Eve Equestria
04
"Sir, we tracked the anomaly to Otou, unfortunately, when we arrived in the point three lowsec system, we found ourselves instantly under attack by three rogue capsuleers in Thrashers." A woman wearing a helmet spoke over a secure com channel.
"Are you telling me you LOST the target?" The digitally altered voice replied. "All because you chose to have a shootout with some gate campers?"
"N-no sir. Nothing like that. We had instantly detected the wreckage of the anomaly's ship. We cleaned up the campers quickly enough without any loss to us. We did, however, located some remains from the target."
"Remains? So, those campers killed it? Can you verify if this thing was a normal pilot... or a Capsuleer?"
"Positioning my Astero and trying to gather up what remains I can. It's going to be heavily damaged from being exposed to vacuum, so I can't tell you much right now. Damn..."
"What is it?"
"Well, the body... isn't much of a body as it is mostly a bloody smear on the side of the stargate... Hold on, I've tractored as much of the remains as I can. I'll contact you once I've examined them."
Tempest scowled as she set her Astero to fly a good safe distance from the gate, where she cloaked up, and kept on moving. Her pair of companions, each in Astero of their own, also spread out and cloaked up.
The tall woman emerged from her pod, the capsule fluids drying quickly, cooling her naked skin. She pulled off her helmet and tossed it onto the capsule's seat.
Not even bothering to get dressed, she started on her way to the small science lab. Running her fingers through her deep maroon mohawk, she got to thinking. Why had she accepted this really odd, but well paying mission? Oh yea, because it paid better than most combat missions.
She entered the lab and looked at the remains that had been placed on the examining table. She frowned at what little there was left that hadn't been either crushed beyond recognition, frozen or boiled by the vacuum of space and the unprotected rays of the sun, or just missed entirely by the scanners and tractor beam.
She set the lab's equipment to scan every bit of the remains she could, examining the data as it came up on a trio of large displays.
"Non-human DNA? Impossible. We've been all over this galaxy and there's never been any sign of anything not of human origin. Could this actually be an alien? Or maybe someone's idea of a joke of genetic engineering."
She picked up something that was merged with a few shards of bone. "A capsuleer data implant... Why do I get the feeling this is not going to go over well with my employer." She watched as more data crossed the screens as the computers started to extrapolate exactly what this... thing was.
"Is that? No, it can't be. It really is a pony's body. Did some insane scientist slap some poor fool's brain into that thing?" More data came up. "No... brain matter is also... holy fuck this is impossible. A pony capsuleer? Not just some idiot who went too far with body modifications. And from the reports I've been given, this thing, this pony, possessed remarkable telekinetic abilities."
Tempest brought up the security feed from the skill book merchant's rented shop. She watched again and again as the pair of idiot capsuleers got slammed into tritanium walls with enough force to actually leave indentations.
Then again, the walls were not solid tritanium. That would be stupid. Rather, they were most likely a millimeter thick at most.
But the very idea that someone could actually lift grown men off the ground like they were sacks of flour and throw them across a room with such force... maybe this alien had used a device, like some sort of tractor beam. That really was the only explanation.
To this day, there still was no real proof that psionic powers existed.
Tempest sat back in a comfortable chair, thinking about what she was seeing on the screens.
It was then that her ship's sensors detected a flare from the stargate. A moment later, the Mammoth that had been with their target emerged. Tempest jumped out of her chair and made all haste back to the bridge and almost dove into her capsule.
"Lansa, Everai, get ready to track that Mammoth. Don't let it get away."
"Is that our target? I thought you already..."
"Shut the fuck up Everai. Just track that thing." Tempest commanded as the cargo transport entered warp after apparently scanning and tractored in what it could grab from the wreck.
Tempest licked her lips in anticipation. If she couldn't track the target herself, then she would follow someone who could lead her to her prey.
...
Rarity stepped out of the shower. She had NOT been pleased with how she'd messed up this time.
Sighing, she made her way back to her quarters and set the citadel's systems to make her a new outfit. Half an hour later, she had groomed herself and was dressed once again.
"Jafrak here. Are you there Rarity?"
Rarity trotted over to the sofa and plopped herself down, stretched out, and magically activated the com screen. "Hello Jafrak. Did you make it back safely?"
"Tethering now, I'll be towed into the hanger shortly. Are you alright?"
Rarity nodded. "Yes. Still, getting so brutally killed again was far from what I had in mind today. I was still alive when the wreckage hit me." She shuddered. "Pain stacked upon pain. I'm just glad the wreckage hit me fast and hard enough to end me right there."
