Brighde sat across from her grandfather. A warm fire crackled in the background as a cool evening breeze blew across the barren, rubble strewn remnants of what had been one of the largest battlefields of the Caldari-Gellante War.  On a distant rise, an aged Caldari shuttle was silhouetted against one of the twin moons of Caldari Prime.

A strand of Brighde

Before her eyes even opened Brighde lay there half asleep, awakening to feint  the sounds of sub-light engines powering up.  Part of her  told herself she should wake up.  The rest of her wanted nothing more than to lay there

The door to the room slid open with a sound of metal on metal, and the familiar scent of

coffee..

Coffee was first discovered on old Earth. As time went on, and the history of old Earth faded into legend, so too did the use of the coffee bean. For it was there that some people first heralded its use as the cause of the greatest grievances of mankind. To many, its use became attributed to the decay of both moral fiber as well as that of body and spirit. And so its use faded into the past along with things like cigarettes, absinthe and cyclamate.

That is, until it was rediscovered one day by a dragnar herder on Tau Ceti, long before the worm hole that separated Earth and Eve closed forever.

Legend has it hat the dragnar herder saw his bucks particularly energetic after eating small brown berries off a bush. Keep in mind that the average dragnar spent the bulk of its life sunning itself in the warm Tau Ceti sunshine of its equatorial regions

 

 

Charlie Dau

The doors of the commissary slide open and in steps William Littlefoot, formerly the executive officer of  mining ship

The ship looked fast, but that was only because it was fast

The Osprey class cruiser perched like an awkward bird in the dim light of docking bay number 37.  A squat figure stood silhouetted against the side of the ship, which was illuminated in a pool of glaring light from the tungsten inert gas welder.  To eye any who might be peering over the subjects shoulder, which of course there weren

The owner of the prehensile tail was a member of a growing race of individuals which considered themselves

Splintered Reality  By Julie WhiteFeather

Being the luckiest being in the universe, and being completely oblivious of the fact, are two very fortunate qualities that go hand in hand.   Not fortunate for the person themselves certainly.  Rather it is extremely fortunate for the lotteries, gambling establishments, economies, indeed entire planets which would topple if the lucky stiff were aware of the fact

Splintered Reality, by Julie Whitefeather - continued.

And so the

Splintered Reality, by Julie WhiteFeather - continued


At 20,000 tons and 650 feet long it was one big ship. The body of the ship, meant to carry cargo, looked for all the world as if a giant hand had taken one big can and smashed two smaller cans on each end, then stuck a shuttle on the front for the pilots.   Piloting the thing was like trying to push a greased, drunken pig in a direction it didn

Splintered Reality, by Julie WhiteFeather - continued

The news his dock foreman brought Rick Sirelli preceded him.  The second Jacque rounded the corner of Sirelli

The news his dock foreman brought Rick Sirelli preceded him.  The second Jacque rounded the corner of Sirelli

Splintered Reality - by Julie WhiteFeather

Brighde was distracted by visions of

Splintered Reality - by Juliemarie WhiteFeather

Splintered Reality - by Julie Whitefeather

Continued as promised...

Bishop was about to speak again when there was a nock at the door.

My apologies for taking so long to continue the story.  I am still working on it.  My writing schedule is busy these days, what with being a staff writer for one podcast and a contributing writer to another, as well as maintaining a column for the convent.  So, here is the next "episode" if you will, of "Splintered Reality"

Splintered Reality - by Julie Whitefeather

Dolph stared straight at Brighde.  It was hard for her to tell whether it was hatred, embarrassment or both that flared behind the dark eyes that stared her down.  His eyes still locked on hers, the voice that was jovial a moment before, was not deadly serious as he spoke to her.

Splintered Reality: par for the course

A recap on Eve.

For a young Gallantean, undocking for the first time from the Academy seemed an impressive feat all in itself.  After the initial excitement of being out and sharing this vast universe with countless others, the next logical question was where to go. 

