Chapter 7 Part One "Checkmate"

The man on the monitor seemed to be maintaining his composure like a champ. If it wasn’t for the furrows along his forehead I would have said he wasn’t concerned with me at all. I stood in front of the display, hands on my hips, and a cocky pirate smile on my lips waiting for him to make the first move. He didn’t look like the kind of man that was use to answering to anyone.

Finally, his eye twitched a bit and he said, “Are you the leader of the sheep to be sacrificed?”

“Yeah, I guess you could call me that.” I stared up at the ceiling as though I was thinking really hard about the right answer, “Come to think of it, that is probably one of the nicest things I have been called lately.” Then I pulled my eyes down to his and asked as disrespectfully as possible, “Who the fuck are you?” smile never leaving my face.

Rods words echoed in my head. “You got to piss them off and scare them Lakasha. Get in their heads,” he had said as he poked me on my head with a meaty finger. The battle might be won or lost with one convo. I had to set the mood for the fight to come or everything was already lost. “Battle is about making the enemy believe and see what you want them too. Sometimes you want them angry sometimes you want them calm but you always want to be in control.”

The Amarrian slammed his fist against the table and stood. I could hear the sound of his chair crashing on the metal floor behind him. The camera took a second to realize his face wasn’t there anymore then it slowly tracked up his black flight suit and centered back on target. He stared at the camera, face tight with rage. Yep, not someone use to a lot of disrespect. I would be willing to bet that getting that kind of disrespect from a woman was new to him too. Rod was a smart man picking me for this job.

“I am Omir Sarikusa. What may I call your corpse?”

My eyes responded to his name before I had a chance to hide my shock. This brought a slight smile to his face. I quickly regained my composer but it was too late, I lost points on that one. Omir Sarikusa was one of the most well known Blood Raider leaders in history. He had taken what was already a twisted blood thirsty cult and turned it into something even more terrifying. They believed the blood of clones to be the most pure for their dark rituals. Since his rise, countless lives were lost as his Raiders spread across Amarr space.

Every time I thought this situation couldn’t get more confusing it did. Why would this sect of the Sani Sabik end up raiding a station that for the most part only held civilians? Why expend this kind of resources for a handful of capsuleer sacrifices? Then of course there were the Titans. There was no way a Blood Raider, even this one, had the resources to field a Titan let alone two.

I concentrated on falling back into the nothingness of the pirate inside me before continuing the conversation. “I am Lakasha Nachtexen, leader of the Hellcats and CEO of Hellfleet Alliance.” Smile now gone, I stared at him with cold eyes. I thought about Geklov, Tasha, and all of the people on the station. I let the anger grow and compressed it into a little ball in my chest. “You have made a grave mistake Omir.”

He grabbed the camera, pulling it to his face. “You are already dead!”


“You know Omir it is funny how fast news can travel. You would be amazed at how large of a fleet you can assemble when you let a few of your pirate friends in on the secret location of not one but two Titans. Even alliances that hate you want in on the kill. So, I tell you what Omir, I am going to go get in my ship come out there and drop the biggest fleet ever seen in this part of space on top of your little toys. I am going to kill every one of your people and laugh over local as your Titans are blown to hell. Thanks for all of the extra time you gave me to get my people ready.”

The screen went blank and I turned and headed back toward the main hanger. The last hour had been filled with sporadic fire fights as raiders streamed in from different directions. Harrier had the men piling up Raider bodies as makeshift barricades along with all of the rubble. Even some of the older kids had guns now and were hunkered down at the fire points each with an adult to supervise.

It was getting bad quick. Each of the attacks so far was a small force to test our lines. But we knew there were at least a hundred more raiders that we couldn’t account for. They were no doubt massing for a multi-pronged assault from the lower levels.

The majority of the men, along with Harrier had moved to the lower levels for their part of the plan. He left a few of the more experienced fighters along with a few scientist and the kids to guard the hanger. Hopefully the hanger would be empty before the raiders attacked in force.

I was walking toward my Manicore at the far end of the bay when I noticed a young girl behind a barricade by herself. I changed direction to go and make sure she was okay just as a laser bolt priced the air where I had been standing. I dove to the floor as the room around me erupted into a fire fight. Shots sounded all around, but I stayed low and managed to pull myself over to the barricade and slip behind.

The girl was filthy and held her rifle across her chest like it was the only thing holding her to the ground. The adult laying on the ground next to her had a large pulpy hole in what was left of his head. Who knows how long she had been in the position by herself. She flinched as a blaster bold ricocheted off the barricade but never dropped her gaze from the man lying on the floor.

I slid the blaster from my holster and risked a peek over the metal beams. Raiders were streaming in from two doors near the maintenance area. I ducked as another laser bolt sizzled into the metal barricade two feet from my head. Putting the blaster back in its holster, I reached over and put my hands on the girl’s rifle. She didn’t move but she let go.

I never really cared for rifles. I love my blaster. The main reason is because I am not a great shot. I am fast, really fast, and I do pretty well on the range. But marksmanship has never been my thing. The blaster is a nasty weapon. Up close it can rip a body to shreds. The farther you get away though, the more dispersed the energy. Sure it will hurt anyway, but at a distance it probably won’t kill. Farther away it will just piss someone off.

I leaned up over the barricade and tired to remember all the lessons my training instructors taught me. Hmmm…breath, heart…um lungs?…ahh fuck it. I pointed at the door closest to me and started shooting one bolt after another at the Raiders coming through. It was actually pretty effective at first since they were not expecting fire from my direction. I took out two of them by luck. Then three more opened fire and I was forced to cower behind the barricade.

I realized it might not have been the smartest thing I ever done when they all started concentrating fire on my position. I have never been one to think these situations through too much. I run in headlong and don’t think about the consequences. I tend to lose a lot of ships that way too. Of course, dying in my pod sends me back to my clone. Dying here…

I looked over at the girl and she was staring at me now, eyes open with fright. It was an accusing kind of stare. I shrugged and pulled my blaster back out. I could hear the raider’s yells over the gunfire getting closer. I slid my back against the metal corner of the barricade and motioned with my hand for her to lie flat on the ground.

