in the immediate execution of both you and your family. Do not test me as you have with Bane. His days as a commander in our brotherhood are over.”
Unable to withstand this final act of betrayal, Bane’s decaying sanity was at last shattered, and his mind collapsed into a wicked psychosis. Streams of incoherent madness and fiendish laughter were broadcast openly on the local channel. Even as Bane’s former escorts maintained their blistering electronic warfare assault, they became fearful for their lives. The twisting, squirming Scorpion reminded them of a rabid animal held in check by a length of chain that ended just short of their necks.
The arrival of a second fleet drew their attention away. Within moments, the camera drones of every ship in the Guristas armada were focused on a mighty vessel that no one had ever seen before.
~
Lieutenant Reppola nearly choked when his Caracal decelerated to impulse speed. Spread out before him were over one hundred Guristas warships orbiting an uncharted station. All four of its sentry guns were tracking his ship. Several enemy frigates took up assault positions just behind him, but did not actively target. Then he noticed a lone Scorpion, bathed in a bluish web, struggling next to the station. Tuning to the local frequency, he was shocked to see Admiral Bane’s name and the madness that he was openly broadcasting. Commander Gariushi’s comm channel began flashing.
“Make sure you patch this local channel into your camera drone feed, Lieutenant. Listen, you’ve done a great service for the Caldari State. If I die in the next few minutes, do not make any attempt to save your ship. You can’t win against these odds, and you won’t be able to run. Instead, plan an escape route for your pod now, and make sure you’re in warp the second your Caracal detonates.” Otro paused a moment. “It’s been an honor working with you, Menenden. If we both survive this, I promise that you’ll be taken care of.”
The channel clicked off, and the Lieutenant quickly did as he was told.
~
Fatal dialed into the frequency that Otro provided to him.
“So good to be in the company of my fellow Ishukone and Caldari Navy colleagues,” he started, pausing just for a moment to enjoy the shocked expressions of the Board members and Admiral Iella. “Let’s get down to business, shall we? The only thing keeping me from disposing of Mr. Gariushi and his assorted mix of deranged comrades is the Raven battleship at his command. That ship is the only one of its kind, correct?”
Rali cleared his throat before answering. “That is correct.”
“Ah, Mr. Okimo. I’m very impressed with your work, even more so with your ability to hide the Raven’s existence from Mr. Akkilen. Isn’t that something, Les? Strange that he was able to keep such an epic achievement away from us all this time, don’t you think?”
“There is no ‘us’, and I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Les answered, feeling the stares of the room bore into his flesh.
Fatal laughed. “I wasn’t aware that you failed to mention our partnership to the Board. Well, ladies and gentlemen, the truth is that Ishukone has been working closely with the cartel for some time. Surely none of you believed that your company’s wondrous financial turnaround is due to his alleged business savvy? By far, Les is the most incompetent CEO that Ishukone has ever—”
“I don’t have to listen to this,” Akkilen said, rising from the table and moving towards the room’s exit. Capri stepped into his path to prevent him from passing. Les was flustered nearly to the point of panic. “This is an absolute outrage, and—”
“Guards, restrain Mr. Akkilen and escort him back to his seat,” Raurvoras growled. “And make sure he stays there.”
“I might add that this relationship has been quite generous to the Guristas,” Fatal continued, this time sounding very serious. “However, I believe the time has come to end it. But one final transaction remains: The acquisition of a Raven patent.”
Admiral Iella looked as though he might jump through the screen. “Never! I have the legal authority to put a stop to this—”
“Reality,” Fatal shouted, then spoke in a calm voice again. “It is a bitch, isn’t it? In unregulated space, dearest Admiral, you don’t have the ‘authority’ to do a goddamn thing. Now, before you overstep your bounds again, here is my offer: If the Raven can beat Bane’s Scorpion in a straight duel, I will pay the Ishukone Corporation no less than half a trillion isk, cash, payable upon receipt and verification of the Raven patent. And if it can’t…well, then this meeting has been a complete waste of my time. Do we have a deal?”
Ahtonen looked astonished. “Did you say half a trillion isk?”
“A paltry amount compared to what I’ve taken from you,” Fatal replied.
Admiral Iella was sweating. “I should think that Ishukone would offer the Navy a more reasonable price.”
“Don’t count on it, Admiral,” Fatal replied.
~
The space surrounding Forward Nine was now an arena, and its two gladiators floated 25 kilometers opposite from each other, basking in the glow of warp scramblers. Fatal had all but ensured that only one ship would survive this fight. Otro’s fleet was positioned about 30 kilometers away from the station, and about 60 kilometers away from Guristas fleet. All those present were about to become spectators to the final combat trial of the Raven prototype.
