Eve Online - Blazing

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7

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The skeleton crew aboard the Imperial Sardaukar Ship 'Calisto's Song' were affecting repairs as best they could. 
None of the external damage could be addressed, the ship was still cloaked, but internally progress was slowly being made. 

The shields were fully recharged as an engineer energetically reported the capacitor was well underway as well. 
Targeting and tactical were more difficult, not only did the cloak hamper external repairs, it made calibrating the targeting scanners and weapons nearly, but not quite, impossible. 

Thankfully the rest of their fleet didn't fare any worse, there had been no more casualty reports since they managed to escape that POS. 

"That about does it sir." one of the remaining bridge officers reported, looking up from his console. 
"anything more would be wasted effort if you're still intend on blowing her up." 

"Excellent, well done." Deetex complimented. 

He looked onto the officer that was now also responsible for communications. 

"Open a system wide channel, no encryption, standard Sardaukar frequencies." 

"Aye sir, channel open." 

"This is general Seraphine calling out to all forces in system, I accept Veerex' terms, provided my men are permitted to leave unharmed, they will not be cloaked, they will not engage... Just let them leave." 

Deetex waved a hand, the comm channel was closed. 

They waited in silence for a few minutes, until one console started beeping, prompting the attending of another officer. 
"Fleet is reporting in sir, it seems pursuing hostiles are breaking off and camping groups are discontinuing their tanks, they're standing down." 

"Good" Deetex muttered. 
"Helm, set a course for the far side of the moon and put is in lunar orbit, once the ship is cloaked, broadcast our coordinates." 

Without a word the two remaining officers complied, sending the ship cruising to the intended location and making preparations. 

"We've arrived sir, before I send out of message, the engineering crews have requested permission to leave, they say the ship's systems will work without them." 

This didn't come as a surprise to Deetex, he suspected there would be a few more to leave before the end play was at hand. 
"Permission granted, tell them to warp their escape pods to the gate without delay." 

They watched as three more pods departed, heading on automatic pilot to a single direction. 

"It's just us now." one of the officers reported. 
"This ship requires at least four hands to keep her steady, if you don't mind sir, I'll stay until the end." 

Deetex took a long ponderous look at the officer, who winced at the sudden attention. 

"What's your name, lieutenant?" he finally asked. 

"Benningfield, Maxwell Benningfield, sir, and that's my sister, Emily." 
Deetex looked at the other officer, recognizing the family lines. 

"Maxwell, you're probably the bravest officer I've ever had the pleasure of serving with, it's a shame to see you go." 
"It's an honor to go with you, sir." 

Deetex nodded. 
"Make the call." 

Within minutes of their broadcast, a solitary interdictor warped in, deploying mobile warp disrupters as it sped past the Calisto's song. 

Gradually, more and more ships warped in, frigates at first, then cruisers and battleships. 
To their shock, several dreadnoughts and a carrier joined the mess, holding a semicircular line centered on an Eos class fleet command ship. 

"Wow..." Emily gasped. 
"They had all this parked in here already?" 

"We couldn't have fought that even with a fleet of battleships." Maxwell added. 

"We won't need a fleet, just one will suffice, open a comm." 
Emily worked her console, taking a little longer without additional officers helping out with encryption algorithms. 
A soft beep sounded, the channel was open. 

"I'm here, Veerex... But you won't see me until I see you." 
"Come now Deetex old friend, is that the return I get after my gesture of faith?" 

Deetex tensed as the familair voice sounded over the speakers. 
He hated this mad, hated him with a passion, and he know for a fact the feeling was mutual. 
Veerex continued. 

"I could've easily ordered all those ships, all those escape pods destroyed, why not show a little decency and honor your end of our agreement." 

"You and I both know full well this is just a part of something larger, if you wanted me you would've ambushed my fleet the moment we jumped in, an uncloaked Sin isn't particularly hard to detect." 

Veerex did not respond. 

The opposing fleet remained dead-still in space, only the Eos started moving forward, with two Assaultships flanking it on either side. 

"Not a fool then, small fries but still a measure of protection." Maxwell muttered. 

After a few thousand meters the Eos stopped again, it's escorts drifted a little further, their engines offline until inertia took over. 

Deetex pressed a few buttons on his command console, disabling various alarm systems and speakers. 
With a snap of his fingers he signaled Emily to remove the main reactor's safety harness. 

"You know, Veerex..." Deetex started, as the Calisto's Song slowly drew closer to the enemy ship. 

"I suspected your involvement in this op from the start." 

Closer and closer, Emily gave a thumbs up. 

"The Sardaukar would never have dealings with the ORE syndicate..." 

Ever closer. 

"Not after what you did to our good name and standing." 

Veerex replied. 

"Come now, you're still harbouring that grudge? That was years ago" 

Their ship was almost on top of the enemy command cruiser, Deetex quickly pressed his palm on his command console, certifying the self-destruct command. 

"and then there was that incident four years ago... no Veerex, you're out of favors, you're not in good grace here." 

Deetex got up and walked towards for the forward most viewport. 

Emily put up a hand, counting down with her fingers... five seconds left. 

"And this will be the last time we play this game, I promise you that." Deetex concluded, as the Cloaking device started failing. 

Three seconds left. 

"What are you..." Veerex replied. 
Just then did the Calisto's song, it's lower stern bleeding plasma, appeared in front of him. 

One second remained. 

"Goodbye... old friend..." spitting the words out as he spotted Veerex on the bridge of the Eos, jumping up and barking orders. 

Deetex smiled as his ship started vaporizing all around him, the seering heat and defeaning roar no longer part of his reality. 
In a blinding flash the Sin, Eos, it's escorts and all hands were consumed by the ball of fire. 

As quick as it started, it was over.