Where to go was one of the bigger questions echoing loudly within her thoughts.  Turtle came to mind, damn him.   He had just beat her only by days in getting his Ship Commander skill to be able to enter the World that was Eve.  No longer coddled within a base, shuttled from place to place, only staring at the stars and galaxies longingly as they passed by, no, she was in her very own ship!

Her eyes were drawn to the Ship controls and she smiled as she sent out a signal, and then began sorting through the many logs an agent wanted her to run while she sat back and waited.

She cursed freely.

What a bunch of junk.  She had no idea as to what she wanted to do, but it wasn't going to be running these for very long if she could help it.

Now no longer under the thumb of the Galleantean Fleet, she could taste the freedom.  The oxygen that was filtering in seemed to only enhance her excitement.  These papers, these missions the agent had given her she was contemplating tossing them into the ejection bay.  The thought made her smile.

She was feeling mindless hours later after having watched her efficient little Velator mine endlessly on one of the asteroids, when she heard the incoming hail.

She ignored the pleasure it was to hear his voice again.  The excitement she heard seemed to encompass everything else.  Yes, he was doing good.  Yes, he'd been through tons of new systems, encountering all sorts of pirates.  Yes, he'd gotten his ass handed back to him in his own starter ship.  They had both laughed over it, and then she couldn't help but smirk as he told her to be careful out there.

"Ah, Turtle, Turtle, Turtle", She thought.   She wouldn't die, at least not now.  Her ship was too new, too beautiful yet.

To her chagrin, he began teasing her about her little ship as he was now commandeering a brand new Imicus.  It was a higher frigate class and with her calculations she knew it would take a couple days for her to train for that.  She was feeling a certain amount of pride and also jealousy for his accomplishments so far.  It started feeding her desire to get into a bigger, faster ship, and also surpass his skills, as usual.  They had always had a friendly rivalry.

Now it would just be taken further.  They had a whole universe to play in.  Forge was now her destination.  She couldn't wait to see what awaited.

She was docked at a station in Ikami.  It was the Peace and Order Testing Facilities.  The station was bustling with activity.  Her new corpmates were rushing back and forth, they each had their own destinations.  It also was one of those few places that supported labratories.  It was amusing to her to see the men and woman rushing back and forth in their white lab coats.  Most of them never saw outside of the solarsystem.  She couldn't help but wonder how they could manage it.  Even right now she was contemplating where she was going to take her own career.  She had a few ideas.

She was flying under a new Corporation led by Paul Castrin and NewRebel.  KnightWing was another leader but he had been M.I.A for awhile now.  She had yet to meet him.  She'd already met quite a few of her new fleetmates.  Right now she was considering going out to fly with Turtle and Sparks.  They were out hunting pirates.  She'd just finished watching them refit their ships, trying a variety of different modules.  She had sat back and watched on bemusedly. 

Sparks was an old veteran in combat, and she was even having fun listening to them both.   She had turned to watch Turtle and smiled.  She could see the eagerness already flare up in his eyes to go and try out these new combat tactics.  She could almost see the wheels turning in his head from where she was sitting.   He would test it fully and and probably had already started thinking of ways he could swap them out with a few of his own ideas and not stop until he was fully satisfied with it.  He was definately surpassing her in the warfare department.  She had very little interest in the mechanics of war.  She didn't mind going out and having some fun with it.  True danger was fleetingly interesting to her, but it was the untravelled space she was feeling a lure towards.  She was still sitting on the edge of a decision.   

BC Hastings, the head trader in the new Corp was currently enroute to Ikami.  She was going to wait here to speak to him and see how lucrative Trade was as a career.  It seemed quite apparent that he'd done quite well for himself in the business and she was excited to find out more information.  She didn't mind waiting.  She was also in contact with two old friends and they would both be arriving shortly.  They both were going to come over and see what the new Region was like, maybe they would even fly the system together.

She was thumbing through a Minmatar Industrial Class book in the lounge when she heard a familiar voice call out.  She laughed as she looked up and watched Wrayeth swagger inside.  With one quick glance she noted that he had his Third Rank Stripes in the Caldari Frigate class and she smiled.  She was so proud and happy to see him.

