Fiction Friday. Escape pod here.
Playing about on the test server with burner missions got me thinking about missioning and then I saw some cheesey 90's straight-to-video movie with a damsel in distress. Time for a third reboot of that level 4 staple, The Damsel in Distress!
The Damsel 3.0
"Boss, we've got a hit." the voice coming through the datapad communicator stated.
"Go on."
Kruul was in his private apartment with a few of his associates. The residence was located on the top deck of the large outpost on the edge of the solar system. He placed his pool que down and stepped away from the table. Thirteen thousand years after mankind had first journeyed through the massive wormhole known as the Eve Gate to this distant cluster of stars, the game of pool was still played. Whilst it had some differences to the original, the future version would be still be recognizable to someone from ancient Earth. Knowledge of the planet Earth and humanities origins may have been long forgotten over the millennia, but human's thirst for entertainment had kept the ancient game going.
"The club in Dome B. Apparently its the daughter of a high-interest target."
Kruul smiled. All of his establishments had their security cameras hooked up to a facial recognition database. His agents identified anyone who might be of use to them and then created database entries on them and their immediate families. It had worked well. The Judge who visited one of their 'special' brothels. The senior cop who's wife had a booster habit and regularly visited one of their drug dens. All useful to know for future use. Blackmail and extortion were everyday activities for Kruul's organization. He looked at the file his man had sent. This was the daughter of a researcher at Roden Shipyards. They knew, along with most mega-corps, Roden had been attempting to reverse engineer the Drifter super-weapons. This scientist was the most likely to be heading up that area of research. Several organizations would pay handsomely to get their hands on that research. The Caldari State was his first thought. They would be very interested in knowing how far their enemy had got in reverse engineering the devastating weapons.
"Is she alone?"
"No sir. She has a friend with her, although the friend is not on any of the databases. Complete unknown."
"OK, probably a nobody then but we'll need her too for what I have planned." Kruul smiled and put the datapad down.
"Come on, we've got work to do." he announced to three others sat around the table. Two were his personal muscle. Lieutenants in the organization that acted as his bodyguards, one of which he had been just playing pool against. The woman in the room was his current girlfriend, Diarrala. She'd been at his side for the last six months. A rising star in the organization. She had been a member of one of his splinter group gangs operating in the largest city on the 6th planet. Kruul had many inner city gangs that worked for him. After several successful and high-profile heists he had gotten word that the Serpentis Syndicate was sniffing around looking to lure this successful gang over to their organization. He'd gone planet-side personally to meet the gang that was doing so well. Within five minutes of meeting her he'd offered her a position as one of his lieutenants. She'd continued the good work and had brought in millions for the organization. She had the golden touch and was as ruthless as anyone he'd met.
"What we got?" she asked as they stood. He passed her the datapad.
"Leverage." was his reply.
-o0o-
Hese Pallant disconnected the comm-link. He'd just sent an Empyrean in a Megathron class battleship to deal with a nearby pirate enclave. He concentrated only on the numbers. It was the only way to do it and not go mad. If you thought of the potential loss of human life you'd soon spiral into depression. The Serpentis Syndicate had over fifty ships ranging from frigates to battleships. Thousands of people were going to die because of his orders. Of course they weren't his orders personally. He was an agent for the mega-corporation and simply passed the orders to the capsuleers from his superiors. His desk communicator bleeped. Looking at the screen he saw it was not another 'Pod Jockey' looking for their next job, it was one of the directors. This was highly unusual, he dealt with orders sent over the network, rarely speaking direct. In fact he had no idea what the boss of his boss looked like. The directors gave orders that adversely affected millions of people regularly. Most of them kept themselves and their families out of the spotlight. He accepted the incoming call.
"Director Lour, what can I do for you sir?"
The Director looked haggard like some great weight was baring down on him.
"This is a delicate matter Agent Pallant. I assume I can count on your discretion?"
"Of course sir."
