Broken mug

As expected, the Indigatrix was thoroughly searched by the Ministry of Internal Order. Ransacked, one might claim, if one were to be disrespectful to the Ministry. Of course, they were misled by Idesbald's lies, and quite in their right to check things out.

But still. 

During the search, my coffee mug which says "Udder Chaos Milking Corp" got broken. It was not valuable, but it was a souvenir from an agricultural fair on Odra in the Bersyrim system. It is in that city that I got murdered for the very first time. When I went back to identify my corpse, local police told me they found the mug on my body and I got it back eventually. So, naturally, I have some attachment to it. 

Somewhat distraught, I tried to find a complaints form on the Ministry's website. 

Strangely, the Ministry does not appear to have an on-line form for complaints.

Somewhere hidden in the labyrinthine website I did find a physical address where people can go to have their complaints heard, but it is in a penal colony on an ice world rather far away, with only one-way interbus connections, and I do not really want to do the detour with the Indigatrix.

For now, ceramic glue will have to do the trick.

New crew member

I should have thrown Idesbald out of the airlock in stead of banishing him. 

Probably at this very moment he also wishes I had done so. 

The Ministry of Internal Order has captured him - they must have some black ops in the Federation. Upon questioning the traitor accused me of his own crime! He claimed that I was the one peddling capsuleer blood wine on the black market! Reverend Mother Kahoudi was very concerned and payed me a visit in the library. Luckily, Idesbald's lies were rapidly unmasked. Tribunus Colonel Vleckson relayed the true nature of my mission: destroying the blood cellar. The other crew members confirmed my version of the facts. And a search of the Indigatrix revealed no contraband of any sort.

Even though I have been exonerated, the affair still has an unpleasant consequence. The Reverend Mother insisted that for the time being a political officer should join me during my explorations. As if I do not know orthodoxy myself! I wanted to strongly protest, but something in me told me this was probably not the good time to do so.

So, my crew will be joined by mr. Ivan Firth, who will provide us with ideological education and supervision and make sure my missions are in the interest of the Empire and in agreement with Imperial law. 

A new cloak technician would have been more useful.

The Anath colonies

I am continuing my expedition through the Blood Raider space corridor in Aridia, which links the old home worlds of the Takmahl to the current Blood Raider controlled region of Delve. I have gone trough most of the corridor and have reached its outermost endpoint, the Fabai constellation. 

Then I got distracted by the blood cellar hidden in the wreck of a colony ship - I took it upon myself to destroy that horror. That matter is settled now, and I am back to exploring the Anath system. Minus one cloak technician.

Anath has been repeatedly the subject of horrible incursions and massacres by the Blood Raiders, periodically curtailing the growth of the colonies there. The folk there focus on basic survival,  growing their crops and working their industry, while constantly on alert for attacks. These settlers do not have much time to spend on frivolities of high culture, and do not want tourists to come visit them. On the storm world of Anath V the conditions were even harsher than on Anath IV.

Nevertheless, in the main settlement on the temperature world of Anath IV there is a museum devoted to the history of the colonies. Or perhaps it would be more correct to describe it as a memorial to remember the raids and their devastation. It is said to house whatever was left of the historical records of the Anath V colonies, so that looks as good as any place to start my search.

Courtship at Tebu Amkhiman

Back in the days when I was young, boys and girls of important families could mingle only at formal dance events. These were held in large halls, resplendent with golden ornaments. There, the youngsters, dressed impeccably, would be allowed to dance with each other in well choreographed waltzes under the watchful eye of parents and chaperons observing the dance from the balconies while sipping champagne and eating pastries. Only in the fleeting moments that the dance brings lovers cheek to cheek could they whisper words of passion to each other. I believe this tradition is still upheld in Kador.

Things are different nowadays - all the more so for capsuleers. Word has reached me of a capsuleer "speed dating" event in Tebu Amkhiman. In speed dating, one also changes partner according to some choreography. However, there is no dancing, and even less supervision.

Gossip travels faster than light, among baseliners as well as capsuleers, and always reaches the ears of the pastor sooner rather than later. At first, I was surprised to hear of the presence of heretics and enemies of the Empire. I know Tebu Amkhiman is a freeport, but still ... Moreover, it appears there was misbehavior and even open flirtation with the arch-heretic Nauplius! 