Hunting pirates and talking trade would have to wait for the day.  She had some catching up to do.

Actually she...

She was sitting back in Paye, countless systems away from the original playground she started in.  The domed view of the solarsystem overtop this new station was absolutely breathtaking, yet...

It was a slow moving solarsystem.  It wasn't very often that you saw a ship warp on through.  Her corporation had just done a big corp mining dig in the next solarsystem.  For a few good hours, with everyone in the corp they probably brought in close to 50 million.   Now herself and a few corp members were standing around in base, drinking their daily elixir, coffee.  Others were off doing Agent missions which she couldn't get her head wrapped around.  Eventually...of course she would.

She was thinking of the ship she'd need to build for the new female in the corporation.  She definately seemed to be intimidating.  She didn't appear to be the type to put up with much , and that caused her to laugh.  They would get along great.  She recognized the intent determination within her eyes.  She would go far, and also move ahead fast.  A girl had to take care of herself out there, it was dangerous territory.  Leightor would catch up fast, and perhaps even surpass quite a few in a small period of time.  The thought caused her smile.  So it wasn't such an all alpha male, chest pounding world out there. 

She went to gaze out at the stars, and looked out searching.  She knew Turtle was out not too far away killing the local Pirates ensuring their safety.  She was wondering where Arjurian went off too. 

She was currently studying to be able to commandeer a battleship.  She was not that far off, she had a few more tests to walk through before she'd be stepping into one.  She couldn't wait.  The desire to be in one was almost all too consuming.  Ontop of that all, she had almost all the materials to produce one, save for one little pocket of minerals.  It'd only take a couple hours to grab them.  Her thoughts strayed again, and she looked back out and hmmmm'd...

She would wait in the system she decided.  Fluf was making a new batch of fresh pies so she'd stick around and in the meantime, she could bug Kortez.  Yeah, she'd go off and bug him for a bit for the duration.  She couldn't help but laugh as he walked in around the corner, and she nodded and made her way over to blow off a couple of hours...

Home sweet home...

It was almost a bittersweet feeling re-entering Forge.  She recalled why she had come to adore it.  She had been to all ends of Forge and back again when she was trading.  It was rich and thrumming with all races.   There was young pilots and old pilots.  Veterans zinging by at 4000 to 5000 m/s, new pilots probably gazing at them with pure unadultered envy. Hell, she was there before.  It was in the center of Eve, and it was definately held close in her heart.  Forge truely felt like home.

Through her good friend Wrayeth, she heard Paul Castrin was ready to drive a new battleship.  He was the Ceo of the Order of the Rebel Knights, her old corporation.  The Typhoon, she mused.  She heard it had quite the drone bay and of course one of the reasons why he was going to be piloting it.  She wondered if she'd have enough time to see the ship.  She had jumped only a few regions across Eve to get back to Forge, but it'd be worthwhile.  She was getting excited to see him.  She had already come across BC hastings on her travels.  Of course in Saisio, she spotted Cue and waved at him on her way.  They might have had a visit, if he wasn't off to drop more blueprints into a labratory.  Those silly lab rats.

She had arrived...

The office looked the same, but it looked like a bunch of males inhibited it.  No female touch.  She smiled and quickly set to work to cleaning up the area.  She even conned a few people into providing some expensive foreign Amarr plants to spruce up the place.  She realized Amarr may have the ugliest looking ships she'd ever seen, but they had other delicacies that were spectacular.  Hue and Turtle were probably enjoying themselves with some of those 'delicacies' now as the two top Security officers seemed to be M.I.A over the last day.  The thought caused her smile.  Amarr space was way too interesting.

She had just finished up tidying the office when she heard two familiar voices call out.  Paul and Rebel both walked in at the same time.  They both looked great.  Everyone smiled at the same time, before hugs and kisses were given out.  Yes, it was really good to see them.  They were going to have a nice long visit while Paul's ship was in the factory.  In the meantime, they could order out for some nice Caldari food to be delivered in.  From the looks of the office it looked like they were living off of the nearby Galleantean Pizza place.

It was nice to catch up.

Her Mega....

