'You got yourself a deal."

This is my entry to the Inspired By Images Of Eve Competition 3. More details and links to all entrants can be found at Starfleet Comms.


System: Unknown

Sovereignty: The Citadel 

Eve Time: 01:42

The Rifter slowed to a halt near the cargo station. The station sat on a massive rock and a greenish fog loomed around it. There were thousands, if not millions of places like this all over EVE but this is the place where the deal would be made.

Inside the Rifter pilot Protector X opened a comm. to his men.

"You guys ready down below?"

"Ready" Someone acknowledged.

     He closed the comm. and flew his ship to the station. "This better work. I’ve gone too far now. Goddamn it why did I do that job!?"

Two months ago a fellow Corp member named Paintchk needed some help with a contract given to him by the "High Class" Corporation. It was a simple task, raid an office, plant a bomb on the cargo ship, and then kill that “rat” someone had wanted dead. The reward was 50 million Isk so when I was asked to join in it was hard for them to pass up.  The station that we were going to raid was corrupt and the police there were basically paid militia.  After we searched through the hanger bay, found the ship, and Paint had planted the bomb, I raided the office and had gotten what information we needed to find the Rat The information tipped us off that the Rat was at a meeting in a club in the station. When we arrived we immediately spotted the Rat. I was waiting for just the right moment to attack but as he started to walk towards an exit in the back with 3 people behind him I was shocked that Paint made a move and left me behind.

"Paint wait!", but the sound of the large crowd inside the club drowned out my scream.

Paint was only a few feet away when a drunk bumped into him and started to swing. The Rat heard the commotion and turned and saw him. He started to run so Paint drew his pistol and fired striking one of  the Rat’s  accomplices’ and killing them.

"Fuck! X hurry!!" Paint yelled.

 We both ran after the Rat through ally ways and side streets. Both parties exchanged fire every now and again. Some of the militia patrolling the streets got involved but were put down quickly.  Eventually we reached a hanger bay where the Rat managed to get a ride and flew towards a cargo ship across the bay.

"Shit he's getting away!!' I yelled.

Paintchk looked around and then noticed that the ship he had planted the bomb on was directly above the one the Rat was on

Paint pulled out a detonator and pressed the button.  The ship erupted in a ball of fire and fell onto the ship carrying the Rat. Both ships exploded and fell towards the hanger floor taking a couple nearby ships with it.

I was both speechless and stunned but when I turned to Paint he had a look as if he seen this all before. "Come on, we gotta leave," he said calmly.

He pulled out a small phone and called someone saying only, "it’s done" and hung up.

      The Rifter soon stopped near the station and an arm reached out of the Rifters cargo hold. X and a small party of armed fellow Corp members were there waiting. I was leading the way. The smell of blood, sweat, and tears was almost overwhelming. This station had been used to create both legal and illegal drugs as well as many other products. Most likely the ones making them were slaves and under pay workers. It was a shit hole that should be destroyed.

"This better work," someone said.

"It will." I said.

After reaching storage, my men spread out forming a line. 

"Come on out," his voice echoed.

Suddenly, twenty armed men in suits entered the room and spread out in front of my men.

One of the men came to the front and slowly began to talk.

"I guess you’re a man of your word X. Did you bring him?

"Yes." I said as I waved my hand motioning for him.

A man with his head covered was brought up. The mask was removed and it was Paintchk.

"We finally meet." Paint had bruises on his face and blood coming from his nose.

"Indeed" the man said. He then waved his hand and a woman who had her head covered was brought up. They removed the bag.

"Baby?" I said with a reflected tone.

        The women was my wife, Xz. Apparently, after the job Paint and X found out that the people who were killed were members of the Trader Corporation, a mafia style Corp that sells everything and will kill anyone who has harmed them. The people who were killed in the wreck were not only high ranking members but also family members of the CEO. The CEO then war decked the Xziles and placed a high bounty on Paint and my lives. We both had no place to hide and were constantly being attacked in space and in our stations. Soon the Traders got a hold of Xz and offered to trade her for Paint. I was determined to get her back even if it meant betraying my most trusted friend.

"Let her go." I said.

One of the men cut Xz loose and she ran to me.

"Now him,” The CEO said.

Paint walked up to the CEO and starred right into his face.

"You have no idea what’s coming," he said.

Paint smirked, "neither do you."

Paint's cuffs became undone and he grabbed the CEO and held him hostage. He produced a gun and pointed it at his head.

"Try anything and I'll blow his brains out!"

Everyone including myself took cover.

The CEO started to laugh.

"You stupid man, HAHAHA!! Fire!!"

The line of men opened fire and the false leader was riddled with bullets.

Paint and I returned fire and soon a massive gun battle erupted.

Paint dove for cover and one of men threw him a shotgun. He backed up and bumped into me but then something hit Paint on the head he collapsed, he was delirious.

