Wild at Heart

WTE Chronicles – Conflict and Conquest

The man silently ran a towel through his hair for the tenth time, attempting to clear the large of the orange capsule fluid that still found itself present despite a thorough showering.  He paused mid-motion this time, though, and said, "Aura, play the last message received from Zaratustra, please.  Audio only."

"Internal or external audio, Captain Geary?" the soothing female voice queried back.

"Internal, please."  Geary replied.  He wanted to listen to Zaratustra's report as he walked to his meeting with Schwigg's contact, but he'd be damned if Aura broadcasted the audio to every local comm unit She could connect to along the way.

"Beginning playback now, Captain Geary."

Geary's eyes lost focus and he autopiloted through preparing for the meeting as the audio was routed through his cochlear implants.  Zaratustra's report concerned a security operation WTE pilots had just embarked upon while Geary and his crew were conducting a post-flight cooldown of the corporation's Moa-class cruiser.  Though he wanted to be present with his people to ensure the success of their op, the meeting he was about to attend pertained to the success of White Talon Enterprises itself.

"Log begins at 17:45 NES.  Captain, I hope your meeting with Orlen goes well.  We just finished combat maneuvers are are now safe from hostile contacts.  Final tally is six hostiles within our patrol zone destroyed, while we sustained a single loss.

Cal began calling for the fleet to form up at 16:30 NES.  The following pilots participated in the combat operation:

Calculon - Scimitar
ChristmasMarine - Maller
Crimnon - Drake
Laura Wu - Maller
Markie Mark - Falcon
Matthias Frost - Falcon
MegaThordin - Drake
Raiden Kaine - Arbitrator
Shou Shin - Myrmidon
Sorin Markov - Hurricane
Unreal - Drake
Zaratustra - Drake

To save you the number crunching, Cap, we had twelve pilots in fleet.  Six battlecruisers, three standard issue cruisers, two force recons, and one logistics cruiser.  Of that fleet, all ships returned safely besides the Drake-class battlecruiser piloted by Crimnon.

Unreal, who was scouting ahead of the fleet, reported that there were several Beyond Divinity pilots in Maila.  The fleet traveled to the Purjola starsystem where it then sat aligned towards the Maila gate while orbitting Planet V.  The stated goal was to see if the Beyond Divinity pilots were up for an engagement, or if they would simply remain within the safe confines of the station's docking bay.

I took the liberty of recording the fleet audio during that time, which will play now."

Unreal > Looks like we have five BYDI in station with me Cal.
Cal > Understood.  Undock in your Drake and let's see if they want to party.
Unreal > Undocking.
*pause*
Unreal > Cal, I had a Hurricane undock with me.  Attempting to engage.
Cal > Fleet, warp to the Maila gate and hold.
Unreal > Cal, the Hurricane has engaged.
Cal > Roger that, the cavalry is coming.  Fleet, jump on contact and warp to Unreal at engagement distances.
Unreal > Ummm...Cal, we have more undocks.  Tempest.  Drake.  Scorpion.  I will need reps immediately.
Cal > Understood.  Primary is the Scorpion people.  Engage upon landing at the station.  Primary is Trouser.
Matthias Frost >  Tempest is jammed.
Markie Mark > Scorpion is jammed.
Cal > Trouser is going down, secondary target is the Hurricane.

"The Scorpion-class battleship piloted by TrouserDeagle was successfully destroyed.  Unfortunately the remaining Beyond Divinity pilots were able to de-aggress or warp off.  While I recommended that we spread points next time around, Cal brought up the obvious point that it wouldn't have mattered terribly, given both of our fleet compositions, we might have only destroyed a single more ship before all hostiles were able to talk the station traffic control operators into letting them back inside."

Aura's emotionless voice took full advantage of a pause in Zaratustra's report to notify Geary that he had to take the next left in order to arrive at his destination on time.

"From Maila we travelled our normal patrol zone through Akora and Oijanen before entering the starsystem of BWF-ZZ.  Cal was shocked that the communication relays reported only three pilots not in our fleet present in the system.  Having been stationed nearby in the past, I shared his surprise.  For the better part of the last three years BWF has been a major hub for pilots leaving the confines of Caldari space and venturing into the black.  Despite this apparent lack of targets, we did engage and destroy a Stabber-class cruiser whose pilot apparently thought it a grand idea to fight outnumbered twelve to one.

After securing anything of note from the wreckage of the Stabber, we proceeded through the empty starsystems of IOO-7O, BND-16, 01-FTD, 2E-ZR5, SR-KBB, and MR4-MY.  Our foward scout that entered FDZ4-A noted that there were five pilots somewhere in-system, but after many minutes of fruitless searching concluded that they were docked or under the protection of a cloaking device.  Frustrated, Cal called for a new destination of EOA-ZC and we began making our way there.

