Finally tackling the mountain of paperwork and admin relating to my previous work with Kith Somtaaw. Found a transcript of the first letter home I sent to my parents a month after I graduated from PTS. Funny just how much everything changes in a couple of short years...
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[[Transmission From:]]
-Ysolde Xen of Kith Somtaaw-
-Imperial Armaments Warehouse-
-Esescama VIII Moon 3-
-Ryra constellation-
-Devoid region-
[[Transmission To:]]
-Ria Xen-
-29573 Hunchaan city, Ikre state-
-Saila III-
-Santenpaa constellation-
-The Citadel region-
[[Transmission Content: MESSAGE]]I'm sorry it's taken so long to write but since the day I graduated from Pator Tech School I haven't stopped! It's only because I'm transporting some missiles long distance for one of my agents that I have time.
First off; the obligatory. I am well, commanding my own Frigate-class Minmatar starship and have found employment with one of the many corporations out here whilst working freelance for a variety of agents. I’ve mastered the first and second ranks of Mataribando and found an interest in astrogeology.
As I write this I'm about to jump through the stargate from Uadelah into Laddiaha. I don't know if you've ever jumped through a gate in a ship, let alone been in command and watched it happen before your eyes. The Amarr-built gate I am approaching through is impressive to behold, in burnished alloys tinged with pyerite that gives an almost ethereal after-glow. Seeing everything around you fragment for a split instant as it all goes a blinding white-green and you are fired across millions of light years in seconds is an experience that takes a long time to lose its appeal. When you find yourself deposited at the exit gate, it takes a moment to orient yourself now everything has changed. Constellations are at strange angles and the nebulae aren't where you are used to them being. I tell you being a starship pilot crossing constellations in mere minutes is an amazing feat of astronavigation just to avoid getting lost!
I’ve never seen anything as beautiful as the corona flare of Rens against the backdrop of the glittering dust clouds around its 3rd planet as you jump in from Onga deep within the Heimatar region. Or the sweeping aesthetic and almost hydrodynamic qualities of Gallente architecture in the heart of Sinq Laison. It makes the functional, angular lines of the Caldari buildings at home seem, well, plain. No wonder they warred for years - they do not understand each other’s priorities.
So you know, I visited the homeworld Matar, deep within Pator system and tried to look up any relatives we might still have there but found nothing so I'm looking into getting contacts with the hard-to-find surveillance agents of the Republic to see if they can help. Thing is, I need help to obtain those contacts first. In a way, that is why I am out here in the heart of the Amarr empire: the ‘enemy’ territory. The agent I'm doing this delivery for is a Ni Kunni by the name of Khardark Danel. The Amarrians and Ni Kunnis I have met have been very polite and have even come to entrust me with escorting noble family VIPs. They seem to treat me as an equal and not as a lower-class citizen though I do wonder about Khardark. His extremely pale and slender appearance seems almost Sebiestor, even for a Ni Kunni. Perhaps the Amarrian absorption of both their people and Matari slaves has lead to more cross breeding than the ‘true bloods’ like to admit.
It’s a shame you don't receive Minmatar broadcasts out in Caldari space. I was live on the Brutor Tribe Channel twice working for their corporate arm two weeks ago.
The first was a public example of how the Minmatar defend themselves against Ammatar slave raiders who trick our people into trusting their ‘brethren’ then sell them off to the highest Amarr bidder. I decided to show them that both sides could play sneaky.
In Abudban system there were three lurking in the shadow of the fifth moon of the fourth planet. Live on camera I warped in flying my pride and joy - a Rifter I christened Argent - and appeared mere kilometres behind the first one using the shadows to my advantage. The ship imploded in a flash of shrapnel as my howitzers were commanded to rip it apart. Before the other two knew what had hit, I had warped away hidden by the debris cloud. Spooked, they took up defensive positions but their tactical training was clearly meant for teams of three and not two because they left one side blind. I had the upper hand; watching the live transmission in my pod I could see where they were (who says you learn nothing useful from vidcasts?) I warped back in on the other side of the planet and taking a medial orbiting trajectory, filled one full of Sabretooth missiles as I fed the other some Phased Plasma and Titanium Sabot, courtesy of my Scout & Gallium artillery systems, making sure the glare of Abudban itself meant they couldn't see me. I had, of course, jammed their tracking and LADAR sensors so their targeting systems didn't even know I was there. My job done, I warped away hidden by the shadows of the planet in the billowing fragments. Even from cameras that knew where I was there is only fleeting footage of Argent doing her job.