In his state he thought of everything that had happened to him and myself thus far and laughed.

"Its funny......anything you do can have an effect on the entire Universe. You fuck with the wrong guy and you could end up in a world of shit. You dishonor fights and you can have someone war deck you. You fuck someone over on a trade, a job, an order, or even the smallest thing, then the world changes. This is EVE I guess....the Universe is yours, but when does it become yours? When do you take the stand?"

"Paint!" I said. "Paint!" It became clearer to him the second and third time.

"Paint I need your help!!" I yelled.

Paint stood.

"X, if they don't kill you this time.....then Xz might."

Paint laughed, and then I laughed with him.

"You’ve got yourself a deal."

They shook hands and ran towards the enemy head on.

Trust.

As the cargo station exploded beneath him, the crippled Rifter accelerated into warp drive. I, Paintchk, was being pressed against my chair which made my wounds ache all over my body. As I struggled to stay conscious, my mind tried to put the pieces together but all I could hear in my head was,

"Thukker agents....why the hell were they out here? We haven't done anything to them!"

Darkness consumed my vision as the warp drive deactivated. The ship stopped with so much force it lunged me forward and slammed  me against the controls. With the G forces leaving my body, I crashed back into the chair.  The pain was so intense I screamed at the top of my lungs  and nearly blacked out in the process. After a few minutes I started to recover from the pain and  reached over and pressed the emergency beacon. I started to patch my wounds as best as I could and hoped that someone would be able to recover me.

Eventually,  I started to pass out all I could hope for was that I would wake up.

4 Hours Later.

System: Ubetes 

Region: Derelik

Sov: Ammater Mandate

Xzile Corporations Infrastructure Hub

Medical Bay

As I slowly awaked, a bright light blurred my vision.

"Where am I?" I said

"Safe" A unseen voice said to me.

"Am I dead?"

"Well , your not dead, but your certainly not in heaven either."

My vision finally cleared and I looked over  in relief to find a fellow comrade and Minmater, Blood of Gods, sitting in the chair across from me. We never saw eye to eye but Blood of Gods was the best man to call when your back was against the wall. He had left the Corp  and gone a-wol a number of times but now worked for them as a veiled spy as long as the price was right. Although he might have been out of his mind he was a great field commander.

"Blood," I said as I slowly got up "Good to see you. Did you hear what happened?"

“Yes, I was there. Thukkers everywhere, brutes in fighting but masterminds of stealth. Your lucky as hell, you weren't killed! Somehow you managed to survive a barrage of bullets and  live. Its not normal for Thukker agents to miss their target like that. Its also unusual they would attack us at all considering no recent attacks have been forged by our Corp."

"Whats that supposed to mean?" I asked.

“What it may mean is we might have a spy among us and since their Thukker’s its not going to be easy to deal with them , even for us."

"I don't even know were to begin.  Everyone is going to suspect either you or me."

"Thukkers tend to get outside help, but since their Mater it puts the bulls eye on us. Clever."

His knowledge of the Thukkers made me question him a bit but I kept that to myself.

After a small talk he decided to leave but on his way out he told me, "Protector X and Xz have returned. If I were you I would keep my eye on them."  As he left my thought were racing  about our conversation. I couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling I had about him because of his extensive knowledge of the Thukkers and their spy tactics.

One Hour Later.

After recovering and some sleep, I decided to listen in on our CEO speech. As I got dressed I observed dozen's of ships of all factions, shapes and sizes coming in to regroup for the counter-attack. . Blood often referred to our fleet as the "Iron fist of the Xziles."  I then flipped on the TV in the top corner of room just as Axeltjeuh, CEO of the Xziles was about to give a speech. He stood behind a podium and said,

"My fellow Xziles..," in a barely distinct German accent,"....in the last few hours we suffered a deadly blow from the Thukker tribe's Armada. Many of our comrades who fought so bravely are now floating in the cool dead space  MURDERED by them!!!" A long pause ensued, " They may think we'll run but will we? No!!! After this senseless attack we are more united then ever!! In a matter of hours we will launch one of the greatest invasions of our history. We will not retreat!! We will not surrender and we will no mercy for the Thukkers! They will feel the same sting we felt. This is our time to show the Universe who we really are. The Xzile!!!" 

Cheers erupted through out the Hub.

"Impressive speech" A voice said to my left. I turned and saw Protector X and his wife Xz standing near the door.

"X, welcome back."

Even though his history was hazy, he had lead the Corp through, what seemed like,  impossible odds time and time again. 

"Whats brings you back?"   I asked.

"I've seen the Xziles go through hell and back many times but this attack is the worst yet and I think I could give you guys some much needed help. I also would like to help since I have a score to settle with the Thukkers but I’d rather not get into that right now."

He shuffled a bit, I could tell that he was trying to hide his fear.

