Can I Have a VAT Receipt Please?

“Tyrannis will see some new industrial and planetary interaction opportunities like we’ve never seen before in New Eden. It’s a step in linking EVE Online and DUST514 as well. So I need you to write what you believe are the short and/or long term consequences of this development, in terms of the new industrial capacity in presents to players, in terms of the opportunities for pirates, for industrialist, for sovereignty, etc. Surprise us!” – CK

The Pilot awoke to alarms assaulting him in his pod. Damn, another plant under attack, this has to stop.

Ever since CONCORD freed the pod pilots from the shackles of space and allowed true Planetary Interaction it has been as a double edged sword. On the one hand, more riches and more power. On the other, those damn scum planetside.

The plants had given the Pilot almost unlimited funds but were all so demanding of his time. He could have outsourced long ago but trusted noone with his ISK. Trust was far too valuable a commodity to give away so freely, ISK even more so even though he was almost as filthy rich as the Sarums. There had been the brief dalliance with another corporation, however that had ultimately been a waste of time. Time. It still took the Pilot a while to accept his immortality.

The Pilot willed himself to monitor Brapelille IV. Ah yes, another mini uprising. Well that can be settled easily. Scant seconds later, marines in assault vessels were on their way. Minutes later, the plant repair drones would be activated and within the hour the income stream would be back to normal allowing the Pilot to maintain his manufacturing base. Moving through the system en route to another, the Pilot allowed himself the luxury of a smile.

Dizziness, disorientation, nausea and a pang of fear. Once through the stargate into Caretyn the Pilot recovered in nanoseconds and continued on course toward another troublesome planet. This time the natives were not the issue.

Lately, another corporation had set their sights on resources they were ill equipped to defend. Their reach had become too wide. Diplomacy had broken down long ago and a mutual non-aggression pact had recently been broken. It was now time for this planet to be taken by force.

Contracts had been signed off and accepted, collateral transferred and goals outlined. Today would be a good day. The Pilot achieved orbit almost effortlessly and the Megathron glided silently through the dark reaches over the night side of the planet.

It had been a long time since the Pilot had ever breathed natural air, he wondered briefly what it would have been like. Then, with a thought like gossamer, he brought cataclysm to the inhabitants below.

Sheets of radiation swept over the planet as his hired mercenaries bombarded the surface below. In those areas with valuable infrastructure, the DUST marines made short work of securing systems. All was going according to plan.

Suddenly, the Pilot had no shields. The armour alarm screeched. Then the piercing shriek of the structure alarm. What the hell? A glance at the scanner was all the Pilot had time for before his next memory was the all too familiar interior of a clone vat. A slip of paper was spat out from the terminal next to him. The mercenary bastards even sent him a receipt.

Today’s blog is in reply to Crazy Kinux’s latest competition the details of which can be found here.