She was standing outside the factory and she suddenly laughed nervously as she lifted her gaze to Arjurian.  She could hear the sliding of the titanium steel doors opening and closing as she knew her Megathron was nearing completion.  She couldn't believe it.  Any second now, the doors would open and there it would be.  The thought sent a shiver down her spine.

For hours, Arjurian and herself were discussing loadouts as they both sat back in the lounge at the Imperial Academy School in Paye.  He had even pulled out of his arsenal of equipment, a variety of different fittings for her new ship, and she couldn't wait to try them all out.

She could hardly contain her excitement.  The sparkle in her eyes perfectly matched the barely restrained smile as her and Arjurian stood outside the factory that housed her Megathron Battleship.  A loud horn only added to the noise and the hum of the multiple factories in the station announced the imminent arrival of the finished product.  Her eyes stared in awe as she heard the gears and the slight whoosh of the compressed air released as the thick factory door began to lift.

Her hand reached and found his and her fingers closed around his tight as she watched the graceful way the Megathron left the factory.  It came to a hover in front of them as they stood on the steel plankway that ran along on either side of her ship.  She had built ships before, but nothing felt as good or gave as much satisfaction as watching her own ship slide out.  It was huge, and it was beautiful.  Definately one of the biggest and best designed ships within Eve.  If there was better, she simply hadn't seen it yet. 

She felt wordless, as she tore her gaze from the ship and to look back at Arj, and then she smiled at his quiet urging as he nodded towards her ship. 

Yes, she'd ride it, she'd ride it tonight.

She had risen...

The  maturation chamber she was in was quiet and dark.  Only a soft light from the corner in the room lifted the shadows completely.  Soft tranquil music played softly in the room, and she began to stretch slowly.  She was locked away for twelve hours for her Augmentation.  It was a delicate and pain free operation for five of the implants.  It felt as though she had just closed her eyes and she was awake again.  She lifted a hand to trail over her head, and she lifted a brow still feeling a little incredulous.  She didn't know how they did it, but it
was done and left no indication of the procedure.

She finally sat up and looked around.  Everything was in its place, but what her eyes settled onto was the flashing amber lights on her ETD.  The Electronic Transmit device sent broadcasts of when a Corpmates ship went down.  Every once in awhile it would flash amber, but this was flashing up like a Minmatar whore house. Her senses came on full alert as she hopped down from the warm Vestibule.  Not even the heated warmth of that could stop the chill from coursing down her spine.  She cursed, and she cursed again.  Turtle had been hit. She looked further and she saw Rota, Vader, Unseen, Killmore, Evil, Viper, Hue, Bolt and Fluf.  Her spine stiffened along with the anger that began to grow.

She tried logging onto their radio frequency, and almost tossed the device as it did not respond.  She had to leave the chamber first before she'd catch anything.  What was once peace, calm and tranquility now seemed to be stifling and confining.  She quickly dressed and pressed the button to open the door.  The second it took to open was way too long for her, as the immediate incoming jarble of what was occurring came through. 

They were mounting a strike.  Her frustration grew.  She estimated the time and distance away between the solarsystems and she could be there in a quarter of an hour.  Too long from the sounds of it.  They were all warping, their voices excited and she could hear the heated raised tones and revenge still in the sounds. What they needed was cold, calculated logic.

Her strides were long and with purpose as she brushed passed the bypassers in station.  She needed to get into her hangar and into her ship so she could jump into the conversation.  She nodded more to herself, making a mental note with each new name that was coming to help.  Her step paused in mid-flight as again, she heard the incoming sounds of her Corp mates going down, yet again... "Why..." She thought...."Why couldn't they wait..."  Not that she was the best fighter but there was more on their way and she was only three systems out.  One more might have saved that ship, or...She was feeling frustrated.  Angry that they started without her.  She wanted to have been there to help.  Her first message to them all reiterated that...she needed to calm down, ...she breathed deeply...focused...

