MoT - The Pirate Factions

Friday fiction! Escape pod here! If you are a new player and want some 'stuffz' go there!

Several years ago CCP released four chronicles detailing the brutality of the four Empires. The 'Methods of Torture' series covered the Amarr, Caldari, Gallente and Minmatar. If you are into your Eve-O fiction (I assume you are as you are still reading this) you've probably already read them. Any regular readers will I know I like my horror. Richard Laymon, Edward Lee and others like them in the genre. So Official Eve lore with a horror style twist? However, how about the major pirate factions? Are they worse? Four short-shorts carrying on from where CCP left off after covering the Empires.....

The Guristas

Chiku was thrown naked into the small cell. He crashed to the floor banging his knees. He was plunged into pitch blackness as the heavy metal door slammed shut with a deafening clang. He knew he was in a world of trouble. As an agent for the Caldari State he had successfully infiltrated the Guristas pirate organisation six months ago. However, somehow, his cover had been blown. He'd been stripped, beaten and then thrown into this black cell. The smell let him know he wasn't the first person to have been locked up in here. They would be back, he was sure of that. They'd find his datapad and an extensive search would uncover the hidden encrypted section, then they'd need the passcode. If he gave it to them dozens of fellow agents could be compromised. He'd take the interrogation for a while then pretend to break and then give them the kill-code. A special code that when entered on the unlock screen would permanently erased the data. It would be the end for him, but it would save countless others. He was dead either way.

After three days of beatings and food that was nothing more than rotting rice and stagnant water he was taken to a different room. He was cuffed and sat at a metal table bolted to the floor when a uniformed man entered, the solitary guard turned and left as the officer entered.

"I hope you are enjoying our hospitality Mr Oshomi...." the man said as he sat in the seat at the opposite side of the table.

Chiku tried not to flinch, they knew his real name. That was really bad.

"...and I hate to ask for a favour, but we really need the unlock code for the encrypted area of your datapad."

Chiku paused "6, 7, Omega, 2, nine, Gamma, four, two." he said quietly hanging his head.

"OK, so thats the kill code out of the way," the uniformed man smiled "and the unlock code would be?"

Chiku just looked up, his gamble failed. This man knew about the kill-code. There was a leak at HQ surely.

"Frack you!" Chiku said. He knew the beatings and starvation would get worse but he wasn't about to betray the State. He watched the uniformed man smile, nod slightly and turn and leave. The guards returned and Chiku was dumped in the black cell again.

He didn't know how long they left him there in the darkness this time. If he had to guess it must have been close to a week. Why no beatings? Why no questioning. Every so often the small hatch in the bottom of the door would be opened and the meager rations would be pushed through. Chiku had never been so hungry in his life. His thoughts were generally of his wife back on New Caldari. She hated him for doing these long deep-cover operations. Her tearful face as he left her for the last time came back to haunt him everytime he slept.

Eventually they came for him. He was weak now after days upon days of starvation. They carried him to a different room. A clean room, homely almost. Inside were two women in uniforms. They did not speak as they stripped him, bathed him and clothed him in clean clothes. They sat him at a table and placed a meal in front of him before leaving him alone. He knew it was a trap. The room was nice, almost like a hotel room. In front of him was a steaming bowl of rich curry. Caldanese noodles, large chunks of what looked like chicken and a jug of iced water. Slowly he began to eat. He knew if he rushed into the meal as he desired to, his shrunken stomach wouldn't be able to take it. So he went slowly, relishing every bite as he slowly consumed the fine meal. As he finished the door opened and the uniformed man who had questioned him before entered and sat at the table opposite him. Chiku wanted to kill him, but he knew he was too weak from starvation to try anything. The plastic spork he used was no weapon. That's why he had come alone with no guards, he knew Chiku was no threat in his state.

"Did you enjoy your meal?" the man asked cordially.

"It was certainly an improvement." Chiku replied guardedly. Was this the new tactic? Playing the good guy? Turn against the State, give up the unlock code and you get a nice room and good food? Surely they didn't think that would work?

"Well lets discuss that unlock code now." the Guristas officer said lifting a finger in the air. The door opened as if on queue. Chiku let out a sob as he saw his wife dragged in between the shoulders of two guards. She was barely conscious. Her head hung forward as the two guards supported her and her feet dragged limply behind. Her usually shiny blonde hair was matted and hung covering her face. She was also practically naked, her skimpy white lace panties covering her modesty. Around her chest a bandage was wrapped. The pale flesh of her full left breast spilled out either side of the tight white gauze. Where her right breast should have been the material was flat against her chest. A large blood stain, almost black in colour, showed through the bandage. "Or would you like us to prepare another meal for you?" the Guristas officer asked casually raising an eyebrow.

-o0o-

The Angel Cartel

Mizuro started to come around. Her head was clouded and was struggling to recall what had happened to her. She glanced around. First thing she saw was another woman in front of her, unconscious on the floor. The stranger was fully clothed in an Angels Cartel uniform. Mizuro looked down at her own body. She was naked and strapped spread-eagle to some sort of metal frame. Things didn't look good. Had they discovered what she had been doing? That would be really bad for her she thought. At this point she noticed her right hand was encased in a clear plastic box. A cigar shaped object was in there with a red button on the top. Some sort of remote trigger? She could easily reach it but decided not to touch it.