The organizers, Maerrin and Haapsalu are not to be blamed, and I think should be lauded. After giving it some thought, I approve of the presence of heathens at this initiative as I believe that the fastest way to reclaim them peacefully is for them to date -and possibly fall in love- with someone of the faith. There are countless historical examples of pagan kings marrying Amarrian princesses and converting.

Nevertheless, I expect the confessional to be very busy in the coming days.

 

((ooc picture attribution : http://www.vienna-waltz-gala.at/))

Banishment

What to do with Idesbald? He tried to steal a bottle of blood with the intent of selling it to Blood Raider collectors. If I turn him in to the Ministry of Internal Order, he will face the cleansing pits for sure. The reverend mother will not take this sin lightly.

Part of me wants him to face punishment. But another part of me understands that if a commoner is faced with an object worth tens of billions of ISK, the temptation might be just too much to resist. On the one hand I think he should get another chance, but on the other hand I do not want the crew to think mutiny is just fine.

After long deliberation I decided to drop him off just beyond the Empire's borders, in Agaullores in Solitude, Federation Space. I will provide him with decent retirement funds. And after that, I will inform the MIO. This amounts to banishment from the Empire, which should be punishment enough I think.

Flush

Soon after the crisis of trust with Idesbald, we warped back to the site, cloaked, at 100 km. To our great satisfaction, we could confirm that the blood cellar has been destroyed in the antimatter blast. Metal shards and a fine mist of organic matter are all that is left from this cursed place.

There was some discussion with the crew on how to dispose of the bottle of Luna blood. Jettisoning is not an option, as it can be picked up by random passer-bys and the Indigatrix has no weapons to destoy it. In the end we decided to empty the bottle in one of the toilets and flush.

Idesbald begged to save the bottle, claiming that the profits from selling it could help us much more in the fight against the Blood Raiders. That is nonsense, of course. If we have to harvest the blood of our members and sell that to the Raiders, we just become part of the covenant even if we use to proceeds to fight them. The crew realized that and followed me. The blood was destroyed as proposed earlier: flushed to the waste container of the Indigatrix, which will be emptied and processed at the first station we dock.

Treason

((continued from Feb 2nd))

We made it back to the Indigatrix in the nick of time, the Bhaalgorn appeared on grid just as we were warping off. That is the advantage of having crew on board even in a frigate, they can warp of way before you are back in your pod.

Not long after we arrived at a safe spot in the system, we registered an antimatter explosion at the site. However, another pressing matter kept us from immediately returning cloaked and checking it out. 

There is also sometimes a disadvantage to taking crew along: they might betray you.

Idesbald refused to hand over the bottle of Luna blood. The fact that this small boxed object was worth billions of ISK had driven him insane with greed. If he could cash in on it -which I doubt- this would indeed make him rich beyond his wildest dreams and able to start a new very comfortable life.

He kept me and the other crew members at bay with his plasma rifle. He claimed loudly that it was his loot, and by the law of outer space now his property. He wanted us to drop him off at a station or somewhere planet-side, he even wanted to use one of the escape pods to get out. 

I tried to tell him this was an sinful and illegal substance, and he was damning himself and his soul. He did not care. I told him both the Blood Raiders and LUMEN would come after him. That got him somewhat worried, but not too much. I asked him how he was going to sell the blood bottle when everyone looks for it? He does not have any contacts for such a sale, so that did get him thinking.

At least it distracted him long enough that other crew members could disarm him and overpower him. I took him personally to our improvised brig - his quarters with a lock. He was still complaining loudly about rights of looting wrecks. After some discussion with the crew we decided not to jettison the bottle as it could be picked up, but to just empty it in the toilet and flush it.

I do not know what to do next with Idesbald, I must pray and think.

Confrontation

((continued from Feb 1st))

The blood sommelier slapped itself and said, "It is my doubleminus fault, sir, so bad, apologies, sir! We doubleplus leapt into the cashless future, sir! It means more efficiency, sir, a decreased risk of theft and more spending. And no hauling large suitcases of cash..." It nodded towards the suitcase, which we have now brought close to the central platform.