The first raider stuck his head over the barricade and my blaster caused his head to disappear in an impressive fountain of blood. I stood as I shot the first one and sent a bolt into the chest of two more raiders before they had a chance to react. Sliding back down to my cover I closed my eyes and tried to visualize where the remaining enemies were standing.

There were at least two more. One was toward the pile of rubble to the left and one ducked behind a steel beam to the right. They had to both be waiting for me. I could probably run for cover but I looked down at the girl, crying on the floor in front of me, and my heart sunk a little. I couldn’t leave her.

I have been close to death a few times in my life. Sometimes when I hang out with the boys at the pub we talk about our near death experiences. Some of the guys talk about their life flashing through their head. Not me though, my mind slips into this peaceful state that is hard to explain.

But today it wasn’t like that. Today I had a young girl next to me who would die along with me, if she was lucky. It made me mad. The people she trusted, and should have been there for her, had betrayed her. Geklov was slime for leading his people to their doom for his own profit. Her parents were no better for being greedy enough to follow. Or just being mindless sheep. Either way it didn’t matter.

For a second I thought about killing her before the raiders could get to her. I blushed with the shame of the thought. Sometimes the pirate in me can get a little too practical. It would be easy sometimes to completely give in and make those kinds of decisions. But then I would be no better than people like Geklov.

It was time to act, so I did. I dove over the barricade in the direction of the last raider I saw. Unfortunately, he was closer than I expected and I my head slammed into his chest knocking us both on the floor about three feet from the barricade. Everything went black for a second and my blaster bounced out of my hand as it impacted the floor.

I shook my head as my vision came back and noted two things quickly. One, I was on top of a large and pissed off raider. Two, I was surrounded by way more raiders than I expected. They seemed as shocked as I was because the barrage of laser bolts stopped for a second as they tried to decide what they should do. The decision was made for them though as several of them fell to the floor taken out by laser bolts fired from the other barricades.

As the raiders around me dove for cover the one beneath me reached up with two large hands and started to squeeze my throat. I tucked my chin down on his hands as hard as I could to try and maintain my airway. After years of training it was second nature. Then I slid my knee up and put my full weight on his groin.

He let out a surprised yell and the pressure on my throat lessened enough for me to get a good breath of air. It didn’t last long though as he lifted me off his chest by my throat and twisted, slamming me on the metal plated floor. He climbed on top of me, sitting on my hips, and used his full weight to try and choke the life out of me. I looked up at his face a mask of rage and hate.

I beat at his sides with my fists but they bounced off like a child throwing a tantrum. I could feel the energy draining out of my body. My neck was on fire but everything else seemed to be getting colder as the seconds passed. As my vision blurred, I thought about my blaster laying somewhere near me on the floor. I didn’t know where it was so I reached out with both arms feeling for it.

I found it to my right. My fingertips brushed the metal pushing it completely out of my reach. My hands dropped and I couldn’t move my arms anymore. This was it, and I didn’t feel anything. My life amounted to nothing, it was doubtful anyone would even notice I was gone, and I didn’t care. My mind wasn’t peaceful like all those other times I faced death. Today I felt empty, and for some reason it bothered me. But that feeling didn’t last long. Everything was a distant echo and the air was gone, somehow replaced by fire.

Suddenly the raider above me let go and the fire turned into lava as air poured back into my lungs. I put my hands on my throat, gasping for air and jerking back and forth on the floor. The pain was almost unbearable and I would have screamed if I could. I rolled left and ran into the body of the raider that had been on top of me.

I needed to get back to the barricade but my limbs weren’t responding yet. Through my blurry eyes I could see as far as the surprised dead face looking back at me. I calmed myself, tried to lie still, and waited for everything to come back into focus. As the rest of the room started to appear I looked back to the barricade to see the girl, standing in the middle of the fire fight, riffle in her hands.

I managed to raise my arm and motioned for her to get back down. She nodded and ducked back behind the barrier. The fire fight was intense around me but the raiders that had been around when I dove out were nowhere in sight. I started pulling my way across the floor toward the barrier, taking the time to grab my blaster on the way. My neck was still on fire but my vision had returned and I was managing to find the strength to continue the low crawl to safety.

I was almost back to the barricade when I heard the strangest sound I have ever heard on a space station. The sound started as a low rumble and quickly changed over to a deafening roar. The air around me hummed and the floor shook. All I could think was the station was coming apart around me.

The sound grew louder and I looked up to see a streak of smoke and light fly over my head. I put my hands over my ears and managed to scream, the pain in my throat nothing compared to the compression wave that struck my eardrums. My voice was lost in the roar and then the sudden explosion that followed.

The shockwave of the explosion threw me up and over the barricade, which was the last thing I saw as I tumbled through the air. Heat seared my exposed skin. I slammed into the floor, debris crashing around me, and everything went dark.

Chapter 6 Part Two "Check"

I’m not sure how long we sat in the hallway. But it seemed like forever. Eventually, she quit crying and I waited for a little longer to make sure she was finished. “We need to go now, okay?” I asked, like I was speaking to a child. She turned to look at me, eyes red and puffy. She nodded and stood up.

I got up and lead the way back down the corridor to the stairs. The walk took longer this time because every now and then she would stop and I had to encourage her to continue. I moved us slowly down the corridor taking cover and listening for Blood Raiders at every intersection. Luckily, there was no sign of additional invaders all the way up to the stairs leading to the hanger.

We climbed to the top of the stairs and I made eye contact with one of Harriers men. Once I was convinced they were not going to shoot I led Tasha back to the briefing room. The room was still packed. Some of the people had found a place to sleep while others talked. The children had fallen asleep in the middle of the floor, their toy ships scattered around them. I pulled her over to a chair near the door and told her to stay there. She nodded and stared ahead.

After I was convened she would not bolt back down to the labs I went back out to the hanger. It had been a while since the last attack so some of the men were sleeping inside a makeshift barricade while others maintained watch. The large hanger looked like a battle field now. Debris covered the floor and bodies were stacked near the forward air lock awaiting proper disposal.

