READ THE PREVIOUS ARTICLEThe warp tunnel collapsed around the frigate, and Yue emerged into the bleak silence of Stain. Sansha’s Nation. A graveyard of forgotten colonies and stolen souls. The wreckage of old empires drifted like bones in the void, silent witnesses to the Nation’s dominion. Her comms were flooded immediately with hostile pings—warnings, scans, lock attempts. But BLK’s codes worked. Barely.
“Unregistered vessel—identify or be removed.”
“This is contractor YUE-17T, under provisional license fro
m BLK manufacturing, en route for negotiations.” Her voice was steady, even as her hands trembled in the capsule fluid.
The line paused. Then, cold acceptance.
“Docking corridor 6B assigned. Any deviation will result in disassembly.”
As she aligned to the station, the true danger began. Warp disruptor fleets patrolled the deadspace pockets around Sansha’s territory—fanatics in salvaged pirate hulls, eager for fresh kills. Twice, she had been pulled from warp, engines scrabbling against interdiction spheres. First by rogue capsuleer raiders… the second by Nation loyalist fleets, testing her loyalty with blaster fire rather than words.
And each time, Yue survived—by a hair, by a prayer, by sheer spite.
By the time she docked in X-7OMU, the outer bastion of Sansha control, her hull was scarred, and her nerves raw.
The Nation Does Not Welcome You
The docking bay was vast and silent—lit by sterile floodlights that drained color from the world. Workers in modified cybernetic rigs watched her in silence. Their eyes glowed faintly with Sansha’s neural implants, empty of judgment, empty of mercy.
A man approached—tall, pale, with a silver cranial interface etched down his skull.
“BLK sends a
woman to negotiate for NET resonators?” he scoffed, voice cold and metallic. “We expected engineers. Soldiers. Not barmaids and runaways.”
Yue’s jaw clenched. “I didn’t come to pour your drinks.
”
The representative—Overseer Verrin—smirked, then pointed toward the hangar bay’s massive bulkheads.
“Prove it. Retrieve Nation relics from uncharted cosmic signatures in HLW-HP. Survive their guardians. Bring back encrypted data modules. Do this, and maybe we’ll speak of partnerships.”
He turned, cloak trailing behind him. “Or die quietly. That would also be useful.”
Ghosts and Ruins
The mission was suicide. Cosmic signatures in this part of space weren’t like empire ruins—these were active warzones left by Nation incursions, crawling with hostile drones and deranged capsuleers seeking Sansha tech for their own gain.
But Yue went.
Her ship wasn’t alone.
BLK had made good on their promise—two more frigates loaded with experimental rigs and covert propulsion systems were smuggled to her while in transit. She wasn’t just a courier anymore. She was the spear.
She dove through nullsec—threading minefields of deadspace pockets, evading pirate ambushes that spat torpedoes and mockery in local chat:
“Easy kill, boys—get the girl in the black hull!”
They never did.
She cracked relic vaults buried inside derelict Sansha outposts, siphoned data from forgotten True Creations research hubs. Sleeper drones stalked her through the ruins, their beams carving molten scars across her armor, but they never stopped her.
Three days.
No sleep.
Barely alive.
But she returned.
Her frigate staggered into dock, hull glowing from re-entry heat and battle damage. Yue stepped out of the capsule pod, covered in capsule gel, blood, and a glare sharp enough to cut steel.
She threw the data cores at Overseer Verrin’s feet.
“Still think it’s not a woman’s job?”
The Overseer stared. Then—unexpectedly—he bowed.
The Nation Accepts You
“You are not weak,” he said quietly. “And the Nation does not waste strength.”
Yue was granted quarters deep within the True Creations Logistics Suite—an inner sanctum normally reserved for Nation scientists and trusted operatives. Clean metallic floors, dim golden lighting, and a viewport that stared into the silent, starless void.
Her new orders were already waiting on her datapad.
Mission Designation: NET Resonator Acquisition
Objective: Coordinate covert operations with BLK. Secure resonator technology for capital hull integration.
Assets Granted: 3 covert frigates, 1 modified cruiser (pending), encrypted transponder keys, full logistic support from True Creations.
Yue leaned back in the black leather chair of her quarters, the hum of the station thrumming beneath her bones. Outside, Sansha ships drifted like silent leviathans—waiting.
She smirked.
“Alright then… let’s build your ghosts.”