The other woman stirred and started to come around too. She looked up at Mizuro in shock, obviously also not knowing what was going on.

"Good morning." a voice boomed through a hidden speaker. "Here we have two traitors to the Cartel. Captain Wilakiater has been stealing from her cargo and selling the property of the Cartel on privately. We are talking small amounts but she must be taught a lesson. Administrator Mizuro however has been syphoning funds from our various laundering accounts on a much grander scale for a lot longer. One has made tens of thousands of credits, the other nearer five hundred thousand. Both have been stealing from the Cartel. Both are to be punished."

The two women started to protest in unison.

"Mom?" a boy's voice sounded through the hidden speakers. Mizuro let out a sob hearing her sons voice.

"Mom?" Wilakiater stopped as she heard her daughter.

The back wall of the room shimmered. A projection appeared and both women cried out. It was outside on a sandy beach. They saw their children stood in tall one-person cages.

"As you can see, your offspring at locked in small cages above individual pools of flammable liquid. The doors to these cages face away from each other. They are tied together by the rope you can see that goes between and through the cages. The only way to free your children is to break the rope which will allow both doors to be opened. Captain Wilakiater, the pool below your daughter contains a small incendiary device. 90 minutes after this video stops it will automatically ignite. The liquid in the pool burns at a relatively low temperature. Your daughter will suffer as she slowly burns to death. This will also burn through the rope over time and release the boy in the opposite cage. Mizuro, the remote that is in the box with your right hand is a detonator for the device in the tank under your own son. If you depress the button your son will die a slow, horrible death, but the rope will burn through and Captain Wilakiater's daughter will be freed. We now leave you alone to discuss what should happen. There is only rule. Captain Wilakiater is not allowed to touch that remote, if she does or tries to gain access to the box we will automatically ignite the pool under her daughter. For those watching, let this be a lesson to you all. The ninety minutes starts now."

The two women looked at each other in horror. Captain Wilakiater's expression slowly started to harden. She approached Mizuro who was defenseless tied to the frame.

"Press the button." she snarled in a commanding tone. Mizuro turned her face away. Wilakiater slapped her hard. "PRESS THE BUTTON!" she screamed.

Mizuro turned her face back around, her cheek stinging from the blow.

"No!" she said defiantly. "Do it yourself" knowing that if the Captain tried to even access the box she would be killing her daughter and Mizuro's son would be freed.

Wilakiater stepped back and looked around the room. Her head locked onto something. Mizuro followed her gaze. In a corner of the room was something hidden by a white sheet. Wilakiater walked over and pulled the sheet away. Mizuro craned her neck to try and see what it was. It looked to be a trolley of sorts. Wilakiater wheeled it over and Mizuro let out a sob. The trolley contained a vast array of tools and implements. Pliers, metal snips, scalpels, drills, blow-torches, knives, soldering irons hammers and nails were amongst the devices carefully laid out along the top.

"Please. Press the button." Wilakiater said as she lit the blowtorch and placed it to one side before picking up a small pair of bolt cutters. The Angel starship captain placed the blades either side of Mizuro's little finger of her left hand. "Press it now!"

The administrator shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Press it now!" the Captain ordered.

There was an ear piercing scream followed by the sharp sound of snapping of bone.

-o0o-

The Serpentis

Gara felt unstoppable right now. He was at the top of his game and nobody could stop him. His 'Blue Ice' was the most in demand narcotic in the city. He'd stumbled across the recipe by accident whilst experimenting in his lab. From his original set up in the garage of his run down house he now had an industrial scale operation in the basement of his multi-million credit mansion. He looked either side of him, the two women were fast asleep. He tried to recall their names. Alebeke? Albyne? Alirener? Allachard? Who cared? He could have two more tonight if he wanted. He climbed down the bed and threw on his robe. Walking downstairs there were various other women asleep all over the place. Draped over sofas or collapsed on the floor. Beautiful girls wearing tiny dresses, bikinis or in several cases a few strips of lace and silk.

"That's how you throw a proper party!" he thought to himself.

He entered the kitchen and his maid bowed as she saw him and immediately started preparing his breakfast. A Caldari maid was a rare thing in the Federation but as a patriot Gara enjoyed having a Caldari on staff. They belonged to be subservient to their Gallente masters. He made sure he mistreated her when ever he could. He picked up his datapad. There was a stack of messages detailing funds transfers from overnight, part of his vast money laundering racket. He placed it down, he now had so much money he didn't care. He owned this town now. The threats from the Serpentis Syndicate were just that. He owned enough muscle and dirty cops that not even they could touch him. Life was good!