I spotted Harrier sitting on top of a Rifter and headed his direction. This whole situation was fucked up. How could anyone lead their people to death like this and not care. Sure I am a pirate, but I do have a moral code, skewed as it may be. If Harrier knew about this I was going to teach him about my moral code up close and personal. I moved my hand down to rest on my blaster as I approached the Rifter and waited for him to come down to me.

When I was close he gave me a little nod and slid down the side of the Minmatar rust bucket. Taking a position just out of my reach he rested a hand on his hip and the other on his carbine pistol. He was relaxed on the outside but he still managed an “I’m ready for trouble and I don’t mind killing you” kind of look. I smiled as my mind slipped to nothingness.

“Geklov left and he took Antov with him,” I said, smile never leaving my lips.

He looked at me for as second then shook his head and threw his hands up in the air. “He doesn’t pay me enough for this bullshit,” he said turning his back on me and walking toward the Rifter. He stood in front of it for a second and gave it two hard kicks with his booted foot.

“The lower levels are undefended,” I said relaxing a bit. I was pretty sure his anger wasn’t an act for my benefit. He paced back and forth and finally turned to face me.

“How long have they been gone?” he asked, now looking more determined then pissed.

“At least an hour, probably more,” I said watching his reactions.

“This is not good. There were three battle ships that managed to figure out a way to dock and send in the raiders for the station assaults. The station employee that saw the raiders enter through the lower air locks counted way more than we killed. If the corridor is undefended and our scouts are gone then we don’t know where the rest of them are.”

I could see it all in my head. The Raiders had docked three battle ships worth of assault forces. One ship at the main hanger, and the other two ships down below. Antov had sealed off access to the main hanger and was holding off the assault down stairs. Geklov made a deal with the leader of invading force to let him go and he would give up his people. Right now there could be hundreds of Blood Raiders opening back up multiple access points to the hanger getting ready for a final assault.

What I didn’t understand was why. They could have easily invaded a settlement or taken a transport ship. They would have had way more sacrifices that way than they were going to get from the people here. They brought two Titans and expended a lot of resources to be able to breach the station defenses. Unless, of course, someone had let them in. Who the hell was in the lead Titan anyway?

At this point I would just be happy getting everyone off the station. I could worry about answering questions later. “I am going to go tell Rod we need to get the fuck out of here. Get your men together and do what you can,” I said as I turned and ran back toward the briefing room.

“Hurry, they will be here soon,” he yelled over his shoulder while walking toward the barricade.

Tasha was still sitting where I left her. She looked a lot better though. Her eyes seem to have a spark in them that had been missing earlier. I grabbed her hand and said, “come on, we need to get you out of here.”

“Where are we going?” she asked stumbling behind me.

“Cloning facility,” was all I said as we rushed down the stairs. I wasn’t sure what we would be able to do for the people that were left behind, but I was going to get her out of here safe.

I pulled her up to the control panel and she looked at me like she needed instructions. “Just set your clone to somewhere safe.”

“We are leaving?” she asked sounding almost amused.

“Set yourself to somewhere safe. I am going make sure you get out of here one way or another.”

“You’re staying?”

“Yeah, I need to help get these people out of here, but I need to know you are safe.”

“Don’t stay here and help them. Don’t you even care what they have done to me,” she yelled. She stood there shaking, eyes boring a hole into mine. “How can you pick them over me?” she hissed as she turned from me and started walking away.

I was shocked by her response. I knew she had just lost everything, but I didn’t expect for her to lash out at a bunch of Corp mates and their kids who were here to make money helping her.

I grabbed her hand and made her turn to look at me. “I know you have lost so much, Tash. I’m not picking them over you, but I can’t just let these people die because that piece of shit left them here. I promise I will come to you as soon as this is over,” I said, fear that she wouldn’t get over this stirring in the back of my mind.

“I can get the money you need to pay Geklov off. I have associates that will let me borrow it. We can get everything started for you again, I promise. I have never broken a promise to you no matter how much I had to give up keeping it,” I pleaded.

She stood there and stared at me for an eternity. Then finally, she relaxed a little and nodded. “Okay,” she said stepping up to the panel. I watched as she set the Genolution Biohazard Containment Facility in Aikantoh as her new clone location. The machine accepted her credentials and acknowledged the change in cloning facilities.

After she was done I reset mine. At least if I was podded I would get to her faster. Thank goodness I had worked my sec status high enough to enter .6 space. After I was done I met her at the stairs and we started the climb back to the top.

By the time we were at the hanger she seemed like a different person. She was smiling and confident again. Years of practice being in control of herself I guess. She went back into the briefing room to gather up some of her stuff and I headed to the pilots briefing room to talk to Rod.

When I got in the room it was alive with movement and voices. The word had already made it to the pilots, and now there was a fevered effort to get everyone off the station. Rod stood in the middle of the madness somehow soaking in all the conversations going on around him. It was impressive, and I hoped if I lived through this that someday I would have that kind of situational awareness.

I pushed my way up to the main display so I could hear what was going on. But it was a jumble of masculine voices yelling back and forth at each other. I noticed Rod looking at me and I just shrugged. It was nice he thought enough of me to “ask” for my opinion.

After about two more minutes of listening to the vortex of ideas swirl around my head I jumped as Rod yelled, “Shut the fuck up.” I let out a little laugh as silence fell across the room. I couldn’t help myself. He stood at the center, all eyes on him, and it seemed like the most natural thing ever. I had to find out where he came from.

“Okay, the way I see it we are out of time, so here is the plan.”

We stood there for the next thirty minutes as the most detailed plan I have ever heard flowed from Rod. I had never seen someone who could weave a plan in such a short amount of time with such limited resources. He made it sound like something that should be in a military training manual. When we walked out of the briefing room to our ships not only did I think the plan had a chance, but I was ready to follow Rod to hell. Chances were good that I was.

Chapter 6 Part One Dreams

I pulled myself through the muddy water in front of me. It had to be muddy because it was so dark and hard to swim through. I needed to breath but I just couldn't quite get to the surface. I tried to kick harder but the last of my energy poured out and all that was left was fire. I opened my eyes and could see light, but I didn't seem to be getting any closer. Water filled my lungs and I started to sink back toward the bottom again.