The Director then went on to explain that the daughter of one of the corporation's scientists had not returned home. Initial investigations had traced her to a small illegal entertainment outpost on the edge of the system. It was at this point an undercover agent who had previously infiltrated the criminal organization who ran the outpost made contact. She confirmed the girl had been identified and that they were planning on kidnapping her and the friend she had gone to the nightclub with. They would then blackmail the Scientist into revealing classified material.
"Sir. I need to warn you, Capsuleers are a sledgehammer, not a scalpel. If I send one in there then there will be a lot of death and a lot of destruction."
"I understand. We are hoping for a less brutal resolution and we have an operative on site working on either stopping the kidnap or if they do get them, expediting the girls release. However, if they fail we'll need to send an Empyrean as soon as possible so I want the contact prepared now. Mission perimeters and reward details have been sent to you."
The comm-link shut down and Hese got to work.
-o0o-
The snatch was easy. Kruul and Diarrala watch from a catwalk above above the dancefloor as the two men made their move. Kruul had picked two of his better looking men to approach the girls. Drinks were bought, spiked and drank. Two girls looking to party happily accepted free drinks from the attractive strangers. They watched the two men carry the already woozy girls to a side exit and out of the club as the drugs started to kick in.
"So what we going to do?" Diarrala asked as they headed for the stairs.
"Its too late now to kick it off. We'll wait until morning. We'll video call the egg-head-scientist with his daughters friend in the background. We'll do a job on her to show him how serious we are and what will happen to his daughter if he doesn't comply. Pretty sure if we make it nasty enough he'll do anything we ask to save his daughter. Once we have the files I'll contact someone I know in the State Protectorate and see what they are prepared to offer. May be the Guristas too, see if I can get an auction going." Kruul laughed.
Diarrala nodded. "Amarrians might also be interested. Especially if we lie and say the research is being carried out along side the Matari as well."
Kruul smiled. "I like your thinking. You know I like a good three-way!" he joked.
They reached the bottom of the stairs where the two men stood by the barely conscious girls. They had propped them into two chairs.
"Good work boys. Take them to the brig to let them sleep it off. Also let Kils know we'll need him tomorrow, and tell him to bring his knife. The really big one I like."
Diarrala kept her expression blank. Kils was a Matari Brutor who worked for Kruul. He was a freak of nature. Nearly seven feet of rippling muscle. She had once seen him crush a man's head with his bare hands. On top of being a freak of nature, he was an incredible sadist. Kruul used him as a living, breathing, punishment. Kils scared everyone, even Kruul although he'd never admit it. If you ever needed someone to die a very slow and horrible death, Kils was your man. Whoever the scientist's daughter's friend was, she was going to be made to suffer an unimaginable death in the morning in order to make sure the scientist had no hesitation in betraying his corporation.
-o0o-
Hese finished the contact and re-read it. A standard capsuleer mission like hundreds of thousands that were completed everyday. A seven figure payout in Interstellar Kredits plus a good sum of loyalty benefits for continued service.
It was already to go should the first option fail. Capsuleers were generally a last resort. The Angels of Destruction did not do subtle. They were hammers, and hammers tended to see every problem as a nail.
He looked at the intel again and reminded himself to just think of them as numbers not people. The death toll would be catastrophic he knew but that was only if the capsuleer option was exercised. He hoped the operative in the Pleasure Gardens would enact the rescue. It would save a lot of lives.
A bleep on his comms console showed a Capsuleer docked at the station was calling him. The screen showed the Empyrean's background. He was a regular of Hese's. He composed himself and answered the call.
"Malgardarn, welcome back. I have a mission just for you if you are looking for a challenge."
The holographic representation of the capsuleer simply nodded. Hese took a breath and started to reciting the same orders he had done many times before.
"We've been gathering information from our numerous agents within the Serpentis to prepare ourselves for a possible attack on our assets. So far we've found out that they are planning a major offensive against a target within the system today. The target still remains unknown to us, but we have managed to discover the meeting point of some of their forces. I want you to gather all the help you can muster and fly out to the meeting points and deliver a devastating blow to their fleet. That should deter them from any attack inside the system, and send them a message they won't forget. Just don't forget what you're up against. We have no idea how many ships are out there, all we know is where 3 of their rendezvous points are. Destroy any and all targets you can find there, then report back to me. If there's too many of them out there, then get some help, I'm sure some of our other agents in the vicinity would be willing to give you a hand."