Jafrak laughed. "I know the feeling. So, do you think you're up to heading out to one of the asteroid clusters? May as well make use of your Venture to see about building yourself a new ship."
"Yes, yes I do believe I am. A new Punisher will certainly make me feel a little safer."
"I was thinking of something different this time. Why not try a destroyer? They pack a lot more firepower than any frigate."
"Hmm, I don't have any blueprints for such a ship, never mind the weapons and other systems. Will you be helping me with that aspect?"
The man nodded. "Certainly. Once we have the materials, then you can just transfer them over to me and I can get to working."
Rarity nodded in return. "I'll meet you outside station once you're ready."
"It'll take me a few little while. I need to unload the Mammoth first. Oh, I have quite the stockpile of those implants you used earlier. Feel free to grab a new set from storage."
"Will do." Rarity beamed. As odd as it seemed, those implants were rather nice to have. "Over and out."
...
Rarity was once again sitting in her Venture, looking over the available systems. Some of them were beyond her ability to use, such as the cloaking device. She made a mental note to learn how to use that thing as soon as possible.
Jafrak on the other hand, he was sitting in his massive Orca. The ship was sending signals to her ship, enhancing every aspect of mining that Rarity could imagine.
No complaints on her part, even as she watched the Orca's mining drones pulling their own weight, working hard to slowly and efficiently harvest ore from five separate rocks.
"Say Jafrak? What's it take to learn to fly something that large? How can you even control it with just your mind?"
Jafrak took a moment to think. "Skills and experience. We'll get you there eventually, if you like."
Rarity nodded happily. She lit her horn and scanned the area for more ores, and detected one of the asteroids had not just ore, but some gemstones within it. Smirking, she locked it up and started mining. This time, rather than let it auto-mine, she took manual control, making sure to scoop the valuable stones up. Why just let the tractors take up the ore and let the mining lasers just destroy something so useful. Well, she hoped they were valuable and useful.
As she was doing so, she checked long range sensors. She instantly spotted something wrong. "Jafrak, what are those? Look at your long range sensors."
"Those... shit. Those are combat probes. Cut your mining lasers and warp back to the citadel." His own massive, lumbering ship sent out a signal to the mining drones and recalled them.
Rarity nodded and pulled her own acolytes back in and warped out.
"Are you going to be alright?"
"No idea. I'm not detecting any ships within range, but that means nothing. They may be out of range, or even cloaked." He scowled. "Come on you fat assed bitch, get moving. I don't want to loose another Orca."
Finally Rarity heard him sigh with relief. "And I'm in warp. Good thing I was already aligned to home."
Rarity had already exited warp and the citadel's systems tethered her ship safely. "I am glad to hear that. I'm no longer detecting those probes. Does that mean they're gone?"
"Those were combat probes. No idea what they came from, but it seems... ah damn. They just vanished... and yup, got a blip there for a moment. An Astero. Hmm, they can't be fit with an expanded probe launcher, can they? Then again, I never tried."
"An Astero? Those cute little exploration ships? They can't be a threat now, can they?"
Jafrak snorted. "Rarity, I'm gonna tell you this right now. They may be a frigate, but they can be downright deadly with the right layout. Even more so with a skilled pilot commanding it."
"I see." Rarity frowned deeply as she watched the Orca drop out of warp and slow to a stop. "At least we didn't get caught."
"This time." Jafrak said with a warning tone to his voice. "Next time, we may not be so lucky."
Rarity thought back to the Providence, and how that massive ship had been destroyed by much smaller ships. She didn't doubt now that an Astero could pose a threat.
She followed Jafrak into the massive hanger, the systems taking over and towing her in and docking her back just outside her quarters. Shortly after entering her little 'home away from home', Rarity exited and made her way to where she knew she could usually find the human.
"Jafrak? Are you here?" She called out into the cargo hanger filled with warehouse sized crates.
"Over here. Just sorting out the ores to have processed." His voice echoed from a control console.
Rarity trotted over and smiled. "Well then, we're safe, and I sent what little ore I gathered into my cargo hold."
"Just keep gathering it. Soon we'll build you a nicer ship. Hmm, maybe even forgo cruisers and throw you right into a cruiser."
"Goodness, really?" She checked her tablet, and moved around some of the skill in the queue. "I should be set in a day or so for cruisers. What do you have in mind?"
"Depends on what you want. Here's some specs on the Amarrian cruisers." He sent her the digital data.