“Bane,” Otro said on the local. “I’m here.”
“My bastard child protege,” the deranged voice answered. “Why have you forsaken me?”
“For lying to me all these years,” Otro replied. “About giving people hope.”
Bane laughed like a madman. “No one told you that I am god? That I granteth and taketh away anything that I choose?”
“You’re a sick man, Bane. And I’ve come to put you out of your misery.”
“Can you hear them screaming, boy? Your mother and father are here with me in hell, burning, burning, burning. Their souls belong to me, you know. I can reunite you with them if you wish, for I am a forgiving god. All you need is to repent for your sins.”
“The only thing that I will repent for,” Otro said as he started to lock up Bane’s ship. “Is that I didn’t kill you sooner.”
“Insolent, ungrateful bastard child, you will be made to understand the err of your ways, for a god can only forgive so many times…”
~
“Wait,” Raurvoras said. “Before those two start shooting at each other, what’s so important about that disk?”
“Its contents will show you the real financial state of Ishukone,” Rali said. “And quantify the amount of Caldari blood on all of our hands.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Rali” Ahtonen demanded.
Rali was trembling with rage, and had to make a concerted effort to remain calm as he spoke. “The partnership between that man and the Guristas is real. Les gave them stolen competitor shipping itineraries in exchange for operational immunity and free passage of our ships in the northern regions.”
“What?” Raurvoras exclaimed. “Don’t even pretend—”
“It’s all documented right there,” Rali said. “The Ishukone name is tied directly to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Caldari State citizens and the theft or destruction of trillions of isk worth of ships and equipment. This is the financial brilliance of the man that Caldari politics assigned to the post of CEO.”
Les’s face and neck were bright red. “You can’t prove any of this, you little—”
“It’s already proven, you stupid son of a bitch,” Rali exploded. “Do you ever listen to a goddamn thing I say?”
Ahtonen grabbed the disk and slammed it into the bay on the conference room table. The summary findings screen was the first to display. After a just a few seconds of widening eyes and collective gasps, the Board members all looked as if they might faint.
“My God,” Raurvoras breathed. “This can’t possibly be true.”
Rali shook his head. “Every single person in this room shares an equal amount of responsibility. And you, Admiral Iella, will have to deal with the inevitable civil war that will tear the Caldari State apart when this information is released.”
“Released? Have you lost your fucking mind?” the Admiral nearly yelled. “That information isn’t going to leave this room! I’m going to assign a Navy secrecy mandate to each and every one of—”
“Spare me the legal rhetoric, Admiral,” Rali interrupted. “There are copies of that information sitting in escrow at the headquarter stations of each and every corporation you see there, not to mention at the Amarr, Minmatar, and Gallente consulates in Yulai. It’s just a matter of notifying any officer in those organizations that the item is waiting for them.”
“How much does Gariushi want for his secrecy,” Raurvoras asked. “Any price that he wants is accept—”
“Raurvoras, think. It’s not money that he’s after,” Rali said. “He wants this corporation to fix the damage that it’s caused to the Caldari State, and to establish legitimacy to the Ishukone name. He’s a true Caldari patriot, the kind that knows the steep price that must be paid when making the difficult, but right decisions for the betterment of not just this corporation, but for our entire race as well.”
“But what he’s doing doesn’t make any sense,” Admiral Iella pleaded. “Releasing that information to the public is going to make things infinitely worse—”
“That’s the plan of last resort, Admiral,” Rali said. “I told you already, his goal is to fix this murderous disgrace of a corporation, and he doesn’t trust anyone except himself to get the job done. And the honest truth is, I agree with him.”
Ahtonen clasped his forehead. “You’re not seriously suggesting what I think you just did.”
Rali looked right at him with a deadpan expression. “We are all up to our necks in rocket fuel, and Otro Gariushi is the only one with any matches. He wants Les Akkilen’s job, and that disk ensures he has it.”
A bright flash startled everyone as the 425-millimeter rails on Bane’s Scorpion opened fire on the Raven. The exhaust plumes from half a dozen torpedoes began crossing the table in front of the Board members.
Raurvoras looked a little distant at first, but then began nodding her head. “The Board will now introduce a new measure for vote,” she said. “The topic is whether or not to relieve Les Akkilen from the post of Ishukone CEO.”
All but Akkilen and his aides answered in unison.
