AFE - Away From Eve

Due to varying circumstances I will not be returning to this blog until November. And tbh it's touch and go on Eve now, will probably be just logging to check skills and minor functions until my sub runs out.

Vaya con Dios!

Ang

Let me tell you three words. Freedom. Choice. Reaction.

The first word, Freedom has many meanings, but I prefer this one. "the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc".

I have Freedom, now. I can do pretty much whatever I want. Can kill who I want, fly where I want, though within reason. I have the freedom of choice.

Choice, which is the second word. Choices come in many forms as well. And I have had a choice placed on my table, quite without realising it. I have the choice to go home.

And not just any home, a home I helped build with isk and minerals donated and the blood and sweat of those I fought with.

A place I have thought of returning to many times... but now is more reality than fiction. How are you supposed to react to that? What should my reaction be given that I'm happy in my corp?

Reaction, the third word. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. An old saying, but one that stands the test of time. An action has happened, and quite without realising it a reaction has occured. All that remains to be seen is how far the reaction goes.

What is all this you ask? Nothing really but the ramblings of a drifter pirate..... but there comes a time when even with all the freedom in the world you have to make a choice and with that choice comes a reaction.

Not all are good, or make sense.... but every so often, the reaction is positive.

I am giving myself til the end of the week to find out if this one is good, if it makes senses.

A Break pt II

Eliza looked back once more up at the bay window to Section 8. There were two people she had expected to see. But they were not there. She waited, walking slowly, looking back just to make sure she was looking at the right window. It was, they hadn't come.

It wasn't that she regretted not seeing them, it was that she didn't have a chance to say goodbye to two good friends. While she'd be away for weeks... months.. even years it would have been nice to have said goodbye.

She let the custodian close the hatch on the transport that was shuttling the last of the crew over to the great carrier sitting just outside the docking bay. Before she entered she noticed that this was the last shuttle, at the doorway she turned around and looked again. Justine, Mia and Alice waved, her off, as did a few others, but they were not who she was looking for. With a heavy heart she boarded the transport.

The first indication that something was wrong was when she noticed the Thanatos activate its warp engines and vanish. Her weapon came out, instincts already counting paces to the custodian, the storage racks and the command deck. A large bore pistol pointed at the custodian as she whipped her head around.

"You! What is going on? Where did Naut go? She wouldn't leave me without a reason!"
The little man simple sat on one of the seats and pointed to the command deck.
"All the answers are in there, but you won't need your pistol."
"That," she said as she pistol whipped him into unconsciousness, "Remains to be seen."
With another pistol in hand she ran to the door to the command deck and tried the handle. Locked. She heard something from the other side. Laughter? How dare they! Kidnapping her and mocking her as well? They would pay rivers of blood!

The door to the command deck shattered as Eliza slammed into it and rolled in head over heels before coming up on one knee both her pistols pointing to the people on the deck. Both of whom who looked at her, then at each other... and roared with laughter. One of them took a camera and flashed a picture of Eliza, openmouthed and somewhat angry.
"Now that one is a keeper," Carmilla said as she showed Angelina the picture,"That's going straight on the bar wall."
There was the pop of a cork as Angelina opened an old bottle of firewater, took Eliza's gun from her hand and filled it with the bottle.
"But... what..."
Angelina just grinned. "Surprise!"

She looked at the two grinning sisters, at the bottle in her hand and laughed until all three were laughing, tears running down their faces. The custodian walked in, glaring at Eliza and sat at the controls and the transport shot into warp, heading to the Usi gate.

"I checked with your new CEO. You're not due on station for at least twenty four hours, so I told him to expect you in at least seventy two. First off, there is a crate of firewater here that we have to get through before we hit Jita."
"Jita? But we both have prices on our heads!"
"I know, and firewater is contraband.. so it has to go. Then we have a spa resort booked and I've arranged for some company there.. if you know what I mean..."She winked at them both at the same time,"plus there is a private beach and the oceans are warm. Time to spend some ill gotten gains!"
She smiled and swigged from the bottle.
"Angelina, you are just too much."
"Hey.... what are friends for?"

Internal Affairs

Angelina Ballentyne sat at the large desk in her quarters and looked at the file. It sat there, like a poisonous viper, waiting to strike, eyeing up it's prey, a fat buff snake, one that contained many secrets.

She walked over to the drinks cabinet and pulled out a bottle and some ice. The sound of the ice cracking as the liquor warmed it seemed over loud, but then she was concentrating on the file. Almost as an afterthought she lit up one of her special cigarettes and inhaled deeply before blowing the smoke towards the rooms extractor.