Looking it all over, Rarity smiled. "Oh, I like this one. That sounds most pleasing indeed, and less likely to allow my ship from getting blown up so easily."
"What do you have in mind? Let me check your queue... yea, yea, nope. You don't need that for this ship, even if shields can soak a few hits..." He tossed a few more skills into the queue and re-ordered some around. "And there. So, from the looks of it, you've taken an interest in the Maller this time."
Rarity smirked. "Yes, I have. It has a rather lovely design as well as the fact that the armor is innately designed to resist damage. Now, I do wish there was some way I could at least test out the various ships without actually having to purchase them."
Jafrak smirked.
...
Rarity was deeply enjoying the simulator. Any and all ships were available to her to fly... though the ones she had the skills for prevented her from testing them all over the next few days.
Each day they would spend a few hours mining, or at least till probes appeared, trying to scan them down again.
Rarity would keep a close eye on the skills as her implants wrote them into her brain. It was a strange feeling, learning without actually studying, but she didn't mind it at all.
She would spend some time at the factory, studying what she could to help make things easier for Jafrak, or even just bringing him something to eat... and coffee. Lots of coffee.
Then she would spend plenty of time in the simulator, trying out everything she could, from combat, exploration, you name it. If she had the skills, she would try it out, as well as testing out various combinations of systems to see what worked best for any given situation.
After a week, Rarity walked out to her ship dock, looked through her small list of available ships.
Three Punishers, these she'd built and fitted herself.
Two Venture, because why not?
One Magnate, because she was starting to learn how to do all that advanced scanning stuff. She'd need those skills for certain if she wanted to even have a hope of finding her way home.
And finally, what she considered her 'flagship'. A Maller cruiser class ship. Sure, it was slower and less agile than the frigates, but she liked how it felt when she took control of it with her mind.
All of them were nicely outfitted with everything she hoped she would be needing.
Not that it mattered... She KNEW there was someone out there in the Wormhole. She herself had spotted the Astero on long range sensors a couple times, and its signature had been the same each time.
That meant that, maybe, those two pirates had gotten hold of a small, dangerous ship. Who knew what else they had in their possession.
That must have explained why she hadn't seen them this whole time. They were watching, waiting for a chance to get back at Jafrak and herself .
She commanded the system to bring out the Maller, one she chose to name "Princess' Guard." Why? She had no idea really.
"Jafrak?" She called him over the com.
"Yea Rarity? I'm a bit busy here."
"Sorry Darling, but I was wondering if it would be alright for me to take a few laps around the Citadel. I haven't actually had a chance to take my cruiser out for a real flight."
Jafrak's face appeared on screen. "Are you serious? That damn Astero is still out there, you do realize that, don't you? It it sicks its drones on you, then you're not going to enjoy what happens."
Rarity smirked. "Jafrak, Darling, you don't need to be worried. My lovely cruiser is well suited to dealing with drones. You can trust me on that."
"It's not that I don't trust you Rarity. It's that I am concerned for you. You're a young capsuleer, and from what you have told me, you are from a very peaceful world. What would happen if, say, you got killed and something went wrong with your clone and you... well, you died permanently?"
Rarity didn't like that idea. "But isn't the consciousness transfer system flawless?"
"For humans, yes. You are not human. I don't know if it will always work for you." Jafrak leaned back in the chair he sat in. "You are the first of your kind to come out here into space, and to be honest, there are certain factions who would love nothing more than to exterminate your entire species. Others would strive to enslave them... and others who would see you simply as cattle to be slaughtered and eaten. I am sure that there are those who would honestly welcome your world with open arms, especially if you can bring fresh ideas or new technology to New Eden."
This made Rarity think. If all that were true, then she most likely had more potential enemies out there than potential allies.
And allies were a far more enticing prospect than the other options.
"So, who would make the best allies?"
"Pirates."
"Damn."
"In all seriousness, the Sisters of Eve would be elated beyond comprehension to learn of your existence. They'd be the most likely to want to help get you home, in return for just learning about your people." Jafrak offered a reassuring smile. "So. What say you we make another trip back into hi-sec space the moment we detect a new wormhole."
"Maybe I can try? I have a Magnate, and I have been practicing in the simulator."
"Hmmm. Well, the Singularity Simulator is designed to be almost indistinguishable from reality... so, yea. Just keep tethered to the Citadel and keep an eye on your long range sensors, though I wouldn't be surprised if that Astero was sitting a few hundred kilometers away from us right now, watching every move we make."
Rarity didn't like that concept, but chose to keep her opinion to herself. "I'll do just that. Thank you Jafrak."