The capsuleer nodded and comm link went dead. The words "Mission Accepted" appeared a second later across the relevant contract. Capsuleers tended to be individuals of few words which suited Hese just fine. What do you say to someone who has killed hundreds of thousands of people?
-o0o-
Diarrala pulled the girls along after her. The corridors of the outpost were deserted at this time of night.
"You're hurting me!" the daughter's friend moaned.
"Come on!" Diarrala snapped "We need to get out of her."
She had sprung the two from the brig by knocking the guard out. It was only a couple of minutes jog but it felt like an eternity. They finally got to the hanger and Diarrala smiled as she saw the shuttle was already warmed up. She had remotely engaged the start up sequence earlier knowing the shuttle needed fifteen minutes to be flight-ready. She dragged the girl up the ramp and into the shuttles passenger cabin.
"Well hello Diarrala." Kruul's voice sounded.
She spun around to find him leaning back in one of the seats drinking a glass of wine. Two of his gorillas were stood each side of him. They had their guns drawn but held there hands together in front of them.
"Going for a little spin were we with our guests? I must say I was surprised to get a ping that someone was warming up the shuttle. I was even more surprised to find it was your command codes. I never took you for someone with a strong mothering instinct." he laughed.
Diarrala racked her brain for an excuse but knew it was useless. Kruul was no idiot, he knew what she was doing. She stayed quiet.
"Cat got your tongue? We'll see if we can sort that. Boys, take our guests back to her room and escort Diarrala to my quarters. We need some private time for a little chat."
-o0o-
The service drones buzzed around the ship repairing some minor damage from the last mission. The Capsuleer stepped out onto the gantry to watch them work. A thermal shield hardener was being installed which was the last module being changed. He watched another drone loading a rack of Inferno class cruise missiles into the cargo bay. He'd soon be able to leave.
He brought up the diagnostics read out. He knew his targets ships used shields as their primary defense. He also knew they hardened them against electromagnetic damage. Missiles that used a thermal warhead would exploit the shields remaining weak spot. He also knew they in turn used thermal warheads themselves so was making sure his shields were tuned to that damage type.
The hanger fell silent as the drones retreated into the alcoves lining the wall, their work was done. The immortal walked towards the capsule as he shed his clothes.
-o0o-
Kruul slowly walked around the pool table smiling. Diarrala was lashed to the top of the table, each of her wrists and ankles tied to a corner. Her head tried to track him as he circled. He stopped at her side and pulled out a thick cigar. He lit it and puffed on it, savoring its taste. He leaned over and looked her in the eye.
"When I came of age my father, like many in our society, took me to a cathouse so I could become a man." Kruul recounted wistfully, puffing on the cigar. "Yes, he was was an old fashioned Mannar my father. Her name was Loorene. He'd already picked her out for me in advance. Experienced of course. Ethnic Gallente, olive skin, hair as black as deepest null-sec. Oh, she really knew what she was doing." he chuckled.
There was a sharp click as Kruul plucked a flick knife from his pocket and opened it. Diarrala shook her head and muttered 'No' as he leaned over her prone body. He slowly cut the top button from her dress.
"I was no innocent by that age, but Loorene was still definitely an education" he continued slicing the buttons from her dress one by one. "She taught me a lot."
Kruul parted the strips of material and started cutting Diarrala underwear away with the razor sharp knife. Diarrala sobbed as he worked.
"She taught me the most sensitive areas of a woman. How to bring your lover great pleasure with the lightest touch. Of course the most sensitive areas, those with the most nerve endings, are also useful to target for different sensations." He pulled the sliced underwear from under her and dropped it on the floor.
"Away, enough about me. I really, really, really want to hear about you." he said running the point of the knife over her skin as she cried out in fear.