Then I was in my ship. This time it was a Merlin. I had to concentrate hard to tell because I had been in so many today. The ship pulsed in my head as I accelerated out of the docking bay. There was debris everywhere and I could feel it pinging off of the hull as I activated the afterburner to try and accelerate out of the mass of Blood Raider fighters.

I reached out with the sensors to pick the path of least resistance and realized it wasn't debris that was bouncing off the ship. There were lifeless frozen corpses floating everywhere. Men, Women, and even children filled the departure vector out of the hanger. Whole bodies and pieces shattered as my ship plowed through them. I turned the ship to try and avoid them but they were everywhere.

I pulled hard right one more time and finally the path cleared except for one crumpled blip on my overview that read biomass. I tried to turn again but the ship wouldn't respond. As I drew closer to the little speck I could pick out features. In front of me was my own body headed right toward my view screen.

My heart raced and the pod set off alarms warning me about my vitals. I tried to look away but for some reason I couldn't. As I got closer I could see my head, half my face was charred beyond recognition. Except for the eyes, both of my blue eyes were perfectly preserved and staring right at me. Then the ship slammed into my body and the charred face smacked with a dull thump up against the view screen, leaving bits of flesh as my body peeled off toward the left of the Merlin.

The clone vat opened and I fell outward to the ground on all fours. I dry heaved and tried to catch my breath but it felt like something was caught in my throat. I gasped for air between each retch and slowly air filled my lungs. I set there shivering, goo dripping on the floor around me.

The cloning robot rolled by and dropped a towel on the floor then went on without a word. I had told it to shut the fuck up the last four times I found myself in the cloning facility. I guess the fourth time was a charm. I sat back on my legs and wiped the gunk off my face while my eyes adjusted to the lights. Then after a few deep breaths, I tried to shake off the dream, and headed to the shower to clean off.

Once I was done I put on a fresh flight suit and headed back down toward the main hanger. To say I was frustrated would be a huge understatement. I had been podded five times in less than an hour. So far in the 6 hours since the siege began we had managed to take out only 20 of their fighters. Twice they had broken the station defenses and their boarding parties had somehow managed to make it inside.

I had to admit that Anton and Herrier were doing a great job defending the hangers. Anton had managed to block enough corridors to funnel any raiding parties that docked somewhere besides the main hanger into a kill zone just outside the lower housing area. Herrier had taken his men and several volunteers to the main hangers where they had fought off four Blood Raider attempts at entering the briefing room where everyone who chose not to fight was hiding.

I wasn't sure how the rest of the stations inhabitants were doing. But from what I had seen before the attacks began the station was all but abandoned. Not really uncommon for a station out in the middle of nowhere like this one. That also led to one of our first problems. No inhabitants, no reason to stock the markets. We were running out of ships fast.

I entered the hanger through the only door accessible from the cloning facility. I entered slowly with my hands in the air even though it wasn't being guarded since it couldn't be used for a sneak attack from anyone outside the cloning bay. If Herrier had his choice it would be covered too, but he just didn't have the men.

I waited until I had I eye contact with Herrier then continued on to the makeshift planning room the pilots had thrown together after the invasion started. Geklov had refused to leave the big briefing room so we decided to go elsewhere. He had tried to get into our planning room to order us around but one of the pilots punched him so hard he fell on his ass and told him to get out and not come back. It was best the other guy got to him first; I was going to shoot him.

We actually ended up with twenty-two pilots who were willing to fight. For the most part the others had already launched their ships and had been podded back to wherever their home station was. A few were still sitting in their ships. They were probably waiting to see if they could profit from this somehow.

I walked around a mess of chairs that were in the common area and up to the tactical display to stand next to Rod, one of the older pilots. He had taken command and seemed to have some good ideas so I was more than happy to stand back and let him run things. “How are our resources holding up?” I asked as he turned to greet me.

“Going F'n fast,” he barked back. He wasn't pissed he just always talked like an old drill instructor.

I looked at the display to get an idea of what we had left. Looked like about 20 frigates of various types and races, six cruisers, two battleships, and about 20 shuttles. There were enough random fittings to fit the ships, but not well. We were going to have to do something fast or this was a lost cause.

“Figure Harrier and the mercs can keep these bastards at bay for days. But the space war is about over,” he said with a shake of the head.

He was right. We were going to have to do something to get all of the civilians out or we were going to have to fight a siege for as long as we could manage. But if they were serious enough to bring this kind of fire power to raid a station eventually they would break our lines and get to everyone.

He sighed and dropped his head, “What do you think brought them here?” It wasn't a question I could answer. It just seemed like we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just shook my head in and walked toward the hanger door.

I wanted to find Tasha and make sure she was doing okay. The last time I saw her two of Antov's men were pulling her from a corridor they were about to close off. She was determined to get to her labs but they were not going to let her. When I went and pulled her back up the stairs she was not happy.

The briefing room was packed now. Not only were Geklov's people in the room but many of the stations employees were also seeking shelter there. I searched the room for Tasha but didn't see her anywhere. I really hoped she had not found a way to get past Antov. The only person I recognized was a small Gallente man with long black hair. He was one of Geklov’s directors.

I headed in his direction walking around several children playing with toy ships. I didn’t remember his name, but it didn’t really matter. He was staring out the window and didn’t seem to notice as I approached. “Have you seen Tasha?” I asked.

He jumped, startled by my sudden appearance. He looked at me then turned to look out the window again. I waited for a response but when I didn’t get one for about thirty seconds I put my hand on his shoulder and shook him a little bit. “She left when she found out Geklov was gone,” he managed to whisper.

I yanked him around so he was looking at me. “What do you mean Geklov left?” I managed to say as a thousand panicked thoughts filled my head. Where the fuck was Tasha?

“He said he had made a deal and was leaving. Took Antov and a few guards and went to the executive hanger,” he replied.

“Did Tasha go with him?” I waited no response. “Who is guarding the housing corridor?” I yelled.

I ran out of the room almost falling over the children. I didn’t stop running until I was down the stairs and at the barricade that Anotov had set up as cover for his men. The room was filled with the bodies of both Blood Raiders and several of Geklov’s bodyguards. But there was nothing living that I could see. Geklov had gone, taking Antov with him. He left everyone undefended in the process.