With that decided, Rarity switched her Maller for the much smaller Magnate. She ran a double check to make sure all systems were running, not wanting to risk undocking and finding out something wasn't working right.
Satisfied, Rarity slid herself into her capsule, felt the system connect to her implants on her back, and then sealed it up. Strangely, she'd never once really been bothered by the fact that she was quickly submerged in the ambiotic fluid that helped offer some degree of protection. Shortly after, her pod docked with the rather striking ship.
Once undocked, she made sure to come to a complete stop before taking a calming breath, then launched the probes.
...
Lansa watched as the Magnate undocked and launched a series of probes. She kept up her Astero's cover-ops cloak and checked the long range sensors.
She compared the probe's locations to those that she had scanned down earlier and noted, after seeming to check various signatures out in space, it started focusing on one of the wormholes.
Landa ran her fingers through her long raven hair and smiled. "So, you're scanning for a way back into hisec are you? Hmm, that's an Amarrian ship, not Minmatar, meaning that's more likely to be the anomaly. So, it did survive that encounter with those campers. Finally." She turned her mental attention to communications. "Lansa to Everai, you there?"
"Everai here. Anything new to report?"
Lansai smiled brightly. "You bet. Tempest will be very pleased to know that I've found the anomaly. It's in a Magnate and seems to be scanning down the wormhole she's sitting outside of right now."
"Over. I'll relay the message to her right now. If they're planning on attempting to head back into Hisec, then we need to be prepared, in case shit hits the fan again." Everai replied. "I'll get back to you with Tempest's response shortly. Over and out."
"Over and out."
Everai was feeling giddy. "Oh, Tempest is gonna be not pissed when we tell her the news. Well, maybe a little less pissy than usual." She switched her coms, directing them at the unstable wormhole. "Tempest, come in. Everai here."
"What is it this time? Did you spot another 'space dolphin'?"
"I tell you, I saw it clear as day... But, well, this isn't about that. It's about the anomaly. Lansa has spotted it in a Magnate, scanning down the very wormhole you're sitting outside of."
"Oh? Well, that's good news... though how do you know it isn't that Jakrak fellow?"
"That's Jafrak, Tempest. And no. He seems to have a distinct preference for Minmatar ships. This is an Ammar ship, which is what the anomaly was piloting before getting killed. Oh yea, you still haven't told us about the results of your examination of the remains."
"Inconclusive." Tempest spat back. She knew better than to bring up the fact that her examination had clearly shown that the anomaly was a unicorn of some sort. a fricking space unicorn. Tempest, though she had all the solid data available to her, and had examined it more thoroughly than needed... she still had to admit that it was an alien space unicorn. The DNA matched equine samples she had looked up, though with significant differences.
Larger eyes, much larger brains, a skeletal structure that indicated it had ball joints, meaning a much greater range of movement from any quadruped in known existence, and a facial musculature that indicated the capacity for a huge range of facial expressions.
"Let me know if they make a move. We need to be ready for anything. Over and out."
"Over and out."
Tempest exited her pod and made her way back to the lab. She pulled the samples from storage and looked them over again, comparing them to the data she had collected. A fine, amazingly soft coat of hair, and an absurdly natural shade of purple for the head and tail hair.
"Fucking space unicorns... what next? Pegasus?" She growled at her own comment. If anyone else had made it, they would have deservedly earned a solid punch to the face. Hopefully with teeth getting rattled down their throats.
"So, my little anomaly... what are you really and why are you here?"
...
Rarity had noted the location of the wormhole, pleased as punch when the probes indicated she had indeed located one to hisec space. She was a little giddy as she let the citadel tow her back inside.
After docking and disembarking from her pod, she made her way to the lab where she found Jafrak slumped over his desk.
"The poor thing. Must have tired himself out." She wished she had a blanket to cover him up with, but chose not to disturb him."
"I'm not sleeping." Jafrak spoke up, face still in his arms. "Just thinking."
"About what Darling?"
"What we're going to do with you."
Rarity looked a little taken aback by that. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Ok, let me be frank with you..."
"You name is Jafrak."
"Its a phrase meaning let me be brutally honest with you..."
"Oh..." Rarity sat down on the floor. "Go on then."
Jafrak sat up and looked Rarity in the eyes. "We're not getting you home just sitting here, filling your head with skills of all sorts."
"That's a given dear, so what have you planned?"
"A trip to Arnon."
"And what, pray tell, is Arnon?"
Jafrak smiled. "That's where the Sisters of Eve have their home base located. They're some of the most daring explorers in all of New Eden, aside from a small number of capsuleers."
