The Return

The men were all stood around the holoprojector, dressed in Gallente Navy uniforms. The room was dark but their faces were illuminated by the glow of the holoprojector.

"It's not looking good is it Sir?" said one "The Caldari have control of too many systems between Villore and Nourv"

He flicked a few buttons on his datapad and the warzone flashed up, red bubbles surrounding the planets to show occupancy.

"What the frack are the Capsuleer militia doing? Why the hell are we in this position!" one of the older men grumbled.

A younger officer turned to him "They are Capsuleers, very few fight for what is right or any form of ideology. They fight for rewards, tell me Admiral, how do we reward the Capsuleers? With meaningless ranks? A few scant rewards from our Navy stores. Is it any wonder the Capsuleer corporations tire and leave looking for something more rewarding. We've neglected them for years, and now we wonder why they won't fight for us?"

The old Admiral nodded his head in agreement.

"I suppose your right" he sighed "What about the corporations that have left in the last year or so, the ones with most confirmed kills? What has happened to them?"

The young officer pulled out his datapad.

"Well looking at the top killers, Wrath of Fenris have disbanded. Bi-Polar Bears the same. Shadows of the Federation are now pirates down in Amamake, The....."

"Can we get the Shadows back?"

"Why would they want to? Especially when Central Command Prime still insists in adjusting standings when assisting a pirate. I just cannot understand CCP. We allow pirates to join the Militia and assist us fighting the Caldari, but if they use remote-repair modules on each other we dock them standings to the Federation for assisting a pirate that is actually fighting for the Federation! It makes no sense."

The old Admiral shook his head "I don't care, find a way to get them back here! There must be a way!"

-o0o-

A Caspuleer strolled into the bar at the State Protectorate station at Nisuwa V. He noticed the barman pondering over his datapad with a look of concern.

"What's up? You look a tad worried"

The barman looked up and saw the customer, he grabbed a glass and started to make him his usual drink.

"This!" and he slid the datapad over to the capsuleer.

The capsuleer skimmed over the datapad. "Erm.... investors.... large, regular sums of ISK.... must keep large stocks of Minmatar Fire Whisky, Gallente Orange Infused Vodka, Amarrian red wine and beer..... Minimum of 5 female dancers on from 22:00 to 04:00 station time every night, minimum of two brunette's........ Maintenance crew for repairs also on standby during those hours. All paid for by the investors. Sounds like someone wants to invest heavily in your bar, so why you looking so concerned, this looks great"

The barman was still looking glum "Yeah, but look at what they want"

The capsuleer scrolled down. "Where is that bit, I cannot see they want anything"

"Yeah, that's right. They want nothing in return"

The capsuleer looked puzzled. "An investor is offering you large sums of cash to keep the bar stocked with certain drinks and to have dancers and maintenance crews on standby. That makes no sence!"

The barman sighed "I'm afraid it does. The message originated from Villore. Gallente high-sec. A Gallente Navy Station. Now that you know that lovely snippet of information...."

The capsuleer went white. He looked again at the list of items.

Amarrian red wine! Their CEO!

Shadows.....

Gallente Vodka, but not any old vodka, orange infused vodka! And brunette dancers. That drunkard Director!

.... of the......

Minmatar Fire Whisky. That creepy Director who kept all the corpses. Thousands of them!

..... Federation!

The capsuleer downed his drink. "Another, NOW!"

The barman just nodded to the viewport. "You sure you want to stick around?"

The capsuleer looked over at the viewport, there was something out there in space. A red pulsating energy field could be seen just off the station. He approached the viewport trying to make out what it was.

"Is that a cyno....."

Suddenly there were several large flashes. The capsuleer jumped back from the viewport in surprise. Artificial wormholes exploded in flashes of light and vanished. In their place were numerous carriers. Thanatos, Chrimera's and Archon's.

"No!" is all the capsuleer could mutter.

The barman sighed. Profits were about the go through the roof, but also was the aggravation that went along with running a bar with them around. He turned to the capsuleer.

"I'd be heading to the hanger if I was you. In a few hours this will be no place for a member of the Caldari Militia"