Gyuach found it ironic. Despite all the buildup here in Audesder, the war ended up starting elsewhere. No invading Amarr force had poured through from Fort Kumar as the Fleet strategists had long expected. The gate from Kenobanala fired only occasionally and usually heralded roaming pirates, lone explorers, the rare trader, or perhaps a ferry service like his. He spent his days taking businessmen across the regional gate or perhaps a bit of courier work, anything to pay the bills and maybe leave a few extra credits for an evening in the pleasure hubs.
He jumped through and immediately received a hail from Ammatar Customs. “Unknown vessel, this is Mandate Customs YJG-782. Stop your engines immediately and prepare for inspection.”
“Oh, Lieutenant Itos? Good to see you as always. Hope the family is well.”
“Cease the chatter, unknown vessel, this is an official channel. Verifying identity beacon now.”
“Yeah yeah, we go through this every time. Engines powered off, I’m at full stop. As usual after a jump.”
“Your identity beacon checks out, Probe-class frigate. Stand by for equipment and cargo scanning.”
“Cargo empty. I’m just coming through to pick up some pilot’s leftover equipment in a hangar in Uanzin.”
“You are cleared to proceed.”
“Thanks, Itos. Say hi to that beautiful wife of yours for me.”
The exchange complete, he continued on his flight plan. In fact, he’d always come up clean. Today wouldn’t vary from that routine. After docking briefly in Uanzin to take on a few tech II shield modules into his cargo bay, he fired out of the docking bay and made his way back through Kenobanala to Audesder. The exchange with the border patrol frigates on that side went even quicker. A capsuleer pirate gate camp sat just on the Aedald side of the gate from Audesder. Their battlecruiser sensors didn’t stand a chance of locking him before he could align and warp, though, so they didn’t even make the effort.
His tribe maintained a bureau station here, where he docked up and had the local station crew offload the modules. Setting up the contract only took a few moments. As the gantry lifted his own pod from the ship, he reflected on all he’d just seen that day.
Then he entered it into a secure data console and transmitted it back to HQ in Pator: patrol patterns, squadron composition, and ship types. All the data he moved could never show up in a remote scan, though he refused to think much about what would happen if the Amarr ever took him into custody.
While he did work for the RSS, they took no chances with him and never had him move anything that could have gotten him arrested and compromised. That didn’t really make his job any easier, though. The RSS kept a close eye on the only relatively peaceful crossing between the Republic and its blood enemies in the Mandate. Sometimes they needed to get a ship across into Amarr-controlled territory with minimum fuss and notice for various purposes. Sure, they could have used Ezzara or Kourmonen, and at times they did. But if they needed more assurance that they could slip through the border without getting stopped, and they had the time available, then Derelik fit that bill much better.
Tomorrow he’d go through the charade again, maybe dropping off some exchange students in Arnola.
Hi. I know we haven’t talked in a while. I, um… well, that’s my fault. I should have come say hello, at least, or let you know how or even where I was. Things just got, erm, complicated.