I should have been angry or gone and warned the others but the only thing I could think about was finding Tasha. I pulled out my blaster and headed down the hall I had helped pull her from earlier. Scorch marks trailed down the side of the walls and several of the lights were out, but as I got farther down the damage was minimal. I still tried to move as quietly as I could just in case any of the invaders had split off to look for a way to the hanger in this direction.

After about twenty minutes of searching I found her. She was sitting with her back against a door crying. I could have been a Blood Raider and she would never have known the difference. I slid down the wall next to her and put my arm around her. She leaned over and rested her head against mine and sobbed.

“Everything is lost,” was the only thing she said. I had never heard her sound so down and lost. I knew there was nothing I could say that would make her feel better. Everything she had wanted and worked for her whole life was gone.

A war raged around us. Innocent people were going to be slaughtered. Maybe even us. But I didn’t care. I sat there and held on to her while she cried. It was the most helpless I have ever felt.

Chapter 5 Times Up

The briefing room was on the main level of the station. It set just outside the main hanger where most of the corp ships were stored. The rooms came in different sizes and setups depending on what you wanted to pay for. The ones outside the main hanger were the most expensive but normally worth the price.

By the time I got to the main level I managed to get back into control of my emotions. Being emotional Laka would not get Tasha out of this mess. I really have two sides to my personality. One side was the one with the nicer emotions. The one that still had some hopes and dreams about love and life in this shithole of a universe. Over the last two years I found it harder and harder to connect with her. I found myself relying more on the other side of my personality, the pirate. Sometimes I wondered if there was a point of no return and all that would be left was the pirate. A little part of me shivered at that thought, the pirate smiled.

I walked into the briefing room and let the pirate take over. It wasn't something I had to concentrate on to do anymore. One flip of a switch in my head and I was all about the business of pain and death. I was a cold void ready to act. The only emotion that I had very little control over in this state of mind was anger. But it could be channeled and used for my purpose. I found a place along the back wall and forgot about worries over love and friendship.

I spotted Tasha in one of the seats at the front of the room. There were about seventy other people already seated. I took a quick count and estimated about thirty of those were actual pilots. The rest seemed to be civilians of some type. Probably a part of the corp's station side logistics personnel and scientist there to help with Tasha's research.

After about twenty minutes of waiting Geklov came in, Antov and Harrier at his side. In addition to the two body guards were three other men trailing behind. Nice that he needed five men to protect him in the middle of his own corporation. He walked to the front of the room and the men took positions around him. He gave a little nod to Tasha, and started speaking.

He stood up in front of everyone explaining that negotiations with the Sons of Death Alliance had been more difficult than expected. Even though they had promised the corp blue status they had reneged and now the filthy pirates wanted five billion ISK or they would come into system, destroy all the labs and then trap and ransom everyone in the station. He was very good at changing his voice and tone to play to the audience. If I had not known better I might have been convinced of his concern for the corp.

This situation seemed to be new to some of the people in the room who started shouting questions and hurling insults at Geklov. Several of the pilots got up and left. Geklov stood and answered as many questions as he could but no one was listening except me; and I was starting to understand the infuriating truth of the situation.

Tasha got up and explained that she needed at least one more week for completion of her project. Once the project was done everyone would get all the money they had been promised. As she talked I watched Geklov and his men. Three of the men stood behind him hands resting on the blasters at their hips. They seemed tense and I knew they were no threat. Antov and Harrier however, were a different story. They seemed relaxed, hands resting at their sides. These were the men to fear. It might have been transparent to others but I could see by the way they stood that they were ready for a fight. Almost begging for one.

“Geklov, did you give the Sons of Death the money they requested for this system before you moved in,” I shouted while I looked at the floor, trying to control the anger in my voice.

“I'm not sure that it is any of your concern how my corp does business...,” he said and continued rambling, but I wasn't listening.

I took in a deep breath and pushed the anger I was feeling into a ball in the center of my chest. When I looked up at him he stopped talking and the men at his side tensed. I have been told by many of my friends that when I get truly pissed I have a look that would make death stop and take notice. I was cold and empty inside, ready. I wondered for a second if that is what the two mercenaries next to Geklov felt like right now.

“You know what I think Geklov? I think you never paid the Sons of Death. I think that you are squatting in their territory and kept the money for yourself. Then, when one of their scouts came in system they watched while you moved your people in and put up your POSs. You put yourself before all of your people, thought the stupid pirates would never know the difference, and now all of these people are in danger because of you.” Tasha was in danger because of him. The words were so calm coming out of my mouth. I felt detached, like I was standing to the side listening to myself talk. I slid my hand down to my blaster and the men up front got ready.

“That is not the case and you should not spread such rumors,” he sputtered out. “Besides, no one is in danger, I am quite sure that these pirates will not even show. If they do, we will give them a few ISK and they will be on their way.”

I was livid. He had brought his people down here to die, most of them without the benefit of a clone if the Son's wanted to make an example of them. It was all I could do to not put a bullet in his head. But there was no way I could kill him and all five of his men before one of them killed Tasha. I noticed Antov was flashing me a smile and the bastard even slid his hand away from his gun. I thought for a second about killing them all anyway.

Station alarms went off and I didn't get a chance to see if I was faster than the men on stage. The tactical screen at the front of the briefing room lit up displaying little green blips as multiple ships surrounded the station. Each ship was identified as belonging to the Sons of Death alliance. Once all of the inbounds were accounted for the readout displayed 30 battleships and about 20 frigs.

The communications channel opened and a crusty looking Amarr man filled the screen. “You have one hour to deposit five billion ISK into our holding corp account or we will come in and take it,” was all he said and the communications channel went black.

Almost every pilot in the room stood and headed out the door toward the hanger. I really wasn't assuming it was because they were ready to fight. I figured most of them just wanted to make sure they were in their pods when the fight started. There were about nine who stayed behind and they headed to a corner of the room. These were the guys I was looking for.

I walked over to the group and listened from a few feet away as they threw together a strategy to fight the overwhelming force. I liked them already. I threw in a few ideas as they talked and the circle slowly opened so I could step in to join them.