~
The angry men had left quickly and without warning just after the lights came back on. Gavriel was unconscious, savagely beaten by the Guristas soldiers right up until the point they were ordered to leave. Mila, covered in blood and pieces of flesh that were not her own, dragged herself to where Gavriel was lying. His face, grotesquely swollen and battered, was no longer recognizable. Ripping her own helmet off, she put her face close to Gavriel’s, and felt short, labored wheezes against her skin. Blood continued to ooze steadily from the shattered chest armor, and his pulse was very faint. She knew that the armor shards puncturing his chest were probably keeping him from bleeding much faster, and opted against trying to remove the vest. Death was struggling to take Gavriel away from her, and Mila was desperate to find a way to stop it.
~
Come on, already, Otro thought as he waited an eternity for more torpedoes to load into his siege launchers. With the last of his EMP weapons on their way to detonation against Bane’s Scorpion, he was down to the conventional ordinance left in his hold. He hoped that it would be enough to finish the job, and winced as the last of his own shields were obliterated by another one of Bane’s powerful rail salvos. For the spectators observing, both ships had absorbed an enormous amount of punishment, and it was difficult to tell which one was ahead in the fight.
The voice on the local channel completely caught Otro by surprise: “Hello? Is anybody out there?”
“Mila!” Otro exclaimed, distracted from the explosions now rocking his ship from a pair of Bane’s cruise missiles. “Just hang in there—”
“Otro please, send help,” she breathed. “Gavriel is dying, if he doesn’t get help quickly—”
Bane began his sinister laughing again. “Let him die! Rip the beating heart from his chest and bring it to me, I want to devour it—”
“Shut your goddamn mouth, Bane,” Otro snarled, firing off six torpedoes. “Fatal, there must be medics aboard the transport that you can—“
“—do what, exactly? Allow you to add more terms to this deal, Gariushi?” Fatal chided. “I don’t think so. I am adhering strictly to what we agreed to—no more, no less.”
Six gigantic explosions blossomed against Bane’s Scorpion, violently tossing the ship different directions and obliterating huge sections of its armor. The battleship’s mighty shields had finally been breached.
“Fatal, please, in the name of humanity, send the man some help—” Otro pleaded, feeling walls of dread close in on him even as he unleashed another round of torpedoes.
“‘Humanity’? As in begging for the life of one man while simultaneously killing another?” Fatal said, his voice as cold as ice. “Very well, Otro. I’ll renegotiate: Eject from your ship, and I will dispatch medics to aid Gavriel. Those are my terms, and they are not negotiable.”
Otro had never known such rage and despair. “You sadistic bastard, Fatal—”
“An answer, Gariushi,” Fatal shouted. “Yes…or no?”
A maniacal scream overwhelmed the local channel as the next six torpedoes ripped into the Scorpion’s structure. Bane knew that he could not win, and that he would not live to see either of his betrayers perish before himself. Uncontrollable fires swept across his battleship as it pitched and yawed in a futile effort to remain steady. The next volley of torpedoes, harbingers of death already in flight, would be the last. Otro watched their bright contrails arc through the blackness, reluctantly accepting the ruthless choice that fate had imposed on him. My soul will agonize over this for as long as I live, Otro thought before giving his answer to Fatal:
“No…”
The battered Scorpion shuddered for a moment, then disintegrated in an epic explosion as the torpedo warheads found the battleship’s reactor core. A single pod, visible on Otro’s sensors for just a fraction of a second, was caught in the shockwaves of the final detonations and broke apart. Bane’s corpse, part frozen, part carbonized, floated among the mangled debris. The Raven was victorious.
“You are my enemy,” Fatal said. “But you have earned my respect. The terms of our deal stand. I have sent you a station location. Leave the original Raven patent in escrow there for the price that we agreed to.”
Otro was shivering too violently to answer. He saw a Guristas troop transport exit the hangar of Forward Nine. The frigates warp scrambling his ship released their targeting locks and flew towards Fatal’s armada.
“You have one hour to leave this space, after which time my fleet will consider you and all non-Guristas vessels kill-on-sight. You have my word that until then, no Guristas warships will challenge you for the duration of your journey. And once you cross into Empire space, Otro, do not ever return.”
One by one, the ships of the Guristas armada disappeared, leaving Forward Nine behind them. Otro Gariushi, still trembling and feeling much older, set course to dock with the station. The ships of the Ishukone Corporation, Caldari Navy, and ex-Guristas pirate cartel followed in close formation.
~
Mila sat in the trench, rocking slowly back and forth with Gavriel’s fractured body lying across her lap. As tears streamed down her face, she quietly sang old songs that she remembered her mother used to sing to her as a child. She hoped they were as comforting to him now as they were to her back then, decades earlier when innocence was all she knew.