They were mining she heard, and she couldn't believe the impudence of the infidels.  Lance and TG or whoever it was had the audacity of a snake but not the sense.  They should have struck and slinked away.  Better that than wait for what was sure to happen. Even now she was on her way, along with pilots from FEA and also Stain Alliance were enroute.  FEA was allied with them, and they also had a friend in Stain.  Poor Autumn rose, she lost her Dominix, beautiful ship that it was...They would all meet up soon.  They just needed a little more time.

Millions of isk were being poured into Eve as new ships were bought up in record time.  Rota, Hue, Evil, Fluf , Vader and Kebbin were sitting just inside the gate, just enough to give the maggot turds a sense of their presence.  Perhaps they laughed at our own impudity.  We were after all, all new pilots, but what we lacked in skills, we made up in tenacity.

Everything was falling into place.  There was Kalarenzi, and Trix, and she had finally arrived as well.  She smiled at the intense focus, ships lost now forgotten for the moment, as they all became one with a singular goal, one purpose. 

That was to kill, and kill they did.



{{If I forgot anyone, plz forgive me muddledness hehe}}

Only the sound of her pen clicking against the desks surface broke the silence in the room.  She was number crunching as they had a big Mineral order to fill.  It was their first contract and she had been excited about it.  It was the stepping stone to something bigger.  Who knew whether or not it would lead her into deeper space.  That unknown, the place to which she'd been wanting to venture to for months now.

She sighed deeply as she sat back in the chair. She was tired.  When the order came in, she was excited.  She fed off the excitement long enough to stay up almost the whole day just to get the first part of the deal completed.  They were only a few million shy of it when she fell asleep in her ship.  By the time she had awoken only a few hours later, it was finished. 

Their contractors had been impressed.  Who would have thought.  She laughed as she ran her fingers through the mess of hair that had not seen a brush for days.  Rota's determination, and Killmore's persistence paid off.  They were still in cruisers in comparison to Arj, Hue's and her own battleship, but they were mining machines.  They were going toe to toe with them all day and all evening, and even throughout the day she had been impressed.  She was more than impressed, she admired the qualities that stood behind what they all pulled off together. Tell them they couldn't move a mountain, and they'd move two.  She shook her head and smiled.  Vaders ass was ran off all day, and all night.   Sure complaints here, complaints there but they were entitled, they worked hard.

Only a couple more days left before it was done, and then she wondered what she was going to do.  She had two things on the go right now.  Viper's ship was nearing completion.  Just this morning she pulled half of the Pyerite required for it.  She hmmm'd a bit as she got up and stretched and went to gaze at the stars.  Maybe she'd go and make a visit with the contractors.   She lifted a shoulder gently as she turned and leaned back against the frame.  She watched Kortez and Killy talk across the room.  They were getting to roll out.  She'd follow them shortly, she just had to run and get the blue print for the new ship she was going to build for Arjurian.  She wished she had the determination to get into an Apocalypse.  Shouldn't be too much longer, before she could build that ship.

She couldn't wait to get this done.  It was a huge order, and at least an accomplishment towards something bigger.  The lady was a little stiff-necked but the gentleman she'd been dealing with was pretty friendly, interesting.  Maybe it wouldn't be too much longer before she was mining in a deeper space.   She glanced towards the hangars and then nodded a little, before stepping towards it. "First things first", she thought.

She had fallen asleep on the couch out of pure exhaustion.  Three ships later.  She had remembered smiling at Arj as she watched him walk out of the common room to go to the Stations Hangar to inspect his new Battleship.  She had just put two more ships into production for Rota and Hue and she felt wiped.  She didn't even remember closing her eyes, but obviously she did as she sat up and stretched.  She smiled as she pushed aside the blanket someone thoughtfully must have covered her with as she moved to stand up. 

She had rented one of those 12 loft-style dorms in the station that shared one common room.  That having a kitchen, and livingroom filled with every expensive electronic gizmo available.  Already over the past couple days she had to wrestle Dball for the remote control.  Damn, did he love those.  She made a mental note to hide it next time she came across it. 

