I’ve been giving the fan fiction a bit of a rest over the last few weeks with only a single post since the Ripper. The Jita Ripper series was a fair amount of work and I wanted a bit of a creative rest (not saying if that’s for me or the readers!). Anyway, I’ve been writing a new series, this time with a capsuleer as the main character. Hope you enjoy.
Oh, and I wonder, has anyone else tried to write dialogue for a pirate faction in Eve and ended up with them all sounding like Mr Gibbs from Pirates of the Caribbean? No? Just me then? Glad I rewrote those parts with the “G’aaaarrrrrrr” turned down from 11 then!
If fan fiction isn't your thing, I'd recommend this rather good article on the problems with faction war at http://themittani.com/features/dissection-game-system-faction-warfare
Vengeance – Prologue
Danmat trudged down the street in the rain. It was dark and the sulphur in the atmosphere, which the rain brought down to street level, made the place smell like bad eggs. However, even though the volcanic activity on this planet made the air and water smell, it was still better to him than the recycled and filtered air on a space station.
He’d spent the day trying to fix a Condor class frigate with a dodgy plasma injector. It hadn’t been going well and he’d worked late into the night to finish the job. Still being in his first month on the job, he needed to impress, especially in this economy. He was slowly moving up from junior technician to starship engineer. This new position had required him to move from his home town to the big city. The small starport back home just didn’t have the jobs at this level.
His new apartment was relatively cheap. Mostly because it was away from any public transport terminals. He’d got off the metro 15 minutes ago and it was still a good 30 minutes walk. Tonight he was trying a different way home. The city of Messian on Amo III was hardly the centre of the cluster, but it was his new home. Most of the shops and businesses along the street were shut at this time. The area was rougher than he would have liked so quickened his pace. One bar a bit further down looked open and he thought a quick drink might do him good.
As he approached the bar he saw the name. “Mortal”.
Inside the bar was quiet, very quiet. However, it was tastefully decorated and appeared to be much higher-class than he’d have expect for this area. He went up to the bar and perched on a bar stool. The barman wandered over.
“Welcome. What can I get you?”
“Double vodka and Quaffe please. Bit quiet tonight?”
The barman started preparing the drink.
“Yeah, usually is in the week. However, I kinda like it like that. Picks up at the weekend but never gets too busy.”
A stunningly gorgeous Gallente woman appeared from a door leading up to the side of the bar. Danmat did a double take. Everything about her, the make-up, dress, shoes and hair all screamed something to him. The nicest way he could put it is that she looked like she belonged in the area. If he had to label her, ‘Dancer’ would have been the nicest way he could think of describing her look, and he wasn’t think ballet! Still despite that appearance he couldn’t deny she was very attractive in a ‘filthy-gorgeous’ kind of way.
“Sweetie. We’re running low on Brutor Brain Basher” referring to the infamous Marati ale “Can you make sure you order some in time for the next shipment from Hek.”
The barman smiled and nodded and she disappeared.
“Wife?” asked Danmat.
“Yes. Ten years and still going strong.” replied the barman who was placing the bottle of vodka back on the top shelf. As he stretched, Danmat noticed scaring on the back of his neck. Putting two and two together he thought he’d see what the reaction would be.
“So, you used to be a capsuleer?” Danmat asked nonchalantly.
The barmans eye’s narrowed and he turned around. Danmat was completely unaware that he was discreetly reaching under the counter for a concealed plasma rifle.
“What makes you say that?”
Danmat sipped his drink.
“That is a good drink! Well this bar is hardly in the central business district, but the furnishings and materials are top notch. You spent a lot of money renovating this place, and you’ll never make that back given the location and the customers you’ll likely get around here. You appear to have money to throw around. Usually that means ISK and not local credits. The name of the bar is ‘Mortal’, you have a trophy wife and the scaring on your neck indicates you had the interface implants removed. How am I doing?” Danmat grinned. He always liked playing at detective.
