Reflections Near a Stargate.

Kenobanala

Astabih stargate hangs suspended like a huge terran bat in the midst of space.

There is nothing left for me here in this sector. Former alliegances have now become obsolete; resources once vibrant have become overdrawn and abused like so many Gallente harlots on a week-long quafe ultra binge.

I return to Derelik, tired and drawn out but with ship intact and enough extra cargo to sell and have made the journey profitable. Our small raiding squadron consisted originally of three stealth-fitted frigates: the Faust (Matari Hound), the Pepe le Pew Pew (Caldari Manticore) and my own crew in the Cloak and Dagger, a rigged Cheetah equipped with reconnaissance probes, and we disembarked from EO2-IK in the Great Wildlands region on a routine trek deep into the lawless regions with the intent to build up some extra ISK to compensate for our recent loss of a Rook in the Metropolis area. Flight plan - Great Wildlands to Curse, via Scalding Pass.

From the moment of disembarking the Thukker station in EO2-IK we knew it was going to be a drawn-out series of evasions... Red Alliance had sleepers in the station and there was a hostile squadron camping outside. Getting out of the hangar bay wasn't too difficult, however, and we were able to position the bombers for any assistance to the local defense forces against what could now be determined as comprised of a logistics cruiser, a force recon cruiser, and a Redeemer-class Amarrian battleship. As our own squadron was equipped to deal only with the cruisers, we decided that it would be better to take advantage of the distraction and make distance between ourselves and the current constellation... 14 jumps to Curse and no time to waste.

The surrounding constellations were remarkably unpopulated, and we saw little to distract us or to fill our actual wallets, so we performed some Empire services by reducing the population of unpiloted Dominations belt drones. If it wouldn't make our wallets bulge, it would at least raise our status with CONCORD. On through to the Scalding Pass and into Curse we continued, with nothing particularly notable except for the heavy presence of Band of Brothers pilots within the H-ADOC star system. No opposition or pursuit ensued, and thusly we slipped through and continued on our way.

In Curse the Cloak and Dagger was harbored and our crew was redeployed to man our still-commissioned Svartalf, a Hound-class frigate. Having now a three-ship squadron comprised solely of stealth bombers we decided to return to the Scalding Pass region and then move forward into Wicked Creek and beyond. Prior experiences in the Wicked Creek region gave us the idea of causing hostile alerts in a few select star clusters and then looting the remains of everything the locals chose to leave behind in their haste to dock at any of the local stations. We made the most of our salvage units and accumulated a great deal of tritanium alloy, but as time drew on we decided to alter our strategy and fan out to explore any recent sovereignity changes in the region.

Fow the next hour or so we drifted more instinctually than according to any flight plan, and eventually the squad disbanded near the Detorid edge and followed our usual procedure of flying in seperate directions for as many systems as would isolate our presences before each vessel then navigates independently back to one of our armouries. My own direction broght me into Detorid, then Tenerifis, with the intention of investigating the 7L9-ZC star system in Omist. With a security designation of -1.0 there was a certain interest in observing the local conditions there, but the trek towards it was met with increasing resistance from local pilots of the Red Alliance, Goonswarm and various affiliate corporations and so I felt that my crew would be better to re-equip in a vessel more well suited to the area.

50-something jumps later I find myself back in more familiar space. Kenobanala. Back in the Cloak and Dagger, tired and drawn out but with ship intact and enough extra cargo to sell and have made the journey profitable... Docking in a nondescript Minmatar station nearby, I reflected on the recent journey.

It was then that I made the decision to resign from our current position within the Silex Union alliance and seek better fortune for our pilots, either as independent rogues or under another banner. The changing conditions and recent developments in the lawless marches require that the Order of the Vile adapt. I believe that our recent hosts in Great Wildlands may become our next feeding ground, as the currently depleted Wicked Creek once was.