"X, this is a bad time for you to be back. There is possibly a spy among us and it could be anyone. From what Blood told me it could be a Mater or any other race who knew our location and sold us out to them. I fear some Corp guy might come for any of us at anytime."

“I’ll take my chances,” said X. “Any ideas who it might be?” 

"I don't know what to think. All I know is that who ever is it is targeted me when I went to the cargo station."

"Then he must have a system where he knows everyone's location at every minute,” said X as he started to pace the room trying to think of who it could be. He appeared to be struggling to accept the idea one of our own could turn on us and he wasn't the only one.

"Paint, the best thing to do now is don't trust anyone. We need strong leaders in order to take on the Thukkers. If theres anyone I could trust it’s you Paint. You may be mortal but you got the guts and mind of a true Capsular."

An explosion rang out that shook the room and killed the lights in the entire Hub.

Then something metal hit me on the back of the head and I collapsed.

"Paint!?" Someone called, but then nothing.

When I finally woke, the lights were on and the room was trashed. Small explosions continued to shake the Hub and made the lights flicker on and off. I stood up and felt the back of my head. No blood but it stung like hell. I stumbled against the window, dazed and with a insane headache. I looked out of the window and was stunned to see my greatest fear, two large Thukker tribe fleets had warped in and had engaged our fleets. Some Frigs and Cruisers had flown off and were fighting around the Hub firing off small volleys of rockets and gun fire. I was stunned by the attack but from what I could tell we weren’t taking many losses. 

I looked around the room for a com to see what needed to be done. I saw one on the ground next to a pool of blood. I walked over and found one of our doctors on the ground dead from a gun shot wound to the head. A grim site but with all the chaos going on I couldn’t be bothered by it. I put the com on and soon my right ear was filled with people yelling for help or Corp giving directions. I switched to Admiral com’s just as Axel was  broadcasting a message.

"If there are any high ranking officers still in the Hub, your orders are to activate the emergency beacon. Alarm the Rear Guard that we are under Thukker attack."

The message ended so I ran towards the communications deck as fast as I could.

Communications Deck.

As I wondered through the halls, Xz contacted me on the com’s.

'Paint....the communications deck is fried...if you can hear me...go to the back up room but do not......."

Gun shots erupted and the com went dead.

"Xz...? Xz come in! Shit!!"

I ran  full speed towards the back up room but as I did I couldn’t help but ask why Xz is involved with communications she supposed to be just visiting with X. I tried to push the thought out of my  head. I figured with all the chaos around us she was doing what she could to help us since X was assisting in our defense. Explosions continued to shake the station but I somehow managed to keep myself from falling. Soon, I came up on the hallway to the back up room. I looked around the corner slowly and saw at least four people dead on the floor. With my Miat ready  I entered the room and carefully stepped over the body's. A few scorch marks were still smoking from the pulse rounds that had been fired. A large window showed a small battle between at least a dozen Xzile and Thukker Battle cruisers outside in the distance

Someone screamed out, "GET DOWN!!"

I turned towards the voice and Xz appeared running towards me with her pistol drawn. She grabbed my back, threw me to the ground, and then proceeded to open fire at someone on the other side of the room. It was Blood. He dodged her fire and fired return shots at her. Both of them took cover and kept battling it out. Then Xz landed five shots to Blood’s chest and he collapsed to the ground as blood splattered the wall. Xz then threw me violently against the controls and kept her weapon aimed at Blood.

“Here," She said as she handed me a disk, “its the code to get the communications working again."

I put in the disk  and soon a dish appeared outside. I punched in the last of the password and the computer read, "Sending transmit"

A beam shot from the dish and stopped in the middle of space. As I tried to figure out what was going on something hit my foot. It was a piece of paper all balled up.

I looked at Blood and he looked at me for a few seconds and then exhaled and was gone.

The beam continued to grow as I read the note. The words were written in blood, "Paint, you killed us all."

I turned slowly just as the beam grew into a massive Cyno-Field. The lights were so bright I had to turn away. Then Thukker’s, Dreads, Carriers, and hundreds of ships poured through.

I turned to Xz while reaching for my gun but X appeared and grabbed my arm then shot me in my chest.

I collapsed to the ground, the air started to leave my lungs, and my body went numb. X stood over me and lowered his gun.

"Paint, its a shame it had to come to this. You were one of the best people I knew but there was no other way. The Thukker’s don't want anyone from this Corp to take over. Your loyalty and leadership would keep the Corp together and that would have posed a lot of problems for us. So I did what needed to be done. Paint...I am sorry but its all part of my job." He pulled out a syringe and injected me with painkillers. "There, at least I will grant you a painless death."

"Come on, we got to go." Xz said.

X turned to me, "goodbye my friend.”

X and Xz left and the doors shut behind them. The station continued to shake and my vision began to fade.  I tried to muster the strength to stay awake but it seemed hopeless.  My last thoughts were "Trust.....Trust." Then darkness. 

To be continued....?