Then, things went fast. Idesbald discreetly primed the antimatter bomb. Inside the suitcase, a timer activated. After countdown, it will cut power to the magnetic enclosure suspending the antimatter, causing it to come in contact with regular matter and turn into a blast of pure energy.

Meanwhile, the sommelier continued, still apparently unaware of what was really going on. "We accept credit cards of the four Empires. Sir, do you have HolderCardä ?"

I decided to use the occasion to buy time for our retreat. "That's too bad. I'll need to do it by bank transfer then. I'll just go back to my ship and contact my agent at the Amarr Trade Registry for the transaction. We'll be right back. Keep the Vektor chilled!"

I began to walk back to the airlock at a brisk pace.

The creature was saying something about the suitcase we were leaving behind, when Idesbald aimed his plasma rifle, and shot it point blank in the chest. The thing screamed, and kept screaming, emitting a high-pitched and metallic sound. 

"Run!" Idesbald yelled, shooting the sommelier again as he grabbed the box with the blood bottle and started running himself. From all over the surface of the sphere, spiderbots started to make their way towards us. There must have been hundreds.

I ran as well. Not quite fast enough, I should have kept up training this beep test that Ishta suggested. Luckily I had a bit of a head start. I shouted to Idesbald to drop the cursed bottle. Idesbald, overtaking me while firing at the spiderbots that made it to the walkway in front of us, answered "No way!"

At the airlock, Idesbald turns and for a moment I thought he was going to shoot me as well, but he aimed at the spiderbots, and kept shooting them. As I made it to the airlock, the Indigatrix messages "Bhaalgorn on d-scan, 14 AU and closing in."

((to be continued))

Return to the cellar

Just after the Bhaalgorn warped off for its daily rotation, we went back into the Blood Raider structure. I was as amazed as the first time that I entered the vast spherical space of the blood cellar. The sphere's inner surface is an immense bottle rack with uncountably many bottles of blood in cubbyholes. The inside volume of the sphere is completely empty apart from a central platform, connected by a narrow walkway to the airlock where we entered.

I was equally unsettled by seeing that creature again. The upper half is a human male in a Gallente sommelier attire. Its body ends midway, just about where one expects the navel. That upper body is anchored to a circular plate with five mechanical insect-like legs. It saw me and my crew-member Idesbald, whom I had brought with me again. Idesbald had insisted on bringing his plasma rifle and grenades along. Both of us were carrying the suitcase antimatter bomb, I took the left handle, and he took the right. It's a big heavy thing, we were panting. Idesbald's rifle was slung around his shoulder.

The sommelier's upper body swiveled around on its base plate and greeted me. "What a doubleplus joy, sir, to see you again, sir, allow me the immense honor to fetch your precious purchase!" My deception had been successful, I fooled it into thinking I agreed with a twenty billion isk purchase, just so I could blow up this horrible place. 

It snapped its fingers, and small spider-like creatures, also five-legged, scuttled about on the sphere's surface, far away from us as we were slowly making our way to its center. As they moved around and their legs touched bottles, they made an eerie tinkling sound. At their destination, they grabbed bottles with two of their arthropod limbs, using the other three to make their way back towards us along some sort of spider web threads. A table and chairs appeared at the platform in the center of the sphere.

The spiders laid out two bottles, one containing Luna's blood, and the other I assume was the complimentary bottle of Ishta blood I had been offered. Both bottles were expertly wrapped first in protective material and then in beautiful gift-wrap paper, and then finally they were placed delicately in a wooden box with straw filling. The wooden boxes were carefully sealed, and one was marked "Sanguis Lunarissis. YC 119. Aspenstar Appellation d'Origine Controlée".

The sommelier took a third bottle and uncorked it, pouring two flute glasses of sparkling Vektor, and joyfully dropped a dwarf strawberry and gold flakes in both glasses. Another spider brought a plate of crackers with  human liver paté and blood marmalade, and a small bowl of blood sausages. "Welcome, sir, welcome! And doubleplus congratulations! Such an exquisite choice, sir! Let us celebrate, on the house!"

Only then did the creature seem to notice the suitcase, and it despaired. 

"Oh... sir... what have you done? No!"

It gave me a pained look and said "Sir why carry so much cash or precious metal? I should have told you we are a cash-free shop! Cards and banking apps only."

((to be continued))