//------------------------------// // Chapter 6.5 // Story: My Little Pony: Isk is Magic // by keyan88 //------------------------------// Ch. 07 “But Sir! Keyan is one of the most profitable explorers we have! You can’t just abandon him!” Amarrian interceptor class pilot, Copheros Heturen, argued. “I don’t care; we could end up losing more fighters or pilots to the Goons than isk we would gain by finding him. You know we are at war. ” Counselor James Yutuerian. Copheros had been arguing this same point for days now, where was the sense of loyalty in this galaxy now-a-days? HIs Khanid upbringing gave him a sense of honor, and everyone else sorely lacked it.         “And besides, you know as well as I do if the Goons have him there is little chance of getting him back. As strange as it is that any attempts to trace his ship were met with failure, it does not justify such an expedition.”         “Sir come on! You can’t just abandon him!”         The counselor slammed his fist down on his desk,         “END OF DISCUSSION. Your loyalty to your friends is commendable Copheros, but it does not grant you any special privileges.”         Copheros’s mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to force something out of his mouth. Eventually the only thing that made its way out was a scream of rage. He turned on his heel and stormed out of the counselor’s office..         As his angry footsteps resounded through the corporate offices as he made his way back to his shuttle. He took a few deep breaths amidst his stomping and eventually calmed down enough to start thinking rationally again.         He started listing everything he knew that could help him in his search. He knew what region Keyan was exploring. He had gone on a huge spiel about how he was going to rub all his brand new finds in the corps faces when he returned. The region itself was extremely dangerous, full of all types of pirates and the whatnot. He knew what ship he had been flying, The Loki he had been wanting for years.         He knew that there was little to no chance of Keyan being captured. He would self destruct before they could catch him, and the self destruct mechanism was impossible to be disabled before or after it was activated. So there are two real possibilities, either Keyan was stuck somewhere which made self destructing his ship and pod impossible, or the Jove got him for some reason.         By the time he made it to his shuttle he had managed to calm himself down. He walked up to his vehicle, and saw a holopad resting on the front window. Illegal Parking Fine 500isk Pay at nearest patrol station Have a good day         His rage returned in full force, culminating in the age old adage, “SHIT” ***** After another set of anger management exercises he started up the shuttle and went on his way to the docking yard. He leaned back in his seat, idly running a hair through his short black hair. He closed his eyes, about time for nap. After a short nap the shuttle beeped, signaling his arrival at his ship. He stood up and started walking down the gangway to his ship. He let out a low whistle, as he did every time he saw his ship. She truly was a beauty, her hull was a scarlet-brown. It was accentuated with absolutely striking gold and brown arches, curves, and emblems. It truly was a marvel of Ammarian engineering and style. The airlock opened with a hiss as he stepped into his pride and glory.          “Aura? What’s the status on my new webifier?” He asked his A.I companion, standard fare for most capsuleer ships. “Upgrades complete sir. The new one should be able to slow down a ships max velocity by 63%, a 13% improvement from the previous module.” Copheros smiled, his ship had finally come together. Starting from a usual interceptor, he had sunk so much isk into retrofitting it he doubted there was another like it in the galaxy. Transmission crackers, hacking module, data analyzer, warp scramblers, statis webs, a micro warp drive capable of catching anything in the galaxy, and to top it all off an armament that did not belong on any ship that could move as fast as this one.                  Some said lasers were little more than a pretty light show, they usually stopped once he melted halfway through their hull.         He walked to the cockpit, he had made similar upgrades to Keyan’s that allowed him to run without a crew so the ship  was entirely silent.         He booted up the navigational screen and pulled up the region that Keyan said he was heading to.         “22 systems!?” He exclaimed, it would take forever to search all of them.         “Aura, do we have any data on which System Keyan was in last?”         “I have traced the last message he wrote to the best of my ability sir, this region is the best information I can provide, I am incapable of pinpointing any closer.”         Copheros shrugged, it would have to do.         “Set destination, what's the ETA?”         “Just over a day sir on the safest route. Travelling through GoonSwarm federation space could shorten it, but I highly suggest you do not take that route.”         “Yea, lets not piss off any goons.”         “Very well sir.”         Copheros leaned back in his chair. One thing he was annoyed about, and something that Keyan would always rub in his face, was that as a result of his extensive modifications of his ship he had to give up his crew quarters, and as such any hope of a bed.         He closed his eyes, at least the chair was pretty damn comfy. ****         A day later he arrived, an average looking system with a red giant at its center greeted him.         “Aura, send out the Seeker Drones. Then cloak up. Set them to scan for Keyan’s thermal trail, weapon fire signature, anything.” His “Seeker” drones had started as basic combat drones but since his ship couldn’t launch probes he had jury rigged them himself to fill in the role.  Each system would take at least 2 days to scan, as his drones, though useful, lacked the raw power of dedicated probes.         His brown eyes remained glued on the screen. as he waited for the first scans to come in.         ‘You’re gonna owe me sooooo much isk when I save your sorry ass Key’