He stabbed the knife into the wooden edge of the table and left it sticking there. He pulled the cigar from his mouth and blew on the tip until it glowed angrily.
"Your datapad here appears to be encoded. Messages were sent off-station just after we found out about that girl. Coincidence? However as they are encoded we don't know what they say or who they were sent to. So please, lets start with who you really work for and what is the unlock code for your datapad." he said menacingly, reaching forward towards her with the glowing cigar.
"Boss, we've got a hit." the voice coming through the datapad communicator stated.
"Go on."
Kruul was in his private apartment with a few of his associates. The residence was located on the top deck of the large outpost on the edge of the solar system. He placed his pool que down and stepped away from the table. Thirteen thousand years after mankind had first journeyed through the massive wormhole known as the Eve Gate to this distant cluster of stars, the game of pool was still played. Whilst it had some differences to the original, the future version would be still be recognizable to someone from ancient Earth. Knowledge of the planet Earth and humanities origins may have been long forgotten over the millennia, but human's thirst for entertainment had kept the ancient game going.
"The club in Dome B. Apparently its the daughter of a high-interest target."
Kruul smiled. All of his establishments had their security cameras hooked up to a facial recognition database. His agents identified anyone who might be of use to them and then created database entries on them and their immediate families. It had worked well. The Judge who visited one of their 'special' brothels. The senior cop who's wife had a booster habit and regularly visited one of their drug dens. All useful to know for future use. Blackmail and extortion were everyday activities for Kruul's organization. He looked at the file his man had sent. This was the daughter of a researcher at Roden Shipyards. They knew, along with most mega-corps, Roden had been attempting to reverse engineer the Drifter super-weapons. This scientist was the most likely to be heading up that area of research. Several organizations would pay handsomely to get their hands on that research. The Caldari State was his first thought. They would be very interested in knowing how far their enemy had got in reverse engineering the devastating weapons.
"Is she alone?"
"No sir. She has a friend with her, although the friend is not on any of the databases. Complete unknown."
"OK, probably a nobody then but we'll need her too for what I have planned." Kruul smiled and put the datapad down.
"Come on, we've got work to do." he announced to three others sat around the table. Two were his personal muscle. Lieutenants in the organization that acted as his bodyguards, one of which he had been just playing pool against. The woman in the room was his current girlfriend, Diarrala. She'd been at his side for the last six months. A rising star in the organization. She had been a member of one of his splinter group gangs operating in the largest city on the 6th planet. Kruul had many inner city gangs that worked for him. After several successful and high-profile heists he had gotten word that the Serpentis Syndicate was sniffing around looking to lure this successful gang over to their organization. He'd gone planet-side personally to meet the gang that was doing so well. Within five minutes of meeting her he'd offered her a position as one of his lieutenants. She'd continued the good work and had brought in millions for the organization. She had the golden touch and was as ruthless as anyone he'd met.
"What we got?" she asked as they stood. He passed her the datapad.
"Leverage." was his reply.
Hese Pallant disconnected the comm-link. He'd just sent an Empyrean in a Megathron class battleship to deal with a nearby pirate enclave. He concentrated only on the numbers. It was the only way to do it and not go mad. If you thought of the potential loss of human life you'd soon spiral into depression. The Serpentis Syndicate had over fifty ships ranging from frigates to battleships. Thousands of people were going to die because of his orders. Of course they weren't his orders personally. He was an agent for the mega-corporation and simply passed the orders to the capsuleers from his superiors. His desk communicator bleeped. Looking at the screen he saw it was not another 'Pod Jockey' looking for their next job, it was one of the directors. This was highly unusual, he dealt with orders sent over the network, rarely speaking direct. In fact he had no idea what the boss of his boss looked like. The directors gave orders that adversely affected millions of people regularly. Most of them kept themselves and their families out of the spotlight. He accepted the incoming call.
"Director Lour, what can I do for you sir?"
The Director looked haggard like some great weight was baring down on him.
"This is a delicate matter Agent Pallant. I assume I can count on your discretion?"
"Of course sir."