As was the case for most of the preceeding systems, WH-2EZ, L-HV5C, and NBPH-N were empty save for pre-existing orbital bodies.  On a whim, Cal called for a scout to hop into the neighboring system of L4X-FH before continuing on to EOA.  What follows is another recording from the fleet audio at that time."

Unreal > Cal, local here is at thirteen pilots besides me.  On scan I see Caracal, Drake, Drake, Guardian, Hurricane, Curse.  However, several starbases also on scan.
Cal > Understood.  Let me know if you home in on any of those with the directional.
Unreal > Check.  Wait.  One Hurricane just warped to the gate.
Cal > Notify me of aggression.
Unreal > He has aggressed.  I repeat, he has aggressed.
Cal > Fleet, jump into L4X.  Primary is dreffaste.  Call your points.
Gah > Point.
Matthias Frost > Target is jammed.
*pause*
Schwigg > Gate fire.
Cal > Hurricane down, primary is the Caracal.
Unreal > Point.
Cal > Loot and scoop people.  Re-approach the gate.
Unreal > Curse decelerating from warp on the gate!
Cal > I'm jumping through the gate.  Notify me when he jumps through.
Schwigg > He's jumping Cal.  Jumping into you.
Cal > Understood.  Jump when the stargate clears you to.
*pause*
Cal > Cal has point.  Still locked through the stargate?
*pause*
Unreal > Fleet is jumping through to you now Cal.
Cal > Got it.  Cap is running low, call your points so I can disengage.
Raiden > Raiden has point.
Unreal > Unreal has point.
Schwigg > Local is plus one, Cal.
Markie > Target is jammed.
Cal > Understood.  Disengaging.
*pause*
Cal > Great job people on the Curse.  Loot and scoop.  Re-approach the gate.
Unreal > Hurricane is landing on the gate.
Cal > Target rich environment?  Primary is Roynine Gainas.  Call points.
Schwigg > Local is spiking.
Cal > Everyone align for Planet VII.  Align for Planet VII.  Pulse your microwarp drive.
Unreal > Hostiles are landing.  Bhaalgorn, Tengu, Zealot, Vexor, Hurricane, Hurricane, Hurricane, Scimitar, Scimitar, and more.
Cal > Disengage people.  Disengage.  Burn off the gate and warp to Planet VII at <censored>.  Once there immediately align for UBX.  Again, align for UBX immediately upon exiting warp.
Matthias Frost > I'm scrambled.  Bhaalgorn is jammed.  Tengu is jammed.
Markie > Hurricane is jammed.  Zealot is jammed.  Scimitar is jammed.
Cal > If you're still at the gate, finish your burn and get the hell out.
Matthias Frost > I'm away.  15% structure...
Crimnon > I'm caught.  I'm caught.
Cal > Damn, sorry Crim.
Crimnon > No worries, get people home.
Cal > Everyone warp to UBX.  UBX is clear, so jump in contact.  Get it in gear and let's race these guys back to safe space.

"While the numbers were relatively even between the two fleets, the ships belonging to Ad Astra simply over-matched what we currently had fielded.  We lost Crimnon's Drake in this engagement, but we did manage to destroy the Ad Astra Hurricane-class battlecruiser that served as bait for our boys.  I know neither you or Cal take a ship loss lightly, but there truly was nothing we could have done in that situation given what they were fielding and the distance at which the engagement played out at.  Our Falcon pilots were simply far too close to maintain any level of safety, as evidenced by Matthias Frost's ship just barely getting out of there in one piece.

The Ad Astra fleet pursued us through UBX-CC and EOA-ZC before giving up the chase at the border of Caldari space.  If they had chosen to engage us in Akkio or Otosela, we might have obliged them.  The gate sentries would have evened the field nicely, and our Falcon pilots would have been able to dictate the necessary range.  Regardless, they didn't pursue, and no other hostiles were encountered as we returned home to Ikami.

Wish you'd been along, Cap."

Aura's voice filled the auditory void and said, "Playback complete, Captain Geary.  Would you like to save, replay, or delete the report?"

"Save it for now, Aura."  Geary looked around him, blinking in slight confusion.  It never ceased to amaze him that the human body can so easily navigate spacelanes or the interior of the station mostly on "autopilot" while the brain was focused on other tasks.  He hadn't run physically into anyone or anything else along the way, despite the crowded cooridors.  And now the doors leading to his destination were directly in front of him, waiting to be opened.

"Aura, please send a message to Zaratustra.  Copy Calculon on it.  Text only please.  State, "Job well done.  Looking forward to seeing you soon.  MG."

Aura replied, "This action has been completed to your specifications, Captain Geary."

Outwardly composing himself, Geary stepped through the doors to begin his own mission.  The secretary in the outer waiting room looked up as he entered and smiled as she said, "Mr. Tamoiro has been expecting you, Mr. Geary.  He can see you immediately."