I could hear the uproar in the background as Gekolv tried to calm the remaining crowd. He finally gave up and tried to communicate with the leader of the invading force. The Amarrian did not answer Gekolv's communication requests.

We were about to head to our ships to see what kind of damage we could do to the Sons when the station alarms started screaming again. The tactical display flashed red blips as each new ship appeared at the station. When the final count came across there were ninety-two hostiles in system. The last two ships were Avatars. The only identification the computer displayed was Blood Raider.

Everyone in the room was silent as they stared at the monitor. I watched as the overwhelmed little green dots on the tactical display started to disappear. Some of them tried to run, but most didn't get clear before the cloud of red overcame them. They where obviously as surprised as we were.

I had never heard of the Blood Raiders operating in such a large force. I sure as hell had never heard of them having Titans. All I knew for sure was the Blood Raiders would not be interested in an ISK ransom. They could only be here for one thing. We were all fucked.

Chapter 4 Meetings

The seven hours flew by. Of course, I only ended up getting about an hour of sleep. Tasha and I spent most of the night getting close again. Getting close in an urgent, almost panicked kind of way. I guess she was more worried than she was letting on. The whole night felt more like an ending than a new beginning.

I lay in the bed with my eyes closed while Tasha took a shower. I just wanted to pretend things were perfect for a little longer. There were a lot of things that needed to be done. But right now I was going to soak in every last second of peace. Even peace that doesn't last is better than none.

I heard her walk out and cracked open my eyes. She was standing in the doorway looking at me with a big smile on her face. “You remember that time we went to the resort on Kalfa 3?” she asked.

We had gone to the little resort to celebrate our graduation. “Of course I do, you were so loud that little old Gallente man came to our door to ask us to keep it down,” I said teasing her.

“If I remember right you answered the door naked,” she said teasing back. It was true, and the look on his face was priceless. He stuttered something about keeping the noise down and turned around and left. Some of my favorite memories happened that week. It was also the last time we were really close.

“Sorry, I was in the middle of changing,” I said defending my oh so fragile honor.

“Do you miss those times?” she asked, smile gone now and replaced with something much darker.

I felt like I was walking into a trap. It had to happen eventually, it always did. I could lie and say it didn't matter much to me. But why start protecting myself now?

“I miss them very much,” I said with as little emotion as I could manage. “Do you?”

“No,” was all she said at first. It hurt, but I kind of expected the slap in the face. I waited, hoping she would explain in a way that wouldn't crush me but knowing it wouldn't happen. She paced back and forth a few times. I could feel the frustration rolling off of her.

“Laka, I am so tired of who I am now, of who I was back then. When this project is done I will have a lot of money and I will be able to do anything I want. Pretty soon I will have some power and things won't be the same.”

It was not the response I expected. As long as I had known her she had never talked about power or money. She was so absorbed in her love of her research that those things never seemed important to her. I wondered what had happened these last few years to cause such a change in her and how she had kept it from me until now.

“Tasha, I have never known you to want more than your research and a little fun,” was all I could think to say.

“I am sick of having to rely on people like Geklov... of doing god awful things to get where I want to be,” she said, shaking. I got up and walked over to her and gave her a hug. I had no idea what she had been through, which made me feel like a pretty shitty friend. She hugged me back and I held on until she finally stopped shaking.

“We will be late if we don't get ready soon,” she said as she let go and walked into the adjoining room.

I went into the bathroom to get ready and thought about all the things I was going to do to this Geklov to pay him back.

Tasha led me down one of the long residential hallways on the upper section of the station. The rooms on this level were normally reserved for those with more money then they knew what to do with. I didn't see one person in the halls the entire 10 minutes it took us to walk to Geklov's room. Guess not a lot of rich people need a room in a back water system like this one.

Once we got there Tasha entered a code on the door and it slid open reveling a large open sitting area. It was as big as my whole living quarters back in Vit. Even though the room was big, it was packed with furniture and ornamentation that gave it a cramped feel. The giant couch in the middle of the room was snow white to match all of the tables and chairs. The only thing I could think was white is a terrible color to get blood out of.

Two men were waiting in the room. I doubted that either was Geklov. They both had a hard look to them. A look that made you want to be somewhere else. The one standing against the far wall was slightly shorter than me, but built like a Minmatar earth miner. You know, very muscular but not bulky. The kind of muscle that made you strong and fast. He didn't look up when I came into the room, but I knew he had already assessed the situation and was keeping track of me. I wondered if he decided I was a threat or not.

The other man was tall and skinny. His body seemed relaxed but his eyes said he was ready for anything. The look in his eyes reminded me of a picture of hunting dogs I saw once. He, unlike the other man, didn't take his eyes off of me. I couldn't quite tell if he was watching me because he considered me a threat, or he wanted something far more personal.

Tasha was oblivious to the showdown going on around her. She stopped when she noticed I wasn't following her the rest of the way in the room and gave me an exasperated look. “Oh, come on, does everything with you always end in a pissing contest?” she said looking at me with angry eyes. She proceeded to introduce me to the men in the room so we could all make nice and get on with things. The tall man was Anton the short one was Herrier. They were Geklov's personal body guards. To her that was enough information, they were just more hired help. To me they were people I might need to kill or who might try to kill me.

About the time we were finished with introductions, Geklov made his appearance. He was short and fat. His black thinning hair was greased back in the current Caldari fashion. Every bit the shady business man; exactly what I expected the shit bag to look like. I hated him before he even opened his mouth.

He walked across the room straight to me and his body guards fell in behind him. “You must be Lakasha. Tasha has told me so much about you,” he said reaching out to grab my hand and pull it to his slimy mouth. I yanked my hand back giving him a start and prompting Harrier to move a little closer to his boss.

Tasha gave me a panicked warning look as she stepped in next to Geklov and he put his pudgy arm around her waist. Anger flashed in my chest and I know I didn't keep it from showing in my face. These were the things Tasha had done make her research happen? Dirty deals and god knows what to slime bags like this. Where had I been? How could I let someone that meant so much to me go through shit like this on their own? I know she had pushed me away, but was it because I wasn't a good enough friend to help her?