The Director then went on to explain that the daughter of one of the corporation's scientists had not returned home. Initial investigations had traced her to a small illegal entertainment outpost on the edge of the system. It was at this point an undercover agent who had previously infiltrated the criminal organization who ran the outpost made contact. She confirmed the girl had been identified and that they were planning on kidnapping her and the friend she had gone to the nightclub with. They would then blackmail the Scientist into revealing classified material.
"Sir. I need to warn you, Capsuleers are a sledgehammer, not a scalpel. If I send one in there then there will be a lot of death and a lot of destruction."
"I understand. We are hoping for a less brutal resolution and we have an operative on site working on either stopping the kidnap or if they do get them, expediting the girls release. However, if they fail we'll need to send an Empyrean as soon as possible so I want the contact prepared now. Mission perimeters and reward details have been sent to you."
The comm-link shut down and Hese got to work.
-o0o-
The snatch was easy. Kruul and Diarrala watch from a catwalk above above the dancefloor as the two men made their move. Kruul had picked two of his better looking men to approach the girls. Drinks were bought, spiked and drank. Two girls looking to party happily accepted free drinks from the attractive strangers. They watched the two men carry the already woozy girls to a side exit and out of the club as the drugs started to kick in.
"So what we going to do?" Diarrala asked as they headed for the stairs.
"Its too late now to kick it off. We'll wait until morning. We'll video call the egg-head-scientist with his daughters friend in the background. We'll do a job on her to show him how serious we are and what will happen to his daughter if he doesn't comply. Pretty sure if we make it nasty enough he'll do anything we ask to save his daughter. Once we have the files I'll contact someone I know in the State Protectorate and see what they are prepared to offer. May be the Guristas too, see if I can get an auction going." Kruul laughed.
Diarrala nodded. "Amarrians might also be interested. Especially if we lie and say the research is being carried out along side the Matari as well."
Kruul smiled. "I like your thinking. You know I like a good three-way!" he joked.
They reached the bottom of the stairs where the two men stood by the barely conscious girls. They had propped them into two chairs.
"Good work boys. Take them to the brig to let them sleep it off. Also let Kils know we'll need him tomorrow, and tell him to bring his knife. The really big one I like."
Diarrala kept her expression blank. Kils was a Matari Brutor who worked for Kruul. He was a freak of nature. Nearly seven feet of rippling muscle. She had once seen him crush a man's head with his bare hands. On top of being a freak of nature, he was an incredible sadist. Kruul used him as a living, breathing, punishment. Kils scared everyone, even Kruul although he'd never admit it. If you ever needed someone to die a very slow and horrible death, Kils was your man. Whoever the scientist's daughter's friend was, she was going to be made to suffer an unimaginable death in the morning in order to make sure the scientist had no hesitation in betraying his corporation.
-o0o-
Hese finished the contact and re-read it. A standard capsuleer mission like hundreds of thousands that were completed everyday. A seven figure payout in Interstellar Kredits plus a good sum of loyalty benefits for continued service.
It was already to go should the first option fail. Capsuleers were generally a last resort. The Angels of Destruction did not do subtle. They were hammers, and hammers tended to see every problem as a nail.
He looked at the intel again and reminded himself to just think of them as numbers not people. The death toll would be catastrophic he knew but that was only if the capsuleer option was exercised. He hoped the operative in the Pleasure Gardens would enact the rescue. It would save a lot of lives.
A bleep on his comms console showed a Capsuleer docked at the station was calling him. The screen showed the Empyrean's background. He was a regular of Hese's. He composed himself and answered the call.
"Malgardarn, welcome back. I have a mission just for you if you are looking for a challenge."
The holographic representation of the capsuleer simply nodded. Hese took a breath and started to reciting the same orders he had done many times before.
