It's a bit of a departure from my usual fare, I know, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it. In-game I go by the moniker of Ran T'mekk.
***BEGIN***
I secretly hoped Galdar was wrong. I hoped it was nothing more than a scanner glitch; a software error. If his intel was right – that a Leviathan-class Titan had somehow penetrated our border defences and was on course towards Villore – then all hope was already lost. The treaty had failed, and our people’s dream of peace was lost to the stars.
There were rumblings in the Gallente Senate. There were rumours of a Caldari covert ops project, codenamed ‘Cronus’. Holo-images of a Caldari Titan undergoing extensive “repairs” in Black Rise. And the disappearance of several prominent Caldari scientists, all members of the same think tank. It didn’t make any sense. No, that was a lie. It made perfect sense. The Caldari were working on something; something big.
My ship, the Fit of Glory, was little more than a short-range Taranis-class interceptor cum scout. If we ran into a warp bubble or some webber drones, we would be done for. The Glory was a tough little ship, but not that tough.
We dropped out of warp in Villore, near the gate to Old Man Star. The might of the Gallente Navy was on the other side, no doubt scanning for any Caldari presence. If our old foes were to invade, it would be through Old Man Star. That much was certain.
As I was about to give the order to jump – to join our comrades on the other side – my scan officer spoke up:
“A blip, Captain.”
“What kind of a ‘blip’?” I asked.
I left my chair and stooped over his shoulder, my eyes fixed on the scanner scope. The blip was very faint, almost undetectable. The Glory’s scanners had long-ago been modified to detect the presence of jump portals. And here was one, in Villore. Could the Caldari really be that stupid? Villore was locked down tighter than a slaver hound in heat.
“Let’s investigate,” I said, “Take us to within a hundred kilometres; maximum warp.”
---
The mysterious blip was in actual fact a jump portal, one with an aperture measuring at least five kilometres across.
“I thought jump portals were limited to low security space.”
It was Severis, my second-in-command.
“They are,” I said, “Most high security systems utilise subspace dampening fields to prevent them from being generated.”
“Then how do you explain this, Captain?”
“I can’t.”
The Fit of Glory’s entire bridge crew was utterly transfixed by the jump portal and the improbability of its existence.
“We didn’t even detect a cynosural field. Not to mention any cyno-capable ships. How is that possible?”
“I don’t know.”
It had been several minutes, and still nothing had emerged from the jump portal. I was growing impatient.
“Close distance; fifty kilometres.”
“Are you sure that’s safe, Captain?” Severis asked.
I shook my head, “I don’t think I’m sure of anything anymore.”
A small black object suddenly appeared at the edge of the portal’s aperture. It was a frigate; a Caldari Merlin. We were immediately targeted, and I ordered our helmsman to make a series of evasive manoeuvres in an attempt to avoid being hit. It was no use, of course, even with our upgraded engines. Damn the Caldari.
“Report!” I barked.
The ship’s engineer: “Shields are down to 70%, minor hull damage, all other systems read normal.”
“Target their weapon systems!”
We were able to inflict a fair bit of damage before our weapons and engines were disabled. The Caldari scum orbited us for several minutes; no doubt toying with us before finishing us off. Just as I was ready to accept my fate and plead my case to the Gods, an explosion lit up the Merlin’s hull. A greenish-blue object entered our field of vision and blew the Merlin out of the sky. It was one of ours; a Thorax!
“Persistence of Vision to unidentified Taranis; we are here to assist you. Further reinforcements are on their way. What is your condition?”
A miracle, that was the only word for it.
“Fit of Glory to Persistence of Vision; we have taken heavy damage and are unable to warp. Also, our weapons are offline.”
“Understood, Fit of Glory,” the Thorax replied, adding, “Hang in there.”
A nice thought. The jump portal’s aperture showed no sign of decay; at least none that we could detect. So where was the Caldari fleet? What were they waiting for? Our back up was nowhere to be seen. Could they have been ambushed?
A report came in from our ship’s engineer: two of our blasters were working again. One of the others was damaged beyond repair and the rest – indeterminable. What we had would have to do.
“Fit of Glory, Persistence. We’ve just gotten word that the rest of the fleet has been ambushed in Old Man Star by the Caldari. CONCORD has locked down the gate on that side.”
Of course! That was the Caldari’s plan all along! Lure our fleet into Old Man Star while launching a surprise attack through the jump portal in Villore! How could we have been so short-sighted?
There was a bright flash and more than a dozen starships of Caldari design emerged from the jump portal. Mostly Drakes and two or three Ravens. The Persistence of Vision aligned itself to them, its crew no doubt preparing for what would be the ship’s final battle. My own crew clearly felt the same, though we were in less for a fight than a swift execution.
In what I could only guess was our final few minutes, I saw the portal darken substantially and a large object emerge. It was huge – almost as large as a station -and shaped like a coiled cobra. It was a Caldari titan, Leviathan-class. And here it was, in Villore, the meeting place of the Gallente senate. The last thing I remember is the titan’s name. It was painted in large, black letters, almost twice the height of the Glory.
The name on the side was “Cronus”...
---
Valkus Galdar paused the holo-image of Selda Kues. The twelve members of the Board of Inquiry sat in silence and waited for Galdar to explain.
“What you have just heard, gentlemen, is a firsthand account of the beginning of what has come to be known as the Battle of Villore. It is the testimony of Selda Kues, deceased, former captain of the Gallente Federation vessel Fit of Glory. The ship was lost with all hands. This unprovoked attack on members of the Gallente Federation was spearheaded by Caldari Special Operations, under General Carzon. He is currently being held in a classified location for war crimes. It was he who commissioned the construction of the Cronus – the titan capable of opening a jump portal into high security space – and who ordered the attack on the Gallente Senate. He did so without the express approval of the Caldari State, who now label him a rogue. All of this can be found in my report.”
The Board talked amongst themselves for a moment before one of them raised his head and said:
“Thank you, Mr. Galdar. We have no further questions for you at this time.”
Galdar nodded and collected his holo-papers. He carefully lifted the holo-image disk out of the projector and slipped it back into its protective case. Its contents was about all that was left of Selda Kues; just that and the few odd pieces of scorched circuitry that had once made up the bulk of Kues’ heavily augmented brain. He left the room where the Board of Inquiry was meeting and took the elevator down to the hanger, where a shuttle was waiting to take him home.
“What a waste.” Galdar sighed as he boarded the shuttle.
After all that planning and preparation, the billions of ISK spent on research and development and the thousands of innocent lives lost in the Battle...
...the Caldari had only managed to kill one third of the blasted Senate.
Next time, Galdar thought to himself, he’d have to be more precise with his intel.
***END***