“I don't like to be touched, sorry,” was all I could manage to say. Now was not the time to make it harder on Tasha. I needed to get her out of here and away from all of this. Pissing off the man who was holding a large debt over her head was not a good way to start.

“Oh, that is quite alright. I understand,” he said as he moved his hand up and down Tasha's waist. I could swear she tensed up just a little bit as he did. I took in a little breath and let it out trying to calm myself without anyone noticing.

“Well lets get down to business then. We are glad you came down to help, as my darling Tasha knew you would. When will the others be coming?” he asked.

“You mean Hellfleet?” I asked a little confused. He just nodded. “I don't speak for them nor would I ask them to come down here and sacrifice their ISK on a cause they have no interest in,” was all I could think to say. I came down here to get Tasha out of trouble, not to fight a war for a shit bag Caldari business man.

The smile fell from his face and he said, “Well that changes my plans considerably. Tasha, would you please head down to the briefing room and get everything ready to go?” She kissed him on the cheek and headed out the door without looking back. He watched her go and turned back to me with a less friendly look. Now we were getting somewhere.

“I can see you care about her very much,” he said with a smile that did not make it to his eyes. “She owes me over 2 billion ISK. It would be a shame if something happened to her before her research was ...”

I didn't let him finish. I crossed the space between us and had one hand on his throat and another on my blaster before he could stop speaking. Less than a second after that Harrier had his hand on top of mine stopping me from pulling the blaster out of the holster and Anton grabbed my wrist and pushed hard at the joint to stop me from putting pressure on Geklov's throat.

The anger died down a bit with the thought that I wouldn't be able to help Tasha if I died in this room. I relaxed a little to let the two men know I was done for now. Geklov stepped back, rubbing his throat and said, “There will be no need for violence. I am sure you and I can come to a reasonable agreement.” He nodded to the two men and each let go of me but remained close enough to keep me under control if they needed.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Right now, just your support if the pirates decided to make good on their threat. Later...well, I will come up with something mutually pleasing no doubt,” he said as he looked me up and down. “You see I have plenty of ISK my dear Lakasha, I am more interested in the many other ways to pay off debts. Alliances, support from allies, intel...servitude.”

He looked me up and down one more time and started to walk back in to the room he came from. “Oh, and if anything happens to me before I am satisfied with my repayment she will be killed.”

Harrier turned and followed his boss out of the room. Antov leaned in close and said, “I can't wait.” Then he grabbed my arm and lead me to the door. I followed because now was not the time. I had to make a plan to get Tasha away from here. I had to make lots of plans. Geklov was a dead man.

Chapter 3 Knight

It was 29 low and null sec jumps to DRO-11. I made it through four gate camps with bubbles on my way there. I decided to go in my Manticore, because nothing beats a cloaking ship for travel in 0.0. Also, I wanted to be able to scout the area around DRO once I got there. The Manticore is not the best of the stealth bombers by any means, but it is well rounded and has enough medium power slots to make it very adaptive to my needs.

DRO turned out to be a dead end system on the outskirts of Amarr space. The adjoining system only had one way out also. It would be a bitch to defend and resupply in the middle of an invasion. Good thing there was no invasion. The last three systems I traveled though were empty. It had been 10 jumps since I saw more than a frigate. It was hard not to think that Tasha had suckered me into coming down here for god only knows what.

I gave her the benefit of the doubt and made some safes in the adjoining system before jumping into DRO. The system itself was pretty much worthless with three planets and one ice field. I quickly warped to each of the planets making safes along the way. Then I scanned out two research POSs and went to check them out as well.

Lets just say I was underwhelmed with the defenses on each position. Both consisted of a small control tower with shields enveloping a research station and a corporate hanger. The only thing defending either of them was a few Medium Blaster Batteries and a pair of Stasis Webification Batteries. I had taken down a POS with this much defense solo in a Geddon once. It took forever, but I managed to overcome the boredom and pull it off. If there was an enemy fleet inbound they would destroy the stations without breaking a sweat.

I shook my head and pointed the bomber toward the only station in system and engaged the warp drive. I was almost nauseous from the anticipation of seeing Tasha again. I have no idea why I work myself up so much over meeting with her, but I do. I can never quite wrap my head around our friendship. I don't really understand what she wants from me. Some days I am her best friend ever and others she doesn't know my name. I love so few people, sometimes I wonder if I pick the ones that do nothing but hurt me on purpose.

The warp drive disengaged and the station loaded me into its docking sequence. I let the station take over and started the checklist routine. It was all instinct now, I didn't need to look at the steps. By the time the pod had powered down I was unhooked and everything was prepped for my return. Although I haven't really timed myself since capsuleer school, I could be loaded back in and ready to launch in well less than a minute.

I got out of the pod and a maintainer robot came running up. I waved it off and started looking around the hanger for Tasha. I'd left a message with her about 30 minutes out, letting her know I was almost here. But she wasn't in sight so I started snooping around the hanger to try and ascertain what kind of situation we were really in here.

The hanger was actually pretty busy. There were quite a few battleships and battle cruisers being prepped for flight. I counted about 10 pilots running around in flight suites checking on their ships. However, for the most part the bay was full of haulers and mining vessels. Of course the hangers are spread out all over the place so it was hard to tell for sure what kind of combat support was around.

One of the pilots ran by me and I stopped him to try and get a little information. “Getting ready to defend the station?” I asked inquisitively.

At first he didn't respond, and started to run off, which was pretty rude. I blocked him with my shoulder hard enough to send him spinning.

Startled he said, “Oh, umm no. Dietrie probed down an ancient site two systems over. We are scrambling to get over there and see if we can find any thing good before someone else gets it.”

“You're are not worried about the invasion fleet that is on it's way?” I asked. He looked a little confused.

“Um, no, Geklov is taking care of that,” was all he said. Then he took the chance I wouldn't knock him on his ass and ran down the corridor. Interesting to say the least. They were down here carebearing it up while a supposed group of pirates were on the way to kill everyone in the station. So many things were not adding up that my head was starting to hurt.