She walked over to the Communications Console and punched in the Hangars number.  As she waited for their response, she stretched with a little growl.  She needed some java.  As the woman's voice rang loud in the room, she winced a little before she asked about Rota's and Hue's ships, and whether they were waiting or not.  She smiled at the shiny descriptions given back and the underlying admiring tones. She was about to walk away from it, as she heard the woman ask if she needed anything else.  She paused in mid-step and asked about the other residents ships, whether they were docked or not, and at the confirmation she chuckled and closed off the conversation.  "What a bunch of Slackers," She thought.  It was the start to a good day.  That was some fuel to razz them all day.   She completely ignored the fact that they were probably up until the wee hours of the morning.  They bugged her enough about falling asleep while piloting her Mega.  Which of course was all pure BS. 


As she made her way to the kitchen, she looked up and saw Hue walking away from it while sipping his coffee quietly.  Perfect.  They could get an early start out in the field this morning.  She bounded over to him, and then nudged him with her shoulder, "Good morning."  She smiled as she ignored the growl as he nearly spilled the coffee down the front of his gear.  Her voice was playful as she nudged him again, "Quiet you, you're ships ready."  She watched him go thoughtful, and then completely non-chalant as he nodded back, and then thanked her.  She laughed then and then shook her head.  He was the quiet type, rarely fussed over anything.  She'd have to get a rise out of him one of these days.

They met up with Arjurian, as they stepped out of Transporter which was pretty instantaneous from their Loft to the Ship bay.  He stood tall, ruggedly handsome, and somehow past the clean cut of his clothes, he had this messy chaotic look about him.  He looked so miniscule in comparison to the size of his Apocalypse.  It was monstrous.  She chuckled as she watched him, moving up and down the plankway, in out of his ship in a rush.  He was getting it ready obviously to take it out. 

Hell, that was a good idea.  Now she just had to wait for Killy to quit slacking off and get outta bed.  She had to bug him to start his BB training, especially now that Rota was in his.

It was going to be a good day.

They had moved into their new Headquarters.  Hykkota was beautifully quiet.  It was rich in minerals, and the lack of ore thieves made it an irristable place. 

They were DOA now.  The Drones of Annihilation was a fitting new name.  They did annihilate the Asteroids with their drones and it was an incredible sight.  She was surprised so far that she didn't find Killy or Rota sleeping with their drones yet.  She was waiting for the day when she would see them croon to them.  Okay, maybe they weren't that bad, but they did indeed love their Harvester Drones, there was no doubt about that.  Turtle did too, it's just, everytime he let one out, he was basically letting them out of the drone bay with a noose around their neck, only short of saying, "off to die you go".  She smiled at the thought as she pushed her Access Key into the door.

Immediately the sounds of raised voices sounded out.  It wasn't raised in anger, but there was numbers being passed back and forth.  She recognized one voice in particular, so of course, that was bartering she heard.  She walked into the room and there was Hue, Dball, BC Hastings and Blood Angel.  She couldn't believe it. 

Company already.  They hadn't even fully moved into the place yet, at least it was tidy.  She smiled and grabbed a peanut, aimed and she watched it bounce off BC's shoulder.  She laughed as she watched him stop in mid-sentence, mouth hung open, and then she walked behind him and ruffled his hair.  They had issues in the past, but it was all but forgotten.  When she looked up and saw BA, she smiled and almost blushed from the intent gaze he gave her.  She shook her head and then laughed as she went to give him a hug.  Ahhh, it was great to see them both.

So now the real number crunching came down.  Well it wasn't really, they were going to build a ship for MDKRiggs.  He came to their help before when they had a run-in with a Pirate corporation which has since then been dissolved. So of course the bartering was one-ended.  They were all going for the same goal.  That was to see Riggs in his new Apocalypse.

They were short of some Isogen.  We all had an idea on where to go, Dball, Hue, a half-hearted argument was about to ensue when Rota walked into the whole planning stage.  Planning on where to cut was always an event.  It was funny, chaotic, everyone had an idea on where to go.  Now Rota was a different story, he was a laid back kind of guy.  If there was rock to be cut, he wanted to get it done in the shortest and most efficient time possible.  He asked a couple questions, where, what we were cutting.  Hue answered, and Rota nodded asked, "How far" and at the response he simply said, "Lets get cutting".  Decision was made.   Ahh it was funny how it worked.