I'm not sure what went on behind the scenes but one of the mysterious Jovian factions took a liking to me after that: The Society - the Society of Conscious Thought's business end. I don't know anything more about them other than they hinted to me they have agents who might be interested in hiring me someday and that I have ‘potential’. I'm not sure what I have that any other rookie Sebiestor ship engineer doesn't, but the Jovians are strange and no one knows much about them.
The second was sadly for the same reasons in similar circumstances. This time the Khanid were lurking in Rens itself. So much for a faction of Amarrians rejecting their traditions and adopting the Caldari way of life, they were looking for slaves to sell to their noble families like any other. I think it was just a front for spying on the Gallente installations we have. In Rens the Federation’s Transtellar Shipping company has a storage station (I have a hangar there) and those with an ear to the ground hear rumours that it holds armaments that find their way to marines in the skirmish sectors where they still dispute territory with the Caldari. The Khanid could stand to benefit immensely if they could sell information about this and the fact that the Gallente Nation thanked me after I blew them apart further convinces me that my theory is correct.
I decided to go for the upfront show of strength. I am not of the Brutor Tribe and not a combat pilot: I'm a starship engineer first and foremost however I learned fast that I needed to be at least competent to survive the runs through low security space where CONCORD's watchful eye isn't present. My Rifter is the best standard Frigate class ship that Matari engineers have yet designed and fitted out with a few custom bits and pieces it has proven to be an admirable survivor. I have a dream someday to re-engineer it into one of the Elite class. Maybe a Jaguar or a Wolf if I can find an agent who could supply me the blueprints, locate the assembly modules it'll require and construct the thermonuclear batteries for the turret hardpoints… But I'm sure this topic isn't interesting for you and I'm running away with myself.
Anyway, these Khanid in Rens: others infiltrating Minmatar space, who would report back and perhaps dissuade further raids, would see the broadcast. Or that was our hope at least. A close friend Midnighter, a Brutor who took me under his wing when I graduated, taught me a few tricks on scare tactics and terrorising the enemy. I found it hard at first; I'm not aggressive and wish we could all just get along. But these Khanid need to be warned off and if steeling myself and showing why they should not mess with the Republic will do this, then I will do such. All stealth was abandoned and the fact that my refitted ship would be no match for their light frigates was exploited. I warped in a good 60km away so they would have plenty of time to see me coming for a dogfight to reveal the superiority of Matari ships. They must have been asleep or something because they did not appear to have noticed my presence until I had kicked in my Coldgas Arcjets and closed to 25km: only then did they scramble but by that time I had one locked and it took a single volley of rocket-powered Howitzers to reduce the ship to wreckage. The other two tried to dive behind the first moon but I was faster: I flew around the other side so quickly that I was on a collision course for one before his tracking computer could fix me. He was not pod-fitted and was strapped into his cockpit - I saw the terror in his eyes as he realised either I was going to ram him and his tin can would barely scratch Argent, or he would meet Matari weapons engineering up close. The cameras zoomed in and the startled look of fear on the man's face has been used as a still on Brutor Tribe Channel since. I pumped a pair of Flameburst missiles into the first one as my turrets swung around to lock onto his wingmate. As the explosion of fire and plasma heralded the end of that Khanid's spying and slave running days, the other one's last sight would have been three 280mm rounds of the finest artillery punching through the polyglass of her cockpit and detonating from the inside. I did a fast arc of victory around the remains and salvaged parts I later assembled into an asteroid scanner.
Brutor Tribe were pleased with my performances and Midnighter, who has also been on Brutor Tribe Channel blowing apart some enemy or other, said I did extremely well for a researcher. So far I've not heard about any more Ammatar or Khanid slave runs through the Ortner constellation but maybe they're just being subtle about it now.
It seems I've annoyed True Power - those militaristic Sansha-worshipping cyberzombies. They had taken a Matari passenger ship and were ferrying those on board back to their Master Sansha's domain for goodness knows what purpose. Probably to turn into brainwashed minions. One of the agents I work for tasked me to track them down and rescue them. I followed the sightings of the Sansha ships to a secret outpost of theirs way out in Akpivem. Once again I am thankful for Argent: there were some 15 light frigates greeting my scanner as I came out of warp but luckily they were not expecting me. I had to trash all of them before I could get to the prisoners and warp away, and at first the prisoners thought I was one of the guards taunting them so they refused to come with me!