The capsuleer released his grip on the rifle still concealed under the bar. He was pretty sure he was not one of them. Even if he was, he rifle was still close and the internal security system in this bar was on a par with any Governmental secure location.
“Very observant. You a cop?”
“Me? No!” Danmat laughed “ I work down at the maintenance bay at the Eastern starport. Just got an apartment over in the Doolar district. Only problem is it’s a 45 minute walk from the nearest metro station to the block.”
The barman already knew this. A concealed DNA scanner in the door was linked to the planetary governors secure database. A connection that cost him a small fortune in bribes and payments to hackers. Whilst Danmat had been speaking, the barman had been looking at the screen on the till. As well as the price of the vodka and Quaffe, it listed everything he needed to know about Danmat. He was born and raised on this planet, rarely travelling and had only been into space a handful of times and never out of the solar system. He wasn’t the threat he feared. Or was it the threat he used to fear? It had been so long the barman didn’t even know himself anymore.
“Well kid, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone.”
“Sure, to be honest I’m not sure who I could tell. I’m pretty new to the area.”
Danmat scanned the bar a bit more. He noticed a holo-picture behind the bar showing two woman. He guessed one was in her 40’s and the other late-teens or early 20’s.
“Family?” he nodded at the picture. The barman turned to look, when he faced Danmat again he looked sad.
“My first wife and daughter. They…. They are not with us anymore.”
Danmat looked at the ex-capsuleer and now barman. There was something in his eyes. A mix of great pain and greater anger.
“Are they the reason you are here?”
“Yes. They are the reason I chose the path of a lowly bar owner now and not an immortal. Their ghosts and the Guristas pirates are why I am here today.”
“Want to talk about it?” Danmat asked.
The barman paused.
“You know what kid. It has been fifteen years since their deaths set off that chain of events.” The barman grabbed a whisky glass and poured himself a good measure. “In all those years I’ve never spoken about what happened. Always a bit worried those damn pirates might not have appreciated what I did and come looking for me. So I’ve kept quiet and told nobody.”
“Not even to the wife?”
“Especially not the wife. What the hell, if you are a pirate they are recruiting them young these days. It all began over in Black Rise, however at the time of the……. ‘incident’ there was nothing I could do. I was a miner, nothing more, nothing less. It took me 18 months to train what I needed to train. It was then that things got, shall we say interesting…….”
Oh, and I wonder, has anyone else tried to write dialogue for a pirate faction in Eve and ended up with them all sounding like Mr Gibbs from Pirates of the Caribbean? No? Just me then? Glad I rewrote those parts with the “G’aaaarrrrrrr” turned down from 11 then!
If fan fiction isn't your thing, I'd recommend this rather good article on the problems with faction war at http://themittani.com/features/dissection-game-system-faction-warfare
Vengeance – Prologue
Danmat trudged down the street in the rain. It was dark and the sulphur in the atmosphere, which the rain brought down to street level, made the place smell like bad eggs. However, even though the volcanic activity on this planet made the air and water smell, it was still better to him than the recycled and filtered air on a space station.
He’d spent the day trying to fix a Condor class frigate with a dodgy plasma injector. It hadn’t been going well and he’d worked late into the night to finish the job. Still being in his first month on the job, he needed to impress, especially in this economy. He was slowly moving up from junior technician to starship engineer. This new position had required him to move from his home town to the big city. The small starport back home just didn’t have the jobs at this level.
His new apartment was relatively cheap. Mostly because it was away from any public transport terminals. He’d got off the metro 15 minutes ago and it was still a good 30 minutes walk. Tonight he was trying a different way home. The city of Messian on Amo III was hardly the centre of the cluster, but it was his new home. Most of the shops and businesses along the street were shut at this time. The area was rougher than he would have liked so quickened his pace. One bar a bit further down looked open and he thought a quick drink might do him good.
Inside the bar was quiet, very quiet. However, it was tastefully decorated and appeared to be much higher-class than he’d have expect for this area. He went up to the bar and perched on a bar stool. The barman wandered over.
