“Once more unto the breach, old friends […]” – William Shakespeare.
The Covert Ops ships slid effortlessly across the lanes of lawless space. Leaving Btek wasn’t easy. She’d been there for little time, but it had been a good place, filled with good, fun people: individuals who had your back. It was curious how quick it felt like home. Iceblade, however, had been very persuasive and didn’t even know it: he was persuading for the simple fact that it was him. They were a family after a fashion... They all had been family for the past few years: Nikita, Ice, Kasumi even Zach; and now they wanted to carve a little fief in a faraway corner of lawless, forgotten, space. Besides, going back meant she could simply blame everything on him once again, from malfunctioning engine nozzles, to simply being bored...
It had been an unexpected turn of events: most of the motley crew of crazy mercenaries, mad scientists and self appointed evil geniuses, had decided to go into retirement, no longer having the patience to deal with the endless squabbling of politics and capsuleer politics in particular. And for all the exhaustion, the boring routine, space had the unmistakable and irreplaceable taste of risk and adventure, something one could not get anywhere else. And so, return they did. At first it was just to shoot some pirates, then, a few days later, just to get that extra isk… Before anyone knew it, everyone was getting back in an “insanity unleashed” call to arms.
There was some negotiating involved, but it was a foregone conclusion… So there she was, flying back to null sec, safely tucked inside her Helios Class vessel, Moira strapped to a seat, sulking, running numbers and mumbling. She did not like to leave empire space for “that backwater, violence ridden and uncivilized corner of the universe”, but she had supported Than’s decision nonetheless: she too had thought it was important to help her family and this particular capsuleer, with all her faults, was the only person she could trust in all of the vast cosmos. She was going to miss the comforts of a luxurious home in a first class station with a beautiful view overlooking a stunning planet, comfortable bed and fine booze: all that was going out the airlock, without any real chance to have it once again, at least for the foreseeable future. Living out of a control tower wasn’t going to be easy: the cramped spaces, the poor air recycling… Moira had seen it, had worked in places like that and not because she wanted… So, she really preferred to stay mad at Thanagherion, for that meant she did not have to ponder on the harsh days ahead.
As far as Than was concerned, though, it really didn’t matter. There was no real harshness here: there was a new challenge. Ice had better have cookies and booze waiting for her, or there would be hell to pay.
Escaping an ambush felt good. The danger, fear and slight shiver of anxiety, mixed with the pleasure of a successful evasion maneuver made her feel alive, invincible, a true ace. She reveled in that illusion for a few seconds, before jumping through the gate and bolting straight to the last space station she would find on the way to her new home.
‘Hey Moira… fancy a drink? I’m paying! It’s the last semi civilized one you’ll get in a while.’
Her assistant smiled as she replied ‘What the hell… why not?’
OOC P.S. - I'd like to leave a huge 'thank you' to everyone in Btek, I can't really say enough good things about the corp and every member there. Good hunting, all of you!