It would be impossible to be a law-abiding pilot without annoying the Angel cartel. Stalking the Minmatar regions, they lie in wait to ambush passers by at gates and warp into asteroid fields to disrupt mining operations, killing all they find. CONCORD rewards those who stop them and I’ve made quite a bit of money in doing so. I’ve done so well that CONCORD has raised my standings to a universal Security Rating of 0.1. This probably doesn’t mean much to you but it’s a measure of my contribution to law enforcement to ensure we can all work and trade safely. I guess it’s a badge of pride and I know that some Minmatar become mercenaries, freedom fighters or even terrorists and fall foul of the law so in a way I am doing my part to help the disperse the reputation that it’s the majority.
Well, that's a summary of the most exciting things that have happened to me so far. Mostly it's been: get up early, get the day's courier and delivery missions and do them, come back and have a drink with my corp mates, go to bed. Or else get up early, go kick some pirates out of the asteroid belts so the miners can do their job and then join in hollowing out asteroids or take on some security work, come home and train with paired Hei’tar a little, go to bed. Occasionally I'll take a couple of days off to really see the universe. I’ve holidayed in the luxurious and hedonistic surrounds of the Gallente Federation, visited CONCORD space at the heart of the galaxy and have sometimes even come back to Caldari areas - The Citadel in particular because my corp HQ is at Spacelane Patrol in the Enderailen system.
When I graduated from PTS with my license and a light Reaper Frigate, I worked for them in Ryddinjorn for a short while as we all did and it was during this time that I met Midnighter. He was once an Amarrian slave and escaped back to Matari space where he became a freelance combat pilot and now commands a Tempest Battleship. He taught me the tricks of being a freelancer for hire and gave me money and equipment to help me out. His old corp was defunct so we were interested in finding a good employer.
It was actually through a friend of the family that I found out about the corporation, Kith Somtaaw. Do you remember Suze’Rain, your cousin's best friend? Well he found my frequency, got in touch and told me about his corp back in The Citadel region. Kith Somtaaw is small and friendly with miners, manufacturers and defence specialists. The founder and CEO is a Gallente miner/manufacturer named Fio Shovah and it's mixed Matari and Caldari; some old hands and others not much more experienced at this than I am. They've been great to me; providing things I needed, offering advice and doing favours and I repay them when I can. There's Logoth who's a Civire Caldari Battleship captain - Fio was overseeing the completion of his Raven when I was joining up. Then there's Arcturos, also a Civire, who comes from a military background and does both pirate hunting and mining. There's a girl, K Soze, who I've only seen around occasionally and she's a Deteis Caldari who mostly runs errands through space for Fio from what I've seen. Especially useful for runs into areas he can't go owing to being branded a criminal by CONCORD for some 'misunderstandings' involving some guys and a big battle or something. I've never asked about the details and I suspect I'm better off staying out of it. There's a Brutor called Kar'uthan but I rarely see him around. Not sure what he does exactly. Suze left for a while when Midnighter and I joined to see how the competition does things. When Nadriel graduated after me I dragged him in, helping him out as Midnighter helped me. As his even more recently graduated friend Ori gets used to things, he'll also be joining us.
One thing I miss out here in space is the sound of rain. I haven't set foot on a planetary body since I left home for PTS. I operate from station to station, spending most of my time at the Six Kin Development Warehouse orbiting Rens VI. Six Kin is a joint Brutor-Sebiestor corporation so being of Sebiestor heritage myself they were happy to place me under the auspices of a man called Adelhar Atelar. They’ve been such a good employer that I recommended them to Nadriel and Ori - you remember Nadriel? I talked about him on occasion when I was at PTS: the guy at Republic University who was also interested in starship engineering? Anyway, I'll be going back to Rens in a day or two once Imperial Armaments and Kaalakiota Corporation give me good references. It'll make connections into Amarr slave registries easier.
Someday I’d love to visit the Eve gate and see where we all came from. I sometimes wonder what things are like on the other side, back on ‘Earth’. Assuming history is as we think it is and not all just a myth…
Perhaps I can come and visit you sometime. If you and father are so inclined, I could take you for a quick spin around the system in Argent. As long as we don't make many jumps, you'll be fine watching from the hold. There is always bluster and arguments about it between capsule pilots like myself and the regulars but for more than a couple of jumps you really do need to be in a capsule, otherwise the stress is simply too much.
I've rambled enough for one message and I'm warping to the last jump point before my destination so I better finish here. Let me know how things are getting on at home; I'll communicate again soon.
Ysolde signing off
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