“Welcome. What can I get you?”
“Double vodka and Quaffe please. Bit quiet tonight?”
The barman started preparing the drink.
“Yeah, usually is in the week. However, I kinda like it like that. Picks up at the weekend but never gets too busy.”
A stunningly gorgeous Gallente woman appeared from a door leading up to the side of the bar. Danmat did a double take. Everything about her, the make-up, dress, shoes and hair all screamed something to him. The nicest way he could put it is that she looked like she belonged in the area. If he had to label her, ‘Dancer’ would have been the nicest way he could think of describing her look, and he wasn’t think ballet! Still despite that appearance he couldn’t deny she was very attractive in a ‘filthy-gorgeous’ kind of way.
The barman smiled and nodded and she disappeared.
“Wife?” asked Danmat.
“Yes. Ten years and still going strong.” replied the barman who was placing the bottle of vodka back on the top shelf. As he stretched, Danmat noticed scaring on the back of his neck. Putting two and two together he thought he’d see what the reaction would be.
“So, you used to be a capsuleer?” Danmat asked nonchalantly.
The barmans eye’s narrowed and he turned around. Danmat was completely unaware that he was discreetly reaching under the counter for a concealed plasma rifle.
Danmat sipped his drink.
“That is a good drink! Well this bar is hardly in the central business district, but the furnishings and materials are top notch. You spent a lot of money renovating this place, and you’ll never make that back given the location and the customers you’ll likely get around here. You appear to have money to throw around. Usually that means ISK and not local credits. The name of the bar is ‘Mortal’, you have a trophy wife and the scaring on your neck indicates you had the interface implants removed. How am I doing?” Danmat grinned. He always liked playing at detective.
The capsuleer released his grip on the rifle still concealed under the bar. He was pretty sure he was not one of them. Even if he was, he rifle was still close and the internal security system in this bar was on a par with any Governmental secure location.
“Very observant. You a cop?”
“Me? No!” Danmat laughed “ I work down at the maintenance bay at the Eastern starport. Just got an apartment over in the Doolar district. Only problem is it’s a 45 minute walk from the nearest metro station to the block.”
The barman already knew this. A concealed DNA scanner in the door was linked to the planetary governors secure database. A connection that cost him a small fortune in bribes and payments to hackers. Whilst Danmat had been speaking, the barman had been looking at the screen on the till. As well as the price of the vodka and Quaffe, it listed everything he needed to know about Danmat. He was born and raised on this planet, rarely travelling and had only been into space a handful of times and never out of the solar system. He wasn’t the threat he feared. Or was it the threat he used to fear? It had been so long the barman didn’t even know himself anymore.
“Well kid, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone.”
“Sure, to be honest I’m not sure who I could tell. I’m pretty new to the area.”
Danmat scanned the bar a bit more. He noticed a holo-picture behind the bar showing two woman. He guessed one was in her 40’s and the other late-teens or early 20’s.
“Family?” he nodded at the picture. The barman turned to look, when he faced Danmat again he looked sad.
Danmat looked at the ex-capsuleer and now barman. There was something in his eyes. A mix of great pain and greater anger.
“Are they the reason you are here?”
“Yes. They are the reason I chose the path of a lowly bar owner now and not an immortal. Their ghosts and the Guristas pirates are why I am here today.”
“Want to talk about it?” Danmat asked.
The barman paused.
“You know what kid. It has been fifteen years since their deaths set off that chain of events.” The barman grabbed a whisky glass and poured himself a good measure. “In all those years I’ve never spoken about what happened. Always a bit worried those damn pirates might not have appreciated what I did and come looking for me. So I’ve kept quiet and told nobody.”
“Not even to the wife?”
“Especially not the wife. What the hell, if you are a pirate they are recruiting them young these days. It all began over in Black Rise, however at the time of the……. ‘incident’ there was nothing I could do. I was a miner, nothing more, nothing less. It took me 18 months to train what I needed to train. It was then that things got, shall we say interesting…….”
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