She did not hear Otro approach, nor did she recognize the uniformed men who were with him. Otro’s mouth was quivering, but he remained speechless. In fact, all of the men appeared overwhelmed with grief, for they had never witnessed a scene of such unspeakable carnage and devastation. Otro knelt beside his sister, trying to determine if the blood all over her was her own. Then he looked down at Gavriel, gently taking his wrist to feel for a pulse.
The labored breaths became much shallower, and Otro felt Gavriel’s hand squeeze his own ever so slightly. An odd sound came from his throat. Otro leaned closer to him, horrified at the pain that his good friend was in and unable to control his emotions any longer.
Otro heard Gavriel whisper the word “Hope” just before the pulse in his wrist disappeared.
~
Epilogue
…But Still We Go On
Les Akkilen died less than 48 hours after the Board vote that removed him from power. According to the Ishukone Watch Coroner’s Office, the official cause of death was a massive drug overdose. Akkilen’s apparent crash addiction was not a surprising revelation to the public, and seemed befitting of a corporate elite known for his raucous celebrations and decadent lifestyle. The news of his demise and its scandalous circumstances caused uproar in the Caldari State, sending financial markets into upheaval. When Jussal Akkilen was passed over by the Board of Directors for the vacant post of CEO, matters became even worse.
Very little was known about Otro Gariushi within Empire Space. The Caldari elite openly condemned the Board of Directors for their unanimous decision to appoint another inexperienced candidate as Ishukone’s new CEO. Immediately, rumors of an alleged criminal past and a 25 million-isk bounty for his head surfaced. Renowned bounty hunters interviewed by the press swore that the reward for Gariushi’s corpse was real just a short time ago, but had since been rescinded. It was, they said, as if the bounty never existed in the first place. Both Ishukone and the Caldari Navy—who rarely issues public appeals on behalf of corporations—adamantly denied those reports, suggesting they were the work of a “character-smearing campaign launched by one of Ishukone’s competitors”.
In a moving inaugural address to Ishukone employees that was broadcast throughout the State, Otro asserted himself as a natural leader and announced a new corporate mission to put the State’s needs ahead of Ishukone’s. The introduction of the Raven battleship during his speech literally reversed the freefall of Ishukone stock, as investors correctly speculated that patent sales alone would net the company billions—if not trillions—of isk in revenue. In the weeks following that historic day, he quickly earned himself a reputation as a “Caldari First” leader, winning the respect of rival corporations and mending the bitterness caused by his predecessor.
Otro’s remarkable work ethic continued to impress the Caldari elite. After stabilizing the political environment with competitors, he announced the immediate shutdown of all mining operations in Fade. In the largest cash settlement in Caldari State history, Ishukone paid in full every outstanding contract for work in the remote region, and issued significant relocation funds for all the affected settlers on Drenali Seven. Any tenants remaining in Kaurikou Junction were offered free housing and transportation back to Empire space, courtesy of Ishukone Watch. Those same tenants, plus thousands of other former Ishukone employees, were offered jobs in the Raven shipyards and component assembly lines opening throughout Empire Space.
At Otro’s personal request, Ralirashi Okimo stepped down as Ishukone’s CFO and accepted a position overseeing the Manufacturing Division of the corporation. Replacing him was another newcomer to the corporate world who, despite the investigative efforts of the media, did not appear to have any kind of past at all. Her name was Kinachi Hepimeki, but to a select few she was known only as “Mila”.
All of Les Akkilen’s former aides and self-appointed senior-level executives were awarded severance packages that afforded them a comfortable, early retirement. They would never issue any public statements about their dismissal, and refused to allow themselves to be interviewed by the press. Today they live reclusive lives, rarely leaving their homes and maintaining a strict code of silence.
Filling in the vacant CEO post at Ishukone Watch was a former Caldari Navy Lieutenant named Menenden Reppola, the youngest executive ever appointed to head the police force. The ties between the ex-Navy officer and Otro Gariushi were unclear, but by this point the Caldari elite were rarely questioning any of Gariushi’s decisions. The Ishukone CEO had more than proven himself already, and all were confident that Menenden Reppola would not disappoint.
The picture of a middle-aged soldier with steel-gray eyes hangs from the wall of Otro Gariushi’s executive office on Malhaken Five. Above the picture is a plaque that reads “Hope”. When asked about it by passing co-workers, Otro only states that the soldier is a close friend from years past, and that it serves as a daily reminder of what his responsibilities as the Ishukone CEO truly are.
A caption below the picture frame reads “So That Caldari May Live”.
Сообщение отредактировал Nordeck: 06 February 2014 - 9:19
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