A Wild Goose

Looking at the daily reports, Gabriel could see that much of the region had been tagged as being contested. It had been a really long day. Earlier on duty, he and Imperial Major Condor Amarr evicted a Matari pilot out of Arayar, decontesting the system. That afternoon, VFOR had fleet ops bringing in more than a few successful raids. Now, shaking his head, Gabe could see that the night was going to be busy with defense operations. “Looks like the Minmatar have had quite a go at it today, my boy.”

Onesimus looked up from his studies, clearly relieved for the distraction. “What’s up Uncle?” Both he and his uncle were the only ones in the pilot’s lounge and he had been working on Mechanic V for some time. Anything would be a welcome sight; even a round of defense plexing.

Gabriel tossed him the reports, and said, “It appears that we have a bit of work to do.”

The nephew got up from the desk where he was sitting at and stretched. Onesimus knew that he needed to pass these exams before being issued a license to fly assault ships, but it didn’t take much effort, and he was quickly convinced to stop for a while in order to clean up some of the mess the barbarians made during the day.

Both capsuleers undocked their frigates and quickly made the jumps to the battle zone. Moving into Sosala the two spit up, each would take a planet to scan down for anomalies. With a little bit of effort, they would quickly find the breaches in Amarrian Security. It’s not the most glamorous job in the militia, but it had to get done.

After what seemed to be a short eternity, both met at Planet Five. “I think Sosala is dry tonight Uncle,” exclaimed the youth. “Scans are completely clean.” Gabriel sighed, and reluctantly agreed. They were both hoping to get this work done as quickly as possible, but it was looking like the night was going to drag on.

Just then, a sensor went off warning a change in Local. Onesimus looked over and read off the name, “Karin Katari.” He frowned a bit and continued, “Hey Uncle, she isn’t a militia war target, but a corporate. What do we do with her?” Both pilots pulled up the database and took a closer look. According to the records, Karin was a member of the Ushra’Kahn Alliance, renowned for their reputation for being unpleasant. Both her Bio Report and her negative Security Status showed evidence that this was not a nice person.

Gabe shook his head and commented, “She’s definitely not the type you’d want to take home to meet Momma, is she?” He imagined his nephew smiling at the thought of introducing a Matari Sebiestor to his mother. Both knew the reaction would be a clear fainting spell. “Let’s ignore her, and just move on,” the uncle suggested. “Maybe she has bigger fish to fry.”

Both ships, banked and warped off to the nearby jump-gate which led to Uusanen. There was enough work in the region, and Gabe never did like to engage unless necessary. Arriving at the gate, the two frigates jumped and once again started their dance, scanning down the complexes. Immediately, Gabriel got a hit, and both craft quickly moved to the breached complex and began the procedures. They met at the gate, and swiftly moved in on the bunker to begin their scans. It wasn’t hard work, and the night started giving the appearance of another quiet evening. Almost half-way into the scans, the Local sounded off again, and both were grieved to find that Karin Katari had just arrived. Gabe turned and activated the Directional Scanners. He knew that the vessel would have to come close to scan them, and he wanted to see what they were up against. Clearly, Miss Katari had too much time on her hands to be bothering the likes of the two Theodouloses. “Let’s stay on the button for now Onesimus. If she is going to come in, she still has a ways to travel.”

The next couple of minutes, were a bit tense. Directional Scanners didn’t show up anything, though Local clearly revealed her to still be in the system. Both ships continued their routines, and the base was starting to become more secure. It was just then when a Rapier showed up on the Scanner. “Stink!” exclaimed the older Theodoulos. “She’s in a Force Recon Ship.” There are many types of craft pilots can fly. The Force Recon vessel specialized in Electronic Warfare, drones, and cloaking. Each skill by themselves, can be reckoned with, but when combined, the ship becomes a deadly instrument, especially in trained hands. “Listen to me Onesimus, this gal can come in here cloaked. I’m not going to take the chance and have her pop one of us, so let’s change things a bit in our plans.” A smile came across Gabriel’s face, and he switched over to an encrypted comms channel. “This is what we’re going to do…”

Though the scanning was not complete, both frigates aligned to the Iesa Gate and warped off. Arriving at the gate, Gabe ran a quick scan, and ordered both to jump. The gate started its activation, and though sounds cannot penetrate the silent vacuum of space, it still gave the pilots a sense of a building hum. The ball of energy quickly grew in the center of the gate, the ships carefully scanned, dematerialized, and whisked light-years away, reappearing in the Iesa system. Immediately both nephew and uncle broke their post-jump cloak and quickly headed to the Anka Gate. After a minute of warping, the two arrived at the gate in time to see their new friend jumping in from Uusanen. “Wow! You’re good, Uncle” commented Onesimus. Gabe only smiled, and directed the next jump.

After both knew that Karin Katari was in hot pursuit, and they made it to the next system, did Gabriel Theodoulos initiate the next phase of his plan. “Roger,” came the quick reply of the nephew. Onesimus knew what to do, but he was a bit nervous. He was only in a small Executioner-class frigate and he clearly knew that one wrong move would mess up the whole plan and possibly get him into some really serious trouble.

The young Theodoulos ramped up his engines and headed off to Tannakan Gate. By the time he arrived, his heart was starting to pick up speed. Looking toward the Local Channel, all he could see was that he was alone. For a moment, he thought the plan wouldn’t work, but then Local lit up and sure enough, Katari popped into the system. The lad waited a couple more seconds and jumped into the next system. From Anka, he jumped to Tannakan. After Tannakan, he jumped to Sahtogas. Onesimus was careful not to allow the Matari to get close enough to see him, but not too far away to lose her. The next system was Oyonata. Once he knew the Rapier was in Local he jumped and moved to the next gate which led to Sosan. This fox and hound maneuvering was getting on his nerves. The sweat was glistening off of his brow, and a couple of times, Onesimus caught himself about to make a wrong move. But so far, everything was going according to plans.

After a couple of minutes, he got concerned that he lost his pursuer. “Hey Uncle Gabe, I think she lost me,” came his comment. “What do you want me to do?”

“Don’t worry my lad,” came the reply across the comms, “You’re doing great!” Onesimus took a deep breath and relaxed a bit. Gabriel came back and suggested that he start scanning down Oyonata, since that system is contested as well. That sounded like a good idea, so he warped off the gate and started his scanning. By the time he got half-way through his first scan, Local chimed. She arrived!

The young pilot quickly warped off to the Sosan Gate. Once there, he took a quick scan, confirming her flight, and jumped. Going from Oyonata to Sosan added a major chunk of distance, throwing the frigate into the neighboring region of Devoid. Once on the other side, his attention was drawn to a warning light on his console indicating a possible malfunction in the vessel. This wasn’t good, and he relayed the news to his uncle. “Not a problem Onesimus, just one more jump, OK?” Once again, the pilot checked his readings and confirmed that the alarm might not be too serious, so he decided to head to Asghed. Arriving at the gate, he waited. Sure enough, the Ushra’Kahn jumped into the system hot on the heels of her Amarrian prey. He quickly jumped.

“Well done, Onesimus lad! Well done!” commented Gabriel into the comms. He was well pleased how successful his nephew was in eluding his powerful enemy. The aged scholar sat back in his pod and couldn’t help but to chuckle. “Why is it that so many pirates, rascallions, and nefarious folk always think the only way to win a battle is through the use of guns and missiles?” he thought to himself. Gabe calmly reached over and toggled the link, “Please, my beloved nephew, kindly send Miss Katari my warmest of wishes.” He paused, and looked out at the secured Uusanen complex. “Let her know that Uusanen is decontested.”