"But you said you're an explorer as well, didn't you?" Rarity was confused.
"By no means among the best, I assure you that. No, we need to make friends with the SoE. Who knows, they may take an instant liking to you and send out whole fleets to locate the wormhole to send you home."
"I am still miffed with you for lying that you knew where that wormhole was."
"I said I was sorry. I still have the lumps on my head from that beating you gave me, you know."
"And for that, I am not sorry. It was a beating well deserved."
Jafrak rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "And an epic one at that. Anyways, we need to make sure that whoever is out there in system with us cannot track up so easily. For that, I've put together something I've never sat in before."
"A shower?"
"So I stink that badly again?"
"Yes, yes you do. Go, shower, launder your garments. I would like to be on our way before that wormhole collapses."
Jafrak stood up, chugged the last of the cold coffee in the mug. "As would I, but you're not taking a ship."
Rarity frowned "Whatever do you mean by that?"
"You'll be in your pod."
"How will that help me if that Astero attacks? I'd die again instantly."
Jafra walked past her and opened the screen that bocked the window. "We're taking... that."
"Maybe I should just go step outside for a breath of fresh vacuum..."
...
Rarity had heard about interceptors, and how fast they were.
She had not considered the concept of something called a 'travelceptor'.
Sitting in her pod, crammed into the rather small cargo hold of the Stiletto that Jafrak was piloting, she watched the video feeds, and was simply wanting to scream in absolute, unbridled terror.
Well, she had, all the way from the Citadel to the wormhole, as well as to the first gate.
Screaming in absolute, unbridled terror got boring quickly enough.
"H-how fast are we going now?"
"You know how your Punisher can hit five AU per second?"
"Yea?" Rarity gulped nervously as they landed and jumped another gate.
"We're going over twelve AU per second."
"Oh dear... If anything exists that is faster than this... I hope I never have to sit in a pod in the cargo hold in that..."
"Approaching another gate."
"A-already? How many has it been now?"
Jafrak looked at his map. "Nine jumps so far, and yea, there's one ship that's unmatched for its warp speeds. I mean, CRAZY fast."
"And this isn't crazy fast?"
A hearty laugh was all Rarity received in replay. "Wait till you fly a ship using a micro-warp drive. Hope you brought a change of undies."
"Whatever undies are, I wish I had a change of them."
Jafrak snrked, and tried to hide his laughter. "I think I'll have to introduce you to something called panties, Miss Ponytoe."
"That doesn't even make sense." Rarity cried as they came out of warp and missed a massive battle-cruiser by a matter of meters. Rarity would have peed herself... had she not already done so the moment the Stiletto left the Citadel...
...
Tempest, Everai and Lansa sat in a rented quarters in a space station just a couple jumps from the wormhole location.
Tempest wanted to be furious. She wanted to bat her two companions upside their pretty heads.
But no, Tempest couldn't. She knew better, as it wasn't their fault that the damn space unicorn had gotten away faster than a com link could have been established.
She'd seen the interceptor emerge from the wormhole and take off faster than her sensors could track, and that was saying something. Moments later she had received the communication that the interceptor had just taken off.
Damn time lag when messages passed through wormholes.
"So now we have no idea where they've gone." Everai leaned back on the sofa. "Here we are, a top team of trackers, and we loose our prey."
Lansa rested her elbows on her knees, and her chin on her palms. "We just have to wait for them to come back this way, hopefully before that wormhole shuts. Otherwise, locating them is going to be a pain."
Tempest had been pacing back and forth for a while now, when suddenly a communication came in. She leaped over the sofa and knocked both women to the sides. "Tempest here."
"We have the anomaly's location." The distorted voice spoke. "Hurry with all haste to Arnon."
"On our way." Tempest grinned widely. "You're not getting away from us this time."
...
The Stiletto had to weave through the space traffic once coming out of warp, and quickly reached the docking perimeter. Within minutes, the ship was towed into a hanger and the pilot and rather distraught passenger disembarked.
"I am never agreeing to travel like that again." She fumed.
Jafrak shrugged, then grinned. "You may have to be a passenger again sometime. Maybe next time you'll have some quarters you can hide under the bed in."
"I said never again."
"You said never AGREE to travel like that again. You may have no choice."
"I loath you with every fiber of my being right about now." Rarity glared, then spotted a group approaching them.
One woman was in the lead, with four armed and armored guards following closely behind.
"Welcome to the Sisters of Eve Bureau. I am Sister Alitura."
To Be Continued...