That evening the party was just getting started. His place was full of his friends and lots of girls. Just how he liked it. He was holding court to three very beautiful specimens when there was a commotion at the door. He glanced over and saw two of his men were handling it. Massive Matari Brutors he used as doormen when he threw a party and he threw a party most nights. There was a sudden crack and Gara looked on in disbelief as one of the Brutor's head exploded. There was a stunned silence for a fraction of a second and then all hell broke loose. The other Brutor shuddered as holes were blasted through him and four men burst in. They started firing at anyone they could. Gara was frozen as one of the girls facing him was hit by a shotgun blast in the back. He could see the smoking barrel through the massive hole in her chest. He ran. More gun fire, more screams, more begging followed by a gunshot and then silence.

As he ran for the stairs a hand grabbed his ankle. He looked down to see one of the girls with a look of terror on her face. Her left leg had been blown off at the knee. The stump was pumping bright red blood over his 540 credit per square metre imported Amarrian carpet.

"Please help me." she cried as he shook her hand free and scrambled up the stairs.

He got to the landing and stopped. One of his friends was crawling towards the stairs obviously badly injured. One of the intruders calmly walked up behind him and shot him in the back. The shooter looked up at Gara and smiled.

Gara turned and ran up the stairs. He darted into his room and opened the secret panic room before diving in. The door closed behind him. Looking at the monitors the intruders were mopping up. His friends and guests were mostly dead and those that were still alive were being finished off. He knew it had to be the Serpentis Syndicate. They were sending a message. He watched one of the men slowly walk through the house, he was heading to Gara's bedroom. He quickly opened the safe and pulled out his gun. There was no way the man could get in here but he didn't care. When the door to the panic room opened, he nearly dropped the gun. It was impossible! How did the man know the code. He had been betrayed! He leveled the gun at the intruder who stood there casually with his weapon lowered and pulled the trigger.

Click
Click
Click

The gun was empty. Someone had removed the ammo. The betrayal was absolute. He'd been set up by one of his own.

As the much larger man approached and grabbed him by the neck he offered no resistance. The Serpentis enforcer dragged him down stairs through the numerous bodies and into the kitchen. The three others were there as well as the maid. She didn't appear to be scared. He could smell something. He had no idea why he even entertained the thought that popped into his head "Oooo is she cooking prawn crackers?"

The men dragged him onto the big table, each one holding an arm or a leg. His maid approached with a gleam in her eye. What was she doing? Why didn't she call the police? Then he saw the cleaver. The bright steel flashed before he could react. A blinding pain shot up his arm and his head snapped to the right. The four fingers of his hand lay separated as the stumps pumped bright red blood over his Matari mahogany table. After a second his brain finally processed what had happened. Quickly the maid moved and before he realised what was happening he'd lost all his fingers and toes. The pain was excruciating as he struggled against the powerful hands.

The men restraining him pulled his trousers down. Panic truly set in now. The maid turned and walked to the stove picking something up. When she turned around he saw that she wore thick kitchen gloves and held a pan. That's what he had smelt, hot oil. Boiling hot oil. Prawn crackers was the last thing on his mind as the Serpentis insider slowly poured the contents onto his naked groin.

Inspector Lintere looked down on Gara's screaming form. The restraints held him securely to the hospital bed. His head was thrown back and veins and tendons bulged in his neck as the agony washed over him. Suddenly the screaming stopped and he was still.

"There is nothing you can do for him?" he asked the Doctor.

"No Inspector, whilst he physically feels the pain, I'm afraid its all in his head. No painkiller is going to help as the signals are originating from the brain itself, not the nerves. Not that they could, everything down there was deep fried and very dead. From what we can tell the Echelon Entertainment Implant he had installed a month ago was modified when he went in for the implant. Oh it played the PR video games and movies but it had a sinister purpose too. We are pretty sure the perps had been planning this for weeks."

PR stood for Perceived Reality. For those who thought VR was a child's game, PR used a cranial implant to allow games to be played directly within the brain. A hyper-realistic dream-state where the user was in control. Unlike a dream, the implant could make sensations real. In most games pleasure was enhanced and pain was reduced to nothing more than a slight discomfort. It had been banned on many worlds. Some people just ended up wasting away preferring to spend most of their time in the 'game'.

"So he's stuck in a loop?"

"As far as we can tell yes. He's reliving that day over and over again. The modified implant basically recorded the whole day leading up to the attack. The pain reducing algorithms have been removed. He's getting his digits trimmed and his crotch deep-fried every 24 hours and feeling every single bit. He starts the day on a high, then the attack happens and he experiences fear, terror and horror. Then the final bit, well the less said about that the better!"

"No way of breaking him out of it?"

"No. We've had the top Echelon techs here in person to inspect him. They cannot access the implant to shut it off. The Serps, if it was indeed the Serps, have done a good job on their modified software for the implant. It cannot be deactivated without killing him. It cannot be reprogrammed without killing him and we cannot clone him with the program running as its impossible to get a normal brainscan. This poor SOAB is stuck in a loop of that nightmare of a day forever."

-o0o-

The Blood Raiders

Seriously guys? The Blood Raiders! You expect me to make these dudes more scary than they already are?? Nope!

(Actually at 2600 words this is slightly over for a normal Friday Fiction so that is a good an excuse as any!)