It was a lower security system, so she turned and smiled at BA.  BC was already on his way to run agent missions, but she would snag Blood Angel for the evening.  She missed his company, so it'd be nice if he ran security, which of course he did. 

Riggs would have his ship built by the end of the night. 

She knew without a doubt she was in FAT-6P when the noises surrounding her began filtering in through to her conscious.  She was sprawled across her bed which was only a few doors down from the common room of this station.  She was located in the "Love Shack" after all, and the idea of venturing in too deeply was not that alluring to her.

It was certainly exciting the day before when everyone in DOA was traveling down towards Parses.  They were mainly all together, and everyone was exchanging coordinates for their stay into 0.0 space. Actually that was wrong.  They were actually Species 5618 Members now.  They had taken a vote, each member needing to vote yes for the merger.  They were removing the DOA tags in exchange for new, but each one of them still wore DOA at the heart. 

They had all met up in Keberz, and some had even made the trip into 0.0 a few times already, bringing battleships into its space.  When she had met up with them, their voices were controlled yet there was no doubt as to the excitement lying behind each word.  Rota took leadership of the gang, and it was his calm that set the butterflies in her stomach at ease. 

She took one long glance back up at the stars.  Her thoughts quickly carrying her through solarysystems to Outuni, and her stomach twisted briefly before she smiled.  She needed to do this, she had longed for it, and now she was about to jump into 0.0 space for the first time.

With Rota's assured command, and encouragement she got past the shaky fingers on her ship's console and regained control of herself and her ship.  Each solar system that passed by were fleeting, yet each held its own beauty, and the further they got, the more quieter, and serene the areas became.  No such Concord fleets always there to meet you at each jump gate.  There were only us, Species 5618 now traveling through the Catch Region to a destination yet unforeseen.  She knew the quiet was only perception, and that these systems entailed danger.  She felt her senses heightened with that awareness.

As they neared FAT-6P, more Stain Pilots were moving through the gates.  She suddenly noted the difference between Empire Pilots and 0.0.  They were more controlled, less flighty, and each second was accounted for while in space.  The entrance into FAT-6P was almost a celebration, as they were welcomed in.  There were a few other Stain Corps in here, but it was mainly Species 5618 that controlled this area.  There was certainly a sense of Lawlessness and Freedom at the same time. 

Her heart thudded as she felt her ship being drawn into the "Love Shack".   At first glimpse into the place, and she was in awe.  The Hangar here was magnificent.  As a shipbuilder, and manufacturer, the clean, huge hangar held her spellbound until her ship completely docked.  It was private, and there were not the long lines that a regular Station in Empire would have as you docked, or went to purchase a more customized hangar.  There were ship valet's here for Stain Pilots only, standing at ready as you docked and all you had to do was tell them what you needed done with your ship, be it a Custom Refit, a wash, a cleaning.  Her smile flipped upwards ironically.  At least the boys could definitely make use of that.  Now maybe she wouldn't have to wade through the many beer cans littering their ships floor when she went to find them.

The hangar to the "Love shack" was certainly the best, and brightest part of the station.  At least to her anyways.  Her smirk lifted as she saw eyes widen then search the area almost with a hungry amazement at what laid inside.   The station was aptly named.  Beautiful woman wearing barely anything to leave for any imagination walked through, and they were of all different races.  They were called "Caterers" and when she heard that, ooh she had to laugh.  "Men and their incessant need to"...well she let that thought trail off.

The things she saw within just the first few common areas of the station, made her retrace her steps back towards the hangar.  After saying her goodnights, she left them all with a smile while she went to go and find her own "Caterer" and requested to have the closest available room to the hangar, which she was quickly guided towards her new room.  She breathed easy as she saw how clean the room was.

Her last request of the evening was for as many bolts as the door would hold to be installed early the next morning...You just never knew.