I walked back down toward my ship to wait. About a half an hour later Tasha showed up bossing around two men holding extremely large boxes. She looked over in my direction and waved, then continued her dispute with the men. Finally, she headed my way.

It had been about a year since I had seen her. She never really looked much like a scientist to me. She was tall and skinny. Her long black hair was always pulled up into a neat tight ponytail. Her clothes were always stylish. It was like at any moment she could walk out of the lab and fit in at a dinner party or a night club. I was never quite sure how she pulled it off.

As she walked up that feeling of nausea started in my stomach again. This could be the part where she was pissed at me for something or loved me to death. She put her arms around me and whispered in my ear how happy she was to see me. I relaxed a little and stepped back as she let go.

“You were supposed to be here hours ago,” she said smiling as she looked me up and down.

I smiled back and said, “I have been here for hours.” She rolled her eyes at me and started walking toward the door she had appeared from. Once we got into the corridor she looked around then she grabbed my hand and squeezed so hard I thought she was going to break it.

“Laka, I am so glad you are here. I have so many things to show you and tell you about,” she giggled like a little girl. I don't remember ever seeing her so excited. Somehow I didn't think this conversation was going to be about an invasion force. I didn't come down here to catch up. I came down to get her out of trouble and get the hell out before I got my feelings hurt yet again.

“Hon, I need to get all the intel on the people who are threatening you. I also need to know how many ships we have and..,” I just stopped talking. Her glazed over look told me all I needed to know. It was obvious she was not really listening. Probably doing math problems in her head. I just stared at her.

Finally, she realized I had quit talking and said, “Don't worry, Geklov will get you up to speed on all of that silly stuff. Now come on,” she said as she started pulling me down the corridor again.

I spent the next two hours following her around from makeshift lab to makeshift lab. Apparently, she had made quite the discovery in implant production. There were small amounts of a material on one of the moons here that could be used to increase inter something-or-another communications between implants. If she could get enough of the material to synthesize it would basically allow implants to talk to each other faster. She already had a few prototypes, which she was also producing here at the station.

She was so excited and enthusiastic it was hard not to get excited too. She had a charismatic field around her that just pulled people in. It was one of the things I loved about her. She always seemed to make me feel better, no matter how shitty I felt. For a while I could forget myself and just be happy.

I followed her into every one of her labs and listened as she explained processes that were so far beyond my comprehension there was no way I would ever understand. She knew I wouldn't get it, but it made her happy sharing her work with me. That made me happy. Almost happy enough to forget why I was here in the first place. But as she pulled me from place to place I started to get that nagging feeling that I needed to get information soon or it was going to be too late. Finally, it was all I could think about. Workaholic I guess.

She pulled me to another door and I had had all I could take. “Sweetie, I really enjoy seeing all of this stuff. But if I don't get the information I need to help you it is all going get blown up.” I said it as nice as I could manage. Her face fell and my heart beat a little slower from the sudden increase in gravity around me.

“I know,” she said with a frown. I could see her brain working hard to make everything fit into her reality. To her, reality was just another science problem to figure out. Just a bunch of variables that if manipulated properly would end in the results she wanted. Not exactly the ethical way to run an experiment, but that is how it worked for her. I had watched her do it many times in the past.

“Geklov said he would give you all the information you need at the meeting he is holding,” she said, happy again with how things were going.

Finally we were getting somewhere. I started thinking about all the questions I needed answered to make sure we could mount the best defense possible. Then I realized she was just standing there staring at me with a big smile on her face. She didn't say anything because she had said it so many times in the past. She thought I spent too much time thinking about bad things or things I had no control over. Sometimes it was a cute discussion and sometimes it was a fight. I was guessing from the smile today she thought it was cute.

“When is the meeting?” I finally asked.

“1800”.

“That is like seven hours from now. Do we really have that much time to waste?” I asked, irritated.

“We have the time, or Geklov wouldn't wait. He stands to lose a lot from this deal if it goes bad,” she said as she walked toward the door.

“Another lab?” I asked as the door opened.

“Nope, this one is my room. I figure you need some rest and we need to kill a few hours,” she said as she walked in.

I followed her in, and I hated myself for it.

If it's too loud you are too fucking old.

Too old to play video games? I don't think so. I am a member of generation X, the generation of video games. Are there other generations that overlap with mine that love of video games, sure. But what I am trying to say is my generation was there from the birth of video games to the current evolution.

It would be silly to think that just because we got older that we would stop playing. But, the question is, as we get older do we still have time to play the way we want to? Most of us are married, have jobs that are demanding, or have kids. This drastically reduces the time we have to dedicate to anything additional in our lives.

So, do we just become the “old” man or woman that logs on every once in a while while the youngsters run the corp? Do we lose our ability to participate in a meaningful way? I say no. If the game is important to you then there are plenty of ways to still be a productive part of any corp. Hell, there are plenty of ways to run a productive corp.

The first thing you have to do is determine if this game is really where you want to be. Our priorities change as our lives changes. Don't lie to yourself and accept roles and responsibility in your heart you can't live up to. I know I have done it in the past for various reasons and it never works out well.

The way I see it the only thing that has changed as I have gotten older is I have to be more responsible in how I play. No more skipping class or not studying for a test. I have to go to work, I have to be prepared to do my job. Do I skip the Wednesday night roam because I have to be at work at 4am the next day? You bet I do, not only that but I tell everyone a week out that I won't be there.

I plan my time in Eve out in advance. I set time to handle corp issues and I schedule roams that won't take away from my family life. I am always looking for ways to maximize my play time. Additionally, I do my best not to allow others, particularly those outside my corp, to steal my time. Time in game is a valuable commodity that can be taken from you. My time in game is dedicated to my friends in my corp as soon as the admin shit is taken care of. No random convos, no answering emails. Just straight up enjoying the game.

Do the youngsters have an edge? Sure, extra energy and time to waste. I will take my extra life experience and a better understanding of responsibility any day. I know I don't have time to waste, so I do my best to use it wisely.

Will I always succeed at controlling my time and doing the things in game I want to do? No, because real life will always be greater than Eve. But I refuse to believe because I have gotten older that I cannot participate in this game in a way that is fulfilling and successful.

*steps away from the computer and turns up the volume*