"We've been gathering information from our numerous agents within the Serpentis to prepare ourselves for a possible attack on our assets. So far we've found out that they are planning a major offensive against a target within the system today. The target still remains unknown to us, but we have managed to discover the meeting point of some of their forces. I want you to gather all the help you can muster and fly out to the meeting points and deliver a devastating blow to their fleet. That should deter them from any attack inside the system, and send them a message they won't forget. Just don't forget what you're up against. We have no idea how many ships are out there, all we know is where 3 of their rendezvous points are. Destroy any and all targets you can find there, then report back to me. If there's too many of them out there, then get some help, I'm sure some of our other agents in the vicinity would be willing to give you a hand."
The capsuleer nodded and comm link went dead. The words "Mission Accepted" appeared a second later across the relevant contract. Capsuleers tended to be individuals of few words which suited Hese just fine. What do you say to someone who has killed hundreds of thousands of people?
-o0o-
Diarrala pulled the girls along after her. The corridors of the outpost were deserted at this time of night.
"You're hurting me!" the daughter's friend moaned.
"Come on!" Diarrala snapped "We need to get out of her."
She had sprung the two from the brig by knocking the guard out. It was only a couple of minutes jog but it felt like an eternity. They finally got to the hanger and Diarrala smiled as she saw the shuttle was already warmed up. She had remotely engaged the start up sequence earlier knowing the shuttle needed fifteen minutes to be flight-ready. She dragged the girl up the ramp and into the shuttles passenger cabin.
"Well hello Diarrala." Kruul's voice sounded.
She spun around to find him leaning back in one of the seats drinking a glass of wine. Two of his gorillas were stood each side of him. They had their guns drawn but held there hands together in front of them.
"Going for a little spin were we with our guests? I must say I was surprised to get a ping that someone was warming up the shuttle. I was even more surprised to find it was your command codes. I never took you for someone with a strong mothering instinct." he laughed.
Diarrala racked her brain for an excuse but knew it was useless. Kruul was no idiot, he knew what she was doing. She stayed quiet.
"Cat got your tongue? We'll see if we can sort that. Boys, take our guests back to her room and escort Diarrala to my quarters. We need some private time for a little chat."
-o0o-
He brought up the diagnostics read out. He knew his targets ships used shields as their primary defense. He also knew they hardened them against electromagnetic damage. Missiles that used a thermal warhead would exploit the shields remaining weak spot. He also knew they in turn used thermal warheads themselves so was making sure his shields were tuned to that damage type.
The hanger fell silent as the drones retreated into the alcoves lining the wall, their work was done. The immortal walked towards the capsule as he shed his clothes.
-o0o-
Kruul slowly walked around the pool table smiling. Diarrala was lashed to the top of the table, each of her wrists and ankles tied to a corner. Her head tried to track him as he circled. He stopped at her side and pulled out a thick cigar. He lit it and puffed on it, savoring its taste. He leaned over and looked her in the eye.
There was a sharp click as Kruul plucked a flick knife from his pocket and opened it. Diarrala shook her head and muttered 'No' as he leaned over her prone body. He slowly cut the top button from her dress.
"I was no innocent by that age, but Loorene was still definitely an education" he continued slicing the buttons from her dress one by one. "She taught me a lot."
Kruul parted the strips of material and started cutting Diarrala underwear away with the razor sharp knife. Diarrala sobbed as he worked.
"She taught me the most sensitive areas of a woman. How to bring your lover great pleasure with the lightest touch. Of course the most sensitive areas, those with the most nerve endings, are also useful to target for different sensations." He pulled the sliced underwear from under her and dropped it on the floor.
"Away, enough about me. I really, really, really want to hear about you." he said running the point of the knife over her skin as she cried out in fear.
He stabbed the knife into the wooden edge of the table and left it sticking there. He pulled the cigar from his mouth and blew on the tip until it glowed angrily.
"Your datapad here appears to be encoded. Messages were sent off-station just after we found out about that girl. Coincidence? However as they are encoded we don't know what they say or who they were sent to. So please, lets start with who you really work for and what is the unlock code for your datapad." he said menacingly, reaching forward towards her with the glowing cigar.
To be concluded.....
good one. BUT
ReplyDelete"...as a living, breathing, punishment."
How much I do hate the oxford comma ...
I did actually pause there and do it both ways. It just seemed better that way.
Delete