She smiled as she sat at the console within her ship.  She had been tapping into a few different Stain Frequencies, and all of them were reporting the same message.  Two of the most notorious bandits had been cornered and were on 24 hour watch. 

They had been in 0.0 for only a few short months, and already they had made a name for themselves.  It couldn

Fleet Battle

Stain Pilots were flying in from all systems and amassing at DSS.  The Stain Op had filtered down through the chain of command and because she was arriving late, now all they needed were Tacklers.  Ohhh how she hated being a tackler.  Mostly everyone wanted to bring their battleships if they could afford to lose it.  Funny how mostly everyone she knew could afford that.  Every once in awhile she'd hear the word Carebears and she almost had to laugh.  Oh those were *almost* the days.

Each system she flew through she could hear the friendly tapping alerting her to a friendly ship in the vicinity.  As she sent out a few scans she recognized a few of the various corps.  Her smile lifted when she saw a member from Thundercats in the same system.  She immediately wondered if Paul Atreides would be there.  She saw him a few times at a some various gate camps and when there were hostiles announced in one of the Secured Stain frequencies, FC Raptor or Paul Atreides would almost always be one of the first Stain Pilots to respond.  Funny how she suddenly felt her excitement level raise a few notches.

As she neared UQ, she heard Tess announcing across open Radio Frequencies that HED was clear with blue skies.  She couldn't help but smile.  She was reporting more frequently as pilots were flying in from Empire for this Fleet Op. Tess periodically would report whether HED was stormy and just how many storm clouds there happened to be in the area.  She was always so upbeat, professional when skies were blue.  If there was a storm in the area, ooh how her voice dropped into almost a mysterious wavering tone to reflect the news.  Every once in awhile, the way her voice almost jumped in pitch, you had to wonder if she was reporting from the edge of her seat as she was being chased around system from those certain storm clouds also known affectionately as, 'hostiles'.  She absolutely adored listening to Tess's Weather Reports. 

We were to fly under two different commanders.  It was going to be different.  She really didn't like flying under anyone else's direction other than DOA.  She had a hard time trusting anyone else, but these were two of the top Stain Fleet Commanders.

Light Darkness was the commander for the battleships and cruisers, and Aeryn Sun was in command of the tacklers.  She had no idea where they were headed too, only that everyone who could man a ship and shoot a gun was to be there.  Well she could "woman" a ship, and shoot a gun just as good as anyone else out there, so she was on her way. 

As she arrived into DSS, she hailed for entrance into the secured line that would give her co-ordinates for the gangs location.   Her fingers flew across her the consoles command line as she manually began inputting the data streaming forth.  She relaxed a little as her ship suddenly turned on its own, now under command from the Gang's Leadership.  Her gaze dropped to the manual override button briefly before she leaned forward to now turn up the DOA frequency.  She cursed briefly as she listened to Wash say that he was now moving forward with the Frig Fleet.  More DOA Pilots were moving forward with the frigate gang and her brows lifted briefly as she listened.  She was being separated from some of her corp mates, and she just briefly felt a little bit nauseous.  After receiving the destination and inputting it into the computer system, she realized their destination.  We only had locations mapped out three jumps past DSS.  We were going to enter into Curse Space, and for most of us it was for the first time. 

She giggled only a little as she settled her smaller frig up next to Cujo's,  her new Ceo's battleship. Unfortunately she was too late to travel with the Tacklers, but she was not too late too partake in the upcoming blow Stain Pilots were going to lay against the Curse Fleet, which they did with finesse.   Light Darkness was an amazing leader.  Each command he gave was timed and balanced out with the perfect amount of patience, that when we struck, we struck hard. 

Sure she flew back, through 0.0 blindly and naked in her pod, until she got back into the Catch Region.  But she was still feeling the exhilaration of the fleet battle as it replayed back through her mind...

So this was what it was all about...
 

   Trin awoke to the sounds of Korn blaring through her radio alarm.,

   Ahhh, a normal day in EC-P8R, if any day was normal in EC.

   It had come as quite a surprise to discover they were leaving IRON as well as Deklein.  She had crawled out of bed, checked her messages and there it was.  She