Crossing back to the table she gazed at it, as if she could read it just by looking at the exterior. As files go it was fat, the contents bulging out. But the front contained just three things. The stamp of the Guristas Associates, her name, and the stamp of Internal Affairs. Opening the folder with a delicate motion she glanced over the front page, a brief rundown of her career prior to joining TGA, a card with her fingerprints, the ubiquitous portrait photo of her. Taped to the inside the medical file and a protective case with the blood sample taken the day she arrived her.

Flipping through she came across transcripts from conversations she'd had with various people, some now forgotten, others less so. Pictures of her with agents from the Angel Cartel, associates of the Sansha, high ranking officials from various alliances. Most normal, with her drinking, eating, talking. Others, more risque, more personal.

Near the top a sheet of paper, a copy of the transfer papers to the White Rabbits, stamped Application Denied by order of Internal Affairs. Another had lists of requisitioned supplies which had been transfered to Carmilla and never returned, a penciled note indicating the amount of isk they cost. Another had the post battle report from a rather brutal attack where significant losses had occured, underlined were departure times from Ishomilken and arrival times in Mara. Again the penciled note indicating transfer time between systems was four times longer than expected with no reason. Fourteen seperate notes regarding the criminal matters between certain shady characters and the Caldari Navy in Jita, copies of internal Navy memo's regarding the scam auctions.

Back and forth she moved through the folder. Financial statements, shipping manifests, statements, confessions, reports, surveillance. Returning to the top page she read the brief covering letter and the empty verdict, just waiting to be filled by Internal Affairs. She took a pen from a drawer and began writing on the letter, filling in the verdict.

"No further action," she read,"Pilot to be reinstated to active service immediately. All findings of Interal Affairs investigation into subject now deemed classified at Director Level."

With a flourish she signed a name at the bottom of the letter, dated it and opening a drawer selected an IA Approved stamp, marked the bottom of the page and closed the file, wrapping it in a red ribbon and leaving it on the corner of her desk. A few moments later her door opened and a uniformed officer walked in, picked up the folder and dropped another one, saluted her and left. Blowing the smoke from her cigarette over the table she leant forward and checked the name on the front. Again a familiar buff folder, stamped with the symbols of the TGA, Internal Affairs and a name that was oh so familiar.

"So Alice.... lets see what we have turned up on you....."

Angelina looked up at the night sky from the planets surface. The moons of Ishomilken V were rising and the station, home, was visible as a gleaming gem.

She looked up behind the crystal windows that made up one wall of the clone facility on the planets surface. Her body was new, the scars gone and she was back to her old self. Clenching her fists and padding around the cold floor naked she waited for the doctor to return.

Dr Leander walked in and threw Angelina a robe, a cluster of papers in her hand, a few reports and a handful of implants.
"I have to say Angelina I'm surprised. I've read the reports... and I don't believe them. What happened out there?"
She looked around at the doctor as she pulled the robe on.
"I don't know. Perhaps I'm loosing my edge. Perhaps I've lost my edge. All I can think of these days are the industrial operations, power to weight ratio's on the ore compressors." She drank from the plastic cup then threw it at the wall, it bounced away spraying water around.
"I spent last night with the mechanics fixing up my haulers and test firing Carmilla's new mining lasers while the rest of the corp was out hunting."
She walked away and put her hands against the cold crystal and looked out.
"I don't know if I can do this anymore.... I don't know what's wrong with me Doc....."
Slumping to the floor the tears welled up and cascaded down her face as she looked up at Constance before feeling the pressure and jab of a needle on her arm.

Dr Constance Leander filled in her reports while looking over Angelina. She sighed and kept on writing..... "Pilot Angelina Ballentyne is showing a kind of stress, type unknown. I cannot assume that this is related to her known Frentix and Blue Pill addiction as this is a new clone. I have decided to send a copy of my report to the Black Rabbits high command recommending the withdrawl of her flight status if possible, at least until a complete psychological testing regime can be performed. It is possible that recent events have proved too much for her."

A few hours later Constance woke Angelina and handed her a stack of papers.
"I'm sorry to say your flight status has been revoked pending psychological testing. I'm also going to be doing a complete cerebral workover of your clone. You are to report to Manjonako when you are able, I've placed you under the care of your sister until we deem you ready to get back in the cockpit. Do you have a problem with this?"
Angelina shook her head and took the paper and flipped through them til she came to the one she knew was there. She read the title a few times before placing them on the bedside table. Constance looked over at them before heading over to her desk. Transfer papers she thought, to the White Rabbits. Something was definately wrong.