At this time of year, Things are seen that are …. Well strange.
That day of the year was approaching again when a few interstellar travelers appear from out of nowhere and add the population of the EvE universe as we know it. And these persons of no great concern are both there in the good and bad spirits of the season….
First, let us go back a little bit to when our first pod mates decided to come out into this distant place and what happened on that fine, but fateful day…
There was this largish gentleman called Nicolas StCage, a jolly old fellow if you had ever seen one. No one knew his age and although speculation ran rampant, no one ever, even got close. He had followed the privateers into the New Eden area in search of love and friendship, but alas was attacked early and forgotten about when all thought he was dead. He had survived, but how is still a mystery to most. Almost every year at around the same time, he appears in different constellations in the same ship he had been destroyed in and with no damage
on it. Is he a ghost or is he real???
At the same time, a lady called Joanna Templar also was entering our now favorite space and was the last one seen in the area before StCage’s ship was rumored to be destroyed. She was hunted for many years but never locked down and destroyed…. And so it is that these two people have become legends in their own way each year when the Christmas season arrives in New Eden. But one year, things changed…
Apparently 5 days before Christmas, an unusual looking ship was spotted passing through the Jita area faster than normally possible through the overcrowded gates. It was a small cruiser sized craft, of unknown origin, painted rust grey, and flying no colors. Concord could be heard in most of the radio traffic, trying to get in contact with the pilot, to no great success. Scans were coming back with strange readings and this was worrying for the areas so called top police. The ship, although using the normal gate network, was not going from gate to gate, but more randomly like a pirate searching for an easy kill. At the helm sat Joanna, trying once again to find StCage and his ship. This was an ongoing challenge between them that seemed to have gone on for just over 10 years now (in her mind anyway, as infact it was a lot, lot longer).
You see, every year, through some unknown means, Joanna and StCage get 5 of our days to play out there little battle, and after that, they disappear for the rest of the year. StCage in his small hauler ship and Joanna in her cruiser sized destroyer. This year would probably be no different, but the areas they normally travelled
were getting far busier now.
StCage was in the Bei area and was as usual docking in and out of stations looking for his friends. At each station, he would leave a small parcel, just in case one of his friends would arrive, which would later be found by the kids of the station and bring joy to those who saw it. Station to station he roamed, again not realizing that the years had long past since he had first started this practice, and not realizing that all of his friends had long ago been forgotten.
Now I know all of you want to know what these gifts are, but we will return to that later….
Joanna, after many years, had finally locked down StCage in the Dodixie system and new where he was heading. No space ribbon/ rift thingy were going to let him get away this time. He had the one thing she wanted, a power core that would increase the outputs of all her essential systems on her ship as well as a device for hiding a ship in plain sight of another. She had seen this work many a time and wanted it bad.
Upon locking up the hauler, she proceeded to shoot. Her aging laser systems seemed tiny compared to what we use now, but the shielding and armor on the hauler were of equal age and power. StCage knew something was up when he felt the first hit. After all these years, he knew who it was and he knew what she wanted. Pity it didn’t exist and pity more that the one after it was someone that he had once cared for.
Straight ahead was another station in which StCage was set up to dock in, so he increased his power and pushed into the docking ring as fast as he could. Joanna raced after him and also entered. Upon docking, StCage found himself on the opposite side of the station to Joanna and immediately went looking for his lost friends. He headed upstairs to the main hotel areas. Joanna on the other hand went directly to StCage’s ship and began searching for the device she wanted. After great stress and effort, she found no such device on board, but she did find small round balls of a glass like substance that seemed to be filled with white powder. Of no great value to her, she threw one out the door onto the landing bay and it broke apart. The powder formed a gas and spread throughout the whole area.
Alarms started going off throughout the station when the gas hit the detector system and Concord was immediately notified. Monitors sprung to life showing the gas cloud in the main hanger area and StCage saw what had happened. He just shook his head and pulled out a small remote device. This was the end of his ship, he was sure, so by pushing a small red button, he set the self destruct. On board the ship, Joanna saw the red light flash on and knew what was going to happen. She slowly exited the craft, closed the door, and walked away. 2 minutes later, the hull of StCage’s hauler broke in two and the ship disappeared.
Joanna walked back to her ship and found StCage standing there. “Did you find what you were looking for?” he asked.
“No.” she replied.
“That is because after all these years, there is no such device. But you did take away the one thing that I had to bring to this place…. Snow from my own home.”
“Is that what that powder was?”
“Yes, a gift for my friends to know I am here.”
“But what is it?’
In the glass balls is an image of a path in the snow where I grew up and I lost my family. My wife was killed and my daughter lost to the wilderness. My friends and I looked for days for her until we finally had to leave and head out here. Now I search for my friends as they are all I have left.”
“I was lost from my family after my mother was killed, and my father left for this area. The only way I know to find him was with the device in your ship. Rumor had it that it not only helped ship systems, but also had his name and where I could get in contact with him on it. Where is that device?”
“Jo – Anna Cage?
“Nick Cage?”
And with that, the two people who for so long had been chasing around eve, saw for the first time, something in each other that had not been there before. StCage saw a face that he recognized, and Joanna saw the father from her pictures. A peace broke out between them and as the Concord Police arrived, they just disappeared in a haze of snow, never to be seen again. But every year, at around this time, If you walk through a station on the right night… You will find a few of these glass balls and see the snow inside. They only last a few minutes but if you look deep inside them, you will see a father and daughter walking hand in hand along a path that leads to tomorrow.
Each year if you look carefully, you may just see either one of them placing those glass balls in the stations, but don’t get too close, or you may just disappear like they did when they found each other.
Space is an amazing place!!
Melantatri
Author
Topic: [Fiction Contest] EvE Christmas (Read 718 times)